(o´ωo)
I woke up feeling wide awake.
I stood up and stretched my aching muscles.
I felt exhausted.
Benny was still sleeping so I let him be, climbing off of the bed and stumbling into the hall.
"Eren."
I heard a painfully familiar voice whisper my name.
Slowly, I crept into my bedroom since that was the place I heard the voice.
"Eren? Are you okay?"
"W-who's there?" I called out, spinning around.
"Eren? Can you think straight?"
"W-what? Of course I can." I replied.
I then realized where the voice was coming from.
The pendant.
I looked over at it, it sitting on my desk.
I was about to touch when I got the feeling I should wake up Benny first.
I did so, moving into his room again to get him up.
"Benny. Wake up, Benny." I shook him awake.
He sat up with a yawn.
"What's the rush, babe?" Benny asked, blinking at me sleepily.
"I heard their voices." I spat.
My breath hitched in my throat.
"Their?"
"M-Mikasa's...and Armin's..." I shook my head.
I pulled on a shirt and long pants.
"What if there is a portal somewhere in here that randomly opened up into my world?" I wondered frantically.
"Eren!"
Benny's head shot up.
"Y-you heard it?!"
"Yeah... Sounds like it came from your room."
"The pendant, Benny. The pendant is making the voices. What if it's the key to the portal? I remember the clerk at the store I bought it at giving me a weird look, as if he'd never seen the necklace before." I theorized.
"You really are excited to see them, if that's what is happening, huh?" Benny asked, his voice suddenly cold.
"W-what? Of course I am! To them I'm dead! I want to bring you along, too." I whispered to Benny, tilting his face up.
"I should give Ethan a call in case he comes looking while we're gone." Benny nodded, picking up his phone.
I went to his closet to get something nice for him to wear.
The people of my world would be perplexed by this world's clothing.
"Hey, Ethan. Just wanna let you know that I might be going to Eren's world for a while! How exciting!" Benny left a voice-mail.
I tossed a sports jacket at Benny, who put it on after having made his call.
I thought about whether or not to bring my phone.
I decided against it, knowing it would be useless in the other world.
I pulled Benny into my room.
"Eren! Can you stand? Tell them everything you know! I'm sure they'll understand!"
"W-what's Armin talking about?" I wondered, picking up the pendant by the chains.
I slipped the necklace over my head, the pendant glowing.
Benny gripped my hand tight.
Using my free hand, I held the pendant.
I was suddenly overcome with a weird feeling and my grip tightened.
Benny seemed to have been in pain as well.
My vision went white.
(o´ωo)
I suddenly gasped as my vision came back to me.
Someone was holding my body up, keeping me from falling.
Benny was laid sprawled under me.
"Eren?" I heard Armin's voice.
We were at one end of a small court, surrounded by soldiers, all pointing sword at us.
We were back in my world, back in Trost.
"Eren!" Mikasa exclaimed, standing in front of us.
Armin stared at Benny and I.
"Eren. Can you move your body? Can you think straight?" Armin asked me, worry in his eyes. "Tell them everything you know! I'm sure they'll understand!"
"A-Armin..."
"Did you hear and see that? He wants so kill..."
"Yeah, I heard him. He wants to eat us alive..."
"And who is that fourth kid that suddenly appeared? A wizard?"
What are they talking about?
Nere didn't reply in my mind.
"Cadets Jaeger, Ackerman, Arlet, and mysterious boy! Your actions constitute treason! I'm conducting an inquiry to decided what to do with you!" Keith shouted from across the yard. (PLEASE CORRECT ME IF THAT ISN'T KEITH GOOD LORD)
"H-huh?" I stammered, confused.
Benny hobbled to his knees, obviously weak.
"E-Eren? What's going on?" He whispered.
"I don't know..." I replied.
"If you don't tell the truth, or if you move from that spot, we will fire the cannon without hesitation!" Keith warned.
On a ledge far up was a few other troops with a cannon.
I just knelt there, shocked at what was happening.
"Answer directly! What exactly are you?! Are you human? Or Titan?" Keith shouted his question.
I sat back, even more shocked, my eyes wide.
What kind of question is that?! Why's everyone looking at me that way? Like I'm some kind of monster. Is that what they think I am?
"I don't understand your question!" I shouted back.
"You monster! I dare you to say that again! We'll blow you to smithereens! We won't give you a chance to show your true form!"
I almost did.
Benny's sarcasm had started to catch up to me.
"True form?" I gawked.
