This has been a so-so week in terms of writing, and I'm feeling a bit uninspired even though the scene I'm writing currently is something I have been looking forward to for some time. So again, my sweets, please keep your fingers crossed for me! Rant over.
As always my lovelies, go ahead and enjoy this chapter and don't forget to toss me a little review, to let me know what you think~ ;)
P.S. All Attack on Titan characters belong to Isayama Hajime. I only own my OCs.
39. Devils of the island
~ 854 ~
With the entirety of the military forces concentrated on the internment zone, nothing stood in Erwin's way as he headed for the port. Already he could see the soldiers mobilizing on their way to the plaza, and he could only hope Lobov and his men would be enough to keep them at bay. No sooner had he thought that, than he rounded a corner and was almost visibly startled by a call coming from the rooftop nearby.
"Commander! Pull back!"
It was more of a reflex than a conscious decision that had him heeding the warning, and he anchored into the building across the street to pull himself out of the way. In that same breath, the explosive planted on the side of the building blew up, the sound hitting him like a hammer. And then he watched as parts of the wall collapsed onto the group of soldiers who had been marching to the plaza, burying them alive.
Looking up, he recognized two of the Scouts on Lobov's team and lowered himself down to street level to meet up with them.
"Are you alright, Commander?" one of them inquired as they rushed over to check on him.
"I'm fine. Have you gotten your orders from Squad Leader Lobov?"
"No, sir." the other Scout replied—the same one who had warned him to move away from the blast. "We saw the military mobilizing and thought we should try to delay them."
"We've switched to Plan B. Head back and stay close to the square entrance; make sure none of the soldiers make it into the plaza, but try to keep casualties to a minimum. And don't die."
"Sir!" the two nodded, saluting him and taking off immediately.
Watching them until they were out of sight, the Commander turned his eyes back to the destroyed building face—where he could see the blown-up bodies of the unsuspecting people who had been living there—and then finally to the pile of bricks and corpses in the middle of the street. He could hear what sounded like at least one soldier still alive, moaning in pain. And as he approached, his suspicions were confirmed when he spotted one of them clawing his way out from under the collapsed building.
It was a surreal moment when his eyes met the wounded soldier's, and he saw the initial look of relief turn to horror as the young man took in his attire and realized he was the enemy. He looked no older than Eren and the others—a boy with his whole life ahead of him, doomed to die on that night. Stepping closer, he examined the soldier, and the armband gave him pause; he recognized that mark to be similar to the armbands Zeke and Reiner were wearing. Even so, his first instinct urged him to put the soldier out of his misery, but a twitch of his heart stopped his hand when his victim broke down crying as he stared into the barrel of the Commander's gun.
He knew it probably wasn't the smartest decision, but he moved the gun away and grabbed the soldier by his arms to pull him out. Judging by his painful grunts, which he tried to suppress by gritting his teeth, Erwin could tell he probably had at least a few broken bones. Dragging him over to the next building, he leaned the boy against the wall.
'Why am I even doing this? With how close this street is to the harbor, he'll likely die when I transform and these buildings come crashing down. So why...?' the Commander mused, aware that he had no answer to that question.
He had just turned to leave when he heard the cocking of a pistol behind him and immediately felt the sting of the bullet grazing his arm. Looking down at the bleeding cut which was already steaming, he turned back to the soldier just when his strength gave way and his arm fell limp next to him. Walking back, Erwin reached down to pick up the gun from the young man's hand, throwing it across the street. Not wanting to waste any more time, he again turned around and prepared to take off, when he heard the soldier speak up.
"...Why? Why would you let me live...? I just tried to kill you."
For but a moment the Commander stood there, listening to him wheezing and struggling to breathe. He knew that sound, that nigh inaudible gurgle of blood slowly building up the windpipe... he had heard it before, many times. And then he saw the blood bubbling at the corner of the soldier's mouth, only for it to spill between his lips in the time it took him to blink. That boy would not survive without immediate medical attention. That much was clear to him now.
"Because I'm not your enemy; I'm an Eldian like you." he at last replied.
Casting one more look over his shoulder at the young man to find him staring back—only half-aware as he slowly suffocated on his own blood—Erwin found it unexpectedly hard to abandon him there. But he had to... there was nothing he could do to help that boy any more than he had done already. And at last, he felt like he understood what Natalie had likely felt, being forced to make some of the choices she had made so far. Finally, he took to the air again, making his way down to the harbor, briefly eyeing the explosion he heard a good distance away, likely near another of the plaza entrances.
'I didn't have the time to think about it but... was it Floch's squad that sabotaged us?' he pondered, recalling Jean's report when they had found him with Zeke and the others. 'Did they steal some of the explosives we brought from the island? But there was no report of anything missing from our stocks. If that's the case, someone else provided them... but who?'
Deciding to shelve the matter until after the mission, he turned his focus on the streets and the people still fleeing along them, and the buildings full of unsuspecting victims. Most of them—particularly those in the buildings closest to the sea—would die that night. And it would be a deliberate criminal act of war. They were to be sacrificial pieces in order for him to preserve the lives of his comrades.
'I had hoped it wouldn't come to this.' he sighed, taking in the harbor as he quickly approached the last buildings. 'I am sorry.'
His heart bled for all of those innocent people who were to meet their untimely end at his hands, but he would—as always—set aside his humanity and do what needed doing without remorse. The only comfort he could find in that situation was the knowledge that by taking this sin upon his shoulders, he could spare Natalie and Eren from the horror of it. That he was the only one whom he could trust to live with it, without the guilt pushing him to insanity.
'I know it will hurt you when you find out...' he sighed, speaking to the image of the young woman that his mind had again conjured up. 'But I also know you'll understand why I had to do it.'
The Marleyan fleet was almost at the docks, and he could now see the hundreds of soldiers gathered on the decks, as well as people readying the heavy artillery outfitted on the numerous ships pulling in. If they made it onto land, none of the Scouts would leave that place with their lives and they would lose any chance at a future. So focused he was on that thought that it took him a moment to notice the crackle of lightning surrounding him. And then the shouts coming from the ships at the front of the fleet announced he had been spotted earlier than he'd hoped.
