𝙃𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 || Eren Jaeger

𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝

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(1 week later)

IT WOULD BE NAIVE to say that after winning back Trost, thus stamping humanity's first victory in every history textbook, that things ended in a happily ever after. The truth? It's hard to feel like victors after assessing the true aftermath of the battle.

"Marco's dead."

I go still, unsure if heard him right. "What did you say?"

I stare at Jean from my spot on the infirmary bed. The silence choking us is palpable.

"Jean?" I inquire again. Though I've already got my answer.

He simply shifts closer, sits on the bed, and tips sideways until I catch him in a hug, and he breaks. For an hour he cries, and I rub his back, trying to overcome my own shock too.

I was hospitalized two hours after that mysterious Survey Corps soldier showed up. Apparently I collapsed. I don't remember much of the seconds leading up to it; Mikasa's says that shortly after I handed Eren to the soldier who performed the heroic rescue, the one wearing the wings of freedom, I simply turned, walked maybe two steps, and dropped like a sack of potatoes. The nurse mentioned it was a lack of fluids and intense dehydration. The time spent in that titan's boiling stomach literally sucked the life out of me.

I was better off than many, however, so there's no feeling sorry for myself. The amount of soldiers who sustained disabling injuries surpasses hundreds. After sleeping for two days under the constant monitor of a doctor and replenishing nutrients, I was good to go.

"So..." I look at Mikasa and Armin, who sit with me now in the lunchroom. Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt have gone off to who knows where, failing to tell me again. But I won't bitch about it. Besides, they payed me enough visits at the infirmary, so many that it came to the point where I had to ask for some space. But I appreciated their concern. "Any updates?" I ask.

We don't have to formally address the topic. They know what I mean. It's the only thing that's been on our minds ever since the breach was sealed.

Armin picks at his food, frowning. "There are rumors that there's going to be a debate."

"A debate over Eren?" Mikasa says sourly. "What for?"

"I'm not sure, but it might be about what they plan to do with him." He says.

Uh oh. I see Mikasa's hands clench and unclench. "What does that mean?"

Armin stares down at the table sorrowfully. "It... It means..." He seems too choked to say it, but at this point, he doesn't have to.

Comprehension dawns on my face. "They're going to decide if he lives or dies." I mumble.

A chair scrapes loudly against the floor. Mikasa has shot up from her seat, shocked. She stares at us with eyes that beg for the situation to be false, as if we have the power to control that.