Allies and Enemies (AoT Reader Insert)

Chapter 37: Friends or Foes?

"Why...? Why won't my body move?" Armin frowned as he looked down at his own unconscious body. "Please, you have to move. Everyone's going to die! Reiner, Pieck... Jean, Connie, Mikasa... even Annie. All of them! Don't you get it?! They're going to die! Wake up already, you useless piece of trash! You're such a pitiful coward! Utterly useless! I... I hate you!"

Armin clenched his fists and pounded them against the ground in frustration.

"I'm not strong. I know that. So just this once, why won't you get up? Why won't you fight?! You keep letting everyone down! How dare you... how dare you die like this?! Move, I said. Move! Dammit!" Cried Armin.

Even someone as brilliant as Armin felt like a dim star while surrounded by people who seemed so much better than himself. Was that the reason why Armin hated himself?

He was never as strong as Mikasa. Never seemed to act as brave as Jean or as intuitively as Connie. He wasn't even sure he inherited Bertholdt's selfless nature. Most of all, Armin knew he could never be as passionate or dedicated as Eren.

If the blonde boy could easily identify the brilliance of his friends, why couldn't he identify his own?

"I've always considered myself as nothing more than adequate. Perhaps in another world being adequate is enough, but here in this cruel reality, only being adequate is never enough." A familiar voice rang in Armin's ears. A memory?

Out of nowhere, Armin was acutely aware of a bright light shining before him. When he raised his eyes to see what was there, he saw that someone was encased in crystal before him. Was this... a memory of Annie? No, Annie had never said such things to him before. Perhaps this was some strange manifestation of his memories? But if it was, why now of all times? As a matter of fact, how did Armin even know what was going on outside of his own head right now?

As Armin took a moment to look around he quickly realised that he was within the realm of paths. The bright light at the center of the endless dessert suddenly seemed a lot brighter than before, too.

Footsteps suddenly approached Armin from behind. When the blonde boy turned around to see who it was, he was surprised to see (Y/n). Her hand was up against the crystal, making Armin realise that it wasn't Annie within the blue prison but Crystal Shifter herself.

(Y/n) turned to meet Armin's gaze. "Why on earth would you believe that you're weak, Armin?"

"I'm... I've never been able to do what I want to do, let alone do what I need to do. I'm always just a step behind everyone else. The fact that I'm here is a testament to the fact that I'm not enough." Said Armin, lifting his hand up to the crystal. "I always know what I need to do but I can never seem to- Wait! What are you doing here, (Y/n)?"

"I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I think I've been swallowed up by the power of the founder in some way - just like you." (Y/n) looks at Armin's unconscious body then shifts her gaze toward her own body encased in crystal. After a deep sigh, her gaze shifts back to Armin. "Does that make me weak?"

"You're not weak!"

"Then why was I captured?"

"Because your abilities make you a liability. Eren is weary of the things you can do."

(Y/n) tilted her head curiously. "Why do you think that Eren is the one who captured us? If you think about it, Eren's will is to move forward and crush the world. He never said he would take away your freedom to fight, so he wouldn't have trapped us here. The one who brought us here to this landscape is likely the founder, Ymir."

"Ymir...?"

Before Armin had a chance to continue, (Y/n) turned her attention to something adjacent to where the two of them were standing. To Armin's surprise, he noticed Zeke Jaeger sitting down and making something in the sand.