Eren sat alone in the modest room he shared with three others. Books were scattered across his bed, and he rubbed his eyes, sore from reading for so long. His developing wings were wrapped in bindings to protect the new appendages; but it also rendered him useless. So he stared at the ancient textbooks that Hanji had dumped on his bed three days ago.

"I know you don't understand a lot yet, but in the freedom corps we're always fighting demons. It's your job to memorize every single demon from hell and their weaknesses. You need to know where they live, what they eat, who they possess, or what they do to the earth. You always have to know your enemy."

Eren just stared at the piles of papers she held in her hands, "…every one?"

"Yes," She laughed, "You can do it. In heaven they never tell angels of the horrors of hell, but now is your time to learn."

At first Eren groaned about the thought of so much reading. He never had to read in heaven- or at least it never took any effort. Although, as Eren flipped the pages he found himself feeling ignorant, and amazed by all the creatures he never knew.

"Jaeger."

Eren jumped, the old book slipping from his fingers, and looked up at the figure in the doorway. The second in command stood with his arms crossed. "Uh-"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Um…Hanji told me I needed to memorize-"

"Not that, moron." Levi hissed, "Training started fifteen minutes ago."

Eren swallowed in surprise, "But they told me I wasn't supposed to move a lot until my wings developed?"

"I don't care. You need to sit and watch how shit is done around here. You can certainly learn a lot more from watching then Hanjis stupid fucking books."

"You don't…believe in this stuff?" Eren looked at all the papers.

Levi huffed, "I believe in learning on the job. Now move, before I make you."

Eren's face flushed lightly and moved to stand. Walking was still difficult, his balance was wobbly, and he felt like the world was constantly spinning underneath him. Levi didn't help, but he didn't leave his side either. They walked the long way down the bed corridors, passing room after room. As Eren limped, he couldn't help but sneak a look at the dark angel. He had on the same training uniform that had been put in his room; it was black with padding that looked like armor. It was skin tight and extremely flattering. Eren could see the lines of strong muscles through his uniform.

It was silent until they made it out into the center of the cylinder bunker. Levi hopped over the rail, taking flight in the air. He hovered, saying, "Take the elevator down to the bottom floor, and go down the hallway on the right. You better show up or I'll kick your ass."

Eren nodded, "Yes sir," and the corporal took off towards the lower level.

When Eren finally made it to the doors of the arena, he was surprised to see how big it was. It was like a huge dome; there were large grassy fields, a circular fighting ring, hurdles, and lots of sparring equipment. The lights were supplied from electricity on the top of the ceiling. It made him forget momentarily that he was thousands of miles under the surface of the earth. Eren looked to see all the dark angels in neat lines practicing fighting stances.

Eren swayed over towards the benches and sat in a sigh of relief. He smiled and waved back when a couple of his friend spotted him excitedly. He caught himself surprised by the thought friends. He wasn't sure if he could call them that; but he didn't know what else to call them. So far they had been nothing but nice, but it made him homesick of the two friends he left up in heaven.

Erwin was pacing around the fallen angles, calling out numbers for stances. The rows of angels punched, kicked, and shouted in perfect uniform. It was almost like a dance, sort of. They kick flipped through the air; and landed with elegance. Eren couldn't help but think yep, all these people used to be angels. I can see it in their graceful steps.

He realized that they held swords; long box cutter like weapons that looked sharp enough to slice a brick in half. They whirled them around, perfectly synchronized as they practiced. It was oddly beautiful. Suddenly they were doing something different; fighting against punching bags, actually. Eren was surprised by how strong they were. His attention was drawn to a loud noise, and whipped his head around to see a robust blonde girl kick a punching bag in half. The sand slumped to the ground, spilling out of the bag, and she stood back in surprise.

Annie. Eren thought, I think that's her name? Eren remembered Connie mentioning something about her.

"She's fucking strong and kinda mean but she kicks major ass and actually kinda cares about our wellbeing. Sometimes."

