Chapter fourteen
The king's celebration- part two.
As Levi pointed his blade at the king, several things occurred. Some soldiers kept aiming their guns at Levi, and Eren glowered at them. Mikasa employed her 3DM gear to make her way to the stage as well, releasing her bound friends and Ymir. As she did this, Armin woke up, confused at the scene he saw, not understanding what was going on. ''Levi...'' he said, and the captain looked at him for a split second, smiled, then turned his attention back to the king. ''Tell your soldiers to withdraw, before anything nasty occurs, and no dirty tricks, I don't want any bystanders to be harmed.'' Levi warned him. The king paled, but then shook his head. Levi narrowed his eyes, he knew the king didn't really care for the people, but Levi did. Even though they were foolish and believed everything the king said, they were still human beings.
What really irked him was that the king liked keeping up the appearance that he was protecting the locals, so why wasn't he doing that now? '' Step away from milord before any harm can be done.'' one of the guards ordered, daring to draw closer. Levi ignored him. ''What do you mean? Tell them to lower their guard, before any casualties can occur.'' Levi demanded again. ''Go ahead and behead me. Show them your true colors, show them what monsters the fomer Survey used to harbor. It will gain you nothing but the loss of respect and hope these people have.'' the king replied. The crowd seemed to agree to what the king said.
''Levi, don't do it.'' Jean said, as he got up, which triggered a few events. Because Jean suddenly moved, one of the guards fired a shot, but Armin pushed Jean out of the way, and the bullet grazed his temple. Everything seemed to freeze for a few seconds, then Armin hit the ground with a loud thump. As Jean cried out Armin's name, Eren looked to see what happened, spotted blood coming out of Armin's head, and without thinking, bit his own hand as his mind only told him one thing. 'Take revenge on those that hurt Armin.'
As Eren turned into a titan, someone uttered a heartfelt ''Shit.'' It was Levi who cursed, moved his sword, and yelled, ''Ackerman, lead the innocent out of here, we need to protect them from Yeager!'' Mikasa nodded curtly, before yelling at the panicked people to follow her. As they began to run, Eren's transformation was almost done. The guards still held their positions, aiming their guns at Eren and Levi, but when Eren stood in front of them, and let out a deafening roar, they dropped their guns and ran off.
''Eren, stop it. You're only complicating things.'' Levi demanded, but his voice didn't reach Eren, who chrashed his fist down onto a few soldiers. ''Leave him to me.'' a gentle voice said, when Levi turned he saw Ymir, ready for a fight. ''Just finish off the king and ensure the boy's, and most importantly, Christa's safety.'' she said, before biting down on her hand as well, and just like that, she became a titan. Unlike Eren, she seemed to have control, and didn't waste a second before wrestling him down.
The king was speechless, and tried to run away, but a grim looking Jean stopped him. ''Where do you think you are going? All this is due to your behaviour, the way you've manipulated people. You ruled alone, on your throne, watching other people suffer. But now when you suffer the most, you think you'll be able to escape? Think again.'' Jean said, before balling his fists. ''Wait, I...'' the king began, but before he could finish, a sword appeared through his stomach. ''Enough already. We can't spare you more time, maybe Eren's foot will end your struggling, but I can assure you that you'll never see another dawn.'' Levi said, pulling his sword back as he watched the King fall onto his knees and gasp for breath. Then Levi looked at Jean, ''We need to get out of here. Where's Armin?'' Jean pointed behind him, where Armin was laying peacefully on the ground. Levi walked up to the body, took Armin in his arms, and said to Jean, ''You don't happen to have a 3DM Gear, do you?''
Jean shook his head, and Levi said, ''I hate to say it, but we'll have to hide for the time being then. Where's Christa?'' Both of them looked around, but didn't spot her anywhere nearby. ''We don't have time for this, follow me.'' Levi said before they ran off, just as Ymir pushed Eren to the ground, which made a rather loud crash, his fist landing on the king. As they continued fighting, Mikasa led the people to one of the main streets of Shiganshina, it would take a while for the carnage to reach there. They couldn't stop there, however, they needed to move towards the wall itself. Suddenly, she spotted a tiny person a few meters before her stepping out of the mob, into an alley. 'Why would someone leave us right now? Maybe another titan shifter?' Mikasa decided to pursue, the mob was moving by itself anyway.
