The drive back to Armin's is silent. Marco sits there like a deflated balloon staring aimlessly through the windshield. I feel like I should comfort him or something, but I think I need some comforting too. I imagine he sees a lot of things like this, in his 'visions' or 'dreams' or whatever.
I calm myself and try to forget about the swarm of spirits at the college. It's probably unsafe for me to go back there for a while. I've never seen that before. The whole 'seeing someone's soul leave their body and turn into a ghost' thing. I saw as the light dulled from their skin and materialized into a transparent fog of who they were. I saw them as they turned their own dead body and screamed in horror. I couldn't tell the difference between the cries of the dead and of the living. I'm definitely not sleeping tonight.
It's about eight o'clock now, this day being the longest in my entire life. I imagine I'll be having many more of these in the near future. The sun eases itself into the blanket of clouds casting them orange and pink shades blending together like melting sorbet. I don't feel the same contentment that I do whenever I look at the South Carolina sky, now it feels...bittersweet. I avoid looking at the sky and just try to concentrate on the road through acres of damp swamp lands.
"You know that's never happened before," Marco mumbles next to me. He still hasn't moved, he's just blinking slowly at the road, covered in soot and grime. I imagine I look the same, we both need a shower and lots of sleep.
"What's never happened before?" I ask. I notice as his head turns slightly, looking at my hand resting on the drive stick in the center console.
"I've never touched someone and had a vision," he says in a quiet voice still looking at my hand. I feel oddly self aware of my fingers and start fidgeting.
"Oh," I swallow, "Is that...bad?" I ask oblivious to how this psychic thing works. I hope Armin knows how to handle him better than I do.
He shakes his head and looks back out the front windshield. "I don't know," he sighs. Okay...awkward.
We sit here for a little longer, our silence now filled with the questions of Marco's psyche. I nervously wonder if I should turn on the radio or something and kill this heavy silence. Instead I begin to jabber like an idiot.
"I, uh, never said my name," I stutter, scratching at a cut on my jaw, "It's Jean by the way."
Marco actually chokes out a laugh. I turn to him utterly confused and make a weird face at him. He smiles back at me and runs a hand through his hair.
"I know, I've heard your name many times, Jean Kirstein," he says laughing a little more.
"Oh," I mutter and remember that the appointment was saved under my name. Marco looks out the side window and starts to laugh to himself some more. A pleasant lightness fills my chest, he's actually laughing and it makes me feel good for some reason. "What?" I say, a smile creeping to my face.
Marco clears his throat and tries to stop his giggling. "It's uh-it's nothing, I just," he looks over to me and smiles again, little crinkles creasing at the corners of his eyes, "I never expected you to be so...normal," he says biting at his lower lip.
I squint at the road and raise an eyebrow. "Uh...thank you?"
"I've just known about you for most of my life as this mystical and oh-so powerful force to be reckoned with, not a normal, awkward, real guy," he says with a light to his voice that I like to hear.
"Oh, believe me, I'm totally extraordinary," I say with a waggle of my eyebrows. Marco gives me the 'sure you are' look and smiles to himself. I think twice about what he'd said and get confused again. "Wait, what do you mean by you've known about me for most of your life?"
"Oh uh," Marco stutters making a quick look from me to the window. "You're kind of famous in the psychic world," he shrugs with a blush. I raise an eyebrow at him as I try to focus on driving while being confused. He scratches the back of his neck. "This prophecy has been talked about for centuries, passed down from generation to generation, my family thinks of you as a god."
"And they've known my name the entire time?" I ask, the idea running back through my head that if I was supposed to bring the end of the world and people knew about it, why haven't they killed me already?
"Oh, no no, I've only known your name for maybe a month and a half now, but I hear it every night. I dream about you as this faceless Greek god who can tame the dead and send the devil surrendering back to his hellish underground," he says like it's no big deal. Like, the fuck? Supposedly I'm this amazing god of a ghost tamer and will save the world from its inevitable demise. Really? I work summers as a boat tour guide. God? I don't think so.
I don't say anything, only gripping the steering wheel tighter as anxiety creeps back to my gut.
"But uh, once I heard your name, I looked you up, and that's probably the only reason I didn't drop to my knees and start kissing your feet when you came into my office today," Marco shrugs.
I laugh, mostly at the joke but also at his blunt honesty, he doesn't seem to have any problems with hiding what he knows, it's refreshing to be around someone who doesn't make a living out of hiding secrets.
I turn down the road leading to Armin's house for the second time today. "So it sounds like I have quite the reputation to live up to," I say.
