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seasonsgreetings2024-03-15 12:11 am
seasonsmods) wrote in seasonsgreetings2024-03-15 12:11 am
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Event #7: Knocking on the 4th Wall (Inside the Metaverse)
Knocking on the 4th Wall
LOGS | NETWORK | OOC | MEMES | NAVIGATION
On March 14th, everyone received a message. The Research Center is ready to try another test to find ways to beat the Darkness. This time the test is not done with the robots that were previously used, but instead everyone who volunteers will be participating in a virtual reality simulator. They're asked to come over to the Center on March 15th.
The researchers will explain that the purpose of this simulation is to see how several fully powered power holders fair against the Darkness. They have gathered enough data on it and the dark energy in general to determine the effects it will have on nature, monsters and wildlife if the barrier is taken off. This is the only safe way to actually test their theories.
After all the necessary explanations, everyone is asked to log in to the metaverse. Anyone logging in may notice that there are a lot of glitches as they enter.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, anyone looking at any kind of a screen (their own device, television, a digital advertisement, etc.) will have their mind sucked into the metaverse, due to the virus residing in the program. Their bodies will be left in a sleep-like state wherever they may be.
The Research Center staff intended for all otherworlders to start near the Research Center so they could get used to the metaverse in peace. There are no natives in the simulator, so testing out powers around the city would have been safe as well. However, because of the glitch, people can appear anywhere, either in the city or anywhere on the segments (save from the one closed off location).
Sometimes the scenery and items in the world glitch a little bit, reminding anyone that this is the metaverse. Except the glitches weren't meant to happen. Luckily they're all mostly aesthetical, but some items may work differently than they should. You have a spoon? It actually works like a fork.
Luckily, this doesn't mean they will be without any items. They can open a menu with the device on their wrist that lets them get anything at all from Riki's Rewards during the simulator without any cost. They can think of this as special opportunity to test out all kinds of items before buying them, as they work exactly the same as they would in normal space.
For some reason, the Shady Shop also appears in the menu. That was not anyone's intention as the items are, well, shady.
Other than the two shops there are basic potion and magical item menus that people can use where needed. Even vehicles, such as airships can be summoned through the menus for easier traveling in the segments.
Some might find the glitches concerning and wish to return and tell the researches about them. The problem with that is is that clicking "Log Off" won't do anything at all, even if it's supposed to boot someone out of the metaverse. But that's not the end of the strange things going on.
Along with the otherworlders that were participating in the test, others start to join in as well due to unforeseen circumstances. Luckily, they have the same "settings" as everyone else, so they're not completely without aid wherever they end up in. They also have all of their powers unlocked for the duration of their stay in the metaverse (including all animal transformations).
As part of the strange glitch going on everyone also has access to any powers from previous worlds, if they have experienced other places before. It would seem the powers can also be shared through the item inventory, should anyone want to temporary use another world's abilities. This is possible with even a person's native powers.
And as if that wasn't enough, people who weren't on Ellipsa start appearing as well. Anyone who doesn't currently have a body on Ellipsa has a mark somewhere on their body, signaling that they're just data. This mark is somehow related to the characters that has it and emits a faint light.
All of the people who are just visiting will also be able to enjoy the metaverse the same way as anyone else. They have been sorted into a Seasons and have access to full powers - and the same item inventory. All that's different from the others is that they have no physical body to return to in this world.
During the metaverse adventures, people are able to communicate through their devices, but the messages will not go out to the "normal" network. So the messages are only between those in the metaverse, but at least the network works the same way as it would in the "normal world".
Happy communicating.
The goal of the metaverse is to have a safe environment to test powers against the Darkness. All of the barriers have been taken out, except for the one surrounding the city of Nightwake. The city acts as a safe haven to anyone who needs a break or doesn't want to fight.
Everyone is encouraged to go to where the barriers used to be and use their full, unlocked powers against everything and anything the darkness throws at them to see how well they can fight against it.
Thanks to all powers being unlocked, destroying enemies powered up by the Darkness is a lot easier, but pushing back the approaching darkness still needs something more than just raw power. Though with enough power holders of different seasons working together and
Due to the barriers being off, all creatures are stronger due to the Darkness's influence. Even creatures that normally have no danger level can now at least do Dark damage. Some Slime especially may seek vengeance.
