Author's Note:

Notes will be at the end.

Enjoy the read,

braze.

PSA: I own nothing but original content.

The awakening sun looked otherworldly in this world. Much larger than the one she found herself accustomed to and strangely, more interactive.

Erza enjoyed long rides here, swallowing in the surrounding landscape. However, the tendency to score the world around her was something she gained since her first mission in Fairy Tail. She would bath in the scenery around her and appreciate things from the flowers to the people, she would even try to bring a piece of it back home with her.

However, at this hour, the sun had not even peaked its lashes. There was a soft dark blue that painted the sky and instead of basking in such a night Erza was spending her time running consecutive laps on the dry grass.

All with Captain Levi staring down at her.

The man watched her with stony pupils, narrowed and rigid. His chiseled face tight and refusing to let a drop of anything but indifference leak. With a black long-sleeved shirt clinging to him and mud-brown long pants. While she was donned in her uniform, his outfit and appearance showed the unruly and unbelievable hour that the two were in.

Erza could argue that the man had done this out of spite.

Levi had the ferocity of a demon when the captains stumbled into Erwin's office, while Hange was the riding the clouds and Mike was silent. The deadly soldier made his disdain clear to the commander and when he was reminded of the fact he was to be training the bloody woman he vehemently refused.

"The amount of reasons I have to skewer your head unto a pike have doubled." Levi growled out viciously as steely eyes clashed with wide ones. "Just know that."

Erwin intertwined his hands together, "if she is under your jurisdiction then you can train her how you deem fit." Erwin stopped then continued, "However, I'm not insinuating that you should use your authority to punish her as a means for revenge."

"Oh but you are." Levi replied callously.

Hange shook her head and placed her hands akimbo. "Don't you find it highly immature to punish a child over a spar?" Levi simply scowled, "that's no brat."

"Her features are quite young, at the very least in early adulthood but a woman nonetheless." Mike commented and Hange nodded in agreement, "though, I see your doubt, Levi. Her body is quite endowed."

"Like I give a shit about that."

"You'd be lying if you were to say you hadn't noticed."

"Which is another thing that keeps me confused," Hange said, her hands left her hips, and she placed a nail between her lips. "Her body looks quite supple, there is no definitive muscle (as much as I am aware) and nothing about her skin looks tough and callous." The scientist looked up, greeting the eyes that fell 'pon her. "Of course, during the spar I reasoned that she relied on agility and speed instead of strength but then…"

"She broke Levi's sword." Mike finished and Hange nodded. Levi scowled with a swift turn of his head and Erwin simply stared.

"Right, at the very least it should've injured her." Hange perked up and turned towards Erwin, "you know something, don't you?" Erwin blinked owlishly then looked down to his desk.

"On a broader scale, I do, but I can't satiate your curiosity."

"And why not?"

"I don't know the answer to that either."

The sound of knocking filled the tense room and all the figures turned towards the door. A lanky man stepped in, his demeanor respectable and firm. He saluted first then proceeded to speak.

"Commander, Erza Scarlet is here by your request."

Levi kissed his teeth, "speak of the devil."

"Daydreaming, Scarlet?" His voice pulled her out of the pool of her thoughts, and her upright body stumbled to the ground as she felt a force knead into her foot. A torrent of a gasp left her lips as she fell down, her hands gripped the earth like one would grip the head of hair, shock gripped her as she felt a sudden foot push into the bone of her back. Her face kissed the earth and the sole of the boot ground her down in a process similar to stomping ants.

"Sounds like shit's easy for you." His voice is a tell-tale storm, the eve of the gruesome punishment soon to come, the slight grinding into her back does not ease and Erza wonders for a split-second if the man finds glee in torturing his subordinates. "Not to your fittin', huh? Answer."

She doesn't dwell on it, already creating her answer for her rhetorical question.

Levi confused her, but he also intrigued her, and yet he also humiliated her, berated her, and chastised her. Encased in an enigma and an air of howling war, he seemed to be shrouded in a smoky mystery initially but as time and progressed she realized that what lied there was an infernal fire. An eternal flame that burned for a reason she did not know.

He was steel-like, seemingly like her. The ones people would call unbound. If they were to be tied down and diminished it would burn in the woe of their souls.

So why did he think he could do the same with her?

"I-I…" Erza sputtered out as she raised her head higher, dirt clung to her lips and lashes, "I apologize, Captain."

A pause and then the pressure of his boot rose from her back. Erza immediately pulled herself up and swallowed the ire burning in her throat. Perhaps, if the stakes weren't so high she was sure that she'd wring his neck like wet towel.

Levi watched her with indifference as she wearily stood in front of him. Her uniform painted with grass lines and splotches of dirt. That red hair now clumped with mud and that smooth skin now loss the shine it had. Her eyes were fierce but half-lidded with tire but still showcasing that sirenic and valiant shine.

Now, she looked like one of them. However, he couldn't push away the feeling that this was a look she was quite familiar with.