When she entered the alley, she spotted a small girl. ''You need to go with the others, staying here isn't safe.'' Mikasa said. The girl turned, and Mikasa regonized her. ''Christa, what are you-,'' but she couldn't finish her sentence as someone behind her said, ''And what do you Survey scum think you're doing?'' Mikasa turned to see a rather large man. ''That's none of your business, sir. Now please turn around.'' Mikasa said. The man tried to punch her, but she caught his fist. ''You need to think about what your freedom really means to you. Hiding behind these walls isn't going to do you any good. Titans are scary, but the tiranny of this civilization is worse. I'm going to fight my way out.'' she told him.
Before the man could answer, Christa stepped up next to Mikasa. ''Mikasa's right. I've escaped this place before, father has been terrible to everyone. Fighting is the only way out. My best friend, my lover, is a titan shifter. Through her, I've realised what it's like when people despise you, even though what you are doing is for the best.'' she said. The man stayed mute, and Christa continued, ''She's out there, and I bet she's fighting Eren, not because she is a titan and is out to destroy the city, but because she wants to protect you, even though father told you that she should die.'' The man swallowed, as Mikasa let go of his hand, but remained glaring daggers at him. Mikasa nodded firmly, as they stepped past the man and left the alley, ready to stop Eren.
Levi and Jean made it into an empty bar, a few blocks away from the fight. Jean pushed the door open, and Levi rushed in, laying Armin down on a table. ''He still has a pulse, so he's alive, but we need to stop the bleeding this instant.'' Levi said, and Jean tore a strip of a table cloth, grabbed a bottle of booze, drenched the cloth, then used it to clean the wound. ''He's lucky to be alive. What was he thinking anyway?'' Levi wondered out loud, as Armin groaned.
''Armin cares about others. If he hadn't pushed me away, it would have hit me. Armin wouldn't allow that to happen, because he doesn't want my death to be in vain like Marco's.'' Jean explained. ''I know he cares.'' Levi spat, before he crashed his fist onto another table. ''Sir?'' Jean asked, as he ripped another piece of the tablecloth to use it as a bandage. Levi sighed as he said, ''Sorry. I just wished that he would for once stop and think about himself. I can't stand seeing him this way. I can't lose another beloved.'' , as he gingerly stroked a lock of Armin's hair. ''I understand, Sir, but you're asking the impossible. Armin isn't capable of stopping his empathy for others...'' Jean said, before he added, ''Sir, there's something I need to tell you.'' Levi quirked his eyebrow, wondering what Jean could possibly want to tell him. As Jean prepared to tell his secret to Levi, Armin was lost in a dark space.
Armin reached out, trying to feel anything. 'Have I gone blind? Has the bullet hit my eyes? How am I going to fight like this?' Armin wondered, rubbing at his eyes. But when he opened them, he found he could see. ''Where am I?'' he wondered out loud.
''Nowhere in particular.'' a voice replied, and a person walked up to Armin. ''Who are you? Do you work for the king?'' Armin asked. ''No. Don't you recognize me?'' the voice asked, as the person halted and bent down to face Armin with an angelic smile. ''Marco...'' Armin whispered, and the freckled teen smiled, as he held out a hand. ''Come on, get up and follow me.'' Marco said, and Armin's eyes widened.
Levi pushed Jean onto the ground rather roughly. ''You've what!?'' he said, as Jean's hand flew up to pinch his bleeding nose. ''I said I was sorry.'' Jean said with a nasal voice, but that didn't help his case. ''Armin is mine, you were the first who was aware of that, and now you've gone and tried to confuse him.'' Levi spat. ''He's not going to leave you. I just wanted him to know, in case anything would happen. If you and the other two hadn't interfered, Armin might have been forced to speak for the king. I was going to take the bullet for him, and this was my way of saying goodbye.'' Jean spat back.
Erwin Smith almost gauged his eyes out, as he spotted two titans fighting in the distance. ''Sir, it appears Eren has gone Titan, and I think the other one must be a shifter as well, seeing no titans have reached the wall of Sina!'' Hanji said, and Erwin nodded. ''I don't know what they're thinking, but I don't see the others stopping them.'' he said. ''I think we can safely assume they have more important priorities than that at the moment. Still, shouldn't we head in to try and stop them, before they go berserk and destroy everything?'' Hanji replied.
Connie sighed, before ordering his horse to go faster. ''Sir, may I go ahead to see what the situation could be? If no one else is present, I'll shoot a red signal flare. And if there are, I'll return with a report on the situation.'' Connie said, and Erwin nodded curtly. ''Sir, I'd like to follow him, Sir!'' Sasha requested, but Erwin shook his head. ''We'll have to wait for the signal, everyone prepare for battle.'' Erwin ordered.