Unfortunately, due to the weird glitch in the system, everyone inside the metaverse is able to feel pain when they originally weren't supposed to, to make the experience safe. It feels very real, and there's a chance any non-lethal wounds will appear on the person's real body.
The Darkness is slowly expanding from all sides. Very slowly, at a snail's pace. Everything it touches turns into black sand, before transforming into something different. Some may even recognize the things that rise from the sand, as they're monsters, fauna or people from their own world, made into more twisted forms. They may even be creatures from a popular media from back home... or at least, someone's home (players').
If a Power Holder walks into the Darkness, they won't immediately turn into anything. Instead the transformation is slow and painful. Leaving the area will stop the transformation, but any damage already done remains. If the person changes completely, they might lose their sense of self completely and attack anything in their sights.
What they turn into depends on the individual (player's choice) and the only way to reverse the changes is to die. Luckily that isn't permanent even in the metaverse. The person just gets booted out, but can re-enter anytime they want to (or in this case; is forced to). This was told to anyone before entering the program, so they could go all out and test limits as much as they want.
A screen appears either when someone dies or gets forcefully booted out of the metaverse. It has two options: Remember or Forget.
Clicking "Remember" will automatically save everything that happened into a person's memory and proceed to boot them out. Clicking "Forget" will lead the person to a series of "Are you Sure" pop up windows. As the very last resort, the window suggests an option to only partially forget events that transpired in the metaverse. Choosing to still forget everything will make the person wake up from a long, dreamless sleep. The memories erased cannot be found later on, as they have been completely erased from their metaverse-selves. Even someone telling them what happened won't sound familiar.
This option is also available for any visitors during the time they're visiting. Whenever they die they get booted out and can be immediately returned to the metaverse (by the power of players) with or without their memories, depending on what they chose.
Of course, anyone can then tell the person about the very crazy stunts they made the last time they were in the metaverse. They could be complete lies, but they wouldn't have any solid proof, other than "I would never do that".
Finally, on March 31st, a message comes from the outside. It's telling everyone stuck in the metaverse that they can finally leave out of their own will and stay out this time. People can then choose to leave immediately be pressing by pressing the "Log Off" button on their screen or take a moment to say goodbye to the temporary visitors of the metaverse.
The screen asking if someone wants to "Remember" or "Forget" appears, once again. This time the Forget option is even more insistent on asking if the person is sure about their choice, especially since the memories that are erased can't be taken back later.
Once everyone who exists on Ellipsa has returned to their bodies, the metaverse will be shut down. All visitors have been booted out and returned to where they came.
• Ask 4th Wall related questions here. Read the 4th wall FAQ before asking them.
• You don't need to comment on the plotting post to participate & anyone can participate in the 4th wall (there's no separate invitation needed). However, if you wish to app in later, you need an invite if you're not a friend of the mods.
• This post is open to tag and top-level by everyone! Those arriving for the 4th wall can write 4TH WALL or VISITOR on their post and/or link their top level here!
• Check the Opt-in top-level if you're considering bringing in a character that already exists in the game.
• Smut is not allowed on the event post, so if your thread is heading that way, please move it to a separate entry (like to your musebox or characters' journal).
• Remember to content and spoiler warn as necessary!
• Reminder to players in the game that this month is Activity Check-in month and check-in ends on March 31th, at 23:59 PST.
Bertholdt Hoover | Attack on Titan | Winter | thinks he's a visitor, actually current :3
Waking up in a strange city was not what Bertholdt expected.
He wasn't sure what was after, if anything, but one moment he'd been staring at Armin's Pure Titan - the next, he was sprawled out on his back in a concrete path, looking up at strange, tall buildings surrounding him with no one in sight. He'd called out, once he realized he seemed to be, as far as he could tell, alive, but no one had answered him.
Bertholdt knew if you were lost, the best thing to do was to wait for someone to find you. He didn't think that really applied to what looked like an empty city, though, and depending on who's city this was, help could be worse than being alone. So he starts moving, walking through the streets looking for any signs of life. There's no animals, no signs that humans have been here. It's like a ghost town; any time he thinks he catches sight of someone, by the time he catches up to where they are, they're nowhere to be seen.
