Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Dangerous Territory	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Attack on Titan /Shingeki No Kyojin Views: 4228 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own “Shingeki no Kyojin” and do not make money from this fanfic.

Chapter List
- 65
- 66
- 67
Chapter 66
Patton's Move

Eren woke up to Levi's voice, only he did not understand the words. Rather than the nasal sounds of French, this sounded more throaty, a lyrical prayer as the sun rose in a blue sky that was now free from the storm that had pounded Metz for days.
Levi kept his voice soft as he sang-recited.
https://youtu.be/F_i0AYb9Fgw?t=115
Avinu malkeinu, kot'veinu
B'seifer chayim tovim.
Avinu malkeinu, kot'veinu
B'seifer g'ulah vishuah.
Avinu malkeinu, kot'veinu
B'seifer parnasah v'chalkalah.
Avinu malkeinu, kot'veinu
B'seifer z'chuyot.
Avinu malkeinu, kot'veinu
B'seifer s'lichah um'chilah.
Our Father, Our King! Inscribe us in
The Book of the Good Life.
Our Father, Our King! Inscribe us in
The Book of Redemption and Deliverance.
Our Father, Our King! Inscribe us in
The Book of Livelihood and Sustenance.
Our Father, Our King! Inscribe us in
The Book of Merits.
Our Father, Our King! Inscribe us in
The Book of Pardon and Forgiveness.
Eren propped himself up on an elbow as he watched. The white shirt Levi wore practically glowed in the brilliant sunrise light. Eren began to reach forward, but his hand stopped. He needed to honor Levi's limits on this holy day.
"It's a beautiful language."
Levi glanced back at him, touched by the acceptance. "I only managed to memorize that because I once wrote it down."
"And you can remember anything you see in writing," Eren recalled with a smile. Levi's special skill sounded like a superpower.
Levi thought back. He had written it out five years ago, not even in Hebrew, since he did not know how to read it back then. Instead, he wrote the words as they sounded, as told to him by one of the Jews in his village. That way, he could say it with Petra.
Just that one Yom Kippur, celebrated when the war was only a few weeks new, and he still remembered them. He had recited this prayer once a year ever since.
"Today is the day," Levi whispered. He should feel elation. Freedom was just four flights of stairs away. Instead, there was a weight on his shoulders and a pain in his heart. He grumbled to push past the ache, "I need to pack."
Eren finally put his hand out and covered Levi's wrist. "That's work. It's not allowed today. Let me pack your things."
Again, Levi was touched by Eren's eagerness to let him observe Yom Kippur properly.
Eren pulled the black backpack up onto the bed. Most of his supplies were already there from Levi's narrow escape yesterday. He saw the Tanakh and smiled, remembering when he first saw this book and offered to keep it safe. He still had no idea why he offered such a thing. At first, he tried to rationalize that he knew it would keep Levi in line, but that wasn't it.
He instinctively knew how important such a book could be.
He fetched the comb, toothbrush, and razor Levi had been using from the bathroom. He wrapped up a bar of soap and packed the shampoo into a paper bag. Levi would like that extra cleanliness when he was away. They also needed to pack at least one Louise outfit for the prostitute to wear while Levi made his escape wearing her clothes.
Each item Eren packed hammered in that Levi was leaving, and the future held no guarantees.
He grabbed the bread and sausages he got yesterday. "Take the food with you. Eat it tonight. You need to recover your strength."
Levi nodded. He was already feeling weaker. A little hunger used to not bother him. He really had eaten well while staying here.
Eren reached into his own drawer and pulled out the long johns. "Take this."
"I don't want to steal your clothes."
"I'm giving it to you. You said it's cold underground. This will help."
Levi pouted but said nothing as Eren shoved that into his bag.
"What about the French books?"
"Too heavy."
Eren pouted sadly. "They're for you."
Levi really did not want too much junk. Still, he would be bored down underground, and a book might be nice. "I'll take one. I don't want this bag to weigh me down."
Eren watched bittersweetly as Levi debated which book to pack. "Take my Taschenlampe too."
"I'm not taking any equipment that can be traced back to you."
Yet part of Eren wanted precisely that, something of his that he could give to Levi, and something of Levi's that could be all his.
The telephone rang, and the clanging made them both jolt. Eren rushed to the phone. "Hallo, Oberleutnant Jäger am Apparat. Oh, Herr Hauptmann, guten Morgen." He felt instant relief and almost laughed. For a moment, he thought he was in serious trouble, and perhaps this was even the Gestapo calling him in for extra questioning. However, the next thing he heard made his face drop. "Um wie viel Uhr? Wie lange dauert das Treffen? Ich verstehe. Ja, ich werde da sein. Heil Hitler." He hung up the phone, and a crease furrowed in his brow.
"What's going on?"
"An officer's meeting in half an hour."
"What about escaping?"
"That has to wait."
"We could go now."
Eren shook his head, looking frustrated by this change of plans. "I would need to get Floch and Armin here. That takes time, and I only have half an hour. Ian will be heading to this meeting, and if he sees us, he would get even more suspicious. Verdammt!" There was nothing he could do. Sneaking Levi out now would be the worst time. "I need to get ready."
He went to the bathroom to wash up, then walked around the room as he changed into his uniform. Levi watched as that pure, angelic, naked body gleaming in the morning sun got covered over by stiff, drab clothing. That uniform was like shackles now, trapping him in this role.
There was a knock on the door. Levi cursed and slid down to the ground to roll under the bed. Eren shouted out that he was coming, and he waited until Levi was safely under the bed before answering the door.
Jean stood there, also wearing his uniform with a dour look on his face. He pushed his way inside. "Lock the door."
Eren closed the door and secured it. "What is wrong?"
"Did you also get a call?"
"Yes. I have a meeting in half an hour. I need to hurry."
"I'm also heading to that meeting. Something big is going on. I've told the prostitute to stay there, at least as best as I can. She doesn't speak German."
"I don't want to leave him here," Eren whispered. "Last night, while we were out drinking, Oberleutnant Dietrich stole my room key out of my pocket. That's why he was in the lobby, to give it back to me. He said I dropped it, but Levi said someone came into this room. It had to have been him."
"Bastard," Jean spat. "I never thought some aristocratic snob like him would stoop to pickpocketing and breaking into people's rooms." Jean scowled before grumbling, "Have him crawl through the attic now, before the carpenters arrive. He can stay in my room."