The scarlet women confused him, grudgingly intrigued him, and also humiliated him. Her existence a sign of hope but also the foretold catalyst of the fear to come. He would have opted to have nothing to do with her as she brought a flurry of confusion to everything. Plus, the look she gave him now was caged vehemence. He would know as he had a history of the doing the same thing.

"If I may say," she began with a dry throat. With no hint of a response she continued, "you seem to hold a grudge against me."

He's long on responding, not that he failed to find an answer, but he failed to find the proper one. "And what gave you that idea?"

"I can't recall a training that deemed it fit to trip and grind their feet into the back of the trainee."

"Sounds like a personal problem."

Erza stepped closer, "you're unsatisfied with the spar."

Levi scoffed but made no sign of moving. "I'm unsatisfied about a lot of things, woman, it doesn't mean shit."

The redhead bristled, her brows knitted together, "I told you I forfeited because of the sword." Erza grounded out as Levi stepped away from her, making steps that seemingly went back to the castle. A slow gait in his movement as his back glared at the knight.

"And it only made you looked foolish." Levi said flippantly, his voice an echo louder with each step he took.

"Foolish to you but safe to me." Erza spoke, her eyes glared at his now paused form, "it would've been unfair if not."

Levi said nothing.

"My advantage would be far too high." She said, "I want to be on equal grounds."

The wind blows goosebumps into her skin as she waited for Levi's response. She saw the shoulders under his shirt tighten, and she knew such a comment was not beneficial to the situation. Yet, she would be damned to let this man get away from this mistreatment. According to Erwin, they were equals and just temporarily was she under his command. He would get a proper taste of his own medicine after this nettlesome preparation was finished.

She heard a snort from the man finally, and Levi turned around to look at the knight. In the night his eyes were stygian and from far away you couldn't see anything the burning amusement that glinted from beneath. His voice wasn't any indication either, just a deep and slurring noise that spoke to her harshly.

"You know what?" Levi grunted, "how about you run till the sun comes up, scarlet. Maybe those legs can move around as much as those lips do."

He realized something.

With the contrast of dark dirt on her skin, little scars popped up.

"... Yes, sir."

Petra woke up with the taste of a fleeting dream on the tip of her tongue.

It's not surprising that she forgets her dreams the minute she wakes up, but there was something different about this one. It was quick, nothing seemed to stay still, and it felt so short.

There was also a color so distinct, that it boggled her mind on how she couldn't remember it.

She didn't dwell too much on the dream, going on with getting ready to start the day, doing a small set of exercises and cleaning her hair to the best of her ability.

However, she couldn't help but take into account the color of everything. The white pillow on her small emerald bed, the waft orange and amber color that was her hair, her brown floors, the pale of her skin.

She had stepped out of her room noticing everyone's hair.

"Mornin' Petra, sleep well?" Oluo called out from afar, his beady eyes on her for so little, he was steps ahead of her door, and yet he knew it was her to come out.

Brown, light brown, almost silver in the dim light. Petra hummed as she watched his figure stop and turn to look at her. "I did, are you heading down to the cafeteria?"

Oluo scratched his neck, "I am but I might not be staying there for some chat and dine, got more important things to do, y'know?"

His undercut is brown like the earth, honestly, its quite odd how much it reminds me of— "sure."

"Well, you coming?"

"Oh, yes… Yes, give me a second."

Petra quickly slipped into her boots, brown like Oluo's undercut, looked once more in the small mirror and with a small urge, tucked some hair behind her ear.

A style her father said was simple and yet gave her eyes more life.

Petra grabbed the green cloak that stood on its rack. A sign only invoking pride in her and stepped outside.

"Did you wait too long?" She smiled breezily, the ends of the grin growing at the look of exasperation on his face.

"Let's go."

The path towards the cafeteria is not by any means eventful, they passed soldiers who regarded them with respect, and they give it back. Occasional windows they passed would stick their tongues of light and brighten their skin. Small conversation between her and her peer branched and hopped from topic to topic.

Along the way, she took account of every color. She couldn't help it and each color she caught seemed to never satisfy her. No matter how pink Oluo's cheeks were after teasing, or the silken argent that was Mikasa's wide eyes as she and the new generation walked past the two, the color in her dream struck a feeling that hammered into the core of her heart, the details though fuzzy she remembered it being everywhere, being drenched in it.

It felt so real that Petra was starting to think it wasn't a dream at all.

"Poor girl," Petra raised her head up at his voice, eyes drowned in curiosity as she looked up to the older male. His attention wasn't on her, however, instead to the window across them. Petra leaned over to look through the hole and her eyes landed on the movement on the grass plains.

Far, but not far enough was the woman of the hour doing lunges while carrying two barrels. Her face looked muddy, her hair was plastered across her face but majority of it stayed up in a messy bun. The woman was silent as she continued moving back on forth. Of course, Petra knew about Levi training the woman but this was far more conventional than she expected. She wouldn't put it behind her to think this was revenge for the eventful spar.

"It's surprising she can carry that with little of a complaint." Petra mused, bottom lip jutted out. "Looks like she's been doing this all morning."

Oluo nodded then shrugged, "guess she won't be eating for a while."

