Eren POV
Mikasa was already waiting behind the door of General Erwin's chamber, her face not giving away her restlessness. But Eren knew her good enough by now to see it in the way her fingers always found something to occupy themselves with and how her gaze was flickering over to the door now and then.
"How is he?", she asked, worry lacing her nervous words. "Is he going to be okay?"
"He will be.", Eren said, barely able to contain his anger. He had known that the dungeons were a horrible place to stay in for longer than a minute. But three full days?
Without food and water it wasn't a wonder that Armin had gotten sick. Thankfully he wasn't someone to speak during his sleep or else Eren would be worried that the small mushroom could spill something during his fever-dreams.
"I will kill them.", Mikasa snarled lowly, her fists now clenched and a deadly glint making it's way to the middle of her narrowed eyes.
"You will do no such thing.", Eren reprimanded her firmly and took her elbow, leading her away from the door so they wouldn't be overheard. The wig on his head was itchy and Eren wanted nothing more than to take it off of his head to free his dark mane.
"They hurt him, Eren!", she hissed. "You told me-"
"Neither the General nor Levi hurt him in any way.", Eren stopped her rant with a raised hand, his eyes focused on his sister. "They helped him."
"After leaving him starving and thirsty in a bloody cell for three whole days!"
Eren bared his teeth, not knowing what to tell her. Of course he had expected that Armin would be kept down there for some time. But without food and water...
"That was my father's doing.", he snarled. "He wanted to hear a confession from him. Who else confesses better than a person ready to kill for a bit of dry bread?"
"Armin would never do that.", Mikasa defended their friend. "He would have died down there if that's what it would have taken to help us."
"I know that, Kasa.", Eren said urgently, dragging her in a darker corner, away from nosy gazes and big ears. "But my father doesn't. Loyalty is a foreign word for him. Just look at what he did to me. His own son." He laughed humorlessly. "He is a monster. Just like the rest of those damn nobles that are tainting the name of my family. The name of my grandmother."
Mikasa listened quietly, her head lowered with restrained fury. He had told her about his meeting with Crown Princess Eryn, the mother of his aunt. She believed him every single word. Not even questioning the parts that sounded so strange and far away from the truth that anyone else would have doubted his sanity.
But he hadn't informed her of what Armin had told him about the start of the War. About the true background that had been hidden away as soon as the minds of all people were ready to forget.
"What are we going to do about Ackerman and Smith?", Mikasa asked, inhaling deeply before facing her brother with a much calmer expression.
"We will follow the original plan. Armin has given us the perfect opening.", Eren whispered. "General Smith appears to have taken a liking to him. Otherwise he wouldn't have brought him to his personal chambers. As soon as Armin is better, he can use this situation to his advantage."
"To your advantage...", Mikasa mumbled and Eren raised a brow.
"Do you want to talk about something?"
"Let's face the truth, Eren.", Mikasa said and avoided his eyes. "You are playing with the people here as if they you were playing chess, looking for ways to defeat the opposing king without wasting much time on thinking of the moral backgrounds."
Eren stayed silent, letting his sister talk to him. He already knew that she wasn't okay with his methods and although she supported him in every way, she had always been the one to question his moves.
"I think...Armin likes this man.", she muttered. "And you...Eren, I love you and I will support you. This throne is yours and back then in the woods we knew what we were getting ourselves into. But...you aren't alone in this game."
He put a hand on her shoulder, tilting her chin up with the other. His lips formed a soft smile, called up by his appreciation for the love she harbored for her best friend – her second brother by heart.
"I will never be alone, Mikasa. I know that. And I would never cross the line of using your feelings for my plans."
"Then why did you talk Armin into getting closer to the General?", she demanded to know. "He likes that man. And in the end..."
"He will have to betray him for my sake.", Eren muttered, a sigh leaving his lips. "It's not like I have never thought about this."
The candles and torches in the hall gave the hall they were standing in an eerie atmosphere and the weird shadows on the floor moved as if they were living a life on their own. No one but them was nearby, not a single noise disrupted their quiet talk.
Eren pinched his nose and closed his eyes, willing the pain away that had come back more often than he'd like in the last days.
"It is his choice.", he finally said after the silence between them became too much. "I won't force him to get close to General Smith. We will manage everything without his help. General Ackerman will be enough for our plan."
"Armin will still betray him if he wants to stay by your side.", his sister whispered softly.
He swallowed, ignoring the pain in his heart by the thought of hurting his friend in any way.
"Then in the end it will also be his choice who he wants to follow."
"You know that he will always choose you. Over and over until he gets killed because of it and you know it."
He turned away from her, facing her with his back.
"I have to get back. I don't trust the other servants with his care. See you, Kasa."
His sister watched him disappear in the darkness.
And suddenly she wanted nothing more but to bend over and cry.
Eren couldn't feel or see the distress of his sister. He knew it was there. But he wouldn't confront her with her feelings until he had made sure that Armin was safe and sound.
Grisha...you should have tried harder that night. Maybe then you would have actually killed me and spared yourself the trouble of my vengeance.
He narrowed his eyes and snarled lowly, embracing the powers that had been torn from their sleep.
Killing me would be one thing, dear father. But with hurting my friend...you have signed your own death sentence.
(Eren is out for revenge, Mikasa is still worried about her brothers and Grisha made a fatal mistake when he dragged Armin into the whole mess. But what about Armin himself? What will he do? Will he choose his friends or Erwin? And which consequences would follow after this dangerous decision?
Hope you liked the new chapter! At first I only wanted to start with a part of this chapter but then the words practically wrote themselves. Soooo, hope you enjoyed it and thank you for staying with this story so long!
I know the pain of reading an unfinished story!)
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Coming for your heart
Fanfiction|| Book 1 || Eren Yaeger had to flee from his home when he was only six years old. With his mother and his adopted sister he tries to forget anything related to the King and the secrets they left behind. Many years later war comes for Eldia and Er...