His walking eventually takes him to what looks like an artificial beach - that's the only reason he can fathom for there being one inside a city like this. He ends up making a fire on the beach, because he's not sure what else he should be doing.
Something's wrong with the fire, though. When he puts his hands closer to it, it feels colder, and, emboldened, he thrusts his hand into the flames and comes out unharmed. In fact, when he examines his hands, he's got a light covering of frost on his palm. He stares at the frost, then at the fire.
What the hell is going on in this place?
Metaverse - Later
Once he's found people who explain what's going on, he figures out what 'season' he's been assigned to - Winter, based on vague memories he has of a snowy landscape. It all sounds like some kind of far-flung fantasy, but he's seen people wield fire from their hands or move earth with their mind, so he finds it hard to keep believing that.
The chance to test the powers he has comes when he finds a section of the city that's been damaged by someone testing out their powers; the walls of a flower shop have been caved in.
Hesitantly, he reaches out a hand to press against the fallen bricks, closing his eyes. They said that winter should have the power to reconstruct buildings; an ironic choice for someone like him, but he finds he wants to test it out here.
He furrows his brow a little, concentrating, and in front of him, the wall he's touching slowly begins to rebuild itself.
It's Getting Dark
If someone approaches Bertholdt suggesting that they go take a look where the barriers used to be, to test their powers or for any other reason, they'll find that he shakes his head rather quickly in response.
"I don't think that's a good idea," he says quietly, threading his fingers together and looking down at them nervously. "I know it isn't real but that's - that wouldn't end well." The for me goes unsaid.
(OOC: Please mind the canon CW's that can be found in the IC section.)
Metaverse now
It was eerily quiet. With no natives there, it was truly like a ghost town. He didn't like it one bit.
It looked like someone had made a fire on the beach. Jean's drawn to the smoke, hoping he'll find someone familiar. Someone he could vent with or just hang out so it wouldn't feel so lonely.
Who he finds is not who he expects.
Jean freezes in shock. Due to his emotion-based powers from Empatheias returning (without his knowledge) so the area around him starts freezing slowly as well. But it's not only shock he's feeling; it's also a strange kind of relief? And anger over Ellipsa joking around by first taking Armin away from them to bring Bertholdt. Why couldn't they both exist at the same time?
But the shock is taking dominance. Bertholdt's last moments echoing in his thoughts.
"Bertholdt...?"
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The voice that calls out his name, though, that's a surprise. He looks away from the fire and up at his - former comrade, enemy, Jean. The same Jean who had been trying to kill Reiner and had nearly managed to do so.
Shock crosses his expression despite himself, before it closes off into wariness. He doesn't take his gaze off Jean, but there's a coldness to his eyes. The temperature that had already dropped several degrees drops even further, their breath visible in the air.
"I'm not here to fight you," he elects to say instead, his voice subdued.
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The normally warm beach was now cold, but Jean didn't pay it any mind as he was staring at Bertholdt. The shifter's eyes were colder than the surrounding area. At least it felt like it was.
At least Bertholdt's words are a good way to draw him back from the shock he's feeling, the ice he's making calming down a little, instead changing into a very light (but also very cold) rain around him. Sorrow. Jean doesn't pay attention to the rain as much as he probably should.
"I don't intend to fight you, either. Not anymore." Sure, he still wants to kind of punch Bert for everything, but mostly he was determined to handle things peacefully. He takes a deeper breath.
"Reiner and Annie are here. We have a non-aggression pact."
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After all, Jean might try to kill him - would be in the right to try, if Bertholdt is honest. He's surprised when Jean says he's not here to fight, either.
His face doesn't give anything away. He's been tricked before, by Armin.
"A non-aggression pact with who?" he asks warily.
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Almost a year ago, Jean probably would have been more aggressive and actually attempted something, even if it wouldn't have likely resulted in murder. But things had changed so much, in so many different ways.
Even if his recent quick visit home did bring out the familiar feelings of anger and betrayal to mind. But they were pretty short-lived. Instead, he's haunted by the memories of Bertholdt and Armin, and by the amount of people who died on that day.
"With the Survey Cops who are located here. Me, Mikasa, Eren, Sasha, Levi, Erwin, Hange. It was Reiner's idea, to protect all the Warriors coming in."
Bertholdt has no reason to believe him, Jean knows.
"I'll walk away, if that's what you want."