Predicting that they would try to shoot him down, with a powerful burst of gas he propelled himself off the last building overlooking the port, using a maneuver similar to how Natalie had launched Levi at Eren back in Stohess. This gave him just enough inertia to fling himself towards the middle of the fleet. At the same time, he drew two blades from their sheaths, using them as shields when one ship unleashed a hail of bullets on him.
Even with angling his body enough that he could protect most of it, he still felt the searing pain when one projectile bit into his shoulder, another piercing his chest plate to lodge into his lung. And yet he was eerily calm and undisturbed by what he knew would have been a fatal wound, feeling his body immediately starting to heal around the bullet, repairing the damage before it could spread any further than that initial impact.
'Is this how you felt the first time?' he pondered, again thinking of the redhead.
Had she questioned her humanity like he was now doing, upon realizing she was healing faster than anyone else ever could? Had it disturbed her as much as it disturbed him, despite how relaxed he felt? Another burst of gas, this time after he had angled himself in the air, pushed him down towards the water just when he felt a third bullet plowing through his thigh. Replacing the blades into the sheaths as he approached water level, he took a deep breath and felt the pricks of electricity on his skin making the hairs on the back of his neck stand as he hyper-focused on ensuring that his comrades stayed alive.
What should have been a mere splash of water turned instead into a light show as the golden flash ignited below the waves—like pinpricks of yellow glow at first, which then merged into a mass that blanketed the ocean surface. It spread like an ever-growing living creature until it had surrounded all the ships, lighting up the night as if the sun itself had fallen into the sea. For but a heartbeat, everything was still... like a deep breath before the plunge. And then the building energy grew from below, the water bending to its spherical shape. A few discharges of lightning lashed out over the waters that began to churn around that center of energy, licking at the nearby ships, setting flags and soldiers on fire. A forewarning of the apocalyptic storm they were about to witness, but one that none of the Marleyan fighters would ever have the time to heed.
At last, the water dome lost its battle with the ever-increasing pressure trying to breach the surface. And as the boiling liquid exploded, so too did the energy sphere within, turning everything white and chasing away the darkness—the last thing anyone on those ships ever saw.
=0=0=
What Floch had not expected was the significantly stronger recoil of the gun, thus granting Natalie the unintentional fortune of the shell veering off-course, blowing clean through her shoulder blade and right back out through the chest instead.
For what seemed like an eternity, time stood still, the loud blast having drawn all eyes to her as she fell forward, collapsing onto her hands and knees. And while her brain registered her fall in slow motion, Jean felt his heart sinking to the bottom of his stomach.
'We're going to die! What happened? What is that, what hit her? Who fired that? What am I going to say to the Commander if she dies? We're going to lose this fight! Is the Captain alright?! Did it hit her nape?!'
The tangled mess of thoughts that crossed his mind in the span of a heartbeat left him dizzy.
"Jean!"
Mikasa's raised voice and her hand grabbing his shoulder had him suck in a sharp breath; he hadn't even noticed her joining them, but she was ready to go, having already restocked on spears from the stash hidden on the roof.
"Jean, focus! We're in the dark without you." she admonished him. "You need to give us orders; did the Commander say anything before he left?"
"You're... you're right." the young man nodded, trying to swallow the sudden knot clogging his throat.
She was right; if he lost his head, they would all die. As it stood, he again looked over to the redhead to see that she was still moving, and the sight was eerily soothing despite the plume of steam rising from her wound. Somehow, he managed to pull himself together and refocus on the mission. If they lost either her or Eren, he could never make up for such a gross failure. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he returned his full attention to the situation at hand. He would allow no one to die on his watch!
"Baumann squad, split up and join Lobov's men to defend the entryways to the square." he ordered first. "Inform Lobov that Commander Erwin switched to Plan B and that he's on his way to blow up the fleet in the harbor."
"What...?" Mikasa gasped, looking stunned to her core, instantly reliving the moment when Bertholdt had shifted in Shiganshina. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, he said so. We have no choice; if he doesn't stop them, they'll overwhelm us." the young man nodded before looking over to the other team.
"Understood!" the group replied in unison, taking off to handle their assigned duties.
With them gone, Jean did a sweeping glance over the plaza to take in everything that was happening before speaking up again. He spotted the abandoned cannon on the far end to their left; the Cart positioned on their right. Across from her on the left side, Reiner stood, seeming unsure of what to do. In the middle, Zeke had just finished healing his hand, now watching the redhead fallen at his feet. Again his heart squeezed as he took in the thick column of steam rising from her Titan, annoyed to no end that he had no idea how severely she had been injured and if her human body was unharmed inside the nape. His only hope remained the fact that she was still moving and her Titan wasn't evaporating, which meant she was still alive in there.
Finally, Eren was still standing a few feet away from her, the Jaw still unmoving on the ground at his feet; and he was angled in such a way as to keep an eye on both the Cart and Reiner. But Jean could tell he too was worried about Natalie if the subtle glance at her over his shoulder was anything to go by. In all the steam he couldn't locate Levi, but there was no way their Captain would have been injured. If anything, Natalie would have taken greater damage to herself to protect him.
"I don't see Floch and his idiots anywhere; that's not good. We need to find out who shot Natalie. If it was them, I swear..." he huffed, running a hand through his hair.
"We need some plan to handle this situation. Then we can figure that out. Right now we need to do something about that one." Mikasa agreed, pointing a blade at the smaller Titan on the roof. "Hopefully before they realize Zeke and Reiner are on our side."
"I don't see an opening to its nape. We'll need to make one if we're going to get to it with the spears."
He was staring at their target even while speaking, taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't moving, and that one of the lights around the plaza was beating right in its face. Taking a moment to study its steel mask, he realized how they could use it to their advantage.
"The eye sockets are open; I know what we have to do. Mikasa, you're with me... we'll take that one down. Connie, you get to that cannon and see if you can find any trace of who shot it. Sasha, I need you posted on the roof with a gun—as soon as you get a clear shot, take out the gunners on that Titan's back."
"Understood!" the two of them replied in unison, taking off in opposite directions to fulfill their duties.
"Let's go!" he said to Mikasa, the brunette nodding and following him when he took off scaling the backside of the building, hoping to reach the Cart's location without alerting it.