Eren knew that Jean hated the idea of Levi being in his room, since it was a massive risk. "Are you sure?"
"What other choice do we have? We're in this together now. Besides, maybe he can explain to that prostitute that she's meant to stay put."
"I'll help him get up here, but you'll need to help him get down. Remember, his foot is broken."
"Yeah, yeah," Jean grumbled, and he left the room.
Eren let out a long, aggravated exhale. Then he heard a scratch from under the bed. "Oh! Sorry. You can come out now."
Levi slowly wiggled out from under the bed. "What was that about?"
"Jean. We're going to move you over to his room. I'll help you up."
He nodded stiffly and put on his trousers. Eren finished with his uniform, zipped up the black bag, and carried it while Levi maneuvered on his crutches, hopping slowly over to the attic entrance. Eren stood up on a chair to get the hatch open and tossed the bag up there. Then his hands wrapped around Levi.
He paused. Levi returned from the French Resistance to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with Eren by climbing through this attic. Now he was leaving on Yom Kippur through the same entrance.
Eren tenderly caressed his face. "It was nice to live together for a little while."
A tiny smile flickered on Levi's lips. He whispered, "It was."
Eren leaned over and gave Levi a kiss on the forehead. He wanted to do so much more, but he held back out of respect. Then his hands tightened around Levi's waist and lifted him up.
Levi grabbed the edges of the hatch and pulled himself up. He could not walk, but he could crawl, shuffling his bag and crutches with him. Jean had already opened his hatch, and his head peeking up over the ledge. He gave some curt German greeting that Levi guessed was a complaint that he took so long. Despite that, he took Levi's things and set them down in his room.
Levi looked back and realized that Eren had pulled himself up to watch him go. Their eyes lingered until Jean called up to hurry. Levi's eyes pulled away, and he slid down. Massive hands grabbed him, and he cautiously landed in the other room.
A small woman with blond hair that almost looked gray came up and handed him the crutches. Levi realized she was the same height and build as him. This must be the prostitute chosen so he could play her double.
Jean said in broken French, "Vous. Reposer."
Levi nodded. He knew the plan. He used his crutches to hop into the bathroom and hid there while Jean left for his meeting and locked the door.
Levi emerged and looked around. The room was almost identical to Eren's, but it had a different smell, a Not-Eren aroma. He sighed, glad that at least this much of the plan was going as scheduled.
He did not want to waste time. He was supposed to dress in the clothes of this woman. He had no idea when Eren would be back or if they would have to leave in a hurry, so he figured it might be a good idea to get ready now.
How could he tell this woman to undress and exchange clothes without making it sound lewd?
"You," he addressed, and she looked over. "Do you speak English? Parlez-vous français? Parli italiano? No, you're Russian, right? Damn, I don't know Russian. Mówisz po polsku?" Do you speak Polish?
She looked like she vaguely understood. "Polski? Net, ya ne govoryu po-pol'ski."
"I have no idea what you just said, but close enough. Rozumiesz mnie?" Do you understand me? However, she looked completely confused. "Czy znasz inne języki?" Do you know other languages?
Again, she looked like she vaguely understood a word. "Yazyki? Ya govoryu tol'ko na russkom."
"Damn, I was hoping the languages were close enough. Yiddisher mazel!"
She jolted up at that. "Zent ir eydish?" Are you Jewish?
Levi's eyes widened at hearing her speak in Yiddish. "Ya ikh bin." This girl was a Jew! At least they had a language in common.
She nodded solemnly, not even smiling at meeting another Jew. She whispered in Yiddish, "I've never told anyone I was Jewish, not even Madame Carly, although she is a Jew too."
"That's wise. You need to hide that heritage for now."
"I know. I've seen what they do if they find out. They shot every other Jew in my village. I hid in the woods, so the Germans didn't know I was also a Jew. Because my hair is blond, no one suspected me. They just captured me. Used me."
"You poor thing," he muttered in sympathy. "How old are you?"
"It so longer matters how old I am," she said with emptiness in her eyes. "I've been raped by so many men, my age stopped being important. When the Germans first found me, all forty had their turn with me, one after another, poking me until day turned into night and I no longer felt them or cared. I survived that. Then I was sent here, a new man every night, poking me like I'm nothing but meat. I'll survive this too."
Levi felt sickened. He could not even begin to imagine such a Hell. "You're a strong young woman."
She shook her head. "I'm not strong. I lost my soul the day the Germans captured me. I assume God took it, hid it away somewhere close to heaven to keep it pure, and when this is all over, he'll give me my soul back, untarnished by men. Maybe then I'll feel alive again."
Levi heard the hollowness of her words, a girl who truly had lost her will to live and merely existed until she could be free.
He whispered in grief, "This day of all days!"
She looked up. "What day is it? I've lost track of months."
"Today is Yom Kippur."
Her mouth dropped, and the deadness in her eyes changed into grief. Anguish tensed her lips into a snarl, and she began to shake in pain she had refused to feel for a long time.
"I didn't realize it was today," she hissed. "What have I done?"
"You did nothing," Levi said right away. "When the Jews were enslaved by the Babylonians, were they not also forced to labor?" It was the question he had posed to the group that summer on the first Sabbath when they were forced to work, and the Jews who had managed to avoid capture up until that point panicked with guilt at the thought of the Nazis forcing them to work on the Sabbath. Even Abel, who was a scholar at a university, reasoned that enslavement did not count.
"You are a Jewish slave, same as our ancestors had been," he said, repeating what he had said back then. The memory of those companions ached his heart, and the scene of the massacre flashed through his eyes. "Same as me," he whispered. "Same as everyone in the labor camps. When you have no choice, can it even be called work anymore? Only a Jew who willfully breaks the Sabbath sins before God. Besides, you did not know the day. How can God punish you for breaking Yom Kippur when you don't know which day it is, or does God expect every day to be a fast until we all die? No. God is merciful."
She looked up at Levi in awe. "Are you a rabbi, sir?"
Levi shook his head. "Just some schmuck who has had to rationalize a lot of guilt. Today of all days, we ask for atonement. Do so now. We'll exchange clothes, and then we can pray together."
He pulled out the Louise dress and handed it to her. Levi politely turned around while she changed clothes, and after she was done, he took her clothes and went to the bathroom to change.
While he was in there, he heard a soft voice singing a melancholy song.

