On cue, a storm of footsteps marched around the corner, a dark cloud of shadows drifting into the room. A dozen Yaegerists blocked the exit with pointed staffs.
"What? I'm not lying!" The ice sloshed back into Karma's veins.
Eren cupped her cheeks. "Then why do you smell like cologne?"
All of her blood plummeted to her feet. She couldn't move.
"Please, Karma. Did you really think I was gonna buy that story? You taking out Floch and escaping all by yourself just to come see me?" He pulled his thumb down her lip, exposing her bottom teeth.
"But—" The words died in a whimper.
"Shh, don't be scared." Eren swiped a tear dribbling past her nose. "I'm not gonna hurt you for betraying me. I still love you."
Karma was frozen except for the tears rolling down her face.
"But I am gonna hurt the one who tried to take you from me."
"No—"
"We got him!" Three of the Yeagerists stepped out of the alcove, dragging a thrashing Levi by the arms and legs. Levi's murderous eyes were targeted on Eren as they stripped him of his ODM gear. The tips of sharp staffs pointed at Levi's stomach. "We're waiting for your command."
"Captain." Eren curled a sinister smile. "Is it just you then? No other jewel thieves hiding in the fortress?"
"Just me, brat."
"Then this shouldn't take long." A blade glinted in Eren's hand. He stared down at Levi, who was kneeling in a semi-circle of angled spears. "If you apologize, I'll make this quick and painless."
"I'm not gonna apologize for trying to save Karma from you."
"Karma is under my protection. There's nothing to save her from."
"You know what I think? I think you're afraid if you let her go, she'll run away from you. That's why you're keeping her locked up, isn't it?"
Eren raised Levi's chin with the tip of the blade. "Is that really all you want to say? I'll give you one more chance."
"Fucking do it already, coward."
"Fine—"
Karma's hands closed around the blade before Eren could slice through Levi's throat. Blood dripped from her palms down to her elbows.
"Please, Eren!" Karma squeezed the blade tighter, adrenaline numbing whatever severe damage she was inflicting. "Please! Stop!"
The blade stopped pushing back against her hands. Eren had relaxed his arm.
"Karma, what are you doing? You're hurting yourself." He snapped for a Yeagerist to tend to her hands. One with blonde hair and glasses knelt beside her and wrapped her palms with bandages that immediately bled through.
"Please, it's not Levi's fault. Don't kill him." She was on the ground, looking limp and weak at Eren's feet.
"Of course it's his fault. He tried to take you from me."
"But—" Tears dripped from her chin to her bandaged hands. "But I don't want to be yours anymore, Eren. Not like this."
He was still for a tense moment.
At least one of them could have lived if she hadn't interfered. She'd doomed herself.
Eren's grip on the knife tightened.
This was it. He was going to shred them both. Her blood would be spilled all over the white tiles, seeping into the Yeagerists footsteps, the entrails of their Queen spread throughout The Opal Fortress.
Then Eren laughed. A scream or a roar would've frightened her less.
"Alright, Karma. You can be free of me." He bent to her level. He closed her hands around the hilt of the blade—stained red from her burning hands—and hovered the point just above his heart. "This heart is yours to destroy as you please. So go ahead. Kill me."
Just one hefty push through bone and flesh and she would tear through his heart like a thick slab of rubber. That's all it would take—one push. This was the chance she'd been waiting for. This was all it would take to free herself and the world.
Just one push.
But the knife clattered to the floor, her tears landing beside it. "I can't." The words were thick and wet. She watched Eren stand through blurry eyes.
"That's what I thought. You don't have the strength to kill—you never have."
"Please. Don't hurt him." Karma crawled backwards to Levi. She knelt in front of him with her arms spread out in pitiful defense.
"I'm sorry, my gem. That was your last chance to save your precious Levi." Eren picked the knife off the floor. He polished the blade on his jacket, smirking. "But alright, you've convinced me. I won't hurt him." He knelt in front of Karma and gave her a sweet smile, curling a finger under her chin. "You will."
The guard that had wrapped her bandages laid a hand on Eren's shoulder.
Eren offered her the dagger.
She started to say, "You're insane. I'd never," but as her tongue formed the first syllable, it froze. Her hands closed around the hilt on their own. She screamed at her hands to stop, but no sound came out. Her face was placid, her movements robotic.
That wasn't just some guard. It was Zeke.
This was the Founding Titan's power. Eren was controlling her.
She screamed a voiceless warning to Levi as she felt the blade target his eye. His head reeled back as the knife inched closer.
"Do you have any idea what I've sacrificed for you, Karma? Do you know what I had to do to infiltrate Marley?" Eren paused, waiting for a response she couldn't give. "No? Why don't I show you."
Karma screamed and screamed, but the blade sliced through Levi's eye like a grape. He screamed for both of them. Blood spattered on her face and forearms. It rained down his cheeks in splitting rivers.
"But I didn't stop there," Eren continued. "I sawed off my own leg too. For you, Karma."
