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QUIET. Everything was so quiet.
The Rumbling had stopped, but Margot still didn't move, fearing that more was to come. Hand wrapped tightly around her blade, fingers trembling a little.
Still, she knew the job was not over. Eren still lived, and regardless of the Rumbling being stopped, they still had a job to do. Margot's mouth felt dry, clenching her hand tighter around her blade as if it would stop her fingers from shaking so much.
It all happened so fast, and Margot felt somewhat grateful for that, watching from a safe distance. Reiner Braun throwing Jean towards Eren's nape, with Pieck clearing a path for him to do so. Jean grabbing the detonator and setting off the explosives. But to say she didn't feel nauseous would be a lie - she had to force it down, so focused on doing so that she didn't even feel Jean's comforting hand on her shoulder as he moved to stand beside her once it was all over.
The detached head of the Founding Titan flew much like Zeke's had only moments ago, but the same silence did not follow. Instead, what Margot could best describe as a glowing centipede emerged from where his head had previously been attached, weaving its way out of the neck of the skeletal structure in an attempt to find the detached head.
"Great," Margot sighed. "It's going for Eren's head."
With no time to waste, Reiner was quick to grab the centipede-like creature, withholding it from touching Eren's detached head. But they all knew that wouldn't hold it for long. Reiner was clearly struggling to keep it down.
"Jean! Pieck!" Connie called. He had arrived on Falco, along with the others. "We're getting out of here! Armin's gonna blow all of this up!"
"But Reiner is down there!" Jean argued, gesturing towards the Armoured Titan still holding down the wriggling centipede.
"The Armoured Titan should be able to withstand the Colossal's explosion," Pieck explained, emerging from her own Titan. "But regardless, to pass up this chance would be to trample on Reiner's resolve."
Any argument from that point onwards would have been futile and costly. Jean protested no further, helping Pieck and Margot to climb into Falco's back, before the flying Titan took off. And so it was from a distance that they watched Armin transform into the Colossal Titan, the heat of the explosion warming all of their faces. And with that, Eren was dead. Supposedly.
Falco landed on the ground in Fort Salta, Gabi wasting no time to climb from the Titan and run to her family. As did Pieck, Falco and Annie. The Scouts, the majority of which had no family to run to, stayed put. Levi placed his hand on top of Margot's head, ruffling her hair gently.
"So, he's dead..." Margot finally spoke, climbing down from the form of Falco's Titan, sitting down on the ground. "Just like that."
Every part of her exhausted body felt numb, aside from her heart. Her heart ached, another loss weakening it even further than it already was. Connie knelt down beside her, holding her in comfort. She held his hand loosely, and it was then that she realised she was still shaking.