=0=0=
'I don't know what's going on, but something about this whole situation feels unnatural.' Pieck gritted her teeth, trying to assess the current state of the battle. 'It was lucky that artillery shot got her, but who fired it? If it had been our soldiers, they would have fired again after reloading. Did the Scouts kill the team operating the cannon?'
Given that none of the lights around the plaza was beating onto that particular roof, she couldn't see in the deep shadows who had been up there.
'The wiser choice would be for us to retreat and let the army handle them. Why isn't the War Chief suggesting that? Why isn't he giving us any directions?' she concluded, her attention on Zeke's back as he stood between her and Natalie.
Wait... between her and Natalie? He had been standing between her and the redheaded shifter from the moment he'd walked into that plaza, and he wasn't giving them any orders; he wasn't taking charge of the operation as he always did. He wasn't fighting either of the two enemy shifters. She knew that even in close quarters, he was strong enough to take them on, especially when he had her and Reiner to back him up. Slowly but surely, the realization was creeping up on her, her eyes widening as those thoughts crossed her mind.
'Did... did he betray us?!' she huffed, not wanting to believe her own intuition or the way her body had broken out into a cold sweat even inside the scalding heat of her Titan's nape. 'It would make sense; how else would the Scouts have known about the play to strike on this night, of all nights?'
The more she looked at him, the more it now seemed obvious that he wasn't trying to capture the redhead... he was using himself as a shield for her, knowing the Panzer Unit would never risk injuring him. Why else would he just stand there, giving her the time to heal, instead of taking that opening to pluck her out of the nape?
"Pieck-san!" one gunner called out to her, snapping her back to the moment. "We need a better angle. We can't fire from here or we'll hit the War Chief!"
'Damn it!' she scowled, taking one more moment to assess the battlefield; her only hope was that if she moved again, Zeke wouldn't shield the redhead any longer—that he wouldn't confirm her fears. 'Alright...'
Eyeing the rooftop next to her, she calculated that from there they would have a clear shot at Eren, though trying to hit Natalie as well still carried some risk of injuring Zeke if he didn't step away from her. But she couldn't afford to miss that chance. So she re-angled herself, internally thanking their good fortune that her team was so attuned to her, when she heard Carlo ordering the others to get ready to fire upon Eren. As soon as she had stopped moving, a hail of bullets pelted his Titan and she was left to watch as the first wave bounced off of him.
'What...?' she frowned. 'The reports didn't say he had armor! No... that's not... what is that?!'
At last, after a few seconds, she saw the bullets start to penetrate that odd white layer covering him just as he bent over to pick up Galliard from the ground. And as Eren held him up like a meat shield, Pieck could only watch in horror as the bullets peppered his body, only the armor on his face offering any protection to him. By the time the gunners had stopped shooting, only a split second later, Galliard's Titan was a mangled, bloodied mess hanging limply in Eren's hands.
"Porco!" she heard herself screaming through her Titan's mouth when Eren turned him over now that the attack had stopped, exposing his nape.
'Shit! There's no way I'm going to die here!' Galliard panicked, heaving for breath as he tried to speed up his healing.
He could feel that his nape had been exposed and he would be damned if he went out without a fight. It took him a minute, but he eventually realized the bite wasn't coming... he couldn't turn his head due to Eren's firm grasp on it, but it pissed him off how that piece of shit was toying like that with him. Outside, however, Pieck did see Eren hesitating despite his open mouth hovering just inches away from Galliard's nape. She would have directed her team to shoot again, but the risk was too great to injure Porco.
For his part, Eren had at last recalled that the ones they were fighting—the one whose life he was about to end—were still their own people. While at first he had wholeheartedly settled on killing Galliard and taking his power, he now realized that they weren't to blame for taking his freedom. He remembered that they were just as much victims as the people of Paradis, that they too had been robbed of their freedom, of their dignity.
'What am I doing here?' he pondered, straightening his posture and pulling away from the other shifter's nape while staring at the damage sustained by the smaller Titan.
Out of nowhere, his mind brought forth the memory of what he had seen during the experiment with Natalie, killing any desire he had to cause further harm to them.
'I refuse to become a monster... I'm still me!' he scowled, recalling the words Natalie had said to him what felt like forever ago.
On that thought, he tossed Galliard aside at Reiner's feet and, though his gesture caused Pieck to hesitate, the gunners on her back immediately took the chance to pepper him with bullets again. Still, he managed to focus enough that he could create a shield along his left forearm, turning his attention to Reiner instead. His hesitation to fight could become a real problem, he realized, and so he turned on his heel and sprinted forth, determined to force the other shifter into combat.
It was only reflex that allowed Reiner to brace himself for Eren, and he stepped forth to place himself between Galliard and the other shifter. Grasping the edge of the shield with one hand when Eren tried to smash his face with it, he raised the other one to catch the younger man's fist, while sparks rained around them as the bullets bounced off his armor. For a long moment, they faced off like that, each one putting their full weight behind trying to unbalance the other. Still, he could see more and more blood staining the once white layer covering Eren's Titan, yet the other shifter didn't seem to afford it any thought.
'What are you doing, Eren?' he frowned, trying to discern why he didn't seem worried that his Titan was taking so much damage. 'At this rate, you'll lose this battle. What are you trying to do?'
"Reiner!"
The sound of Galliard's voice startled him such that he nearly lost his footing, and he glanced over his shoulder to see the shifter had half-emerged from the nape to talk.
"Listen up, you worthless lunk, I'm almost done healing..." he called out, a wheeze mixing with his heavy breathing. "Make yourself useful for once and help me take back the Founder, you hear?"
'Sorry... you're not doing that tonight.' Eren huffed, utterly sure that Jean and the others hadn't been sitting idly.
Maybe Natalie was right that he put too much faith in others, but they hadn't let him down before and he refused to believe they would do that now. No sooner had he thought that, than the bullet hail stopped and he chanced to take his eyes off Reiner and the Jaw. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Jean leaping up from between the two buildings, clearly taking advantage of the fact that the gunners were probably reloading. Anchoring into the Cart's shoulder to redress, he immediately fired off a spear at the empty eye sockets of its steel mask.
From the start, he could tell something was wrong when the spear wobbled on its support for just a moment before taking off. And immediately afterward, he saw it veering off course and falling onto the street below.
