Curse Of Latido | 𝘌𝘳𝘦𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘢 AU

26. A Burden Of Blame

Published on:
Sat, 29 May.
The year 2021

Chapter 26|A Burden Of Blame

His feet stopped, and he couldn't move. And there was this moment when he felt detached from the world, like his soul hovering over them and watching this happen from another perspective.

It felt like a nightmare. Everything said it was a nightmare. The half-darkened corridors. The moonlight streaming through the rows of huge windows. The sickening smell of blood in the air.

Her, standing in front of him, with blood all over her white robe.

Her beautiful cheeks smeared with red.

His eyes traveled from the edge of her dress to her blood-soaked sleeves. Her long golden-hair...

Those ocean blue orbs...
Looking at him coldly...

It took him a moment to blink and say her name in a whisper, "Maria?"

Armin's gaze traveled to the right, past her shoulder, and saw Historia on the ground in a pool of her blood. Maria shook her head with a frightened look all over her face.

"Maria..." His voice strained, he looks up at her.

"No." Maria holds her breath before shaking her head at him, her feet coming together. "No no no no! It's not me... It's not me, I swear!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "You know me very well..."

"I don't know you." He shook his head and retreated a few steps. "I thought I knew you, but I don't. I don't know you at all."

"Yes, you do," she blurted, sniffing back her tears, "I know you know me..." her voice trailed off before dropping to her knees. She realized she screwed up, again.

"For the glory of the Fire Nation?" Armin murmured, his voice cracking as he gazed down at her, reminding her of her own words, "You'd do anything, right? More than volunteer..."

"She did that to herself," Maria whined, keeping her head bowed. Her voice was barely audible.

"What?"

She lifted her gaze to him. The weight of her icy eyes made him shiver inside. They were cold to look at, that it felt sick, and numb to the stomach, "can't you see?!" She widened her eyes, her voice thickening into a scream.

"Look at her sick acts! She did this to herself! She did this to herself!" Screaming, pounding her fists on the floor, she sobbed. Her brows furrowed as she looked up, meeting his flustered eyes, "I swear to the gods in heaven, she did this to herself...she did this..."

Armin's chest shook, heaving up and down. His throat dry, his mind blank and he watched as Maria clutched at his legs. "Please, Armin, you have to believe me..." she whimpered.

"Prove it, Maria." He whispered so she could only hear, and her gaze dropped, and she was sobbing, again... He wondered how no one had woken up to all that noise. Like everyone was dead...

"Maria, can you prove it?"

She looked up at him, her eyes aching from crying, and they had this distance in them, as if she were unaware of her well-being. He began to think, she went crazy. "I... I..." She turned her head, eyes flickering, and moving around the hallway. Until they landed on Historia. "I can't..." a groan escaped her lips, she was breaking down.
How could she prove her innocence? Historia was bleeding in the corner and no one was there but her.

"Mhmm... mhmm... hmhm..." Maria shook her head and laughed softly at first, then her laughter turned into an obnoxious bellow, "I can't! Hahahahaha! I can't prove... I... hahahamhmhhm!" She tried to suppress her cackle as hard as she could.