Affinity

Chapter Twenty-One : Separated

The feeling of the rain hitting her face stirs her awake, the sound of pitter-patter and the smell of the Earth greets her as she opens her eyes. But then there was that annoying ringing masking her hearing, having to shut her eyes close as she slowly pushes herself off the wet ground.

Diana observes her surrounding, her spinning head tries to shake her memories, desperate to know what had happened or where she even was. She squints her eyes, the ringing in her ears worsening when she noticed something sprawled across her.

Then, everything floods into her mind. How she had activated her protective globe. The explosion that caught her off guard. Zeke pulling a suicidal move. Levi cutting Zeke's feet to bits. The look on his face when he tries to pull her back in. The feeling of Levi's breath on her skin as she places the kiss...

Levi...

"Oh my god, Levi."

Ignoring the throbbing pain in her head, Diana clumsily gets on her feet and run towards the figure she saw sprawled on the ground. She hadn't noticed it before because of her hazy memory and blurry vision, but she had only realised it now that it was Levi. And when Diana saw his condition, she never wanted to strangle herself to death as much as she did right now.

"Levi! Oh my god..." her voice trembled as she gently brings her bloodied body into her arms, pushing his bangs to the side to study the cuts on his face.

It was horrible. No matter where she touched, blood gushes out. His face was unrecognisable, and if it wasn't for the steady wheezing of his, she would've thought that it was too late for him. His body limping in her hands, Diana could feel the weight of his body in her heart. Never had she ever seen him in such a weak condition. It breaks her even more than she thought she would be.

Tears blurred her vision as she let out a strangled sob, clenching her jaw as the grip on his body tightened.

"This is all my fault..." she weeps, "I couldn't react fast enough. I'm sorry..."

Hange couldn't believe the sight in front of her. Wood splinters, blood and body parts all over the place, and what disturbed him the most was the sight of Diana crying over Levi's body.

They were too late.

"Wh..." Floch gasps next to the commander, "What happened?!"

"Be careful! Titan ahead!"

"There are body parts everywhere!"

Having processed the scene, Hange instantly jumped off his horse, her weak legs slowly bringing her towards the two.

"Commander Hange! Please don't run off like that!"

"...Did a carthorse get blown to pieces...?" he ignored the yell from a Jaegerist, eyes widening as she feels the familiar pain at the back of his throat.

"Man down!" they yelled, making a sudden sprint towards his two friends. "Hey! Is he alive?!"

"Hange..." Diana sobbed, "It's all my fault... Levi, he..."

Pressing his lips together, Hange pulled the captain away from Diana's grasp, hand coming up to feel a pulse under his skin.

"Levi?"

"...I don't know what happened here, but..." Floch strides up towards the trio, "We got lucky. One of our biggest threat, covered in his own blood."

"I'll send a shot through his head."

"He's dead," Hange promptly announced, halting the finger from pulling the trigger. "He must have been hit by a thunder spear explosion at close range. I saw something similar in a training accident. He may not look it, but his organs are in shreds. He died immediately."