The Rumbling

Book Two

Volume 7

Ch. 94 The Rumbling

Pov.

-Falco-

"Y-you hear that?" Colt stands up

I raise my head just as His mother wraps her arms around his waist, trying to hold him back

"Colt.. please don't, honey" she begs

"You killed her, you killed Sasha" his voice trembles

"Stop it Colt!" Historia cries

"Why are you defending this-this monster!" He growls

"Sasha is dead because of that-that thing, so stop protecting him!" He cries

"Tch-he" Dad…

Chuckles?

It felt as if the room died

Nobody moved a muscle

We were all wondering what the hell we just heard

How could he..

What the hell is wrong with him?

"Kghahah" He chuckles again

"KYAHAHAHA-HAHAHAHA" He bursts into laughter as he dragged his claws down the left side of his face

But It wasn't just any kind of laugh

He was forcing it

And it sounded so.. so painful to hear…

He swinging his arm back, smashing the concrete wall before kicking the door down

He storms out into the hallway

Everyone was trembling

My heart began aching even more so than it already was

I was so angry, I was trying to calm myself from doing anything reckless out of spite after hearing the news

But now it was as if all that rage was replaced by sadness..

I just wanted to burst into tears

I look up at Colt

He was trembling, as well as if fighting the urge not to cry as well

Dad grabs his hair as if he fought the urge to rip it off his scalp

He grits his teeth so hard I could hear them grinding against each other from over here

"Annie no!" Hitch shouts down the hallway

…

Wait..

What the hell is she…

I thought he'd kill her but I watch as she dug her knife into his abdomen

He just stood there for a couple of seconds as she whispered something to him

"C-Colt" I whisper but he holds his arm out keeping me from interfering

Dad just looked down at her, just as surprised as we were to see Annie already up and running

He slowly pulled her head into his chest

Annie's gasps

We've never seen him act this way

He's never hugged me nor mother much less Colt like that before

At this point I couldn't hold it in I found myself wiping the tears off my face

Historia was sobbing in Colts arms and he also had tears running down his face

Mikasa was curled up on her knees sobbing as Jean tried comforting her, Connie was back against the wall hiding his face and Levi just had his head down gulping every few seconds trying to keep it together

All of us were in tears…

That was.. except for dad

He didn't shed a single one

But the sorry look on his face was painful enough to see

Annie was hugging him back at this point the knife had fallen to the ground and his blood was slowly creating a puddle around the two of them

Annie was grieving the loudest

Her painful wails echoed down the hallway, silencing everyone on this floor

She was latched onto him as if she were afraid he'd push her away

Upon all the sadness there was one thing I still couldn't figure out

It was this odd feeling of remorse

I felt as if everything going on was my fault

But now that I think about it..

Maybe what happened to mom was my fault

I didn't go after her

I didn't even try to stop her

I just stood by and watched knowing the type of person he is

But there's no way in hell I could've guessed something like this would ever happen.. right?

Wait..

What am I thinking?

I've never felt this way up until now..

I look up at dad

What the hell is going on?

Pov.

-Kara-

-3 days later-

"Sasha…"

Of all the horrible things I've done since I was a mere child

I've never had this kind of horrible, sinking feeling of.. of regret?

Why?

Why did I do this to you?

"I wonder" I whisper "if you'd have an answer to that Sasha.. cause I don't…"

I have no idea

Maybe if she were still alive and well she'd have one for me

But she's not.. not anymore

Because of me…

Her funeral was this morning

I didn't bother to show up

I don't deserve to even be here right now

I rub the top of her gravestone

"I'm going to fix this… this world, all for you. Alright Sasha?" I slowly find the strength pull myself up

I head back to my room

After dropping my Gi down to my waist I took a seat at my bed

There were two knocks at the door before it slowly crept open

It was Mikasa

I thought she'd go off on me but she dropped on her knees at my feet

"I-I'm sorry" she tears up "I don't blame you f-for Carla's death.. I-I'm just angry I couldn't stop him from leaving us, a-and now he's gone and done all these horrible things" she digs her face into my lap

