Leo Simon
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The Empire Returns Chapter 12
🕑 Added 2023-05-21 12:50:52 +0000 UTCMikasa snuggled up to her boyfriend's side, feeling content and grateful for the moments of peace they were permitted to enjoy, she realises that these likely won't last but that won't stop her from enjoying moments like this before the real battles truly begin.
There are very few things that she genuinely dislikes about Eren but his need to fight the outside world I something that can't help but make her worry for his safety. Will he go picking fights against the entire world? What is he willing to do to beat the enemy? How much pain will he put himself through?
Questions like this are enough to make her tense up.
She let herself smile wholly whilst she slept by his side. They've been doing this a lot since they joined the Scouts, spending nights in each others embrace, talking until their exhaustion knocks them out among... other things.
Looking up she could see that the man she loves was already fast asleep, his eyes closed and an expression of pure peace written on his face. This on its own was enough to cool her nerves and choose to join him in the undisrupted experience of sleep.
She closed her eyes and prepared for undisturbed peace.
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"I just want to talk. Conflict isn't necessary to fix Eldias problems."
Huh?
Mikasa felt a jolt of confusion shock her when she finds herself in a completely different room to where she was resting with Eren, at the Scouts HQ, and after examining her surroundings she noticed that there are three adults in the room. One was blonde with a bowl cut, one was a woman with short black hair and the other was a broad man with his hair in a bun.
It was her, Armin and Eren!
She tried to speak but was unpleasantly surprised to find that her mouth wouldn't move, she couldn't feel her tongue, her teeth or any other part of her body at all. It was an eerie experience if nothing else. This is probably just a lucid dream, she'd wake up soon enough.
"Eren why are you doing all of this? Is Yelena making you do this?"
The way Armin is speaking was enough to take her mind off what he body was feeling. He was talking as though Eren were a ticking time bomb, like one wrong move would-
She focused on the table and managed to spot that the area of table cloth under his palm was red. Was he bleeding? Why would he- is he threatening them with his Titan powers?! Why would Eren do that?!
"I am free, Armin."
Those words made Mikasa wonder what was going on, she clearly didn't have context for the situation but this all seemed really off, Eren would never act this way towards her or Armin, somethings wrong here.
Looking closely at her boyfriend she noticed how... dead he looked. He looked as though he couldn't feel anything, she couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling at all.
This was not Eren, the man she loves is energetic, passionate, kind in his own way, and charismatic. This man looked the complete opposite.
"Every decision I make, every action, I'm governed by nothing but my own free will."
His words would make her frown if she could. Eren has always has a strong desire for freedom, it's who he is, it's just his nature, however he's never put freedom before her own happiness like this.
"So even though you met with Yelena in secret, your saying... that this was all you."
"Yes."
She knew just from a glance that her lookalike was extremely upset by his answer and watching her reaction was a bit unnerving for her.
"Your wrong. Your being manipulated, you'd never drag kids into this, even if they were enemies, and you wouldn't involve us either, you care about us more than anyone."
Hearing her own words made Mikasa feel a pang of hurt at Ere- no that's not Eren. Eren would never look at her like that, he loves her more than anyone, he's said that so many times that she knows it's true so why-
"Don't you? You rescued me from those kidnappers in the cabin! And wrapped this scarf around my neck! Because your a kind person!"
Hearing her own words from an outside perspective made Mikasa wince internally, hearing herself like this makes her wonder if she's ever talker like that. She might not be the most socially adept individual, but even she had to admit that those words coming from her mouth sounded more than a little desperate.
"I said to keep your hands on the table Mikasa."
Mikasas mind froze for a second at the tone of voice that he used against her. Never, even before the fall, did Eren ever use a tone that harsh and commanding when speaking to her. Just Hearing him speak to her like that was enough to make her heart feel as though it was stabbed with a knife.
What is going on? Why is he talking to her like that? looking at her like that?
"Back in Liberio I spoke to Zeke, brother to brother, he knows a lot, certainly more than Marley does."
What does he mean by brother? She's certain that Eren was an only child, did he mean something else by brother or did he mean it literally? She vaguely remembers Eren mentioning that he saw a boy named Zeke in his father's memories but are they really the same person?
"Armin why is it that you visit Annie? Do you really believe that it's out of your own free will? If memories play a crucial part in making a person who they are then part of you has become Bertolt, an enemy soldier who has feelings for another enemy. Bertolt has gotten into your head."
Erens cold and harsh words were so alien to her that she simply couldn't believe that him and her boyfriend were the same people. He'd never talk to the people he loves like that, why is he doing this?
"Hey! Why would you-"
"Your being manipulated too. The Ackerman family was created to guard the royal family, to show complete devotion to the king of Eldia. Their awakening power is dormant in every member of the family, until in that life or death situation you heard me order you to fight. That strength, that certainty, in that moment was awakened because you mistook me for your host, the one that you are meant to protect."
Her mind went blank at his words and she momentarily turns her attention away from the conversation going on in front of her. What is he talking about? What does her fathers family have to do with this?
Thinking back to her childhood Mikasa can very vaguely remember her father talking about some special power his family has but she doesn't really remember the details. Either way she has no idea what he's talking about or why he's making up lies to her but it hurts so much.
"Your part of a family that was made and designed for the sole purpose of protecting the royal family, you're a slave."
Mikasa feels a her breathing stop for a moment at his cold and terrible words, even though she doesn't have a mouth, and her heart isn't given time to recover as he continues his relentless assault.
"You know what I hate most in this world? People who aren't free. They're no more than cattle."
