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Deep in the forest, over the mountains, across many rivers and far, far away from humanities eyes was a tower. It was a cobblestone spire so tall, so grand, that not even birds dare fly as high; that even the titans that inhabited the land below nearly resembled ants. Very few had seen the tower up close, only but a mere twig in the distance from any village or town's point of view. No one knew why the tower was built, but they knew of the rumors to whom it held.

You.

You grew up in the tower, all alone. You didn't know how you got there, or why, but you'd been there since you were a child. All you had to keep you company were fairy-tale books and your reflection in a single mirror. The titans that guarded the tower never bothered you, not even the bigger ones for not even they could reach the window and the tower was much too strong to be toppled over. At night, you could hear them groaning and stomping about. It impeded you from sleep, the rumbling of their footsteps and the scraping sound when their large hands tried to scale the cobblestone. It was no secret they could smell you, and you feared one day they would succeed in figuring out a way to finally reach you.

You busied yourself, distracted yourself by reading or brushing the long length of your hair. It was a hassle keeping up with hair that spiraled several times around the circular room, had you anything sharp you would have cut several feet of it off long ago. You often wondered if the length of your locks would reach the bottom of the tower, but the courage it would take to test such a thing was something you did not possess. In fact, you braided it to the best of your ability, wrapped what you could around yourself like a blanket in fear that some might blow out the window and dangle within a titan's reach. You had read enough history to know of the morbidity should you be eaten, which was also reason as to why you never attempted to jump. What if you were caught mid-fall?

The only thing that gave you comfort were the fairy-tales you were surrounded with. Stories of princess being rescued by handsome knights eased your tears, your suffering, your loneliness. You were unaware of the standards of beauty, so you didn't know if the reflection you saw fit the standard for the princesses in your books or if it qualified you for rescuing. Still, you held on to hope: hope that there was someone who could see the tower and wondered what mysteries it held. You prayed that he would be skilled, that this stranger you fantasized about would be strong enough to defeat the monsters below and that your hair was long enough for him to reach you.

The day was like any other, only the ground seemed to quake more violently. You remained in the corner of the room for several minutes, curious, yet terrified. Never in your years of captivity had you ever felt such a disturbance this concerning; the tower itself seemed to be loosening, and the horrendous scraping sounded in your ears.

Swick... Swick.... Swick...

With a rapid heartbeat and hesitant steps you approached the window. You clutched tightly onto your blouse, stepping into the sunlight. It's warmth caused goose-flesh to rise, but it did not calm your nerves as you leaned over the windowsill in trepidation. You swallowed anxiously, peering over the edge and into a large pool of black. A guttural sound vibrated in your throat as your lungs locked away any air you had as you stared directly into the face of a titan. It's smile was dopey, but spread ear to ear -- saliva dripping down it's chin. You trembled, frozen and within reach, unable to scream even as it's hand came towards you.

You knew this day would come, you knew it was inevitable one of them would find a way to reach the top. Tears streaked your face, consumed by utter disappointment in your own naivety: how could you have ever expected that someone would risk their life to rescue you? What kind of fool would subject himself to a field of giant beings to save a stranger?

The answer was no one. No one with enough sense would do such a thing, and, despite your preparation for this moment, you were foolish enough to approach the window. Too petrified to move, you were going to be eaten. The only thing you could do was close your eyes.

As a shadow consumed you, and the unbearable body heat from the titan's palm caused you to sweat, your heard a hissing sound through the air. It was like steam through an engine, followed by whistling wire, a grunt through a tightly clenched jaw and the brutal sound of flesh torn. Your eyes snapped open as the titan sank from window and disappeared from sight. With a gasp, you lurched over the window, watching with widened eyes as it's body plummeted toward the ground.

You were startled by the amount of titans that surrounded the base of the tower, each one spluttering scarlet liquid and dropping like flies. All you could see were flashes of green and glints of sunlight reflecting off metal. It was pure sorcery, but it captivated you to witness such a thing. In minutes, the very things that you feared your entire life were nothing more than corpses.

You nearly hung out the window, unable to count just how many of them lay dead --pink flesh and green grass soiled with red, and the blur that had caused it all was completely gone.

Or so you thought.

Within a blink of an eye, two hooks embedded themselves on either side of the window. You yelped and jerked backward, stumbling and collapsing onto the ground as leather boots perched gracefully onto the windowsill. You started in discombobulation at the man hunched in the window, onyx lock feathered around his owlish, cobalt eyes. His features were handsomely angular, his lips pressed firmly into a stoic line even as he sighed through his nostrils. His shoulders were adorned with a rich green cloak, and he held in his hands two sharp blades, both tainted with titan blood.

In an instant you felt your body temperature rising, and it seemed you were learning how to breath for the first time. Your stomach tingled, your mouth ran dry and, when his gaze met yours, everything stopped.

"Oi, you okay?"

You sucked in a quick breath, "Y-you... You saved me..."

He blinked slowly, "Yeah?"

Your cheeks swelled with crimson and you scrambled to your feet, "You're the one I've been waiting for! Please, may you return to the bottom of the tower so I may let down my hair for you?"

"Why the hell would I do that? You fucking nuts?"

You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth and wrung your wrist, "N-no... I read it in a book..."

"Tch," the man slid his fingers through his hair, "Forget it. You comin' or what?"

He outstretched his hand toward you in a bored manner. Your chest tightened, expectations crumbling. You were thankful he saved you, that he had risked his life to challenge the beasts below, but... Could he have been any more insensitive? All the heroes you'd read about were smitten when rescuing their damsels, and this man appeared to have cared less! Less than five minutes there and he was already making you feel like a chore.

"Who are you?" You asked finally, hands retracted against your breasts.

"Hm?" He tilted his head slightly. "You don't remember, huh?"

You raised your brows questionably, and the man grunted as he stepped onto the floor. He sheathed his weapons and wiped his hands casually onto his cloak.

"I don't know why I expected you would. It's been nearly fifteen years since that fucking witch locked you up in this place."

"Wh-what?"

A minuscule smirk appeared and you barely noticed the softening of his eyes as he gave you a side glance, "It's been a long time since the Underground, but I knew I'd find you eventually, brat."

Pinched brows relaxed in realization and, as if the spell had been broken, the memories you never knew you had came flooding back. Through watery eyes you stared at him in disbelief, you mouth slackened in awe. You're heart thundered in your ears and against your chest, barely able to speak his name due to the hard knot in the base of your throat.

"Levi?"