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He shouldn't be relieved, but he is, the tiniest bit.
It's very like Reiner to try and negotiate, trying to be the good leader. What kind of leverage did he have? Then again, in a place like this - what point is there to fighting? His father is still at home; if Reiner and Annie are here, as selfish as that is, he has almost all the people he needs to keep safe.
Bertholdt is quiet as he considers this before he slowly shakes his head. He still doesn't look friendly, of course, and that probably doesn't come as a surprise.
"I'm not here to fight you," he repeats, finally looking away from Jean and back to the fire that isn't providing any warmth. "And I'm not going to compromise what he's been working on." If it's the truth; but he loses nothing by waiting to find out if it's true.
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If this wasn't just an illusion made by the metaverse, he was glad for Reiner that Bertholdt was finally here. If he was just an illusion, it would just mean more hurt or the guy. In which case, it would just be better if Reiner never saw Bertholdt here.
But if he was actually here and Armin was sent back home, that was just cruel. In a way, it made sense. There couldn't be two Colossal titans running around back home (haha ha--). But there were so many situations they could co-exist in, since time was weird anyway.
He thinks back to why Armin had the Colossal in the first place. Of all the shit they were put through thanks to the Warriors invading Paradis. But that wasn't really their fault. As Galliard and Marco would put it, it was Marley that sent them. So they should get all the blame.
But that didn't mean he forgave them for breaking down Wall Maria. Or for attacking Trost. Or for the battle of Shiganshina. He could move past it, but couldn't forgive or forget. That's what he had been saying.
He especially couldn't forgive them about Marco.
There's actual warm flames around Jean's hand (that has formed into a fist while he traveled deep into his thoughts) for a bit. It's hard to say if it's his seasonal magic or something from Empatheias.
If he punched Reiner about it, he should just punch Bertholdt, too. Annie he hadn't, but that was more because he was afraid of her. He wasn't afraid or Reiner or Bert.
So, instead of saying anything, Jean aims a punch at Bertholdt's face. Much easier now that they were almost the same size. Sure, he just told him about the non-aggression pact, but this wasn't a murder attempt, just a honest, frustrated, punch.
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metaverse later; i will not apologise for him bc you already know what he's like
The truth — that time and being out of sync still affect him pretty deeply — is very obvious today. Sure, this is some, what, some fake place? He's not entirely certain how it works. He was an idiot to get involved in anything that wasn't quite real to begin with, but that kind of thing has never stopped him before.
Here, though, seeing Bertholdt Hoover at a destroyed wall is incredibly jarring. Of all the fucking people to be fixing a wall…
Not like Eren has any room to talk. Sure, he shored up the walls at home. Then he tore them all down a few years later. He doesn't really have any ground to stand on talking about destruction. He can live with being a hypocrite.
He reaches for anger. He finds it, of course; there's always some seething rage inside Eren. He's been angry all his life. Nothing has ever cooled him, not really. He can tamp it down or find ways to direct it, but he can't move on or forgive things, so he's always just angry.
But he's not really angry at Bertholdt, not anymore. It's been years. Lifetimes. Hours. He understands what they were trying to do. He understands fighting like hell for people you love, making terrible choices.
A half-acknowledged memory tugs at him, Bertholdt, his mother, the day the walls came down.
He rejects it. He's not ready. He tries to remember when they are. Bertholdt, seventeen forever (because of me, Eren thinks, because of Armin, because of us). Eren, on the cusp of twenty-one, an age he never imagined he would see. There is a gulf between them now, a bigger one than before.
Here and now, he tells himself. Even if this place is fake. Even if Bertholdt isn't real, won't stay, it doesn't matter. It feels real enough.
They don't have to be enemies, if only Eren can find a way to be something different.
He tells himself to not be too big of a dick because Reiner loves Bertholdt and Eren…well, put a pin in that because we don't do feelings here. Unfortunately, Eren is still Eren and he can't just be a normal fucking person so the first thing he says isn't very nice.
"Must be weird building a wall instead of wrecking one, huh?"
shrimply never apologize
Less people would be dead, but what is nearly three hundred more in the face of thousands?
(It matters because, for a while, he knew those people. It was easy, comparatively, to knock down a wall; it was harder to live amongst the consequences.)