"Not really, it's all prophecy, as long as everything goes as planned you'll be just as amazing as everyone thinks you are," Marco says genuinely. I blush for some reason, hoping the rush of bright color to my cheeks is covered by the girme coating my face. I try not to feel flattered for some reason.
"Please, I'm pretty sure the only people who think I'm amazing are sitting in this car," I say pulling up to the keypad in front of Armin's iron gates. Marco covers his giggle with his fist as I buzz for Armin to open the gates.
We pull through the border and Marco shivers, I look over at him and he's gaping down at his hands. I go to ask if he's alright but he speaks up before I can. "There's a lot of magic here," he says with a restrained voice.
"Uh, yeah, Armin's safety precautions borderline paranoia," I say still looking at him like he might grow a third eye. He just nods and swallows, apparently being somewhat sensitive to Armin's protection sigils.
"And...who exactly is Armin?" He asks stuffing his hands between his legs. I notice him looking at the giant mansion like it's some haunted medieval castle.
I smile at him. "Don't worry, you're in much better hands with Armin than with me." I pull into the parking lot next to Eren's car that's still here. The sun outside has nearly disappeared completely, the sky only a solid shade of dark blue.
"I highly doubt that." I hear Marco mumble as we stumble out of the car, both of us worn from our not-so-fun college visit. I grab the duffel I packed out of the back seat and Marco waits for me gaping at the house along the beach as he clenches onto the strap of his computer bag. His dark hair tosses softly in the wind, the waves from the ocean calming his senses, and the creeping moon casting a soft light onto his face shadowing his contours just right.
I pat his shoulder as I walk past him, "It's okay, I promise he's not a vampire."
He follows only a step behind me. "Don't joke about that, vampires are real," he says as we climb the steps to the archway that is Armin's front entrance and I knock on the hard wood.
I throw a look at him as we wait for Mina to answer hand carved door, "I know." Marco looks at me with this magnificently horrified face and I almost start to laugh but am interrupted by the door opening. Armin stands in the entrance and the motherly concerned look on his face that I didn't miss.
"Hi honey, we're home," I chime as I step past him leading Marco behind me.
"I thought you were at the university," Armin huffs, those terrible worry lines starting to wear at the skin between his eyebrows.
"We were," I grunt noticing Marco tense at Armin's mention of his school, "And now we're here, end of story." I wish Armin was a telepath at some times because I really want to send him a message to not fucking say anything about the college, but alas, Armin is no mind reader.
"But the fire-" he starts, I cut him off by grabbing his shoulder and pulling him aside.
"Don't." Is all I say in a low gruff voice, probably scaring the shit out of Armin, not for being forceful, but being so protective so quickly. I don't know why I'm being like this either, but I just watched this guy scream and cry as he saw his co workers, students, friends, and workplace burn to the ground. I'm pretty sure anyone would try and alleviate as much pain as they could for someone in Marco's position. Armin swallows and nods.
We turn back to Marco, he's looking nervously around the grand entryway with his tan hands twisting at the worn strap. I breathe in a breath of confidence and grab Marco by the shoulder stepping away from the worried blonde. I give him a little shake and he snaps out of his house oogling. He blinks at Armin and steps forward, giving him his most sincere smile.
"Hi, I'm Marco Bodt," the duo shakes hands. Armin's face softens to an amused smile. "You have a lovely, uh...home," Marco says getting caught off guard by the wall of flags that Armin has representing all the countries he's been to.
Armin let's out a small chuckle, his worried mom face scrubbed free by Marco's childlike wonder. "Thank you, I'm Armin Arlert, feel free to stay for as long as you'd like," Armin says in a soft voice. It seems like Marco can get just about anyone out of their funk of a mood, I'll have to try him out on Mikasa or Annie later.
"Marco, if you don't mind, I know you've probably had a long day yourself, but could I ask you a couple of questions?" Armin asks scratching the back of his hand.
Marco looks from me to Armin. "Oh, uh, okay," he says with a small shake to his voice. Armin nods again and starts to lead Marco to the Study, I follow them a few paces behind not really wanting to talk about the damn apocalypse anymore.
In the Study, while Marco starts gaping at the walls again, I notice Annie is the only other person in the room. She's laying on the couch that I was in when we went on our little memory adventure, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, and looking like she's been sleeping. I go to blab out a sarcastic comment about how she looks, but she shoots me a glare already knowing what I'm about to say; so I drop it.
Armin leads Marco to one of his leather guest chairs where Armin sits next to him. I saunter my way over to Annie on the couch and plop down by her feet. She glares at me through tired eyes and I give her a dazzling smile. She rolls her eyes and we both turn to watch Armin and Marco start to talk.
