Ten minutes later…
The forest was quiet again. A few leaves fluttered down, stirred by the wind.
Levi clapped his hands as if dusting off a job well done and asked coldly,
"So, you said I'm not your opponent now?"
Under a tall tree, Zeke Jaeger—183 centimeters of miserable dignity—sat crouched with his knees drawn to his chest. His face was red and swollen, his hair disheveled, his eyes watery with frustration.
He looked less like a fearsome Beast Titan and more like a scolded schoolboy.
"Stop staring at me," Levi said flatly. "Pack up. We're going back."
Zeke's eyes went wide. "I'm not going back!" he roared, his voice hoarse with defiance. "Why should I go with you? If I go back, your damned Survey Corps will just throw me in a cage and experiment on me like a monster!"
Levi raised a brow. "So what do you want?"
"...Kill you!" Zeke shouted, voice shaking with fury.
Levi blinked. "Hmm?" He drew one of his blades with a soft shing.
Zeke instantly flinched, hunching his shoulders. He hated himself for it.
Three transformations in twenty-four hours had drained him to the core. His body ached, his bones trembled, and he could barely move.
Even if he could transform again, it would end the same way
He'd still be cut down by him.
"Then just eat me!" Zeke blurted, half out of despair, half madness.
Levi stared at him for a long second. Then, deadpan:
"Eat you? I'm not a Titan. I don't eat people."
Zeke froze, then remembered—right.
Levi Ackerman.
The one bloodline in all of Eldia that couldn't turn into Titans.
"Don't use your freak Titan logic on us humans," Levi said sharply. "We eat food, not people."
Zeke puffed out his cheeks in frustration. (＞皿＜)
"Let's go back," Levi repeated.
"I said I'm not going back!" Zeke roared.
"So you want me to beat you again and drag you?" Levi asked, already drawing his blade. "Fine by me. Transform, Beast. Let's see who wins round four."
Zeke's face went pale. "I'm not changing!" he cried. "(T皿T)"
"Then carry your brother and come along," Levi ordered, sheathing his sword.
Zeke froze. His gaze slowly shifted to the boy lying unconscious on the grass.
Eren.
"Why don't you carry him?" Zeke asked quietly.
"Huh?" Levi turned his head, looking offended. "Why the hell should I carry your brother?"
Zeke's eyes softened, a tremor in his voice. "Please… please, help me carry Eren back. I'm begging you."
For a moment, Levi hesitated.
But Zeke's words kept spilling out—soft, pained, almost like a confession.
He'd finally held his little brother.
Finally touched him.
Finally had the chance to save him.
But he knew the truth.
Eren, now bearing the Founding Titan, could never again touch anyone of royal blood. Not without awakening the power of the Paths.
And Zeke… was the worst possible person to touch him.
The key.
The catalyst.
The danger that could doom them all.
That tiny, fragile human boy before him was both salvation and apocalypse.
"No," Levi said firmly, breaking the moment. "Your brother, your problem." He turned away. "Tch."
"Hey! I'm counting on you!" Zeke shouted after him, desperation creeping back into his tone. "I can't—"
"Can't what? Can't even carry your brother?" Levi asked, puzzled.
Zeke bit his lip. "...Nothing."
He couldn't say it.
He couldn't let anyone inside the Walls know that Eren Jaeger now carried the Founding Titan.
But maybe…
Maybe if he just touched him for a moment—
At worst, they'd only be drawn into the Paths again.
He could risk that. He could speak with Eren there, face to face, maybe even reach an understanding.
At least little Eren at this age would be easier to reason with.
(Much easier than that lunatic future Eren. ✓)
So, carefully, he lifted his brother onto his back.
That's when he noticed something in Eren's small, clenched hand—
A pair of glasses.
Their father's.
Zeke's jaw tightened. "That bastard…"
He adjusted his grip on Eren and waited for the familiar pull of the Paths.
But nothing happened.
No light.
No sand.
No Ymir.
Just silence.
Zeke frowned. "..."
Was it because Eren was unconscious?
Or… did entering the Paths require Eren's will as the Founding Titan?
He remembered Grisha—how even when their father had touched him before, the "Path" only opened when Grisha wanted it.
So it was true then.
The Founder's power lay dormant unless its holder chose to awaken it.
And right now, Eren Jaeger was nothing more than a boy lost in sleep.
"Where's your father?" Levi asked suddenly, breaking his thoughts.
Zeke stiffened.
"If I remember right, you came here chasing him and your brother," Levi continued.
Zeke's voice trembled slightly. "I… don't know. When I got here, he was gone."
"You want to look for him?"
"No."
"Fine," Levi said. "My mission's just to bring you back anyway."
He started walking.
Zeke followed quietly, the sound of their boots crunching against the forest floor.
The sunlight pierced through the trees, painting golden streaks on the ground.
What a perfect day to die, Zeke thought bitterly. Blue sky, warm sun, the smell of grass everywhere…
His throat tightened. He blinked rapidly to keep the tears from falling.
Finally, he spoke. "Hey, Levi. Can I ask you something?"
"Hm?"
"If one day," Zeke said slowly, "someone fell in front of you—a person who, you know for sure, will destroy the world in the future… would you still save him?"
Levi didn't answer. The question hung in the air, heavy as stone.
Zeke laughed quietly. A humorless sound. "Heh. Thought so."
But then—
"I don't know what kind of chuunibyou nonsense you're talking about," Levi said at last, glancing over his shoulder. "But that person—you're talking about your brother, aren't you?"
Zeke froze.
He hadn't said Eren's name. Not once.
But Levi knew.
He always did.
Levi turned back, his tone softer now. "I don't know what choice you'll make. But if you do make one, don't regret it. Regret just chains you to the past. Every decision you make only exists to guide you to the next one."
Zeke blinked, stunned.
Then a small, sad smile tugged at his lips.
For most people, there was no next one.
You destroyed the world once, and that was it.
But for him—
He'd been given a second chance.
"Before saving the world, I want to save the one and only you first."
That was what he'd said in his previous life.
And this time… it was still true.
Whether it meant saving the world, or burning it all down—
He would save the unique him first.
To be continued…
...
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@AdrianRoss