Dances and Ruin// Reiner Braun x OC

Chapter Thirty-Four

I got a surprise day off, so y'all get a surprise chapter!! 

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Reiner has no way of knowing how long it's been since he'd braced himself against the shining centipede-looking creature that released itself and started to make a run for Eren. He doesn't remember what he was thinking when he launched himself into action, trying to change the potential outcome of this battle in their favor. He needs to turn the tides, for his friends and family, for the world, for Peri. He can't help but grow somewhat fascinated with the aspect that his approach at redemption might mean nothing at all in the end, because there's still the substantial possibility that he won't live to see it through. Regardless, redemption is still redemption, dead or alive. As long as he's forgiven in one life or the other, he can't find it in himself to regret the course of actions that have led him to this moment in time. Surely, this will all work out in the end, right? It has to.

Upon forcing himself from his thoughts, he realizes that he's lost track of the centipede. Practically, there's really no sense at all in trying to figure out how not when so much has happened within such a small amount of time. He guesses he could chalk it up to just about anything, be it the fact that he got distracted or the fact that Armin just transformed not far from here, causing the earth to tremble beneath him yet again, despite the fact that it all stopped only moments ago.

Reiner straightens and looks out around him, attempting to take stock of the situation. He's closer to the crowd of people than he was earlier, completely unaware of how he ended up here. He can hear the mix of panic and relief in bystanders' voices somewhere on the plateau ahead of him. Then, in the distance on the other side, he can see the form of two colossus titans standing face to face with one another. It's in that moment that he realizes that this is still far from over, at least for the time being. One way other, it will end here, though.

He stiffens upon catching sight of a strange phenomenon unfolding before his very eyes. His eyebrows knit together. That smoke, what is it? His eyes flit around aimlessly trying to pin down the source. He feels his heart swap places with his stomach upon seeing the centipede that had escaped his grasp earlier. He swallows hard, What is that? Is it the same thing as... No, it couldn't be.

There's a small, almost undecipherable panic amongst a select few people on the plateau. Do they know what's going on? What are they going to do? His eyes catch on the sight of Falco's titan taking flight, yet again. He wishes he could see who was on Falco's back, what's to become of his friends. Where's Annie and Pieck? Gabi? What of Jean, Connie, and Levi? Peri. Did she even manage to find them in the midst of the chaos that must have ensued over there as soon as the rumbling stopped? He can vaguely hear the sound of Falco's titan scream somewhere in the distance over the sound of his own thoughts.

What follows after is a sense of horror, unlike anything he's felt over the course of the last four years. He'd always heard of what it was like to see the world start spinning in slow motion. He'd always heard tales of what it was like to feel time stop, whether it be for an instant or for a lifetime. For most of his life, he'd wondered what they meant by all of that exactly, that is until that day in Shiganshina after he'd been taken captive by the scouts--when he found out that Peri had been injured. He wished to never know that feeling, the inescapable pit in his stomach, the way that his knees would wobble beneath him, or even the stillness of his heart. The world had just gone back to normal, so why does it feel like it's all moving in slow motion again?

Smoke and lighting flood the area atop the raised piece of land ahead of him. He doesn't want to believe that what he thinks is happening is what's occurring up there. Even then, he has no choice but to come to terms with the fact that fate is a conniving bastard. It starts as a trickle and quickly turns to an on-pour of pure titans falling off the edge of the plateau. No, this can't be happening. This is all a dream, a terrible, disgusting, and haunting dream.