I'm sorry if the chapter quality is declining :( i feel like it is.
<3
Gabi lifts me off the ground and helps me walk to a nearby house. I lean on the smaller brunette for support as she sets me down inside. "I saw Reiner back there," she mumbles. "I'll be right back. Don't move."
I nod, but we both know I'm too weak to move anyway. My breath comes out uneven and I put my bloody hand on my chest in an attempt to calm my racing heart.
Soon, I hear footsteps approach and hope it isn't a Marleyan. The door beside me swings open but to my relief, it's just Gabi.
With Reiner.
He gives me a sad smile as Gabi moves his arm away from her shoulders and closes the door after setting him down beside me, against the wall.
"They're all going to die aren't they? My family?" Gabi asks me, her eyes getting teary again.
I feel so bad.
"That's right." Reiner answers for me.
"No! We have to kill Eren and stop this!" She throws her hands up as her eyes gloss over even more and her cheeks turn a bit red.
"You can't..." Reiner answers once again. "He can control all titans. No one can stop him now. We..." He coughs a bit, his hand flying to his chest. "We can... only run." He finishes.
"(Y/N), y-you can save us... save my family... right?" She turns to me with hope in her eyes. "You always find a way to save people... L-like Falco and Colt!"
"I don't always succeed, Gabi... Udo and... Sofia... Erwin..." I look down at the rickety wooden floors. "Porco and Bertolt. Even Levi and Hanji..."
Gabi falters, the hope from her eyes draining away. "I try, but it never really works." I whisper.
"Is that why... You're not healing...?" Gabi's voice is raspy. "Have you given up?"
"Yeah." Reiner says to Gabi. "When you don't want to live, the regeneration won't work."
"What about Falco!" Gabi yells. "What about Colt and your other friends! Don't you care about Eren?!"
"I don't, he's the reason why I've lost so many in the first place." I say truthfully.
"It was Marley's fault, actually," Reiner mumbles.
"Fuck," Gabi curses, followed by a couple more curses that shouldn't be coming out of a child's mouth. "I'm gonna go find food or something." She says grumpily as she walks out towards the door, slamming it shut behind her.
I hiss in pain, blood trickling down my back. According to Gabi, I was shot a few times along with Izumi when I passed out, and he handed me over to Gabi.
Apparently, he's a Warrior candidate so he knew Gabi already. "You good?" Reiner asks reluctantly.
"Fine." I tell him, resisting the urge to scream in agony. "I'm sorry for this mess, I know it's partially, if not half, my fault."
"I heard you didn't know of his plan." Reiner murmurs. "Which means you really didn't intend to harm anyone."
I stay silent, not knowing what to say. He sighs and shifts closer. "You know... That day when you saved me," his voice becomes more silent. "When I gave up on everything and I was a second away from death, you saved me. You abandoned your mission and saved me."
"I know you don't think of me as a friend, but you're still the Reiner I grew up with in the Training Corps." I say honestly, glancing at him. He had a sad smile on his face.
"You are my friend," he assures. "And... You know, you also gave me will. You motivated me to live. And right now, I don't care about my mission. (Y/N), we need you. Don't give up... Please."
"Reiner..." I whimper, the corners of my lips turning down in a frown.
"If anyone can stop this mess, it's you. Please save my family, save me!" He cries and I finally look up at him to meet his eyes.
Tears are streaming down his cheek, staining his pristine face. "I'm not asking you to kill Eren. Im just asking you to find a way." He whispers.
I bite my bottom lip and blink slowly, then look back down at the floorboards.
"Look, when you lose somebody, you should continue living happily for them. None of those people want to see you sad, I can promise that."
The door swings open and Gabi walks back in. She holds a tattered blanket and a wooden cup, which she hands to Reiner so he can drink from it.
Then, she forces Reiner to lie down and covers him with the old cloth. "Rest, Reiner," she says to him.
She turns to me next. "I couldn't find any medical supplies," she frowns. "What do you think we should do?"
"Encourage her," Reiner mumbles drowsily. "You can... Do... It. (Y/N)." A soft snore leaves his dainty mouth and he drifts off to sleep.
"I'm gonna go find your Scout friends. I'm sure they have Falco." Gabi murmurs as she walks to a wash basin at the far side of the room.
"I'm coming with you." I say weakly. "You'll get killed, Gabi."
She shakes her head in disagreement and ties her hair back in her signature style, then splashes water on her face from the faucet.
"If you heal, I'll let you come," she puts a hand on her hip like a scolding mother.
I sigh and give in to her request. The pain in my body gradually disappears and I feel healthy again, so I stand up.
But not all my wounds healed, only a few. Most just stopped bleeding but were still evident.
Gabi looks up at me in awe and smiles. I bite down on my lips and look away, wringing my wrists out of anxiety.
