"Killed? Killed?"
The Survey Corps soldiers froze in shock.
"Brother?" Annie and Bertholdt turned pale, staring at Zeke. What was he saying? He'd claimed they were just ordinary kids — so why speak of killing them now?
Was this his way of protecting them? Of giving them clean identities, freed from guilt?
Zeke's tone was calm, almost chillingly so. "Why call me brother? I told you already — you're just 'rations.'"
"Eh?" Annie blinked, unable to process the words.
"'Rations'? What are you talking about?"
Zeke tilted his head toward Reiner, then smiled faintly at Annie and Bertholdt. "Didn't I almost eat him once?"
"...!!" The room erupted.
"Zeke, you eat people?!" Hange shouted first, disbelief cutting through her voice. "Reiner's your brother! How could you even—"
Among the soldiers, the three Marleyan children were still seen as their own — siblings, comrades, fellow victims.
Zeke looked at Hange with detached eyes. "Have you ever seen a Titan that doesn't eat people?"
Shing!
Every blade in the room was drawn again in a single motion.
"Calm down!" Erwin barked, raising a hand.
"Calm down? Captain, you heard him! He admitted it — he's a Titan, and he eats people!" a soldier shouted hysterically. "We can't keep him here! What if he transforms?!"
"Or we kill him first!" someone else yelled.
"Stop!"
The voices of Erwin and Annie overlapped.
Everyone turned — Erwin's brows furrowed, while Annie's trembling lips struggled to form words.
She couldn't understand the plan entirely — why Zeke had claimed all the sins for himself, or why he would shoulder the burden just to keep them safe.
But she knew this much: whatever he was doing, they had to follow his lead.
Even if it meant sacrificing their "captain," his intentions couldn't go to waste.
"Stop talking nonsense!" Annie shouted, tears spilling despite herself. "Big brother's not a Titan! How could a human turn into one of those things? Besides, you all know how much he cares about Reiner! He'd never eat him!"
Her voice cracked — trembling, desperate, honest.
But inside, she was screaming.
Didn't you promise you'd take us home?
She couldn't say it aloud. The truth would break everything.
Zeke smiled thinly. "What do you mean, 'like'? Reiner's the most annoying of all. Always disobedient, always messing things up. Maybe if I'd been more patient, things wouldn't have turned out this way… It's your fault, Reiner. So don't come near me again — or I might eat you for real next time."
"Wha—?" Annie blinked. Why was he changing the topic so fast?
"Wait," Hange said, peering at him curiously. "Are you saying this just to keep the kids away from you?"
Erwin stepped forward, eyes sharp. "Zeke, may I ask — why did you want to eat this child?"
Zeke's expression darkened. "Rations."
"Rations?" Erwin repeated. "If that's all it was, then why tell them to keep away? Why teach them to fight Titans? Why give them guns that could kill you?"
"…They're just rations," Zeke muttered stiffly. "They'll be eaten anyway… Why do you care what I teach them?"
His tone faltered. Even as he spoke, he realized how hollow it sounded — a lie patched together too quickly, already falling apart.
Erwin tilted his head. "Did you… lose control back then?"
Zeke froze.
Then, as if grasping onto the idea like a lifeline, he laughed hollowly. "Oh, right! That's it! I'm a monster who can lose control and eat anyone at any moment. Pretending to be human doesn't work! Hahaha!"
Levi's voice cut through his laughter like a knife. "But when you turned into a Titan, you were still talking. You said, 'I'm still no match for you now.' Doesn't sound like someone who lost control."
Zeke's smile twitched.
Brother… could you not remember that part?
Erwin interjected calmly. "Maybe after fighting two Titans back-to-back, he ran out of energy and snapped. Maintaining human awareness while transformed must be difficult."
"Tch," Levi crossed his arms. "Didn't look difficult when he was chatting mid-battle."
Zeke exhaled through his nose. "Does it matter? Reiner's hurt — that's the fact."
Erwin's tone softened. "Don't be so harsh on yourself, Zeke. I know you didn't mean harm. If you wanted to kill us, you could've done it already. You're the first Titan we've seen who can turn back into a human and talk normally. That's significant. It means something. So stop making everything sound hopeless."
Zeke frowned. "Significant? You're still afraid of me, aren't you? Still worried I'll transform and slaughter you all?"
"…I'm sorry," Erwin said quietly. "Even if I trust you, bringing a Titan among humans is a huge risk. That's why I have to know — how did you become one?"
Zeke's eyes glinted. "An injection."
Erwin blinked. "A needle?"
"Yeah. A special drug. Titan Spinal Fluid," Zeke said flatly. "Take it, and you'll become a Titan."
Levi raised a brow. "And if you don't take it?"
"You won't."
Erwin sighed with relief, stepping forward to search him — checking his coat, his pockets, his gear. Nothing. No syringes, no vials.
Confused, he frowned. "Where is it, then?"
Zeke shrugged. "Used up. That's why I came to ask my father for more."
Erwin paused. "Right… your father's a doctor." His eyes widened with realization. "Then—he's the one who turned you into a Titan?"
"Mm."
The room fell silent.
Annie and Bertholdt stared at him, faces pale as the truth sank in.
Hange's voice broke the quiet. "How could any father do that to his son? Turn his child into a monster?"
Zeke's lips curved into a sharp, bitter smile. "Because that's what parents do, isn't it? They give life and think it means they own you. That they can decide your fate. That they can play with you however they want. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't dare. But with his own son—why not?"
The words struck something raw in the room.
Erwin and Hange exchanged a horrified glance — then suddenly rushed toward the back of the wagon, where Eren lay unconscious.
"There's more than one of Dr. Yeager's sons here," Erwin breathed.
They pulled the tarp back—
And a trembling voice rang out from the shadows. "No… Grisha would never do that to Eren!"
Zeke froze.
That voice—
"…Carla?"
His mother's voice cut through him like a blade, trembling with denial, with pain, with the faintest echo of love he thought had vanished long ago.
For the first time since arriving on the island, Zeke's composure cracked. His breath hitched, and his hands curled into fists.
He didn't dare turn around.
He wasn't ready to face her.
Not yet.