The Devil ⥋ Eren Jaeger

VIII - The Internment Zone

"What?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing. He must be joking right? The Eldians were years behind their technology. How could they even cross the sea?

Eren stayed silent and looked her in the eyes making her a bit uncomfortable, "For thousands of years your people punished mine for a crime that we didn't commit. Do you know how many innocent people were killed? How many comrades I've lost?" he started to get angry. She was a Marleyan. If they were going to blame his people for their ancestors' crimes then it was only fair for him to do the same.

Yi didn't know what to say. He was right. They killed innocent people in brutal ways. No one deserves to get eaten by a titan. No one deserves to live their life in fear, stuck behind a wall, wondering if one day a titan will kill them.

She sighed, "You're right."

Eren wasn't expecting her response and gasped, "W-what?"

"I can understand why you hate us so much. We've treated you all like cows for slaughter. It's only right for you to want to do the same to us." she said.

"Y-Yi why are-"

"However, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. For years us Marleyans have been fighting a one sided war. But now that you know the truth about us we can finally peacefully solve our issues. We don't need to sacrifice another million lives in a pointless battle."

It was Eren's turn to be speechless. She had a point. But he had to do what he needed to ensure that no child would grow up behind the confines of the wall, wondering if they were going to ever be free.

"Eren, you saw your mother get killed right before your eyes. The children here don't deserve that. No one deserves it."

"It wasn't just you Marleyans doing it to us, it was Eldians too. Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie. They've killed so many. I lost my entire team to her." Eren flashbacked to when the Levi squad were all brutally killed killed by Annie. He would occasionally hear their screams at night.

"These people are just like everyone on Eldia. Clueless of the enemy and innocent. There are immigrants here, people who have no ties to what my people have done to yours!" she was desperate. "Please, come with me. Let me show you the humanity of our people. Just like how you aren't responsible for your ancestors' crimes, we aren't responsible for ours."

===

Yi was thankful that he agreed. If she could humanize the Eldians and Marleyans to Eren then maybe he would peacefully negotiate with the people of Marley.

When she went to the gates of the internment zone with Eren, Armie stopped her, "What are you doing?" he pointed at Eren.

"He's just a patient of mine. He's going to be discharged soon so I'm just showing him where he'll be staying after." she lied. Armie nodded his head and let the two go.

Yi led Eren through the center. It was...not that great. There was a circle where a fountain was supposed to go but was abandoned long before construction began. The air smelled of death and feces. Conditions were bad but at least some people were able to live. The walls were covered in moss and mold.

Eren looked around at the place. He heard stories from people of the Underground about their similar conditions. A person coughed loudly and Yi walked over to him. He lied on the floor covered by a thin sheet he used as a blanket. A young child sat next to him.

"Hello," Yi greeted. The child only looked at them. "Is this your dad?" she pointed to the man. The child nodded. "What's wrong with him?"

The child only pointed to the man who now started to cough up blood. "It's the virus." a passing person said, "Don't bother, he's already dead."

Eren looked at the child. He was sadly looking at his father. Eren sighed, so much for trying to humanize the people of Marley. How could you simply ignore the condition of a dying man? Despite the stranger's warning, Yi approached the man but Eren grabbed her arm, "You'll only get sick. He's not worth it."

"But the child." but Eren didn't listen and just dragged her away as best as he could with his crutches.

Yi continued to find people who needed help. One man had his cane stolen from him. Yi found a walking stick for him. Another needed medicine for her dying newborn, Yi provided it free of cost. She distributed bread to the hungry and gave candy to the children.

"It's usually louder. When the warrior candidates are here they are usually making the place more livelier but they're off to battle right now."

Yi kept talking but Eren zoned out. A smiling little girl grabbed his hand. "Hi." she said. Eren's eyes widened and he snatched his hand from her grip. The little girl didn't get the hint and walked alongside him. "What's your name?"

"Uh...Eren." he answered.

"My mom said that it's impolite to call grown-ups by their name."

"Then...Mr. Kruger."

"I haven't seen you before Mr. Kruger. You must be new here!" the girl said. She slipped a ball in his hand. "It can get a little scary being new and alone. You're lucky that you have Ms. Liu with you. She's the nicest and prettiest lady I know! You can keep this ball to play with once you grow your leg back!" and she skipped off. Silly girl, she didn't know.

Yi watched the wholesome interaction, believing that if she kept bringing Eren to the center, then maybe he would change his mind.

Eren was feeling more and more uncomfortable. He thought that if he killed everyone then they would just be people he killed. No more and no less. But seeing their faces was hard. He imagined every single one being crushed and killed. The little boy who was watching his father die, the old man without a cane, the desperate mother. All would be stains on the ground in a matter of months.

Of course he didn't want to do it. But it was necessary. Better them than him right?

What do you think of this chapter? Let me know!

Rant time:

As you know the grammys were tonight and a bitch is fucking pissed so I wrote this chapter in my rage. This is the third consecutive year that they used bts for clout and it's irritating. It's the fact that they submitted seven nominations and had to sing an english song to even get nominated (dynamite is a bop go listen to it right now or i'll delete this story.) I'm so happy and proud that they did get nominated and while they didn't win it's okay. (I haven't really listened to rain on me but good for ariana and lady gaga) Anyways, the grammys really made me and millions of others sit through two hours to hear one song and bts and their staff worked so hard to recreate the event venue in Seoul and they were just snubbed like that. I am very much mad at the fact that they advertised bts for everything and just used them for clout. Thank you for reading my rant and stream dynamite or I'll delete this chapter and post the next one so everyone will be confused on what is going on.

Also I'm doing much better now. Aside from the grammys I am happy with myself and my body. Thank you once again to everyone who left their kind words and encouraging stories.