She picks up a rifle I hadn't noticed she had carried in and leads me out of the house.
There are bodies littering the streets and it's just the same thing over and over again; senseless killing.
We turn into an alleyway and I hear a low gasp from the brunette I had been following. Looking up, I spot Kaya on the ground and a titan hovering over her.
Gabi shoots the titan, causing it to stumble back. Then, she charges at the crippled thing and shoves the rifle down it's throat and presses the trigger.
The titans nape explodes and it falls to the ground in a puff of smoke. I walk to Kaya, the blonde girl apart of Sasha's family, and help her off the ground.
"(Y/N)!" I hear Niccolo's familiar voice, causing me to look up and beam. "You're okay!" He smiles at me, gripping his rifle from where he stood alongside the rest of Sasha's family.
His brows furrow when he looks at Gabi. "Didn't you escape with the Warrior Unit? Why are you here and why is (Y/N) with you?"
"They captured Falco," she explains. "I came back to rescue him and (Y/N) was injured."
"Fine now, right?" Niccolo asks me with concern. I nod, giving him a reassuring smile.
"Hey!" Someone above us yells, causing us all to look up. Two soldiers stands on top of the roof. "Are you all okay?! Did you kill the titan?! Did that kid do it? Wait, is that the kid from Marley? The invader?! Answer me!"
"She's not!" Kaya yells. "We're all family! We live in the stables together!"
"I killed the titan!" Niccolo yells up at the Scout.
"Is that Section Commander?!" The boy looks down and I realize its one of the boys that was in my squad.
"Yes!" I yell back. "Michael, right?! Take us to safety!"
"Yes, ma'am!" He yells, susprising me a bit. I didn't know I still had authority.
The two Scouts walk on top of the roof and guide us around the flames as Sasha's family chatters about the vision.
Niccolo and I walk side by side and his shoulder brushes mine every so often. "S-so, is there a way to reverse this?" He asks softly.
"I really don't know. Sorry." I say in the same volume as him. He gives me a sad smile and nods.
We walk in silence after that and Niccolo begins to talk to Kaya and Gabi, while I think about what Reiner had said about saving him.
The same way Bertolt had said it.
It made my heart clench and my throat burn. I desperately want to help, I would rather kill Eren and save my friends than let them all die and let Eren live.
As much as Eren deserves a life, he's just ruining everyone else's. I was naive to think he had a better plan in mind. Naive to think the old Eren was still inside him somewhere.
But maybe this is the real Eren. The old Eren never existed; maybe he was just pretend.
Even Armin isn't Armin anymore. All he really cares about is Annie and trying to become Erwin's replacement.
Mikasa is more broken than ever and the same goes for Jean and Connie.
Levi and Hanji are most definitely dead.
Is it all worth fighting for?
The soldiers bring us back to the building where we wer previously locked up but they only usher us into a room this time. They don't put us in cells.
Sasha's dad leaves to find the Scouts we came here for and I take a seat on a wooden crate beside Niccolo.
"Why is your head bleeding again? I thought your wounds healed." Niccolo says skeptically as he presses his sleeve to my forehead.
"That's not good." Niccolo murmurs as he examines the cut, sliding his hand on my cheek to tilt my face up. "You feel feverish too."
"I'm okay," I turn my head away from him, causing his hand to slide away from my face just as the door opens.
Mikasa and Armin appear in the doorway and Armin instantly rushes towards me. "What happened?! Are you okay?!" He cups my cheeks and pulls my face down since I'm a bit higher than him because I'm sitting on a crate.
"I'm fine, Armin," I tell him. He furrows his brows and looks at me with worry.
"You're obviously not." He mumbles and removes his hands from my face. He looks at me sheepishly and then takes a step back. "S-sorry."
"Why are you here?" Mikasa asks Gabi.
She takes a deep breath and exhales shakily. "I don't want to fight anymore," she replies. "I just want Falco back. I promise we'll disappear once you do... Wait... Where is he?"
"Connie took him, he's one of our friends. He wants to feed Falco to his mother and he's headed towards Ragako." Armin explains.
Gabi's eyes fill with tears and she shakes her head. "But... I can't give up on Falco!"
Armin stays quiet and she sinks to her knees. She lifts her head up. "Eren could probably reverse it! We need to ask Eren! He even stripped the Armored titan of it's Armor!" She cries.
"Where is Reiner?" Mikasa questions, glancing at me. "Did you see him?"
Niccolo walks to me with gauze and presses a cotton ball to my forehead as I nod at Mikasa.
"When?!" Armin falls to his knees in front of Gabi, gripping her by her shoulders. "When did his Armor fall?!"
"When the Colossals appeared!" Gabi replies.
"That means... Annie..." He sits back and I look down at the floor, overcome with an emotion I can't quite understand.
