The Empire of Titans Chapter 83 (To Eren Yeager) (Patreon)

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Eren Yeager

"Did you ever think we would ever reach this view?" Eren asked, almost with melancholy. They could feel the sand under their feet as they stood in front of the Ocean, further away from where the two ships were docked.

After dealing with the Marley soldiers and a few small things, Eren finally found enough time to truly enjoy the moment. They had finally reached the Ocean; now, he could enjoy the view.

"Yes. I never had doubts. It's exactly how it was described in the books." Armin said with the widest smile Eren had ever seen on his face. They weren't the only ones there, and since this was an opportunity to rest. Jean, Marco, Mikasa, and the others wanted to truly enjoy the view of the Ocean.

Mikasa stood beside Eren, with Armin standing near Mina ,who looked amazed by the view,. Theway the waves rose and crushed down,was all new to them, tand so was he salty smell of the Ocean

Eren wondered if someone could ever get tired of looking at the Ocean. Suddenly, he reached down and removed his shoes; the others looked at him a little bewildered as he walked forward with his bare feet. The cold water made him flinch for a moment, but he quickly ignored it as he walked further.

"Oi, Eren. Where the hell are you going?" Jean shouted with annoyance as the others started doing the same before walking into the Ocean.

"It's Coold!!!" Sasha shouted, feeling embarrassed when the others laughed at her as she walked through the water. She could feel the sand between the fingers of her toes, and she could see small, colorful shells.

"It's Salty!!" Jean shouted as he spit out water from his mouth; the others chuckled as Connie suddenly jumped on the water, not caring about his uniform.

"Oi, Connie. You moron!!" Floch shouted, feeling annoyed when Connie's head burst out of the water with a loud gasp; his clothes were all soaked, and Floch felt the need to grab his head and drown him right there where he was.

"Eren, look at this!" He heard Armin speak with awe as he showed something quite beautiful, which he was holding in his hands. It seemed like a white shell of something, the size of both of his hands.

"It looks beautiful. I think you should keep it." Armin nodded, his eyes glittering like the sun. Jean, Sasha, Connie, and Marco were throwing each other at the water in the background, with Floch yelling them to stop.

Annie watched from afar with a blank look; she found it much more amusing to see them like this from a distance. It was not the first time she had seen the Ocean; to her, it was nothing special, just a huge body of water with all kinds of animals. But she found the way they acted quite funny, especially seeing Eren with a bright smile on his face.

She felt warmth, but with the warmth came the guilt. Since her talk with Eren about Pieck and the Curse of Ymir, where he had promised her that her life wouldn't be cut short, she couldn't help but feel more and more guilty. Pieck still glared at her the moment she was anywhere near her, but at the very least, she was still alive. That mattered a lot to Annie but with time. Especially after Dina was returned to her human form, after seeing Berholdt die, the way he had screamed her name.

She found it more and more difficult to swallow the guilt; every time Eren smiled at her, she was reminded of her own role in the fall of Wall Maria, in the death of his mother. On the role she played in Berholdt's death, she knew she had no choice when Reiner made her choose that day, but she couldn't let the feeling of guilt go away. Because she knew, deep down, she was a selfish person and deserved no love, and if Eren ever finds out about her role. She had begged Commander Erwin not to tell Eren about her role, and so far, he had kept his word, and she knew he would keep it as long as she did what she was told.

She knew that if Eren didn't kill her the moment he learned the truth, she knew she would die alone, and no one would care, the thought of that happening. It made her head throb with pain; her body shivered, and her fingers shook despite the warm sun. She couldn't allow that; despite the guilt, she wanted this to last. For them all to grow and eventually have her own children with Eren, if possible. She knew it was selfish, but she hoped Eren would never learn the truth; suddenly, she heard approaching footsteps, quickly followed by an annoying voice.

"What are you doing so far away from the others?" Annie grunted as she turned to face Zeke, who approached her with his fake smile splattered on his face. Sometimes, she wondered why he even bothered. She understood why he used the fake smile with Marley officers and commanders; they all did. Even she was forced to smile quite often in their presence.

"What do you want, Zeke?" Annie's voice made it clear that his presence wasn't appreciated.

"Not even a 'Hello' for me," Zeke said teasingly, earning a groan from Annie, who closed and opened her hands, ready to beat him up. Zeke finally seemed to understand that he was pushing his luck.

"I was wondering if you could tell me more about your time with Eren during the...what was it called...ahh...Training Corps." Annie narrowed her gaze, wondering why he was suddenly curious about that; she understood, to a degree, that he wanted to know more about his own half-brother, but why ask her and not Eren himself, or even Armin, who has known Eren for far longer than all of them.

"Why?"

