Attack on Titan / Interactive Story

124

You follow the girls back inside the castle, down the halls and through the doorways.

Krista helps put Valencia to bed and runs off to get a wet towel down the hall, leaving the two of you alone.

"Valencia, what did you see?"

Her fear-filled eyes met yours. She looked on the verge of crying again, biting her lip and throwing her arms over her eyes.

Krista came storming back in, politely asking Valencia to move her flailing limbs so she could put the towel on her head. The girl's skin was pale but warm and Krista hesitantly stared at Valencia as if looking may do her more harm.

"Will she be alright?"

"She...she will." Krista picked up an old cup off of Valencia's dresser. "I don't believe we've ever had a proper introduction."

"Y/N. And you're Krista Lenz."

The small blonde's posture bounced up after hearing you say her name. She seemed to appreciate being known.

"Ymir talks about you a lot."

Her shoulders settle in understanding and she begins to flutter up, picking at a strand of hair that had just begun to stick to the side of her forehead. Ymir's name apparently sent a jolt through her.

"What happened to her?"

"I went outside looking for Ymir. I stepped on Valencia in the grass. She was...gone. She had crawled her way back from the forest. She was in there all night. In the dark and cold."

"Who was speaking to her?"

Krista shook her head slowly. "Titans."

"Do you believe her?"

"I believe she heard what she said, but I do not believe they spoke."

"So you think she's...crazy?"

Krista frowned. She stole a quick glance back at Valencia's shrunken figure. "You can believe in the person but not their beliefs."

~

It was night before the group returned. You were excused to assist with Krista, free of any punishment or duties.

A cacophony of voices and horses burst outside the windows, bustling with anticipation to venture back to bed.

"Y/N, could you fill this with water?"

You turn from the window's direction to Krista, offering a barren bucket to your absent minded conscious. Krista was constantly wetting towels to keep Valencia's fever down.

"Yeah, yeah."

You exited the room and trailed down the dark corridor to the backside of the castle. A well, overgrown in weeds, stood idly at the very end.

With the light of fireflies, you guided your steps across the uneven brick walkway. Against the ledges of the well was a crank and a bucket. You threw the bucket to the bottom, guiding the rope through your fingers as to not lose it in the dark. You cranked up the bucket with your opposite hand, stopping when you could hear the bucket clunk against the rim of the well. It was a difficult feat to untether the bucket. The fireflies, although beautiful, were not as useful as they had appeared.

You finally made your way back to the open corridor, the light from Valencia's room just barely illuminating the rocky flooring.

It'd be quite unfortunate if you were to trip-

Oh.

...

Well that's unfortunate.

"Shit." Your knees were a little numb, perhaps scraped. The bucket had spritzed itself all across the walls and floor.

Your pants felt soaked past the knees. Covered in a thick substance, too heavy to be the water you had just collected.

"Oh my god, I must be bleeding."

You pulled your knees up to inspect your pants, running your fingers over the fabric. You brought it up to your nose - the smell of old, putrid blood filling the room. You got back onto your knees to search for the bucket that had fallen in the moment. It was far too dark to have seen where it had gone.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" Krista's voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I fell."

She peaked open the door at the end of the hall, allowing a ray of light to spill down the corridor and onto the floor. You looked towards her direction, flashing her an embarrassed smile.

Krista's eyes blew up to the size of saucers. Her eyebrows furrowed, her hands reaching to clutch her chest. In that moment, she let out a deafening, heart-wrenching scream.

In the illumination of the room's light, the spilt water turned thick and dark, splattered down the walls and corridor flooring. In the center you were, kneeling, clothing and skin bathed in a bucket of foul, rotting blood.

*To be continued in chapter 142...

Author's note: I'm still working and updating. Because of the amount of options and endings, I wanted to release part of the story but I still need to finish. Thank you for reading, more will be updated soon!