Still, he startles when he hears the voice, pulling his hand away from the brick. The wall is only half repaired; when he pulls his hand back, some of it falls down again, scattering at their feet.
He opens his eyes and when he looks at Eren, it's disconcerting. He knows it's Eren - he won't forget those eyes - but he's all wrong. Taller, longer hair, the way he holds himself is entirely different from the young man who called them murdering hypocrites.
His first thought is to run; his second is to fight. His third is the actual action he takes - there's no reason to fight here, he knows that. Not only is this place not real, but this isn't Paradis, and there's no Marley to return to; even if he defeated Eren here, and now, it changes nothing.
His hand closes into a fist, then deliberately unclenches.
"... It's not the weirdest thing I've done today," is what he settles on telling Eren. He looks ill at ease, but he keeps his gaze on Eren. He can hardly fault Eren for choosing to remind him of his (many) crimes.
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Between his promise to Reiner and his promise to Levi, he won't start a fight unless he has no choice. Anyway, regardless of where they are, he can't take the Colossal in a fight. Bertholdt himself, maybe. But even with the War Hammer…
Hopefully he doesn't have to try, not now and not ever.
When in time are they? What does Bertholdt remember? Is he looking at a boy that he helped kill? Or like Sasha, does he not know any of that yet?
Either way, he doesn't know how much Eren knows. (Just kidding, no one knows how much Eren knows, not even Eren himself.) This is always confusing, but he's more and more used to it. At least with Bertholdt, he feels no need to keep it from him, to spare his feelings. He doesn't just drop the future on people without meaning to (accidental Paths debacle aside), but he keeps knowledge in his pocket as a weapon to wield when he isn't supposed to (allowed to?) fight like he usually would. Maybe this is something Armin is better at doing, but even Armin doesn't know as much as Eren does.
His eyes flick down, catching the movement of Bertholdt's hand into a fist. It doesn't stay like that.
Both of Eren's do, clenched tight enough to hurt. Self-defence, he tells himself. He only draws blood, unseen, nails in flesh, for self-defence. It's a nice half-lie.
Bertholdt isn't like him, he knows, not like Reiner. He's never gone straight to violence the same way. But they are monsters, aren't they? There's always a chance.
"What is?" he asks, blandly as he can manage.
cw: talk of cannibalism yey
It's a simple answer, for all the meaning it holds. Bertholdt knows he should be dead; he felt the pressure of teeth closing in on his body and then nothing at all, except the distinct knowledge he was watching the scene from the outside. He didn't get a chance to wonder at what the hell that meant before he woke up here.
Bertholdt's an observer; that's what he does. Observes and watches. As he does that, he knows that all he's learned about Eren needs to be re-evaluated in the face of this older (?) version of him. He's run into Jean, so he's not unfamiliar with the concept of people aging after he died.
He's used to the Eren that would go for the bite to his hand as soon as he could, a raging inferno. Not this detached, dead indifference, though he has no doubts he's digging those nails into his skin desperately.
Is he even the same as that young boy? Maybe that's what drives his next words. Eren's still the most dangerous person here, right now, in Bertholdt's opinion, and always will be. He just has to prove it.
"Did it make you feel like you won?" Dark green eyes are narrowed, calculating as he looks at Eren. "When you fed me to Armin."
No one has told him Armin was here and disappeared, yet, so he has no idea the hornet's nest he's kicking over.
tw references to genocide, war, child soldiers, general aot things etc
The next thing Bertholdt says, though…
Anger clouds Eren's expression, something familiar and easy. He cannot allow despair, sadness, the anguish he feels at Armin's absence. He's reasonably sure Bertholdt didn't say that to cut him this deep, but it does it all the same.
"I won before we even met each other," he answers, his neutral tone clouded with the simmering rage he can't ever rid himself of. He will always hate the outside world and what they did, Marley and its oppression, the hatred everyone feels for descendants of tyrants. Eren deserves their hatred, but most Eldians didn't do anything wrong.
Bertholdt only did what he could, a child turned into a nuclear bomb. Like Reiner, Bertholdt loves his comrades deeply enough to become a murderer for them. Like Eren, like Armin, like any of them except maybe Zeke.
