Beauty and the Beast - Levi Ackerman
Hanji smiled softly, looking down at all the children as they sat down at around her feet; they all smiled up at her eagerly. It was storytime in the daycare and as per usual, they were excited to hear what she had to say to them this time as her stories were always exciting and somewhat funny. Sometimes, Hanji told tales of mermaids and pirates, dragons slain by knights to save a princess! Tales of all different sort of people, both big and small that came in all shapes and sizes.
Armin looked up at Hanji with his large blue eyes that shone like the ocean in the midday sun. He said nothing but instead sat at her feet, hugging his blanket closer to himself before making a somewhat startled sound as he felt Annie rest her head on his shoulder with a tired smile afterwards.
"Is everyone ready?" Hanji asked with a raised brow, smiling widely as all of them nodded and continued to watch her with excitement and wonder in their childish eyes. Her smile faltered when she saw Levi in the background sigh in distaste before it returned as she saw her friend Y/N tug at his arm gently before scolding him.
"This story is a bit different, my dearies." Hanji began softly as she grinned down at them. "This story can be known as Beauty and the Beast. It's a tale of how two people that are complete opposites can become the best of friends and eventually husband and wife." She spoke as she took a look at Levi and Y/N in a not so discreet manner. However, Levi and Y/N were not husband and wife - just friends.
"It begins in a small town in France..."
Things were quiet as always in the small town, just the same old things going on. A young woman with H/C, H/L hair left the small cottage that she lived in. She was known as Y/N and was extremely beautiful, her E/C eyes left anyone she came across rather stunned but there was something special about her. She loved to read and write about pretty much anything. [I]The others in the village she lived in found her to be weird and rather odd and would have constantly made fun of her if not for her dazzling looks,
Today, however, she had a mission. She planned on trying to get out of town for a while to see where it'd take her. Her father was out of town for a few days due to a festival that he had to attend so Y/N was left in the house all by herself.
As she made her way outside the village, she looked at the scenery with awe in her angelic and kind eyes. It was only dawn, so oranges still mixed with the dark blacks of the nighttime sky. As she left the village and became more immersed in the beautiful scenery she felt herself feeling freer than she had felt in a long time. She loved the people in her town dearly and appreciated them all but at times it became stressful - especially with Nile's flirting and feeble attempts at courting her.
"Nile?" Marco interjected with a raised brow. "As in Mr -"
"Ssh!" Jean spoke harshly as he pulled away from Marco's embrace and hugged his horse teddy closer to himself. Hanji laughed.
"Let me continue," Hanji whispered,
Y/N's lips curved into a gentle smile as she began to walk up the hill, often having to pick up the skirt of her F/C dress so that she wouldn't trip and stumble. As she walked up to the top of the hill, the wind drew gently which blew her H/C hair back, a few strands fell into her eyes but she didn't mind. There was barely any wind in her town as it was surrounded by the hillside.
After a dreadfully long walk, Y/N finally reached the top of the hill. Her eyes widened as she took in the sights of the meadow and the forest, it was beautiful. The greens and yellows of the fields shone brightly in the morning sun whereas the forest remained hidden. It was like something from the books she read of the tales of faraway countries.
Y/N had always dreamed of travelling, but her family didn't have enough money to allow her to do such a thing. [I]Moving from Paris to this small town took her father of the rest of the money and now they were trying desperately to get it back through her father's inventions and desire to create and mend.
Many had suggested to young Y/N that she found herself a rich and handsome husband and marry him for his money. However, that was dishonest and Y/N hated nothing more than being dishonest. Liars disgusted her to the point she couldn't bear the thought of being dishonest to anyone. If she were to lie, she'd end up hating herself more than possible.
"I..." Y/N started, her voice was as smooth as silk. "I wish I could travel to places more like this," she whispered she her E/C eyes shuttered close, she breathed in the clean air with a gentle smile appearing onto her lips. She stayed like that for a few moments, remembering the places that her storybooks had described to her as clear as day. She wanted to travel to England, to see if the lochs and countryside were truly as beautiful as they had been told.
Her eyes opened once more and she smiled, deciding to take a risk as she made a step towards the other side of the hill. With a gentle smile gracing her lips she began to walk down the side furthest away from the village and soon enough her walk turned into a sprint. Her eyes widened and she began to laugh lightheartedly. Her laughter was almost as beautiful as she was, she had never felt so free!
Y/N continued to run, looking around as she grinned. Her E/C eyes trailed towards the beautiful forest and her lips curved up into a smile once more as her thoughts and senses became clouded with curiosity filled her body.
I think I'll be fine, Y/N thought as she changed directions and made her way towards the forest. She was confident that she wouldn't get lost and that she'd be smart enough to be able to navigate her way out of the forest. After all, how hard could it be? Hunters did it all the time with ease!
"Y/N went into the woods? That's scary!" Christa squeaked as she looked up at all of her friends with a timid gaze, Christa was one of the youngest in the group as she was only four years old. Her blue eyes teared up at the sides but she didn't cry.
