stars & moons - jean kirstein

part 9

Lunar

The scream is unlike anything I have heard from Titans before; it's harrowing, and cuts through my whole body. I cup both my ears in attempt to silence it, but it's no use.

Holy shit, is this an attack?

I make my way back to the door, gripping onto the handle and shoving my shoulder into it repeatedly. Again and again. I hear destruction around me; pellets of rock and building being smashed together. If I don't get out of here, I'll be crushed in this room.

"Let me out!" I scream, knocking my shoulder against the door once again. It's becoming loose now, the old wood proving to be perishable. Smoke has now begging to seep through the high window, causing me to cough deeply through my throat.

Then a lightning strike cuts through the room; another Titan transformation?

I give one more shove to the door, and by some miracle it comes loose, and opens in front of me. I fall through it, breaking free.

"Porco! Pieck! Where are you??" The ground continues to shake below me, like an earthquake.

"Lunar?" I hear Porco's voice call from the room adjacent to the one I was locked. Quickly, I open the door to see a pit in the floor. I steady myself before I fall into it, looking down to see the two Warriors at the bottom; it must be about fifteen metres deep.

That soldier planned this; they would have known that it would be a perfect trap for the two shifters, making it impossible for them to change into titans without crushing each other.

"Hey! Are you guys okay? What happend?" I call down to them.

"That solider trapped us down here!" Pieck calls back.

"Hold on, I'll get you a rope." I scower the room for any sort of equipment, finding a shelf with a small hatchet and a long rope. Perfect.

I throw it over my shoulder quickly and make my way back down to the pit.

There's footsteps behind me entering the room, making me turn around quickly, only to settle when I see it's Marley soliders I recognise.

"Captain Magath!" One of them says dropping their weapon and heading over to me.

"You're here! Help me with this rope, please. Pieck and Galliard are down there."

The group of them form a line behind me, and we pull them up with ease.

We make our way out of the room and onto the main strip, "What the hell is going on?" I ask.

"A titan attacked and killed Lord Tybur during his speech." My eyes go wide.

"For real?" Porco exclaims, running a hand through his hair.

"How far is the Cart's Armour?" Pieck asks the soldiers.

"Back at HQ, we'll have it equipped in fifteen." They assure.

"Make it ten." I say, loosening my tie.

"Roger that, captain." They say in sync, and make their way to HQ.

"I'm going to go on ahead and see if I can find the others." I say.

"Wait Lunar-" Pieck begins, being cut off by the sound of wires up above. We whip our heads to the sky to see long wires with sharp edges moving quickly above.

"What the hell?"

My eyes widen in understanding of what it is. It's the Eldians of Paradis "There's no way, how did they get here."

Five Years Earlier

"What have you got for us Zeke?" My father asks, leaning over the desk to examine what Zeke has brought back to us. The military leaders sit around the table observing.