It wasn't meant to be this way. The Survey Corps were a team of soldiers, trained and prepared to die for humanity's cause. Though there were darker minds that saw them as pigs going to the slaughter, there had always been those who would look up to them, believe in their mission, and have hope that one day they would succeed. But as the gates opened to give entrance to the survivors of the 130th mission, unveiled horror gave way. The blonde haired commander followed by the small but celebrated corporal passed under the wall. Then….no one. The villagers of Wall Maria watched with horror as the gates closed behind the two. Two hundred and seventy-six corps members had gone out on what was to be a raid on a nest of Titans that had been uncovered on the last mission. They had left in the day in order to reach the area by nighttime, thus allowing the soldiers to dispatch of the beasts without delay or heavy casualties. Two hundred and seventy-six men and women had left their families and the safety of the walls in a fight to save humanity. Two returned.

A middle-aged man burst out from the paralyzed crowd. His eyes wide with crazed grief.

"My son? His name is Lucas? He is in the Corps. Where is he?" the man shouted as he stepped in the path of Corporal Levi's horse.

Dark, piercing eyes met the man, Levi's brow twinged slightly at the sound of his voice. His fingers curled into the leather reins and his head lowered. For the first time in many years, he found himself unable to face this civilian as he delivered the news. "Dead." Came the reply. Levi guided his horse around the man, who dropped to his knees and only seconds later let a groaning cry to break the silence surrounding the onlookers.

Murmurs rose up from the crowd. "Dead? Are they all dead?" "Look for yourself, there are only two." "It's just the corporal and commander." "What happened" "Where are they?" My son" "My daughter" "Where are they? Where are they? Where are they? Where are they?"
The questions gave way into shouts. "You've killed them!" "The Survey Corps has failed once again!" Levi gasped when he felt a rough hand grab a strap of his leg harness. A tug nearly dismounted him and his horse gave an anxious whinny, the mare's footing getting a bit unbalanced.

A rock was thrown, hitting the flank of Erwin's chestnut steed. "Wait-" The commander started to say, turning to try to catch the offender before another rock struck his arm.

The shouts rose in a wave of fury and stones and rocks rained down on the two men. Erwin whirled around in his saddle, his arm covering his head, as he heard Levi's shout behind him. Some more people had grabbed the corporal and he was dragged from his horse. Erwin tried to lead his horse around to help his friend, but the crowd surged forwards and he was trapped.

Levi grunted as he hit the cobbled stones, blows struck him and he tried to push away the pervading fists and fend off feet. He could hear Erwin calling out for him, but his powerful voice was lost among the sea of hissing and vengeful accusations.
"Murderer!" "You've failed!" "What's left of humanity now!"

The commander lost sight of Levi when his black mare bolted and the crowd parted for it. Using the beast's flight as his own chance to escape, Erwin abandoned his own horse and fled, though not unbruised, as a volley of hands and elbows jabbed and hit at him. Breaking out of the mass of people, Erwin skirted around the nearest building, hiding himself in the shadows as he watched, hoping to see and remove the corporal from the onslaught. Once their prey seemed to have gotten away, or at least for now, the crowd dispersed and Erwin's heart sank at the sight of Levi heaved against the side of a building. Hurrying out to the black-haired man, he knelt beside the well-beaten man, cursing his own failure to help him.

"Levi…Let me help you up."
"No, Erwin, I can-Aghn!" He pushed the man away as he tried to stand on his own, but grimaced, falling against his comrade, who helped him to his feet.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Levi replied softly, holding Erwin's shoulder as he regained balance and they hobbled together back to their own houses.

Upon reaching Levi's home, Erwin helped the other man into his bed. "You will be alright for tonight? I live not far from here, so if you need anything, feel free to call on me."
Levi didn't respond, but listened as Erwin left, latching the door behind him. "Of course it's not alright." He thought bitterly. The corporal closed his eyes, hoping to get some rest after the last few days' toils. But rest was the last thing he would find in sleep. As soon as his eyes closed, the battlefield returned.

"Corporal Levi! The titans have awoken."

"I thought Shit Glasses said that they wouldn't at night. Shit. All troops to arms, we have full gas and sharp blades. So get a good position and continue the mission. Our job is to kill the titans here."

"L-Levi!" As another scream called his name, he turned. "What is it no-…" His sentence stopped as he saw the source of the voice dangling from a titan's mouth, Krista or Historia was her name, he thought to himself. Drawing his own blades, he shot his maneuver gears into the shoulders, swinging around to slice open the back of its neck. It collapsed forward, too late to save the girl anyways.

"Corporal Levi!"

As he swung onto another nearby titan, giving it the same treatment as the last, he joined the Jeager boy at the roof of the titan's nest, where others who had managed to get out of the turmoil when the titans first awoke were also residing.

"It's Armin. He is stuck down there with Mikasa, we have to help them. There's too many titans for them to take care of together.

Levi scanned and spotted the little blonde boy along with Eren's girl companion. With a sharp nod, he instructed. "You and Jean take care of the three on the left flank, I'll take the others on the right. If you see the others, tell them to get out of here…we can't risk anyone else." Giving Eren a quick glance to ensure that he understood his instructions, Levi shot off to the right, blade blazing with steam as he quickly dispatched the first titan, somersaulting through the air before whipping the blades through the neck of the next and finally rocketing into the face of the last, where he plunged his steaming blades deep into the beast's eye. Replacing his blades, he sliced open the last one.