They trained for hours, both Levi and Erwin yelling out formations and commands. It made Eren eager to join. They never learned how to fight physically in heaven; they just had magic. Fighting wasn't really even an option, really. It was uncharted territory, and Eren was excited.

"So what do you think so far?"

"Hm?" Eren turned to Marco, who was sweaty and tired but still preppy and cheerful.

"Of the training? Scared at all?" Jean appeared behind him and rested with his hand behind his back.

"Oh…no." Eren looked out at Connie and Sasha who were sparring ridiculously with each other. "I'm actually kind of excited. It looks fun."

Jean snorted in disbelief, but Marco laughed, "Good luck with that."

"Were actually just about to start flight training." Reiner suddenly popped out of nowhere and straddled the bench next to Eren. "It looks like you'll be able to join in too soon, from the looks of those wings." He gestured towards Eren's back, where the bandaged appendages were pressed against his spine for comfort.

Eren blinked, "Flight training? But flying is easy."

"It's not just flying." Jean rolled his eyes, "It's aerial patterns and shit. You learn to fight in the air."

Eren's shocked expression spurred Marco to explain. He laughed, "It sounds weird but you won't believe how many times we've run into flying demons while were traveling somewhere."

"Especially dragons," Reiner blanched, "Nightmarish fiends."

"Jeez…" Eren rubbed his temple, "And humans can't see them?"

"Nope."

"Ignorant bastards."

Suddenly there was yelling, and his friends were jogging back over to the arena, leaving Eren with even more questions.

The cafeteria was bustling with noise and excitement that night. The dark angels were nice enough to help him into a seat and grab his food for him. A large group sat around a table chatting enthusiastically, and it made Eren forget his troubles momentarily.

That is, until he leaned back in laughter, and squished his still developing wings against the chair. He cried out in pain and slumped forwards. There was a hand at his back, rubbing out the pain, and he recognized it as Sasha's.

"Aw man," Ymir shook her head and shivered, "I remember when I had to regrow."

"I think we all do." Bertholt scratched his head, "It's hard to forget."

"Don't worry Eren, it'll be better soon," Christa smiled, and Eren nodded, still mentally willing the throbbing to go away.

Sasha complimented, "Yeah, you seem to have adjusted to our lifestyle pretty quickly, actually,"

Eren opened his mouth to reply, but all their heads turned to the center of the cafeteria at a shattering noise.

"You fucking idiot," Levi snapped, looking at the coffee that was now dripping down his torso.

An angel he didn't recognize stuttered, "I-I'm so sorry sir-"

"You better clean this shit up, immediately." Levi barked, "And get me another coffee. You have two minutes before I kick your ass."

The young angel jumped away and dashed towards the bathroom to grab paper towels. Levi stomped away towards Erwin, who was waiting in the doorway with an amused expression. They heard Levi yell, "Don't give me that fucking look-" before they left the room. As soon as the duo left, the room began to lighten again with noise.

"Jeez…" Eren stared at the poor soul scrubbing at the floor, "What's that guy's problem? He may be in charge but he doesn't have to be an asshole."

Reiner rubbed his nose, "Levi has been here for a long time. Almost as long as Erwin."

" And he's really really, really strong." Sasha mumbled. "Like really strong."

"Still, it was just an accident." Eren shoved a spoon full of mashed potatoes in his mouth and muffled, "It's not that big of a deal."

"Well, that's just Levi for ya."

"Yeah…not to mention he's not too keen on messes."

"You'll get used to him."

Eren looked out towards the door, "So…how long has he been here?"

"A millennium." Jean answered shortly.

"No way!" Eren covered his mouth with his hand, "A thousand years?"

Jean rolled his eyes, "That's what I said, idiot."

"If you think that's long, try Erwin." Ymir crossed her arms and leant back in her chair. "Rumor is that he was the first dark angel to, you know, survive. He's the one that started all this freedom corps shit."

"Yep, all the other ones before him were eaten." Christa said sadly.

