CHAPTER 4: THE BASEMENT AND THE BOAT
The boat swayed on the dirty water.
Thousands of refugees packed the deck. Mothers held their children close. Old men stared at nothing. Soldiers stood at the edges, their eyes empty.
Shiganshina was gone. The smoke still rose behind them, painting the sky black.
Sukuna sat in a corner. His back against the wooden railing. His green eyes—Eren's green eyes—watched everything.
Mikasa sat beside him. She wasn't crying anymore. Her face was blank. Her hands were still.
Armin sat on his other side, hugging his knees. The blond boy's body shook with silent sobs.
"Hey," Sukuna said.
Armin looked up. His blue eyes were red and swollen.
"You said you read about the outside world," Sukuna continued. "The ocean. The fiery lands. Tell me again."
Armin blinked. "W-why now...?"
"Because we're not going back to Shiganshina," Sukuna said calmly. "So tell me. What's out there?"
Armin hesitated. Then he began to speak. His voice was shaky at first. But as he talked about the salt water and the burning mountains, his voice grew stronger.
Mikasa watched Sukuna as Armin spoke.
She was still watching him.
Always watching.
The boat reached the inner district. Wall Rose.
The refugees poured out like water from a broken dam. Soldiers shouted orders. Families called for each other. Chaos.
Sukuna walked through the crowd. Mikasa and Armin followed.
They found a corner near a broken fountain. Sukuna sat on the edge. He looked up at the new wall.
Wall Rose. Fifty meters tall. Smaller than Wall Maria, but still massive. Still a cage.
"We need to find somewhere to stay," Mikasa said quietly.
"We need food," Armin added.
Sukuna didn't answer. He was looking at something else.
A group of soldiers. Three of them. Their uniforms were different. Cleaner. On their jackets, a symbol.
The Survey Corps emblem.
"The ones who go outside the walls," Sukuna said, pointing.
Mikasa looked. "They're... different."
"They're not afraid," Sukuna replied. "Or maybe they are. But they go anyway."
One of the soldiers looked their way. A man with dark hair and tired eyes. He stared at Sukuna for a long moment.
Then he turned and walked away.
"That one," Sukuna said softly. "He saw something."
---
They found shelter in an abandoned warehouse. Dozens of other refugees were already there. Families huddled together. Children cried.
Mikasa found a corner and sat down. Armin fell asleep immediately, exhausted.
Sukuna didn't sleep.
He sat with his back against the cold stone wall. His small hands rested on his knees.
He closed his eyes.
Not to sleep. To think.
"So this is the world, Eren," he thought. "Walls. Fear. Titans that eat humans."
He remembered the Colossal Titan. The power in that kick. The way the wall exploded like paper.
"Impressive," he admitted. "But not enough."
His cursed energy pulsed inside him. Weak. The body was too young, too small. He couldn't use his full power yet.
But the fingers were here. All twenty of them. Hidden inside this small body.
"I need time," he thought. "Time to grow. Time to understand this world's power."
He opened his eyes.
Mikasa was awake. Staring at him.
"You're not sleeping," she whispered.
"Neither are you."
She moved closer. Her dark eyes searched his face.
"Who are you?" she asked. Her voice was barely a sound.
Sukuna looked at her. The girl who loved Eren. The girl who would follow him to hell and back.
"I'm the one who will save this world," he said. "Or destroy it. I haven't decided yet."
Mikasa's eyes widened.
Then she looked away.
"Eren... would never say that."
"Eren is gone," Sukuna replied.
Silence.
Then Mikasa whispered, "Then why are you still in his body?"
Sukuna smiled. A cold, hungry smile.
"Because his story is not over yet. And I... I love a good story."
---
END OF CHAPTER 4