Every single insulting word felt like a kick to the gut for Mikasa as and she didn't even register Armins words of defense. What is he talking about? Why would he ever-
"Just looking at you was enough to piss me off like crazy, now I know why. I couldn't stand looking at a slave that just stood by and faithfully obeyed orders."
Right now Mikasa wanted nothing more than to simply plug her ears and ignore the scene in front of her, to push it out of her mind, to forget, however no matter how hard she tried she couldn't pry her eyes and ears from the scene in front of her. She couldn't turn away as those green eyes spoke the only words that she's positive she never ever wanted to hear in her life.
"Ever since we were kids, I've always hated you, Mikasa."
Her heart seemed to shatter as her unblinking eyes stared in disbelief and horror at the words the man she loves spoke with such venom.
The world around her seemed to fade away and disappear in a cloud of steam but still she couldn't seem to focus on anything other than the words of that man that looked like Eren- that couldn't be Eren, Eren would never-
Suddenly her surroundings changed once again and instead of being confined inside a dining room with just three people she was watching over what looked to be a massive battle with two massive Titans that lacked skin battling it out.
One of them looked like little more than a skeleton and the other had long black hair but that didn't matter, because flying above them was a Titan with wings that flew near the long haired Colossal Titans face.
Her mind was momentarily preoccupied from the battle in front of her, with the previous memory slipping her mind, and she noticed that there were two people riding on top of the flying Titan who suddenly dived onto the face of the massive behemoth that just smashed the face of its skeletal opponent in and its jaw just seemed to explode as someone dived into the mouth of the massive Titan much to her shock.
Her surroundings shifted once again and she finds herself inside of the mouth of that Titan and inside the entrance to the throat is... a horrific sight.
It was a decapitated head with the spine stretching out and their long hair slewn in front of their face with the only thing keeping them alive likely being the flashy tendrils that seemed to hold it in place. It was a disturbing sight if nothing else.
Suddenly a woman, the one from the previous scene literally phased through her and ran with two ODM blades positioned to strike down the one who resided inside the Titans mouth.
It was at that moment that the head seemed to shift as it, or rather he, looked up at the woman with a peaceful expression, and almost looked thankful that she was about to kill him, as she brought her swords down and decapitated him.
Mikasa had to hitch her breath slightly when she realised who the owner of that head was... Eren? It was Eren and that woman who looks like her just-
"Goodbye, Eren."
She screamed in pain as a massive headache, far worst than any she's ever experienced, caused her head to throb and she closed her eyes in pain as her newly formed hands clutched her temples in pain for the few seconds of agony she endured.
When she peeled her eyes open she came to the realisation that she'd been once more transported into another different plane from before.
The grey sand under her feet felt unusually fine, almost fleshy in a strange way, and there seemed to be nothing around for miles except a strange pillar of light in the distance that resembled a tree.
A shadow suddenly loomed behind her and she slowly turned around to be met with the imposing figure of Erens Titan form. Its eyes were completely enveloped in an aura of bright green and the deeper she looked into them the more her thoughts seemed to slip through her fingers.
"Mi- kasa."
The words came out as a hazy grunt but his Titan still seemed to speak despite the lack of lips, she had no idea that Titan Shifters could speak but then again it wasn't all that outlandish when compared to what else the Shifters are meant to be able to do.
"Mikasa."
The Titan once again repeated itself and she wondered what it was doing.
"Mikasa."
She looked around since that one sounded a lot more human, and right next to her ear, do is Eren-
Suddenly everything around her disappeared and images seemed to flash before her eyes in rapid succession so fast that she didn't have time to process her own feelings of panic.
A mountain of bones.
The Walls coming down.
A blonde girl dressed in rags.
Erens head being chopped off.
An explosion of light with nothing but Erens Attack Titan form in the middle staring into her soul with green eyes of-
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"Mikasa are you alright?"
Mikasa allowed her sealed eyes to crack open when she heard the voice of the man she loves call out to her.
She awakens to see a completely different man than the one in her dreams. Not by appearance, not by age, but by that look in his eyes. Instead of disgust and anger he looked at her with love and concern, instead of an expression of cold indifference he gazed at her with an expression of worry at her unresponsiveness.
"Yes, I'm fine... Eren." Her words clearly weren't enough to soothe his worries but nevertheless he decides not to press for answers. That's good, Mikasa doesn't really think she'd know how to answer him.
He then turns his back and she realises that he's completely dressed and ready for the day. Oh it looks like she overslept.
"Ever since we were kids, I've always hated you, Mikasa."
Those words were enough to make her head throb again and she decided that she just couldn't help but ask. Just thinking about those words he told her made her feel like she'd just swallowed shards of glass.
"Eren, do you hate me?" Just asking that was enough to make tears build up in her eyes and she suddenly regretted asking such a question.
In response Eren freezes in place at the question before turning to face his girlfriend." Why would you ask that?"
Mikasa couldn't muster the strength to face him after a Question like that and immediately felt like disappearing.
"Why would you ask something like that?" He walked back over to her and sat on the bed with her, concern written all over his face." I could never hate you Mikasa, I love you more than anyone. Where would you get the idea that I'd ever hate you?"
She froze a little at the tone of his words, they were nothing like that Erens, her Eren spoke to her with such care and concern and love that he couldn't feel like that ever. So why-
He pecked her on the cheek hastily before standing up." We need to get dressed, we'll be late." He spoke referring to the time of day and that they couldn't really afford to be wasting time.
She immediately nodded and tried her best to push the idea out of her mind. That dream was just a dream. It was nothing. She shouldn't be ridiculous, Eren would never talk to her like that.
But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't seem to convince herself.
