One hell of a butler preparing a picnic middle of the dead bodies of soldiers and asking for a fancy cup of a tea to a soldier who was ready to ear human flesh…
Dr Stone
An ex-military officer is lighting a cigarette just before petrifaction..
it started out as a random edit and̸̰͚̞̎̀̽̋͠ ̶̖̚͜t̵̲̖̩̑͊̑̋̆̚̚͜u̷̠̱̠̠͌̀̎̈́̃̚r̵̼̥̗̎͠͠n̵̢͇͙̣̯̱̈̽̑̈́̽͒͘e̵̡̝̭͋̀͗͑d̶̮̺͓̙̳͔̃̑̍́̇͐̿ͅ ̷̨̡̖͕̠̪̬̘̬̀͝ï̷̺̯̳͍͖̝̥̿͂̈́̀̽̃̾̿ͅn̷̢̢͍̺̮̯̗̭͍̊͑̒̄̊͌̾͌̅̑̂͑̓͑͌͝t̴̨͍̤͉̘̥͍̒͆̂̾͐͗̕͝o̴̧̮̬̺̦̗̜͔̗̗̒̅͗̇ ̶̧͎̻̝̯̩̜̬͙̹̮̯́̀̾͐̽̍̍̈́͜s̶̢̛̛̛̳͚͈͎̄́̂̀̂̎̽̓̔̈́̄̇́̓̃̄͌̀͋̋̉̚͠͝͝͠ǫ̷͖̩̘͉̹͉̙̣̗̻͇͚̱͚̼͔̱̣͚̻̆̒͒̇͗̃̑̈́͊̊͂̏͌̇̀̀̍͜͝m̸̢̧̯̩̩̹͓̦̤̫͇̺͙̞͖͚͎̜̅̿̇̂̏̔̔͗̃̈̄̅͐̄͑͒͒͒̀̆̾̈́̀̊͌̋͆̚̚͘͝ę̷̡̛̛̦̪̥̪͙̠̻̝̭͕̙͖̱̖̝̣͖̮̩̦̺̰͎̹̙̰͇͍͚͚̭̘̼̘̟̬̲̳͚̤͈͇̖̈́̉͊͊̀̈́̈́̄͌͒̊̊͊̋̋̅̓͗͐͆̾̿̀͆́͆͗͘̕͘̕͝͝͝t̴̘̖̼͔̓͒̾̊̓̈̄͆̆̿̋͊̎̋͒̈́̅͌͂́̄͛̇͆̽̕̕͜͝͝h̸̨͇̟̞̤͉͍̠̺̫̠̤̭̪̣̳̯͕̦͌̈̔͂̌́̌̚ï̷̢̧̨̹̜̗͓̙͚̦͕̞̮̟̱͔͇̹͖̺͔̝̭̹̰̰̗̟͓͓͍̫̘̜̝̯͙̂ͅͅn̸̳̯̬͙̻͙̝̮̖̹͉̹̙̣̱̪͔̫̪̖̳̠̉̋̈̑̾͌̃͐̔͋̂̐͆́̾͌͂͆͐̾̒̌̀͑͗̀͒̅̂͘͘͘̚̕̚͝g̷̢̡̢͙͓̱̻̫̭̝͕͙̯͎̲̘̝͓̦̬̭̞̱̤͈̹͉̭̞̈́͌̀͆̒̔͂̓͂̐͒͂̒̎̆͒̃̒̾͂͗̈́͆̓̎̇͊̔͑̇̿̈̍͌̈́͒͌͌͛̏̚͝͝͝ͅ ̶̨̡̨̨̛̞͍͍̰͇͇͖͉̘̟̥͓̯̰̙̥̘̝̲̹̭̖̳̭̫̟̫̭͚͙̪̲̪͔̤̫̭̗̤̭̭̇̐̑̒̽͊̍̀͌͑̄̈́̇̂̈́̆̐̋̓̆̔̅̾̓́̅͆̆͐̽̾̾̽̇̏́̀͒̕͘̕ͅͅh̶̛̲̫̊̿̿̃̂̐͆̇͌̓͊͑͂̽̎̊̀̓̅̌̀̿̇̓͑͘̚͘̚͝͝͠͝͝ͅö̵̢̳͓̻̝̱͈̰̖̫̫̭͇̟̺̱̫͉̰̤͎̝͖͍͕̟͓̣̫̥́̀̒̍͌̈͐̾̏͛͜͝ȑ̵̡̨̢̨̢̰̭̦̦͓̣̰͇͈̱̯͇͍̩̻͇͔͚̹͔̼̲̘̹̅͂̒̈́͛͗͋̓̿́ͅͅr̵̢̛̦̜͙̲̦͉̮̱̱͉̙͚̪̯̦̻̻̗̞̼̙̈́̀̇̉̽̅͂̈́̽̍̉̄̔̈́̄͂̂͋͊̈̀̐̏̒͗͊͌̐̄̃̎̕͜͝͝͠͝͠i̵͔͇̩͙͓̇͐̔̀̈́͐̒̅̓̐͆̏̉̄̀̆̇̾̎̀̎͂̑̽̔̊̎̍͛̚̚̕̕͘͝͝͠͝b̷̢̡̧̞͇̞̤̥̠͎̝̼͈͔̠̯̪͎̞̹̩͕̦̒̿̈́́̃̀̐̍̓̾̒̓́͂͂̍͌̆̎̃̔̿̈́̽͋̽̽͊̚͘ͅḻ̶̝͎̠̻͉̠̝̦̱̰̲͉̲̍̐̾̆̉͜ͅͅḙ̶̡̩̺̋͂̓̾̾̅̌͛́̈́̀̐̂̀̈́̾̾͐̾̈́̔͠͠
It’s Ironic that the guy who gave us one of the most horrific endings in all of anime gives us one of the most beautiful endings in all of manga, as it is quite unexpected that the last panel would show Griffith tearing up while speaking to Guts, which makes this cliffhanger much more than satisfying and unsatisfying but eternally eerie.
Through closed eyelids, she could still feel the light beaming through the glass window; washing over everything in the room; including her physiognomy. Her arm extended against the mattress; as though she was blindly searching for the contact of cool skin under her fingertips.
