Music: 2Volt
By Hiroyuki Sawano

Mikasa

Eren kneels in front of me and starts to deeply gaze at my eyes with his own sublime turquoise shiny ones. He looks worried.

"Mikasa... I'll be back. I'll come back soon for you. Just wait for me until then... Please, hold on..."

"I'll wait for you, Eren..." I replied trying to make a soothing smile. "As long as I'll need to."

He seems slightly relieved by my answer. It should be evident though... I'll always wait for him, as long as it would allow us to be together... I would put my life in his hands unhesitatingly. Is he thinking I don't trust him enough, or?... He closes his eyes and gets up. A sudden noise turns my gaze away. The door!

Eren

I end up stopping looking at her face. Every more second spent here will make our escape more difficult... I must be ready to fight to escape this place. If ever they arrived before that...

As for making my fears come true, the heavy metallic door opens before a Marley soldier. He is now facing me. He has a menacing look, he is pretty tall, extremely muscular, but more importantly heavily armed. However... I notice the key ring hanging on his belt. Could it allow me to release Mikasa?... Everything would have been so easier if I could have eliminated him directly... I wince. It's too late now. It wouldn't have been very difficult to ambush him and silently kill him with the surprise effect, but I won't have this chance. Behind him, we can see the ocean and the sky in a blinding light. Our destination...

"How the hell did you break free, you demon?! I'll make sure you won't escape that easily..."

I already know that this fight will be hard to win. Immediately, I catch the bloody blade between my teeth and rush towards the newcomer. Instantly, I came close to him and deviate his rifle with my arm. I knee him strongly in the stomach, making him bend because of the pain. He is out of breath. I guess I can thank Shadis for learning me this move, that was actually helpful. I did well to not neglect the hand-to-hand combat training back then.

However... It worked only for a few seconds, and the soldier stands up again. He smirks as he measures his advantage. I gauge my opponent. He looks really tough... He is physically stronger, but also more armed and fully enabled, unlike me.

And Mikasa... She is still tied up with this chains... If only she could have fought at my side... With her, this enemy wouldn't have been such a big deal. I notice that her wrists are bleeding by desperately pulling on her fetters, but she can't do anything against such solid chains. So, today, I don't fight only for my own life... I focus again on my opponent.

We are struggling relentlessly. I think I'm visibly more experienced, but the bullets of his gun are extremely hard to dodge. I always have to deviate the cannon to not be hit. And all of that, only with my elbows or my feet. While fighting, I notice that we moved towards the outside, near the barrier supposed to avoid any fall in the sea.

The soldier shoots at me with a rapid burst fire, but he only manages to pierce the wall. I strive to move agilely around him while kicking in specific spots since I can't punch him. I have to bend down and jump on the sides to take his heavy gun by speed. It would have been better solution to use his own weight and strength to unbalance him by seizing him bodily, and then control him on the floor... But my sectioned hands prevent me from doing so... This handicaps me and restricts my usable moves. If stay close to my enemy, I can dodge the bullets more easily and force him to fight me with bare hands. Succeeding in fighting with no weapon against all types of enemies was the result of years of intensive and hard work. I honestly believe that I'm not one of the best soldier in hand-to-hand combat for no reason... It was useless against titans, but here, it could allow me to survive. But sadly, I doubt that keeping on fighting this way would be enough win... My kicks won't allow me to eliminate him. However, something could work...

The soldier brutally pushes me away with the rifle butt, and I fell on the floor. I keep the blade tightly between my teeth and I immediately get up again to rush towards my enemy. If I stay in a weak position, I'm an easy target. The man reloads his rifle and shoots another astounding burst. I try to dodge the deadly bullets but I get hit nevertheless. I feel an intense pain in my shoulder. Some blood spurts out.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see that one of the bullets brushed against Mikasa's leg, leaving a scarlet slash. I put my amputated hand on my shoulder, and my blood flows along my arm. My enemy is already aiming at me again, only two meters away from me.

Now. That was the moment. He thinks I'm in a powerless position, unable to defend myself or escape him. But he is the one in danger. He is visibly unaware of the effectiveness of my self defense techniques, even in a hopeless situation... I place my arm on the floor and make my whole body rotate around it as I send my legs towards the soldier. I strongly kick his hands with my heels. That way I manage to make him drop his rifle and eject it several meters away. I immediately jump on him while he is weaponless. I roughly press my elbow on his throat to unbalance him as I swipe his legs, making him fall on his back. Then I approach my face from his throat which is now reachable, still holding the blade in my mouth. With a quick head movement, I slice open his throat with the keen blade.