https://youtu.be/cFZJR9yQpEY
Avinu malkeinu
Sh'ma kolenu.
Avinu malkeinu
Chatanu l'faneycha.
Our Father, Our King!
Hear our voice.
Our Father, Our King!
We have sinned before you.

Zofia began to cry in grief for the soul she had surrendered just to endure. Levi hopped forward on his crutches, sat beside her, and sang the next few verses, keeping his voice soft so no one else could hear the Hebrew words.

Avinu malkeinu
Chamol aleinu v'al ololeinu v'tapeinu.
Avinu malkeinu
Kalei dever v'cherev v'ra'av me'aleinu.
Avinu malkeinu
Kalei khol tsar umastin me'aleinu.
Our Father, Our King!
Have compassion on us and on our children.
Our Father, Our King!
End disease, war, and hunger around the world.
Our Father, Our King!
Bring an end to all conflict and oppression around the world.

Zofia regained confidence and sang along with him, her voice high and light as air, his voice low and gravelly like the earth.

Avinu malkeinu
Avinu malkeinu
Kot'veinu b'sefer chayim tovim.
Avinu malkeinu
Chadeish aleinu shanah tovah.
Our Father, Our King!
Our Father, Our King!
Write us in the Book of Good Life.
Our Father, Our King!
Renew us for another good year.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes dry. "It's been so long since I sang that. It was always my favorite part of Yom Kippur. I felt closer to heaven when I sang."
"You have the voice of an angel," he praised.
She laughed and blushed. "My Papa used to say that." She looked pained again, and Levi guessed what must have happened to him.
"Your voice reflects the beauty of the Holy Lands, as if you're meant to return there one day. Maybe in your generation, such a thing could happen."
"That would be nice," she whispered. "I have nowhere to go. Even if I'm freed, I can't return to Russia. Stalin was killing Jews even before the Nazis arrived. They killed everyone, burned everything. I have no family anymore. I have no house. I have no homeland."
"We're Jews," Levi said firmly. "We've always had a homeland. We were simply pushed off, forced to leave, scattered to the wind. Now, there are millions of Jews who have no home anymore, myself included. Perhaps by stealing away everything from the Jews, God is forcing the world to realize it's time we returned to the homeland that was stolen from us centuries ago."
Zofia's eyes watered over. "I'd like to see Jerusalem."
He grasped her hands. "Then that is your goal: to survive and celebrate High Holy Days in Israel. L'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim." Next year in Jerusalem.
That made her smile, and those eyes that had been so dead earlier now had a little life in them again. "Can we sing that song?"
"I'm a shitty singer."
She laughed softly at his crude language. "Some of your Yiddish is strange. Very French!"
"Yours is very Russian, but we can still understand each other. Russians have some of the best singing voices, so you sing it, but quietly. Maybe I'll join in."
She nodded and brightened up as she sang.
L'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim,
L'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim,
L'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim,
L'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim habnuyah.
Levi found himself joining in with her and singing the stanza twice. At least for her sake, he hoped she could make those lyrics a reality.
Perhaps this time next year, life would be better.
Then he reached over to his bag, dug down toward the bottom past clothes and food Eren had packed away for him, and pulled out the Tanakh.
Tears lined Zofia's eyes upon seeing it, and her lips trembled as she whispered, "I had begun to think all Jewish books and scrolls in the world were burned."
"Our people are more resilient than that." He offered the book over to her. "You may read it."
"What? No! A man should read it to the woman."
"Fuck that idea!" He looked down at the book. "I confess, I was never a very good Jew. I never even had a bar mitzvah. I can read some, but not well. I would be honored if someone who can actually read the language recited something for me."
She hesitated, but her tiny hands reached out and took the book. Levi smiled at seeing the glow in her face as she opened the pages and gazed fondly at the writing inside.
"I should have a headscarf to do this."
Levi dug into his bag and pulled out a white scarf he had worn to hide his Adam's apple while dressed as Louise. He handed that to her, and Zofia tied it around her head. Then she flipped through the book to a page and began to read.
Levi watched her as she read from the words inscribed thousands of years ago. He was in awe at her strength, especially considering the depravities she was forced into. He had been brutally raped by only one man. He could not imagine experiencing that with forty men in a single day, only to be forced to have sex with strangers on a daily basis. He would have rather killed himself!
Truly, she had strength to still be alive.
After she was done, he took hold of her hands. "God's strength is with you, young lady."
She lowered her head. "Are you sure you're not an angel, here to remind me that my soul is still out there somewhere?"
"I'm anything but an angel," he muttered. "If I can give you the hope you need to survive, then perhaps God put us on each other's paths for a reason. As brief as our meeting is, may it give you hope."
She gave him a grateful smile. "What is your name, sir?"
"Levi Ackerman."
"May your name be inscribed in the Book of Good Life."
"Thank you. What is yours?"
"Zofia Reitsch."
Levi took out a piece of paper and wrote her name down. He stared at the paper for a few seconds. "Okay. I will remember your name for the rest of my life." She looked curious, so he explained, "I have a good memory, but only if I see it in writing. Now Jean has your name. He's a good man. Perhaps he can help you out."
"Jean? The man last night?"
"Did he treat you well, all things considered?"
"Well, he didn't hit me. I think he was trying to compliment me, but I don't know any German. He was … gentle. Tender, like he wanted to please me. Not many men are like that. They just want to poke." She blushed and muttered, "He was also much bigger than any other man I've had so far. He … made me quiver inside. No other man has managed to do that."
Levi grumbled, "I'll be sure not to tell him that and boost his ego."
She laughed, but then she caught herself and shrank down. "Is it evil of me, my body betraying me like that, feeling pleasure?"
Levi took her hands. They were so tiny, and it reminded him that she was still young, yet already her hopes and dreams had been crushed and burned by Nazis. "You are in a shitty, shitty situation that I can't even begin to imagine. If you're able to find even a tiny bit of sunshine in all of this shit, then your strength is truly remarkable. It's not evil; it's a miracle!"
She nodded timidly, and her gaze dropped to the Tanakh. "May I read some more?"
He waved for her to continue. Levi propped his ankle up and rested as he waited for the officers to finish with their meeting.
* * *
Hours passed. Levi sat on the bed and held still as Zofia did his makeup in a way she would put it on. It was thicker eyeliner, rosier cheeks, and a brighter color of lipstick than he liked, but it made him look like the prostitute he was pretending to be.
