The Guardian's Tale (AOT fanfiction)

-Midnight Sun-

My whole body was shaking as I stood in front of a dismembered Reiner. I fell to my knees and placed a hand over my mouth. Why...why did things have to be this way ? Jean rubbed my back and I motioned for him to sit in front of me. As I treated his injuries, I watched Hange interrogate Reiner.

"What's this metal case we found in your left breast pocket ?" Hange asked, holding a square metal box. "Before we closed in and cut off your limbs. You used what strength you had left to grab at it and what appears to be a ring. So what's inside ? Suicide pills ? A bomb ? And did you hope to transform again with that ring like Annie ?"

I didn't notice how tight I was making the bandage until Jean let out a small cry of pain.

"S-Sorry Jean." I stuttered, loosening it up.

"It's a letter..." Reiner answered. "It's for Christa. Ymir wrote it. Whatever you do with me...just make sure she gets to read it. As for the ring...you can ask Yuki."

"I..." I got up and gently took the ring attached to a piece of rope from Hange's hands.

I hesitantly went to tie it around Reiner's neck, looking for his approval. As soon as he nodded his head, I finished tying it and showed my left hand to Hange, revealing the same ring.

"Very well..." Hange said after a few moments of shocked silence. "We'll deliver the letter only after we've inspected it. Now then...I've got lots of questions that you could answer but..." She drew her blade. "You're a tough one. If you don't wanna talk I can't make you. So I'll ask. Will you cooperate and tell us everything that we want to know ?"

"...I won't." He said before turning his head to me.

"Thank you Reiner...it helps to see that you're ready for DEATH." Hange said darkly before staring to cut his throat.

"HANGE STOP !" I pleaded as Jean grabbed my wrist to prevent me from stopping her.

"We...need him alive." Jean added. "So we can steal his power."

Much to my distress, she said that she didn't feel as though all the conditions had been met and added that Levi had the syringe and we didn't know his situation. She said she would start by beheading Reiner but that it wouldn't be enough on its own. Unable to take any more, I fell to my knees, shaking and threw up before Jean pulled me into his arms.

"This isn't like you Hange." He remarked as he gently rubbed my back to calm me down. "If we back down from the chance to cure our ignorance, then what hope do we have of beating the Titans down the road ? We need to find out all we can about the enemy...or we'll lose."

She then asked Mikasa and I how much we had left and we both replied that we only had enough to reach Eren and Armin. Hange then ordered us to go and evaluate the situation then to refill our gas, retrieve the syringe from Levi then bring it back to her. If we were unable to do so, we were to fire off a smoke signal which would be her cue to end Reiner.

Mikasa and I nodded and headed off. Luckily for me, she didn't try to talk, she just took my hand and we made our way to Eren and Armin in complete silence. When we got there, we both stood there, horrified at what we were seeing. Armin's body was completely burnt, Eren was bent over him, relieved that he was still breathing, Bertholdt laid on the roof, dismembered and the Captain was covered in blood, clearly tired. I caught my reflection in a broken glass shard and noticed the marks under my eyes were still there. They were gonna stay after all...a reminder of one of the worst days of my life yet one of the best for humanity.

Eren asked Levi for the syringe to turn Armin into a Titan and have him eat Bertholdt. After a bit of hesitation, the Captain agreed and pulled out he case with the injection and Mikasa looked at me. I knew what I had to do...I fired off a signal flare to tell Hange to kill Reiner. Just as Levi was about to hand the injection to Eren, a soldier I recognized as Floch climbed up the roof, carrying Commander Erwin's body on his back.

"Captain...I finally found you." He said in a strangled voice. "It's the Commander...he's hurt. His stomach is gouged...and his insides are all torn to shreds. The blood just won't stop ! I thought that injection might be able to help him but...what do YOU think ?"

"Fa...Father ?" I blurted out, horrified as I helped Floch lay Erwin down onto the roof.

Right before I went to check his pulse, I saw Levi take back the injection and I turned away. I examined the Commander and nodded, confirming that he was still breathing. After a few seconds, my whole body froze when I realize what it had come down to. I had to either lose one of my best friends...or lose my father.

"You know it has to happen...Erwin gets the shot." The Captain announced after a few moments of silence.

As Eren was about to attack him, I stood up and placed myself between the both of them, holding my blade to Eren's neck. The boy reminded the Captain that he had already decided to use it on Armin but Levi simply replied that he would revive the one who could save humanity. Suddenly, I heard a blade being drawn and we both turn around to see that Mikasa had drawn her blade with tears in her eyes. I put my blade back in its sheath and Levi pulled me closer to him. Why...why did things have to be this way ? First I had to help mutilate Reiner...now I had to choose between letting Armin die or letting my father die ?

TO BE CONTINUED !