This is My Last War (Attack on Titan // LeviHan) - Part 3

The Founder's Dilemma, Part 3

"3735928559!"

It took Eren quite some time to memorize these numbers, so he says them somewhat proudly, expecting an immediate result.

But nothing happens. Nothing at all.

Oh shit! He begins to panic, did he get it wrong? Was it 859 and not 559?!

"What bullshit are you spouting?" An enraged Captain Levi smashes his fist against Eren's jaw. Hard.

Eren sees stars. For no apparent reason other than his failure to control this bloody Ackerman who is barely taller than a child, a massive bout of laughter erupts from him. It is the kind that makes it sound like someone has lost it.

Maybe he has.

"Shut the fuck up," Captain Levi scrambles to silence him with both his hands. Eren sees the rage in his eyes grow when it doesn't help, but it's the kind of laughter that just has to burst forth. When it's all so fucking hilarious! That ace he thought he had up his sleeve? Just a load of garbage! He's such a pathetic loser and that will never not be funny.

The Captain swings again, hits him even harder. He probably dislodged a tooth again, easily fixed. "Don't you dare pull anything funny," Levi Ackerman hisses into his ear in alarm when he feels his Titan powers. "Yeager, I swear, I'll kill you."

The pain brings him back to the harsh reality of their situation. It's do or die. For once, Eren knows what needs to be done, he has a plan, but his confidence still wavers, every day. Getting it wrong will cost too many lives. He has to walk this path alone, driven forward by the suffering, oppression, and loss thousands of innocent Eldians have to endure. Eren knows that he has to do the most horrible things to make it stop. He will harden his heart, close his eyes and ears, and he will be hated for eternity.

It is so unfair he wants to curl up and cry.

Levi's fist never misses its mark. Eren fears it, and yet - yes, a sign that he has definitely lost it - welcomes it. Pain grounds him. He needs to be physically shaken by the people in his life. Like this, pressed against the earth by the weight of another, the copper taste of his own blood in his mouth. He is terrified of Captain Levi, terrified, but his presence is the anchor he needs. Without an anchor, he drifts aimlessly, he loses himself. If he loses himself, all will be lost.

He cannot lose. He will not.

Guards with rifles enter the garden, the noise he made drew them here, and Eren swallows the insane laughter down, though it hurts. They cower in the bushes, unmoving, breathing so shallow not a leaf moves. The Marleyans did not bring dogs, they're lucky. He can feel the tension in the other man's body, his muscles are quivering with it. If necessary, the Captain will launch himself at the guards and will kill them with his bare hands without flinching once.

No wonder the King wanted them around him. They're the violent killing machines everyone wants. Captain Levi turns his head, finds him looking at him. Eren wonders what he sees in his eyes.

Well, not something he appreciates, obviously.

"You are a fucking weirdo," Levi Ackerman growls and hits Eren again, this time so hard that he blacks out.

###

The murmur of voices lifting him out of the darkness is soft and pleasant and there is a wonderful smell in the air. His nose twitches, his stomach remembers it hasn't eaten anything proper in a long time. Might it be apple pie with cinnamon? He would die for a slice.

Eren wants to move but he has been tied down hand and foot. To a bed. In a room that lies in semi-darkness, with green curtains drawn across a small window. He could bite his tongue and transform if necessary but Mikasa is there, jumping up from a chair in the corner when she sees him move.