Right after she finished getting the perfect wing on his eyeliner, the door opened. Levi sharply looked away so no one would see him without his wig on. He heard three sets of boots march in. After the door shut, he turned around and saw Eren, Jean, and Armin there.
Jean grumbled, "Ich will sie noch einmal ficken, bevor ich gehe." I want to fuck her one more time before I go.
Eren lectured, "Wir haben keine Zeit." We don't have time. He walked up to Levi. "Armin will take your bag and crutches to the car. We need to talk."
Levi saw the coldness in Eren's eyes, and he also turned serious. He shoved his crutches over. Armin managed a friendly smile of reassurance, but he also had a seriousness in his eyes. He hefted up the black bag and tucked the crutches under his arm. Then with a word of good luck to the two officers, he left. As an enlisted man, people would merely think he was running an errand for one of the many officers in this hotel.
Levi fitted the brunette wig on his head and turned to Zofia. "Adieu, mademoiselle."
She bowed her head in respect. "Proshchayte, ser. Shalom aleichem."
Eren's eyes widened at the phrase. "She's Jewish!"
Levi slid a glare over. "So?"
He looked at the small girl now dressed in Louise's outfit. "Jean," he said, and told him in German. "Do not fuck that girl again."
"Why not?" he snapped.
"She's Jewish."
"So? I don't discriminate."
"Today is a holiday for them, and they're not allowed to be intimate. It's forbidden!"
"I hired her…"
"Jean!" he snapped, pleading now on her behalf.
Jean looked over at the girl and frowned. "Fine. Take it as a final favor to you. I'm sure Madame Carly has other girls I could fuck before I'm sent out to get shot."
Eren turned to Levi and explained in English, "I convinced Jean not to touch her again."
The tiniest smile of relief flittered on Levi's lips. "I appreciate that. Now that she knows what day it is, I don't want her to be used like that again. By the way, her name is on this piece of paper." He handed it over to Jean, who took it and looked down in confusion. "She wouldn't mind seeing him again."
Eren explained to Jean. "Das ist ihr Name. Ruf sie an, wenn du Zeit hast, aber nicht heute." That's her name. Call her when you have time, but not today.
With his crutches gone, Levi held onto Eren to hobble. After a few struggling steps, Eren grabbed around his waist and hefted Levi up.
"Hold on," he whispered, and he left the room carrying Levi tightly against his side so his feet did not even need to touch the ground.
Out in the hallway, he came across Surma, who looked surprised to see Eren with the brunette woman.
"Isn't she Jean's girl?"
Eren flashed him a smile. "After that meeting, I need something to inspire me. I'll be done with her with plenty of time to spare."
Surma chuckled and hurried on. "Einmal ficken, weiterschicken." Fuck once, send on.
Eren's face fell as he hurried on to his room. He opened the door, went inside, set Levi down, and locked the door behind him.
Levi had seen Eren with emotionless eyes many times before, but never had he looked so dead inside as now. He already guessed what this was about.
"You're being deployed," he stated. That much was clear.
Eren slowly nodded. "Our company leaves for Machern-bei-Metz this afternoon."
"Where is that?"
"It's an industrial town ten kilometers to the north."
"Why would they send you way out there?" asked Levi.
"The Allies are making their move, heading toward us from Diedenhofen. They need the main road that passes through Machern-bei-Metz. We're being sent to hold the town for as long as possible to slow them down."
"For as long as possible?" Levi's brow furrowed deeply. He had needed to give orders like that as a captain, and he knew what it meant. "It's a suicide mission! They're sacrificing you." Levi sneered in anguish. No! This couldn't be happening!
Coldly, Eren intoned, "Orders must be obeyed."
"To hell with that!" he seethed. "Why even bother with that town?"
Eren pulled out a piece of paper and his fountain pen. "Let's say, you have a castle." He drew a crude, almost childishly simple depiction of a castle on the far right end of the paper. "An enemy comes up. They outnumber you, but if your defenses are strong, perhaps you'll survive. The castle needs time to dig a moat, so they send one hundred men to guard a barricade blocking the road."
He drew a line across the paper to represent the road and a rectangle over the line.
"The enemy needs the road; they can't take their tanks through the muddy countryside or they'll get stuck, so they're forced to stop and fight at the barricade. Obviously, those one hundred men are not going to win, but if they can delay the enemy long enough for the moat to be built, then they can save everyone. However, the enemy has the advantage in numbers, so if they are smart, they'll send small groups to the north and south."
He drew lines arcing up and down.
"That way, they can attack from the flanks. It's a race against time, and although they are splitting their forces, victory will be that much quicker. The defenders know this, and so they send ten men to the north and ten to the south, to protect those flanks. They'll lose—it's a sacrifice—but they buy the main force at the barricade a little more time. At this point, it's all a matter of buying time for those who are trying to defend the castle."
Eren looked down at the drawing he had created, and a shadow fell over his face. He knew the tactics; it was the right military decision to make. Still, seeing it on paper and being the one sent to defend against an overwhelming enemy with defeat imminent … knowing the logic behind the decision did not make leading his men to their deaths any easier. If anything, being ignorant of just how hopeless this was would have been better.
"Germany is the castle, the Westwall is the moat, and Metz is the barricade," Eren said softly, staring at the drawing with a blank face. "My platoon and the rest of the battalion being deployed will be the men sent to guard the northern flank. Ten men for a thousand, or in our case, a battalion to save an entire nation."
He was merely reciting the battle logic, although it gave him no comfort.
Eren said with hollow tones, "Metz lies on the biggest road connecting France and Germany. The Allies need that road for their tanks and supplies. If they take the road, they have a clear path to the border. Every barricade and roadblock slows them by another day, or week, or month. It's that much more time we buy the engineers who are repairing the Westwall. Metz must stand for as long as possible. We just need to buy time!"
Eren ran his hand through his messy hair, showing how this dire situation troubled him. As a former soldier, Levi understood Eren's frustration. Impending defeat was never easy.
"If only it had been one front," Eren whispered, his voice laden with regrets. "Maybe we could have kept the Allies on the Normandy beaches, but they came from the north, from the south, Russia is coming from the east…"
Panic began to build. Levi had said before: Germany will always be at a disadvantage in Europe for one big reason: you're in the middle of it all. Never was that more apparent than right now.
Levi saw Eren straining to keep up the strict military facade, but that veneer was crumbling. He reached forward and placed a hand on Eren's shoulder.