"I just want to know more about my brother, Annie. If you tell me, I can talk with Pieck and probably convince her to talk with you." Annie wanted to talk with Pieck since the moment she had seen her in that cell after five years of being apart; Pieck had refused to talk with her except the moment she tried to kill her. Annie wanted to mend things with her, but she knew to be cautious with Zeke.

"Why would Pieck listen to you?" Annie asked suspiciously as she crossed her arms.

"Let's just say I have information she would want to know, and I can give her that information if she decides to talk with you. I know our dear Pieck is angry, but she's smart too." Annie didn't like what she was hearing, but the thought of talking with Pieck was something she had wanted for two months now. Besides, it was not like she was telling Zeke anything that important about Eren. Their time in the Training Corps was nothing special.

"I will think about it." That's all Annie said before turning on her heels and walking away. She wondered what his goal was, but she knew she couldn't trust him.

Later

"Alright, enough fun," Levi called toward the Ocean. Eren turned around where he stood in the waves and saw that everyone was obeying immediately. Mikasa waited for Eren to wade through the waves to the shore. Then, the two burnt their feet as they walked through the sand to where everyone else was gathering.

"Yes, if we're going to make camp here for the night, I suppose work must start already," Hange said. She was clearly disappointed as she gazed down at the large conch shells she held in both her hands. "Well, Levi, start setting up our tent." He turned and walked a few paces off further from the water and did as she asked. "Hm. Sasha, Jean, Connie. You will prepare dinner. Armin, Floch you two watch Sasha and make sure she doesn't eat everything. Also, be prepared to transform if necessary. Mikasa, go look for firewood. Jean, make sure the horses are fed too. Eren, you can do whatever you want."

There was a general outcry of "Yes ma'am," and then everyone turned in different directions.

"Do whatever you want, Eren. Pffft." Jean grunted with annoyance, but Eren decided to ignore him this time.

"There were some trees west of here a bit. Let's go that way," said Mikasa as she pulled her boots back on.

"Fine," Eren answered as he glanced around. Armin stood small, with his arms crossed over his chest in the middle of everyone else. Jean was striding off to where the horses were tied. Connie was ruffling Sasha's hair as she opened a satchel of food. Hange slid down on the sand next to Levi, who had made quick work of their simple tent. He was lying with his arm over his eyes despite the shade.

Eren left his boots on the sand and hurried to catch up to Mikasa, who carried a small machete in one hand. Once he caught up, she shoved a burlap backpack at Eren.

They remained quiet as they walked over the wet sand along the shore until they were well outside earshot of their comrades.

"I would run on this sand every day if I could. I think it would help," Mikasa said quietly.

Eren had to strain to hear her over the waves but he thought he understood her right. "Help what?"

"To keep me fit."

"You're fit enough without it."

She glanced sideways out of the corner of her eye at him. Bowing her chin slightly, she said, "Thank you."

They were quiet again except for the crashing of the waves. Soon, they'd rounded a bend in the beach. To their right, a steep cliff of about thirty feet or so hid them from the far-off campsite.

Eren wondered aloud, "Should we try to find a way up? Or do trees grow in sand?"

"I don't know. I think we should probably climb, but I can't see a good way up without gear—"

"Wait, I see something up ahead. What is that?" Eren pointed. Off in the distance, there was something on the sand near the cliff side that looked like a fallen tree. He ran ahead, and Mikasa ran after him. Surely enough, it was a log that had washed up on shore and dried out.

"Will this work?" Eren asked, but Mikasa was already hacking the log apart.

Mikasa answered between hacks, "Yes, it will work quite well. It is dry, and there is enough wood for hours if the fire is kept small." Eren wanted to help her, but he knew enough not to suggest that she couldn't do it on her own. So, instead, he stood and watched her hack the log apart until he could settle the pieces of wood into the bag she'd given him.

Once she was finished, Mikasa laid the machete down in the sand and sat down next to Eren, who was still stacking the wood in the burlap sack. Sweat was dripping down her temples and down the sides of her neck.

"It's really hot," Eren said because he knew Mikasa wouldn't complain.

"Mm, yes it is."

"It'd be nice to go back in the ocean."

Mikasa glanced at him and then looked out at the Ocean as Eren stood up. Mikasa stood, too, and quickly wiped her forehead. "We should get back. They will need the firewood to cook the meat that Sasha hunted." Eren wondered why they even needed to hunt; they had brought plenty of food.

"Yes, but we have plenty of time. Everyone's already had a ration and it is only midday. The meat is for later."

"Eren." She shook her head. But Eren was already unbuttoning his shirt.

"Mikasa," he mimicked, turning his back to the waves as he faced her. "Are you afraid of it?"

"Afraid of what? The Ocean? No."

"Then come on. Levi is sleeping. No one else will care." Eren unfastened his trousers and pulled them off so he was left in his underwear. He saw Mikasa's cheeks color. "I bet they'll all be swimming when we get back anyway." He took her wrist and led her to where the waves reached up to their highest point on the sand before they fell back again.