"Shit you're bleeding so much," Niccolo mumbles. "Kaya, get me more cotton balls and some rubbing alcohol!" He begins to panic.
I swat his hand away in dismissal. "Just leave it." I could feel the blood trail down into my eyebrows, to my temples and down the sides of my face.
"Why aren't you healing?" Mikasa's voice is a bit shaky and there's a hint of panic evident in her eyes.
"She was worse before." Gabi replies for me. "She talked to Reiner and got a bit better but... I don't know what happened. She won't even talk about it."
"It's nothing." I answer grumpily but Armin looks up at me with sympathy from the floor.
"Have you really given up?" He asks with wide eyes.
"Where's Jean?" I ask my two friends. They gesture towards the staircase.
"He's with Floch, though," Mikasa murmurs. I click my tongue and hop off of the crate, wiping at my forehead.
I climb up the stairs with one hand on the wall to support myself, since I feel a bit lightheaded.
When I get to the top, the metallic smell of blood engulfs my senses instantly and in the center of the room stands Jean and Floch.
Floch has his gun pointed at Yelena's head and as soon as she sees me, her eyes go wide and its as if she's pleading me silently. She turns her gaze back to the ground and continues to sit on the wooden crate.
"What's going on?" I say, wiping at my forehead again.
"The fuck happened to you?" Floch raises an eyebrow as he looks me up and down. "Everyone thought you died."
"Well, I'm alive. Where's Izumi?" I ask Jean. He shrugs in response and I frown. "Are you alright, Jean?"
He nods, keeping silent, which makes me suspicious of them. Floch turns to me. "Why the fuck is she free?!" A Marleyan volunteer screams at Floch, gesturing to me.
Floch turns to the volunteer with a sneer and shoots a single bullet at his hand. The Marleyan's finger falls off followed by a continuous stream of crimson blood.
"Floch..." I frown in disappointment.
"Stop it, Floch! Don't shoot!" Jean yells in a panic.
"Calm down, Jean. I just made him understand." Floch shifts the gauze wrapped around his head and I absentmindedly wipe the blood from my face again.
"Now all these volunteers know what happens when you speak to us the wrong way." Floch grins sickeningly, it made me disgusted.
The Marleyans look at me with disdain, causing me to shrink back and feel worse than I already did.
"Hey... Who the hell asked you to start acting like you're the king of the hill out here?" Jean grumbles.
"I'm glad you asked, Jean!" Floch exclaims as he waves his gun around in the air. "Listen up, everyone! Ten months ago, Eren told me his plan. He said he'd use Zeke to grasp the Founding's power!"
I frown and my gaze absentmindedly wanders to Jean. His intense eyes are supported by dark circles, he looks extremely tired and his stubble has grown out a bit.
"I gathered comrades to help Eren and today his plan succeeded!" Floch rambles on.
Jean gazes back at me with half-lidded eyes, which I notice he's been giving me a lot. He seems to be conveying a message with his eyes, but I don't quite know what he's hinting at.
The sound of a gun going off startles me, snapping me and Jean out of our shared daze and turn to Falco. He had shot the Marleyan man in the head, and he now lay crumpled on the ground with his mouth hanging open and blood pooled around his head.
Jean sinks to his knees and stares at the dead body in horror.
"What's so bad at submission?" Floch murmurs. "Wouldn't you rather live... Than die like this?"
I feel a hand on my shoulder from behind me and I know it's Mikasa without having to turn around. "Jean, (Y/N), what happened here?" She asks in bewilderment.
"To answer your question," Floch turns back to Jean and for a second, fear fills my body because I can't tell if he'll hurt Jean or not. "I speak on Eren's behalf. Anyway, we survived that hell four years ago and now we finally have this!"
I lean against Mikasa, my vision getting a bit blurry. "This is freedom! You don't need to fight anymore. You can live as you want!"
Floch turns to me and smiles. "You too, (Y/N). You can live however you-"
"What happened to Levi and Hanji?" I demand. His smile falters and he bites down on his bottom lip. I lean away from Mikasa and step closer to him. "Please tell me they're alive." My voice is barely above a whisper.
He looks down and shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but Zeke killed them." Floch winces and glances up at me. I grit my teeth and resist the urge to punch him.
"What d'ya say, (Y/N)? Join the Jeagerists, we need a leader like you." He changes the subject quickly, causing my heart to throb even more.
"Sure, why not." I say with sarcasm, which he doesn't seem to detect.
He clasps his hands together with a smile. "Great!" He exclaims. "Let's get started with the execution then?"
"Execution?" I tilt my head to the side a bit in confusion.
"Onyankopon and Yelena's execution." Jean replies for Floch, gesturing to the two Marleyans.
Onyankopon looks at me with fear in his eyes, his expression similar to Yelena's.
I glance at Jean, who nods ever so slightly with a reassuring look.
I guess I'm supposed to play along.