Devil's Child ~ Aot x Male Reader

8: The Battle of Trost - (Part - II)

     [CHAOS WITHIN THE TROST!]

                 SHOCK WAS MERELY A WORD, but for Armin, his entire world had gone numb.

His surroundings blurred, and the horrible sight before him replayed over and over, each image burning itself into his mind.

He stood frozen in place, his limbs unable to move, his breath caught in his throat. Then, a voice broke through his haze.

"Oye, Armin! Are you okay? Are you hurt? What about your team?" Connie's voice was desperate, shaking Armin by the shoulders, trying to pull him back into reality.

Armin's lips barely moved as he muttered, "Team..."

His voice was hollow. Which team? The team that had been torn apart, devoured by Titans right before his eyes. The word felt meaningless.

Connie's brow furrowed as he glanced at his hand, now covered in a thick, slimy substance.

"What's this weird slime on you?" His voice quivered. "What happened?"

Armin's vision cleared just long enough for the memories to come crashing down on him like a tidal wave.

His friends... Eren... His body trembled, and the anguish that had been building inside him burst forth.

His eyes widened, and a heart-wrenching cry tore from his throat, so raw that it made Connie jump back in shock.

"You! Useless idiot! D-Die!" Armin screamed, his hands clutching his head as the weight of everything that had happened crushed him, pushing him to the brink.

His wails filled the air, uncontrollable tears cascading down his face, blurring his vision once more.

Connie knelt in front of him, trying to soothe him, but Armin wasn't hearing him.

"Oye, calm down, Armin," Connie said, his voice shaky, but Armin's sobs drowned out everything else.

"Where's everyone?" Connie's question lingered like a haunting whisper, as if asking that very thing would make it real.

Suddenly, another voice pierced the tension, cold and devoid of sympathy. "That's enough, Connie. They were all wiped out... all except for him."

Connie turned and saw Ymir standing behind them, her expression unreadable, her back turned.

"Shut up! Armin didn't say anything about that!" Connie snapped at her, refusing to believe what she implied.

Ymir's words, however, cut deep.

"Just look around you... We don't have any more time to waste on him." Her voice was detached, as if she had already accepted the brutal reality.

"Why is Armin the only one who made it?" Connie asked, more to himself, as though the answer could somehow make sense of the madness.

"Who knows?" Ymir said bitterly, glancing over her shoulder at Armin.

"Maybe they thought he was already dead." Her words stung, and she continued, twisting the knife deeper.

"It's unfortunate that they ran into multiple Titans. What a shame that only this loser survived, instead of Eren and the others."

Her words echoed in Armin's mind, each syllable making him question why he was the one left standing, why he survived when the others didn't.

His heart ached, his mind screamed at the cruelty of it all.