Without time to check on the safety of the others, he aimed back up for the ceiling. "Dammit. Why haven't they left!?" He thought to himself when he saw that there were still clumps of members in the nest. His eyes widened though when he saw a girl give a faint scream as her hooks dislodges and she plummeted. Levi dived, grabbing her collar and made the full pendulum back up to the roof. She jerked slightly with another scream as he caught her, but she was thankfully light enough to be carried by him. He looked down to scold her for not digging her hooks in firmly enough when a wave of sickness passed over him. For he was only holding half a person, on their way down, she had been bitten in half, probably the tug he felt along the way. Grimacing darkly, he let go of the body, turning away so he would not have to watch the rest of her body be devoured by the revolting naked creatures below them.

Rising screams jolted him from his momentary thoughts. Below him were the bodies of his men. Startled, Levi was shocked that so many of them had ended up in the titans' gasps. "Why the hell didn't they leave…" He growled and headed for the exit to see what the holdup was.

In fact, there was no exit. When the corporal reached the point where they had entered the nest from, the opening had collapsed and a group of corps members were gathered, trying to hammer away at the stone. The only problem was that the entrance was not high enough to protect them from the taller titans. Fifteen meters were easily reaching up and grasping ahold of the ones closest to the edge.

"Get higher! Idiots, what are you doing just standing there!" Levi bellowed, startling the teams. "I don't have the time to take care of these guys…they're going to have get themselves out of this." He thought as he watched them gain enough sense to shot themselves up to higher grounds.

Dammit…where the hell was his new members. They were supposed to be getting back to him by now. Cursing under his breath, Levi made yet another three sixty and went back deeper into the cave in search of his squad. He saw the mound of titans that he had slain, they were slowly steaming into nonexistence, and he also saw the three that he had assigned to Eren and Jean to kill. But where the hell were they?

"Corporal Levi!"

Levi turned to the calling of his name, hoping that this time, the voice would not be that of someone about to die. It was Armin, he landed a few feet away, panting, his eyes wide and his hands clenched with terror.

"What is it? Where are the others?" Levi demanded.

Armin stared at him frantically before his large blue eyes started to water over and he shook his head as tears spilled over his dirtied face.

"Arlet, what happened? Speak, boy!"

"I don't know, Corporal, it happened too fast. Mikasa and I were trying to hold off, and then Eren and Jean arrived. B-But I don't know. I only heard Jean yelling, and Eren….He was trying to turn into a titan, but for some reason it wasn't working. And..a-and.." Armin gave a sob and his words trailed off into panting and gasps for breath between chocked crying.

Levi stared at the boy, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Eren, Jean, even Mikasa…all dead? They were some of the best from the trainees who joined the Corps. After the death of his squad, they had been his choice for the next elite squad. And they were dead, slain by the foe of their cause.

"I have to find them…."

Levi's head snapped up at Armin's words. The boy was staring down at the titan's…but those round intelligent eyes were far off, lost in the grief that toiled in his head.

"No…Armin, we need to find a way to get out of here. There are dozens who are trapped in here still. Armin, Armin are you hearing me!"

"Yes, sir…" He replied in a daze. He slowly drew his blades. Levi lurched forward just as he released his maneuver gears to drop down into the fray. The corporal snatched the boy's arm, holding it tightly.

"Arlet! Get back on the ceiling. That's an order! Hold on okay!" Levi shouted.

Armin's gaze focused down at the writhing mass of titans below them, then slowly, he looked back up at Levi with a sickened expression. Raising his blade, he swiped at the corporal, who swung back, almost losing his grip on the scout.

"Let go!"
"No! Don't you dare go down there, get back up here this instant!"
Levi growled as Armin swung his blade at him again. Damn it, he couldn't dangle Armin from one arm for much longer…But if he let go…

"Shit!" Levi yanked his hand back when he felt a searing pain slice up his arm. He shouted another curse when he realized that Armin, after managing to land home with his blade, had wriggled free from his grip and was tumbling below into the fray. He almost couldn't watch. Seconds later, he heard a loud scream, and he felt completely helpless. Fate had bound his hands to watch everyone die. A life for a life…it was as though time was catching up with those he had saved before, and taking revenge for the titans he had killed before.

The corporal's eyes shot open and he lurched forward out of back with a gasp. "Shit…" He murmured to himself, collapsing back into his sheets. 'It's too early to be having nightmares'. Lifting himself out of bed, he went to start a fire in his fireplace in order to get a pot of water for tea boiling. Distraction. That's all it was and he knew it, but he needed it. A loud crash jolted him from the task. Levi turned to face a rock that had come flying through his window and was resting at the foot of his desk.
"Go die with the rest of your troops!"
Levi ran to the window to watch the backs of a couple of kids dashing away. Unbelieving what he'd just heard, he stumbled back away from the glass. 'No…It wasn't like I just left them. I can't save everyone.' Feeling a headache coming back on, Levi retreated to his bed again- he preferred to face the nightmares in his head rather than the ones that roamed the streets.