Chapter 22

   It was some time since Armin had sacrificed himself yet not one titan had appeared. There was something suspicious about the situation and a part of me thought about my father again. This couldn’t be his doing though, could it? The forest was silent and we glided by, only the wind responding with a low whistle. A crow hovered above us, screeching and flapping its black wings. Then, it flew away. Was this crow a premonition, warning us about death? I must be overthinking this.

   The sunlight seeped through the thicket of trees while the forest seemed to be alive yet dead. There were signs of life everywhere with the overgrown bushes and trees but nothing seemed to move. Only occasionally would an animal such as birds fly by. We were alone and isolated in this forest that I used to call home. No one dared to shatter the silence as if we were worried that the titans would hear and find us. Finally, there seemed to be an opening up ahead. The sunlight cascaded down the labyrinth of trees and led the way. However, as if fate had connected us with string to these monsters, a horde of titans appeared, blocking the opening. Fate had tied titans and humans together; there was no escape for either. Humans would always be haunted by the titans while the titans would always yearn for humans. The titans destroyed the peace and tranquility of the forest while they rampaged towards us.

   Levi narrowed his eyes as they locked onto the titans’ movements. He positioned his blades in such a way that it would increase speed and usage. Then, he seemed to bend over a bit and commanded, “Lukas and I will distract and kill the titan,” Levi averted his eyes towards me, “Erik will carry Eren and you will go with him. Go towards the opening and see what’s out there.”

   I nodded and followed Erik as he maneuvered towards the right, avoiding the titans. Levi and Lukas were skillfully taking out the titans. They are professionals at this; I shouldn’t have to worry about them. While flying through the eye, I saw Eren’s face. He was unconscious and oblivious to what was going on. He seemed so peaceful while in reality it was chaos. When he wakes up, he would figure out about Armin’s sacrifice and then who knows what would happen?

   I neared the exit of the forest. Just one more step… The sunlight blinded me for a moment and I wondered what I would see. I saw a vast field of pebbles and dirt. Up ahead, there was a cliff jerking out of the mountain. However, far beyond the field and cliff was the oblivion I saw in my dreams. I couldn’t find a word for it since I never saw it but I knew it was the flaming water. The water seemed like it was flaming because of the sunlight’s luminous rays. The oblivion was blue and sparkled and shimmered. It had wrinkles that danced every few seconds and it was all different shades of blue. There were white birds lingering above that squawked and sometimes dived into the oblivion. The oblivion was never ending and all I could see in the horizon was the sky colored in a variety of warm, light tones. Both wispy, fluffy, and plump clouds littered the sky towards the horizon as well, complimenting the blue of the water and sky. Ocean! The word had suddenly popped into my mind while I gazed at the oblivion. Then, the oblivion must be an ocean.

   Erik and I were star-struck at the beauty of the ocean. We saw something we never saw before; it was only natural that we were frozen for a few moments. It took a while to appreciate all the nature like the ocean. It was almost too overwhelming for me. This must be how it feels to be free. I was no longer in the cramped walls but outside, experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime moment. No words came out and my mind was calm. There was no more panic and chaos at that moment. I had never seen so much water together in my whole life. I almost felt regretful because before when I had lived in that very forest, if I only ventured deeper, I could reveal and experience this wonder sooner. But that was a selfish thought for then the others with me could never see this sight.

   The peacefulness was yet again broken as the titans kept on mindlessly running towards Levi and Lukas. I heard the fighting in the distance but didn’t turn back. I didn’t want to innocence and peace of the ocean to be ruined by the blood and titans. Finally, I mustered up my courage to say, “Erik, this is called an ocean.”

   We continued to walk towards the ocean and Erik replied, “How do you know? I never knew something this beautiful had a name.”  

   Trying to lift the mood, I cheerfully retorted, “Well I guess Erik found his true love. Maybe this is what it feels like to experience love, right Erik, master and sensei of love?”

   Erik just smiled and continued to walk while still holding Eren. After a while of walking, the fighting couldn’t be heard anymore and we were nearing the cliff. Suddenly, Eren moved and his eyes lifted. He was still in a groggy state with one eye half open and the other shut. Just then, he instantly awakened and jumped out of Erik’s hold. However, he staggered around. I realized that Eren still might not be able to see. He asked, “Who’s with me right now and where am I?”

   I worriedly answered, “Eren, you still can’t see?” I noticed the injury on his eye. “Erik and I are here with you right now. Right in front of you is the flaming water. Remember? We’re outside the walls. Lukas and Levi are inside the forest I used to live in fighting titans.”