"Woah…" Eren thought aloud. "That's incredible." I was only created a hundred years ago.

"It is incredible. That's why they both have all our respect." Sasha smiled.

Eren looked back towards the door one more time before resuming his meal.

Eren had never felt such excitement before in his lifespan. His newly beating heart was thumping in his chest as Hanji slowly unwrapped his bindings. He could hear the grin in her voice, "Wow Eren…they're beautiful."

"Are they?" Eren craned his neck to look back. She pulled off one final bandage, and threw them in the trash bin.

"Of course," She grasped each of his wings and pulled back, stretching them slowly. Eren looked in the mirror across the room; they were big and black. It was nearly a shock- a part of his brain almost thought they would be white again. But they weren't. They were black as proof of the sin he committed. But nevertheless they were there, and it felt like a piece of his soul had returned.

"Wow!" Eren tried moving them, but Hanji held them tight,

"Try not to move, I need to make sure they're healthy,"

"They are they are-"

She laughed again, "Eren stop, please,". She ran her fingers over the feathers and felt the bones underneath. She pulled them out to their full length examining their size. "You're right, they're very healthy. They're going to do you good, Eren." He grinned, and he heard her giggle again, "How cute! There are little grey freckles on some of the feathers!"

"Don't tease," Eren laughed jokingly and hopped off the table. He turned around and wrapped his arms around Hanji in a hug, "Thank you,"

She was surprised at first, but grinned and returned his hug, "You're very welcome Eren. Welcome to the team."

There was a knock on the hospital door, and suddenly a parade of dark angels were jumping into the room.

"Eren! Your wings!"

"Wow they're so pretty!"

"You did it! I Told you man,"

"Congratulations!"

"You're officially one of us!"

Eren was overwhelmed by everyone talking over each other, so he just laughed, "Thanks, guys."

"You know what this means, right?" Ymir grinned.

"Party time!" Christa jumped excitedly.

Eren blinked, "What?"

"We always throw a party for a dark angel getting their black wings," Marco explained.

Eren shook his head, "You guys don't have to do that-"

"But its tradition!" Connie cried out. "You don't have a choice!"

And he really didn't have a choice, because that night everyone gathered in the cafeteria where the cooks prepared deserts and alcohol was bought from human stores. The music was loud, and people were dancing ridiculously on the tables. It wasn't like anything Eren had ever experienced. The parties in heaven were civil, proper and sweet. This was a little overwhelming.

"Drink, Eren!" Reiner was already drunk, hobbling over people and laughing louder than anyone else, "It's your party."

"I've never had alcohol," Eren stared at the cup being offered to him. It was a sin.

"Don't make him do anything," Bertholt showed up behind the blonde and lightly tapped his head with his fist.

Eren smiled, "I'll just take a little, thanks." Bertholt smiled back shyly.

As the night progressed, he talked to various people and met others that he hadn't gotten the time to speak to. From what Eren noticed, it almost seemed like everyone else needed this party more than he did. The corps was strict and tough, so it was nice to see the hardworking people enjoy themselves.

For Eren this party meant the beginning of his work. It was obvious that everyone had to do their part to make this place function. His shift would actually begin tomorrow; everyone rotated between cooking, cleaning, laundry, and whatever other jobs needed to be done. Surprisingly enough, Eren was looking forward to it. He was looking forward to work; to not being useless. He'd done nothing but sit in bed and read for the past month.

He was brought out of his thoughts when a hand ran through his feathers. He shivered and jumped, turning to see a drunken Connie at his side.

"Oh, sorry, man." Connie snickered, "I just wanted to see them close up- Hanji was right there are little freckles."

Eren rolled his eyes and turned back to watch people dance. He was shocked to see Levi walk through the door, hands in his pockets and skeptical eyes scanning the party. He walked over towards the table and grabbed himself a beer. Eren turned to Connie, "Dude, Levi is here-" but he stopped dead when he noticed Connie was no longer next to him, but dancing with Sasha. He breathed out a laugh to himself and sipped whatever was in his cup.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Eren jumped again and looked at Levi who had taken the seat Connie was in seconds before.

