Reiner wheezed through the surrounding steam which reeked of copper and something he couldn't quite place. As it cleared, he saw the ripped-up uniform of one of his fellow trainees. Marco Bodt, he recalled, who laid broken on the cobble road. A quarter of his body had been torn from him, missing in a titan's belly, most likely. There was no way his comrade could've survived such an injury.
He didn't want this; he had never anticipated to become so attached to the enemy. His hands trembled as he grabbed his swords. If he stayed here any longer he would surely meet a similar fate, but a solitary eye match his frightened gaze.
'…tell him.' The corpse croaked.
The blond shifter jolted with a start and gasped for air. His nightclothes stuck to his clammy skin, though his mind was elsewhere. He never had nightmares like this before entering the Recon Corp.
"You alright?" Bertholdt's suddenly sliced through the quiet of the room.
"Hn? Yeah I-" Reiner paused as he noticed that his bunk mate wasn't next to him, or even within visual range. He peered over the edge to see his childhood friend lying on the floor. "How'd you end up all the way down there?" Bertholdt shrugged and the two chuckled.
"Seriously, are you alright?" Bertholdt pulled himself up to a sitting position.
"Yeah, it was just a dream." The two heard a small thud and looked over to where a dwindling candle laid on its side, with the flame dangerously close to the bed. Both jumped in alarm and quickly extinguished the minuscule fire.
"I've told you to be more careful with these." Bertholdt sighed.
"I'm incredibly careful!" Reiner argued. The two bickered out the door; ignorant to the fact that neither of them had lit the candle the night before.
-SNK-
It had been a long day for everyone. Eren's life hung in the balance, as the Military Police demanded custody over him. After the Recon Corp's failure to capture the female titan they couldn't refuse.
However, it seemed that once again the Recon Corp had a plan. Allegations had been thrown around as to who the female titan was. Unfortunately, Reiner and Bertholdt fell under the umbrella of people the officials didn't trust. Although, as long as they weren't specifically singled out, they were still safe.
"Hey, Reiner," Bertholdt began slowly, "do you think they know?"
"Know what?" Reiner frowned. There was sort of an unspoken agreement to not talk about their real mission. Reiner allowed it, because today's events had really rattled the taller boy.
"About Annie…" Bertholdt appeared grim, then added, "About us."
"Hey, hey, don't worry about it." Reiner shrugged. "These guys have known us forever; they wouldn't go around throwing accusations blindly. I mean, they're our friends." Reiner chuckled nervously and opened the door to their room.
It was a mess. Drawers were torn from their shelves and upturned on the floor, sheets and curtains had been pulled, and even the beds themselves looked like they had been tampered with. Bertholdt covered his mouth, his whole body shaking.
"Holy shit…" Reiner attempted to reasoned, "It's probably just a stupid prank. You know how the guys can be." He awkwardly patted his friend's shoulder. "This is just like when Jean ransacked Eren's stuff, remember?" It was just a freaky coincidence, nothing more, however he couldn't deny that the sight shook him as well.
-SNK-
Reiner was leaning against the wall; his ankle throbbed from a poor landing. The ground shook and he could tell that another titan was near. He flinched instinctively, only to stop before his hand hit the blade. He couldn't transform here, even if it meant death. The thought made him sick to his stomach.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something fly through the air. The soaring trainee didn't seem terribly prepared. One of his sword handles swung wildly about behind him as the other failed to connect to the sheathed blade. Whoever it was seemed to be panicking and failing to get away from something. His pleading eyes met Reiner's, but why couldn't he move? He didn't need his ankle to swoop in and pull the guy to safety; in addition it would heal by the time they reached a suitable rooftop.
He saw a titan emerge from the rubble and run after the trainee. Its hand reached out to grab the boy calling out his name. The kid was agile, but with only one grappling hook at his disposal, he was out of balance and the titan grabbed hold of his arm and head. Unfortunately the gear continued to pull him forward. He became caught in a gruesome tug-of-war, and two bloodied halves fell to the ground only a few feet in front of the spectator. Before he could act, steam clouded his vision, until at last the collapsed corpse came back into view.
It was Marco. Oh God, it was Marco! Why hadn't he done anything? Why did he just stand there!? His comrade turned his head to look at him with a cold, glaring eye.
'Tell him.'
Reiner woke with a start, earning a kick in the face from his friend. He leaned against the headboard and studied the ceiling in an attempt to clear his mind. War was a horrible, ugly thing that had showed him despair, which he had tried with every fiber of his being to forget.