"Eren..." she said again.

Turning away and dropping her wrist, he pulled his underwear off and waded into the water.

"Ah, it's so cold!" he yelled in the same voice he'd use if yelling at an enemy. Once he was waist-deep, he turned and moved his arms so that he could stay in place despite the waves. "Come on!"

"Eren, what if there is some creature in the water! Come back! You're too far!"

"Too far? I can still stand up here! and even if there's a creature there. I will simply transform and eat whatever is trying to eat me." He was disappointed that she wasn't getting into the water yet. She really needed to cool off before she got heat stroke.

"Eren, come on."

"No."

"Fine. I will come and get you out then." She pulled her boots off.

He swished his way around so he could face out toward the rest of the ocean again. He felt his throat tighten once more at the sight. The thought again drifted through his mind: how many were on the other side...?

He heard a splashing sound over the waves. He knew without turning that Mikasa had followed him into the water. He couldn't help but smile as he turned to face her again.

"Ha! I won—" But then he nearly swallowed his tongue. Mikasa was wading into the water, but she was only waist-deep when he'd turned.

"I don't know how to swim," she called to him. "Eren! Are you alright?!" She was struggling to push through the water toward him.

"I—uh..."

"Did something bite you? What's wrong?!" She had nearly reached him now, but as she was now slightly shorter than him, she couldn't quite reach the bottom and still keep her chin out of the water. "Eren—" But she got a mouthful of saltwater.

"Why did you swim out this far?!" he snapped. "You'll drown!" Under the water, he grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly a few feet closer to the shore without looking at her. The water slowed his roughness, but even so, they made an enormous splash as they both slipped on the sandy ocean floor. They were pulled under the waves.

Eren had learned to swim in streams on outings with his father as a child. But that had been before Mikasa had come to stay with them, and he knew she couldn't possibly know how to swim. He didn't have to think about it: he automatically pulled Mikasa up again.

"I'm sorry—I'm sorry—I'm such an idiot—" he said once they both broke through the waves and breathed air again. Mikasa was spluttering a little, but she seemed alright.

"It's okay. I just slipped," she said to the waves and coughed a few more times.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Um... yes, thank you." She kept gazing at him, and Eren couldn't look away, either.

"Y-yes." He let his hands be buffeted in the waves, and his fingertips grazed Mikasa's side. He saw the color rise in her cheeks.

Meanwhile, her hand grazed its way down his jaw and came to rest on his cheek. "Oh, Eren..." she said, closing the gap between them. Suddenly, she was kissing him.

*

*

Later, they dusted as much sand as possible from themselves and dressed each other. Once Eren hoisted the wood to his back again, Mikasa took Eren's hand in one of hers and carried her boots in the other. Eren found the machete where it had landed a few feet away, and slowly, they made their way back to the large camp.

Sasha was clearly angry that they'd taken as long as they had. "We could have been roasting the meat for an extra hour! It is better if it is on a low heat for a longer time! It makes the fat melt! Where did you go for the firewood?! All the way back to Trost?!"

Jean's face fell when he saw that Eren was holding Mikasa's hand.

"Hurry up and build the fire!" Sasha wiped the drool from her chin. "I want to roast the meat!"

It took a little while for the party to start and for the food to be served, including the alcohol, which included beer and wine.

As they all ate dinner, the large camp boomed with noise. Everyone was in high spirits despite knowing the entire world wanted them dead. That night, they all celebrated together, celebrating their greatest achievement yet: They had reached the Ocean.

Despite initially being a little hesitant, Annie joined them, while Levi and Mike watched Pieck and Zeke all the time.

While Eren wished Historia and Ymir were with them, he knew how important it was for her to stay back at the mansion. One of them needed to be there to lead the people. They couldn't just decide to vanish and leave the ruling to other people.

As they all celebrated, Erwin suddenly raised his glass of wine higher than everyone else's; the entire camp, including the Military Police, fell silent while Erwin looked at Eren.

"I Want to raise this toast for Eren Yeager. Our King. The man who give us all hope even when we all thought that it was over, the one who gave us all a second chance, not just to live, but to be happy, to enjoy our life with those that we love. The one who managed to save Trost. The one who showed us the Truth when our previous king was telling Lies. I want to thank Eren Yeager, the King of The Eldians, for giving, All of Us. HOPE. To Eren Yeager!!"

"TO EREN YEAGER!!" The Beach boomed with their voices, roaring all as one, and Eren couldn't help but feel like he was flying, the way people looked up to him. He knew he would do everything to protect his people.

Everything.….

NOTE: I have noticed a steep decline in likes, so please let me know what you think I can do better in this Story in the comments.

Chapter 84 (Marley) will come out tomorrow.