He yanked away and slapped Levi's hand. "I don't need to be comforted. This is my duty. Zuerst kommt die Pflicht." Duty comes first.
Levi shook his head. This was Eren's shell. He hated to see it again. Eren had made so much progress, and now those walls were coming right back up.
Levi began to open his mouth. He knew what the answer would be, but still, he had to say it.
"Eren, come with me."
His face drew up in disgust. "What?"
"Come with me," he urged. "You don't have to march to your death. We can hide you."
"We?" he exclaimed, glaring at Levi. "You mean the French Resistance. What is this we? Do you see yourself as one of those terrorists now?"
Levi sighed. So, he was dealing with this by getting angry, huh? He could handle anger. "Fuck you, Eren. Those people are trying to save my life…"
"Those terrorists have killed many Germans in cold blood. That tall one, Yelena, threatened to kill me. No! I will never go with them. I will not abandon my men," he growled.
"Metz is going to fall…"
"Metz is the most fortified city in Europe." He shouted in patriotic rage, "Wir lassen uns nicht besiegen!" We cannot be defeated!
"Eren…"
"Nein! Nein, nein, nein!" He slapped a hand over his mouth, fighting with all of his might to hold back his emotions.
Levi reached out toward him again, but Eren leaped up, tripping blindly until he crashed into the wall.
"Nein," he whispered in denial, shaking his head as his breathing went erratic. "Wir dürfen nicht scheitern. Wir können nicht noch einen Krieg verlieren." No. We must not fail. We cannot lose yet another war.
He slid down the wall, collapsed to the ground, and curled into a ball, shivering as he used all of his strength to hold back sobs.
"Nein…" he whispered in desperation.
Levi saw the patriotic fervor crack, and under that Nazi shell was a scared child. His heart ached to see Eren crumbling like this.
Levi hopped over to Eren and awkwardly sat down beside him. Eren tried to turn his face aside, but Levi grabbed his cheeks. He forced Eren's face over to him.
Gazing softly, Levi leaned in and gave him a kiss.
Eren's eyes widened in shock. "I thought that was forbidden."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Technically, the rule is no marital relations of any sort." He gripped Eren's hand. "We're not married, and a goodbye kiss is just a greeting. It should be fine."
"Are you sure?" he asked in worry.
Levi rolled his eyes. "If God's going to strike me down, it'd be today of all days. I'd rather get it over with."
Tears came to his eyes. Eren wanted to hold it all in, to be firm, a proud office of the Heer marching into the flames for his nation, for victory! Sieg heil! His shoulders shook, struggling to hold strong just a little longer. He thought he had cried out all of his anguish last night, but this was different.
He was being sent out into the battlefield.
In his mind, he could hear the bombs, the rapid artillery, men getting shot around him, dying screams, the smell of blood in the air.
He was heading back into that Hell.
"I'm scared," he confessed in a burst of emotion. Eren grabbed Levi into a desperate hug and buried his face down into his shoulder. "I don't want to go! I don't want to die." Tears spilled out and tumbled down his cheeks. "Schicken Sie mich nicht dorthin zurück." Don't send me back there.
"Chut," Levi soothed, trying to calm him down by stroking his back. "You'll make it. God wouldn't let me find you only to take you away."
"Nothing is certain."
"Shut up. Don't you dare talk like that."
Levi stroked Eren's hair as he was crushed up against his torso. Poor child. For him, goodbyes had always been permanent. His father left and never returned. His mother was stolen from him, killed in front of his eyes. His guardian Hannes went off to war and died in Russia.
Now he was forced to let go again. He had to go out there, act the part of the brave leader, and march his men into what he already knew was a suicide mission.
It was no wonder he was so scared.
Scenes of the past two months flashed through Eren's head. He thought about all the clandestine touches that led up to their first kiss, Levi tilting his head so he could do it properly, spending the night together in Belgium, the gentle gazes and bashful blushes, the nights of exploration and pushing limits more and more, the feel of Levi body, his throaty moans, his wet skin arching up in pleasure.
He wanted it again.
All of it.
All of it!
Suddenly, he straddled Levi and slammed him back into the wall. Levi's eyes widened in shock, but instantly lips were on him. Eren wildly, desperately kissed Levi as his whole body surged up against him, grinding hard.
"Whoa! Eren! Wait!"
A part of Eren knew that Levi had asked him not to kiss him like this, but that was back when he thought that maybe they would still see each other on the streets of Metz. Now, they truly were being separated.
It was selfish, but he needed to kiss Levi and really mean it.
If Levi had tried to push him away, maybe Eren would have relented. Instead, he felt Levi accepting the kisses while not fully giving back. Maybe this was another loophole.
When Levi reached up to his face, he felt wetness flowing down his cheeks. "Don't cr—"
Eren covered his mouth with his lips, not letting him say that he should not cry. Of course he should cry! It did not matter that he was a man, a German, and a military officer. None of that mattered! They were going to be separated, and this time the threats were more serious.
Eren ripped back, out of breath and his lips swollen. "Please, let me touch you again. Just one more time!"
Levi was also breathless from the sensual attack. "No! Eren…"
"Please! There's so much I wanted to do," he seethed, furious at himself for not making the most of this past week. "I don't want to scare you away, but … there's so much…"
"Eren!" He held the tear-streaked face and gazed into his teal eyes. "I know," he whispered. "If this was any other day, I would let you have your way, but it's Yom Kippur. It's forbidden."
"You've done forbidden things before," Eren cried out. "You've eaten pork. You've worked on the Sabbath."
"Keep your voice down!" Levi warned.
"Isn't loving me forbidden?" he shouted.
"You're pushing it," Levi warned sternly.
Eren jolted with his mouth dropped in shock. What was he saying? Pushing Levi into something he specifically said he can't do? Asking him to go against his religion on the most sacred day of the year?
Slowly, like it hurt to let go, Eren’s arms loosened. He rolled off of Levi, sank to the floor, yanked his knees up, and buried his head into them.
"I'm sorry."
Levi put a hand on his shoulder. "I forgive you." He touched Eren's lowered chin. "Come on, now. I don't want to leave with you angry at me again."
Eren looked up in surprise. "I'm not angry!" If anything, he was mad at himself for showing such disrespect. His head fell onto Levi's shoulder, resting there. "I love you too damn much."
