Dances and Ruin// Reiner Braun x OC

Chapter Twenty-Eight

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So sorry for the hellacious delay in updates. I was hospitalized for a while due to a decline in my mental health, but I'm better now. I'm now on a slow mend to being better than that, but it is quite the process. In any case, I finally felt well enough to write, so here. I hope you enjoy. 

Additionally, I have created a playlist suited to the theme of the story and the characters. Feel free to listen using the link below. 

https://open.spotify.com/track/0NlGoUyOJSuSHmngoibVAs?si=xLdSbKN6SLSniSVlPENzVA&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1

***

Reiner has been listening to Annie panic in the room next to them for the last several minutes. It seems to be growing more intense by the second. He's not sure he can blame her, or anyone else on the other end of the conversation for that matter. The last day or so has been more intense than anything any of them have ever experienced. The last hour has been more so than that. Reiner can now hear Annie's voice raising, something that isn't very characteristic of her at all. He looks back at Pieck and Gabi, who cling to each other, both trying to process the loss of Magath that happened a mere few minutes ago. At least they've stopped crying, that's promising. He brings himself to his feet and stumbles his way to the door frame to find Annie being held back by Jean and Mikasa, not so much in the sense that she's a threat, but more so in the way that they're trying to keep her from collapsing.

Hange's voice sounds quiet and even, just as it always has been as they explain the situation to the blonde girl that's falling apart in front of them. "There was no way to save your hometown, Liberio."

The air feels heavy after that announcement. Annie must have lost any strength she was holding onto, as she slips right out of Jean's and Mikasa's arms, onto the floor. Her voice is a near whisper as she begins to speak, "Then, I don't have any reason left to keep fighting. I'm getting off."

Hange seems to consider their next move carefully before speaking again. "Even if the rumbling stopped this very moment, we wouldn't be able to stop Liberio and Marley from being annihilated. Even Magath understood that, but he still put his life on the line to clear a path for us. He didn't do it for the sake of Liberio or Marley. He did it so we could save even one more life of a stranger whose name he'll never know."

It's quiet, save for Gabi's renewed sniffling, likely over the resurfacing of the topic on Magath. Annie remains crouched over the ground for a moment longer before pulling herself upright to look Hange in the eyes, despite the fact she's addressing the room. "Then let me ask you again, could you kill Eren? If I tried to kill Eren would you be able to sit back and watch?" Reiner hears somebody gasp from somewhere behind him and he looks back to see Armin still clinging onto Connie's shoulder. He's still in the process of healing. From the look on Mikasa's face, the question has taken her far away, to any place other than right here. Even Jean seems phased. Reiner wonders how Peri would have reacted to the question had she been here for it, but she ran off to some room toward the back of the ship as soon as they boarded. Annie's voice breaks the silence once more, "I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want us to try and kill each other again. Not with any of you, not even with Eren."

Mikasa steps back, watching carefully. It's shocking that she has nothing to say at the moment, especially because it concerns Eren. I guess it's her way of slowly coming to terms with the fact that she'll have to stop Eren no matter what. She hates it, but she knows that that's all there is to it. He frowns and approaches Annie as everyone steps back, trying to give her some privacy. I'm probably the last person she wants around, but I need her to know that someone will stand by her. Reiner sinks to the ground in front of a sobbing Annie, making sure to maintain his distance in the process. She looks up not long after to see him with tears welling in his own eyes. "Dammit, Reiner, how did we end up here?" she asks.