"Reiner?" Bertholdt righted himself on the bed so he was looking at his friend. "Reiner, you're crying! Did I kick you that hard? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean too!"
"No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Reiner shook his head.
"You've been saying that a lot lately." Bertholdt sighed. "I can't help but worry, you haven't been acting like yourself lately."
"I just… haven't been sleeping too well." Reiner shrugged. "Get dressed. We have some questioning of our own to do."
-SNK-
"Why would I have gone in your room?" Jean questioned over a bowl of stew. "I'm not a bedroom invader."
"Well, there was that one time—" Reiner began.
"That never happened, no one could prove it." Jean interjected."Besides, I've been stuck in meetings all day. It might have been Sasha or one of the others. There's been a rumor going around that someone's been hording food." His amused smirk dissolved back to a more solemn expression.
"You're not under suspicion of…?" Bertholdt paused, then whispered, "Being a traitor, are you?" It was odd, he noticed, for Jean to be sitting alone like this. Usually the brunet would be trying to impress someone.
"Wha?" Jean looked up, shocked, "No. No, what would give you that idea?"
"You just seem a little…" Bertholdt struggled to find the words.
"Despondent?" Reiner offered.
"Yeah… that."
"Oh, yeah…" Jean trailed off. "It's just; the meeting got me thinking about Marco." He absently poked at his food. "I just can't get over the fact that no one saw him. I mean—" He stared for a moment at the bowl, and then pushed it aside.
"I'm sorry." Reiner offered.
"If we had been there, we would've helped." Bertholdt added.
"Yeah, I know." Jean sighed as he stood. "I think Commander Erwin called me." An obvious bluff, but there wasn't much the boys could do to comfort their friend; especially when he wanted to be alone. The door clattered behind him. The two stood in silence, not knowing what else to do.
All of a sudden, the discarded bowl fell at their feet, splashing their uniform in the process. They looked over at the table, where nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It had to be the slanted table.
"Er, we should probably get changed." Bertholdt suggested. The one problem with white uniforms was that everything stained.
"Yeah." Reiner eyed the table one last time before following the dark haired boy out the door. Only a few steps later, Bertholdt tumbled to the floor. "Shit! What happened?" Reiner helped his friend back to his feet.
"I tripped over something." Bertholdt mumbled. Dusting himself off, he continued forward, albeit cautiously. Leave it to Bertholdt to trip over his own feet. The two walked in silence all the way back to their quarters. "We still don't know who went through our stuff." Bertholdt remembered allowed. Reiner hummed an acknowledgement, as he dug through the pile of unfolded clothes. There was a dull, constant squeaking, which filled the room. Yet, neither took too much notice of it.
"We can check with Connie next." He finally replied as he dug out the cleanest shirt from the pile.
"You don't think he could have done it?" Bertholdt snorted with a disbelieving grin.
"Him? No." Reiner shrugged into his new clothes. "But he'll probably have a better idea of who would then we do."
"That's true." He paused. "Reiner, could you stop leaning on the door? That creaking's really annoying."
"I'm not leaning on the door." Reiner frowned. He turned and saw the large dresser lurch forward. "Bertholdt, look out!" Reaching his friend just in time and pulling him out of the way. They both stared at the toppled furniture, hearts racing from the close call.
"T-that was- how?" Bertholdt stuttered. Reiner looked wildly about for some explanation to how the dresser had tipped forward. On the dusty back LIAR was written. "T-they know."
"Bertholdt—"
"They know. God they know!" Bertholdt shook his head. "I can't do this. They know Reiner, I-I can't do this anymore."
"Bertholdt that doesn't make any sense, you just need to calm down." He forced the trembling brunet to look at him. "The leg on it just broke. I mean, it's an old place, right?"
"But-"
"It's just- just a coincidence." Reiner took a deep breath. "There's no way they could know, but they'll figure it out if we don't keep it together. Do you hear me? We're warriors. We can't let some freak accident shake us." He held onto him until he stopped shaking.
"You're right." Bertholdt closed his eyes to compose himself. "I'm just a little jumpy, is all." Reiner gave a sigh of relief.
"Look, why don't you go ahead and talk to Connie. I'll clean this up and join you soon, alright?"
"Y-yeah." Bertholdt smiled weakly. "Sounds like a plan." He left quickly as Reiner took his time to pull himself up off the floor. Rubbing his temples, he looked back at the over-turned dresser. To his shock, another message had been written.
Quickly, he propped the 'broken' dresser back against the wall and burned the image from his memory. It was just a trick of the light. There hadn't been the word LIAR written on the back and there definitely wasn't a second message that said Tell him.