Levi gave Eren's head a kiss. He wanted to tease Eren a little, mock about how he couldn't possibly be that strongly in love after just a month, except he felt the same way. This separation was hurting more than it should.
His eyelids were pink and his eyelashes wet. Everything was rushing, like a canoe in a river heading toward a waterfall. He felt like he was about to plummet over.
"If I don't make it…"
"Don't talk about death—"
"If I don't!" he screamed through his tears, but dropped his voice immediately. "Please don't forget me. March 30th. That's my birthday. Light a candle and say a prayer for me on that day. Please, promise me you'll do at least that."
"I will do no such thing…"
"Please!" he cried. "Promise me."
Levi sighed but relented. "March 30th," he repeated. "Until you come back to me, I will light a candle on that day and pray the Lord will keep you safe. But don't you dare think you're going to die out there. Jews learned the hard way: we talk about tomorrow, talk about next year. L'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim. Next year in Jerusalem." He pressed his forehead up against Eren's. "Next year in America. Repeat those words in every prayer. Talk like you'll make it, and you will figure out a way to survive." He pulled back and held Eren's chin. "I will light a candle on your birthday until the day you come back to me. So make it quick. I don't want to waste money on candles."
Eren sputtered a laugh at that. "Frugal Jew."
"Nazi swine," Levi teased back.
Eren rose to his feet and pulled Levi up carefully. However, he grabbed hold of Levi in a hug. Moblit had talked about soulmates and how being separated was like having half of your soul ripped away. That was an accurate description of his pain now. He shook his head, not wanting to let go, yet knowing he had to.
"It's not fair," Eren whispered. "I'm going away, and I have nothing of yours. You at least have that pearl ring. Not like you're going to wear it," he grumbled, realizing Levi was not wearing it right now, since he was supposed to be some prostitute. "I have nothing of yours, nothing I can look at and remember you by."
"Do you really need a lock of my hair to remember me, like some smitten girl?"
"No," Eren muttered, "but it would be nice to have something that belonged to you, just to hold it from time to time."
"I don't have anything that's mine, besides my Tanakh. Everything in my bag was either given to me or I stole it…"
His words cut off as something dawned on him. He pulled away from Eren's arms and hopped over to Eren's nightstand. Sitting on top was the gold wedding ring that Eren had once again forgotten to put on. Levi grabbed it and shoved it into his pocket.
"I'm stealing your ring."
"What?" Eren asked in confusion.
"I'm stealing it, so it's mine now. If you want to argue otherwise, you have to call the police and take me to court."
"What are you talking about? I'm not going to call the police on you."
"Then I'm stealing it. It's mine now."
Eren was confused, but if Levi was that determined, it was not like that ring held any meaning anyway. "Fine. Take it."
"Are you relinquishing ownership?"
"I don't know what that means, but if you want it that much, you can have it."
"Good. Just so we're clear, this ring is now my property." The determination on his face faded as a tiny smirk flickered on it. He beckoned Eren to come closer. Unsure what this was about, Eren approached. Levi reached out, took Eren's hand, brought the rough knuckles up to his lips, and chivalrously kissed them. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out the ring, and began to slide it onto his finger.
"Levi!" Eren cried out, starting to grasp what this was about.
"You want something that is mine?" he whispered, pressing the ring up over his knuckles. "This is now my ring. I'm giving it to you, but you have to promise to wear it every day." He squeezed Eren's hand and gazed into his eyes. "When the war is over and we meet again, I want to see a mark on this finger from you wearing my ring every day."
Eren looked touched, but he held back a small laugh. "It's on the wrong hand."
Levi looked down. "What?"
"It's supposed to be a wedding ring. It goes on the right hand."
"It goes on the left hand!"
"In Germany, we wear it on the right."
"Putain!" Levi yanked the ring off, roughly grabbed Eren's right hand, and forced the ring on. "There! Bloody stupid, crétin des Chleuhs…"
Eren laughed as Levi grumbled in French and English with some Yiddish thrown in, humiliated at making such a mistake and ruining his perfect moment.
Levi stopped his ranting to look at Eren's laughing face.
Yes! That was the smile he wanted to remember.
"No." He grabbed Eren's hand and yanked on the ring.
"Hey!"
Yet as Eren tried to pull his hand back, the ring slipped off. Eren looked upset, but Levi had a rare smile. He reached forward again, lifted Eren's hand back to him, and brought his knuckles up.
"I didn't kiss your ring finger first." He planted a kiss onto the finger. "The last thing this part of your finger will feel is my lips." He kissed it again, lingering with his lips pressed to the skin. Then he slid the ring back on. "That way…" He adjusted the gold band snugly on. "…the ring is protecting my kiss. You have to wear it all the time now, never take it off, or my kiss will wipe away. If you're ever lonely and you wish you could kiss me, just kiss my ring and remember that my kiss is lying there, just behind it."
Eren's mouth dropped in astonishment as a sparkling chill shivered over his nerves. "That's … really romantic. Is that a French tradition?"
"No."
"Jewish?"
"Not that I know of."
"Then where did you come up with that? It's beautiful!" he whispered.
Levi's cheeks flushed. "To be honest, I just made that shit up."
Eren looked even more shocked. "You made it up?" The reality of just how romantic Levi could be blew him away. "Now it's not fair! I have your ring, and what do you have? A ring you'll probably sell?"
"I won't sell it."
"You won't wear it! No. There's got to be something." He looked around the hotel room, his brow tense with determination. "Something you have to keep. Something you can wear. Something uniquely mine…"
He froze for two seconds before grabbing the box he had given to Jean to watch over yesterday. He unlatched it, shifted through a few items from his life before the war, and pulled out an old, patina-darkened key attached to a silver necklace. He held it for a moment as fond memories flashed through his eyes.
"I used to wear this around my neck every day as a child," he whispered. "My father would tell me, 'Don't leave home without your key.' Even after I left home for good, I kept wearing it, thinking I'd go back. I only took it off when I entered the military, since it was not allowed. I put it in this box before being deployed." He gripped the key tightly in his hand. Then Eren walked up to Levi and strung the necklace and key around his neck. "Hold onto it for me."
Levi felt the weight of the old key on his neck. "Don't you need this when you go back home?"
Eren scoffed. "I haven't been back in almost a decade. There is a copy of the key for the person taking care of the house, so it's not like I can't get in. But this key," he emphasized, fondly touching the iron teeth. "This was my key, the one my parents gave to me, the one I wore around my neck every day. It's my own personal key. I want you to hold onto it for me. Maybe one day, I can take you to Cuxhaven, and we can walk through that door together."