But, all she did was graze over the washed out duvet cover. Blinking rapidly, she carefully slipped her eyes open, arching her back as she stretched- like a slender cat equipping herself for a heavy day out on the cobbled streets of Trost.
She had memorized the room’s layout all too well; every single detail etching itself into the back of her brain as she recollected the heated position she had been placed in by Captain Levi. Gingerly, Eden pressed her fingertips against her lips; the taste of him still lingering, the softened flesh cracked and bruised.
According to her muddled up thoughts; she had passed out in the bed after being gifted with the carnal opportunity of kissing Captain Ackerman. The thought of his blown-out pupils gazing down at her in such a wanton way made heat rush through her body like adrenaline; despite the fact that she had only just woken up a few minutes prior.
The harnesses lay draped over the armchair; her body clothed with just her shirt and her pants. Eden was way too anxious to remove her clothing during the night; afraid that Levi’s glinting, silver eyes would scorch her body and she’d give in way too easily.
Resting her back against the headboard; she looked through the window with a blank look painted on her face; her knees pressed against her chest. She wondered where he had gone; whether he regretted it all, whether he wanted more.
Whether he was feeling the same way she was.
The front door creaked open and the sound of boots resonated through the spacious room. Eden’s eyes flitted towards the motion; only to be met with Levi’s uniformed back as he moved to close the door behind him.
Once he turned back in her direction; his eyes widened at the feline look that bore through him. He had two teacups in his hand; the steam grazing across his palms as it ascended out from the liquid.
“I brought you tea.” Levi spoke first in a low voice as he stalked across the room; gently handing Eden one of the teacups before lowering himself to sit beside her.
“Thank you,” she replied, shyly accepting the beverage with an unsteady hand and flustered cheeks. Levi regarded her intently through hooded eyes as her lips pressed against the orifice of the cup.
