"Why… why did it become like this?"
Eren's voice was hoarse, trembling as he supported his injured mother down the gangplank.
His body moved like a puppet, stiff, mechanical, but his eyes were burning.
"Why did they take everything from us? Life… dreams… my brother…"
His throat choked on the last word. The scene kept replaying in his mind—the sight of Zeke disappearing on that rooftop, swallowed by the shadow of the terrible Beast Titan.
"Is it because we humans are too weak? Do the weak only get to cry in silence? Watch helplessly as everything is taken from them…?"
The boy's heart felt as though it had cracked open. He had clung to Zeke's words, to the shining promise he had made: "I'll change everything for you to see!" That vow had burned like a star before dawn, the only light in endless night.
But the star had vanished. In its place had risen a beast of nightmare—taller than houses, its body like a wall of fur and muscle, its eyes cold.
The Beast Titan. If ordinary people encountered such a monster, the outcome was certain: death.
Brother Zeke… was eaten.
Eren's fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. His teeth ground together. "Damn it… that bastard Beast Titan…"
"Eren!"
The shout cracked through his grief like thunder. Before he understood what was happening, he was lifted clean off the ground, hoisted into the air by strong arms.
His vision blurred, then cleared—and the face before him nearly made his heart stop.
"G-ghost!!" Eren shrieked. His whole body reacted on instinct, legs kicking wildly.
Thump!
His heel drove straight into the figure's chest.
Critical hit. +1 million.
"Gah—!" The young man staggered back, knocked flat onto the planks with Eren still in his arms. But even as he fell, he twisted his body to cushion the boy from the impact.
Eren blinked, breathless, staring down at the man beneath him. Not cold. Not lifeless. Warm, breathing, coughing.
"Brother… Zeke?!"
Carla froze mid-step. Her eyes widened, her hand trembling on Mikasa's shoulder. "Zeke?!"
"Ahem…" The man beneath Eren raised a soot-smudged hand in a weak wave. "Hi~"
Eren's scream turned to laughter, bubbling out like water breaking through stone. He scrambled down, clutching at Zeke's face, his neck, his shoulders, as though afraid the man would dissolve like mist. His fingers pressed against skin, warm and solid. Tears spilled before he knew it. "I—I thought you were dead! I really thought—!"
"Huh? Why would you think that?" Zeke winced, pressing his hand to the spot Eren's heel had smashed. "I'm not dead. Though your kick nearly finished me…"
Eren flinched. "S-sorry! I didn't mean—! Does it hurt?!"
"It's fine." Zeke chuckled. "I can take a beating."
And he could. Immortality had its perks.
Relief flooded him as he looked at the three of them—alive, whole, together. The suffocating fear that had gnawed at him since the docks finally loosened. "See? I promised I'd change everything. I said I'd hold Wall Maria. And look—" He spread his arms wide. "It's still standing."
Eren's lip quivered. For no reason he could name, tears welled again. He didn't know if he was weeping from joy, shock, or some deep ache inside his chest. But looking at Zeke's bright, almost boyish smile, something inside him shifted.
Carla pressed a trembling hand to her mouth. "Wall Maria… is still holding?"
She remembered the Armored Titan's charge, its unstoppable destruction. She remembered the towering Colossal that loomed over the gates, blotting out the sky. She had seen despair with her own eyes. She had believed survival was impossible. Yet here stood Zeke, smiling, alive, claiming victory.
"If Wall Maria hadn't held," Zeke went on proudly, "you wouldn't even be here. This town would've fallen already, and you'd have been sent deeper behind the second wall."
Carla's composure broke.
With a cry, she pushed Mikasa aside and limped forward, throwing her arms around Zeke. Tears streaked her cheeks as she pressed her face to his shoulder. "You're alive… You're really alive! If you'd died, I—how could I ever have explained to Grisha…?"
Zeke stiffened. The embrace was unexpected, too intimate. For a second, he froze, hands hovering awkwardly.
=His young stepmother's warmth was unfamiliar, disorienting.
A cough cut the moment short.
Carla flushed, stepping back quickly, smoothing her skirt with trembling hands. She forced a smile, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I was just… so happy. So grateful Wall Maria still stands."
Zeke rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. "It's fine. I'm glad too."
But not everyone was smiling.
Hannes had appeared, arms folded, eyes sharp. He didn't share their joy. His gaze swept over Zeke, not as a hero but as a threat. "Relatives or not, caution is still necessary," he said evenly.
Zeke inclined his head. "I understand. My apologies."
Hannes's frown softened—until Zeke abruptly crouched and lifted Carla's skirt to peer at her injured calf.
"Why hasn't this been treated yet?!"
Carla yelped, snatching the fabric down with both hands, cheeks blazing. "W-we didn't have time! We barely escaped alive—there was no chance for treatment!"
Her leg was twisted, swollen from the beam that had crushed it in Shiganshina. Each step was agony, yet she had borne it without complaint for her children's sake.
"Oh, perfect timing!" Zeke straightened, pointing to the inn beside the pier. "There's a doctor here. He can treat your leg. He's with Reiner right now—oh, and Annie and Bertholdt too. We found them."
Carla blinked. "Reiner? The others?"
"Yes. Come on, I'll—" Zeke bent, ready to carry her himself.
But Hannes's glare froze him in place. The veteran's jaw tightened as he stepped closer, voice low, steel hidden beneath courtesy.
"Great hero," he said, "I'm glad for what you've done. Truly. You've become mankind's savior. But listen carefully—Doctor Grisha is my benefactor. Protecting his family is how I repay him. I won't allow anyone, hero or not, to play games with their lives. Do you understand?"
Zeke met his eyes, the smile slipping just slightly. He nodded once. "…Understood."
Yet inside, his thoughts churned.