Levi looked down at the key. Such a precious thing, linked to his happiest childhood memories! It was a precious gift indeed. Levi tucked it away into his shirt.
"You'll have to come to New York to fetch it from me."
"You better not lose it," Eren teased.
Levi picked up Eren's hand and kissed the ring. "Same to you."
Eren sighed. That little exchange made the pain of separation more bearable. It still felt like half of his soul was being ripped away, but at least he felt they were bound by fate to find one another again.
Eren wrapped Levi up in his arms. He just wanted a few more minutes to hold him before getting Jean and moving out.
The silence was suddenly shattered. Outside, they heard air raid sirens wailing. Eren ran to the window. Up in the sky, he could just barely make out the silhouette of bomber planes flying in formation. Somewhere in the distance, they heard the sound of suppressive gunfire.
Levi limped up beside him. "American planes," he whispered.
Seconds later, they felt the deep percussive shockwave of bombs and saw a plume of smoke to the south.
Someone out in the hallway shouted, "Feste Kronprinz! Die Amerikaner greifen Feste Kronprinz an!"
"What's going on?" asked Levi.
"The Americans are attacking Feste Kronprinz."
"I saw that name on a map. It's one of the forts, right?"
"Yes, twelve kilometers to the southwest."
"Are they that close already?" Levi whispered.
Twelve kilometers south. And Eren was being sent ten kilometers north.
Their eyes met in fear and anguish. The air raid sirens howled, military vehicles began to fill the streets, and stomping feet ran back and forth through the hotel's hallway. They both realized they had run out of time. Like a Jewish miracle, they had a few precious days of peace, but now the miracle ended.
The Battle of Metz had begun.
# # #
# #
#
This chapter is the perfect time to share this fan art by bloodycappucci1. The anguish definitely fits this moment. - https://twitter.com/bloodycappucci1/status/1482046055776718858
We got many German songs in past chapters. Now, we get some Hebrew songs.
Avinu Malkeinu ("Our Father Our King") – A litany for forgiveness, peace, and a good future. It has been called "the oldest and most moving of all the litanies of the Jewish Year." In total, there are 44 petitions, some for specific holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Most Jewish communities simplify this to under 30 petitions, and some petitions are no longer used (in modern times, they are deemed offensive even to conservative Jews). Liberal Jews sometimes translate the opening into English as "Our Parent, Our Sovereign" for the sake of gender neutrality. (God has no gender.) In the opening, Levi sings only the petitions that apply specifically to Yom Kippur, while Zofia sings a version with seven petitions made popular by Barbra Streisand.
- Barbra Streisand - https://youtu.be/0YONAP39jVE
- Jewish cantors - https://youtu.be/cFZJR9yQpEY
- Yom Kippur with congregation - https://youtu.be/RvX-dCaAVcg
- https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/text-of-avinu-malkeinu/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avinu_Malkeinu
Yiddish Dialects - In this chapter, Levi and Zofia understand each other through Yiddish. In reality, they would have some struggle, as Levi speaks Yédisch-Daïtsch, a form of Western Yiddish, while Zofia would speak Northeastern Yiddish, or Litvish (Lithuanian Yiddish) which was spoken in Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, northeastern Poland, parts of Ukraine, and western Russia. Levi learned the eastern dialect for spying jobs (especially in Poland) so he would understand her, but in casual settings, he slips into his Alsatian roots.
Yédisch-Daïtsch - In the 14th century, most Jews in the Rhineland escaped persecution by fleeing to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. A handful survived in areas that were sympathetic to Jews, particularly Switzerland, southern Germany, and Alsace. There, they developed the Western Yiddish Dialect. Jews in the Alsace region—where Jews were protected from the French government purges and massacres—spoke Yédisch-Daïtsch (Judeo-Alsatian), a mixture of German, Hebrew, Aramaic idioms, and some French linguistic elements.
As the Age of Enlightenment led to logic replacing medieval laws based on prejudice, Jews were emancipated across most of Europe (although personal prejudices still abounded) and they were finally allowed to live in cities. As Jews used the local languages more, Yiddish declined. Some rabbis even discouraged speaking in Yiddish, since it bastardized Hebrew with European languages. (Either speak pure Hebrew, or speak pure German/French/English.) By the end of the 18th century, Western Yiddish was mostly out of use, though some speakers were around as late as the mid-20th century.
Levi's mother spoke Alsatian, and he learned Yiddish from her, so he is probably one of the few remaining speakers of Judeo-Alsatian.
Eastern Yiddish is far more common today, partly due to forced integration in the West (especially France forbidding the use of French dialects and creoles, which is still a hot political issue today) and in large part due to the Nazis killing most Western Jews or forcing them to emigrate. The main difference between the two dialects is how the vowels are stressed, although there are some minor differences in grammar. So, it's a bit like an American trying to understand someone from Scotland.
Since I don't speak Yiddish and my husband wasn't even aware that there were dialects, I may have gotten some of Levi's Yiddish lines wrong, since he would normally speak with a Judeo-Alsatian dialect. Honestly, that's way too hard for me to research, since it's basically a dead dialect these days. If I wanted to be THAT precise, I'd have to hunt down an expert in Yiddish etymology, and I don't know anyone with connections like that.
(Fun fact: there's also an American Yiddish dialect, which is likely what my husband knows, as opposed to the Litvish dialect his Russian grandmother spoke.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_dialects
Machern-bei-Metz – The Germanized name for Maizières-lès-Metz.
"biggest road connecting France and Germany" – At the time, only two highways directly connected France and Germany: one from Nancy to Strasbourg, and one from Metz to Saarbrücken. There was also one that went from Reims, through Luxembourg, and north toward Mainz. To make a full assault on Germany, the Allies needed to secure all three highways.
Strategy Notes
- "If Metz was so heavily defended, why not just bypass it?" For one, you're leaving the enemy at your rear, and they could always muster an attack. The Third Army actually did try to bypass some of the forts, but the German's long-range artillery wrecked havoc on the American troops. The Allies considered a siege of the city, starve them out, which historically was the only way to conquer Metz, but those can take months. The Allies wanted a swift victory, not a drawn-out siege. Also, if you skip the Metz-to-Saarbrücken highway, then you're splitting your army in two with a massive gap between them, a weak spot stretching 200km from Strasbourg to Luxembourg. This was precisely the sort of weakness the Germans would later punch through during the Battle of the Bulge.