'Pull back, you fucking horseface!' he scowled, though he could tell Jean wouldn't have the time to do that.
When one gunner leveled his weapon at him, Eren contemplated going back despite the logical part of him arguing that he wouldn't make it in time, anyway. And then his heart skipped a beat and dropped like a rock to the bottom of his stomach when the gun showered Jean with bullets. He watched his comrade hooking into the edge of the roof to try to dodge the projectiles, but still saw the blood flying from his head and one of his legs. From that distance Eren couldn't tell how severely he had been injured, only realizing he wasn't dead by the fact that he hadn't fallen to the ground.
Then a single flash caught his eye, and he spotted Sasha on the edge of the next roof over, aiming a gun at the turret. The machine gun's erratic firing and then its sudden stop told him she had managed to take out the gunner—and then the shouts coming from inside the turret, as well as the Cart looking visibly distracted, confirmed his thoughts. As if on cue, Jean pulled himself back up and fired the second spear, which hit its mark just as Pieck's Titan had noticed him and tried opening its mouth to swallow him whole.
Anchoring lower into the building, he used the cables to pull himself out of her range, and that same motion caused him to pull the fuse on the spear. The explosion was enough to blow the Cart's mask clean off, at the same time taking out nearly half of its face. And right as he turned back to Reiner, Mikasa came up from Pieck's left side, emptying all six spears into the Titan's nape and the back of its head. The ensuing blast took out not only her but also the rest of the gunners within the turret, her last thought before she blacked out being the pain of knowing that her team would never survive that attack.
=0=0=
Natalie couldn't tell how long the shock and the pain had stunned her; the sounds of battle around her were muted, as was Levi calling out to her asking if she was alright. As soon as her mind focused on his voice, her eyes went to him and she breathed a sigh of relief, finding that he had anchored himself to her shoulder and was unharmed.
'What in the world hit me?' she pondered, turning her gaze to the gaping hole on the right side of her chest.
She could feel the healing sapping her stamina and the heat of steam rising from her back, as well as the familiar tingle of muscle kneading itself back together. By the time she had healed enough that she could chance to move, Eren was locked-in with Reiner and she could see the Jaw's steaming body on the ground behind him. But her attempt to stand reminded her that Zeke was there as well, and when she looked up to meet his gaze, she knew he was about to make a move.
"Are you done? It wouldn't be any fun taking you out when you're helpless on the ground." he taunted, gesturing for her to stand. 'Now that Pieck is out of the fight, Galliard will be next soon enough. It's time we end this, Levi.'
On that thought, his eyes briefly went to the Captain on her shoulder, and while she was still straightening her posture, he reached out to grab her by the throat.
'What...' she gasped, startled by the sudden assault before she realized he was watching the young Ackerman. 'Is he... is he trying to bait Levi?'
At the same time, Eren had just turned back to Reiner, when he saw Galliard leaping up with the obvious intention of blinding him. With Reiner still holding onto his shield, he couldn't raise it to defend and had resigned himself to the fact that he would have to shift a second time.
'Wait...' he mused, suddenly recalling his training sessions. 'Isn't this exactly why I wanted to train that?'
Hadn't he thought back then precisely about using that method against Reiner? And though they were on the same side this time, he had no choice. He couldn't risk the other one injuring him badly enough that he would need to do a second transformation. Resolving to do it, whether or not it hurt Reiner, he turned his full focus on that memory and the sensation of how it had felt.
'I've got you!' Galliard snarled, so focused on retaking the Founder that he didn't realize something was amiss, with how Eren wasn't flinching or looking away.
His claws were mere inches from Eren's face when the pain erupting in several parts of his Titan's body blinded him. Then his awareness returned and he all at once saw the countless glimmering spikes growing out of the shield, as well as his arms and torso. While Reiner's armor had protected him, only allowing Eren to push him back, Galliard's Titan had been thoroughly skewered.
'You... piece of shit...' he scoffed, the renewed healing of his body sapping the last of his strength, while Eren broke off the four spikes he was impaled on to let him fall to the ground.
'Is it over?' Reiner sighed, more relieved than he had expected to be that Pieck and Galliard could no longer fight.
"Reiner! What are you doing?! You have to help Galliard-san!"
The sound of Gabi's voice had him suck in a sharp breath; she was the last person he had wanted on that battlefield.
'Why do you never listen to me?!' he frowned, looking over his shoulder to where the girl was standing, with Falco begging her to go back and find cover.
Across the plaza, the sound of gunshots drew their attention, and he saw the military at last making their way into the open area.
'What do we do now?' he pondered, looking between Zeke and Eren.
But Eren made no move to end Galliard's life, despite having him at his mercy again, nor did he afford the Marley soldiers any glances. At the corner of his eye, he spotted the rest of their squad approaching and saw Jean issuing his orders to the others. Then, his attention was drawn to the golden dome that swallowed the darkness of night beyond the buildings surrounding the plaza. It was only a moment later that the shockwave reached them, sweeping the area like a hurricane and rumbling the earth. But if even he, inside the Titan's nape, had felt the sonic boom like a hammer strike to the back of his head, he could only imagine how much worse it had been for everyone outside. At the last second, his team had anchored into his back, and he focused on expanding the shield on his forearm to ensure none of them got hit.
'Shit... we're too far apart.' he scowled, glancing at Natalie and Zeke.
"Gabi! This is insane! We have to find cover! You won't accomplish anything if you die here!" Falco shouted, trying and failing to pull her away just before the shockwave left them flat on the ground, ears ringing.
"We have to stop Eren Jaeger!" she scowled, her murderous glare fixed upon Eren as she wriggled in the boy's grasp to try to get back to her feet. "I'll do it myself and prove that I'm worthy of inheriting the Armor!"
"Gabi! Don't be an idiot! Let Vice-Chief Braun handle it!" he shouted again, holding onto her with all his strength, even when she shoved a hand in his face to push him off.
But with the ground shaking and Falco hanging onto her with all his weight, she couldn't find her footing. And then the sound of cracking drew their attention to the crumbling buildings around them. She watched Falco staggering to his feet and trying to pull her up with him, but she tripped from the tremors of the earth and brought both of them back down. And the last thing she saw was the top of the nearest building collapsing on top of them, just before Falco threw himself over her, trying to shield her from the falling bricks.
