Chapter Three: Luna's Lure
The air around the beach seemed to hold a strange, almost surreal stillness as
everyone watched the siren, her eyes locked onto Eren's. The sea behind her rippled
gently, the only movement in a world that had fallen silent. It was as if time itself had
paused, waiting to see what would happen next.
Then, without a word or warning, the siren began to change.
Her transition from sea creature to human was seamless, fluid, and mesmerizing. The
shimmering scales that had lined her body began to fade, replaced by smooth, dark skin
that gleamed in the early morning light. Her long, coiled white hair floated around her,
shifting from damp curls to a soft cascade down her back. Where there had been a
gleaming tail, two legs now stood, slender yet strong, each step she took forward on the
wet sand as graceful as the flow of water itself.
The water lapped at her ankles as she walked out of the sea, the faint glow in her blue
eyes still lingering as she approached Eren. She moved with a grace and purpose that
left the scouts watching in silent awe. Her transformation was so effortless, so natural,
that it was as if she had always belonged on land, though there was an ethereal quality
to her that no one could deny.
Mikasa's heart pounded in her chest as she watched the siren emerge from the water,
her hands clenching into fists at her sides. Everything about the siren's movement was
unnatural, unnerving—yet undeniably beautiful. There was no doubt that she was unlike
anything they had ever seen before.
The scouts stood frozen in place. Jean and Connie exchanged wide-eyed glances,
while Sasha's hand hovered uncertainly near her weapon. Even Levi's usual detached
expression faltered as he watched the siren step out of the water as if she belonged
there. But no one dared move, no one spoke. It was as though she had cast some sort
of spell over the entire beach, her presence commanding absolute attention.
Finally, the siren came to a stop directly in front of Eren, her tall, athletic frame standing
only a few feet from him. Up close, her beauty was even more striking. Her dark skin
glowed with a soft, almost iridescent sheen under the rising sun. Her wide, bright blue
eyes were piercing, framed by her white lashes. Her full lips, slightly parted, remained
still, though her gaze held an intensity that seemed to convey more than words ever
could.
For a long moment, the two of them simply stood there, staring at one another. Eren
remained still, his expression unreadable, though there was something in his
eyes—something that flickered just beneath the surface, some connection he couldn't
quite place but felt all the same.
And then, she spoke.
"My name is Luna."
Her voice was like the sound of the ocean itself—soft, melodic, and undeniably
powerful. It carried a strange weight to it, as if every syllable resonated deep within the
core of those who heard it. There was an accent, thick and foreign, unlike anything the
scouts had heard before, adding to the mystique of her presence. It was almost musical,
the cadence of her words rising and falling with a rhythm that seemed to mimic the
waves.
"I have watched you," she continued, her gaze never wavering from Eren's. "For
weeks."
Her words were calm, but there was an unmistakable certainty in her voice. She spoke
as if she already knew the answer to the questions that hadn't yet been asked, as if her
actions were inevitable.
Mikasa felt her stomach twist as Luna's words sank in. This was real—this creature, this
siren, had been watching Eren for weeks, silently, waiting for the right moment to reveal
herself. And now she was standing right in front of him, speaking to him like they were
the only two people on the beach.
Eren didn't flinch. His eyes remained locked on Luna's, his expression calm but serious.
"Why?" he asked, his voice low, steady.
Luna's lips curved slightly into the faintest hint of a smile, though it was not one of
amusement. "Because you are different," she said. "You are strong. More than you
know."
Mikasa stepped forward, unable to stay silent any longer. "What do you want with him?"
she demanded, her voice sharp, cutting through the tension like a blade. "Why him?"
Luna's gaze flicked to Mikasa briefly, but there was no animosity in her eyes. She
regarded Mikasa with a calm, almost knowing look, but it was clear that Mikasa was not
her focus. She turned her attention back to Eren almost immediately.
"It is not something I want," Luna said, her voice soft but firm. "It is something that is."
Her words were simple, but they held an air of finality, as though there was no question
or doubt in her mind. It was clear that Luna believed whatever bond she had with Eren
was already set in motion, something inevitable, like the pull of the tide.
Eren's expression darkened slightly. "What do you mean by that?"
Luna tilted her head slightly, her bright blue eyes shimmering as they studied him. "I
chose you, Eren Jaeger. I have watched your strength. Your resolve. You are… unlike
the others."
