ʟɪɢʜᴛ ꜱᴘᴇᴇᴅ | 𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙟𝙖𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙧

24. 𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙔 𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘾𝙍𝙔

024, 𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙏𝙏𝙔 𝙒𝙃𝙀𝙉 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝘾𝙍𝙔

enjoy this chapter because i sure did 🤭

.⋆𐙚 🍒

EVEN GODS BETRAY.

So why wouldn't people?

The stories always start the same—divinity wrapped in gold, in light, in love so blinding it's mistaken for mercy.

But even divinity cracks when you press hard enough—turns to dust, to bone, to lies.

Petty. Vengeful. Cruel when it counts. They promise salvation and deliver silence. They demand worship and call it love.

I had to learn early that no one is sacred. Not mothers with perfect smiles, not fathers who drank their sorrows away, not friends who swear they'd die for you but pull alway when it's inconvenient to stay.

The first betrayal carved itself into my chest before I even had the language to name it. A forgotten pick-up after school. An award ceremony where every seat was occupied except for the one reserved for her. She said she was busy. Told me she was saving lives of children.

But was I too not a child?

Her child?

Some absences stain.

And then came the others. One by one. Each betrayal taking another piece of me.

A girl who spread my secrets. The boy who said forever but really only meant three months. The friend who told me I'll be there but never showed up. The family who looked at my pain and decided it was inconvenient.

So I stopped waiting. Stopped believing. Stopped building homes in peoples promises.

I don't get surprised anymore. Not when someone lies. Not when they leave. Not even when they swear they never would, right before they do.

Because even our creators betray. They flood the earth. Burn cities. Turn lovers to salt. They make you believe you're chosen, then walk away.

And people? They do it with less fanfare. A slammed door. A text left on read. A mouth full of excuses and eyes that don't quite meet yours anymore.

The worst part of it all—is that you still love them after.

You still want to believe so desperately that they didn't mean it. That it was a mistake. That they'd take it all back if they could.

But they never do. Because betrayal isn't a slip. It's a choice.

|| 𝙉𝙊𝙒 𝙋𝙇𝘼𝙔𝙄𝙉𝙂... 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀, 𝘿𝙀𝙁𝙏𝙊𝙉𝙀𝙎 ||

Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover walk out from the warehouse—side by side, backs straight, heading casually towards a car I don't recognize as theirs.

No urgency in their steps. No raised voices. No blood on their hands.

They don't look guilty. Don't look like their they're hiding. Don't look like they're part of whatever mess I've been dragged into. They just look like two guys heading home after a long night—tired, quiet, familiar with the shadows of this place. Reiner rolls his shoulders once as they walk, like the weight of the cold has finally settled on his skin. Bertholdt rubs his thumb against the inside of his palm, distracted, head ducked. Neither of them seem to notice us.