He knows he said too much, said something that must seem nonsensical to Bertholdt who died before Eren's grim future became reality. It was always there as far as Eren is concerned, his experience of time warped into all at once. He had known the outcome his whole life, somewhere buried inside him, hidden from himself so that the ending would be what it had to be.
He doesn't quite reel it in, but he keeps talking.
"Did it feel like you won when you tore down our walls? When you found out it was me that you were supposed to take back to serve a country that hates you? We weren't even human to you, just island devils you came to wipe out."
He takes a breath. He should shut up, but Eren has never in his life stopped running his mouth on time.
"No one won shit the day you died. Armin almost burned to death to stop you. My lame ass brother killed pretty much all the Scouts with boulders, and we…"
He chokes on that. Erwin's death had been a hard blow but it had to be Armin that lived.
"It was war," Eren finally says, some of his anger cooling as he spins through too much in his mind. "It wasn't victory. It was just war."
His disgust for the idea of war is palpable. He used to glorify fighting because they were fighting titans. He wanted to save "humanity," but it wasn't like he actually cared about people outside those he had claimed as his own. What he really wanted was to avenge his mother's death. Reiner will always be responsible for that, but Bertholdt and Annie will too.
Eren himself is, as well, an accident he could not correct, saving the boy in front of him and damning his mother and the whole world to death all at once. He doesn't consciously realise it, cannot face it, but just like the truth buried in him for most of his life, it waits there to be uncovered. There's only so much anyone can hold, though, even Eren.
He stopped hating Reiner. They're too the same; he understands Reiner too well. Reiner is the only person he has ever stopped hating. There is no redemption or forgiveness, not for Reiner and not for Eren.
We can be something different.
He wants that to be true even as the urge to just get in a fight boils in his blood.
Can he stop hating Bertholdt? He doesn't know yet. He never thought about it; Bertholdt was dead, at his and Armin's hands. Even Ymir could not resurrect the dead.
This place, though…this place manages.
tw continued references to genocide, war, child soldiers, general aot things etc
But Bertholdt does not rise to taunts easily, and especially not after Armin cost him the chance to return home. (Twice, now.)
He expects the return shot about knocking down their walls, throwing the belief in so-called island devils back in their faces. At some point, Bertholdt is sure, he believed they were devils. He can't remember when that stopped, though; only that he came to that decision well before Reiner lost himself.
He didn't want to. It was a choice he never should have had to make. His father was sick, though, and they made him a bomb with an expiration date. He let them so he could be together with everyone. Just buying a bit more time for them all.
It won't mean anything to Eren, who lost his mother and father in that attack. Bertholdt casts his gaze to the side, any defenses he could muster up being buried by shame, and the guilt of killing thousands of people. He chose his father, Reiner, and Annie over the people of Paradis. Why should he be mad that Eren chose Armin over him?
(Is he mad about that?)
Eren's it was just war comment comes with some of his anger visibly deflating, and Bertholdt looks at him again. No, this isn't the same Eren Jaeger he's familiar with. Some of him is the same, of course, but this one - he's seen the price of his glorious fight with the Titans (Bertholdt's own people, people he killed too).
He closes his eyes and lets out a long breath, expelling some of his anxiety and anger.
Do you think that anyone wants to kill people? What kind of person would do this for fun?!
That's what Marley turned them into - instruments of war, a cog in their machine. Bertholdt was ten when he destroyed an entire city to save his father for the first time.
"You were never devils," he finally settles on. He knows what Reiner had called Eren; knows what he needed to believe in order to justify what they were doing. Reiner believed it so hard it broke his heart in two, making him two separate people, it felt like. He's not sure if Eren knowing Bertholdt knew he was wrong makes it better or worse.
"Someone had to get the blood on their hands," he repeats himself from so many months ago, green eyes sad and despondent. He can never apologize for what he's done, and so he doesn't. Eren deserves that much, at least. Bertholdt will hold the guilt within him until it rots away at his insides.
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cw: talk of suicide (not active), tentatively sets this before reiner
He's such a brat I'm sorry (I'm not sorry)
he's a perfect angel - said no one ever
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metaverse later
She watches the wall rebuild itself, eyes narrow. Just like every other time she sees someone use a seasonal power, she mentally files away everything she can about the magic.
Turning a little more, not even trying to be subtle about her staring, she sees the person wielding the ability.
Oh.
