So I know its been weeks since the last chapter was published. I'm really sorry, you probably all thought I was gonna leave it at ten chapters but nope! CH11 is here. I hope you enjoy it, I also hope I did you guys justice. This is the final chapter in this fic, and part of the reason it took so long is because I wanted to try and get it as perfect as possible. Also, I got super freakin busy. I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 11:
Eren saw Annie walk down the street with Armin and was both relieved and disappointed. They were actually going to do this. He didn't want to, he still couldn't believe that Annie and the person controlling the female titan were the same person. But Armin and Mikasa had managed to convince the brass to at least take the chance.
"It's okay." Mikasa said. Annie and Armin were still out o earshot. "No matter how this goes, it's going to be okay."
It was a futile attempt to comfort Eren. If anything, it made him feel worse.
"Yeah, you say that, but you'll put a sword in her back the second you suspect her of trying to do anything at all." He muttered, looking away. He knew of the animosity between the two. Their bitter rivalry during training had stemmed into cold resentment of one another. Annie had also told him what Mikasa told her, what she threatened to do if Annie ever hurt Eren.
"I'm just trying to protect you." Mikasa answered.
"Well stop it!" Eren hissed. "I don't need you to protect me."
"Eren, stop." Mikasa said, her voice breaking. "I've lost my family twice before... Don't you think it's only natural that I try to protect what little I have left?"
Eren went silent. She had a point, however shitty her overprotection made him feel. He tried to ignore it as Annie and Armin approached them.
"Hey guys," Armin said lightheartedly, "Annie agreed to help us."
Eren stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Annie. "Hey," he said, "how are you?"
"I'm alright." Annie answered simply, wrapping her own arms around Eren's waist. "What about you?"
"I've been better," Eren said truthfully. He planted a quick kiss on Annie's cheek, and when he stepped away, she was blushing and looking at the ground. Eren realized that it was the first time he had kissed her around other people and he too began to blush. He gave a sheepish smile and brought his hand up to the back of his head. "Sorry." He apologized.
"It's okay." Annie said. "Shall we go off then?"
Eren followed as Annie led the three through a series of streets. He wondered how much longer they had to walk until they reached the underground tunnel. He hadn't bothered to give the map any more than a quick glance. He did, notice, however, that the amount of people nearby was slowly declining, so it was likely that they were approaching the tunnel.
Eren decided to break the silence. "We got through the checkpoint more easily than expected. Military police, just as lazy and slackish as I expected. I'm surprised they even bothered to show up." He joked.
"Eren, stop glancing around so much." Mikasa jabbed. "You'll draw attention to us."
"I hope they don't notice that Jean's taken my place in the carriage," Eren whispered, looking ahead now. "We don't look anything alike."
"It's close enough." Armin said defensively. Eren remembered that the body switch was his idea. "You guys are both angry all the time, and you both have that look of a murderer in your eyes."
"Yeah," Eren retorted, "but he looks like a horse. I don't."
"Hey," Annie said in front of them. "What would you have done if I hadn't decided to help?"
"Oh." Armin said. Eren figured he'd let Armin handle this one, after all Armin was way better at bullshitting his way out of situations like this. "We were going to use our 3DM gear to get over the wall."
"That's stupid. In broad daylight? You'd have the entire MP after you in a matter of seconds."
"Which is why I'm glad you decided to help." Armin said, trying to feign cheerfulness.
"Wouldn't it have made more sense to escape before reaching Stohess?" Annie asked. "Why wait until now to make your move?"
"I thought that the intricate layout of Stohess's streets would make it easier for us to swap out Eren for Jean and give us more time to make use of the switch. Plus, pretending to go along with the MP keeps their guard down, they don't suspect a thing."
"I see." Annie said, but Eren could hear in her voice that she wasn't convinced. "It's a good plan."
Eren again felt guilty for taking part in this. Did she know they were leading her into a trap?
Annie took note of every detail she noticed. The roads were all cleared, there was nobody outside. Eren, who normally would have walked with her hand-in-hand, walked behind her, which probably meant he was feeling guilty about something. Mikasa seemed to be regarding her even more coldly than usual, and she could hear flecks of panic in Armin's voice. He had probably made it all up on the spot.