The tea was sweet and fruity- almost floral. Her stomach flipped when Levi rested his hand on the top of her knee.
Putting the teacup back onto the saucer resting on the nightstand; Eden perked up against the headboard, amber eyes glued to dull leaden-blue ones. His hand began trailing up her thigh. Her lungs begged for air as her heart grew stuck in her throat; lips parting slightly.
“I liked watching you struggle under me last night,” Levi breathed out; the hand on her thigh growing stronger. His words were like molten lava flaming her entire body up.
Levi swiftly used the grip on her body to pull her downwards, her head falling back into the pillows. Within a matter of seconds, he moved his body to tower over her, the darkened glint in his eyes revealing carnal fantasies making Eden’s own eyes widen. His knee pressed in between her legs as he lowered his head; promptly capturing her lips with his. She hissed at the sensation of his knee brushing against her; her arms snaking around his neck as she deepened the kiss.
His lips were gentler as opposed to the kisses he had peppered her with the night before. They were silky and smooth; but sharp enough to slice through the built-up tension in the room. Letting out a low, guttural groan, Eden’s body arched into him as his hand roamed her body over her clothes. His fingertips dragged painfully slowly over the curve of her breast, following the path along her slender waist before finally settling to squeeze her hip.
Eden let out another softened mewl against his lips when his own hips brushed against hers and his kisses grew more brutal. Her sweet sounds caused the Captain to hiss in pleasure against her lips; teeth sinking into her bottom lip.
“You’re being a tease,” the girl groaned as he sucked on her lip, a subdued growl reverberating out of him as he slipped his eyes shut.
“Where’s the pleasure in the lack of torture, brat?” His cool fingers raked through her hair before tucking on the locks lightly; causing her chin to jut out to the side. He used her angled head to kiss her neck; deeply enjoying the way Eden’s eyes fluttered closed, her fingers gliding over his sharp undercut.
Eden felt like time was slipping through her fingers in such a rapid pace. It was like the next breath she took was about an hour later; when both her and the Captain’s lips were bruised and swollen.
He left her to change in peace and as Eden clasped the hook of her green cape around her neck, the scent of his cologne overwhelmed her senses once more. Every little flicker of her eye, every pant she took, every sensation that garnished her fingertips caused her to immediately think back to him.
She had never known what the term ‘forbidden fruit’ had meant until she was met with Levi’s cold lips.
Much to her surprise, Levi had offered to take her out on a tour around Trost. Albeit the painful memories of her first battle within this district playing out behind her eyes; she accepted, listening intently to the way the Captain informed her about another, undisclosed task that was hushed-up between himself and Commander Erwin.
Walking side-by-side, Eden refrained from asking why he had made her wait for him outside a sketchy pub. He came back out hastily, his eyes disinterested and narrowed- the clench of his jaw revealing that whomever he had met with inside the establishment, had also left him with a bitter taste on his tongue.
The passers stole nervous glances at the two soldiers; but neither of them paid any attention as they walked along the paved streets of the busy district.
“I remember this area. I believe this was the place you and I met for the first time,” Eden broke the comfortable silence, extending an arm to indicate the familiar rooftop from which she had sprinted off in order to save her friends from an impending death during the Battle of Trost.
Levi’s eyes flickered towards the highlighted region before letting out an agitated sigh, his eyes shifting away quickly. “Yes. I had only known you for perhaps less than thirty seconds and your temerity managed to piss me off beyond anything.”
Eden huffed under her breath, running a hand through her hair in irritation. She didn’t know what had possessed her to loop an arm around his when he quickened his pace.
But, she couldn’t ignore the way Levi’s body stiffened. His steps grew slower and the way they walked so close to one another caused their capes to mangle and brush with each step.
They strode back towards the lodging; but Levi redirected their strides in a different direction. It was narrow, colder and darker than the sunny, open streets they had previously walked through.
“A shortcut,” was all he had said in response to the quizzical look he felt pierce through the side of his face.
Within the darkened alleyway; Eden’s heart began racing as she imagined an opportunity to feel his lips against hers once more arise. As if he could read every single fleeting thought in her head, Levi grabbed the arm laced through his; pressing her up against the cold wall with a thud.