Opening her eyes once the rumbling had stopped, she sucked in a breath when for a moment she believed she'd gone blind. But then her eyes widened like saucers and she leaned up onto her hands to take in the sight of the dome surrounding them. Before she could even call to Falco, she heard the shield cracking and then the rays of light penetrating the space left by each piece as it fell around them. Slowly but surely, she was left staring at Reiner's Titan, only now realizing he was kneeling and bent over them, his arms surrounding them with the dome having been attached to his limbs.
"Rei—" she began calling to him, only to gasp at the second glance when she noticed all the armor on his body was gone.
Next to her, Falco too was staring in shock, not at Reiner, but the two people perched atop his shoulder.
"You take care of him." Eren said to the brunette, who nodded and brandished a pair of blades to cut Reiner out of the now exposed nape.
Meanwhile, he turned his gaze down to the two children. They had promised Reiner that they would take his cousin with them, and he intended to keep that promise. While the light from the explosion died out, he cast a fleeting glance towards the harbor where he could now see Erwin's Titan towering over the city skyline like a harbinger of death. But his attention was soon drawn away, to the blood sprays coming from Zeke's Titan body as Levi carved his way towards his nape, while Natalie at last emerged from her own Titan, heaving for breath. He stood still, watching that display of grace and anger until he saw the Captain pulling his brother out as a bloodied, limbless chunk of flesh. With Mikasa cutting Reiner out with frightening precision, he turned his gaze skyward just as the faint, mechanic rumble announced that the airship had finally arrived—and he saw the light flashing twice from one window; the signal that the extraction part of their mission had begun.
All around them, gunshots filled the night as their fellow Scouts were rallying to the square seeking to board the ship, and the Marleyan soldiers were gradually recovering from the blast. While the soldiers attempted to shoot down both the Scouts and the airship, the Paradisians were still doing their best to heed Erwin's order of avoiding any senseless killing.
'We have little time...' he concluded, watching as two of their comrades fell under the gunshots.
With no other word or hint of a warning, he anchored into the Titan's shoulder and again turned his attention to the two kids. Swooping down, he grabbed Gabi off the street and tucked her under his arm like a rag doll; her surprised scream echoing over the deathly silence. Pulling the anchor loose, he took off running, trying to get out into the open from where he could more easily reach the ship.
"Gabi!" Falco called after them.
For a heartbeat, he was frozen in place, not knowing what to do.
'Everyone... why are they taking everyone?' he pondered.
But at last, he felt himself staggering to his feet, like a purely instinctual reaction. He heard his heaving breath as he chased after Eren, saw the Scout shooting his anchor into the base of the airship... and at the last moment he leaped to grab onto his leg, as Eren pulled himself off the ground.
"What the fuck are you doing, Falco?!" Gabi screamed at him. "You should've grabbed something... some weapon, or a sharp piece of wood... anything! We could've stopped him!"
She was both angry at his lack of foresight and horrified beyond measure at the thought that Eren would kick him off and she would have to watch her last friend fall to his death. And when Eren shifted just enough to turn his gaze down to the boy latched onto him, she froze and her blood turned to ice in her veins despite the hatred still burning in her chest.
"You want to come along, kid?" he asked, the eerie calm in his tone startling the boy such that he nearly lost his grip.
So many questions and words flooded his mind that he couldn't form any coherent thought, only staring at Eren with a disturbing mixture of horror, pleading, and confusion. And then his heart stopped beating for a second when Eren brought up his free leg, the pain resulting from his well-aimed kick paralyzing his arm. It was enough for his grip to falter and, as he watched Gabi growing smaller and smaller, it struck him that he was about to die. In the span of a breath, he recalled his parents, his brother, everyone he knew and cared about... and he felt awfully sorry that they would have to mourn him because of his own stupidity.
But then he jerked, startled when something shot past him, and turned his gaze to the cable now hanging a few inches from him. He had just formed the idea of grabbing onto it and trying to save himself when his stomach dropped to the bottom of his feet as he came to an abrupt stop mid-fall.
"It's alright... I got you."
The voice that reached his ears was so unexpectedly gentle that his mind blanked, and when he turned his head, he found himself staring into Natalie's reassuring green stare. Too shocked and terrified to say anything as he processed that she had saved his life, he re-angled himself to wrap his arms and legs around her. As she reeled the cable in and pulled them up towards the airship's cabin, he took in the sight of the plaza over her shoulder. He saw Pieck's mangled Titan lying next to the building she had been standing on, steaming like crazy but unmoving. He saw Zeke and Reiner's Titan carcasses slowly evaporating into the chilly night, as well as all the Scouts hanging off the airship or making their way inside the cabin.
"Don't worry..." Natalie assured him, feeling the way he was trembling in her arms. "No one's going to hurt you. You have my word."
"Why...? Why would you... save me?" he stammered, at last finding his voice again.
But she didn't answer, not because she didn't want to, but because she wasn't sure what she could say. From his point of view, they had swooped in that night and killed many of their people. They had brought down their Titan shifters and abducted two of them, then they had kidnapped him and Gabi. What could she say that would justify such an act... what could she say that he would believe? Turning her gaze away from him, she watched as Armin helped Mikasa to get Reiner on board, the girl following before she turned back to take Eren's free arm and help him up.
With the two of them clearing the doorway, Armin crouched back down and reached for Falco, whom Natalie pushed up towards him. Getting the boy inside left the redhead free to climb in, Levi having been among the first people to get on with Zeke. Only there did she notice Floch and his team had rejoined the other squads. But even with a simple overall glance, she could tell that almost half of the men they had brought to Marley were no longer there. And despite being just as happy as everyone that they were alive, the entire mission had left a bitter taste in her mouth. They had paid with far too many lives... and for what?
Now that they were in the relative safety of the ship, Gabi took in the sight of her cousin leaning against the wall near Zeke, and the lack of steam coming from his amputated limbs worried her. Just as it worried her to see Falco standing nearby staring at the floor, looking both confused and terrified as Armin rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Why...?" she at last spoke up, barely loud enough for anyone to hear her over the cheering of the other Scouts for a successful mission.