"I can't read him," she mutters after a moment. I watch as Marco nervously bounces his leg and keeps looking back from me to Armin. Annie is watching intently at the two, probably boring holes into Marco's head trying to get into his thoughts.
"I'm not surprised," I sigh resting my arm along the back to the couch. "He seems powerful, he knew about the fire at the college and saved a bunch of people, and he can sense the protection magic around the house." Annie's always had a problem with reading the supernaturally powerful. Like Levi, she's never been able to get one sentence off of him. It drives her crazy. So this prophesied psychic that's supposed to save the world? Yeah, there's no way she's going to be able to get through to him.
"I don't think he was sensing the house's magic, Levi's here," she mutters. Ah, speak of the devil. They probably called him and told him that the world just so happens to be ending, I pretty sure that's a good enough reason to get him out of his hole in the ground.
"Where is everyone then?"
Annie sits up and wraps her arms around her knees, her sweatpants are Armin's, they say Harvard down the side in big white letters. "Armin told everyone that he didn't want the psychic to be attacked as soon as he got here. We practically had to lock Eren in the basement," she says mirthlessly. I watch Annie as she finds no amusement in Eren's ridiculous fanboy persona. I don't know how she looks when she smiles. I once asked Armin if he's ever seen her smile, and he said that she rarely does, and half of the time it's not in the good way. I'm still amazed how Armin can be so in love with such a scary person.
"Where is Eren then?" I ask imagining him in tied up in shackles and ropes in a grungy dungeon just to be held back from going total fanboy on the psychic.
"With Mikasa." My stomach sinks and I'm left with the familiar feeling of jealousy that had fucked my day up only a few hours ago. I fidget uncomfortably in my seat, feeling unsatisfied with every move I make.
Annie and I sit there, me unable to sit still, and Annie staring intently at the back of Armin's head. I imagine she's reading Armin's mind instead of trying to flail to get through Marco's. I watch Marco give short lived answers to Armin questions, looking uncomfortable and flighty. Which is odd being that I didn't even ask Marco anything in the car and he half spilled his life story being totally comfortable around me. He keeps flicking his eyes back to me, I feel like a mom at a doctor's appointment trying to give him encouraging nods and be a silent cheerleader.
I sigh and stand pulling my duffel bag back over my shoulder, I slug my way to the Study door and notice Marco watching me leave, I give a little encouraging smile that seems to lighten him up a bit. Armin turns to me too cutting off in the middle of his sentence.
"I'm just going to get cleaned up, I'll be in my room if you need me," I say. Armin nods and I shuffle out feeling more and more tired the longer I stand. I hope Armin doesn't question Marco into him running away, I know I would if I were him.
I do the math in my head as I climb the stairs to the guest hall. Armin has four guest rooms, all of which are their own spectacle of Armin's glory, and there's a full house of five people staying in his home. That means some of us are going to have to double up, and with my luck I'll be one of those people.
I give Marco the new guy profits and give him his own room, this means I'll either be staying with Mikasa or Eren. (If I even think about sharing a room with Levi he'll punch me in the throat.) I shuffle down the hall of rooms and take a guess on whos rooms whos. I knock on a door, and when no one answers, I let myself in and see Mikasa's bags and clothes on the bed. I sigh with a wait on my heart and think twice about sharing a room with my ex-girlfriend. I don't think she'd be too happy about it. I stoop to Eren's level and give in on having to share a room with the dork. It might be nice to sleep with someone at least.
I try the next door hoping to the gods that it isn't Levi's room, and no one answers again. I open the door and find the room pitch black. I assume it's the empty room and flick on the lights so I can use the bathroom to take a shower. The lights glow down on two lumps in the bed buried in the white comforter and sheets. I tip toe my way to the bed to see who it is. Maybe there's someone else here that Annie didn't mention.
I creep up to see two heads poking out from beneath the clouds of fabric. One with a fuzz of brunette hair sticking up in all directions: Eren. And one with long silky black hair spread out on the pillow like graceful waves of the ocean: Mikasa.
Eren and Mikasa.
Asleep.
In a bed.
Together.
The amount of emotions that run through me are so powerful that I can't decide what to do next. I want to scream, or rip the sheets off of them, punch Eren in the face, cry for Mikasa, possibly just start throwing things at them. I want to do everything, anything, but I can't move. I'm so overwhelmed that I'm literally frozen looking at my ex girlfriend sleeping with my roommate.
My breath picks up as the adrenaline fuels my thoughts. I drop my duffel bag and take a lunge of a step to the bed raising my arm to grab Eren's fuzzy head.