No time was wasted on words as his mouth found hers urgently, as though her lips were the only source of water in the entire district. His palms lay against either side of her face as he drank her in; his body leaning against hers when Eden’s knees threatened to give out. Her nails dragged against the path of his neck as she called for him softly, her brows laced together revealing just how much pleasure Levi’s touch was bringing her.
Her tongue dragged itself against his bottom lip, tasting the sweetness of the tea he was previously drinking. There was something about the way Levi’s lips tasted that left Eden feeling utterly intoxicated.
The Captain pulled away from her swiftly, his breathing unsteady, his pupils blown out. His lips curled up lightly in a wicked smirk as he watched Eden’s messed-up persona- her mangled locks, parted lips and drunken look on her face.
“Don’t you think your disheveled appearance calls for punishment, brat?” Levi’s dull voice rippled through the silence, causing Eden to straighten up and arch a brow at him.
She glided her palms over her uniform, clearing her throat under his scrutinizing stare. “What happens when my appearance is solely caused by your doings, Captain?”
The smirk deepened, the twitches in his jaw visible in the darkness and he stepped forward, brushing his fingers through her hair.
Shoving the strands behind her ear, he leaned in, the sensation of his iced lips scraping her ear sending chills along the path of her spine. “That means you have no one to go sob to if I ever decide to discipline you for it, Chiasa.”
Riding back to the Headquarters was comforting. They eased into a relaxing conversation and Eden’s cheeks would flush ever so often. Her horse stood galloping within close proximity to the Captain’s and the glacier winds grazed her face, numbing it completely.
“You can be honest and admit to enjoying my company, Captain,” Eden asserted through a large grin, the corners of her amber eyes crinkling when Levi glanced in her direction.
“Tch,” he scoffed, but his somewhat nonchalant mask revealed how unbothered he was by her playful demeanor. “If you’re just trying to rank up by messing around with your Captain, that’s not how it works, brat.”
His snarky response caught the girl off-guard and she let out a high-pitched, sheepish laugh. Levi’s head snapped back towards her; staring at her in wonder. This was perhaps the first time Eden had let out a hearty, full and raw laugh.
She cringed at herself, lowering her head, allowing her hair to curtain her blazing cheeks.
“But, we do make a good team,” Levi spoke once more, easing his horse into a slower gallop as soon as its pants began ringing through the wilderness.
“Oh? I apologize for the confusion, but was that a compliment?” Eden inquired, finally lifting her head after taming the blossoming blush that had engraved itself into her skin.
The Captain hummed flatly over the clattering sound of hooves. After a long pause, his deep voice asserted itself into the space between them. “Take it as you will. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if you stopped doubting everything I say to you.”
Eden chewed on her bottom lip as she listened to his voice. It was like she was in trance, afraid to think about how quickly she’d agree to any sort of order Levi sends her way.
Lost in the vortex of her thoughts, the girl nearly missed the words that slipped through his lips.
Nearly.
“I don’t like seeing you with Kirstein.”
It was so out of the blue, Eden couldn’t respond to him immediately. Silence settled around them as the sun slowly began descending into its usual space for slumber.
“What do you mean?” Her eyes were trained ahead of her, her knuckles growing white as the palms holding onto her horse’s reins became increasingly dampened with sweat.
“It’s hard to believe you’re actually this dense, Eden,” Levi countered, his own knuckles growing paler as he finally urged his horse to gallop faster. Eden followed him, trying her best to match his pace.
“Anyway,” he continued coolly, the shift in his demeanor causing Eden to physically become overwhelmed with dread. “That’s all I wanted to say.”
“Jean is just a friend,” she replied in irritation, very much aware of the way his head craned back towards her, eyes narrowed and filled with displeasure.
“Didn’t seem like that when I caught you two in the stables. Or when I came to visit you in the infirmary…-”
“I’ll have you know, Captain,” she sliced through his words, lucid rage overwhelming her as each syllable trickled out of his mouth.
