Armin and Krista stood in the cover of the trees as they looked up at the castle where their friends were held captive. They had no idea what had happened to them, but it didn't take Jean long to announce the news that he and Eren would be wed the in three days time. Armin found himself wondering what could have happened to cause Eren to agree to marrying him, maybe Levi's life was on the line? That seemed the most likely scenario, otherwise Eren would have never agreed. The blond felt powerless, with only Krista left to comfort him. Ymir mentioned that they should get help but who would they find? The villagers would never be willing to attempt an jailbreak. They had no weapons to defend themselves with and Jean wouldn't think twice about killing them for treason.

"What do we do now, Armin?" The female blonde asked sadly, bringing the other out of his trail of thought and glance at her, noticing the tears in her eyes. Armin frowned and held her hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"I'm not sure." He replied as the other sniffled and wiped her eyes. "What can we do? I am weak and useless… I can't save them."

"M-Me neither…" Krista mumbled, sitting down against a tree and hugging her knees. "Maybe we can find someone who can?" She asked, resting her head on her knees and trying to think of something, anything they can do to stop this.

"Like who?" Armin questioned, sighing deeply.

"The king?"

"King Grisha? But he is all the way in London."

"You're right…" Krista sighed in defeat. "We'll never get there in time to stop this." She hid her face in her hands, tears running down her cheeks as they thought of what could be happening to Ymir inside that castle when the sound of a horse neighing caught her attention, making her lift her head up, a lightbulb going off in her brain. "Maybe not on foot." She quickly got to her feet and ran to the source of the neighing, dragging along a stumbling Armin by the hand. Armin found himself brought to a large white horse, already tacked up in a rather expensive saddle and bridle. It must have been one of the guards horses.

"On horseback?" Armin gasped, resting a hand on the horse's nose as it leant down to investigate him. "But Krista, you said you couldn't ride a h-"

"I can't." Krista interrupted, shoving the reins into Armin's hands. "But you can."

"Me?!"

"Yes. You need to travel to London and find a way to convince the king to come back." Krista explained but the other just shook head, frowning.

"He wouldn't listen to me." He mumbled.

"You're Eren's best friend. He will listen to you." She assured him, holding the horse still as he reluctantly got into the saddle. "I'll watch over things here, now go!" Armin took a deep breath, psyching himself up before nodding and wishing Krista good luck. He then galloped off into the distance and out of sight.

~X~X~X~X~

That night inside the castle, Prince Jean made his way down into the dungeons to pay a certain prisoner a little visit. He wanted to make sure Reiner had took his advice and gave Ackerman Hood what he deserved. Even if he couldn't do it himself, he would still enjoy watching the other being beaten down by someone else on his orders. The wannabe king stepped towards the door, already able to hear the sounds of Levi's pained groans before Annie had even opened the door. Once the door was open, he walked inside and grinned at the sight before him. Levi's once light green shirt was now stained a deep red and his clothing was torn from the force of the kicks and punches. The male was covered in cuts and bruises. It seemed Reiner really did follow his advice.

"What's this?" Jean taunted, chuckling to himself as Levi was too weak to even lift his head up to look at the other. If he hadn't recognised the voice, he wouldn't have even known who had just entered the room. Upon seeing the Prince, Reiner removed the chains from the wall, making Levi drop to his knees with a thud and a pained cry. "The notorious Ackerman Hood, chained and beaten. I can't say i'm disappointed…" He grabbed the other by the hair, forcibly lifting his head up to face him, earning a deep whimper from the raven haired male. "I would have given away all my gold just to see you like this. Luckily I don't have to. I finally have you right where I want you." Levi coughed and chuckled faintly.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't have a beastiality kink." It took a few moments for Jean to realise what Levi meant but as soon as he did, he began to blush and growl angrily, tugging his hair hard.

"You insolent little-" He managed to calm himself and took a deep breath, letting go of his hair and stepping back. "It doesn't matter, you'll be dead soon anyway. Meanwhile i'll have your precious Prince all to myself." Levi could feel his heart sink at the thought of that. Jean ofcourse could tell that Levi was hurt by that comment and chuckled darkly. "Doesn't that make you angry, hm~? Imagining someone else's hands being all over him?" He taunted.

"Shut up…" Levi hissed weakly.

"Oh maybe I hit a nerve~" Jean teased, grinning before continuing. "I'll make sure you stay alive long enough to hear him screaming my name~" With that, Levi had really had enough.

"You piece of shit!" With all the strength he had, he lunged at Jean, wrapping the chains around his neck and holding them there while the other shrieked in fright. Annie and Reiner were about to come to the Prince's rescue when Levi yelled. "Don't fucking move or he dies!" He warned. The others did as they were told and stayed put. "Now open that door!" Levi ordered, but the others didn't move, unsure whether to do as Levi told them.

"D-Do as he says!" Jean cried and the Sheriff quickly moved to open the cell door.

"That's it." Levi said, stepping out, still holding the chains to Jean's neck. "Now let the others free." Once again they hesitated. "NOW!" He snapped. Reiner fiddled with the keys, missing the hole for the lock a few times before finally opening the door and letting Levi's team members free. The group ran up the stairs and out of the dungeon, all except for Hanji who stopped and looked at him worriedly.

"Levi…?" She called, reaching a hand out to him.

