The Guardian's Tale (AOT fanfiction)

-Guides-

The room was still, guarded by a heavy silence but my mind was the furthest thing from quiet as his excuses and pleads echoed through my mind, refusing to silence themselves no matter how hard I tried to shut them out. The hollow words of a man who had sworn his heart to us and who was now desperately trying to protect us by shattering every bit of trust we had in him, tearing away at every bit of hope I had in him, turning my forgiveness into betrayal.

"Hold up !" A voice interrupted. "Dear customer, we're sorry but no touching allowed here."

"Y-You got it wrong Hitch !" Armin stumbled over his words as he backed away from the crystal, red faced. "T-Titan memories often trigger by physical contact so...I thought I might be able to get important information from this. It's not like I have any improper thought or anything."

Taken aback by Armin's desperate attempt to defend himself, I let out a small laugh and walked over to the two soldiers in order to escort them out as well as distract myself from the chaos that were my thoughts. As I quietly walked up the stairs, a loud noise started to fill my ears, the kind of noise that could only come from people were trying to talk over each other in a heated fight.

"Do you know what's going on ?" Hitch suddenly asked as she handed me a newspaper. "Here, read this Yuki."

When the plaza's cold breeze finally hit my exposed skin, I opened the newspaper and my eyes widened as I immediately regretted giving it so much as a glance. The main article read : "The military continued to cling to power and unjustly detain Eren Yeager". Not wanting to read any further, I set the paper ablaze and turned to the front gate where yet another bad surprise awaited, a large group of people were gathered outside and screaming ignorant nonsense about how they believed only Eren could save us.

"Miss Uchiha." A member of the Military Police called out. "We need your help."

Without needing to think for a second, I walked towards the gate while my body slowly engulfed itself in flames, my eyes turning a Scarlet color that was fueled purely by rage. As I stood inches away from the metal bars, the chatter stopped and the Soldiers stood as far as they could from me, knowing very well that I wouldn't hesitate to take yet another life if that was what needed to be done in order to stop this nonsense.

"That's quite enough." I coldly spoke up. "I should kill each and every one of you right here and now just for pissing me off, but there wouldn't be anything left to put in your casket if I did. You all are citizens which means that none of you actually know what in the hell is going on, which also means that you should keep your mouth shut if you don't want me to help you with that. Now, is there anyone who still wants to talk big about how their precious savior should be free ?"

As the crowd's silence only grew heavier, the flames around my body vanished but I could still feel heat coursing through my body, not from fire, not because of the weather, but because of the anger that came with the realization that the man I once called a friend was to blame for all of this. Eren...look at what you've done.

-----

"I heard Hange is going all over the place, as always." Premier Zachary spoke up. "I did allow her to take one of the volunteers along but...I can't let you three meet Eren."

I slightly looked away at the mention of his name, knowing all too well that the times I had gone to see him were only allowed because they knew what I could do. However, Armin and Mikasa hadn't seen him since we got back to the island and I could see the shock mixed with sadness clearly painted in their eyes.

"Why not ?" Armin protested.

"Because we're now certain that the volunteers had contact with him." The Premier explained. "Eren concealed his secret meetings with the volunteers, leading up to the assault on Marley. We're currently looking for the mastermind behind these meetings along with his followers. Eren has maintained his silence ever since these facts were brought to light. We still know nothing about what he did during his time in Marley and Miss Uchiha was unable to provide enough detail due to her visual disability at the time. We believe that Eren is being controlled by Zeke."

As soon as the words left his mouth, my heart tightened and it felt as though my lungs had just been crushed by metal bands as the feeling of betrayal and disbelief slowly started getting to me. I had always pushed that thought away but now that even the Soldiers were starting to believe it, it started becoming more and more real, much like a nightmare playing out right in front of my eyes.

"What's that ?" I questioned, pointing at the strange chair a few inches from the desk.

"It's nothing." The Premier simply replied. "I had nowhere else to put this, so I had the recruits bring it here. Anyway, this situation requires great caution. That is all."

Feeling defeated and powerless, all three of us walked out of the office and silently made or way down the corridor, more lost than we had ever been. The military government's given up on him, they might even be looking for the Founder's next heir as we speak. Suddenly, a light that could only come from an explosion flashed in front of my eyes and I turned to Mikasa and Armin, my hand already in front of my mouth.

"GET DOWN !" I yelled. "NOW !"

As soon as I sunk my teeth in the soft flesh of my hand, a shield made of crystalized Titan muscle took root in my back and formed around all three of us right as fire burst out of the Premier's office. As soon as the smoke subsided, I ripped the warm flesh from my skin and took both of my friends' hands, rushing them outside as fast as I could.

"Hitch !" Mikasa called out. "Where's the Supreme Commander ?!"

However, no answers were needed as we spotted a member of the Military Police covering the man's body with a coat, clearly indicating that the explosion had claimed his life. Suddenly, a voice that came from the crowd shouted words that were all too familiar to us, ones that had claimed the lives of millions of people..."Dedicate Your Heart". Those words acted like a fire and once they left that citizen's mouth, everyone in the crowd started chanting them as if they were meant to be words of rebellion rather than words that we soldiers died for.

"Will you all...JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP !" I yelled as fire burst out around my body. "Because mark my words I feel no remorse killing every single one of you right here and now. Stop using those words in vain or I promise you, you won't be able to speak again."

The crowd fell silent again but this time, the flames around my body didn't vanish and I could feel my control slowly slipping as the seconds ticked away. You have no right to use these words when you despised my father for taking them to heart.

-----

As the light shone a gentle light into the meeting room, a heavy tension could be felt through unspoken accusations and outrage as well as fear that we might be the next targets. A Military Police officer held a report and informed us that Premier Zachary owned a 'special' chair which was believed to have been rigged with a bomb. Three soldiers had been lost to that explosion and the culprit hadn't been caught, which meant that it only made the Survey Corps that much more suspicious due to the fact that we had direct ties to Eren.

"The Premier said some recruits brought it to his room." I reported. "He never said from which regiment but...when Mikasa, Armin and I went to his room we saw Scout recruits leaving HQ."

"Speaking of Scouts, I hear some of them leaked the info about Eren." Commander Nile commented. "You don't think-"

"It's an emergency !" A Soldier interrupted as the door slammed open. "Eren Yeager has escaped from his cell !"

Without a second thought, I rushed out of the building along with the rest of the guards, falling to my knees before I could reach the gate as the feeling of helplessness in my chest only grew.

"Eren..." I muttered as a single tear rolled down my cheek. "DAMN YOU ! YOU TRAITOR !"

TO BE CONTINUED !