The more she thought about everything that had happened in just a few hours, the clearer she could relive in her mind the moment when she had seen her other two friends crushed under the beam that had flown into the crowd from the stage. Why? Why had Udo and Zofia deserved to die? Why had her cousin, Zeke, and Falco ended up in that situation? The more she listened to Floch and the others celebrating their victory, the more her fear and confusion turned back to rage. Her suddenly hyperactive focus was drawn to Natalie when she walked over to crouch in front of Reiner.
"Are you alright?" the redhead asked, glancing at the thin wisps of steam coming from his wounds.
When he didn't reply, nor even opened his eyes to look at her, concern overrode her calm expression.
"You get away from him, you devil-bitch!" Gabi shouted, struggling in vain to escape Eren's iron grasp. "Isn't it enough for you that you already got him like this? What more do you want from him?"
The look of pity in the woman's eyes only enraged her even more, as did her not answering.
"Why?!" she continued screaming, the words spilling out of her with no hope of restraint. "Everything they taught me is true! You really are savage devils, all of you! Why did you come here? Why did you trample my home? The people I love live there! Why?! Why did you kill my friends? Why did my friends have to die?"
"They died because of all that shit you just said." Floch retorted, earning a glare and a scowl from Eren as he glanced over his shoulder. "Because you chose to believe that we're devils, when we're all the same. Because your people came to us first... they trampled our home, they killed our friends. You want to know why your friends died? First, tell us why our friends had to die."
It was then that Natalie at last caught Floch's eye and, though his expression revealed nothing out of the ordinary, something in his gaze sent an icy shiver down her spine, such that she had to turn away from him. However, her focus was drawn back to him almost immediately when Jean walked up to grab him by the collar.
"Where the fuck were you?!" he demanded, his loud voice silencing the cheers. "Commander Erwin left you and your men in my charge! What the fuck were you doing all this time, instead of helping us?!"
"I figured the Commander would order the other squads to guard the ways into the plaza, so we split up and went to help them." the Scout replied calmly, almost as if he were talking to a child. "Isn't that what you all encourage everyone to do? To think for themselves?"
"You—" Jean scowled.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" one of the female Scouts interjected with a frown. "We didn't see any of you out there."
"I don't blame you." Floch replied. "It was crazy out there... even we could hardly tell people apart sometimes."
"You're awfully clean for someone who's been in that kind of fight." Connie pointed out before gesturing to the other Scouts who all looked worse for wear, ranging from a few nicks to straight-up open wounds; it didn't take a genius to realize Floch was lying.
But that still left the question of where his team had been and what they had been doing all night. Floch had just opened his mouth to reply, however his voice died in his throat when Sasha stepped up from the back along with Mikasa.
"Konrad... Jürgen... weren't you two the ones we saw firing at the civilians earlier?" she inquired, looking at two of the young men on the redhead's squad.
"I'm positive it was those two." Mikasa concurred with a nod.
"Don't even try to lie anymore!" Levi retorted when Floch again tried to answer, likely to defend his teammates.
He had returned shortly before from the command room, where he had confirmed their route towards the harbor to pick up Erwin on their way off the mainland.
"I saw those two emptying their spears into the crowd, with my own eyes." he stated, walking to the front of the group. "So go on... say it to my face that they didn't, you little shit."
Only when Floch swallowed his words did the Captain speak again, his glare enough to make everyone on the redhead's team shrink back behind him.
"You and these gullible idiots you got to back you up have been thirsting for blood for a long time. No one's going to believe you suddenly decided to behave."
As if his words had struck a chord in him, Jean's eyes widened. Now it made sense... he had wondered what in the world had gone wrong with his spear after he had barely escaped with his life from the Cart's attack.
"You..." he breathed out, his face contorting in rage and his knuckles bleeding white as he squeezed Floch's cape and slammed him against the cabin wall. "It was you, wasn't it?! You did something to those spears! What did you do?!"
"What do you think we did?" Floch at last spoke again, scowling right back at him. "If you even can think for yourself, horseface!"
Almost immediately there was a palpable shift in the air; something told them that Floch was about to spill everything, and indeed when his expression morphed into an insane smile, he didn't disappoint.
"Who do you think blew up the leadership of their military? Who do you think risked it all, so that this mission could be a success? I didn't see anyone on your team doing that, Jean!"
For his part, Jean could only stare at his comrade, shocked to his core by what he was hearing.
"Why?" one man on Lobov's team spoke up in the deathly silence, and the way he was staring at Floch spoke of nothing but murderous intent. "Ralph and Elina died because their spears didn't do shit. I watched them getting shot down... I watched them bleeding to death on the street. Why? Why did my friends have to die because of you?"
"They were necessary sacrifices." Floch replied with an eerie calm in his tone that unsettled even Levi. "Thanks to that, Marley's military has no more leaders now. We've bought our people some time before they manage to reorganize."
When the other Scout lost his temper and tried to lunge at him, his teammates rushed to hold him back, leaving the redhead to look back at Jean.
"You know I'm right, Jean. You—"
The sound of colliding flesh startled nearly everyone around, drawing their gazes to Floch who was now sitting up on the floor holding his cheek, and then to Jean's clenched fist as he trembled in rage.
"You're a real piece of work, aren't you?" Levi scowled.
He was now standing over Floch, while Connie and Mikasa rushed over to grab Jean and pull him aside to calm him down.
"You don't even care that so many people died tonight because of you. Not just our people... but all the ones you shot down out there, who had nothing to do with our plan."
"They were just as guilty as—" Floch replied just as calmly as if nothing had happened.
"Shut the fuck up!" the Captain interrupted him. "Erwin will deal with you little shits once we reach the island. Take their gear and move them all to the cargo hold. Lobov... have three of your least wounded men guarding them."
With Lobov nodding and moving to fulfill his command, the Captain watched as they picked Floch off the floor. The Scout didn't put up any resistance, however, something in his gaze as he stared at him while his comrades dragged him away made Levi narrow his eyes. And then it suddenly dawned on him that he wasn't the one Floch was looking at; it was someone behind him. Once the man was out of sight, Levi glanced over his shoulder and his eyes involuntarily widened when his gaze fell upon Natalie, who had again crouched in front of Reiner now that the man had come back to his senses.
"Captain." Connie called out, approaching him now that the situation had calmed a bit. "I need to talk to you... it's about what happened earlier."