"Go. I'll be right behind you." He assured her. The female nodded and swiped the keys to Levi's chains from Reiners hands before running up the stairs to catch up with the others. Once he knew the others were a safe distance away, Levi released Jean, pushing him into Reiner and causing them both to topple over. He then ran up the stairs as fast as his weak legs would carry him to join Hanji who was waiting for him. She quickly removed the chains from his hands, just in time to start running as Annie reached the top of the stairs and chased after them. "Everyone get to the front doors!" Levi yelled as he ran with his group down the halls, only to be greeted by a bunch of guards stood in front of it. The group skidded to a halt.

"Change of plan! Out of the window!" Hanji cried, leading the others to a large open window. One by one they jumped out and into the moat below, then swam to the safety of the forest nearby. Levi was about to jump out when he stopped, a sudden realisation coming to his mind.

"Eren!" He gasped. "Hanji, get out of here! I need to go find Eren!" He said before running in the direction of the stairs up to the bedroom's. He didn't know which one was Eren's but he just assumed he'd have to guess.

"Levi!" Hanji protested, but the male was already gone. "Ugh, men!" She groaned before diving out of the window and into the waters beneath. Levi turned a corner and down a hall when he was stopped by none other than Annie, sword in hand.

"Nowhere to run, Ackerman." She said, smirking darkly.

"Annie..." Levi growled, pure hate in his eyes.

"What's the matter, Levi? Still mad at me for killing that girl?" The blond teased.

"Petra didn't deserve to die."

"Maybe not, but you do." Annie lunged at Levi who narrowly ducked her attack and ran down the hall she had once been blocking. Well that was one way to get her to move out of his way. Little did he know that he'd knocked over a lit torch off the wall as he dodged her attack, which took no time in starting to set the carpets on fire behind them. Annie blinked in surprise, wondering where the raven haired male went before noticing him running off down the halls. "Get back here, you coward and fight me!" She yelled in frustration, running after him. Levi ran into a nearby room, slamming the door shut and putting a wardrobe in front of it to stop the blond following him inside. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he could finally have a few moments to concentrate on the task at hand, finding Eren.

Eren on the other hand was just getting into bed when he was interrupted by the sound of someone running into his room and moving furniture around, followed by the sounds of someone angrily thumping on the door. He sat up in his bed and his heart skipped a beat when he saw who was standing by his bedroom door.

"Levi?" Levi blinked and turned around to see Eren looking back at him, seemingly just as surprised as he was.

"Eren!" He ran over to the brunette pulling him into a hug and kissing him passionately. Eren pulled back first, his eyes flying wide with concern upon seeing the state Levi was in, all cuts and bruises, covered in blood.

"Levi, what did they do to you?" He asked worriedly, cupping his face in his hands. "Jean promised-"

"Yeah but that didn't mean Reiner couldn't beat the shit out of me." Levi said, shaking his head and grabbing the boys hand. "But it doesn't matter, we need to go." He began to look around for a way out and decided to climb from window ledge to window ledge until he reached a room nearer the front doors so they could make their getaway. But upon seeing how many guards were standing there, he decided they need a plan B. He climbed in through the nearest window and into the room. It was Prince Jeans room.

"If we go left down the hall, we can go the servants quarters and out the window into the moat!" Eren explained, running towards the halls, hand in hand with Levi. He was about to turn the corner when a blaze of flames made him jump back. The fallen torch had set the whole floor beneath alight and had travelled up to the next floor. There was no way of reaching the servants quarters now, their only way to go was up to the top floor. The flames seemed to follow them five steps behind and exhaustion was finally starting to set in for Levi. They reached the very top room, Levi entering first, but Eren didn't get to follow as some of the door frame came down, burning wood blocking the Prince from getting inside. Before Levi knew it, the whole room was engulfed in flames and blocking the doorway, the only source of Levi's escape.

"Levi!" Eren cried from the hallway, unable to reach him.

"Get out of here!" He yelled. "I'll be fi-" The air left his lungs as he felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked back to see Annie holding a knife which she had just jabbed into his side.

"I'm not done with you yet, Ackerman." She growled, yanking the knife away and stepping back as Levi fell to his knees.

"Levi, are you okay?!" Eren called worriedly, trying to get in but Reiner pulled him away and down the stairs, the boy squirming in protest. "Let me go! He's hurt! I know he is!"

"You're not getting out of here alive!" Annie yelled as she raised the knife again to strike him, when there was a loud rumble from above them. Without warning, a roof beam came down and crushed Annie, Levi just managing to get out of the way before it crushed him too. Now there he was, stuck in this crumbling room with only one way out, the window. He scrambled to his feet and onto the roof, dragging himself to the top with the flames surrounding him. He had no choice, he had to jump. But he was on the top floor and it was at least a thirty foot drop between him and the water.

Reiner had managed to bring Eren all the way down to the stairs and out of the castle to safety when the Prince turned to look back as they stood on the drawbridge. The sight he saw made him feel like his whole world turned upside down. Levi had jumped from the roof and was plummeting down into the water. He hit the water with a huge splash, followed by Jean screaming the words

"Kill him!" Causing guards to fire arrows into the water. Everything from that point on was like slow motion, Levi emerged for a few seconds before the arrows appeared and he sunk back underwater and out of sight again. All that rose back up to the surface was blood. Eren dropped to his knees, screaming and crying while Hanji and the others stayed in the trees, shocked by what they just saw. Levi was gone. It was all over.