"Jeez you're jumpy. We have to fix that," He sipped the beer.

"Um, sorry. Yeah I'm having fun," Eren turned to observe the party.

"It's a stupid tradition, but it's the only time Erwin allows this shit in here." Levi gestured to the bottle in his hand, "Sneaking it in all the time is annoying."

"Why?"

"Because alcohol clouds the brain or whatever. I personally think its bullshit, but then again I don't get stupid drunk."

"Oh," Eren nodded and looked down at the cup in his hands. "Everyone here is so cool. I can't believe they were all kicked out of heaven."

Levi stared at all the ex-angels having fun. His gaze was almost protective, "Most of them are here for similar reasons."

"Like what?" Eren wanted Levi to keep talking; his presence alone caused light flutters in his stomach he couldn't recognize. He found himself gazing at him again, taking in his astounding presence. He was wearing a studded choker that contrasted his pale skin beautifully.

"Love." Levi said with an annoyed tone. "Either with another angel or a human on earth."

"That's it?" Eren blinked, "But that's so…"

"Yeah, it's fucking ridiculous, but that's heaven for you." Levi leaned back in his chair and took other sip of his beer, "Jean and Marco came here together."

"This just isn't right…" Eren shook his head, "Things shouldn't be this way…"

"Believe it or not almost everyone here got fucked over for seemingly innocent reasons. I mean look at you, Mr. Hero." Levi glanced at Eren, and he felt his own skin flush red. The corporal's lips twitched into a smirk, and then he looked away.

They didn't speak for a moment, only listening to the music someone was playing. Eren summoned the courage to ask, "Why…why are you here?"

Levi's eyes widened, but he didn't look at Eren. He abruptly stood up to leave and said, monotone, "It's none of your concern, newbie," And then he promptly left the room.

It was dead silent as they scrubbed the bathroom floors. Everyone woke up that morning complaining of horrible hangovers and stomach aches. Eren felt fine, but he hadn't consumed nearly as much alcohol as everyone else did.

He paused halfway through wiping down the mirror, and thought of his conversation with Levi last night. He turned to look at Connie, who had bags under his eyes and an ice pack taped to his head. "Hey, Connie?"

"Hn?" the bald man squinted at him, "Yeah?"

"Does uh…" he looked around before questioning, "Does anyone know what happened to Levi? Like why he got extracted I mean?"

"Oh," Connie returned to mopping the floor, "No, nobody does. Erwin and Levi are a mystery."

"Nothing? No rumors or anything?"

"Tons of rumors, but I bet none of them are true."

"You guys are so fucking loud, can you guys please shut your damn faces for five seconds," Jean popped out of a stall wearing gloves and a mask over his mouth and nose.

Eren spat back, "Go back to cleaning toilets, asshole. That hangover is your damn fault."

"You motherfucker-"

"Guys," Connie moaned, holding his head, "Can we please not do this today?"

The sound of Erwin's boots clicking down the hallway instantly stopped the commotion, and all was quiet again. The rest of the day, Eren thought of the corporal.

When Eren showed up to the arena for training he excitedly walked forwards to join his friends. He wasn't expecting a hand to shove itself in front of his chest. "Where do you think you're going?"

Eren halted and looked to see Levi glaring at him angrily. He was the same height as Eren, if not, a tad bit shorter. "I was going to practice, sir." Eren said respectfully.

"Not with them, you're not."

"I'm not?" Eren tipped his head, slightly resembling a puppy.

"No, you get to play catch up." Levi turned on his heel and began walking forwards. He gestured with his hand, "Come."

"Um," Eren stared blankly at his retreating form before jogging up behind him, "What for?"

"You're nowhere near the level everyone else is." Levi walked onto the grass, "A newly fallen angel's body is still weak. It's used to being spoiled from magic. It's time to learn hard work and pain."