"Hey motherfuc-!" I put as much power into my voice as I can but am rudely interrupted by someone wrapping their arm around my throat and yanking me back. The rest of my cleverly planned cry at Eren comes out as a strangled choke, I lose my balance and fall back into whoever is yanking at me. I'm pulled out of the room stumbling and trying to choke out insults. In the hallway, I'm dumped onto the ground and punched in the face for good measure, giving my attacker, which I can see now is Annie, enough time to go back into the room grabbing my duffel and turning off the lights. She closes the door behind her and throws my bag in my face, my laptop giving me a nice forceful slap to my throbbing nose.
"Leave them alone, she's not yours anymore," Annie says not even the slightest out of breath. She turns on her heel and heads back down the hallway to the stairs. I'm left alone on the ground with a bleeding nose, a throbbing need to punch Eren in the face, and a broken heart. I struggle to my feet, feeling worse than I have all day and lean against the wall, letting my brain calm for a moment so I can make my way to the Library which I have now donned my bedroom.
Standing there with blood running down my chin and my heart sagging in my chest, the bedroom door opens with a small creak. Mikasa sticks her head out with tousled hair and tired eyes. She sees me in all my broken glory (for the, like, third time today) and immediately breaks into her Healer mode. She steps to me and starts running her fingers over my nose and little cuts from the glass at the college. I give myself a moment to let her touch me, taking it as a memory that I may need to come back to, then brush her off. I stand and step away, unable to look at her without seeing Eren beside her.
"Leave it Mikasa, just go back to him, I'll be fine," I grumble holding my nose to try and get the least amount of blood as possible on Armin's rug. I don't hear anything from her, her silence like a looming ghost. Only a moment later do I hear the bedroom door squeak shut. My heart sinks more, I should probably just get rid of it, it's only been causing me problems lately.
I slug my way to the empty guest room and drag my corpse into the shower; the grime and blood running down the drain in a swirl of a memory of what happened today. I rest my head on the cold tile hoping that it'll help ease the throbbing in my skull. There's been so many things happening today. Mary-Elle was only just this morning, it feels like it's been years. I try to think of anything besides Mikasa or Eren. My memory stumbles upon Marco, he being the only good thing that arose from this terrible situation. The car ride was weird and awkward, but it was nice to laugh with someone, even if it was about the end of the world. For some reason, I start to cry. Not the gross sobbing in a romance movie where I'm sitting in the fetal position bawling my brains out. I just cry, letting the frustrating emotions out through pathetic tears. It's a much needed cry, and the alone time is nice, even though it gives me free rein of my thoughts which I don't appreciate.
I stumble out of the shower, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and leaving my hair wet to let the water run through the cuts on my chest giving the slightest of burns. I drag myself out of the bathroom preparing myself to make the trek to the Library but am interrupted by the image of Marco sitting on the edge of the bed.
I freeze in the doorframe, letting the AC from the bedroom help cool my skin. "Uh, hey, I was just cleaning up in here, I'm gonna go downstairs to sleep," I say feeling an odd tingle of nervousness creep to my fingertips.
Marco nods noticing my further jacked face. "What happened?" he asks wincing a bit.
I sigh and ruffle my wet hair with a towel. "A telepath with a nice right hook." I leave my answer vague to try and protect myself for as long as I can before Marco finds out that I'm a complete dipshit. Hopefully Annie or Mikasa won't tell anyone about the occasion.
There's an awkward silence between us and I notice Marco's eyes drooping slowly. The poor kid must be exhausted. I mean, I am too, but at least I'm in a house with the people I know and trust. The only person Marco knows here is me, and I've only known him for like four hours.
"Hey, go ahead and catch a shower, Mikasa can probably heal your cuts in the morning, and if you need anything I'll be in the Library," I say shuffling past him. I feel a bit of guilt for just leaving him alone. Honestly, he looks like he just needs a hug, but I'm no hugger. When it comes to complaining and inappropriate sarcasm, I'm your guy. But when you need a sympathizer or hand holder, you will be heavily disappointed by me. Go to Armin for that shit.
He doesn't say anything as I slowly close the door behind me duffel bag and towel in hand. I drag myself down the hall, using an astronomical amount of restraint to not go into Eren's room and blast the kid to pieces. This is just how it is now. For the rest of my life apparently, that probably won't last though the year. Whatever. As long as no one says anything about it I can probably store it in my brain under 'bad memories I don't want to go back to that Annie will eventually bring up' file.
I shrug on a shirt so I don't scare Mina or someone as I trot to the Library. I make it down the stairs to find Armin sitting on the last step waiting for me.
I sigh and run a hand through my wet hair, "Armin, I really can't do anything else tonight, can it wait till morning?"
Armin runs his hands down his face and turns to look up at me, his once bright blue eyes worn to almost gray, the color reminds me of Annie. "He didn't talk much," he sighs, "Once you left the room, he pretty much resorted to one worded answers."
