Chapter 10
They had broken down the fourth wall.
Splinters flew out onto what could only be a city street. All of them ran through the doorway. As he passed under the wall, Eren felt himself begin to shrink. He didn't want to turn back to human just yet. There were still titans behind them. Looking back, Eren watched the titans shrinking as they passed under the wall as well. As they got down to usual human proportions, they looked like people. One at a time, they fell to their knees and collapsed. So the titans had really all been human after all.
As he himself shrunk, Eren noticed that his gear was still on him. This didn't usually happen when he came out of a titan. The others were staring at him, a confused look on their faces, except for Hanji, who looked excited and curious. There wasn't time to think about the fact that all the titans had turned human as they passed under the wall.
Lights shone out of the windows in the houses. Stronger, brighter lights than the lanterns and candles they used inside the walls. Through the windows people were eating, talking, reading, and watching some moving pictures.
A group of boys about Eren's age slid forward on pieces of wood on wheels. They stopped when they saw the tired group of civilians in front of them.
"Those are some really realistic cosplays!" said the nearest one, eying their uniforms and 3DMG.
"Yeah, you look just like Eren and Mikasa and Armin and Levi and Hanji and Sasha and Connie and Jean!" the second one seemed really excited. Eren wondered how he knew all their names.
"What happened to the titans?" asked Hanji, probably just for something to say.
"You had titan cosplayers with you as well?" the third boy was really excited. "The titans are amazing!"
"Rin, I keep telling you. They eat people! They aren't good!" reprimanded the first one.
"Eren's a titan," pointed out the one called Rin.
They must have seen the confused looks on the faces in front of them, because they stopped.
"You are cosplayers, aren't you?" asked the second boy.
"What are cosplayers?" asked Armin.
"Either they're really good at staying in character, or somehow they really are in the Survey Corps," jokes the first one.
"Cosplayers are people who dress up as characters from books or shows," he looked at Armin. "You're cosplaying Armin Arlert from Shingeki no Kyojin."
"So… I'm in a book. Like the books about the outside world? Like Romeo and Juliet?"
"Not like Romeo and Juliet…" Rin looked confused by Armin's incomprehensive look. "It's a manga. And an anime."
"What are this manga and this anime about?" asked Connie, trying out the new words.
"Killing titans," said the second boy.
"It's more about the horrors of war and how corrupted people in charge can be," said first boy. "Tatsuya only just finished watching the battle of Trost arc in the anime today, and he hasn't read the manga yet."
"Can we get something to eat somewhere around here?" asked Sasha. "We haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon."
"I don't think any of them are wearing wigs!" exclaimed Rin. "Those are some really amazing cosplays."
"We're not cosplayers," said Jean.
"OK. If you aren't cosplayers, you'll know which ships are canon," said the first boy.
Ships? Like for sailing on the sea? Canon? For shooting titans? Eren wondered.
"Maybe they're overtired," said the one called Tatsuya. "Let's bring them back to my house. My parents are out until Monday."
They led them to a large house a few streets away. Eren figured he might as well follow because he had no idea what was going on. He couldn't just sit there next to the wall. The Military Police might find him next to it and blame him for breaking the wall. Again. Although this time it was his fault. He wasn't even sure if there were Military Police here.