   “They’re still fighting titans?” Eren asked.

    I realized that it had been a while already. They didn’t come and reunite with us yet. How selfish of me, I was just entranced by the ocean and forgot about Levi and Lukas.

   “Erik, can you go and see if Lukas and Levi are fine? I know that they are both skilled soldiers but even they can get into trouble if there are too many titans,” I asked Erik.

   He nodded but then added, “Will you be fine alone? What if a titan comes?”

   I smiled slightly and reassured, “Don’t worry; I’ll be able to fight them.”

   Erik turned around and ran towards the forest again. I watched him leave to make sure he safely left. He disappeared into the distance and I turned towards Eren. I lifted up his arm and placed it around my shoulder so I could lead him since he couldn’t see. He seemed to understand so I slowly walked until we were standing on the cliff.

    “Here, you can sit down now,” I told him.

   He sat down and felt the ground. Then, he asked, “Where’s Armin? I don’t think you mentioned where he was.”

   Guilt started consuming my insides and I started to feel nervous. Of course, Eren would never forget about his best friend. I tried to start talking but I was afraid of his reaction. It was like saying he died so I could live. Everyone would have trouble in this situation.

   I gulped and stuttered, “H-he… h-he, he sacrificed himself. I had no more gas so he gave me his leftover gas. He stayed behind on a branch. I… I doubt he’ll survive… I’m sorry!”

   Eren was silent for a while but then broke down. “Why? Armin promised we would see the outside world together. If only… Why didn’t anyone carry Armin? I’m sure I was carried. I’m useless right now; you should’ve brought Armin instead of me. I’m blind and weak. I can’t even turn into a titan.” Eren bit hard into his hand but he didn’t transform. “Armin can think. I can’t even make up good strategies. I can’t fight right now. I can’t even see the outside world even when Armin sacrificed himself! He should be alive. The titans won’t find him.”

   Eren tried to reassure himself by repeating that Armin should be alive but I bet he knew that it was impossible in this world. Luck meant nothing.

   “I’m sorry!” I repeated, while bowing my head several times although he could not see.

   “Damn it!” Eren yelled in agony as he punched the ground.

   It was like this for a few more minutes. There was just regret, agony, and anguish as we both mourned for Armin. Tears painted the cliff and even the beauty of the ocean couldn’t comfort me anymore. It was impossible to hide the fact that I caused Eren and Armin pain. After we mourned, we got over it. We both knew that mourning would do nothing. We had to be strong or else we would get eaten by the titans.

    “The flaming water is ahead of me?” Eren pried, wondering.

   “Yeah. It’s called an ocean. It’s not actually flaming but the sunlight is shining on it, making it seem to be on fire. The ocean is filled with water and it keeps moving. It seems alive. There are white birds that fly over the ocean; they’re like the opposite of crows and ravens. The blue oblivion has wrinkles and there are waves. It never seems to end. In the horizon, there’s the sky. In the sky there’s the bright sun and wispy clouds. The ocean seems to sparkle and shimmer.” Tears started to fall from my eyes. It was upsetting to me that I had to describe the ocean to Eren. Eren could not see this beautiful sight. I sobbed and covered my mouth with my hand, trying to muffle the noises. Eren seemed to notice this but when I peered up, he was crying too.

   “Go on. I want to experience it while you describe it to me,” Eren said, his voice cracking as tears slowly fell from his injured eyes.

   “W-we’re on a cliff right now. It’s overhanging off a mountain and overlooks the ocean. To the sides of the ocean, there’s sand. There are fields of sand. The ocean waves lick the sand and return back. Here, I’ll lead you down the cliff and we can stand on the sand and feel the water of the ocean,” I suggested.

   Eren nodded. I helped him stand and again wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I sauntered slowly down a hill that was next to the cliff. The hill connected the cliff to the ground where there was sand and the ocean. I slowly led Eren down the hill, making sure he wouldn’t fall. Eren made small hesitant steps for he couldn’t see. Finally, we arrived on the sand. Eren crunched his toes together, feeling the sand. Without any hesitation, he ran around on the sand, no, he ran around on the beach with joy.   

   “This is a beach,” I told him, still wondering how I knew what these were called.

   I sprinted after him, kicking off my shoes, feeling the course sand. A smile spread onto my face and the sand was hot yet firm and cool. I found an object lying in the sand and I picked it up and dusted the sand off. I blew on it and it had ridges on it and had a slight curve. It was pale and slightly pink while the underside was white. It had lines and I wondered if it came from the ocean. Shell! It was a shell, then.

