Vengeance Of A Human

Battle of Trost: The World I Saw

I pick myself up, tired of wallowing in my sorrow. It has been a few minutes since I regained my mind and regrouped with my team. Once we were out of relative danger, we picked a spot to recuperate. In the moments I had been allowed, I rubbed my thumb on the carving Mina made a necklace for me. One of my best friends, Thomas, is gone. Mina, a girl that I cared much for, is gone. That's when I remembered Eren and Armin. I have not seen them...and though it will hurt me to know their fate, I must know firsthand if they are dead or alive.

Ymir sees me stand up, knowing exactly without a word to her, Christa, or Conny as to what I plan to do. "Hey, you're not thinking all your friends are going to come out of this alive, are you? Get your head out of the clouds."

I walk right past her before stopping. Whether motivated by grief, anger, or the feeling of helplessness to save the two people who trusted me most, I stop to address Ymir's "concern". "I watched Thomas and Mina get eaten. I know they're dead. As for everyone else, I want to believe it, but I know it's impossible."

Ymir nods. "Yeah, exactly. We're all potential Titan fodder, every single one of us. So how long do you think we're going to last in this, huh?"

"No, you misunderstand me." I turn to her, my eyes burning with stinging tears. "I want to believe the others are dead, but I know it is impossible! So that's why I am not giving up. I can't save all my friends, but the ones I can, I will do so!" I look to Conny, who looks back with a nod. I know he's with me. I face Christa, the young woman prepared for another bout with the Titans.

However, she is hesitant. "Josh, are you sure you are ready to go?"

I shrug. "I'm angry, but besides that, my health is fine."

"Alright. We should assist the other units, especially the elites. Let's go!" We soar towards the rear of the city, taking much care to avoid any Titans. Everything is quiet until I see a golden flash in my right eye. I look towards it, gasping as I zip towards the person I am quite happy to see. "Armin!"

We land in front of him, yet despite my excitement to see him, I cannot say he's too excited to see me. He seems to be in shock, the only response he gives to our presence is "Oh..."

"Armin," Christa says, "are you okay? You look awful."

Conny looks around. "Aren't you in a squad with Eren and the others? Where did they go?" Besides me, only Ymir knows the fates of two of them, Mina and Thomas, but Christa and Conny are clueless. Though he brings up a good point, where is Eren. Last I saw him, he was laying on a rooftop. Matter of fact, I realize that this is the same area I last saw Armin and his squadmates.

Christa gasps. "Armin...You... You don't mean..."

"Isn't it damn obvious? They've been wiped out! Every last one of them! Except for this poor bastard."

"Shut up! Let Armin speak, okay?"

"This is no place for a chat. We're way too exposed. The Titans will eat all of us as well!"

"Why would they ignore Armin?"

"I don't know. Maybe they thought he was already dead or something. It was unfortunate they encountered Titans. I can't say much about Eren and his squadron if only Armin survived."

"You've said too much. I'm going to make you shut your mouth."

Christa steps between the bickering Conny and Ymir. "Both of you stop it right now! We're all in a state of shock. We saw our friends being killed like animals. You can't help it."

While they bicker, I kneel down to Armin. "Armin."

"I'm worthless. Why can't I just die?"

"Armin!" My stern tone gains his attention, and no more words need to be said between us. Eren is gone, it hurts me too, but I'm alive. He's alive. We got plenty of more fighting to do. I believe he realizes this as he takes my hand and stands up.