Turning his attention to his squad member, to find the young man looking at the redhead behind him, had him involuntarily scowling. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Jean sent me to investigate the rooftop from where Natalie was shot. I... don't think it was the Marleyan soldiers who did it. The way the bodies were angled, it... it wasn't... natural. I think... Floch's team was the one that went there to take them out. But I'm not sure."
'You know that look...' Levi internally chided himself while his stare made Connie gulp. 'You've seen it plenty of times before. You know a killer when you see one!'
For a moment, he felt his head spinning when the thought crossed his mind that Floch might have been the one who had shot Natalie that night. He had been acting too strange for too long, and even back in the mess hall after his argument with Erwin, he'd thought the stare Floch had thrown at her had been out of line.
"Make sure to add that to your report before you give it to Erwin." he at long last replied, sounding as calm as ever.
No, he couldn't lose his head now and do something rash. They didn't have any solid proof that Floch had gone so far as to try to assassinate his own comrade. But damn it, he wanted nothing more than to go in there and beat the confession out of him. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turned to his squad, only for his attention to be drawn to Gabi when she spoke up again.
"How dare you...?" she breathed out through clenched teeth.
It pissed her off more than anything to hear them playing the heroes as if they hadn't been the ones who had killed so many innocent people that night.
"Gabi! Shut up!" Falco whispered, hoping that for once she would listen to him; something told him that man wasn't someone to be taken lightly at all.
"How fucking dare you stand there, acting all high and mighty?!" she screamed, Falco's warning having only spurred her on. "You're all just as guilty! My friends and my neighbors died because of you! How dare you pretend like you care about them?! How dare you pretend that you're good people?! You're evil spawns of devils! Everything Tybur said about you is true! You're nothing but worthless pieces of filth that don't deserve the air you breathe!"
"Conceited little shit, aren't you?" the Captain replied after a long moment of calmly staring down her rabid expression. "Not everyone who lives in the same place thinks the same, brat. You should know that well enough by now; isn't that what they do to rebels from your internment zone? They turn them into Titans and set them on us or whoever else opposes them. You should be grateful to be here right now. If we'd only taken Reiner tonight... what do you think would have happened to you and your family?"
With that, he turned his back to her, intending to finally talk to Natalie; she needed to know what Connie had just told him if only so she could be on her guard. They didn't know how many of the Scouts actually supported Floch's insane ideas, and he wasn't about to lose her to a bunch of crazies. And then everything happened so quickly that it was like his mind processed it in slow motion.
He saw Natalie look up, then immediately behind him, her expression turning to horror at whatever was happening back there. Out of reflex, he turned to look over his shoulder just in time to see Gabi grabbing the gun attached to Eren's free arm, strong enough in her rage to pull it up and level it at his head. At the side, he saw the other brat's horrified expression and heard both Mikasa and Natalie calling out to him—one by his rank, the other by his name. He saw the realization dawning on Eren's face just a split second after the gunshot filled his ears and saw him pull his arm free when it was already too late.
In the same instant that his gaze blacked out, he heard an oddly metallic sound followed by someone shouting in pain, and felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist along with the weight of a body pushing him back until he slammed into the wall. The red that suddenly flooded his vision made him realize Natalie had been the one to push him out of the bullet's path. Out of pure reflex, he wrapped an arm around her when he felt the tremors of her body passing to his as she clung to him. Then his gaze went past her and he was left staring at Armin who was standing right where he had stood a moment earlier, his arms spread out and a look of horror on his face as he stared at Gabi who was instead staring somewhere else with an identical horrified expression.
Only when he staggered back and fell onto his rear did the Captain at last understand that he had jumped in front of the bullet to save him. The dent left in his chest plate was more than telling, as was the shock on Eren's face and the tears he saw on Mikasa's cheeks as she ran over to hug the blond.
'Wait... who got hit then?' he sucked in a breath, recalling he had heard someone shouting.
A quick, sweeping glance gave him the answer when his eyes fell on the bleeding wound in Reiner's shoulder. And at last, he felt Natalie releasing him watching as she, too, hurried to check on Armin before hugging him as Mikasa had.
=0=0=
The cold night air felt like a blessing compared to the heat inside the nape, the steam condensing in his hair and eventually trickling down his face as water droplets, only to evaporate once again as it fell onto the scalding muscle surrounding him from the waist down. He didn't know why, but something compelled him to reach up and touch his cheek, only to realize most of his skin was gone and that he could feel the texture of the muscles beneath it. He felt the now somewhat familiar tingle of his body healing the damage as he glanced below him to the boiling water surrounding his Titan's feet.
The first glance left him with a feeling that what he was seeing was surreal, that it had to be a dream. All the navy ships which hadn't been blown into the city were overturned—partially or fully submerged—and the water was littered with dead bodies, some still burning as they floated on the waves. The entire scene was lit up in a faint reddish glow from his Titan body and he imagined that had to be what Hell looked like. Then he glanced past the gulf, to the buildings near the port which had been razed to the ground, and the rest of the vessels strewn among the destruction.
But he had no time to feel any remorse or to mourn the innocent people he had killed because the faint rumble of the airship drew his attention. Pulling himself completely free of the sturdy flesh, he reached up to anchor into the base of the cabin just as it was passing a couple of meters nearby, trying to avoid the steam.
The first thing he saw as he made his way into the cabin was Falco's petrified stare and Gabi's burning hatred. Doing a sweep of the people present, he at last turned to Levi.
"Did we not retrieve Floch and his team?"
Pressing his lips together in annoyance at the mention of the name, the Captain gestured with his chin towards the cargo hold door. Nodding in understanding, Erwin gestured for him to follow, clearly expecting a report.
'It's him... the one who ate Bertholdt!' Falco gulped, staring after the tall Commander until the closing door hid him from view. 'If they tell him what Gabi did, we'll be—!'
His thoughts were interrupted, however, and he jerked back in fright when Natalie walked over to crouch in front of him once she had made sure Armin was unhurt.
"Are you alright? What's your name?"
Her kind tone left him so confused that he all but forgot the terror he had just felt. She didn't seem as on-edge as the others, and he wondered if maybe he could get some answers from her about their situation.
