𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 || Eren Jaeger

𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝓊𝓂𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 (𝐼)

16
____________

PRESENT TIME

Tears fall soundlessly on the wooden floor, soaking instantly into the grooves of the boards, the small dots left behind drying and vanishing only to be replaced again by freshly-shed droplets.

Caleb's body in Jo's lap has gone very cold. No form of cradling can keep him warm any longer, and although she knows this, she finds it hard to let go.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

A series of explosions rings out. She peers out the window through puffy eyes and watches aghast as a multitude of titans rises from the ground. So many. Too many.

The wine... Zeke must've activated it... She concludes.

She looks at Caleb's corpse and gently shuts his eyelids, whispering a soft "I'm sorry".

Jo crawls out of the attic and onto the roof again, and is extra careful to avoid being spotted. The Titans on the other end of town are making their journey over here. Probably due to the strong scent of the soldiers and Titan-shifters.

She can hear Eren's Titan screeching like a caged animal. She activates her gear and flies one street over. To her surprise, another Titan has joined the party. It's a normal one, and Jo has arrived just in time to watch it devour the wielder of the Jaw Titan.

Strangely enough, this new Titan looks like that Falco kid that's always with Gabi...

The Armored Titan wails, distracted at seeing his warrior-comrade devoured. He stretches out a hand, and that is his big mistake.

The Attack Titan takes advantage of this and jerks out of his grip. The Armored reacts instantly; he drives a fist straight into the Attack Titan's face.

Jo almost gasps, but contrary to her and the Armored's expectations, the impact doesn't completely obliterate his face. Instead, the fist is trapped in an unforeseen burst of crystal hardening.

Despair flashes across the Armored's eyes. He's stuck.

A small body darts out from under the Attack Titan.

"Eren..." Jo breathes out, thrown off by how desperate, scared, and essentially human he looks.

Another beastly screech leaves the Armored Titan. He stretches out his free hand towards Eren, who can only run so fast.

Zeke has climbed out of his Titan too. He lies on the ground weakly and reaches out to his brother, his hand splayed out. All they need is one touch. A light brush, and their goal will be fulfilled. "Eren!" He cries out, glasses foggy.

But the Armored almost has Eren in his clutches.

Jo grits her teeth. She decides not to think— just act.

"Not on my watch," She growls and flies at the Armored's hand. With a rippling cry she thrusts a thunder-spear through the center of his hand. It detonates— blood, steam and fingers flying everywhere, and his hand is gone.

Eren looks over this shoulder. For a moment his eyes are as they should be: vibrant, stricken with concern.

"Go!" Jo yells.

He keeps running. He's almost there.

"Come on, Eren!" Zeke urges.

They're so close. Nothing can stop them. This brush of skin will mark the moment in history when humanity surrendered their fate to the Rumbling.

Jo is atop the Armored Titan's neck, her blade digging through the muscle and Reiner's body inside to ensure he won't escape, when suddenly a shape moves in the corner of her eye.

Gabi. A gun.

The sound of the trigger fills her ears.

"EREN!"

The explosive bullet rips clean through Eren's neck. His severed head rolls off.

And lands right in the palm of Zeke's hand.

Johanna feels her soul leave her body, but she is crudely yanked back to reality at the sound of fortitude cracking.

The wall, specifically.

It doesn't just crack, it fractures like a sheet of winter ice meeting summer heat, crumbles like pastry falling to the earth. Not a single eye is turned away. Everyone, including whatever cruel Gods might exist, stops in their tracks and watches as the walls of Paradis sink.

A rainfall of chunks almost crushes them— Jo flies away in the nick of time and looks back to see the Armored has snatched Gabi in his hand and they've taken off in another direction. Chaos is only getting started when suddenly—

Jo falls on sand. She lands roughly on all fours, her gear suddenly unresponsive. Her knees burrow a little, the packed grains molding against her fingers.

What the hell... sand? Her brain struggles to register. Slowly, she looks up, and immediately her breath is stolen away by the jarring change of scenery:

It's not a bed of sand that she's landed in, it's a whole valley— stretching for miles and miles with no end in sight. The cerulean sky is astounding— shimmering with stars.

A faint, lifeless breeze is present. It's eerie and Jo doesn't like the goosebumps it raises on her skin.

Jo sits back on her knees. She can't stop looking around. The dry, numb atmosphere... the deafening silence... the feeling that she's not alone. This place is familiar.

She's been here before. Somehow.

"Hear me, all subjects of Ymir."

Flicker. Shiganshina again. The sand under her legs is replaced with the tile of the roof she's crash-landed on.

"My name is Eren Jaeger..."

Flicker. And she's back again. Dead air and sand underneath her.

Eren. He must be tapping into some special ability.

"I now speak to all the subjects of Ymir by way of the Founding Titan's power." Eren's voice rings out...

"Every wall in the island of Paradis has been un-hardened. All of the Titans buried within them have begun to walk...."

"My goal is to protect the people of Paradis, who bore and raised me..."

"But the world desires the extinction of our people. Over countless years, their hatred has grown beyond this island. They surely will not stop until they have killed every one of the subjects of Ymir..."

"... I reject their desire."

A chill runs up Jo's spine.

It's over... the whole world except Paradis is done for. Bloodshed of this extent will stay on their hands forever.

Eren's voice continues terrifyingly,

"The Titans of the walls will trample and rumble all the lands beyond this island. Until the lives there... are eliminated from this world."

END OF CHAPTER 16