Checkmate (Eren x Levi)

Chapter Two

"The White Knight always goes first."

~~~~~~~

-Eren's POV-

It's cold. And dark. And wet. Where am I?

I sit up slowly, my bones cracking, the sound making me cringe. I seem to be in a cell, the dark room is made of cold stone and there are rusty bars off to my left, some unkempt bunkbeds are attached to the wall parallel to me, and it seems that there are people in them. I scramble up and press my back to the wall in fear, they could be convicts or dangerous murderers.

To my horror, one of the figures gets up from the bottom bunk and makes their way over to me, I open my lips to scream but a hand clamps my mouth shut.

"Shut the fuck up and don't make a sound." This voice, I know this voice I thought as I push the hand away.

"God damn it, Armin! You scared the shit out of me!" I hear a little giggle and arms wrap around me as I fall back onto the bed in relief.

"I scared you? Great! That's what I was trying to do." Armin said excitedly, I could barely see it but a smile was on his face. I reached up and patted his back to calm him down.

"Don't get used to it." A voice calls out.

"Used to what?" I turn my head and see Mikasa standing next to the bed with her hands on her hips. She lifts one hand and points a finger at us.

"That."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion but once I look up I see what she meant. Armin was on top of me, on a bed, in the dark. Armin immediately got off and I sat back up, I could see a heavy blush on Armin's face as he stood next to Mikasa. I cleared my throat to brush off what happened.

"So where are we?" I asked.

"Sina, castle dungeons." I nodded my head, I expected this at least.

"So why don't I remember coming here?" The last thing I recall is seeing that castle guard.

"The guard knocked you out because you tried to resist capture. You were unconscious the whole time." My eyes widened, the whole time? It takes 3 days to get from Maria to Sina on horse!

"We went by hovercraft." Armin said happily, oh, that makes sense. On hovercraft it only takes 3 hours to get from Maria to Sina. Suddenly there were loud footsteps echoing down the halls, we all froze as they got closer and closer. Then there was a loud bang on the cell bars.

"Oi! Get over here and change into these uniforms!" The man threw 3 piles of clothes into the cell and left. I crouched down to pick up one of the uniforms, a brown short cropped leather jacket with a sword insignia, a white pair of tight jeans, brown leather straps, a light green short sleeved shirt and knee high brown boots. Armin and Mikasa received the same, but where were we supposed to change?

I looked over at them and they were already busy changing, I quickly turned around and started changing myself, a blush present the entire time on my

After we changed Mikasa called the man back and he unlocked the door to lead us to wherever we were supposed to hold the pre-choosing event.

~~~~~~~

We were on a huge field where were to wait until further instructions, there were hundreds of people, young, old, child and adult. Sadly, seeing children at a coronation game is a normal thing. When we're old enough to speak, and walk, we begin to play games in order to train ourselves for the times ahead.

Armin and Mikasa stood quietly at my sides as we waited, panicking wouldn't help in this situation. We had to stay calm.

"Attention! The pre-eliminary round will now start! Choose a challenger now! If you lost then make your way to the room over here! Winners will continue fighting! Now...BEGIN!" The loudspeaker signaled, immediately a middle aged man came up to and gave me a look. I knew what he wanted so I waited until he was ready, then we both began the activation.

"Activate 3DMG software!" We shouted in unison. My wrist bracelet glowed brightly and the options popped up, he let me decide so I chose battle level 1, the bracelet did its job as my skin began to crystalize rapidly and soon I blacked out.

~~~~~

I reawoke seconds later on a virtual dirt battlefield and the sky set to the solar system background. The man was in front of me. Once my consciousness was fully awake the instructions narrator began speaking.

"To play you must take a weapon of your choice and bring the other player's health bar down. Maximum damage physically is minor."

As soon as the narrator stopped a weapons menu appeared, I chose a sword while the blond haired man went with bombs. The menu disappeared and the barrier separating us faded away, the start button popped up and we pressed it.

A bell toll sounded and I approached the man with my sword, he quickly sprinted away and hid behind a shaky dirt pile. Well this guy is stupid, I tiptoed slowly and slashed the dirt, effectively cutting off his head. The familiar winners crown popped up on my player name tag and I exited the game. That was fairly easy.

Once waking up again I gasped, already there were tons of lifeless crystalized bodies on the ground and I haven't even been gone for long.

I could die today.

~~~~~

"Why should the White Knight start first? If the Black Knight went first there won't be much of a difference."