- "Why couldn't they go around Metz and use just any road?" The biggest reason to want a main highway and not use some minor road is that an army requires large equipment like tanks, armored trucks, and anti-tank vehicles, which would sink in muddy dirt roads and destroy poorly paved roads. Then there's supplies, ammunition, fuel for the vehicles, mobile hospitals, and truckloads of food to feed hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Narrow farm roads simply could not support that level of traffic. So securing Metz was vital to victory.
Feste Kronprinz – After the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire built or improved a series of forts around Metz, meant to prevent the French from retaking the Alsace and Moselle territories. This included the formidable Feste Kronprinz. Located on a hill 360 meters tall in the southwest of Metz, this fortress had cutting-edge defenses and a labyrinth of tunnels connecting it to the surrounding forts, so soldiers could travel from one to another without exposing themselves to a potential enemy. Its commanding view of the lowlands meant that the artillery could reach for many kilometers. Following World War I, Feste Kronprinz and all the other fortifications were turned over to France, and the fort was rechristened Groupe Fortifié Driant, called Fort Driant in English. After northern France fell under German control in 1940, the original German names of the forts were reestablished, and when Metz was liberated the French names returned.
German ring finger – A reader pointed out to me in another chapter that in Germany, wedding rings are worn primarily on the right hand. I had accidentally written that Eren's ring was on the left (I'm American) and that mistake inspired the humorous little exchange of Levi (who is French where rings go on the left hand) putting his ring on the wrong finger and having to correct it. Yes … HIS ring! It's his now.
#
27 SEPTEMBER 1944
I've been waiting for this, and I know some of my history-astute readers have been counting down the days until the 27th.
A severe rainstorm hit the Metz region on September 23rd. General Patton had to delay his planned attack on Metz due to rain pummeling the area, making the heavy military equipment sink in the mud, aerial visibility was near zero, and the river swelled over its banks, making it impossible to ford.
On the morning of September 27th, the rain finally stopped. As soon as the skies cleared, Patton began his assault on Feste Kronprinz (called Fort Driant in English). At 14:15, he called in air strikes. P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers, who had been trying to bomb the fort since the day before (but were flying in bad weather and did little damage) flew in, swooped down low, and dropped 1,000-pound bombs and napalm canisters on the trenches at the base of the fort and on the structure itself.
That afternoon, Colonel Yuill's 2nd Battalion, with the support of a company of tank destroyers, attacked from two directions but made no headway against enemy pillboxes leading up to the fort. The fort proved to be more than the Americans bargained for.
After many days with no progress and heavy casualties, Patton realized his "bust in through the front door" approach wouldn't work this time. For the first time in his military career, America's hotheaded General was forced to retreat.
Although Patton would try again and again to breach the fort, he could not succeed, and the casualties were rising. On October 9th, Patton decided to isolate the fort and go around it. However, the fort's long-range firepower continued to devastate the Americans as they tried to cross the Moselle. He would not reach southern Metz until November 17th.
The Battle of Fort Driant is called "Patton's only military defeat," which may explain why, although it was one of America's hardest battles of the war, it's also one that is frequently overlooked in U.S. history classes. At least 90% of the historical essays, blogs, and books I read on the Battle of Metz in preparation for this story all skipped from September straight to November. Finding details about this battle in English was exceedingly difficult.
This erasure from history is a form of propaganda, so it's wise to be aware of such information gaps in your own country's history books. After all, history is written by the victors, and it is easy to simply omit anything that paints your national heroes as less than ideal. America lauds General George S. Patton as one of the best generals in our nation's history, he is even called War God. Although how he overcame obstacles makes for a great study on just how brilliant of a military tactician he was, that means admitting he was flawed, and most Americans would rather imagine him as the stone-faced, foul-mouthed, "Old Blood and Guts" standing in front of a massive American flag.
Resources:
- https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2019/01/21/pattons-bloody-battle-at-fortress-metz
- https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2019/01/21/battle-of-metz-pattons-bloody-fortress-battle
- https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2016/06/27/driant-fighting-on-the-face-of-the-moon
- http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Lorraine/USA-E-Lorraine-6.html
- https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/fort-driant-battle-halted-george-pattons-us-third-army-world-war-ii-170615
- https://www.scribd.com/document/49623905/Air-Power-for-Patton-s-Army-the-XIX-Tactical-Air-Command-in-the-Second-World-War
- https://civilianmilitaryintelligencegroup.com/20807/ft-driant-built-in-the-16th-century-it-has-never-been-taken-not-even-by-patton-and-the-3rd-army
- (French) https://wikimonde.com/article/Groupe_fortifié_Driant – French websites often had more details than English ones. That is the sort of nationalist bias that often happens in history. A country doesn’t need to lie about history when they can simply omit or downplay the unfavorable parts.
.
Hey guys, Rhov here!
To think, I finished the chapter featuring a Russian character with the Allies bombing the city of Metz, on the same day former Allied nation of Russia is bombing the city of Kiev in Ukraine. Obviously, there was no way I could have timed this scene to such a historic event. I have friends who left Ukraine when it was under Soviet control, fleeing after seeing their families raped and massacred. I fear for the civilians caught in this conflict, and I will be carefully monitoring the situation, as should we all.
I would have had this done earlier, but DAMN this chapter was hard to write! First, I mixed up the attack on Fort Driant with another attack on a Metz fort; I didn't realize it until about a week ago, so my rough draft was totally ass-wrong. That forced me to rewrite this chapter, merge two scenes that I had already written, and try to get two very different emotion-laced dialogues to work together. 1) Levi leaving is emotional enough. 2) Eren learning he is being deployed was supposed to happen a week later, but I needed more drama HERE, since this is the midway point of the story.
I was pulling my hair out over this! Eren's emotions were seesawing all over the place, I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted him to learn about being dispatched during that phone call or later in the day, how soon do they leave, where they would be when they hear the bombs, etc. After scrapping five drafts, I resorted to writing out three totally different versions of this chapter, each with a different sequence of events and emotional vibes. After all that, this version worked best.
Plus we get this insane cliffhanger.
Scream your anguish in the comments, haha! (I miss people leaving me comments.)
- 65
- 66
- 67
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Dangerous Territory