I actually enjoyed writing this.
Pov Armin
"Bertholdt Hoover," Darius Zackly called out, his voice echoing throughout the courtroom.
As Zackly spoke, the room was dead silent, with the only sound being the faint hissing of steam which came off of Bertholdt, who was kneeling on the ground and chained to the very same beam which Eren was chained to only several weeks prior.
"You have been charged with assisted genocide, against the people of Shiganshina district, the people of wall Maria, and the 250,000 people who went out to fight the titans five years ago," Zackly stated. "Do you deny any of these charges?"
Bertholdt stayed silent for a moment before speaking.
"No," he whispered, hoarsely.
By the walls, the torture really broke him.
Most in the military knew of the torture, he had his limbs chopped off constantly and god knows what else was done to him. And by the time they were done, well, this was what had happened to him.
Broken and defeated, Bertholdt kept his head down, refusing to look up at the people who were once his comrades, and friends.
The room was still silent.
"Very well, we will proceed with your trial. You have been charged with assisted genocide for breaking the gate of Shiganshina District, wall Maria, and Trost district in your titan form. Do you deny any of this?"
"No," Bertholdt replied, his voice a whisper.
Whispers filled the room, as he was drawn into his thoughts.
So Bertholdt is the reason I had to leave my hometown, he is the reason that I lost nearly everything I knew. He is the reason that I lost my grandfather when he was forced to go fight the titans.
"So tell me, Bertholdt, Zackly began. "Why did you do this? Surely you gain nothing from slaughtering your own people?"
Bertholt replied, but his voice was so quiet, no one heard.
"Repeat yourself, and speak louder," said Zackly, leaning down from his chair.
"You aren't my people!" Bertholdt shouted, whipping his head up to look at Zackly.
"And I did so on orders, my people's order. I was told to wipe you, devils, out, by breaking down your walls and letting the hundreds of titans slaughter you in the thousands," Bertholdt said, letting lose everything he had.
His people?
The room was now filled with the shouts and cries of the public and military, most of which called for Bertholdt's death.
"ORDER! Order in the court!" Zackly shouted.
His voice had an immediate effect, as most in the room became silent, though many muttered curses under their breaths.
"What do you mean, your people?" Zackly asked him.
"Bertholdt leaned forward, against the chains before speaking again.
"I mean the people beyond the wall, those of Marley and a dozen other nations who all call for your ruin," the court was once again filled with the cries of all who were in it, many calling him a mad-man, or insane.
Though Zackly tried to calm the room, which roared like a wildfire, Bertholdt on fed the flames.
"And they are right to do so! They live in constant fear of the king of the walls, who can call upon his army of titans to break free of their prisons within the walls and bring ruin to all lands beyond this island."
The cries and shouts were so loud that he couldn't hear himself think, for all had taken up the cries calling Bertholdt insane.
Some were now trying to climb over the railings, though the MPs held them back, for now, they were quickly becoming overwhelmed.
"ORDER! ORDER IN THE COURT!" Zackly shouted, though his shouts were drowned out by the endless cries of the people.
Order was eventually brought back, though it took some time to do so.
"Now, Bertholdt, you mean to tell us that there are people beyond the walls, living without fear of the titans which supposedly wiped them out.
Bertholdt nodded in reply.
"Eren Yeager, you told me of your suspicions, of him being the Colossal Titan, and they were true. So now I ask you for help again, can we kill him, or will he continue to regenerate forever?"
"He can be killed, beheading him would do just fine, though that would hardly be useful to our cause," Eren replied.
"What do you mean?"
"I have inherited many memories from my father, from when he gave me his titan powers. And one of those memories included how he gave them. If we can get out hands of a titan serum, then we could take Bertholdt's titan power, and give it to someone who will use it for us."
Once again whispers ran throughout the crowd, though many looked surprised by Eren's statement, and shocked, none looked more horrified than Bertholdt, who now stared at Eren.
"And how would we get out hands on one of these, titan serums?" Zackly asked Eren, who seemed almost happy to reply.
"Many lay beyond the wall, but they are far out of reach for now, but there are some on the island. But only the King of the walls holds them, but whether he will share them willingly is something else."
Zackly nodded.
"Well then, I think that is enough evidence for me. Bertholdt Hoover, you are to be sentenced to death for the genocide of the people of Shiganshina district, the people of wall Maria, the 250,000 people sent out during the mission 'Retake Wall Maria, and the people of Trost District. Your execution will be carried out as soon as we have one of the titan serums. Trial adjourned."