"I'm sorry Kara, p-please forgive me" she sobs

"Don't apologize" I run my fingers through her hair

These last few days I've been hearing it from everyone

Hange thinks it's her fault she didn't see Eren falling apart

Connie and Jean think they didn't do enough for Eren

Levis thinks if he would've acted or just been fast enough then Erwin would still be here

As for Falco and Colt

I haven't heard a word…

After about thirty minutes the door opens and Historia lets herself in

"Don't feel bad. It's his own fault he turned out this way, alright?" I raise Mikasas head

She nods

"I-I know" she sighs

She carefully stands back upq

"Hi" Historia smiles

"Hey" Mikasa forces a little smile on her face

She gives me a little nod before heading out

"What is it?" I ask as she crawls onto the bed behind me

"I spoke with the doctor" she sets her hands on my shoulders

"Yeah?" I ask

"Pieck is making a full recovery" she massages my shoulders

I lean forward and she throws her arms around my neck

"You should talk to him" she whispers

…

"And Falco.." she adds "it's been days since, maybe it's time you-"

"We have more important things to worry about" I cut her off "Eren is back, and he's stronger than ever"

I stand up

"S-so what are you going to do?"

…

"You always do this.." she sighs under her breath

"Do what?"

…

"Put your feelings aside"

"My feelings? What feelings?"

"You're hurting and you refuse to admit it to yourself."

"You're wrong, Historia. I'm just angry, all the time. So angry I can't even grieve."

I hate myself. I hate this world riddled with pain and destruction

…

"Titaness?" I ask after Cyrus just explained to me how he summoned an immortal being to aid him with everything

"Yeah, it's a title given to the 13 children of The First, they're titans amongst the immortal beings of Othrys"

"Immortal? So like Gods?" I ask

"Sure, I guess. She was more than happy to help, but I kinda forgot her name" he thinks

"Rhea, Titaness of Fruitfulness and Affinity" we hear Falco at the door

Historia was standing right beside him

"How'd you.." Cyrus raises an eyebrow

"She paid me a visit, before she was summoned back to her homeland" Falco says

"Rhea?" I ask

"What?" Falco asks

I don't know..

I've heard that name somewhere. Not exactly sure where

…

"I wasn't planning on telling you any of this, but… all I could think of these past few weeks is what she told me"

"What business does she have with us?"

"You… She said you're qualities are so similar to your father that it was brought to her attention" he says

"Was that it?"

"She gave me a history le—" he stops suddenly

Historia and him both tensed up

As if they saw something..

Pov.

-Falco-

-1 hour prior-

"What do you mean?" Historia asks after I told her about Rheas visit

"She appeared out of nowhere and claimed to be a Titan amongst immortal Gods or something"

"You believed her?"

"Heh, you should've seen her, she was beautiful. Her and her children walked on the water's surface as if they were weightless"

"Really?"

"Mhmm"

"And what is it she told you?" She asks

"First she.. apologized, for dad. She told me he.." I stop

What she had told me has been all I could think about

"He what?" She asks

"She said dad is.. one of them"

"Wh-what? A… God?"

"She said.. he is The Founder Himself. The very same one who gave Ymir the power of the Titans"

"That's.. that's impossible…"

"I didn't want to believe it either, but if it's true then we might have less time than we thought"

"What do you mean?"

"Well if dad really is this Founding Titan, then that would mean Eren is already in possession of his power"

It's what Rhea wanted to warn me

She straight up told me he was THE Founding Titan

Since father took the power he gave Ymir back, he was able to survive having lost his heart in his titan state

"H-his heart.. In the battle of Marley Eren devoured his heart" Historia says

"Yeah…"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know.." I sigh

"You must" she grabs my hand

"If he is this 'Son of Satan' than he is the most diabolical creature ever. Even if he might not remember it" I sigh "if I do.. and he really is..this thing, there's no telling what'll become of us if his memories…"

"Right…" she sighs "but he has to know about Eren, at the very least, before something happens"

"Right"