He's talking about Marco. I honestly couldn't give a rats ass right now I'm so fucking tired. But Armin is my friend, and he helped me a lot today, and it's not like I'm gonna get much sleep tonight anyways. I flop onto the bottom step next to him, putting my chin in my hands.
"What do you think about him?" Armin asks brushing his bangs out of his eyes.
I think about Marco for a second, if nothing else, he seems powerful enough to keep on our team to save the world. And if it's any consolation that Annie can't read his mind, he's definitely got some supernatural abilities we just haven't seen yet.
"He seems to know more about it than us, and I think he's got some power that we could use," I say through a tired voice, "I mean, he did save probably half the people in the building when the fire happened, if he hadn't known then everyone would've died, including me."
Armin nods slowly, his movements exhausted and worn. "We were watching it on the news, I was about to go up there but Annie said she could still feel you."
I turn to him, "Annie could sense me from that far away?" I ask surprised.
Armin sighs and rubs his eyes, "Yeah, though it hurt her, Mikasa had to piece her back together a bit."
Damn. Annie's power is getting stronger too.
We both sit there for a second, reminiscing about how easy things were before I brought the apocalypse to his house this morning. "If nothing else," I sigh scratching the short hair at the base of my skull, "He's a nice guy and cares about people, I'm thinking we need more of that around here."
Armin smiles a bit and nods. I'm about to wish him a goodnight and go to a special couch I'm thinking about in the Library when he clears his throat, turning and looking at me. "Annie said you found Eren and Mikasa."
I said I could keep it in if no one mentioned it.
And I did.
I stand with a sudden blast of awareness, the adrenaline picking back up in my veins pushing my feet and the rest of my body to the door and out into the South Carolina night. I hear Armin call for me. I ignore him, giving him the advantage to not punch him in the face. I stomp barefoot through the grass, my hands tighten into fists and my breath comes in growling heaves.
This isn't fair.
This isn't right.
I shouldn't have to deal with this right now. Out of all the times Eren and Mikasa could've gotten together, it had to be today. Well I guess fuck it, if it's the end of the world do whatever you want, right? Sure, they have that freedom, but what about me? Supposedly I'm forced to stop the fucking devil from swallowing this stupid ass planet whole meanwhile my ex girlfriend and roommate are fucking in the background.
This cannot be fair.
Can't I spend my last days on earth kicking back, listening to the top 80's rock classics, with a beer in one hand and a hot person in the other? No, I can't. I have to run and sweat and bleed and cry, fighting tooth and nail for this unfair world to live. And Marco too. We are the only two prophesied to save this shitty planet, forced into doing something that we don't want to do. Why can't things just go back to normal? Why do we have to watch people bleed and scream? Why do we have to watch them die? Why us? Why the fuck does it have to be us?
I've already stomped my way off of Armin's property and down the street, passing more extravagant houses along the coast. The infamous South Carolina humidity sticks to my face and neck, sending salty sweat to burn the cuts along my skin. My head throbs from my wacked nose and my burning need to hit something. The sight of Eren and Mikasa sleeping so peacefully together makes me want to puke.
I blast into a wooded area between two mansions and imagine one of the trees as Eren. I send everything I've got into the dry bark. My knuckles cry for me to stop only opening more wounds along my hands. The chips sinking into my skin making the pain more therapeutic than anything. I hit the tree for Eren and Mikasa, for Armin talking about it, for Annie punching me in the face, for Marco's sad eyes, for the stupid fucking prophecy. There's nothing that can change these things, I just don't want to deal with them. I don't want them at all. This is all so unfair. What have I done to deserve this?
I give the tree one last good hard thwack and collapse against it, sinking into the sandy grass beneath it, crying all over again. I sit against the tree thanking it for it's support even though I just beat the shit out of it. My knuckles throb and ache with every move I make. I cry until I can't, letting the sounds of the ocean calm me like they always have. I never really liked the beach, mostly because of the sand, but I do like the water, it's always been a relaxing scene for me. I look through the gaps in the trees to the moonlight glinting off the ocean.
I hiccup sighs and let the tears fall unevenly down my face. I want to fall asleep and wake up tomorrow morning, in my bed, no ghosts, no prophecy, no Eren and Mikasa, and act like everything was just a bad dream.
I watch as Glenn swims around me. My life will never be normal. I will always have to look behind me and hide who I am. There's no white picket fence, no husband or wife, no kids, no boring job, no Sunday barbques, no summer vacations, no snow days, no movie nights, and no growing old. It will always be sleepless nights, scary dead people, loneliness, shitty writing, weird roommates, and end of the world prophecies. I don't get normal. Never have, never will.
