Hello, Drinor here. I'm happy to publish a new Chapter of The Empire of Titans.
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The following 15 chapters are already available to Patrons.
Chapter 77 (Return to Shiganshina), Chapter 78 (A Father's Love), Chapter 79 (The Ocean), Chapter 80 (Prisoners of War), Chapter 81 (Checkmate), Chapter 82 (A Night of Love), Chapter 83 (To Eren Yeager), Chapter 84 (Marley), Chapter 85 (Annie's Truth), Chapter 86 (The Enemies Beyond the Sea), Chapter 87 (Yelena), Chapter 88 (Heavy is the Crown), Chapter 89 (A Friend's Guilt), Chapter 90 (Hizuru), and Chapter 91 (Grenades, Love, and New Guests) are already available for Patrons.
' Pieck had felt the ceiling shaking, and soon, all started crumbling down all over her; she was sure that this was the end for her; she would get crushed to death; she wasn't sure what was happening outside and what was causing the ground to shake, for a moment, she had feared the worst, the thought of the Colossal Titans escaping the walls, and flattening the world had entered her mind, but soon, despite all the falling rocks, and the sound inside the cave, she had heard movement, but it sounded more like a single big titan being nearby rather than the Colossal Titans beginning their march, so with relief floating in her body like a calming river, she had leaned her back against the wall and had waited for something to happen.
It took two days for her to hear something again, and she quickly recognized the sound of Titan's footsteps approaching. Pieck stood up, despite not drinking water for two days, she still held enough strength to stand up on her feet. She waited, and soon, the massive rock that blocked the view was suddenly grabbed; she recognized the fingers, and when it was moved away, the sun illuminated everything, and a giant face with blonde hair looked back at her..
For a very brief moment, Pieck was happy to see her again, to see Annie. She knew it was her and not someone else using the Female Titan; her blonde hair and blue eyes gave it away. But all the happiness crumbled away like dust the very next second. She remembered what Annie had done. She had betrayed them, betrayed me, she thought, feeling a sharp pain in her heart.
Annie seemed to have noticed that it was her. Despite not seeing each other for almost six years now, she still recognized her. Pieck tried to keep a passive face. She refused to show any kind of feelings towards her, and it seemed Annie wasn't alone. She saw someone else. She was using... the ODM Gear. She remembered the name as the soldier landed near her cell. Pieck took steps back as the ginger-haired girl walked in front of her cell.
"Annie, is this Pieck?" The girl asked, looking at the Female Titan over her shoulder; Annie nodded almost reluctantly.
"Yes, stand back, Petra," Annie said with her deep voice. The ginger girl whose name was Petra, apparently, quickly walked away, giving her space, as Annie reached out with her giant hand. Pieck remained silent as the cage was quickly forced open, almost like opening an egg. Once the bars were destroyed, Petra appeared once again.
"You can come out now, Annie. Reiner was found by Captain Levi and Mike," Petra shouted. Pieck felt her heart fall into a pit. It seemed he was in their custody once again, but despite that, Pieck refused to show any emotion on her face.
The Female Titan leaned her head down, her forehead touching the ground. A burst of steam came out from the nape, and Annie burst out, her face still hidden by the many tissues still attached to it. Pieck watched in silence as Annie used a knife to cut off the tissues.
Now, her face was visible to her. She wasn't as different as she expected; she looked like the same Annie she remembered, but she reminded herself that the Annie in front of her wasn't the same one who used to be her best friend, the same one who had sleepovers in her house. The one in front of her was a traitor.
Just as she expected, Annie quickly ran up to her. Pieck remained mute as the blonde entered the broken cell.
"Piecki, you have to come with us—" The moment she said her nickname, Pieck glared at her. A burst of hot rage filled her, and before she knew it, she threw herself at Annie. One of her arms was stumped, but the other one would do just fine.
"You Traitor, you Bitch-" She screamed with rage, punching Annie in the face with all the strength she had, breaking her nose, she expected her to block it, but she just laid there and took it.
She was about to punch her again when a set of arms grabbed her from behind. Pieck used that opportunity to quickly throw herself behind, catching the ginger girl off guard. The moment they fell behind, she heard her groaning in pain, but Pieck didn't care as she quickly tried to use the hidden blade. The moment she tried, she was tackled by Annie, who quickly grabbed her right wrist, holding the tiny blade.
Pieck tried to fight back, but Annie grabbed her wrist tightly until she was forced to let go of the blade.
"It's over, Pieck. You are making this worse," Annie told her, but Pieck's glare almost made her flinch.