Ymir huffed and hugged Christa close before looking away to the side and scoffing. "Don't think anything about it - idiot," she murmured softly.
Reiner pouted as he watched the two. "Christa! Come cuddle with me! I'll be nice!" he encouraged before they were all shushed by Mikasa.
Y/N soon stumbled far into the woods, she looked at the sky above and frowned as she noticed that the skies above became dark as grey clouds began to cover the sun. Her lips fell down into a frown as she looked around, desperately trying to remember which way she had come from. "Is it to the left...? No, that doesn't seem right-" she mumbled to herself as she began to fell herself become more and more stressed. Fear began to consume her body as she remained silent without as much of a clue as what to say to herself.
I shouldn't have left the village, she thought to herself with a dejected sigh as she made her way to underneath a tree as the rain began to fall from the sigh. She figured that she'd be able to wait things out under the treetops as she didn't want to get any more lost than she already was.
However, as time passed, the sky began to grow darker the rain had only begun to grow stronger which caused Y/N to become more and more worried and fearful about her own health. Her body felt like ice and she was practically shivering.
After a few moments, she heard a low growl from nearby and she began to fear the worst. Her E/C eyes widened in terror and she broke out into a fully grown sprint in any random direction. As she ran through the woods she stumbled a lot, occasionally tripping over a root but managing to regain her composure.
Never in her life had Y/N had to run so fast, with every step she took she feared that her life would quickly meet a horrible and painful death. She didn't want that, she wanted to live and to be able to explore. However, at that very moment, it felt as if fate had different plans for the H/C haired girl.
She soon tripped over on a root and fell to the ground, smacking her head off of the ground as she heard the low growls grow louder. Her vision began to blur as she tried desperately to get away from the beast that was hunting her down. As she moved back she could only see the hungry eyes of a wolf staring at her.
"Y/N's hurt!" Mina exclaimed as she clung to her teddy bear. She looked back at the H/C haired caretaker with wide eyes before she looked at the raven-haired man who sat besides Y/N with his arm around her. "M-Mr Levi-!" She sobbed out. "You need to save her!"
Levi remained silent before he nodded slowly. "I will, Mina, don't worry." He spoke before watching as Nanaba made her way to the children and sat down next to Mina, hugging the girl gently and quietly reassuring her that Y/N would be fine.
The wolf continued to approach Y/N with hungry eyes when all of a sudden it was hit in the side by a steel blade! The wolf whimpered, however, Y/N did not get to know the fate of the animal as she fell into an unconscious slumber. The last thing she remembered seeing was a figure as pale as the moonlight.
The next morning, Y/N woke up with a start. She had been expecting to wake up in her small bedroom in the house in the village but what she saw was the opposite. The bedroom was larger than the entire upstairs of her house and the walls were a rich scarlet with golden doves painted onto them. The bed was larger than hers by a landslide and had thick pillows and an F/C duvet.
She stepped out of the bed and tensed as she felt that the floor wasn't wooden but instead had a comfortable carpet covering it. [I]It was comfortable enough that it felt like she was walking on clouds. Towards the east side of the room was a large arch-shaped window that showed a most beautiful garden that included an orchard, unlike outside the town it seemed to be a lot more neatly kept than the wild scenery outside the village and as much as Y/N was confused the one thing that she knew was that this place - wherever it is she was - was absolutely beautiful.
Y/N smiled softly and looked at the west side of the room, where a large mirror with golden trimming hung up proudly. The H/C haired woman smiled and made her way towards the mirror before gazing into it. Her E/C eyes still looked tired, but there were no bags under her eyes which was pretty good. Her H/L, H/C hair was in a mess but there was no dirt in it so it wasn't the end of the world. However, her F/C dress had been replaced and she was now wearing an F/C nightgown that fit her body pretty decently, it was a bit big on her and old-fashioned, but that was better than something that was far too tight.
Y/N smiled to herself, soon stretching as she let out a small yawn. She didn't know if she should go to the door or not, after all, she might get lost or walk in on something that she just shouldn't see in general. Considering her options, she opted to just wait until someone came to collect her. The H/C haired woman then looked around, trying to see if she could find a hairbrush or a comb to try to tame her hair.
After a while, she found a brush, it was made from beautiful gold metal and has "Kuchel Ackerman" engraved onto it. Y/N smiled to herself and picked up the brush, beginning to comb through her hair until her beautiful H/C locks were tame and didn't look like she hadn't brushed in days. That's better, Y/N thought with a smile as she carelessly put the brush back on the vanity desk from where she had gotten it.
As she looked up at the mirror, she noticed that there was someone standing behind her and he looked very angry. The first thing that Y/N noticed was his eyes, they were a storm colour and were filled with complete and utter rage.
"Who gave you permission to touch that!?" The man yelled before shoving the girl aside to take the brush from her and he picked it up, staring at it closely. He inspected it closely before his storm-coloured eyes landed on Y/N who was trying to get away from him by taking small steps. "Stay still, brat," he growled out in frustration.
"I can't believe I even brought you here, I bring you here and you make a mess! I should have left you to the wolves so that they wouldn't have starved." He growled in frustration. "Who knows? Maybe then you would have been useful for something."