   I caught up to Eren and placed the shell into his hand.

   “What is it?” Eren curiously asked, feeling the shell carefully with his hand.

   “It’s a shell. I’m not really sure what it does but I think it comes from the ocean,” I responded, taking the shell back.

    “How about I take you to the ocean?”

   I took Eren’s hand and pulled him towards the water. He seemed to feel the water. The water was cold but refreshing to my feet. I cupped some water into my hands and tasted it but immediately spit it out. It was strangely salty. I cupped water again and gave some to Eren while he had the same reaction. 

   “So it is true,” he said.

    “What’s true?” I inquired.

   “The water is salty. It was included in the book that Armin showed me. I thought that it was impossible because salt was so expensive inside the walls,” he explained.

   “Well I guess this ocean is where you get salt. Since everyone is confined in the walls, no one can get salt from the ocean. That’s probably what makes it expensive,” I said, piecing things together.

   After more playing and splashing water, I started to take Eren up the hill again. However, this time, I saw a cave cut into the side of the cliff. I led Eren into there and muttered, “Now, we’re in a cave inside the cliff.”

   “Is it dark?”

   I scanned the cave. “It’s not that dark because the sun lights up the edge of the cave. But it’s a little deep and it’s completely dark there.”

   Suddenly, loud noise above us was heard. It was a thumping noise… as if a titan was walking around.

   “Eren, stay here. I’ll go kill the titan,” I ordered.

   Eren resisted but I warned him and finally convinced him to stay. I nervously walked up the hill. There, standing at the cliff was a familiar titan. It was the titan that I had seen before. It was the titan that had taken me to the forest after that one titan attack. It was the titan that made me realize that titans were enemies. It was a titan that almost seemed to understand me like Erik. But things were different now. I had a clear idea in my head that titans were not friendly. It was my mission to kill this titan and protect Eren.

   I charged at the titan, hooking onto its back. However, my feet wouldn’t lift. Did I already use the gas that Armin gave me? The titan jerked to the side and my hook fell off. I had no choice now. I ran while its eyes were looking towards the ocean and attempted to slice its heels. But it had faster reflexes and awareness than other titans. It dodged and kicked me. I flew and hit the ground. Was I going to die now? Was I going to die this easily?

   “I won’t lose to you!” I gritted through my teeth. Blood started falling from my head and my body ached after being tossed to the hard ground. My knees and elbows were dirty and bruised while my hair stuck to the blood on my cheeks. I struggled to stand and whipped out new blades. I yelled and fought back. I successfully cut one heel but it wasn’t deep enough. The titan turned around and made eye contact with me, staring at me while I stood next to its heels. Then, it swatted me away with its large hand. Was I always this weak? Can I not fight back? Can I not win?

   The battle continued. I was tossed around while the titan was playing around with me. As I kept on fighting, I wondered why it wouldn’t eat me. But it came to the point when I was lying hopeless on the floor gasping for breath. I was in no more condition to fight and my legs were too hurt to stand. The titan towered over me with its creepy smile. It bent over and started to reach for me. Right before it grabbed me, I grabbed my last resort. I took out the shot that I found with my father’s letter. I didn’t know what it would do but I could only hope that I could protect Eren. I won’t let you win! With one hand, I injected the shot into my neck.  

~*~ THIRD PERSON POV

   Levi and Lukas were fighting the titans. The titans seemed to keep coming but the last titan was clumsily running towards them. Levi advanced the titan and with one swift move sliced its neck. It fell down, adding to the pile of dead titans. The forest was filling up with titan steam. Levi wiped himself and his blades of titan blood while Lukas replaced his old blades. Then, they checked their gas tanks. There seemed to be a little less than half of gas left in Levi’s tank while Lukas had about one-fourth of his gas left. However, they both only had about two more new blades to use from.

   Suddenly, a man appeared out from the trees. It was a man Levi knew and despised. The man was Ria’s father. He was still cloaked in his black cape and hat. His presence alone was sick, evil, and inhumane-like. The man clapped and chortled, “You guys are better than I thought. It was entertaining watching. I never knew that you could kill that many titans.”

   Levi narrowed his eyes and said with disgust, “What are you doing here, you piece of sh*t? I should’ve killed you before.”

   “Now, now, shouldn’t you be nicer to me? I am giving you a break right now. There aren’t any more titans, right? Who should you thank? Me. Who should you thank for being alive right now? Me. You should worship me. Kneel down and thank me. I was prioritizing your safety,” Ria’s father declared with mighty hand gestures.