The man widens his eyes in stupefaction. Blood is profusely gushing out from the gaping wound, and it flows slowly under the barrier to create a scarlet cloud in the water. The agonizing man tries to scream, but he only managed to utter an inaudible gurgle that is flooded by the blood. Still shaking because of what just did, I look at the glimmer of life slowly disappearing in the man's eyes. A tear ran down his cheek, and his face is totally different, without this expression of hatred like before. Now it is just expressing... The atrocious pain in which he was dying... Because of me. But at the last moment, he does something I was not expecting. Using his last forces, he unsheathe a long knife from his belt, and shove it in my back.

I feel the blade in my back without feeling the excruciating pain I was expecting. Everything seem unreal... I open the mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. I gasp for air but I can't breathe anymore. My vision is blurring, I have a ringing in my ears that cover the sound of distant voices. Everything I could see is fuzzy, I don't know where I am anymore, if what I see is the floor, the sky, a wall or my own body. All I can feel is this blade, this foreign metal deeply shoved in my back. I am petrified. My body can't make any movement. And then, at this moment only, the pain comes. Indescribable. My mind couldn't bear such an intense pressure... I feel like I am falling on my side, but I don't even feel my body hitting the floor. Everything is already black...

Then, I think it feels great. It is as if I feel refreshed to have my body torn apart. Enough for me... to think that I might as well die then.

I don't know how much time has passed... A few seconds only, several minutes, hours? I can't differentiate real from unreal... When I finally open my eyes again, I find myself in a familiar place... My home. My father is here, sitting at the table with his medicine books, like he usually does. My mother is here, right in front of me. She is smiling at me. However, something seems to be missing... But what? Whatever, I am too relieved to finally see my mother again... I walk towards her. Towards deliverance.

« Eren ! »

The memory of this voice makes me suddenly react. And prevented me from taking the last step. Why? Don't I deserve... to take this step? It would be so much easier... No. I can't think that. Because, in this world... I have people... waiting to see me come back.

« EREN ! »

This scream full of despair draws me out of my torpor. I slowly come back to reality... The cruel, sad and painful reality. But where hope is allowed. And to protect this hope, I made a promise... which I will never forget, and that transcend everything. And for now, I have only one goal. I must overcome this pain.

I open my eyes in a pool of blood. Under me, the man is dead. His inanimate eyes are now fixed on a distant point, as if they could see something invisible for us. Something is out of the pocket of his jacket. It is a photo, worn because of its numerous travels... I can see on it the soldier, with a happy and friendly face... And, by his side, a young woman, holding a little baby in her arms. I realize then that tears are flowing down my cheeks...

« Eren! » Mikasa shouts.

I don't have the time to worry if what I do is right or wrong. I can't hope to keep my hands clean. Yeah... The world is cruel. If I want to keep what is dear to me, I have to fight. It is as simple as that. If I don't fight... I can't win. I... must... fight. I put my two hands on the floor, and I start to straighten up. The pain in my back is unbearable, but I'll bear it though. I'll have to. I stand up, and grope for the knife in my back. I can feel the blade deeply shoved, the hot blood flowing down my fingers and the steam emitting from the wound. I can't do anything for the moment to free myself from this pain. I'll have to wait until I recover the full usage of my hands.

I look towards Mikasa. Her eyes are wide-open, and she stares at me with a mix of relief and shock. Her chains make a metallic noise by scraping the floor. The keys! If I pick them up, I would be able to free Mikasa, and we would be able to finally leave this place. I knee again near the corpse, and I detach the key ring from the dead soldier's belt. Freedom is in my hand...

"EREN! WATCH OUT!" Mikasa yells all of a sudden.

I look up to face another Marley. Crap! The noise must have alerted them! He stares for a short moment at the cadaver and then looks at me right in the eyes.

"Franz..." he mutters.

I know this look... He is mad. Mad with pain.

"YOU KILLED MY FRIEND?! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!"

He aims his gun at me and shoots. Immediately, my breath is literally taken away and my vision blurs. I feel myself falling...