CHAPTER 17: THE GAME BOARD
Three days passed since Sukuna returned from the king's facility.
He trained. He ate. He slept. He waited.
The king's offer echoed in his mind.
"Join my inner circle. Work for me. Help me protect these walls."
"A child playing a game he doesn't understand," Sukuna had said.
But perhaps the game was more interesting than he thought.
On the fourth day, a messenger arrived.
Not from the Interior Police. Not from the king.
From the outside.
A small bird landed on Sukuna's windowsill. Tied to its leg was a tiny scroll.
Sukuna unrolled it.
"The ocean waits. Come find us."
No signature. No names.
Just seven words.
"The warriors," Sukuna thought. "They're making their move."
He burned the scroll.
Then he went to find Armin.
Armin was in the library, as always.
Books stacked around him like walls of paper.
"You need to stop reading so much," Sukuna said.
"You need to start reading more."
Sukuna sat down.
"I received a message today."
Armin looked up.
"From who?"
"The outside."
Armin's eyes widened.
"What did it say?"
"The ocean waits. Come find us."
Armin leaned back in his chair.
"It's a trap."
"Probably."
"Are you going to go?"
"I don't know yet."
Armin was quiet for a moment.
Then he said, "If you go, I'm coming with you."
"It's dangerous."
"Everything is dangerous."
Sukuna almost smiled.
"You've changed, Armin."
"No. I've just stopped pretending."
That night, Sukuna gathered the ones he trusted.
Mikasa. Armin. Jean. Connie. Sasha.
They sat in an abandoned storage room. Candles flickered.
"Why are we here?" Jean asked.
"Because I need to tell you something."
Sukuna looked at each of them.
"The king summoned me because he's scared. Not of me. Of what's coming."
"What's coming?" Connie asked.
"War."
Silence.
"War with who?" Sasha asked.
"With the people outside these walls. The people who sent the Titans. The people who want to destroy us."
Jean's face hardened.
"How do you know this?"
"Because I've seen it. In my dreams. In my memories. In the eyes of the people who don't belong here."
"Who doesn't belong here?" Connie asked.
Sukuna looked at them.
"Reiner. Bertholdt. Annie."
The room went cold.
"What are you talking about?" Jean said.
"They're not from inside the walls. They came from across the sea. They're the ones who broke Wall Maria. They're the ones who killed thousands."
"That's insane," Connie said.
"Is it?"
Sukuna stood up.
"Watch them. Watch how they act. Watch how they fight. Watch how they look at the walls."
"And if you're wrong?" Jean asked.
"Then I'm wrong. But I'm not."
The next day, Sukuna found Reiner training alone.
The big man was punching a wooden post. His knuckles were bloody.
"You'll break your hands."
"Maybe that's what I want."
Sukuna leaned against a wall.
"I received a message yesterday."
Reiner stopped punching.
"Oh?"
"From the outside. From across the sea."
Reiner's back stiffened.
"What did it say?"
"The ocean waits. Come find us."
Reiner turned around.
His face was pale.
"Are you going to go?"
"I'm thinking about it."
Reiner walked toward him.
"Don't."
"Why not?"
"Because if you go... you won't come back."
Sukuna smiled.
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a warning."
"From you? Or from them?"
Reiner didn't answer.
He walked away, leaving bloody handprints on the wall.
That evening, Sukuna sat on the roof.
Annie joined him.
"Reiner told me what you said."
"Good."
"You're playing a dangerous game, Eren."
"All games are dangerous."
Annie sat down.
"What do you want?"
"The truth."
"The truth will destroy you."
"Maybe. But at least I'll die knowing."
Annie was quiet.
Then she said, "The message wasn't from Reiner or Bertholdt or me."
"I know."
"Then who?"
"Someone else. Someone who wants to play the game too."
Annie looked at him.
"You're not afraid of anything, are you?"
"I'm afraid of boredom."
She almost smiled.
Three days later, another bird arrived.
Same scroll. Same words.
"The ocean waits. Come find us."
But this time, there was something else.
A small map.
Sukuna studied it.
"The coast," he thought. "They want me to go to the coast."
He burned the map.
Then he went to find Mikasa.
"I'm leaving tonight."
"Where?"
"To the coast."
"I'm coming with you."
"I know."
They packed their gear in silence.
Then they slipped out of the barracks under the cover of darkness.
The journey took two days.
They avoided patrols. Stayed off the main roads.
On the second night, they reached the coast.
The ocean stretched before them. Dark. Endless.
And on the shore...
A woman.
She had dark skin. White hair. Eyes that glowed in the moonlight.
"Eren Yeager," she said.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Yelena. I'm here to help you."
"Help me do what?"
Yelena smiled.
"Help you destroy the walls."
END OF CHAPTER 17