   “No one can control the titans,” Lukas pointed out. Lukas’s suspicions about the man increased.

   “Why should I worship you? You should be glad that I didn’t kill you when I had the chance. You f*cking sh*t head, why don’t you go and die from a titan already?” Levi retorted.

    “Well, you are an amusing man! I can’t die right now. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that I can’t! I can control titans,” Ria’s father said.

   Erik started coming from behind and flew faster after seeing his father. He yelled, “What are you doing here?”

    Ria’s father turned around in surprise and muttered, “Why, if it isn’t Erik, my son.”

   “Who are you calling, son? You’re not a thing I can call a father. You’re not even human,” Erik angrily responded.

   “That’s quite insulting, son. I’ve treated you well and even gave you hearing better than everyone else. I’m sure you know what’s going on right now,” Ria’s father calmly stated.

   Erik focused for a bit and then realized the situation. He then became furious and gripped his father’s neck and interrogated, “What the h*ll did you do to Ria?”

   Levi and Lukas immediately became concerned. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard. It reverberated throughout the whole forest.

   Ria’s father seemed amused and laughed. Then, his face became dark and he said with malice, “The experiment seemed to have been a success. Why don’t you guys go see yourself?”

   Levi seemed p*ssed and kicked the man. Ria’s father’s back hit the trunk of a tree. Levi took out a blade and positioned it right by the man’s neck. 

   “Killing me won’t change anything. It was already a success,” Ria’s father warned.

    “Die. This is for ruining everyone’s life,” Levi whispered as he slit the man’s neck. The man limped to the side. He was dead.

   “Heichou, was that necessary?” Lukas asked, eyeing the dead man.

   “It was needed. If you knew about everything he did, you would agree too that he is better off dead,” Erik responded while Levi started leading all of them towards Ria and Eren. They were all concerned and curious about what the man had said. What was this success of an experiment?

~*~

   Everyone was shocked at what they saw on the cliff. It was not Ria… Ria was nowhere to be seen. There was no sign of her death anywhere. However, instead there was a boy sitting in a puddle of blood. Everyone neared the boy and inside the boy’s hand was a charm. It was the same charm that Erik had given to Ria as a present. When interrogated, the boy would not say anything.

   Later, they found Eren alive inside the cave in the cliff. After listening to Eren’s explanation, the story was figured out. Ria had fought a titan. But then Ria turned into a titan somehow. The titan ate Ria and transformed back into a human. It fit perfectly with Hanji’s theory before.

   No one knew what to do with the boy. People were afraid to kill him because they thought that Ria might still be a part of the boy. Ria’s memories might still be a part of the boy. The boy was locked up in case of danger. The boy was an unpredictable threat according to other soldiers but still was not killed. If he decided to talk, the Survey Corps would probably receive important information.  

   Ria was not forgotten in soldier’s minds. The division that went on the expedition with Ria had successfully made it back to the wall. It was a miracle that some say was given by Ria. Ria stayed in the hearts of many. She was never given a proper funeral for her body was never found. Her body was essentially inside the boy now. No one knew if the boy actually was Ria. After the titan ate Ria, Ria could’ve became the boy. There were many theories created.

   As new soldiers enrolled into the Survey Corps, they heard about Ria. They heard about the girl who had once befriended the titans. But they never knew her true story. However, to this day, no one knew what experiments Ria’s father did or the mystery behind Ria. Her story seemed to be forever a mystery.

~*~

That is the last chapter, people! It was a bit weak at the end because I rushed a little bit but I hope you enjoyed it! Don't hate me for killing Ria. >.< Oh and before I forget, please vote for my story for Best Title in the SnK Watty Awards before it’s too late! Anyway, THANK YOU for reading my story! I give an extra thanks to those who take their time to vote or even comment. Those fans really helped me and motivated me to keep writing. I never knew that this story would come this far! To be honest, before this, I never once finished a story. There’s a feeling of satisfaction when you finish a story and you’re proud of it. I’m once again really thankful to all of my readers! BUT! I might make a sequel about the boy and Ria’s mystery if I get enough inspiration for it. But school is getting harder and I’ve been struggling to update every week so I might not update as often for the sequel. I’m more likely to make a KnB fanfic though. It will be light hearted and funny unlike this story. I have two ideas though; one is funny and light while the other is a little more action packed. I might do two at a time, who knows? I hope you guys will continue to support me with my other upcoming stories! Thank you again and see you in another book! ^.^