My phone rings in my pocket, I didn't even realize I had it. I assume it's Armin and plan to ignore it but it's Sasha. I debate answering it with how I'll probably sound to her. She's like my little sister. I don't really see her much anymore, ever since her and Connie got married they've been busy putting together this cute little sandwich shop. Though it's pretty weird that she's calling me at almost midnight, so I decide to answer it if something's wrong.
I clear my throat and answer, putting my best effort into sounding bored or tired. "Hello?"
"Duuude, your chapter was a-mazing!" I hear Sasha wail from the phone. "I just got done with it, it was the best thing ever."
I laugh wiping my eyes, an amazing feeling of relief comes over me. I can't tell you how it feels to hear a person's voice to doesn't know about the end of the world. "Thanks Sasha."
"Whoa, are you okay? You sound like you just smoked a pack, you're not smoking again are you?" She asks her voice turning to her wannabe mother tone.
"No no I'm fine, I've just...had a long day," I sigh trying to breath evenly.
"Ah yes, the long torturous days of a writer who never leaves his apartment, must be difficult," Sasha says with a light tone. I sit back and let her voice calm me further. She reminds me of home, or a simpler life. I've known her since I was twelve from school. She had bounced up to me during lunch and asked for the mac n' cheese that I wasn't eating. Ever since then she's been stealing my food. And through all this time I've never told her about the ghost thing. I debated it once, but I don't want to worry her with that stuff, she's too important to me to do that too.
"Shut up," I say. I hear Sasha giggle and it makes me smile.
"Well that's all I really wanted to tell you, we have to get together for lunch sometime, maybe tomorrow?" she asks.
I sigh with the weight of the world on my chest. "Yeah we'll have to get together soon, but I think I'm busy tomorrow, I'll text you if nothing else."
"Yeah yeah okay, just stop by the shop whenever you get the chance you vampire. Go outside once in the while, it might do you good." I laugh and she sighs, "Well goodnight then, sleep well if that's something you do."
"By Sash, tell Connie I said hi," I sigh closing my eyes against the darkness.
"Connie! Jean says hi!" I hear Sasha belt away from the phone, another voice grumbles something in the background that I can't depict. "He says he's asleep," she says back into the phone.
"Buzz kill," I grumble.
"I know right?" We both snicker and she sighs again, "Well goodnight for real."
"Goodnight for real," I sigh and the line cuts off.
I rest my head back against the tree and think about Sasha, man I miss her. She has a light in her soul that no one I've met can really measure up to. The sinking feeling in my chest tells me I'm scared about what might happen to her in these next moments of the planets death. I straighten up, if I don't have any other reason to save the world, then do it for Sasha, she doesn't deserve to go out in flames and fear.
I pull myself off the ground and stumble out of the woods looking like I just turned from wolf to man. I drag my body along the sidewalk back towards Armin's house, I don't really know how far away I am, but I'm sure I'll come across it at some point.
The night has always been kind of loud in South Carolina, it's the ocean and the bugs and the people. I appreciate the noise though, it helps distract me from my thoughts. I look up at the stary sky in love with the way they're not obstructed by the light pollution. It calms me further, reminding me that this stupid planet is also beautiful, another reason to keep fighting.
My phone rings again in my pocket, I assume it's Sasha again, calling to say something she forgot earlier, but it's Armin. I swallow the pride to ignore it and hesitantly answer letting him spit words into the speaker without me even saying a hello.
"You have to get back quick," he blurts into the phone. I hear someone screaming and people yelling, Armin is out of breath and panicky, "It's Marco, something's wrong."
Without realizing it, I'm already running. My barefeet smack against the sidewalk and I ignore the tiny rocks that pinch my skin. "What's happening?" I breath into the phone.
"I-I don't know, he was- we were all just going to bed and-and we heard screaming and it was coming from Marco's room and I don't know if he's sleeping or or if- his eyes are white and he keeps calling your name," Armin sputters.
"He's having a dream, I'm coming," I go to hang up but yell back into the phone, "Do NOT touch him." I hang up and sprint along the row of beach houses. Finally coming up on Armin's iron gates. I blaze down his front lawn and crash through the open door past a waiting worried Mina.
I can already hear the hoarse cries coming from upstairs, they're barely human like. They're all echoed and howling like a wounded animal. I take the stairs two at a time and whip myself into the open guest room. The cries are mind rattling, it feels like the noise is ripping right into my mind and I can't even hear myself think.
