Chapter 84: Armin, Annie, Make a Contract With Me and Become Magical Girls!
Armin's mind was racing.
What if… what if I could strip her of her Titan power? Make her lose her value as a "weapon" so she's no longer a target that must be devoured! That way, she could live! As an important source of intelligence! At the same time, it would prevent our comrades from having to perform that cruel, bloody succession ceremony again!
Yes! That's it! This is the most "rational" choice! And it's in everyone's best interest!
Armin had found his "reason." The solution seemed perfect, enough to satisfy his conscience.
But… how? It was impossible for him to do it alone. A method to extract a Titan power without cannibalism was unheard of.
Does this mean… I really have to just stand by and watch Annie…
Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind.
[That might not be so impossible, you know.]
Armin froze. That voice…?! He shot his head up, warily scanning the empty room, his heart pounding. Who's there?!
[Are you looking for me, Armin?]
The voice spoke again, perfectly clear, right inside his consciousness. It was strangely sweet, yet completely devoid of emotional inflection.
Armin held his breath. This… could it be… the one Eren and Captain Levi mentioned—?!
"Is… is that you?" Armin's voice was dry. He spoke to the empty room, or rather, to the voice in his head, his tone hesitant. "Are you… Kyubey?"
[Yes.] The voice seemed to confirm his suspicion, its tone still placid. [You want to take away Annie's Titan power, don't you?]
It really is him! The mysterious creature that can grant wishes! How… how does it know what I'm thinking?!
Armin's fists clenched, a cold sweat breaking out on his back. Wariness, confusion, fear—and a sliver of hope—all battled within him. A hope that, born from despair, was impossible to suppress.
[I can help you with that, you know.] Kyubey's voice was pure, unadulterated temptation.
Armin's mind raced. This creature… what is its motive? It always appears at the most critical moments, offering a "miracle" that seems to solve everything. But what's the price? Eren and Levi's strange outfits… that mysterious gem… there has to be more to it than that.
And… why did it have to come to this? Why can't the people inside and outside the Walls… A deep sense of powerlessness washed over Armin. There should have been a better way. If we could have just… talked to Annie… to Reiner and Bertolt… before all this happened, or even now. If we could have understood each other, instead of killing each other, trying to destroy and take by force… would things have turned out differently? Why did the world have to become like this? Why do we have to do this?
But reality was cold and cruel. The Walls, the Titans, Marley, the Eldians… the hatred and fear were already too deep-rooted. Talk? In the eyes of high command, in the eyes of people like Floch, that was probably just a naive, laughable dream.
But making a deal with this unknown entity… was like drinking poison to quench his thirst. He knew it was dangerous, the consequences unforeseeable.
But there was no time! He could almost hear the sound of blades striking crystal from deep underground. Hange and the others had already started! If he hesitated any longer, Annie would be treated like a mere vessel for a "power," just like Bertolt, and be devoured.
He couldn't stop high command's decision. He couldn't change his comrades' minds. And he certainly couldn't make his ideal of "sitting down to talk" a reality out of thin air. The only thing that could save Annie was the possibility offered by this unknown creature.
For the sake of that "rational" solution… the solution that could save everyone… for the sake of letting her live, even if only as an intelligence source, to preserve a sliver of hope for future dialogue… to prevent another bloody act of cannibalism… even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance…
Just as Armin's internal struggle reached its peak and he was about to be consumed by despair, the shadows in the corner of the room moved. A figure slowly emerged from the darkness. It was small and pure white, with elegant steps, long ears, a fluffy tail, and a pair of ruby-red eyes. Eyes that seemed to see through everything, yet held no emotion.
Kyubey.
It sat down a short distance from Armin and tilted its head. "Have you decided, Armin? Time… waits for no one."
…
Underground Prison.
The "drastic measures" had begun. It wasn't the brute force of the Military Police, but…
A flash of light. Eren and Levi appeared before the crystal, their bizarre outfits manifesting around them. The dark brown dress. The dark blue tactical skirt.
What awful taste… Annie thought to herself. But in the next second, her pupils contracted.
Eren and Levi simultaneously raised their blades. Green light! Blue light! Two different energies coated their swords, radiating an astonishing pressure. What are they doing?!
CRACK!
The two blades, imbued with an unknown power, slammed down on the hard crystal, creating a piercing screech and a shower of energy sparks. The crystal… the supposedly indestructible hardening… a huge chunk of it had just been sheared off.
They… they can actually break it?! How is that possible?! What is this power?!
Fear, a terror unlike any she had ever known, instantly gripped Annie's heart. The crystal, her final barrier, was about to shatter. Was she going to meet the same end as Bertolt?
No! I don't want to die here! I have to go home! I have to get back to my father!
An intense will to survive surged through her, her obsession with returning home more resolute than ever.
[Do you want to… live?]
The image of the small white creature appeared in a corner only she could "see." Kyubey. It whispered directly into her consciousness with its saccharine voice.
[Do you want to… escape all this?]
[Do you want to… return to your father?]
[Annie, make a contract with me and become a Magical Girl, and all of this can come true.]
Temptation. Naked and direct. Annie knew it wasn't that simple. But… did she have any other choice? The sound of the crystal cracking was getting louder. The shadow of death was already upon her.
To get home! For my father! I'll even make a deal with the devil!
"What do I have to do?!"
In two different places, Armin and Annie looked at the identical Kyubeys before them.
"It's simple," the voice said. "You just have to state your wish."
The cracks spread across the crystal's surface. The light was about to break through.
"I—"
"I wish!"
"I wish!"
Two voices, in two different places, cried out at almost the exact same instant.
"I want the power to get back to my father alive!!!"
"I want to completely take the Titan power from Annie's body!!!"