"F-Falco." he gulped. "Uh... what are you... wh-what will happen to... to Gabi and me?"
"Nothing bad." Natalie replied.
"Don't listen to her, Falco!" Gabi butted in. "She's a devil-bitch like the others! You can't trust her!"
Looking past her irate expression up to Eren, whose knowing gaze said it all, she stood and gently tousled Falco's hair before walking back to Reiner. With Eren joining her, they stood in silence for a moment, watching the faint wisps of steam coming from his wounds.
"Why aren't you healing?" Natalie inquired when he at last looked up to meet their gazes.
"I... don't want to fight anymore..." he said.
"You think dying will solve anything?" Eren retorted, turning back to his former comrade.
"I can't go on like this... I can't fight anymore..."
"Screw that!" he scowled, before gesturing to the girl in his grasp. "What about her? Why did you do all this? Why did you betray Marley, if not for her? You think dying is going to help her in any way? Stop being a coward... stop running! Stop being a bitch and heal yourself!"
"It doesn't matter anymore; I don't matter anymore. She doesn't need me... you and Natalie and the others will keep her safe. I couldn't ever ask for anyone better to look after her. Just... let me die. Eren, take my Armor and use it to protect Gabi and Falco and everyone within the Walls. Do what I should have done... what I couldn't do."
He knew by the way Gabi's eyes widened that she was about to explode. However, anything she might have said was halted when Eren covered her mouth with his hand and turned to look at her. From down there he couldn't tell what expression the Scout was making, but whatever was in his gaze coupled with the momentary crackle of lightning that licked at his shoulders and neck, froze Gabi despite him not saying a word, leaving her to slump quietly in his hold.
"Er—" Natalie tried calling out to him, she too silenced by the knowing look in his eyes—as well as the barely visible, still fading marks across his cheekbones—before he turned his attention back to Reiner.
Something told her that he knew what he was doing; and what he was doing would end up helping Reiner. So she put her faith in him and remained silent at his side.
"That new Jaw... Marcel was connected to him, wasn't he? That's why he hates you, isn't it? Because you let Marcel die."
"Yes." the shifter replied, a nigh inaudible tremor in his voice. "They were brothers... and I can never atone for that as I can never atone for what I did on your island."
"And you hate yourself, don't you?" Eren continued in the same eerily calm and composed voice, as though Reiner had said nothing. "You hate yourself more than anyone else ever could for what you did on Paradis. You hate yourself so much more for breaking the Walls... for causing so many deaths... for letting Titans eat my mother."
"I do..." Reiner admitted, the tears that had been pooling in his eyes while Eren spoke at last spilling onto his cheeks. "There's nothing I can say that would make up for any of that. Nothing I can do to wash away my past sins. We should have all died for what we did to you... there is no atonement good enough for the kind of atrocities we committed."
"...Atonement? Is that what you wish for, Reiner?" Eren replied.
At that, he stepped forward until he was towering over his former comrade; and only when the blond nodded did his expression ease somewhat, while he lowered himself to one knee and reached out to grasp Reiner's shoulder, compelling the man to look him in the eye.
"Nothing you will do from this moment, when you betrayed Marley to side with us, will ever undo the things you've done in their name. Deep down you knew it was wrong... a voice you didn't recognize screamed for you to stop. You saw no way out; it was just the way things were; they couldn't be changed. And you tried to convince yourself that the people you were hurting deserved it, despite them not even knowing about their ancestors, much less what they had done. You became numb to their pain and suffering—you learned to shut out the voice speaking against it."
"There's always a choice..." Reiner choked out, Eren's hand the only thing keeping him from crumbling.
"There is." he nodded.
"I chose to ignore it, and—"
"And yet you're here now."
"I'm here now..." Reiner concurred. "And I can't imagine the day when I'll forgive myself."
"Because that day will never come. One day, perhaps the others may forgive you... perhaps they'll even try to convince you of that. Because offering forgiveness is a blessing for them, not for you."
"Then how can I go on?"
"It's simple... you'll never forgive yourself. Accept it. You've caused the death of others—many others; that can never be undone. You will never find peace in yourself, after what you've done; you'll never find personal forgiveness. But that doesn't mean your life has to end. You don't need to die, to atone for your sins; living with what you did will be your punishment. Tell me... do you believe in what we're doing?"
"I-I... I do." he stammered, both shocked and yet soothed to his core by what Eren was saying to him.
"If you don't fight for what you believe in, we may all be lost without you. But don't fight for yourself; fight for others—others that may be saved through your efforts. Fight to protect her..."
At that, he gestured to Gabi, still staring wordlessly at him, then to Falco.
"Fight to protect him... fight to protect all the people living within the Walls. Fight to help us make something better out of the shit we're living in. Fight to help us leave a better world for those who will come after us. That is the least you can do."
For a long moment, they silently stared each other down until Reiner lowered his head and—to everyone's surprise—chuckled.
"I swear... this world really is cruel." he at last retorted, his tone and the increasing amount of steam telling them that Eren had gotten through to him. "But it's nowhere near as shitty as your insults, Eren."
"If you're so good at it, then don't die... stick around and teach me." Eren grinned for only a moment.
It was when the redhead turned her eyes to Zeke that the other shifter arched a brow, even when she said nothing.
"I'm fine, if that's what you wanted to ask." he replied. "But it warms the heart to know you care so much about me."
When she frowned at him—or perhaps at herself, for the amused smile trying to break out on her face because of his snark—he smirked with all the smugness of someone who knew they had won another round of getting under her skin. With how focused he was on the redhead, however, he failed to notice Yelena's odd stare from where she stood in the corner next to him, leaning against the wall.
'Can't rely on anyone to get something done, these days.' she contemplated, fully annoyed by Floch's failure to both kill her and get her captured by Marley, before trailing her eyes to Natalie. 'You're far too dangerous to live for long. If Floch can't get his damn act together, I suppose I'll have to take matters into my own hands.'
Sooo today's replies for my lovely reviewers :D
1. aLeexheaven - Hehehehehe exactly as planned! But jokes aside, I'm really happy that you're enjoying the story so far enough to leave a comment. I'm so grateful you took the time to review this chapter!
So these are my replies for today. Cheers, lovelies~ ( ˘ ³˘)❤