-SNK-
That afternoon, the rest of the 104th squad received their orders. The streets were to be cleared of all civilians while Jean, disguised as Eren, was escorted to the palace. There was more to it, there had to be and yet Reiner knew their information was purposefully limited.
Everything seemed far too peaceful, and then it all happened so fast, the worry of the signature eruption from buildings afar, and the panic, which ensued as he saw Annie's titan form running for her life. They found her, and here in Stohess no less. There would be no way for the military to deny that a titan had reached the inner wall. Eren was close behind, and with his persistence there was a serious chance that their secret would be uncovered.
Reiner gripped his blades; he had to keep his cool. He craned his neck to see Bertholdt's squad not too far off. The brunet was a shaking mess. No doubt his comrades assumed it was due to the titans within the city, but he knew better. A stream of green smoke shot into the sky and everyone began to close in on the source.
They had caught her.
Reiner had found his way to Bertholdt's side among the congregated crowd. Unable to say anything, he took his hand within his grasp, squeezing gently. Despite being the tallest in their squad, the pair couldn't get close enough to see them take Annie into custody.
"Let's go find the others." Reiner sighed. Bertholdt could only nod numbly.
-SNK-
One after another, the soldiers filed back into the temporary head quarters for the Recon Corp. Erwin would have a tough time defending the Recon Corp in the face of all the damage. Eren's rampage had cratered a quarter of the city and it could very well be the last night they stayed under the protection of the military.
"I heard they're keeping Annie downstairs." Bertholdt informs Reiner quietly. "The security's probably tight, but maybe… Maybe we could see her?"
Around the castle, the shutters slammed continuously. With violent force, each window shattered inward. Startled screams responded throughout the halls.
"It's the titan girl, isn't it?" A soldier wailed over the cacophony. There was a high-pitched whine, like nails digging into a chalkboard, which echoed all around them. With each elongated scrape, the shutters beat faster until an eerie silence filled the building. Reiner slowly dropped his hands and looked up.
"W-what the hell?" He stuttered. All along the stone walls TELL HIM had been carved over and over again. Once more the halls were filled with shouts, orders to find the cause of the disturbance.
"…Reiner? Reiner!" Bertholdt shook his friend to catch his attention. "Corporal Levi's, called us, we have to go." The blond shakily pointed at the wall, and looked at his friend. "What?" Reiner looked back, and the writing was gone.
"N-nothing, let's go."
A meeting was held to discuss how the windows had suddenly broken. It was determined that the cause had been stress from the previous battle and the tremors that resulted from it.
-SNK-
Annie had been struck down out of the air. Trying to reach her, Reiner injured himself in his haste. He stumbled and leaned against the wall for support. He looked over to see Annie, holding her butchered shoulder, healing as fast as she could. It didn't seem like any titans were nearby. Thankfully, the brute had flung her too far out of reach. He was about to snap his ankle back into place when he heard a strangled yelp.
"W-what are you?" Marco stood at the other end of the street. He had seen Annie heal. Watched as the flesh crawled back up her shoulder and coat itself with skin. She stared back at him, wide-eyed, with barely any time to comprehend. In a flash she bit her hand, erupting into a titan before both of them. Reiner stood paralyzed as she reached for him. "N-no way."
Marco took a trembling step backwards, one of his blades fell from his lax grip. Then his instinct took over, as he tried to use the 3DM gear to escape. He swung up into the air, just out of her grasp and yet all Reiner could do was look away. Marco had seen her transform, a liability. Annie was willing to take care of it, but they had to be more careful.
"REINER!" Marco called having spotted him. Reiner couldn't help but look, but again couldn't move, and helping him would compromise the mission. Annie reached out again, but this time caught him. And once more Reiner watched as Marco died by her hand. A billow of steam formed as Annie emerged from the titan. She was shaking and looked to Reiner. Both understood that no one could know what transpired, and she shot off to find her squad.
Reiner lingered; taking deep, staggered breaths.
"I'm sorry." He murmured. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." A hand gripped his wrist and pulled him backwards, he shuddered as blood poured down his neck and back.
"Tell him." Marco's voice insisted, sharp and cold.
Reiner screamed into the night, his whole body was shaking and the cold sweat that coated his body felt all too much like the chilling blood from his dream. He furiously pulled at this face with his palms, struggling to keep himself awake. Then he noticed that the bed next to him was empty. How could he see that the bed was empty? At this time of night, it should have been pitch black. His head turned, and he saw that the bedside candle had been left alight once again. The wax pooled around the base. His eyes were drawn across the floor, searching for his companion. However, all that met his eyes were the dreary shadows painted by the flame.