“Jean and I are just friends. Yes, we’ve had our moments, but that was it. Just moments. And when you saw him with me in the medical quarters; it’s because he came to tell me he couldn’t do anything with me anymore. He also let me in on the fact that it was not his name I called out when he saved me from the titan…it was yours.” She took a deep breath before her furrowed brows raised. “Still feeling jealous?”
He didn’t respond. In fact, Levi didn’t even look at her. His gaze was focused straight ahead at the forthcoming sight of the familiar trees surrounding their base.
After a while, all he did was scoff.
Arriving back at the headquarters was very anticlimactic.
Levi was back to being cold and butthurt and Eden could only seethe in silence. He strapped his horse away in the stables and stalked off, not even shedding Eden a single flicker of eye contact.
Despite the irritation coiling inside her body, the girl continued on with her day as usual- going to greet her friends and spend some time with Sasha and Connie.
Sometime later in the afternoon, the sensation of overthinking ebbed at her consciousness way too much for her to handle. So, balling her palms into fists, Eden marched towards the Corporal’s office.
Just as her knuckles were about to rap against his door for the very first time; it creaked open, and she was met with Levi’s widened eyes.
“Ah. I was just looking for you, brat.”
She blushed, lashes flickering downwards as the color painted her cheeks sweetly. Following him back inside the office, her stomach was plagued with butterflies that never stopped fluttering around. Levi abruptly spun back to face her; his eyes glinting with a strange flame that lay unknown in Eden’s book.
“I wanted to give you something,” he murmured, stepping closer to her. “Close your eyes.”
Eden watched at him with wide eyes, unsure as to how she had to react. Levi’s head tilted to the side, the longer strands of raven-hair in sync with his movements. “Do you trust me?”
She swallowed hard and barely managed to utter out a weak- “Sure?”
His nod was the last thing she saw before slipping her eyes shut; nervousness overwhelming her. She listened to the way his boots echoed around the office; the sound of a door creaking open. Her palms grew sweaty and her heart was racing.
His footsteps began growing closer, until she felt his presence burst through her personal space. “Give me your hand,” he instructed her in a creamy smooth tone that sent chills through her bloodstream.
Eden did exactly that, feeling the way his fingers gripped at her wrist, guiding her hand outwards. She stiffened when her own fingers captured something that had the texture of hardened wood. Pulling her hand away, she jumped back, as though she had been burnt with fire. Levi was watching her intently, a broomstick in hand.
“Go clean the stables.”
Her dumbfounded expression was the only thing filling the silence for a very long moment. “Are you being serious right now?”
Levi cocked a brow as he stepped forward, handing her the broomstick once more. “Am I ever ‘not serious’ about cleaning?”
With a huff and the clench of her teeth, Eden snatched the broom out of his grasp before stalking out of his office- feeling even more outraged.
Cleaning seemed to do justice to her nerves. Being surrounded by nothing but dirt and things that needed to be organized tended to Eden’s thoughts and slowly she began feeling like each time she straightened out one part of the stables; another slice of her anger wore off somewhere into the distance.
Not long after, gentle footsteps brushed against the stable floor, a sweet voice pulling Eden out of her daydreams.
“Mikasa,” she greeted her childhood best friend warmly, walking over to rapidly throw her arms around her.
The girl returned the sudden embrace before grabbing her by the shoulders, onyx eyes taking in her ragged appearance.
“What happened? How was the mission?”
Eden’s ears quickly grew red as she stepped back, nervously laughing. “What do you mean? Everything went fine? Why would you ask me that, heh…”
Her defensive demeanor did not go unnoticed by the 104th Training Corps’ top soldier who in turn narrowed her eyes at the girl. Mikasa quirked a brow and a low sigh escaped through Eden’s lips.
“The change of setting was pleasant. Everything went well. But, the man we met with was disgusting. He kept sending the most vile remarks my way; I don’t even wanna think about it. He was just gross.” She cringed at the memory as she spoke.