"You traitor. I thought we were friends, but you betrayed everyone. You betrayed me. Did all that time together mean NOTHING TO YOU?" Pieck screamed at her, almost crying, letting out all the anger and fury she felt for Annie.
Her former friend at least looked away, showing a tiny hint of regret, but Pieck knew it wasn't because of what she had done. There was perhaps another reason, but not because of what she had done to Reiner, Bertholdt, and Marcel.
"Pieck, I'm sorry." She didn't know why, but suddenly, she felt it coming from deep within her belly. She couldn't stop it, and Pieck burst out laughing as if Annie had just said the best joke in the world. Even Annie was caught off guard by her laughter.
Pieck held her stomach, eventually gaining back her breath after laughing. "Sorry," Pieck repeated the word with mockery as Annie stood up from her. The ginger girl kept her distance as if knowing this discussion was between the two and didn't want to intervene.
"You betrayed your comrades for people that you have known only for five years; you got Marcel killed," Pieck shouted with venom, knowing Porco would be heartbroken when he learned the truth about his brother.
"I didn't kill him. Marcel died before we even reached the walls the first time, a Titan was buried underground and ambushed us when we walked past it, it was about to grab Reiner, but Marcel pushed him away, and got eaten instead of him. I'm sorry for what happened to him." Annie answered sincerely, her voice seeping with regret.
Pieck wanted to say that Annie was lying, but she had known her long enough to know she wasn't lying. Annie wasn't one to lie; if she didn't want to tell you something, she would most likely tell you to get lost.
"You are not sorry." Pieck sneered as she spoke, glaring up at Annie, who looked back at her. "Why would you be?"
"I am sorry, but only because of you. You were the only thing keeping me sane the first two years I was in this place. I'm sorry for betraying you, Pieck." Her words sounded sincere, Pieck knew that, but such words wouldn't change anything.
"But I don't regret it. Even if I somehow had a second chance, I would have made the same decisions." Annie's words hurt more than she wanted to admit, and her eyes burned, but she would never give her the satisfaction.
Pieck knew sooner or later she would die; if not a bullet or poison, then the Curse of Ymir would do the job for her.
"Then I hope you burn in hell, Annie. I never want to see your face ever again." She spat the words with as much venom as she could muster. She watched her face break, almost crying, but Pieck couldn't find in her to care, good. It should hurt her; she only wished it hurt even more than it did.
"Annie," The ginger girl approached, looking at her with concern before glaring down at Pieck.
"...I'm fine," she said, clearly lying. Her face was as blank as a rock, trying to hide how much it hurt. She knew Pieck would hate her guts for betraying their comrades but hearing such words still hurt.
Pieck didn't say anything. She stared down at the ground. She was almost numb and didn't try to fight back again. What was the point? Her Titan was not made for combat, and she knew Annie would never let her get away. Not mentioning that there were perhaps a hundred of these soldiers with ODM Gear strapped in their waists, Pieck knew she stood no chance. All she could hope for right now was a quick death.
.
.
Since putting her in jail, Annie had visited her, trying to talk to her, but Pieck refused to acknowledge her presence. She wanted to get her to speak, to convince her to change sides, but she never said a word; what was the point? Even if Annie was truly one of them, what could she do? She doubted she had much political power to convince them she was better kept alive than dead, so why was Annie even talking? But even if she truly had that kind of power, Pieck would never join her; she would rather die; she never considered herself loyal to Marley; why would she be? But she was loyal to her friends and, most importantly, to her father. But there was one thing that hurt more than anything else.
Her Father.
Since being in jail, every time she closed her eyes to sleep, she would see her father; he would call out her name, wanting her home. She tried to run towards him, but the more she ran, the further away he got until a shadow looking like a human rose from the ground behind her father, holding a knife.
Despite how much she screamed, how much she begged, the shadow man would plunge his knife deep into her father's heart. She would fall on her knees and watch as he died.
The dream repeated every night, the same one. The girl, Petra, seemed to have noticed her lack of sleep. She and Annie were the only ones visiting her jail, Annie for obvious reasons, but Petra had the duty to bring her food. Every time she came, she would tell Pieck a little about the people inside the walls. While she didn't care, she still listened to her words; she was better than Annie, after all.
"You are not sleeping well," Pieck blinked. She looked at the ginger girl through the bars of the cell, who pointed a finger at her face. "You have bags under your eyes," she pointed out. Pieck blinked again before touching her face, and the skin felt cold, much colder than normal.
"If you want, I can bring you a new pillow," Petra suggested with a smile, but Pieck didn't return the smile; she narrowed her gaze at her.