"There are many witnesses! They saw you appear from inside a Titan! We allowed an unknown creature like you to pass through Wall Rose! You may be cadets of His Majesty's forces, but eliminating any risk swiftly is the appropriate action! I am not wrong! The Armored Titan that destroyed Wall Maria could appear at any time! Humankind is on the brink of extinction! So do you see?! We cannot spare the soldiers or te time, to deal with you! I will fire a shell into you without hesitation!" Keith went on and on, shivering in his boots.
"Their defiant attitude is clear to see...And it doesn't seem like we'll get useful information from them. As you say, it's a waste of soldiers and time." A woman spoke from behind Keith.
"Captain! It would be easy to kill them now! If we blow him to bits while he's still pretending to be human..."
Mikasa stepped forward, interrupting.
Benny was trembling next to me, just as confused as I was.
"My special talent...is slicing off flesh." She spoke in a monotone voice, unemotional except for protectiveness. "If need be, I'd be happy to display that talent. If anyone wants a taste of my special skill, step forward now." She warned, displaying her swords, which reflected the sun's light.
A man from next to Keith started whispering something to him.
"Hey, Mikasa, Armin... What the hell's going on here?" I asked, deeply confused.
"Mikasa! What good will fighting other humans do?!" Armin stood up from beside me. "Where are we going to hide inside these walls?"
"I will take on anyone to keep Eren from being killed." Mikasa spoke back, her voice quiet and soft. "I don't need any other reason."
"Talk with them! No one understands the situation! That's why fear is spreading like an epidemic!" Armin argued.
Am I the only one besides Benny who thinks I'm not a Titan?! Damn! I don't have any memory of how I got this way... I feel weak, and can't stand up. Benny seems to be in the same condition. And if I say something, they might kill us. Killed by humans? That's so absurd! So how did this all start? I came from a Titan's body? What the hell are they talking about? What kind of nonsense is that?! Wasn't that all just a dream? If that's the case, then... This part, where the sleeve is gone...is where my arm grew back?! That makes me just like a Titan! That can't be... Why am I...? Why me?
I refused to believe what was inevitably true.
"I'm going to ask you once more!" Keith's voice snapped me out of my trance as I looked up at him. "What exactly are you?!"
My breath hitched.
Armin and Mikasa looked back at me, worried for my answer.
No matter what, I can't give the wrong answer... Or I won't be the only one who dies...Mikasa...Armin...and Benny. They'll all die because of me! That's right. I am...and always was, just like you!
"I am a human being!" I shouted my answer.
The deafening sound of silence rung through the place, only the wind picking up gently.
I stared in disbelief, shocked at the reaction.
Silence.
"I see. Do not begrudge me..." Keith spoke, slowly raising his hand. "I have no choice. Since no one can prove...that you aren't evil."
His hand shot up, signalling for the canon to be fired.
"Eren! Armin! Weird kid!" Mikasa shouted, running towards us and dropping her swords. "Escape upwards!"
"Don't!" I shouted before Mikasa carried me over her shoulder and grabbed Benny's arm.
The key around my neck whipped out in front of me, into my line of sight.
I felt my heart jump as flashbacks came to me in flashes of heart-crushing pain.
"Eren." My dad, Grisha, spoke. "When I get back, I'll show you the basement that I've kept secret all this time." He pulled the key into view from his neck.
"Don't ever let go of this key." He had warned as I stared to the key and back to him. "And every time you look at it, remember...Remember that one day, you must go to the basement.
I watched Grisha pulled liquid into a syringe, tears streaming down his face.
"This injection will block your memory from this point on..." He told me. "That's why explaining things won't do any good. Listen to me. Go to the other world and fall in love with Benny. Then retake Wall Maria and make your way to the basement!"
I stepped back, scared for what my father was about to do, disbelief overtaking my face and my heart pounding in my chest.
"This key's power will be useful at that time. Their memories will teach you how to use this. Eren!"
With a gasp, I pushed off of Mikasa and ran towards Armin with Benny's hand in mine.
"One day, when you make it to the basement, you'll learn the truth! It will be a painful and difficult path, but you must be sure to get there!"
I heard the cannon fire.
Everything slowed down.
"If you want to save Mikasa, Armin, Benny, and the others...you must control the power that this possesses!"
I grabbed onto Mikasa, Armin, and Benny, holding them close as the cannonball neared us.
I reacted on instinct.
I dug my teeth into my hand, drawing blood.
A sudden explosion overtook my vision.
(o´ωo)
WOO GOING BACK TO THE SNK WORLD
WOOT WOOT WO-OH SHIT
~MadamBassDrop