"I should bring her something just in case."

"Bah, why do that? What if that's on purpose… Y'wanna get in trouble like that?'

The shorter woman rolled her eyes at Oluo but turned back to the window looking down at the girl.

Red, dark red like blood.

Petra's heart hitched and shock shot through her skin. She hastily stepped away from the window, ignoring the voices of concern from Oluo, her hands gripped her neck and waist tightly. Air left her form and refused to flow back in, the prickling pin-prick-pin movement on her flesh felt like needles sinking into her. Her head swirled and blazed with pressure and pain, her throat became increasingly hot. The peace within her sould is invaded and her vision slowly wrought to darkness.

Petra remembered now. Yes, she remembered now. In her dream, it covered her. That color. That girl's hair color drenched her from head to toe. It was in her mouth, it was in her hands, it was in the air.

In her dream Petra had died.

There's a lot of things Petra has seen, and she knew in this life as long as she lived, there was always death behind the door. The door she refused to open.

In a world where death was more common than the amount of times people smiled, Petra shouldn't have been in awe out about her dreaming her death. She always thought like this, as gruesome and heartbreaking as it was… To die for humanity, it was an honor.

Yet, people always say things they don't really mean.

You see Petra realized something, as she crouched on the ground biting her tongue, keeping the bile in her throat so it wouldn't seep out of her mouth like blood did in her dream, one hand over her mouth and other around her stomach (Oluo shaking her and shouting in confusion).

She realized that knowing death is behind your door isn't the same as actually looking through the peephole and seeing death behind your door.

She realized she had just seen herself die and it felt so real.

What was so stupid about it all –something that Petra would later realize after the shock seeped out– was that she saw her death in someone's hair color.

Armin looked up from his murky meal and glanced once more at the now stoic male beside him. His eyes flickered to the boy's supposed "sister" and was locked into a placid staring contest. It's not until he felt goosebumps that he looked away and back to the brunet beside him. His friend's meal barely touched, and the steam had quickly dissipated leaving him a cold bowl of soup.

"Eren," Armin prompted, "we have to leave soon. Hurry and eat."

Eren roused from his thoughts and with a nod and dipped his spoon into his soup, finally eating his meal with no objection. Armin saw from the corner of his eye that Mikasa had began to stir her bowll.

He knew what troubled him, as Eren was still in gripe of the events that played yesterday. To think, he would still carry that bundle of anger shocked Armin.

"Eren, you can't be still thinking about her! We don't have time to worry about that!"

Mikasa spoke with no filter, "he has bags under his eyes because he couldn't sleep."

Eren grumbled and grabbed the small bread beside his bowl, he slowly broke the dough apart before shoving a piece in his mouth, "I'm fine." He shoveled the flavored soup into his mouth.

Mikasa spoke again, "no. You're not, but okay."

Armin had watched Eren push through the masses yesterday after the spar with a look of ire on his face. He gave neither him or Mikasa time to interact as he stormed away from the dispersing crowd.

It wasn't that Armin couldn't sympathize with what he felt, no not at all. He too, felt something about that day. Those feelings were a mix of shock, fear, and curiosity. It mostly stemmed from the fact the commanding officials treated that woman as if she was nothing out of the ordinary. Even people like Captain Levi or Keith seem utterly lost on her arrival.

She was given a home, a role, power, and much more. It was almost as if the authorities hadn't questioned her existence, as if they expected her to come.

Of course, every system must have secrets but hiding things even with this severity seemed absurd.

Now, the hallways, dining area, rooms filled with non ending drone and murmur. Sooner or later, soldiers would question or riot at the woman's existence going unanswered. It was bound to happen as the people who despised her existence grew.

Eren must've been part of them.

Armin smiled pitifully, "let's just hope we don't see her often, yeah?" Armin looked up towards the wide door, "she might not be too bad, Eren, you don't know…"

Eren scoffed but nodded, "sure."

Armin knew his best friend wasn't convinced.

"Is she still outside?" Armin asked Mikasa, who nodded in response. "Yes, she's been out there for over four hours."

Armin stared at his bowl once more, "is this Captain Levi's payback?"

"Punishment," Mikasa offered softly, her tone still and calm, "is a better word."

Eren stuck another tuft of bread into his mouth, then kissed his teeth, "then he could do better than that."

Author's Note: Happy New Year, sorry if these updates feel like they're going nowhere, we'll be picking it up in the next chapter. I'll be editing these chapters again for sure but I just felt like I had to get something out for NY. More interactions and whatnot soon. I did 3k words to balance out the previous 3k words so hopefully we'll pick it up back to 6k. I also need to rewatch AOT to follow this set up and repolish my plot structure so this fanfic can be a lot less confusing. With that said, I'll be addressing a review...

Levititans - I deleted your review because I could genuinely not tell if you're review was meant for me because you said I was bashing FT characters. That left me confused but after some thought, you were definetly addressing me and I'll just tell you that there's no bashing involved with FT. I like the show, I feel as if you aren't reading this fanfic properly and I implore you to read it again but this time slowly to see that you're wrong. Very wrong. :)