Pretty Little Liar (Aruani Element Shifter AU) ✔️

Twenty Four

I sat in the meadow with Eren the next day, staring at my emblem. I played with the wind, making tiny tornados and creating wind spheres. Nothing powerful or strong, just beautiful.

I sighed, then turned to Eren. "Hey, umm, I know this is out of the blue, but you never told me about your parents." A few months ago, I wouldn't have dreamt about saying that, but we were close enough now.

Eren raised an eyebrow, leaning back to lie on the grass. "There isn't much to it. They were killed by the Council when I was young. Mike was my godfather. He took me in."

"There must be more than that. I barely know your past Eren. I really want to know."

Eren took a deep breath. "Alright. When I discovered that I was different, Mike told me about what had happened to them. His wife had just died and he told me to keep a quiet profile and that there's no point trying to avenge them. Then I met Reiner, and it was clear to me what I had to do. I wanted to fight, re-gain our rights."

"Yeah. Avenge your parents deaths. Yeah, I get it. I... I knew somebody who lost their parents. I know how it feels."

Eren continued. "I knew Mike wouldn't ever accept that, so I started meeting Reiner and Bertholdt and Ymir in the woods. They had a good plan. When rumours of a fire shifter started, I suddenly felt like the dream could come true, you know? Then Ymir left, and now you're here. I guess I'm more motivated now than ever. I want you to go to uni Armin. I want my parents to be proud of me, for what I've done. That I won't kill anyone, only be part of the movement that will give us our lives back. That they can rest in peace. That's all I want. A world where their son isn't hunted and shot down for being different."

"I totally get you." I took out the key necklace. "There's somebody I want to avenge. I want them to make sure that they know I'm happy, and the world they died in is different."

We heard Ymir and Mike's voices coming from the top of the hill, and stood up.

"I know he doesn't seem to be," Eren started. "But deep down Mike also wants vengeance for his wife. Life would have been totally different had they not been caught. He blames himself for her death."

I followed his gaze up the hill, nodding slowly. We rushed up to meet the two of them. Ymir was frowning at the floor.

"Anything new?" Eren asked.

Ymir looked up to meet Eren's eyes. "They've found somebody."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. A girl. A Water Shifter."

"No way! What have they done to her?" Eren was intrigued. It wasn't often we got news like this.

Ymir shrugged. "I just heard some staff talking. Levi was in charge of her so I can only imagine what she's going through. Local girl. They found her running around in the east, looking for somebody, I don't really know."

"I didn't even know there was another water shifter," Eren said, looking at Mike.

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Me neither kid."

Ymir seemed on-edge, with something on her mind.

"You alright?" I asked.

She looked at me with the kind of expression I had never seen from her. Pity.

She looked as though she was about to tell me something, but was quick to change her mind.

"Yeah. Umm, they're sending Team Levi out. You guys have to be careful. The last time Levi saw us, he nearly killed Bertholdt. I'd watch your backs. Don't go into the forest until I've said that they've come back to the council."

Eren frowned, and Mike looked away.

Was this Levi character really that much of a threat?

We sat in a few seconds of silence, but I was intrigued. "Is this Levi guy really that scary?" I asked, but Eren quickly nudged my shoulder roughly, and Mike sent a waterfall of water to form and fall on top of my head, leaving Ymir smirking.

I looked away as Eren chuckled, then made warm air to dry my hair.

Then, Bertholdt and Reiner appeared from the forest nearest to us. They ran up towards us.

Ymir quickly caught them up on the girl Levi captured, and on Levi's whereabouts.

Reiner was the first to speak to all of us. "Okay, I have an idea."

"Yeah?" Mike said. He looked unamused, as though Reiner's ideas weren't very good.

"While Levi is distracted in the forest, why don't we try getting that girl out of the council? It's the perfect excuse to fight a few of them. We'll leave some sort of message for all of them to see, then leave before Levi comes back."

Mike and Reiner exchanged looks. Mike frowned. "I don't know."

"That's what you always say."

Reiner turned to Bertholdt. But before he could say anything, somebody shot an arrow, that only just missed Reiner's head.

We all looked up to the direction it had come from.

Standing at the top of the hill in front of us, was a group of Scouting Legion members.

We threw on our cloaks, allowing our eyes to turn. I felt the air around me spiral, while Reiner started forming a wall between us and the Scouting Legion.

"Go!" He yelled. I saw Mike grab Ymir's hand, and they dissapeared back to the post office, then I followed Eren to the nearby forest.

"Armin! Get up!" Eren grabbed onto a branch and started climbing a tree. I followed quickly. Eren looked panicked, afraid.

"It's Levi's team! Quick, hide!"

I did so. I could see Eren's pale face through the branches. I looked down, and saw a few people running past.

Reiner and Bertholdt weren't here now. Suddenly everything became a lot more of a challenge. This was a group I hadn't seen before, and the thought of fighting them frightened me.

"We need to run," Eren whispered. "If I tried teleporting, they'll pick it up.

I nodded. After the sounds of Team Levi had dissapeared, we jumped down, and started running.