LABYRINTHUM INBOX II

[placation]

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now let the record show that this is my most hated eren moment of all time

[abandonhumanity]

I was walking through the city. A group of men had cornered a boy from the refugee camp. He was a pickpocket.

I already knew that one day I was going to kill him. He dies in the Rumbling.

I saved him anyway. I brought him back to the camp.

Then, I apologized to him.

I'M MILK WEBKINZING HIM

[placation]

[ Perhaps now more than ever, Maruki sees the value in sparing someone from immediate pain, even if more suffering is coming.

It's why he loves Eren, right there in black and white. ]

Why did you do it?

[abandonhumanity]

I don't know.

I didn't want those guys to beat him up. He looked so afraid.

[placation]

Can I make an assessment?

[abandonhumanity]

I never say no.

[placation]

I've never known you to not care about others, especially people in need. It's been that way since we first met.

Of course you saw a frightened child and helped him. You know what it was like to be a frightened child yourself, and you would have wanted someone to help you.

Even knowing what was coming, it was still important to you to help in the moment. You aren't cruel. You do care. It's why I know you were kind to Akechi and Akira as children, too.

[abandonhumanity]

['You aren't cruel,' might have sent Eren into a spiral, were he younger and, somehow, more miserable, but...right now, he's more amused by Maruki's clear bias.]

I am cruel. I know I don't need to remind you why.

You're right, though. I didn't treat them badly. At least, I didn't intend to.

[placation]

Doing a cruel thing doesn't make you a cruel person.

[abandonhumanity]

[. . .]

What about doing a billion cruel things? Come on...

[placation]

If you started tallying up all the kind things you do in this reality versus all the cruel things, I think you'll be surprised by how heavily it's weighted in a certain direction.

[abandonhumanity]

I'm kind to you. I try to be.

[placation]

And you were kind to that child, even knowing what was coming for him in the end.

That matters.

[abandonhumanity]

[. . .]

Back then, I really was sorry.

[placation]

I believe it.

[abandonhumanity]

I don't know if I'm sorry anymore.

[Maybe he just can't bear to be. How could he survive if he had to carry that guilt?]

[placation]

Oh, I didn't imagine that you were.

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, either.

maruki oh my god

[abandonhumanity]

What do you mean by that?

WHAT!!!

[placation]

You lived past that, even though you weren't meant to. You've had to keep moving forward.

You wouldn't be able to if you kept yourself mired in that guilt and regret.

It's something I'm struggling with myself.

[abandonhumanity]

You are?

[Of course he is, Eren's beloved Other.]

Talk to me.

[placation]

[ He'll have to eventually, won't he? ]

I know you think I was trying to save everyone, and I was...

But it was against their will. It's the same as being brought into a new reality with the promise of a wish being granted.

I really was prepared to do anything to entrap them in a world I thought was best for them, Eren. Of course I feel guilty about it still.

[abandonhumanity]

[Of course, Eren has never looked at it that way before. He's sure Maruki hadn't either, before experiencing it himself. It makes them both feel strange and sick, Eren's sure, as if their hearts right now were racing in unison.]

The world was saved from you. And we'll save this world. You'll balance the scales.

[placation]

That's all we can do, right?

Haru is the only one here who lived through that. She doesn't hold it against me at all.

Somehow, that makes it more difficult to let go of the guilt. Isn't that strange?

+1 goodwill point for haru

[abandonhumanity]

I understand.

[I hate that you understand. I don't want you to understand. I love you too much.]

Do you think you don't deserve to be forgiven?

[placation]

[ Ah. That's difficult. ]

I wouldn't go that far...

[ How does he begin to explain? ]

What happened to me... I suppose it sort of means I can't think that way.

It's more that I never thought I would have the opportunity to be forgiven. Back in the true reality, with one exception, there's no reason for the people who fought against me to see or speak to me again. Here, though...

Well, it's inevitable.

[abandonhumanity]

[He's feared it all along, that Maruki will live the rest of his life a lonely man. That's the price of his freedom. Eren resents it.]

I hope you're enjoying your time.

[To anyone else, those words would be biting, downright vicious, but he knows Maruki will sense that it's so very genuine.]