CHAPTER 21: THE DECISION
The sun rose over the ruins of Shiganshina.
Sukuna hadn't slept.
He had spent the night walking through the destroyed streets, thinking. Zeke's words echoed in his mind.
"You have two Titans inside you. The Attack Titan. And the Founding Titan."
"Marley is sending their entire fleet."
"Everyone is using you."
He stopped in front of the Yeager house. The place where Eren's story began. Where Carla died.
"What would you do, Eren?" he whispered.
No answer.
There never was.
Mikasa found him at dawn.
Her face was dirty. Her clothes were torn. But she was alive.
"You're alive."
"I told you I would be."
She ran to him and grabbed his arm.
"Don't ever do that again. Don't send me away."
"I had to."
"No. You didn't."
She pulled him close.
"I thought you were going to die."
"I don't die easily."
She punched his chest.
"Idiot."
Sukuna almost smiled.
Armin arrived moments later.
His face was pale. His hands were shaking.
"The Colossal Titan... it just appeared and then disappeared. What happened?"
"I happened."
Armin stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Someone stopped it. Someone from inside me."
Armin's eyes widened.
"Someone inside you?"
"A power. A Titan. Maybe both."
Sukuna looked at the broken gate.
"We need to gather the survivors. We need to go back."
"What about the mission?" Mikasa asked.
"The mission is over."
They found the survivors near the edge of the district.
Jean. Connie. Sasha. Reiner. Bertholdt. Annie.
Fifteen soldiers out of fifty.
Thirty-five dead.
Jean was sitting on a broken wall, staring at nothing.
Connie was crying.
Sasha was holding a piece of bread, not eating.
Reiner was standing apart, his face empty.
Bertholdt was sitting on the ground, his head in his hands.
Annie was sharpening her blade. Over and over.
"We need to move," Sukuna said.
No one responded.
"I said we need to move."
Jean looked up.
"Move where? Back to the walls? To die again?"
"To live."
"There's no living outside these walls. There's only dying."
Sukuna walked over to him and grabbed his collar.
"Listen to me. Thirty-five soldiers died today. Thirty-five people who trusted us. Who followed us. Who believed in us."
"If we give up now, their deaths mean nothing."
Jean stared at him.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Get up. Put one foot in front of the other. And don't stop."
Jean pulled away.
He stood up.
"Fine."
The march back took four days.
No Titans. No attacks. No deaths.
Just silence.
The survivors didn't speak much. They just walked. Ate. Slept. Walked again.
On the fourth day, Wall Rose appeared on the horizon.
"We're home," Armin whispered.
"No," Sukuna said. "We're back in the cage."
Shadis was waiting at the gate.
His face was hard. His eyes were cold.
"Fifteen survivors."
"Yes."
"Thirty-five dead."
"Yes."
He looked at Sukuna.
"You should be among the dead."
"I should be a lot of things."
Shadis turned and walked away.
That night, Sukuna sat on the roof.
Zeke's words still echoed in his mind.
"The fleet is already on its way."
"Join me. Help me save the world."
"Everyone is using you."
Mikasa climbed up to join him.
"You're thinking about him. The man who called himself your brother."
"Yes."
"Do you believe him?"
"Parts of him."
"Which parts?"
"The parts about Marley. The parts about the fleet. The parts about the Titans inside me."
"And the parts about him wanting to save the world?"
Sukuna was quiet.
"Those are the parts I don't believe."
Armin climbed up.
"I've been thinking about what you said. About the power inside you."
"And?"
"If you really have the Founding Titan, you can command every Titan in existence. You can break the walls. You can trample the world."
"Yes."
"That's terrifying."
"Yes."
"Are you going to do it?"
Sukuna looked at the stars.
"I don't know yet."
"What would make you decide?"
"The right moment."
"And when will that be?"
"When I have no other choice."
The next morning, a messenger arrived.
Not from the Interior Police. Not from the king.
From Zeke.
A small box. Inside, a letter.
"Eren,"
"The fleet will arrive in three months. You have until then to decide."
"Join me, or watch everyone you love burn."
"Your brother,"
"Zeke."
Sukuna burned the letter.
Then he went to find Mikasa.
"We're leaving."
"Where?"
"To find the answers. The real ones."
"Where do we start?"
"The basement. The Yeager basement."
Mikasa's eyes widened.
"The basement your father talked about?"
"Yes."
"What's there?"
"The truth."
END OF CHAPTER 21