Her hands jerked above her head and plummeted down, stabbing through Levi's knee, screeching into bone. Ligaments snapped like the taut strings of a guitar. The combination of Levi's agony and grinding metal and the screams ricocheting in her skull were a clashing symphony that lacerated her ear drums.
"Do you get it now, Karma? I would blind and cripple myself, trample anyone who would try to harm you. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, and yet you refuse to be mine? I'm sorry, my gem, but you no longer have a choice in the matter."
Her blade grated up and down, sawing through Levi's leg, spurting blood into puddles on the tile. The knife handle was slick, but her grip remained vised.
Why wasn't Levi fighting back? Was Eren controlling him too? No, his hands were clenched and his face was contorted in pain.
It must be because they'd stripped him of his ODM gear. If he had a weapon, he'd be slicing and chopping her to pieces to save himself. But even weaponless, he could wrangle the knife or strangle her.
That's what any normal person would do—kill to save themselves.
His leg was nothing but a glossy mess of blood and mangled flesh. If Levi continued to do nothing, he'd bleed out in a matter of minutes.
Come on, Levi. Please! Do something!
A glimmer of hope—the Yeagerists overlooked the steak knife. She could see the hilt of it poking through the hem of his pants.
Grab the knife, Captain! Stop me!
She screamed and screamed, but the message didn't even touch her throat. Her tears melted the world to dark red.
Why Levi?! Fight back!
It should have hit her much sooner that these muted screams would be just as futile vocalized. Levi was aware of the steak knife. He knew he could overpower her.
It should have hit her much sooner that this was a conscious choice. That even at the cost of his own life, he refused to hurt her.
That he loved her.
Something twitched in her hand. A jolt of electricity. A current sent from her brain. She squeezed more currents from her brain, using every ounce of her willpower, until finally, the sawing stopped. Her hands stilled.
Come on. Come on!
She focused on her legs, expelling all of her will into standing up. It felt like a building was pushing against her, but she fought back harder until she was on her feet.
"How…" Eren stepped back when Karma staggered forward. Zeke and the Yeagerists moved to protect him, spears pointed at Karma.
"I…" She fought to hold onto her throat. Her cement legs lurched another step. "Am no one's prisoner."
She felt the exact moment that her restraints snapped. It was like her entire body had been siphoned of blood and now it was rushing back, hot and adrenaline-loaded, through every artery and capillary and vein.
She couldn't fight all twelve Yeagerists with one dagger. Her eyes flitted to where Levi's ODM gear lay discarded. She chucked her blade hard enough to strain her arm. For a fraction of a second, a dozen pairs of eyes followed the blade's arc. It nicked off the wall and clattered on the floor, but the distraction was just enough.
Karma wielded Levi's swords in each hand and faced the guard, which seemed to take a collective step back.
The staffs were no match for her blades. As they lunged for her, she sliced them in half, leaving the wielders with wooden nubs. One spear managed to nick her shoulder, but she spun on the attack and struck the Yeagerist down.
"Stop! Don't hurt her!" Eren shouted.
The guard hesitated, but lowered their weapons. They stepped back, creating a pathway that connected Eren and Karma. She braced herself for his rage, flexing her knuckles, but his words were coated in awe.
"How did you do that? How did you free yourself from the Founding Titan's power?"
Karma stared down at her bloody bandages. She glanced back to Levi, who was clutching his eye and leg to staunch the bleeding, and her throat tightened.
There wasn't time to waste. Levi wouldn't last much longer.
"I don't know. Something just snapped." She stepped toward Eren, raising her sword. "I'm sorry, Eren, but you're not stealing anyone else's freedom. I can't let you trample the world."
"Karma—"
"No negotiations. It's over."
"You're gonna kill me?"
"I have to."
Eren spread his arms wide, opening his bare chest. "My heart is yours. It always has been."
The point of the sword grazed Eren's skin. There was a small ball of blood.
Just one push.
But Eren wasn't fighting back either, and Karma's eyes welled with tears at the realization that he really loved her too.
So when the blade tore through hard ribs and fleshy lungs and into his heart, she choked on the words, "I'm so sorry…"
The hilt was up to his chest. The blade pierced through his back, glossy and red.
She felt his arms wrap around her. "It had to be done—you'll see."
Her tears puddled on his skin. She tiptoed and pressed her lips to his ear. "I love you, Eren."
He smiled into her hair, exhaling, "My gem..."
Then his legs slackened. Karma guided his body to the floor. Falling to his side, she took his still-warm hand and pressed a kiss into his palm, resting it against her cheek.
His face looked peaceful. He was still smiling.
But before she could spend more time mourning, Levi's pained grunts pulled her back to reality. She stood to her feet and addressed the guard.
"I'm still your Queen, Yeagerists, so you're gonna listen to me," Karma said, mustering authority into her voice. "Carry Captain Levi to the HQ infirmary stat. Bring Eren to HQ as well." When the guard hesitated, exchanging an assortment of shocked and confused expressions, she added a definitive, "Now."