Which led Annie to confirm her suspicions. They were trying to deceive her.
How far would she let it go, though?
"Here," Armin said, running to a stairway that descended underground. Annie eyed the darkness with suspicion as Armin continued, "it's the remains of an underground city they planned to build way back when. Supposedly, it leads all the way to the outer gate."
"Alright, let's go." Eren said from behind her, walking past and descending down the staircase.
I'm not going to be able to transform down there if I need to, Annie thought, not that I want to anyways. Annie had a brief flashback to when her father would shut her in the small, cramped broom closet as a punishment when she failed to perform up to his standard. They had led to her having nightmares of being buried alive, which in turn had developed a serious claustrophobia in Annie. She hated being in dark spaces, especially cramped ones.
She stopped walking and watched the three walk down the stairs. Eren turned around to look at her.
"Annie, come on. We don't have time for this."
"I don't want to go." Annie said simply. She realized how much of a child she sounded like, but didn't care. It was a bad idea, on a multitude of levels, for her to follow them.
"Don't tell me you're scared of the dark, Annie."
"So what?" Annie said, growing defensive and beginning to panic. "I don't expect some suicidal bastard like you to understand the fears and feelings of a frail little girl like me."
And indeed, that's what she felt like then. Frail, little. Powerless.
"Annie, you're not frail at all. For god's sake, you threw Reiner over your head! Now quit being stupid and come down here!" Eren seemed to have registered Annie's panic and was herself beginning to freak out.
"Eren, stop yelling." Mikasa scolded. "Someone will hear you."
"Don't worry, Mikasa," Annie said, looking around at the empty marketplace, which looked motionless, abandoned, dead in the lighting. "There hasn't been anyone around for a while, it seems."
She turned back to Armin. "That hurts, Armin. It really hurts. When did you start looking at me like I was some sort of monster?"
"Why," Armin asked, "did you have Marco's gear, Annie? When we had our gear inspected after Hanji's test subjects were killed, why did you show them Marco's gear?"
Annie was surprised that Armin had noticed. "I found it." She said simply.
"You killed them, didn't you? Sawney and Bean, you killed them?" Armin accused.
Annie didn't see a point in lying. It was obvious that Armin suspected her. Instead, she dodged the question and looked at Eren. The look in his eyes... Disbelief? Shock? Disappointment? Whatever it was, it broke her heart. She could feel it inside of her, cracking, feel the pieces chipping and falling away. She couldn't bear it.
Annie turned back to Armin. "If you thought so a month ago, why did you wait until now to say something?"
"Because!" Armin said, "I didn't want to believe I was right. I didn't want to believe that you were working against us! But the fact that you didn't kill me then, back in the field... That's what led us to this moment."
"It is," Annie agreed mindlessly, looking away, "and looking back, I really should have. I didn't expect things to come to this. Why didn't I kill you?"
"Annie!" Eren screamed, shattering Annie's daze. "Please, stop! Come down here with us, please tell me that this is all some sort of joke! Tell me that you're just playing some cruel sick joke on me, and that you're going along with what Armin says for kicks. Please!"
Annie could hear the cracking in Eren's voice. Such distress. Annie felt a guilt. She never wanted to hurt Eren.
"That's enough." Mikasa said ferociously. "I've had just about enough of this. I'll cut you to ribbons again, female titan."
Relief welled up in Annie. She didn't have to hide anything from them. Somehow, for some reason, euphoria washed over Annie. She giggled, and then her giggles grew into laughter. It had been so long since she laughed.
"Oh, Armin. Did you enjoy this?" She taunted. "I hope you enjoyed me being a 'good person.' It seems like you've won your bet. But you're not the only one gambling here!"
Annie brought up her hand. Armin raised his own hand. An acoustic grenade rang out. Movement. Movement all around her. In less than a second, Annie found herself being pinned down by a group of soldiers in civilian clothing. Four? Six?
It didn't really matter, though. Annie still had one more trick up her sleeve. She flicked her wrist out and swiped her thumb down, slashing it across the blade that had protruded from her plain silver ring.