The scouts shifted uncomfortably at Luna's words. The strangeness of her presence,
the way she spoke with such certainty, was unsettling. Jean took a step forward, his
brow furrowed in confusion. "Hold on. So you've just… been watching him this whole
time? Why?"
Luna didn't answer Jean's question directly. Instead, she looked back at Eren, her eyes
softening slightly. "The sea is vast. But in all its vastness, I saw you. You are like the
ocean—deep, powerful, unstoppable. You and I… are not so different."
Her words hung in the air, thick with meaning. Eren stood still, his eyes narrowing
slightly as he processed what she was saying. For a moment, something unspoken
passed between them—a strange, invisible understanding that only they seemed to
share.
Mikasa, unable to contain her frustration any longer, took another step forward, her
voice strained with anger. "Eren, don't listen to her! She's just trying to manipulate you!
You don't know anything about her or what she wants!"
Luna's gaze shifted to Mikasa again, this time lingering for a moment longer. There was
no malice in her expression, only a quiet understanding. But her eyes, deep and
otherworldly, held an unspoken challenge.
Eren's eyes flicked to Mikasa for a brief second, but he said nothing. His focus returned
to Luna, as though drawn to her by some unseen force, something deeper than logic or
reason. He was calm, composed, but the intensity in his gaze had deepened.
Luna stepped forward again, closing the distance between them. She stood just inches
from him now, her presence commanding yet gentle. Her voice was softer this time,
almost a whisper. "You know what I am. And you know why I'm here."
Eren's jaw tightened, but he didn't move. The silence between them was thick, charged
with something ancient and powerful. The sea continued to lap at the shore, the waves
rising and falling in rhythm with the tension in the air.
And though she didn't say it, the scouts could all feel it: this was only the beginning.
Mikasa felt the walls closing in on her as she watched Luna stand so close to Eren, their
eyes locked in that silent, intense gaze. The way Luna looked at him, the quiet certainty
in her words, the confidence with which she claimed to have chosen him—it was too
much. She had seen Eren fight countless enemies, survive impossible odds, but this
was something different. Something she couldn't fight, something she couldn't protect
him from.
Mikasa's breath quickened, and before she could stop herself, the words spilled out.
"Eren, this is insane! You don't know her! She's dangerous! She's not… she's not
human!"
Eren remained still, his gaze flicking to Mikasa but only for a second. His focus quickly
returned to Luna, his expression unreadable. The connection between him and the siren
was unspoken, but it was there, palpable, something that Mikasa could feel in the air
around them. It was as if her voice didn't even reach him, like she wasn't part of this
world they stood in.
Mikasa's frustration boiled over. "How can you even think about trusting her? You've
never seen her before! You don't know what she wants, what her plans are. She says
she's been watching you, but what does that even mean? Is she going to control you?
Use you? You can't seriously be thinking of letting her—" Mikasa's voice cracked as her
anger surged, her emotions too overwhelming to contain.
She clenched her fists at her sides, her knuckles white with tension. "You don't need
her! You have us—me! You're already strong enough. You don't need whatever she's
offering."
The words felt raw, jagged, as they left her throat. She couldn't understand why this hurt
so much, why seeing Luna so close to Eren, claiming him in ways Mikasa couldn't, left
her feeling as if something vital was slipping through her fingers. And yet, she couldn't
stop herself from speaking.
Luna, who had remained calm throughout Mikasa's rant, finally shifted her gaze to her.
Her deep blue eyes, sharp and observant, locked onto Mikasa with a quiet intensity.
There was no malice there, no anger. But there was something in the way she looked at
her, something piercing, as if she saw right through her frustration to the heart of the
matter.
"Are you his lover?" Luna asked, her voice soft, melodic, and without judgment.
The question hit Mikasa like a physical blow, her heart skipping a beat. She stood
frozen, the words hanging in the air like a challenge. Luna's tone wasn't
confrontational—it was simple, direct. But the weight of the question, the way it cut to
the core of everything Mikasa had been feeling for years, was undeniable.
"I…" Mikasa's voice faltered, her throat tightening as she searched for a response, but
the truth was heavy, undeniable. She wasn't Eren's lover. She never had been.
The silence that followed felt deafening, and Mikasa's heart sank as she struggled to
find something—anything—that would change the way this was playing out. But there
was nothing. She wasn't Eren's lover. She never had the chance to be, and now,
standing here, watching Luna so close to him, she felt the distance between her and
Eren more than ever.