"Bertholdt?" He whispered with uncertainty. His gaze then fell upon the mirror, a brilliant flame danced on the glass. A reflection of the candle no doubt, and yet, the flame grew and consumed the entire reflection. Reiner looked back to the candle, which sat innocently aglow then back to the mirror. A dark figure began to take shape within the flame with dark hair and piercing gray eyes. To his horror, Marco's figure glared back at him through the glass. With a single finger he wrote TELL HIM once more.
"N-no way!" Reiner held his head in his hands. "This isn't real! Things like this don't just happen! I JUST NEED TO WAKE-UP!" Marco's features soured further. His fists connected with the glass, causing the mirror to shatter. Fire trickled out of the mirror like water, pooling on the desk top before dripping onto the floor. Reiner scrambled out of the bed and down the hall, while the fire chased after him. He could feel the heat radiating behind him, but he couldn't hear a single crackle or hiss.
He turned the corner, desperate to find Bertholdt, anyone really. The door to the communal bathroom swung shut before him; locked. He whipped around to find the fire a mere yard away. From the flames, Marco's angry spirit rose. Like in death, his face and torso were shredded. A torrent of fire erupted from his wounds and a single black void served as his right eye. He snarled, his uniforms in tatters, yet wordless. Reiner edged along the wall, still uncertain as to whether this was all a dream.
"If you want him to know so badly," Reiner stuttered angrily, "why not tell him yourself." Marco's face twisted into an expression of pure unadulterated rage. Ghostly tears streamed from his face, evaporating upon contact with his skin. He began shouting, but his words were silent, trapped with him on the spiritual plane.
Reiner had managed to make it around the corner. With a clear path in view, he dashed like a mad man. Doors swung shut around him, and where there had once been straight halls, ethereal flames block his path. He felt corralled like an animal for the slaughter. If only there was someone to banish the nightmarish visions like before. He ran through a pair of double doors, and tumbled to the ground. Walls became ablaze, trapping him with in a circle.
"Reiner, what are you doing up?" He looked up to see Jean sitting at one of the many tables in the dining hall. He didn't see the scorching flames that surrounded them. More like, he couldn't see them.
"I- Uh, was looking for Bertholdt." Reiner lied immediately. "He wasn't there when I woke up."
"Did you think to check the bathroom?" Jean asked.
"No, I didn't." Reiner laughed nervously. "It's just been a little hard to keep my head on straight; what with how crazy it's been." He didn't have to turn to see the furious glare of the ghost behind him.
"Yeah," Jean sighed, "people have gotten so desperate that we're grasping at straws now." He looked out the window, deep in thought. "You aren't- I mean, if you knew anything… You'd tell us right?" He looked back to Reiner with pleading eyes.
"O-of course, what kind of soldier would I be otherwise?" He worried his lip between his teeth. "I'm going to find Bertholdt now, he's probably more freaked out then both of us combined." The flames weren't real he told himself. They couldn't hurt him, it was all just his imagination coming back to haunt him. "And Jean… you should probably get some rest." Taking a deep breath, he walked back through the doorway, leaving the silent shrieks of the spirit behind.
"Yeah, I'll head to bed in a minute." Jean found himself alone in the mess hall once again, with his mind spinning from the week's events. With a weary sigh, he stood and began to leave himself; when he saw for the first time the ghost of his friend. "…Marco?" The apparition turned abruptly, all of his fury evaporated into the night. His image was soft white, like the trickle of moonlight, whole and pure. Tears, once more, poured down his face in the presence of his friend after weeks of trying to contact him. "This can't be…" Jean faltered. His hand reached out, unsteady and unable to touch what stood before him. He had to be hallucinating, from lack of sleep no doubt.
'I'm sorry.' Marco mouthed as best he could and placed a cold kiss upon Jean's cheek. Slowly the ghost began to fade as the clock struck one and witching hour came to an end.
"Marco, wait!"
'I'm sorry.' Marco mouthed a final time.
-SNK-
Reiner returned to his room to find Bertholdt standing in shock.
"It happened again." He stuttered, unable to contain his paranoia. Reiner couldn't bear to look at the room, lest he acknowledge the happenings that transpired.
"Bertholdt, let's go home." Reiner muttered.
"What?"
"Let's go back home, tomorrow." Reiner insisted.
"But you said-"
"I know what I said, but…" He searched for the words. "I don't think my conscious can take much more of this." Bertholdt nodded in turn.
"I know what you mean..." He sighed, "But what will we do about Eren?" He looked to his down trodden friend.
"I'll think of something."