𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐑 | j. kirstein

𝐱𝐯𝐢𝐢 | kill or be killed

‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒ ✯ ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒

‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒ ✯ ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒

AND JUST LIKE THAT, Iris was thrown back into hell. Two days after her encounter with Zeke at the warehouse, Marley's troops on the island sent out for reinforcements, meaning it was time to finish what they had started five years ago. Three weeks did surely pass by in a blink of time.

She wasn't worried about dying. Death was something she had embraced a long time ago. To her, her life was like a ticking bomb, ready to go off at any minute ever since she enlisted in the Warrior Program.

Her fate was decided eight years ago and there no turning back, she knew that, but it didn't mean it needs to be the same for her uncle. He still has so much to live for. She couldn't let anyone take it away, which is why she won't lose this war.

She'll come back for him, just like she always had. This was no different.

She stood at top of the Gates of Heaven, the Marleyan ship unloading from below and the orange-flamed sky drawing in her eyes, as the ocean's waves clash upon the port. Her lungs take in the air with pleasure, breathing out slowly.

"You think she's watching over me?"

Reiner faces her, then following her gaze up that led to the sky. He adjusts his jacket's collar, and says, "Your mother?... I'm sure she is. She's guarding you from above, proud of how far you've come."

"I don't think so," Iris shakes her head, "If I were her... I'd be disappointed... terrified of what I have become."

"Hey," he calls softly, "you did what you had to do to survive... to protect your family... I've never seen someone sacrifice as much as you have... and I'm sure that she knows that too."

Iris turns back to the sky, admiring it.

If there was at least one thing going right in her life, it would be Reiner not knowing she killed her own father. The news spread around town and everybody is looking for the killer of this so-called innocent man.

What a joke.

Still, Reiner remains unaware of the murderer that walks beside him, and she plans to keep it that way. She couldn't bear to even imagine the horror in his face. It made her realize that sometimes, it's best for the truth to remain hidden.

"Elvira! Braun! We're leaving! Move your asses!" Zeke's voice yelled, standing a few meters away from them.

Iris sighs deeply. She pats Reiner's shoulder and says, "That's our cue. Come on. Bertholdt's waiting for us at the wall."

She walked past him, assuming the boy followed behind, but was stunned with what he spoke next.

"You ever think about what you'll do when this is over?"

Iris comes to stop. Stunned but curious, she kept her back facing him, her ears perked up as Reiner went on.

"I do... a lot...," he confesses, staring out to the sky's wide horizon with blank eyes, "and I still don't have an answer... I just can't see myself living past tomorrow... Reminds me awful lot of that day in Trost. I really believed that I was going to die, but then again, it's part of the job, is it not?"