Vista - Attack on Titan x Reader

CHAPTER FORTY ONE: Press

The closest thing I could think of to describe the sound that deafened the world were the garrison cannons, but it still wasn't even close. The collapse of Utgard was vaguely similar, too, but still didn't hit the mark. I could hear the flames whipping and crackling from the impact, and the whole landscape tremored in violent protest. Screams and wails of pain and shock were almost whispers beneath the noise, yet there was one sound that was managing to filter through.

It was Jean's heartbeat.

In any other circumstance, I would have been disgusted by the way my face was pressed flat against his chest, or the way his knees clamped my legs together between their unnecessarily tight squeeze, but I didn't feel that way. All I could feel was terror, and fear for his life. For everyone's lives. Know that we knew a shred about what we were up against, things were only going to get worse.

"EREN..!" Mikasa's scream brought upon complete and utter silence. The wind had ceased, and not a single bird or whisper dared to break it. Hell had frozen over, with us trapped inside of it.

They're...

When Jean finally decided to sit up, he was forced to drag me up along with him, white-knuckled, clinging to his shirt. The clickety clack of rubble falling from the sides of the wall set the world back in motion, and even when I could hear others begin to speak, I couldn't force myself to look away from the slightly frayed seam in the strap across the copperet's chest.

"Send someone for backup! We need the Commander, now..!" Moblit; Hange's sort of l̶a̶d̶y̶ man in waiting, ordered in a hoarse shout, somewhere much closer to where the scorching titan had appeared.
"Medics! Send for medics!" I didn't want to see how much damage had been caused, but I knew I couldn't cling onto Jean forever.

The first thing I noticed were the ebony scorch marks, in thick streaks along the top and side of the wall, painting the path the colossal had taken. People were wounded left, right and centre, burnt and banged about from the detonation.
"The idiot went and got himself caught..." Jean muttered under his breath, looking out over the skyline, clenching his sharp jaw as he took it all in.

I can't even process this...

"Are you okay..?!" The man I was holding onto yelped out as he was yanked back, and Nicholas took his place, crouching in front of me and cupping my face in his hands. "You didn't get hurt more, did you?" Still unwilling to accept such affections from him, I squirmed out of his reach, nodding stiffly, though I could still feel the fresh dampness upon my cheeks.
"Fine...I'm fine...Kirstein had me covered..."

Everyone always jumps to my rescue...I didn't ask for this...

It hurt to stand. Being thrown to the ground, and my battle of strength against Jean, hadn't helped me in the slightest, not to mention an invisible weight was crushing me at a freakishky fast pace.
"You're...going to go after them with the others...aren't you..?" Nicholas sighed rhetorically, watching me begin to slowly walk around the mound of stone and concrete.

"I'll find someone who got injured...and borrow their gear..." I murmured flatly, trying to keep my mind from straying to the golden glow of Reiner's eyes.
"Hang on." When Jean called out to me, following behind, just like my brother, I prepared for him to blow up at me again.

I know...I'm an idiot...We've established that...

Instead of what I had expected, Jean grabbed my hand and held it close to his face, making me stop in my tracks. His eyes scanned at my skin, and it was then that I noticed the red marks around my wrists, where he had held me back.
"I didn't mean to be so rough..." He frowned a little; brow creasing with the downturn of his lips, and I quickly pulled away, slipping my hand beneath Levi's over-shirt, which was now covered in ash and dust.