-1 hour later-

"Was that it?" Dad asks after I told him about Rheas visit

"She gave me a history le—" before I could finish the room changes

I look around

It had gone dark all of a sudden

Historia and I were in the desert there were sand dunes as far as the eye could see and what looked like a massive tree in the very middle

"To all subjects of Ymir. My name is Eren Yeager. I'm using the power of the Founding Titan to address all subjects of Ymir." Erens voice echoes in our heads "The hardening of all walls present on Paradis have become undone, and all titans entrapped within are ready to begin their march that will annihilate everything outside of Paradi"

"The only way you can spare your country is by bringing me the Former Monarch of Paradi, Amaterasu. Within 3 days 3 hours and 33 minutes" he finishes

…

What.. the.. hell…

"What is it?" Father asks

"See a ghost?" Cyrus asks

I look at Historia

She had the same blank look on her face

…

Pov.

-Kara-

"Why so many threes?" Cyrus asks

"The founding Titan said whoever receives his power will get 33 years 3 months and 3 days taken from their lifespan no matter how long it may be" Falco says

"That means, if you were supposed to meet your end even in a car crash 20 years from now, you will die the moment you receive this power" Armin explains

"It's like gambling with your life, heh" I chuckle "but.. how the hell did Eren get ahold of my power?"

"Well, you are a direct descendent of The First. Maybe Eren managed to receive this power the moment he consumed your heart, but it activated once Zeke's blood was recognized throughout his system

Right…

Sometimes I forget I'm so closely related to that monster

"So what's the plan?" Levi asks

"What do you think?" Falco asks

"What do I think, huh?" I sigh

"The Rumbling will happen, there is no stopping it" Levi says

"So, how are we going to fight back?" Falco asks

"Cut off the head and the body will follow," I sigh "Kill Eren, save the world. The plan remains unchanged. We just have a handful of.. of variables to worry about"

"Variables?" Mikasa asks

"Ones that exceed one hundred meters" Levi sighs

"You've never been good at math" Historia grumbles

"I don't see what the problem is, hehehe" Cyrus giggles

"Then what would be step one of this so-called plan?" Mrs. Azumabito asks

"Well, first we need a ship. I'd like to make an appointment with the head of the Marleyan empire"

"The Tyburs?" Falco asks

"That's ridiculous, Eren just put a bounty on your head" Azumabito says

"What? You think there's an army on this continent that holds a prayer.. to me?"

…

"Kara, you're so full of conceit it's amusing" she smiles

"It's just like him to let his ego talk for himself" Historia giggles

"Well if that's the case we have come up with a much faster way to travel" Azumabito says

"Faster?" Cyrus asks

…

"Hahaha, It's like a flying boat!" Connie says with his face plastered onto the window

"You said the same thing about the blimp" Jean grumbles

"Honestly, I'm not sure who's right and who's wrong anymore" Riener sighs after I asked him to do me a little favor "but I don't see any other way we'll defeat Eren, so what choice do I have?"

"Well, I'm glad you've finally come around" I pat his back

He already managed to convinced Annie to help us for her fathers sake so as much as I hate his guts I'd say he's added a couple days to his sentence

After only a couple hours we landed at a blimp takeoff sight

Just as I asked Riener, he leads the way

Annie was to my left and I had Armin to my right

Falco and Colt were right behind me along with Levi Hange and the rest of the old Levi Squad

Everyone stepped aside

There wasn't a single person who dared get in my way

After about 2 hours Riener managed to get us into the Tyburs mansion where they were holding a meeting

"To what do we owe the pleasure, Amaterasu?" Some older guy that resembles the Willy guy Eren devoured asks

"So what? Are you supposed to be Willies' replacement?" I ask

"Ever since Willy died the responsibility was brought back upon myself. Now, do you mind getting to the point?" He asks

"Haha, don't get hasty old man," I laugh "believe me, all I ever wanted was for our people to one day get along"

"What is it you want?" He asks impatiently

"Yes, what is it I want, huh?" I smile

"Relinquish your title, and surrender your Nation.. to me" I open my arms

-to be continued