Cover says it all.

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It was my worst nightmare come true.

There he lay, covered in blood, some evaporating quickly while some was left behind. Despite his physical condition, I was unsure as to whether or not all the blood that was left was his. I let out a deafening cry; that's how I perceived it, because when the noise was ripped from my throat, the ringing in my ears stopped, just for a little while.

"Captain!!"

In an instant, I was by his side, and I was able to see clearly what had been done to him. A leg torn off, an arm hanging on by only a few tendons... It was a horrid sight. It seemed no part of his body had escaped the wrath of the titan. However, it wasn't hard to see that some of his scratches and gashes looked to be caused by the blades of a comrade. I was seething with rage at the thought. Who could have done this to our captain? Who could have hated humanity so much that they would dare attempt to take the life of our fighting chance?

It didn't matter that people called me Humanity's Last Hope. All I could do was turn into our enemy and hope that I didn't kill anyone I loved. It was captain Levi that truly mattered. All but one of his titan kills were solos... nobody could match that. Not even me in my titan form.

Faster than I thought, tears started to stream from my eyes. My vision now somewhat clouded, I looked down at my captain, only to hold his upper body in my arms.

"Levi...!"

I couldn't ask if he was alright. The words wouldn't come out. Maybe I was convinced he was already done for, or that I was afraid that was indeed the case. Maybe, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew what the outcome would be... and I didn't want to accept it. I didn't want to hear the words from his lips, because I knew what those words would be. However, I could not have conveyed those thoughts to him. He spoke, hoarsely and with difficulty.

"Brat... You know... This is the end for me... right?"

The words were torn from my throat faster than I could process them.

"N-No! You won't die! I won't let you!"

He gave me a stern look, as if he couldn't comprehend my stupidity.

"It's inevitable... You see what's... happened to me... even if I manage to survive this, what use to humanity will I be after I recover...?"

"That doesn't matter!"

Again, the words were out of my mouth before I could think about them. It was as if someone else was speaking, choosing my words for me from an automated system, but somehow, those automated messages had meaning and emotion behind them.

"It doesn't matter if you can't fight... you have to stay alive...!"

He tried to sit up on his own, but he did not succeed. It wouldn't have mattered if he did; I would not let him waste any more energy. Before, he held a certain look in his face, one that seemed to be burdened by thoughts. But now, his expression was lax. I couldn't deny that it worried me slightly.

"Eren... do you think... that there is life after death...?"

Confusion took hold of my mind. It took hold of my features as well, because he groaned, from a mix of exasperation and pain, turning his head in my direction.

    "Reincarnation, Eren... do you think that we'll be reborn when we die? Into... a different world? A better one, perhaps...?"

I processed the question. I had never given the concept much thought, that was plain as day. Though it would certainly be desirable if the world we were reborn into were better than the one we were currently in, it would be agonizing if we were worse off than now. It was a risk I wasn't sure I'd take.