Recognition comes fast, and she’s moving before she’s even really registered who it is, but that doesn’t matter because this is Bertholdt standing there. Bertholdt who is supposed to be dead, eaten by Armin, another casualty of war.
She’s next to him before she can think better of it, and then she closes her fist and swings it straight at his nose.
annieeeee
He's so focused on using the ability he doesn't realize he has an observer. More accurately, he doesn't realize who is observing him, with his eyes closed, so the punch his nose surprises him entirely. He yelps in pain, jerking away and coming up to cover his nose, to stop the flow of blood he worries will inevitably happen.
When he looks to see who it is, though, his heart leaps into his throat. It's her. She's not being tortured, she's not being hurt; she's here.
And she's angry, but he could care less.
"Annie," he says, his expression shocked but his voice happy. Steam bursts from between his fingers, his healing triggering now that he's not suppressing it intentionally. "Annie - you're okay -"
The irony is not missed; he knows he wasn't okay at the end.
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But if Marco can come back, so can he.
She reaches forward and grabs him by the collar of his shirt, which would be more effective if he wasn’t a foot taller than her, and pulls him down so she can make eye contact with him.
“You were dead.” The words come out in a snarl, accusing and furious and devastated. How dare he have the nerve to die and then to just — show up here, alive and well, like nothing had happened? As though she hadn’t already mourned him, hadn’t felt enough guilt that she hadn’t been there? “What are you doing here?”
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"I'm sorry," is what he says in response to her accusation. He had died, one bright terrifying moment of regret and his life flashing before his eyes before he was outside his body. Then he was here, though, so he hasn't quite had time to absorb it all.
He's sorry that they managed to trick him, that his attempt to end things quicker distracted him from Armin's plan.
"I don't know how I got here. I just woke up," he tells her, wincing a little bit at how his answer sounds. But that has always been Bertholdt; where he is quiet and strong, he also never pushes back against anyone.
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(She doesn’t let herself think about Armin, though. Not when he’s gone too.)
It’s sickening, how he yields to her, as though she holds any power over him. Disgusted, she lets go of his collar and pushes him away, unable to continue looking into those green eyes. She’s afraid of what she might see, if she keeps looking.
“Of course.” She bites back a swear. Of course he’s new, fresh meat, as though the universe is laughing at her. What, is she supposed to be his guide? She’s been here for months, and she still doesn’t know what’s happening half the time! “Am I the first person you’ve run into? From our world, that is.”
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(He doesn't know that he's coming on the heels of Armin leaving, yet. A twisted inverse of their situations at home.)
"No," he tells her, finally dropping his hand from his face again. "I - I didn't just literally wake up moments ago." He wouldn't have known to mess around with rebuilding the wall, if that were the case.
"I ran into Jean. He told me you were here, but... he also told me this place isn't real, where we are now. It's based on somewhere else."
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rises from the dead like a discount zombie. hi.
You're in the Metaverse Now
So he declined the invitation from the research center. Yet here he is all the same.
Here he is, clean-shaven but taller than he once was, having aged in subtle yet undeniable ways during his nine months in Ellipsa.
Here he is, standing beside a fake ocean in a fake world, eyes locked on an achingly familiar form bathed in firelight.
Reiner knows this isn't real. He knows this is a simulation. He knows it's fake. He knows that.
Still, here he is, his heart pounding, staring at the ghost of his best friend. His partner.
Bertholdt looks just as he does in Reiner's dreams and memories, a decade spent at each other's side making Bertholdt's features more familiar than Reiner's own. His hair, his nose, his lips, the breadth of his shoulders, the long lines of his limbs. And his eyes, deep green and soulful, reflecting so much even when Bertholdt chooses silence.
It looks just like him. Bertholdt, safe and sound. A dream come true.
But it's not true. Is it?
Reiner stares, his lip slightly parted, gold eyes wide, desperate hope warring with disbelief. He stares and stares and stares, a million words on the tip of his tongue.
He wants to call Bertholdt by name. He wants to rush forward and embrace him. He wants to say he's sorry, he's sorry, he's so sorry. He wants to tell Bertholdt that they're safe here, that Bertholdt never needs to worry about defending himself from those who would murder for the Colossal. He wants to promise that he won't fail to protect Bertholdt again; he wants to guarantee it.
