The Devil ⥋ Eren Jaeger

XXVII - Execution

In a basement, far from the battle, a young blonde woman fell to the ground. Covered in titan fluid, she gasped as she felt the stone ground. Her mind wasn't quite registering the fact that she was now free. She coughed up the fluid, eyes wide open.

Struggling to stand up from years of hibernation, she managed to stumble into an empty room. But it wasn't long until her former friend followed the wet footsteps that trekked into the dark study room. As she stepped into the room, a hand covered her mouth.

"Scream..." the person said and put a sharp object to the military police's throat. "And I slice your neck open. "Start by taking off that jacket and-"

Hitch knew that Annie was out of shape from years of dormancy and easily took the Female Titan down.

"You're so weak I thought an old lady was attacking me. To think the day would come when I toss you around like that, Annie."

"You, of all people Hitch?"

The two heard shouts from outside. Hitch opened her mouth to call for help but Annie cut her.

"Too late. I've already cut myself. I can turn into a titan whenever I want. Your only option is to obey me." Annie threatened.

Hitch looked down at her bloody hand and smiled, "Is it, now?" she taunted. "I bet you don't have the stamina to transform if you're that weak."

"Maybe." Annie admitted. "But we won't know until I try."

===

Yi watched as Armin put on his gear. She wanted Falco to live but knew that there was no time. She didn't know the land but knew that they were too late. Falco was practically in the grave.

"Armin, wait," Mikasa said as she entered the room, "you can't catch up to Connie if you set off for Ragako now. And even if you did, then what? Would you tell him to give up on turning his mom back into a human?"

"I will, even if it doesn't work out. I need to do everything I possibly can do. Gabi won't trust me unless she sees me act. We need her." Armin said.

Mikasa looked at Yi, pleading with her to say something.

"She's right, Armin. I love Falco, he's a good kid. But he's as good as dead. As much as it hurts me to say this, we need Gabi but we don't need Falco. Gabi will follow me, I've known her since she was a small child." Yi said. "I can convince her."

Armin ignored her words, "Reiner and the Cart Titan are still hiding somewhere. She could make the difference between us getting along with them and not."

Yi crossed her arms, "If that's the case then you might not need Gabi. I am not as close with Reiner as I used to be but I can convince him to join us. And with Pieck, she will follow Reiner. The idea of Eren Jaeger further massacring our will is enough for them to join us against him."

Armin paused. "I don't know what to do," he said quietly. Then he exploded, "The military's chain of command is broken! It's chaos! Hange and the captain could be dead right now! Floch and his men might start pointing their guns at us next and Annie might have come back!"

"What about Eren? How are we going to stop him?" Yi said.

"Weren't you just with him?" Armin asked. "You've helped him all along with his plan! You knew about him wanting to kill your people for months and you did nothing!"

Yi stayed silent. There were many things that she wanted to say but decided not to. "Sorry." she said instead, "You're right, I should've reported him and now my people will die because of me." she laughed, "I spent the last months trying to save them but instead they will die and it's my fault."

"No it isn't." Armin said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped on you like that. It's not your fault. You thought you were doing the right thing. It's no one but Eren's fault."

Armin left with Gabi to find Connie and try to save Falco. But Yi and Mikasa knew that they were too late. They could only hope that Connie would find the goodness in his heart to spare Falco.

Staying still didn't last long as Mikasa and Yi were drawn to the noise outside. A crowd cheered, calling for the heads of the Marleyans that remained. They screamed horrible things that were too graphic for Yi to detail. Kneeling on the ground were Yelena and Onyonkapon. And the ones who pointed the guns at their heads were Floch and Jean.

Mikasa tried to rush forward and talk to Jean. Floch was a lost cause and there was no chance that he would change his mind. But she was held back by the thick crowd who yelled for blood. Yi frowned, public executions used to be a thing in Marley back when she was a child but were outlawed around the time her parents died.

"People of the empire! Thank you for gathering here today!" Floch shouted. "It is time for us to execute these two volunteers who dared to turn against the Eldian Empire! And now we Yeagerists will inherit Eren's intention to rule the world! It will be a declaration of our reign over this island of Paradis!"

Yi started to retreat to the crowd, they would surely have her head as well. She would share the same fate as Yelena and Onyokapon if she stayed. So like a shadow, she slipped out of the crowd but was met with several scouts before she could escape.

"What do we have here?" one said.

"Marleyan scum."

Yi quickly punched the first in the nose and kicked the other in his groin. They fell to the ground and she took off. Her arm was pulled and she turned to look at Mikasa.

"Do you trust me?" Mikasa asked.

Yi looked behind the woman to see commotion, people were running out of the way but she couldn't see what was going on. The familiar roar of a titan was heard and Yi prepared for the worst.

"Trust me!" Mikasa yelled, and she threw Yi into the mouth of the Cart Titan.

Tbh I have no idea what is going to happen in the story but the new season is good so far. I love reading your comments they're really motivating me to continue writing!