𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒇 | A Yeager Story

[01] Slaughter

Warning: Violence and gore up ahead.

???'s POV

I died.

Being killed by an unknown virus that spread due to the rumbling isn't exactly the worst kind of death. It was slow and painful but less gruesome and bloodshed.

Eren is dead, and Mikasa is trying to find a way to move on.

This isn't the ending I wanted. Sooner or later, the images that Ymir has shown me decades after the rumbling will happen, eradicating more than half of humanity once more.

And so, as quiet as to how the nights in the barracks with Mikasa would end, slowly but surely, for the second time, if I may add,

I died.

Being dead does not allow me to wander around, pass through walls, and witness one last time the world that I was leaving behind. Death is nothing but darkness that swallows a whole creature.

It was boring to an extent.

Ymir has shown herself to me after my first death, almost blinding me from being pulled out of that darkness. At the time, I was about to lose consciousness if not for that small blonde being that almost horrified me even as a ghost.

She looked too pale, too small, and too worn out, making me think that maybe I had finally arrived at my destination: hell.

But low and behold, meeting Ymir made me think that I preferred going to hell instead.

In my first life, I lost my father at a young age. The only thing I can recall about him was his tired smile and beautiful green eyes. Mother said that I have it too, and it constantly reminded her about her husband years after his death.

And finally, she too passed away. I was holding her hand, forcing myself not to hold it tightly so I wouldn't hurt her, as she calmly waited for death to claim her dying soul.

That was the last time I ever saw my mother because hours later, her friends who were waiting outside finally came in and stated that we should properly bury her alongside my father.

My mother is the most beautiful being that I have ever seen in my life, but more than that, I think I prefer my father's green eyes.

Years later, a war happened. It was the war that my father and mother ran away from, and it involved both the Eldians and Marley. Many have wanted this to happen, and a lot of innocent people have lost their lives without knowing the true story of why their hate for each other began.

I lost my first life because of what I discovered.

I died not because of a man, a woman, a titan, or even an animal. I lost my life because of an unknown being that I blindly stumbled upon deep in the forest, where the intensity of the war was at its peak.

I only meant to find shelter from the rain and to continue aiding those who have been wounded after it let up. It doesn't matter what their nationality is, and I could care less about that part. As I jogged my way into this dense and lifeless forest, wearing full military and medic gear, my eyes eventually wandered toward a huge tree with a hole that I could use as a temporary shelter.

It was a stupid decision for me to even go near it even after seeing how clean that place was, which is uncommon during the war. And yet, my naïve mindset took it as a sign that I could finally rest, even for just a few minutes, not knowing what it would eventually cost.

So, upon taking a step inside it, the first thing that I noticed was how cold the air was inside the tree. And yet, instead of making that a sign for me to leave, the object that I have seen deep within that tree – a sinkhole – captured my whole attention.