The Turquoise Cure (Eren X Reader)

Chapter 3: A Strange Girl's Sacrifice

    You chose to lie still as you admired the rising sun glaring down at the miserable colony that was slowly beginning to awaken below. The tunnel shielded a bit of the sun's glare, but you didn't truthfully mind it too much; it gave you something to think about. It allowed you to think of the warm rays beating onto your cold skin instead of the memory of your mother's head being... never mind. You were wide awake now.

    You had been out since the boat, or at least you assumed, since it was the last thing that you could remember before your night of reminiscence. A flash of Eren being lowered to the floor ebbed at the back of your mind. As you tried to retrace your thoughts, you felt someone eyeing you. You tilted your head to notice that the trio had awoken, and they were now crouched on the ground next to you. "Hey, (Y/N)," Armin said gently. "Hi-" you croaked before your voice disappeared. "Shhh; don't worry about it," the boy named Eren said, suddenly moving closer. You suddenly felt very warm. Great, now I'm sick.

    "The officer on the boat got most of your information from Armin, but he still doesn't know that much about you, so he did his best," Mikasa said in a voice that soothed you like a mother. You nodded slowly, not wanting to move too much. Your headache had started to come back since you had tried to talk- whether the pain was from screaming or illness, you were unclear.

    "Today, we're supposed to find out where we're going to end up: there are a total of 10 plantations, so we're all supposed to be assigned to one," Armin included. Upon his saying that, Mikasa shuddered and seemed to gravitate closer to Eren. God, I can't imagine how much it would suck if those three didn't end up together. You had never really had close friends, or any at all for that matter, but you could tell that these three were thicker than thieves- family. "If you're well enough, would you want to come get rations with us?" Eren asked, not making direct eye contact with you. You nodded.

    After they had helped you up- you stumbled like a newborn foal- you had been alright to walk. You attributed your fatigue to hunger and shock, but it wouldn't surprise you if you woke up on the floor at any minute, finding this whole thing to be a pneumonia-induced nightmare. The camp that you now observed was quite the sight to see. Children without parents were weeping after soldiers who cradled the freshly dead- some could not stomach the thought of being sent to the Survey Corps after watching the titans devour their town. Parents without children sat, somber-eyed, gazing after children that did not belong to them, likely recounting the demises of their own. After a while, it was just too much to watch, and you found yourself having to look away.

    You waited with Mikasa while Eren and Armin got their rations- neither of you were very hungry, apparently. The two of you exchanged few words for several minutes until you decided to reach out and hug her. The shock on her face was clearly just as evident as the shock on yours, as you had never really hugged someone before- other than the brief embraces that your mother would grant you on a good day, or the ones that your brother gave out after a rough night of "work." What am I doing? "T-thank you," Mikasa mumbled in her calm, collected voice that now held a tint of surprise. You nodded, offering a slight smile, but it was merely the most that you could offer at this time. You didn't feel that any part of you could fake happiness- not when your brother's remains were lying crushed underneath a boulder right now while you were looking at the sky. It just wasn't fair.

    After Eren and Armin returned with their humble rations, which consisted of some kind of soup and a loaf of bread, Eren offered you a piece off of his brick. You declined, but he pushed, forcing you to swallow the tasteless stone to show your appreciation. After only a few minutes of silence interrupted only by slow chewing, the four of you perked your heads up as a whistle blew obnoxiously in the distance. "THE PLANTATION ASSIGNMENTS HAVE BEEN RELEASED!" a man yelled following the loud blast. It wasn't of much interest to you; you figured that you'd do the same slave work no matter where you ended up, but it was different for Eren, Armin, and Mikasa. They still had some to lose; they could not be separated. It was at this moment, seeing the desperation and anxiety in their eyes that you told yourself that you would keep them together no matter what.