As he turned around to survey his troops, he noticed a cloud of dust in the distance, indicating a force of a size similar to their own was in pursuit, no more than fifteen minutes behind them. ''Hanji?'' Erwin asked, and the titan-crazed woman nodded, as she reached for her flair gun, and shot a red stripe into the skies, hoping that those present in the city, would understand their situation.
Unfortunately, the flair gun went unseen by anyone who was in the city at that moment, as Eren's fist managed to hit Ymir's face, who crashed into a rather large building. Christa screamed as she saw steam coming off of her friend's large form, and Mikasa charged ahead, ready to force Eren to calm down, even if it would cost her her life. But before she could even reach Eren, Eren kept throwing punches at Ymir's titan body. Ymir groaned, as she shook her head. She was beaten back, unable to regain her balance or fight Eren.
She was done for, she hadn't even managed to save Bertholdt in the end. Sure, their approach was wrong, but their ideals weren't . But it didn't matter, after all, it served no purpose. The humans they tried to save were gone, hidden somewhere in this city. The king was probably dead, either Levi's sword must have killed him, or perhaps he was trampled. It wasn't important, if she were to get up, it would only cause more problems. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice scream her name. 'Christa! Why is she here?' Ymir thought, before regaining her strength. She clenched her fists, and her mind focused on one thing. 'Fight Eren Yeager.'
She let out a roar, and as she did so, she pushed Eren away with all of her remaining strength. Eren himself blinked, but before he could react, Ymir's foot kicked his midsection so hard, that he flew backwards. As he did, he flew right into the building where Jean, Levi and Armin had sought refuge. The last thing Eren heard before his mind went blank, was Jean and Levi screaming ''Armin!''
Armin winced as he felt something heavy, but he couldn't exactly place what. He shrugged, and still hesitated to take Marco's hand. ''Is something wrong, Armin?'' Marco asked, as he cocked his head, ''Don't you trust me?'' Armin shook his head. ''It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't have time for this. I don't know what the current situation is, but my senses tell me there's something off. I need to snap out of this dream, right now!'' Armin said, as he slapped himself.
Ymir sighed, as her and Eren's titan forms slowly evaporated. As she slowly allowed gravity to pull her towards the ground, Mikasa and a suddenly appearing Connie rushed themselves towards Eren. She braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, a small figure caught her under her arms. ''Christa...'' Ymir whispered softly, and the blonde girl nodded, as she pecked Ymir's forehead. Ymir's knees gave out, and Christa followed her to the ground, where they sat, embracing. ''Christa, I'm so tired.'' Ymir said. ''I know. You no longer have to force yourself, if you don't want to. At least, not for now. It'll be different when we escape, but in the end, it'll be worth every...'' Christa said, but Ymir shushed her. ''I'm too tired to escape.'' Ymir said, as she closed her eyes. ''Ymir, what do you mean?'' Christa asked, as teardrops ran over her cheek.
''I'm sorry, I should have told you before.'' Ymir said, as she allowed herself to stroke Christa's soft skin. ''Told me what, Ymir, what's the matter?'' Christa demanded. ''It has been eating me for a while, but I can't fight it anymore. Christa, becoming a titan comes with a price. I've regretted it for so long, tried to fight it, and in the end, protecting you through it all made it worth it.'' Christa started wailing, as Ymir's breath slowed.
''You can't die now, not when we're this close.'' Christa said. Ymir smiled, as she said, ''Your skin has always been this soft, even when you had escaped and became so dirty. I've loved you since the minute I saw you, Historia.'' then her breath ghosted out one more time, leaving nothing but an empty shell that used to be Ymir. Christa's hearthwrenching sobs fell on Ymir's now deaf ears.
Marco chuckled, as Armin winced, but stopped Armin before he could slap himself again. ''Armin, I don't know what you have been dreaming about, but I can assure you, this is not a dream. You won't have to wake up, sweating bullets as you used to do. Just take my hand, and follow me. The rest is already waiting for you.'' Armin avoided Marco's eyes, as he asked, ''What do you mean by the rest?''
''I mean everyone else who has, well, you know.'' Marco said. Armin's eyes widened, fearing that he knew what Marco was talking about, but he refused to believe it. ''Who has what, Marco?'' he asked with a hoarse voice. Marco swallowed, before whispering, ''...passed.''