As if I haven't learnt pain, Eren thought. "So…you're going to-"

"Yes." Levi rolled his eyes hard enough to pop them out of his skull, "I got stuck with babysitting duty. Now stop asking questions, before you really piss me off. Fifty laps around the arena; go."

"Yes sir." Eren said reluctantly.

"So," Jean grinned, "First day of training. How was it?"

Eren groaned into his pillow; face down, "Uggh,"

His roommates laughed, and Marco sat down on his bed to comfort him, "We could see you from across the arena. It looked like you were working hard."

"My everything hurts." Eren rolled over so his face was no longer in his bed. He looked up at Marco, "Levi is a fucking asshole."

"You should be grateful," Connie said seriously from his bed, "You're being trained by Levi."

"And that's a big deal because…?" Eren crossed his arms.

"Because Levi doesn't train anyone." Marco looked across the room to Jean for assurance. Jean nodded, and Marco continued, "Normally new recruits are just trained by stronger ex angels. The corporal never does grunt work like that himself. It's actually a huge deal."

"My muscles can say otherwise." Eren mumbled. He may be gorgeous but all he did was yell at me all day.

"Don't be an ungrateful brat." Jean called out, "If he's taking the time to teach you, you need to show him you're dedicated. Or else you might find yourself out of the corps."

Eren groaned.

The next few weeks weren't easy. Training was held every day and his muscles screamed through all of it. The only enjoyable parts were getting to see his new friends every so often.

"Firmer." Levi crossed his arms, "A bigger demon wouldn't even feel that punch."

Eren laid his fist into the punching bag even harder and internally groaned as he felt the bones in his fist complain. He was currently learning the formations he had seen everyone else do. This was just basic training, apparently. Levi said he had to learn how to fight with his body before he got to use any weapons. And so he punched the bag harder and harder until Levi nodded his head and Eren slumped to the ground in a pant.

"You get five minutes," Levi ordered, "And then were teaching you how to fly."

"I already know how to fly." Eren assured.

Levi barked out a sarcastic laugh that caused Eren to shiver. His face was serious as he turned away, "No. You don't."

Eren watched his retreating form before looking down at his bleeding knuckles. This was brutal. Levi was right though, he was used to the spoils of magic. Never feeling pain, never having to use your body to fight. But this almost felt good; it felt real. Like everything before this wasn't. Eren looked back at Levi who was drinking from a canteen. He felt this surge of determination take over his body, I'll show him. I'll show him that I'm worth the effort.

"Harder Eren. You'll never get off the ground like that."

Eren flapped his wings as hard as he could; he could only get a few inches of air before his feet crashed back to the ground. He put his hands on his knees and panted- he had been at this for hours. Since when was flying so hard?

"You won't be able to fly from standing still anytime soon." Levi instructed, "It takes practice. Right now you need to try running and jump into it. Again."

Eren took a deep breath, but nodded his head in determination. He took a few steps back on the grass, and then surged into a run. He began to flap his heavy wings and jumped into the air. He got higher this time; but again came crashing back to the ground. When he did he lost balance, and rolled a few times on the grass before landing on his back. He groaned and closed his eyes in pain. When he opened them again, Levi was standing over head with a disappointed look. Eren covered his face, "Why is this so hard?"

"Because." Levi stood back to allow Eren to get back on his feet, "Heavenly wings are light and enchanted so it's easier to fly. Dark wings are heavy, as if to be a burden. You have to take what you get and make something out of it. Again."

That almost sounded motivational. He thought. Eren's body screamed in pain but said, "Yes sir," And tried again.

One morning Hanji showed up in his room, giggling excitedly and pulling him towards her lab. She kept repeating, "So exciting! So exciting!"

Eren allowed himself to be pulled into a dark room, and blinked when Hanji flicked on the lights. She skittered across the room and picked up a jar. She held it in front of his nose, "Look! Look!"