"No," Mikasa finally said, her voice quieter now, the anger fading into something more
vulnerable. "I'm not."
Luna's gaze softened, and for a moment, she seemed almost sympathetic. But then,
just as quickly, she turned her attention back to Eren, as if Mikasa's answer had settled
something, confirmed what she already knew. There was no hostility in Luna's actions,
no aggression. She had asked the question with genuine curiosity, and now that she
had her answer, she moved forward with her intentions, without hesitation.
"Then there is nothing to stop this," Luna said, her voice calm, assured.
Mikasa's breath caught in her throat as those words cut through her. The simple truth of
it was like a knife to the heart. Luna wasn't going to back down. There was no fight to be
had, no way for Mikasa to stop this from happening. Eren wasn't hers, and that
fact—something she had always avoided confronting—was now glaringly clear. Luna,
this siren, knew it. And so did Eren.
The scouts shifted uneasily behind Mikasa. Bertholdt exchanged a worried glance with
Reiner, who simply frowned, unsure of what to say. Sasha's eyes darted between Eren,
Mikasa, and Luna, as if waiting for someone to make the first move. Even Levi, usually
so composed, watched with an intensity that betrayed his concern for how this might
unfold.
Eren, for his part, stood still, his eyes never leaving Luna's. The weight of the moment
was clear to everyone, but Eren's expression remained as cold and focused as ever.
Whatever emotions he might have felt were buried deep beneath that impenetrable
exterior. He hadn't pushed Luna away. He hadn't backed down. He was listening to her,
considering her, in a way that Mikasa couldn't understand.
Mikasa's chest tightened as she forced herself to speak again. "Eren, you don't have to
do this. You don't need her."
Luna turned her head slightly, her eyes flicking to Mikasa with a quiet patience. "He is
not mine yet," Luna said softly, her words almost gentle. "But he will be. I do not take
what belongs to another. But he is not spoken for. His strength, his heart—they are
unclaimed."
Mikasa felt her stomach drop. The finality in Luna's words was undeniable, and no
matter how much she wanted to argue, to fight, there was nothing she could say to
change the truth of it.
Eren wasn't hers. He had never been hers.
Luna took another step closer to Eren, her eyes never wavering from his. "You are free
to choose," she said, her voice low, intimate. "But you know what I offer. Strength,
power—freedom."
Eren's eyes darkened, his jaw tightening slightly as he stood before her. The tension
between them was palpable, but it wasn't the same kind of tension that Mikasa had
always felt with Eren. This was something deeper, more dangerous.
Mikasa's hands trembled at her sides. "Eren… don't."
But Eren didn't answer. He simply stood there, watching Luna, as if weighing something
in his mind that no one else could see.
And in that moment, Mikasa felt the world shift beneath her feet.
She had always been at Eren's side, always protected him, always believed that they
shared something unbreakable. But now, standing here, watching Luna claim him in
ways she never could, Mikasa felt that connection fraying, slipping through her fingers.
There was nothing she could do. Nothing she could say.
And Luna knew it.
The sea behind them continued to lap at the shore, its rhythmic pull mirroring the
unspoken tension between them. The scouts stood silent, watching, waiting, as the
moment stretched on, heavy and uncertain.
Mikasa felt her heart shatter, the truth of her place in Eren's life laid bare before her. The
same Eren who, just three days ago, had told Mikasa he hated her.
The words had felt like knives—sharp, cold, and merciless—when they had come from
his mouth. She had stood there, unable to comprehend what he had said at first, unable
to believe that the boy she had followed, protected, and cared for her entire life could
say something so cruel.
"I've always hated you," he had said, his voice devoid of emotion, his eyes hard and
unforgiving.
The words had echoed in her mind over and over since that moment, replaying
endlessly in the silence of her thoughts. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense.
The connection they had shared, the unspoken bond that had kept them together all
these years—how could it have been a lie? How could he have felt nothing but hate for
her?
And now, just three days after those words had shattered her world, here he was,
standing in front of this creature, this siren, contemplating… what? Bonding? Giving
himself over to someone, something, he had only just met? A woman who wasn't even
human?
Mikasa's hands trembled as her eyes darted between Eren and Luna. The siren's
presence was overwhelming. Her dark, shimmering skin, her piercing blue eyes, her
ethereal beauty—everything about her screamed of something otherworldly, something
that didn't belong in the world of men. And yet, Eren was standing there, considering
her offer, while Mikasa was left to watch, helpless, once again.