Bertholdt's head dropped in defeat as Zackly spoke.
Several of the MPs grabbed hold of Bertholdt and took him away, presumably back to his cell. He held his head low as walked across the courtroom.
"If what Bertholdt said is true, maybe we can see the ocean," he muttered to Eren.
Eren thought about the question heavily before replying.
"Yeah... maybe we can."
Pov/Bertholdt
He was left in his cell for what felt like days but could have been hours. He had no light to tell him when it was night or day, and his only form of human contact was with the guards who regularly cut off his limbs, and gave him limited food and water.
I might be able to transform if I tried hard enough. But then again, they've given me barely enough food to keep me alive. But because of that, I'm far too weak. Plus…
He lifted his stub, which used to be his right arm.
He thought about it for a moment longer, before dropping his stub and looking back up at the ceiling.
It's very silent
He wasn't wrong. The guards had left, so now the only sounds were the quiet crackling of flames, and the dripping of water, which fell from the roof of his cell to the concrete floor.
His life was coming to end, that, he was sure of. Even if he managed to transform now, he would be stuck within the walls, with no way of escaping.
It was odd to think about, terrifying, actually. And he would cry if he had any more tears to shed. But he couldn't react to it anymore, the shock and horror had passed, just like the pain had faded after his limbs were removed for the sixth time.
He had failed, not only his country but his family, his friends. And Annie. All of which he had failed when he didn't help Reiner and Annie fight Eren. And because of that, he had been captured.
Out of all of them here, Eren is the only true devil.
He thought back to that moment, Levi squad shooting at him and faster than he could blink, he had lost a limb, then two, then three, then four. He hadn't even seen who cut off what before they whizzed past him.
And then he fell from the tree branch, and he had yet to even let out a scream, for it had all happened too fast for him to know what had just happened.
But instead of falling to the titans below, he was caught and thrown back onto the large tree branch.
And at that point, his screams had begun. They were screams of pain, and nothing else but that. And they had been so loud and so annoying, they ended up gaging him for the rest of the trip back to the wall.
And all the way back he had hoped to hear a titan's footsteps. He had hoped for Reiner and Annie to save him. But they did not. Instead, they most likely went back to the monthly ship to call on Zeke and Pieck for aid, against the people of Paradis.
But by the time they came, he would be long dead. His titan power passed onto the likes of Erwin Smith.
His thoughts stopped as he heard distant footsteps, which grew closer and closer by the second.
The steps grew louder and louder until the people arrived at the door and threw it open.
And through the door marched in his two guards, which remembered fondly, for cutting off his limbs.
They walked towards the bed and picked him up with ease, and he gave no struggle, for he believed he was being taken to his death.
But how wrong he had been.
He was dragged through hallway after hallway until they finally arrived at the right room, and at what he had thought was his execution chamber. But he should have realised it couldn't have been that, for it was far too small. Especially if they wished to pass on his power to another Eldian.
He couldn't see very much as they walked into the room, which was even darker than his original cell. But like his other cell, the only light was coming from a flickering torch, which hung at the back of the room. The flames crackling quietly.
He was strapped down to the chair, and as he felt the small spikes on the seat and back of the chair, he understood where he was. He was not going to his death. He was not going to be executed.
He was going to tortured.
And he would be tortured until he gave them everything he knew.
The room was silent for a moment before a voice cut through the darkness.
"I hope you understand why I am going to do this," the voice said to him.
He looked around for the man who had spoken, but he saw no one, for the room in which he lay was too dark for him to see anything.
"But we need the information," the man said again. This time he could see the outline of a large man, who seemed to have a beard and glasses. He recognized him, but he couldn't place him. Not yet.
"And right now, you're the only one who can give it to us," he said, coming forth from the shadows and into the light.
The light from the flame reflected off his glasses, and behind them, he saw the dull, grey, emotionless eyes of Darius Zackly, who now stood before him in a bloody apron and in his hand he was holding large and blood-covered pliers.
"So I am sorry for doing this to you," he said finally, walking towards him slowly.
Fear filled his eyes and froze him in place, with not a word coming out of his mouth as Zackly came upon him. His eyes gleaming madly.
And as the torture began so did his screams, and they would echo throughout the military building for days on end, as Zackly broke him further than any other had.
Tell me what you think of it, I'll always accept criticism.
And chapter 15 will be out next Sunday.