Mikasa glared at her friend, her arms folding across her chest. “And what? Captain Shorty just stood there and said nothing? Unbelievable…-”
“No no no!” Eden quickly interrupted her, rubbing the back of her neck as her cheeks grew pink. “He was the one who stepped in and warned Reeves not to speak to me like that. It was a nice gesture…”
The girl opposite her stared into amber eyes, her own black ones widening as she extended one hand to point at her. “What’s with that look on your face, Eden?”
Eden pursed her lips, trying her best to calm any raging blush that tried settling against her skin. “What look, Mikasa? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Blackened jewels for eyes narrowed even more. “You’re an open book to me; don’t forget that.”
The sound of approaching boots crunched against the pebbles. Eden frowned deeply and Mikasa turned to glance behind her shoulder. Giving Eden’s arm a gentle squeeze, the female Ackerman gave her a faint smile before stepping away.
“You’ll tell me about him when you’re ready.”
Both Ackerman soldiers stiffly nodded as they passed each other. Eden stared at the Captain that inched closer; his bored stare bouncing from one surface to another. She waited for him to say something, but the man took his sweet time checking the stables and her work.
“Did I do something wrong?” She finally couldn’t take it anymore, her frown carefully turning into a scowl as her eyes followed his moves.
Levi slowly turned back to face her, his eyes finally resting against the frame of her face. “Yeah. Your cleaning is atrocious. Go over everything again.”
Eden watched him walk away with her mouth wide open. When she was sure he was definitely out of sight, she swore loudly before kicking a bucket of water across the brushed-out ground.
Whatever. I gotta redo everything, anyway.
An hour later, he was back. His eyes were a softer shade of grey, but he still maintained his distance, much to Eden’s growing displeasure.
With a tight nod, Levi approved her cleaning before jutting his chin towards the exit. “Let’s go. We’ll debrief with Commander Erwin.”
She sulkily followed him out of the stables, albeit the way her heart melted when he sent her a sideways glance that disappeared as quickly as it arrived.
This time, the Corporal led her into an unfamiliar office. The layout was definitely similar to Levi’s office; but the window behind the desk was larger and grander. Deep down, Eden preferred the comforts of Levi’s meticulously sterilized office more than Erwin’s one.
The Commander stood to his feet when the pair walked in, brushing Eden’s salute away nonchalantly. His full height intimidated Eden and it took all within her not to visibly shrink in her boots.
“Captain Levi…soldier Chiasa…it’s good to see you’re back. I can safely assume everything went according to plan?”
“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Levi drawled out, scowling deeply at the way Erwin’s lips curved into a impish smirk. Eden chose to look down at her boots as Levi summarized the gist of their assignment to the attentive Commander who had leaned back down into his chair, his elbows resting against the wood of his desk, fingers linked together.
His brows raised at the mention of Reeves’ attitude towards Eden. “When I send my Scouts out on a mission; I do not intend for such things to happen. However, sometimes it’s inevitable as there are all sorts of animals- not only beyond the walls; but within them too. And for that, I feel the need to apologize to you, Eden.”
Her cheeks pinkened and she immediately looked down at the floor once more. “I understand that as soldiers, not all situations are pleasant. Regardless of whether it’s during a fight with a titan or when it’s just having a simple conversation with a merchant. Thank you, Commander, but you don’t need to apologize. Captain Levi stepped in and put him in his place, anyhow.”
When Eden looked up, she saw the same devious smirk plastered against Erwin’s features. His ocean eyes glinted under the faint light emitted from the several oil lamps situated around the room. She even got the chance to notice Levi’s sharp glower that was directed towards the blond man.
Erwin nodded and muttered something under his breath, his eyes flickering off the Captain and onto the perplexed girl. “Isn’t that wonderful? Well, thank you for the information and your presence. You’re dismissed, soldier. Levi, please stay behind.”
Clasping her fist over her heart, Eden bid both men a good evening before walking out of the office hastily.
Walking through the corridors, her mind couldn’t stop rewinding the look that was carved onto Erwin’s face; the twinkle in his eyes, the stretched out smirk against his lips and the way his eyes kept holding the Corporal’s stare before flickering back to her.