It was the first time she had transformed in front of a group of normal humans. Annie towered over the soldiers. The ones who weren't killed in the transformation process had scattered at the sight of her.
I can still accomplish my mission. Annie thought, I can still capture Eren.
But where had he gone? Annie couldn't gauge how far into the tunnel they had gone. But she knew how far it was safe to assume they couldn't have run in that time, and slammed her foot down. Her heel crashed through the roof of the tunnel. She stepped over and peered inside. Eren was unharmed. Good.
Eren's heart and mind were racing as his teeth dug into the flesh of his palm. Eren could feel them scraping against the bone. Why wasn't it working? Emotions were fighting for control within him. Confusion, anger, distress, sadness, hopelessness, and a cacophony of other feelings.
"Eren, think." Mikasa hissed. "You've seen her transform. You know it's her. You know Annie is the female titan. You know you have to fight her. Why can't you bring yourself to fight her? Are your 'special feelings' holding you back?"
Of course they are! Eren wanted to shout. How can I bring myself to fight the woman that I love? Even if she is the female titan?
Armin interrupted. "I have a plan. Mikasa and I will head towards that hole and that hole respectively. With any luck, she'll go after one of us and leave you alone."
"Wait, what?" Eren protested, "You'll be killed!"
"And if we don't, all three of us will be killed." Armin stated.
"Don't do this! Please!" Eren begged as the two ran off.
"We don't have a choice." Mikasa answered, turning back to look at him. "The world is a cruel place."
Eren stood there dumbfounded. A rumbling sounded overhead, and Eren looked up just in time to see the ceiling collapse. Debris cascaded downward, sealing Eren in a tomb.
Eren's mind went foggy. He became aware of the sunlight on the left side of his face and the sound of Armin's voice.
"Eren! Hang in there!" Armin said, struggling to move the rubble off of Eren's back. "Come on, stay with me. Say something, Eren! Get up!"
"What the hell is going on?" Was that... Jean's voice?
"He's trapped! I can't get him out!" Armin explained.
"Why didn't he transform?" Jean asked.
"He couldn't. I think it's because the female titan is Annie. Help me get him out, please!"
Jean's voice grew louder. Had he gotten closer to Eren? "Cut the shit, Yeager! I told you that the day would come when we would all be relying on you, and this is the best you can give us? Is this what they're out there dying for? Is this what Marco... Died for?" Jean's voice cracked.
Another thundering crash, and Jean regained his composure. "I'll deal with Annie." He said, and the 3DM gear's signature noise sounded off.
"Eren," Armin spoke, strangely calmly, "I said this to Jean before... 'To rise above monsters, we must sometimes abandon what makes us human.' Annie can do it... I mean, just look at her. And if you don't do it too, all of this will have been for nothing!"
Abandon what makes me human, huh? Eren thought, I can't. I can't do it, and now my friends are all dying because of it!
As the images of his dead comrades flashed before his eyes again, Eren filled with anger. Too many people have died because of him. His goal changed in his delusional rage. It was no longer "Fight the female titan," it had become "Kill all titans." He noticed the stake of wood speared through his chest and grabbed it, lifting his body around it, scraping his insides with it and causing immense pain.
He transformed.
I didn't feel like writing out the entire battle sequence. You all can just watch the fight on the internet or something. I'm just skipping to the end of the fight.
Battered and in pain, Annie lunged at the wall, crystallizing her skin into claws and digging them in. She began to climb, but felt something heavy grab onto her legs. The manic shrieking told her that it was Eren in his titan form. What had gotten into him? Just a little while ago he was unable to transform, and now he was fighting like some kind of savage monster. It was far more animalistic than the first time she saw him in this form.
Annie kicked at him. I'm sorry, Eren, she thought, I'll come back for you. I promise, I'll come back.
Annie felt her right leg shearing off at the knee, and Eren fell to the floor. She began to climb again. Thirty, twenty, ten meters away from the top of the wall.
Movement in the corner of her eye. A flash of movement. Jet-black hair. Pain across her fingers, and they separated from the rest of her body. Mikasa had come and slashed them off.
