He Told Me to Live

30 | Death

Erwin is dead.

I didn't think I'd ever hear those words.

It's like hearing that your god has perished. You never expect it to happen, knowing that they were... well, a god.

Part of me thought that of Erwin: some immortal being that rules over this world. Since everything seemed to always go in a way where he was the one pulling the strings.

"Captain?" Floch waved in front of my face. "Are you alright?"

My head normally returns to old orders I've heard from Erwin.

Answer when a question is asked.

Say 'you're welcome' when someone says thank you.

Apologize when someone is angry.

But for some odd reason, I couldn't recall any of them. It left me staring at those who were turning to me for help. Where's Hange? She could handle this. She's intelligent and can think of anything and everything, all of which normally being right.

I likely looked dumb in that moment.

"Y/N," Dirk took hold of my shoulders. "Levi probably needs you."

"Needs... me?"

"He probably chased that cart titan all the way to the wall. You can calm him down pretty well, to the point where he's rational, at least. Go do that. I'll be here with the others."

I slowly nodded, dragging my feet away then running towards the wall in the distance, staring at the ground that seemed to be rushing past me so I didn't have to see the graveyard I witnessed before.

Then I stumbled.

God, I wish I didn't.

I looked away from my feet and saw the half-human, half-corpse I had stumbled upon. Erwin.

"His organs are spilling out!" Some cadets exclaimed as he collapsed next to me. "C-Captain Levi! He has the injection that can turn him into a titan!"

"What...?"

"The injection that we got from Kenny." Dirk reminded me. "Floch, do you think you can bring Erwin over the wall? I'll look for more survivors here with the others. Y/N, you know where Levi is most of the time. Guide Floch, if you please."

He made it seem like I had some sort of tracker on Levi, but, realistically, he'd likely be where Eren is. The human controlling the beast titan likely has the same motives as Reiner and Berutol, which is to capture Eren, and Levi was following him.

Floch followed me to the wall, lugging Erwin with him, and I spotted Levi with Eren, Bertol and Mikasa on a rooftop... along with someone else.

"Who's the scorched one?" I mumbled. I knew that it had to be one of the younger ones, since it was too small to be someone from Hange's squad.

Floch didn't pause like I had. He immediately made his way towards Levi, placing Erwin on the rooftop at Levi's feet.

I can imagine the conversation: Floch begging Levi to give Erwin the injection, and Levi agreeing (knowing him). What I couldn't understand at first was why Eren perked up and glared at Levi, standing not even an inch away from him.

I could feel him seething from my spot atop the wall, even if it wasn't aimed towards me.

Then, I connected the dots, and realized that the scorched figure was Armin.

"What a hassle." Three practically inseparable friends losing one piece of their puzzle, and the remaining doing everything in their power to get him back, even if it didn't quite make sense.