He wants to tell him that Annie is okay, that she's here, and now Bertholdt can tell her how he feels. He wants to say, "I love you. I've loved you since we were kids. I'll love you as long as I live."
Instead, the words that pass his lips are quiet, desperate.
"Are you real?"
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He knows that even when Reiner forgets what he is, he touches Bert the same way. It's his eyes that give away what he does or does not know. It's why when he becomes aware that Reiner's staring he doesn't immediately look up. He doesn't want to be faced with his best friend, his everything, and see that he doesn't remember.
But those words -
Are you real?
- They have him finally lifting his gaze, forest green eyes gazing into gold. Reiner is here - all of him, for once, and he looks so broken and hopeful at the same time. He must be... after. He must be from after it happened, the way Jean was, and that's why he's taller.
Reiner, without Bertholdt. His heart aches.
The question is one he doesn't immediately answer, looking at Reiner because he's not sure himself. Is he just a simulation, the way others have been? He doesn't know if he should doubt what he is - and in the end, he settles on what to say.
"I feel real enough," He tells Reiner honestly, looking up at him for once.
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Bertholdt looks up at him, their eyes meeting. Words pass Bertholdt's lips, voice the soft, soothing rhythm Reiner knows so well. The one that pulls him back, pushes him forward, keeps him steady. A guiding light in a maelstrom.
I feel real enough.
Real enough. That's all they can ask for, right? That's more than Reiner can say on his worst days. More than Bertholdt has—will have?—back home.
Reiner tries to shove that thought side, focusing on Bertholdt's eyes, bright in the firelight. On his chest, rising and falling with each breath. On the imprint his body has made in the sand. Substantial. Unmistakable. Real.
Real. Real.
Reiner chokes on his next breath. He manages a few unsteady steps forward before his knees give out, dropping him to the sand with a heavy thud. Then his hands reach out, grasping for Bertholdt. Trying to touch him. To seize him. To pull him close. To embrace his partner as tightly as he can, fingers wound into fabric, arms squeezing as though he might keep Bertholdt here (keep him real) if he just doesn't let go.
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If he was crueler, that is. He's a murderer, but he is also a human. The expression in his eyes is one of affection and love, and once Reiner starts moving, Bertholdt unfolds himself. When Reiner reaches out to him, Bertholdt grasps his arms with his hands, his touch strong and sure to steady his best friend.
Only his face shows his somber expression breaking; one of grief, then concern. His hands slide up until he cups Reiner's face, going easily into his embrace. He leans their foreheads together, his green eyes falling closed, before he tugs Reiner's head down to let him bury it in his shoulder, one hand falling to the nape of his neck.
"I'm so sorry," he says, his voice cracking a little. He knows what he's apologizing for. He's apologizing for leaving Reiner alone, to be the only survivor yet again. To whatever limited days Marley may leave him with for losing the Colossal Titan to the Paradisians.
A CENTURY LATER
They were supposed to spend thirteen years like this: Titan-hot and side-by-side, the weight of their burdens easier borne on two sets of shoulders. Best friends. Partners. Together until the end.
Only that's not how it happens in a future Reiner hasn't lived. That's not how their story goes.
Bertholdt cups Reiner's face in his hands, his touch tender, eyes grieved and worried. As if Reiner is the one who was lost. Hurt. Killed. Their foreheads press together, beautiful green eyes falling closed. Then Reiner finds his face buried in Bertholdt's shoulder—a place that has spelled "safety" to Reiner since they were children.
He breathes in, smelling home. Bertholdt has always smelled like home.
"No," he protests, unable to shake his head for how closely they're pressed; unwilling to risk dislodging Bertholdt's hand from his nape. His arms are wound around Bertholdt's back, one near his waist and one at his shoulders.
He doesn't reach for Bertholdt's nape in turn—not yet, at least. He knows he always squeezes too tightly when he's emotional, forgetting his own strength; and he only ever touches Bertholdt's nape with gentle hands.
"No," he repeats firmly, "you never did anything wrong. I—"
Reiner chokes again, the beginning of tears cutting his words short. I must've fucked up, he wants to say, certain that was the case. Instead, he clings even tighter, squeezing his eyes shut.
"I've missed you so much."
Words that feel entirely inadequate, but they're all Reiner has.