"What's the catch? Because I doubt you treat all prisoners like this?" Pieck demanded, trying to sound threatening. She remembered how Reiner was treated by them, and it disgusted her, so why treat her as if she were one of them?
"There's no catch, but Annie is worried about you." Pieck didn't care what Annie thought but couldn't help but wonder why the ginger girl cared.
"What is Annie to you?" Pieck asked with a blank look.
"We are not like that." Petra quickly answered with a giggle. "She's just a friend, you know after the Breach of Trost, she was placed in a cell, and I was the only one who talked to her, because I knew she needed someone. So, she's a dear friend of mine."
In a way, Petra reminded Pieck of herself. She was always friendly with everyone back at Marley and never really annoyed with people. "Well, she will betray you. The moment she sees she is on the losing side, she will betray you all and run crying to Marley." Pieck said the words with bitterness; in a way, she felt like she was talking to herself.
"Annie would never do that. She told me about you, and about her father. You can't blame her for not wanting to return to a monster like him." Petra said gently, trying to make her understand, but her words had the opposite effect.
What about me?? Pieck almost shouted at the girl, but she didn't want to say that, to make it clear how much her betrayal hurt, and it still did despite trying to suppress all the pain she felt.
Annie is a traitor; she means nothing to me, she told herself over and over, and she would continue to do so even a thousand more times until she was fully convinced of that.
"Why do you even care?" Pieck found herself asking; the ginger girl had no reason to care for them; they had all come here to kill them.
"The whole world knows us as Devils. I know some things are necessary—it's war, after all—but I would like it more if the world would see that we are humans just like the rest." Pieck felt pity for her. She had no idea how much the world hates Eldians, and trying to make them all believe that they are humans like everyone else is impossible.
Pieck knew that it hurt to admit. After all, she always told Gabi and Falco that one day, Eldians would be seen as humans, too, but she doubted that day would truly ever come. She knew technology was already advancing. It was only a matter of time before the Titans weren't as helpful. The Warrior Program would be shut down, and once that day came, the Eldians would lose their purpose in Marley.
Pieck wanted to say that she was naive, but instead, she kept her mouth shut and allowed her to live in her little dream. '
.
.
Is this the end? She wondered as she gazed down at her cuffed feet. Unlike Reiner, none of her limbs were cut off; something about Annie not wanting her to feel pain, but her little finger was sliced off, and something was secured on the top to make sure she wouldn't regrow it.
Apparently, Annie had talked for her, trying to convince the higher-ups to let her live. A girl named Petra told her that Annie didn't want her executed, but she didn't care anymore what Annie wanted.
She betrayed me; she betrayed our comrades, Pieck thought with growing anger. Her teeth dug into her lower lip, enough to draw blood, but she didn't dare even to try to transform; it was not like she would be able to get far even if she was able to.
I'm sorry, Father, but this is the end for me, she thought in despair, her eyes burning with unshed tears, when the door that led to the room opened. Pieck looked away, her eyes staring at the wall, knowing it was probably Annie who had come once again to try and convince her to change sides.
The girl, Petra, had tried to convince her too, saying she was being fed as good as she was because of Annie's insistence, but Pieck didn't care; she wasn't one to change sides. She was no traitor to her comrades.
She heard the door of her cell open and the sound of the square plate filled with food placed on the floor; she expected to hear Annie's voice when a voice she had never heard before spoke.
"So you must be Pieck Finger." His voice was deep and firm. She quickly looked up to see a face she didn't remember seeing before, but she noticed something about his face. He reminded her of Zeke, but unlike him, this one had dark hair and green emerald eyes that seemed to glitter in the darkness.
"Who are you?"
"The King of the Walls." His answer caught her by surprise; for a moment, she was sure he was messing with her, but as she looked at him, she could see no lies; he wasn't lying, as crazy as that sounded.
"Oh, I would have bent the knee to you, Your Majesty, but as you can see-" She raised her hands, pointing at her handcuffs. They felt uncomfortable, and her wrists were getting quite itchy.
"Perhaps you can free me, then I can bend the knee to you properly." Pieck continued, her eyes looking up at his emerald eyes like grass. She was certain that there was more to them. She didn't know what it was, but there was something strange about his eyes as if they were drawing her in.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Such a shame," Pieck said with a defeated sigh, leaning against the cold wall with a loud puff.
"Why are you here then. Your Majesty, or do you enjoy looking at prisoners in your free time? Being a King must be tiresome, or maybe is just me that you want to see?" Pieck asked with an innocent smile.