Marco is on the bed flat on his back, his hands twisted in the sheets that are left on the bed, the rest are on the floor. He looks like he's doing the best he can to fight against the pain of the dream. He's breathing is in vicious wheezes, his pale white eyes gaping at the ceiling. He's sweating and some of the cuts along his chest have reopened against the tension on his skin.
Everyone is in the room yelling at each other to do something or to not touch him. Levi and Mikasa are the closest, both of them hovering over Marco whispering their ancient languages in attempts to heal or ease Marco's pain. Levi's fingers hover over Marco's chest omitting this foggy gray mist that seems to be doing nothing. Armin and Annie are yelling over the commotion, Annie's nose is bleeding and Armin is telling her to stop for some reason. Eren is standing by the door with his ears covered and a wince on his face.
I make my way around everyone and go to pull Mikasa away but she fights back. I grab her arm and try to get her away from Marco but she only starts yelling her words louder none of them doing anything.
"Mikasa!" I yell at her but she ignores me. Without a second thought I turn to Eren to looks at me through slitted eyes. "Eren!" I yell for him trying to motion Mikasa towards him. He understands what I'm trying to say and stumbles his way to Mikasa and puts an arm around her waist and pulls her away from the bed.
With Mikasa out of range I turn to Levi who seems to be the most calm even though his cloud of gray magic is doing literally nothing on Marco's psychic power. I take a second to revel in someone being more powerful than him. Then try to yell for him to break his spell, "Levi! Let me through!"
Mikasa must have learned her stubbornness from Levi because he doesn't back down either. I turn to search the room for someone to drag him away, but Levi doesn't feel love so there's no one he's wouldn't try and punch if they tried to sweep him away. I turn to Annie, the next strongest person in the room, who is being restrained by Armin.
"Annie!" I point at Levi. Both Armin and Annie get the idea and grab Levi at his arms and pull him back. Fucking Ackerman's.
Now it's only Marco and I. His wails make me feel dizzy. Tears stream down his cheeks and it hurts to see him like this. This is so unfair.
I remember what happened at the college, this is nothing like his vision then. He said that he'd never had one just because he touched someone. But then, he was frozen and letting the vision just wash over him. Now he's fighting it and screaming to try and claw away. I remember the burning cold that stung my fingers as he gripped my hand with superhuman strength.
I don't know what to do. Now that I've come and shoved everyone away I'm supposed to know what to do. I got nothing.
JEAN!
My name rattles though my head with a furious punch almost knocking me over, I have to hold onto the side table to keep from falling. I look to Annie who's still holding Levi back with Armin, she shakes her head at my question if that cry was her. She points a shaky finger at the bed.
It was Marco.
Everyone in the room his clutching their heads against Marco's cry through their minds, Armin had said that he was calling for me.
Without thinking, I grab Marco at his trembling shoulders. And everything stops.
The wails and the mind boggling screams cut off suddenly. I hear everyone in the room breathing like they've all just run a marathon. Marco's thrashing has stopped, he's frozen, just like at the college. As for me, that same frozen pain shoots daggers up my arms, ten times stronger than it was before. My hands are locked onto Marco's shoulders, even if I wanted to pull away, I couldn't. But I don't want to. Everything has calmed, it's working. Although, Marco's still tensed in his frozen position gaping at the ceiling, and it doesn't really look like he's breathing.
My breath picks up as I try and take some of the second hand pain of the vision. My arms pop veins and my fingertips are flushed white. I try to focus on Marco, hoping I'm helping and this vision will end soon. I can hear hushed whispers among the room. My busted knuckles start to bleed a bright red as I hold onto him. I grunt against the pain as it continues to crawl up my biceps and through my shoulders beckoning it's way to my chest.
"Marco," I wheeze out, my arms start to tremble and sweat lines along my eyebrow. This better not last much longer.
"Jean?" I hear from behind me, it's distant and hazy but I think it's Armin. My vision starts to blur as it tunnels around Marco, still frozen and white eyed. I hear whispers start to creep in the back of my skull. I first think it's everyone in the room coming to their senses, but then I can hear that it's voices that I don't recognize. The sounds grow louder and louder. I hear them screaming and crying 'save me' or 'help us,' it's a sea of people. Their voices tug at the thin strand of emotion called empathy in my head threatening to tear it.
I start to cry, the pain and voices and confusion making it way to my eyes and spilling down my cheeks. The pain grows, spreading to my throat and abdomen. I feel like I can't breathe, I wheeze out one last call for Marco and I stop breathing. The blood rushes to my head mixing with the cold pain making it remarkable that I'm even sitting up right now.
Right as I feel like I'm going to pass out, everything stops. I fall on top of Marco, my hands finally free of him, my lungs gasp for sweet sweet gulps of air and I can see the blurry image of Marco's eyes return to a pretty shade of brown.
