* mentions of ab*se *

Erwin was sprinting down the halls trying to get to the stairs. He eventually made it going down two steps at a time, almost falling about three times. He was about to round a corner when he heard footsteps moving towards him. He ducked into one of the cells, into one of the dark corners. Hoping his clothes were dark enough to hide him in the shadows. Two guards were patrolling the hallways quietly talking to each other. Erwin was trying to listen in on their conversation to see if they were talking about Levi.

"Apparently the king has caught wind that we have the maid boy down here. We need to make sure he doesn't come down here at any cost. You know what Alexandria said about the situation. If you spot him, we need to arrest him immediately and bring him to a cell. No exceptions." The other guard must've been one of the newly hired ones. He simply nodded his head and they continued walking the halls watching out for Erwin.

Erwin knew which two guards were first to get fired after this. That is if he decides to ever come back to this place. He couldn't believe that they were on a first name basis with his mother already. Has she really brainwashed this entire castle? Once he was in the clear he left the cell continuing to look for his partner. This place was huge, it could take literally all day to find Levi. He needed to act quickly if he wanted to get out of here though. At night, the place is crawling with guards, especially right now. The tension increase has caused Alexandria to post up even more guards than usual. The whole situation almost seemed fictional. When does this happen to other people in the world?

Erwin was dodging guards left and right until he turned down a hallway that had the sound of rattling chains. Erwin started to sprint down the hall until he stopped in front of a cell that had Levi laying on the cement ground chained up like a rabid animal. Upon first glance, he had bruises lining his body and cuts everywhere including his face. His clothes looked as if they were ripped apart and he was practically laying in his own sweat, blood, and tears. Erwin couldn't bear to look at him like this.

He acted on first instinct and slammed his foot against the cell door. The rusted door busted open and he dropped to his knees as he slid towards Levi. He lifted the chains seeing that his wrists were raw from the cuffs. There's no way this could be real, absolutely no way. He scanned the cell looking for anything that could open the cuffs but he wasn't able to find anything. Until he saw Levi weakly lift his hand, his ripped sleeve holding the keys by a literal thread. Erwin was dumbfounded. How was he able to get a hold of these while getting smacked around? Levi seemed to read his mind.

"Life as a pickpocket was a real crazy adventure." He smiled and exhaled as an attempt to laugh. Even during a time like this, he was still trying to crack jokes. Maybe he has spent too much time around Hange. Erwin laughed and grabbed the keys unlocking the cuffs and picking him up bridal style. Now was going to be the hard part, he was sure the guards heard the loud bang, the loud chains, and now dead silence. He had to act fast before everyone was down here.

He started taking off around the halls and there wasn't a single guard in sight. It was very unusual. How could there be so many and now none? He couldn't think about that right now though. His goal was to get to his room to get everyone out.

He flew up the stairs taking them two at a time, amazed at his own strength. He didn't think he could do half of the things he's done so far but he was definitely going to brag about it after this was all done. He was running around the castle and still had no sight of any guards. He knew there was something up at this point. It felt as if he needed to investigate why there was no one around the area. He just kept running despite the lack of air in his lungs. His legs were burning and his arms felt like they were going to fall off. He wasn't going to stop though. He needed to keep going for Levi and his friend's sake. He needed to get them out of this insane situation.

He finally reached his room where he knocked the secret pattern. Moblit timidly opened the door and saw Levi's condition. He threw open the door and grabbed his bags while Hange grabbed hers. Erwin placed Levi on the bed and wrapped a blanket around his ice cold body. He threw on his pre-packed bag on his shoulder and Levi's on his other. There was only so much he could bring with them and if they were starting somewhere new, he could buy new clothes.

He placed Levi over his shoulder and they bolted towards the horse stable. They packed up the carriage and attached the horses to it. It was a basic square carriage but it was a part of the royal transportation. This meant that even when the split curtain was pulled out, there was enough room for a small bedroom on either side. Erwin pulled the curtain and placed Levi on the seat before removing the bags and storing them away in the small storage unit under the cabin. Moblit was settling Hange on their side of the carriage. Erwin knew the bags they brought weren't going to be enough. They didn't have food, blankets, or even water with them. The next town was hours away and the horses couldn't run with the heavy carriage connected to them.

Moblit spoke up, speaking the same idea that Erwin was just thinking. "You've done so much for us up until now, I know where the emergency supplies are in the castle. Let me sneak in there and grab the stuff for us. It won't take more than ten minutes." Erwin was skeptical about it but he believed that Moblit would be able to defend himself.

"Okay, but if you are in trouble, leave the castle immediately, we'll be able to stop somewhere to get supplies." Moblit smiled and left the carriage after giving Hange a kiss and a long hug. Erwin was happy that he was able to save all of them. He wanted nothing more than to make sure that they were okay. He would rather die than having to go through life without them with him. 

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Word Count: 1,139