CHAPTER 28: THE CAPITAL
Sukuna walked through the capital's dark streets.
The city was different from the districts near the walls. Taller buildings. Wider roads. Fewer patrolling soldiers.
And the people... the people moved differently. Slower. Calmer. Safer.
"They don't know what's coming," he thought. "They think these walls will protect them forever."
He stopped in front of a fountain. The water reflected the moonlight.
"Idiots."
A figure stepped out of the shadows.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Sukuna turned.
A woman. Dark hair. Military uniform. The symbol of the Interior Police on her shoulder.
"And yet, here I am."
"The king summoned you. You were supposed to return to the carriage."
"The king can wait."
The woman's hand moved to her sword.
"I can arrest you for this."
"You can try."
They stared at each other.
Then the woman smiled.
"You're arrogant. I like that."
She removed her hand from her sword.
"My name is Captain Hange Zoë. I've been watching you for a long time, Eren Yeager."
"Watching me?"
"Ever since your first expedition. The way you move. The way you fight. The way you don't scream."
Hange stepped closer.
"You're not like the others. You're not afraid of death. You're not afraid of anything."
"Fear is useless."
"Fear keeps people alive."
"Not me."
Hange studied his face.
"What are you, Eren?"
"Someone who should not exist."
Hange laughed.
"Cryptic. I like that too."
She turned and started walking.
"Come with me. I want to show you something."
Sukuna followed.
They walked to a large building on the edge of the capital.
A laboratory. Hange pushed open the door.
Inside, cages. And inside the cages...
Titans.
Small ones. Two meters. Three meters. Chained. Muzzled.
"My research subjects," Hange said. "I've been studying them for years. Trying to understand what they are. Where they come from."
"And what have you learned?"
"That they were human once. Just like us."
Hange walked to a cage and touched the bars.
"This one was a farmer. This one was a soldier. This one was a mother."
"How do you know?"
"Because I cut them open. I studied their bodies. I found the scars. The bones. The remnants of their human lives."
She turned to Sukuna.
"You knew this already. From your father's books."
"Yes."
"Then you know the truth. Titans aren't monsters. They're victims."
"Does that matter?"
Hange's eyes widened.
"Of course it matters. They were people. They had families. They had dreams."
"And now they eat people. Dreams don't matter when you're being eaten."
Hange was quiet.
Then she said, "You're cold, Eren."
"I'm practical."
"Same thing."
She walked to a table and picked up a notebook.
"I've been documenting everything. Every Titan. Every transformation. Every death."
"Why?"
"Because someone needs to remember. When this is over. When the walls fall. When the truth comes out."
She handed him the notebook.
"Take it. Read it. Maybe it will warm that cold heart of yours."
Sukuna took the notebook.
"I doubt it."
They left the laboratory.
The moon was high.
"The king told me about your conversation," Hange said. "About the fleet. About Marley. About Zeke."
"Did he?"
"He trusts you. I don't know why. But I trust his judgment."
She stopped.
"If you need help, Eren. Real help. Not the king's. Not the military's. Mine."
"I'm here."
Sukuna looked at her.
"Why would you help me?"
"Because I want to see the truth. And you're the only one who can show it to me."
Sukuna returned to the carriage at dawn.
The driver was asleep. Sukuna climbed in and closed the door.
The carriage rattled back to the barracks.
Inside, he opened Hange's notebook.
Page after page. Drawings. Notes. Observations.
And at the back, a letter.
"Eren,"
"If you're reading this, I'm probably dead. Or you are. Either way, I wanted you to know the truth."
"The walls are not just walls. They're Titans. Thousands of them. Sleeping. Waiting."
"If the Founding Titan commands them, they will wake. They will march. And they will trample everything in their path."
"Zeke knows this. Marley knows this. And now you know this."
"Use this knowledge wisely."
"Hange."
Sukuna closed the notebook.
"The walls are Titans," he whispered. "Thousands of them."
He looked out the window.
Wall Rose rose in the distance.
"I'm sleeping inside a monster."
He almost smiled.
When he returned to the barracks, Mikasa was waiting.
"You're alive."
"Barely."
"What happened?"
"The king apologized. Hange gave me a notebook. And I learned that the walls are made of Titans."
Mikasa's face went pale.
"What?"
"The walls. The ones protecting us. They're full of sleeping Titans. Thousands of them."
"That's... that's insane."
"This whole world is insane."
Armin ran over.
"Eren! I mean... Sukuna! I found something in your father's books. Something important."
"What?"
"The Founding Titan doesn't just control Titans. It can also change their memories. Erase their pasts. Make them forget."
"The king used this power. On everyone inside the walls. Everyone except your family."
"That's why no one remembers the truth. The king made them forget."
Sukuna's eyes narrowed.
"Then I'll make them remember."
END OF CHAPTER 28