It didn't make sense.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Mikasa's heart pounded in her chest, her mind racing as she struggled to understand
what was happening. Just days ago, Eren had looked at her with disgust, had rejected
everything she had ever felt for him, everything she had tried to do for him. He had
made it clear that she was nothing to him. And now, he was standing here,
contemplating "bonding" with someone who had only just appeared from the sea?
"You can't be serious," Mikasa whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of
the waves.
But Eren didn't turn to look at her. He didn't acknowledge her words, just as he hadn't
acknowledged her feelings in what felt like forever. He stood there, staring into Luna's
eyes, as if the rest of the world had ceased to exist. Mikasa could feel the distance
between them growing wider with every passing second, and there was nothing she
could do to bridge it.
Her hands clenched into fists, the nails digging painfully into her palms, but she didn't
care. The pain was nothing compared to the agony of watching Eren drift further and
further away from her, not just physically, but emotionally, mentally—in every way.
"Three days ago," Mikasa said, her voice louder now, filled with an anger and hurt she
couldn't contain. "Three days ago, you told me you hated me. And now, you're standing
here, in front of this—this fish woman—seriously thinking about giving yourself to her?"
Eren's jaw tightened slightly, but still, he said nothing. His eyes remained locked on
Luna, who stood there, calm and composed, watching the scene unfold with quiet,
almost indifferent curiosity.
Mikasa took a step forward, her voice rising with desperation. "How can you even think
about this, Eren? How can you even—after everything we've been through—how can
you stand there and just… ignore me?"
Her voice cracked on the last word, the weight of her emotions too much to hold back.
She had spent years by his side, fighting for him, protecting him, believing in him. She
had followed him through hell and back, and now, here he was, acting as if she didn't
even exist.
Luna's eyes flicked to Mikasa again, her expression unreadable, though there was a
flicker of something—understanding? Curiosity?—in her gaze. She remained silent, her
presence still commanding but not aggressive, as if she was simply allowing the
moment to unfold, waiting for Eren to decide.
Eren finally turned his head, slowly, to face Mikasa. His expression was cold, distant,
but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—something deeper, buried beneath the
hardened exterior.
"I told you," Eren said quietly, his voice calm but unyielding. "I don't need you."
The words hit Mikasa like a physical blow. Her breath caught in her throat, and for a
moment, she couldn't speak. Couldn't even think. It was as if the ground beneath her
feet had crumbled, leaving her suspended in a void of pain and disbelief.
"You've always followed me," Eren continued, his tone devoid of emotion. "You've
always done what I needed, without question. But that's not what I want anymore."
Mikasa's chest tightened, her heart hammering against her ribs as she struggled to
understand. "Eren, I—"
But he cut her off, his voice firm and unyielding. "I'm going to do what I need to do,
Mikasa. Whether you're with me or not."
Luna watched silently, her eyes shifting between them as Eren spoke. She didn't
intervene, didn't react. It was as if she was simply a witness to whatever was happening
between Eren and Mikasa, waiting for the moment to pass.
Mikasa felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Not
here. Not now. Not in front of Luna. "You're just going to throw everything away? For
her?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly.
Eren didn't answer immediately. He turned back to Luna, his expression unreadable, as
if contemplating something deeper, something beyond what Mikasa could understand.
"It's not about her," Eren finally said, his voice low, almost a whisper. "It's about me."
The silence that followed was unbearable. Mikasa's heart felt like it had been shattered
into a million pieces, each one cutting deeper than the last. She had always known Eren
was changing, had felt him slipping further and further away from her since they had
returned from Marley, but this… this was something else. This was final. This was the
moment she had been dreading, the moment when she realized there was nothing left
between them.
And now, he was standing on the edge of something she couldn't follow him into. Not
this time.
Mikasa took a shaky step back, her vision blurred with unshed tears. "I thought…" she
whispered, her voice barely audible. "I thought we had something. That you…"
Eren remained silent, his gaze still fixed on Luna, who stood waiting, patient and calm.
And in that moment, Mikasa understood. Eren had already made his choice.
The sea lapped gently at the shore, the rhythmic pull of the waves mirroring the silent
pull between Eren and Luna. And no matter how much Mikasa wanted to, she couldn't
fight it. She couldn't stop him.
The boy she had known was gone.
And there was nothing she could do to bring him back.