Eren squinted into the jar, "Is that…"

"It is!" Hanji squealed, "It's an alp! Isn't it cute?"

There was a small, nasty looking creature inside the jar. Eren had never seen anything like it; only pictures from all those books he had read. It was hunched over with fangs and a contorted face. It looked at Eren and snarled. Unfortunately for the alp, it was so small, the intimidation level was low.

Eren thought out loud, and tapped the jar, "Wow…a nightmare demon. Hanji, why is it here?"

"Well, you see," She pushed up her glasses, "I found this thing skittering around the bed halls. It's a good thing I found it before nightfall too! Or else someone would have had a very unfortunate sleep, hehe."

"What are you going to do with it?" Eren tapped the glass again, and it hissed at him.

"Why, study it of course!"

"Will Erwin let you do that?"

Hanji paused, her happy face turning blank. She suddenly jumped towards Eren in a panic, "Oh please! Please don't tell him! Or Levi! They'll kill it- it's such a cute little thing- oh please Eren-"

He laughed, and held a hand to her shoulder, "Don't worry, I won't."

"You're a real pal!" She looked so relieved. Eren laughed again, and watched as she locked up the jar in a dark cabinet. "Alright, now time to heal you up."

It was lonely. Everyone else had left on an expedition, and Eren was left behind because he still couldn't fly. His fighting was mediocre at best, and he still hadn't even picked up a sword yet. He wasn't allowed in the briefing room, so he had no idea what his friends were doing or who they were fighting. It was miserable; he wanted to be out there. He wanted to see earth again and he wanted to get out of this bunker. He rolled over in his bed, groaning in annoyance. There was still so much he didn't understand.

Eren knew that what he was doing was stupid and ignorant but he couldn't help it. Curfew was hours ago, but he just had to sneak out of bed and return to the training arena. He had to learn how to fly. He just had to.

He wanted to prove to Levi that he could do this; that he wasn't weak. Every time Levi gave him that disappointed look his stomach plummeted and he wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

And so he ran and jumped and ran and jumped until his elbows and knees were bleeding. His wings felt like lead, but he continued to stand and try. Eren took a deep breath, and tried his best to clear his mind. He took off running and flapped his wings as he threw himself into the air. He managed to stay up longer this time, and was able to hover a moment before his feathers gave out and he collided with the ground. His breath was labored and he panted as he stared at the ground. He let out a shout of anger and aimed a fist at the grass.

"You're not angling your wings right."

Eren let out a shout and looked to Levi who was walking steadily with his hands in his pajama pants. He's always sneaking up on me…how did he-

"I could hear you all the way from the tenth floor." Levi stopped in front of Eren who was kneeling on the ground. He was bloody and gross and was almost ashamed of the man seeing him that way. He was surprised to see a pale hand in front of his face, and he took it graciously. Levi pulled him effortlessly onto his feet and stood back again. "You're going to kill yourself."

"I have to try," Eren looked away in shame, "I want to be useful again."

Levi responded naturally, "Again suggests that you were ever useful at one point." Eren looked away embarrassed. He skeptically looked at Eren, before nodding slowly. "Alright. Then you need to flap your wings like this," Levi unfurled the perfect black wings from his back, and jumped into the air, showing how they moved. It took Eren's breath away. "When you hover, you need to move them up and down. If you want to go somewhere, you need push from front to back. Gravity is bitch but you have to get used to it." He landed his feet back on the ground, and took a few steps back, motioning Eren to try.

Eren breathed, "Okay." And began to run forward. He focused on giving energy to his legs, and pushed his wings down forcefully as he jumped. He was surprised to feel himself launch into the air, and he continued to flap his wings until he was moving forwards at a steady pace. He felt his black wings get heavier, until he was back on the ground again. He rolled a bit, covering himself with more grass and dirt, but looked over at Levi with a huge grin. He put his hands up in the air and yelled, "I did it!"

Levi showed a soft smile on his face before saying, "That landing was terrible. Again."