I roll off of him wheezing like an overused squeaky toy, resting my head on the pillow next to his, letting the cold pain fade from my muscles, and wait for him to come to. He blinks out of his haze, his breath coming out in gasps like mine. He realizes he's awake and sits up abruptly, he scrubs his hands over his face and notices my legs that are still laying over his and turns to me.
He looks down at me with that sickening worried face, I hope to God that there isn't going to be another fire because I don't think I'll be able to fucking stand let alone run out of the house. Through my heavy gasps I let out a breathy, "Hey."
Marco brings a hand over his mouth and tears start to spill over his cheeks again, I somehow feel guilty for saying something.
"Oh my god," he mumbles into his hand, his breath still coming out ragged and panicky. I struggle to sit up and wrap a sore arm around his back, my actions moving faster than my thoughts. He continues to whisper his "Oh my god"'s into his hand as he starts to sob. I wrap my other arm around him and he buries his face into the crook of my neck. I welcome him and hold his head with a bloody hand. Hushing his cries and trying to calm him by rubbing circles on his trembling back.
We stay like this for a while. I don't know what Marco saw but it had to be a doozy. If it had anything to do with the screaming voices in my head then it couldn't have been anything good. We sit there in a mess of cries and sweat and drying blood in front of everyone who are still recovering from what just happened.
Marco's shuddering breaths start to calm and his arms wiggle their way from inbetween us to wrap around me. His pull is fragile and hesitant but I'm sure it's all he can give with what he just went through. His breath calms enough that it's even and shallow falling into the rhythm of my own.
I open my eyes and look to see if anyone is still in the room. Armin is standing with Annie, I give him a nod of affirmation and he pulls Annie out of the room with him. Eren, Mikasa, and Levi have already left, probably back to bed to try and forget about it. Easy for them, they don't have a scarred memory burned into their brain about how the world is going to end like Marco probably does. I wonder if he's ever gotten and full nights sleep either.
I start to pull away from Marco but his hold tightens, he sniffs and keeps his head tucked in it's spot resting on my shoulder. "Please don't leave," he says in a shaky whisper.
I rub another calming circle on his back. "I'm not, I was just going to turn off the light," I whisper back.
He sighs out a fragile, "Okay." And I slip out of his arms and stumble to flick off the light. I close the door and struggle to find the thrown blankets on the floor and put them back on the bed. I crawl into the sheets beside Marco and pull the blankets over us. He immediately goes and wraps his arms around my torso and I pull him closer restoring my arms to hold him around his broad shoulders resting my cheek on the top of his head. He lets out a shaky sigh and his body relaxes against mine.
I wait for him to say something about the vision, but I won't make him. Armin said that he wouldn't open up when he was asking him questions. So I'll let him tell me if he wants to, otherwise I don't mind laying here with him, I appreciate not having to be alone, I'm sure he does too.
I wonder why he stopped when I touched him, is it because it was me or can anyone do that? I should probably not think about anything and try to get some sleep, hoping Marco follows suit.
I sigh and nudge my face deeper into Marco's hair, he smells like sweat and shampoo. Marco tenses up suddenly, I feel his shoulder muscles freeze and his heart thrum. I tense with him hoping that he's not about to have another vision.
"Jean?" he says in a worried whisper.
"Yeah?" I ask trying to sound calm.
"I...I think we're going to die," he shudders and his arms tighten around me. I let out a shaky sigh and comb a hand through his tangled hair.
"I thought so," I whisper, probably not being the best thing to say right now but it's sadly the truth. "Guess that's part of the deal huh?"
His body relaxes and he sighs through his nose, "This can't be fair."
My heart pulls and I close my eyes, trying to focus on Marco and not what's at stake. "It's not." I turn and press a kiss into his hair, I don't really think about it, it just feels right. Marco pulls me closer as I do.
I've only known this guy for half a day, but it feels right to be next to him. There's no worrying or hesitation, it just is. I'm comfortable and calm with him. I don't know, maybe it's a prophecy or destiny thing, or maybe I just don't care anymore. But I want to be next to him. And it seems like he's not really against it.
A sinking feeling sags my punctured heart about me getting close to someone as the world ends. I try to ignore it and argue that it's better than being alone. So what if Marco an I get close, it was kind of destined that way, right?
I sleep easy next to him. If I was by myself I wouldn't have even been able to close my eyes. I don't dream, I'm not woken up by a ghost, and I don't think about the end of the world. It's just me and Marco and the night, it's all I need. I hope again that I will wake up in the morning, with no prophecy and no heartache. It would be nice to wake up next to Marco though, guess this whole day wasn't such a sham.