As her boyfriend's pseudo-sister landed on her face, she muttered words. It was too quiet for Annie to hear them, but she could read Mikasa's lips. "Fall, Annie." Then she jumped away.
Eren had made his way back to her body as it crashed to the ground. He straddled her and smashed at her limbs with his fists. Off came her arms, and then... A bright light. Had he severed her titan's head?
Annie could feel the tears rolling down her face. Yes, she was in control of her human body again, her titan form was incapacitated. She looked at Eren, eyes glowing and hair a tangled mess. So full of hate. She couldn't bear it. She shut her eyes and continued to cry.
And then Eren stopped. Had he noticed her tears, her pain? Had he come back to his senses? Did he... Did he still love her?
Eren, Annie thought. She had an idea. Enough of her body was still encased in the titan for it to work.
She began to crystallize around herself, and willed her titan to fuse with Eren's. If she could crystallize the both of them together...
Eren's screams of protest rang out in her ear like gunshots. It's okay, Eren... She thought, We don't have to fight anymore. We can live like this, together, forever... We can escape the world, just like you said... No more death, no more pain, no more suffering... We can escape all of it... Please...
Eren opened his eyes to the city in ruins. Was all of this his fault? How many more people were dead because of him? A giant crystal lay on the ground. A group of soldiers were surrounding it, with one particular soldier stabbing a blade downward, striking the surface o the crystal again and again.
"Eren," Mikasa said to his right.
Eren turned. "Mikasa... is Annie...?"
Mikasa's expression darkened and she cast a glance off a short ways away, back to the crystal.
Was Annie... Encased in it?
"Do you hear me!?" Jean pained. "We went through fucking hell, for this!? Annie! Get your ass up! You owe us answers, you fucking coward! I know you can hear me!"
Levi grabbed his shoulder before Jean could strike the crystal again. Eren wondered why Jean was being this emotional. Normally he was collected and coolheaded. And then he remembered. Annie was wearing a 3DM rig when she trasformed. Which means she was probably wearing the gear still. Was it... Marco's gear...?
"It's over." Levi said calmly.
Jean lowered his arm and stood there, defeated. Broken.
Not far off from how Eren felt. He had nearly killed the only person in the world that made him feel happy, and now she was trapped inside a crystal cocoon, unable to speak to him. Grief and exhaustion took him. He slumped, and fell unconscious.
Comfort greeted Eren when he woke up. Eren was in a warm bed, with a bandage wrapped around his head. Mikasa sat next to the bed and Jean and Armin stood a little farther off.
"You feel okay?" Mikasa asked.
"Yeah," Eren replied. "Kind of numb to everything, really. But okay for the most part."
Silence. Then, Eren asked, "So is Annie still trapped in the crystal?"
"Yep." Jean answered. "We went through all that trouble, lost all those people, and Annie isn't even conscious to give us the answers we need. A fucking joke if you ask me."
"Eren, why did you let her go?" Armin asked.
Eren didn't have an answer.
"You did let her go, right? You gave her a choice."
Eren turned away from him and looked at the end of the bed. "I did." He muttered. "I didn't think this would happen, I just... I couldn't move when I saw her face... I didn't want to hurt her."
"Armin Arlert, Jean Kirstein, report to HQ for a debrief." A soldier said from the doorway.
"Roger," Armin said, getting up to leave. "Seeya later then, Eren."
Eren stood in the basement of the Scout's HQ, the same basement he slept in during his first few weeks with as a Scout. It had become a holding cell for Annie's crystal. He looked at her lifeless figure, kept still by the translucent rock encasing her.
"Annie," Eren said, "I hope you can hear me. I..."
The words escaped him. "I still don't quite understand why you did what you did. But... Im sure you had your reasons. Right? You had a good reason?" Eren sighed. "It had to be a really really good one, though, for you to hurt all those people like that... And when you come out of that crystal, I'll still be here, waiting to hear it. Waiting to forgive you."
"I still love you a lot, Annie. I'm going to go on fighting for a better world for us to live in. I promise."
Thus ends the fanfiction "Annie's Heart." I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :) Also, Ruin Me is likely to have one more chapter as well, so stay tuned!