She was certain he wasn't here to have his way with her; she had seen that look before. Even Marley soldiers sometimes gave her looks of lust, despite being an Eldian Devil in their eyes; that mattered little sometimes, but thankfully, Commander Magath was always there to ensure the Warriors wouldn't be harmed. There were cases of punches, kicks, and wild insults that the Commander pretended that he hadn't seen, but assaults weren't tolerated.
The guy looked at her as if trying to read her mind with his eyes before a ghost of a smile formed on his lips. "Annie was right about you."
The mention of her name made her eyes widen in anger, but just for a brief moment, soon, her face was blank once again. "About what?"
"You are smart, you want to see if anythings makes me tick." Pieck didn't show it in her face, but she didn't like it that he had seen through her.
"My name is Eren Yeager, Zeke is my brother." Those words made her look up at him immediately, trying to find the similarities between the two.
She didn't think much of it at first, but he's beginning to look more and more like Zeke the more she sees him.
"You look like him, you know," she tells him, her tone casual despite the chains that bind her wrists and ankles.
Eren Jaeger gives a simple nod and remains in his position when he first started, his back hunched over and his fingers steepled. She remembers seeing Zeke in such a position back when they were on Marley as he poured over military plans and discussed battle operations with the other Marley warriors. It's strange seeing someone mimic him so perfectly.
"How long do you think you can evade our questions before we run out of patience?" His words aren't angry, though, like they would be if one of the Ackermans had been interrogating her or even one of the other members of the Scouting Legion. They're almost monotone, not revealing anything he's thinking.
"Are you not enjoying my company?" Pieck asks, eyebrows raised. She's surprised she hasn't been executed yet.
"It may be better to get rid of me now. It would save you from wasting your time any longer."
He knows that she's bluffing. He doesn't even bat an eyelash, and for some reason, the gaze he gives her—so familiar with those striking green eyes—frightens her more than any threat of death ever could. "Is that really what you want, Pieck?" he asks, and the way he says her name sends chills up her spine.
Pieck leans against the wall, hoping he can't see how much she's shaken. "What more's left for me?" she asks, shrugging. She averts her gaze, staring down at the table and fiddling with her shackles so she doesn't have to keep looking at him.
"I think we both know," he replies, "there's more than just yourself at stake if it's your life we're gambling with."
She fights the instinct to wrap her arms protectively over her stomach to shield the last connection she has with Annie and instead keeps her face as expressionless as possible to match his. Slowly, she lifted her gaze to look at Eren, wondering just how he knew if she wasn't the one to tell him—unless Zeke told him. And as she looks at him now, cold and cruel and calculating, she thinks he's exactly like his brother.
"You really are just like him," she whispers.
"You're acting just like him."
"Am I? My brother tries to act friendly at everyone he meets, wanting everyone to believe that he's one of us, that we can trust him."
"And you do not trust him?" She asked, already knowing the answer, and Eren quickly reaffirmed it, but she wondered what his game was and why he was here? What was he trying to achieve by talking to her? She doubted she could offer much to them as alive; hell, it would probably be better for them if they executed her instead. One less enemy to worry about after all.
"Good, that's smart of you." Her tone was almost playful; for a moment, she sounded like she was not a prisoner.
"I think you are wondering why you are still sucking air, well. I have my reasons; let's say it's important for the Eldians outside the Walls." Pieck narrowed her eyes; she wondered why her survival was important for that, but she doubted he would tell her anything.
"Well, I don't care to work for you. I'm not a traitor like your brother and... Annie," she said her name with venom. Eren didn't seem to care what her personal opinion was of Annie.
"Are you sure, not even for your own father?" His words made her gasp; she looked down at her hands, and suddenly she trembled, remembering the nightmares she kept seeing, the way he called her name.
"It doesn't have to end here, Miss Pieck. You can meet him again, and I'm not just talking about the rest of the years you have left because of the Curse. I meant beyond that." Pieck was silent before she looked up at his face, only now realizing that he had walked inside her cell.
"You are lying," Pieck said with a hint of self-doubt. It sounded too good to be true. The Marley government had tried for a long time to get rid of the Curse. Was she supposed to believe that he had found a way around it?
"I know my words alone won't convince you," Eren said before leaning forward. She felt a sudden surge of electricity in her body as his lips touched her forehead.
.
.
Pieck remained motionless as Eren pulled away from her. She didn't even know what to say; she expected many things, but not that and the reason why the Blessed Titans existed.
"I will return next week, you have time to think about it." "With one condition." Pieck interrupted him before he could walk outside. Her eyes looked up at his emerald eyes.
"My father will be cured of his illness." A ghost of a smile formed on his face.
"Deal."
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