"Hey!" Y/N yelled as she scowled at him in annoyance. The raven-haired man remained silent as he rose a brow, waiting for Y/N to make her defence, yet she said nothing and just looked away/ He couldn't help but smirk at her. "That's what I thought," he grumbled softly as he soon began to clean the handmark off of the golden brush that he treasured so dearly.
"He's mean," Mina mumbled as she stared up at Nanaba who smiled awkwardly and nodded. Meanwhile, Levi just scoffed at Hanji's way of describing him but despite that, he knew it was pretty accurate. Sadly.
"Who are you, anyway?" Y/N asked as she rose a brow and sighed, she stared at the man in awe. If not for his mean personality and demeanour she would have been able to say that he was incredibly handsome. Not that looks cared, he was still being a jerk so far in all honesty and Y/N would rather have the nicest man in the world than the most handsome.
"Levi. Ackerman." He spoke shortly before looking at her as his lips tugged down into a frown that seemed pretty natural; Y/N assumed that he didn't smile all that often if not at all.
"Oh - well I'm-" Y/N began before she was cut off with a rather bitter laugh.
"I don't care who you are, brat. You're a brat all in all." The man, Levi, scoffed as he looked at her with a bored and rather smug look on his devilishly handsome face. Y/N huffed and turned her head the other way, crossing her arms as she stared at him in dismay before she went to leave the room.
"You're going out in that?" Levi demanded in a weirded out tone as he rose a brow before scoffing in dismay. "Whatever, it's your choice, brat. You could go out naked for all I care." He huffed as he soon looked at the bed and frowned. "God, you really are spoiled aren't you? You could have at least made the bed!"
"Me, spoiled!?" Y/N demanded in an offended tone as she rose a brow, her face becoming red in anger as her E/C eyes refused to meet his gaze. She felt like she'd snap and yell at him if she looked at him. "That's rich coming from you, seeing as you've got your head shoved so far up -" Y/N began before taking a deep breath and shaking her head before sighing and forcing herself to calm down.
Levi smirked and rolled his eyes before he went to the door and opened it. "Get dressed into something more... proper, I'll have someone here to come to help you dress," he spoke coldly before shutting the door behind him without giving her any time to even consider responding.
Honestly, he has some nerve! Y/N thought as her fist clenched and then unclenched once more. There was soon a knock at the door which caused for Y/N to jump, looking at the large door in confusion before she sighed softly. "Who is it? Levi, if it's you then I don't want to talk!" The woman called out as she frowned, crossing her arms whilst staring intently at the door. If she stared any harder it probably would have burst up into flames.
"What, no? I'm not Levi," another voice spoke. It wasn't Levi's voice as it had some emotion to it but was still rather stiff. Y/N relaxed and sighed softly and she smiled, grateful that it wasn't the cruel and harsh Levi. "May I come in? My name is Mike, by the way." His smooth voice spoke in a soothing tone as to not annoy or possibly scare the girl.
"Oh yeah," Y/N spoke as she took a seat on the bed, her knees pressed together as she stared at the door as she watched it open to reveal a tall man who was rather muscular, he had dirty blonde hair that was in curtains. Y/N was confident that if she moved his hair it would have hidden his eyes. "Y/N L/N."
"Well Y/N." Mark started smoothly as he smiled at her. "It's an honour to meet you," he spoke with a bow afterwards before taking her hand into his and kissing the back of her hand. Y/N gave a sweet smile and a giggle that momentarily made the tall, charming man lose his composure. One thing he noticed was that she had a scent of (favourite flower) around her. Mike liked the smell, it calmed him down greatly.
"Anyways, you should get ready," Mike spoke slowly, it sounded like an offer but it wasn't. If Levi wanted something done, Mike made sure that it would have to happen. The look in his dark eyes proved that and Y/N scowled.
Was this what was to become of her? A servant to such a horrible and cold man? Who knows.
"Levi expects you to be there at dinner. Wear something presentable," Mike ordered with a sigh afterwards as he made his way back to the door. He ignored Y/N's cold glare and answered her question before she could even ask it:
"You will go, Lady L/N. Or I'll drag you there myself."
The children all stared, some of them looked satisfied with the cliffhanger of an ending and others not so much. The children had instantly begun to ask questions and discuss. But discussing soon became arguing.
"Poor Y/N!" Sobbed out Christa as she clung to Reiner, who was just smiling and rubbing her back gently as if to calm her down.
"Honestly, she deserved it for running off like an idiot," Ymir scoffed.
"Did not!" Christa shouted back with a huff before she clung to Y/N, startling the H/C haired woman before she laughed gently. "You're going to be okay, Christa." Y/N reassured her.
"Please don't leave us, Y/N!" Christa exclaimed with a soft sniffle afterwards. Levi loudly scoffed, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Like I'd ever let anyone harm Y/N. She's such an idiot that she needs me around her." Levi scoffed, rolling his eyes despite Y/N's half amused - half offended expression.
"Y/N L/N. You belong to me."