SEVEN, BURNING FURY

FLEUR HAD NEVER been so angry in her life. She could feel her temperature rising as the seconds went by. This boiling feeling inside of her flowed throughout her veins causing the girl to grit her pearly white teeth. A string of raging thoughts consumed her, anyone could tell just by looking at her that she was not okay. If her leg hadn't hurt so much she would have been pacing back and forth. It worried them to see hellfire ignited in her usual calm gorgeous silver eyes.

None of this was okay. Back there she felt completely useless and so weak, her first time encountering the Titan in five years and her body decided to give up on her. It was pathetic. If she hadn't been so frightened at the sight of it she could've helped Eren kill it but even he didn't get a chance to before it vanished once again. And that's what angered Fleur the most, does it think it can just choose to destroy their lives and leave as if it were nothing?

That monster had the power to determine who lives and who dies in the palm of its hand- it was unfair, truly. It made her feel like she was nothing but a tiny impotent nobody and she was anything but that.

The tension was high since everyone was scattering around with their heads cut off. Some were refilling their gas tanks, others prayed and the rest trembled in fear regretting the day they enlisted. The girl sat on a wooden crate, her hands shaking not knowing what to do with herself at the moment. Her Brain was clouded with eyes that belonged to Colossal beast who stared at her before unleashing hell into Wall Rose.

Another barrier breached, a repeat of the tragic history that occurred years ago, and this, unfortunately, would her second time reliving the same nightmare. However, this time around she could fight back, she had the tools to do so. It wasn't predator against prey anymore. It was Predator against predator, they were on the same level now. An even match.

Realizing this, the grip around the handle of her sharp blades tightened, her hands turning red at the action. She went to get up but pain struck up her leg causing the girl to let out a small groan. The ebony-haired girl glanced down at the bandages around her limb that protected her wound and she huffed in annoyance.

She had fully forgotten about her disadvantage. It could be a hazard up in the air if landed too harshly and fell losing balance amid such catastrophe. But she didn't care, a little pain wasn't going to stop her from going out there, she could deal with it. So Fleur grabbed her boot and continued to walk out of the building. Her actions were certainly reckless which she knows isn't the best way to handle her emotions but no one seemed to stop her, probably because they had their own worries and didn't pay any mind to a girl acting desperate for a spec of revenge.

"Fleur, where are you going? You should be sitting down and resting. You can't fight like this." Sasha says, concerned to see her friend up and ready to head into battle so eagerly. The girl pushed Fleur back into the outside wall of the building.

"I'm fine. Let me go." The freckled girl brushes Sasha's hands off roughly as she reached for her boot, seconds away from throwing a fit. She continued to walk towards one of the rows that were in the middle of an encouraging speech from their captain.

"Use your brain, you're injured you can't fight no matter how badly you want to." The Braus girl tried to tell her. Ever since Fleur's eyes landed on the hole created by the Colossal Titan she's been furious and Sasha knew no amount of convincing would stop her from doing what she decides in the end but she'll try her best to knock some sense into her.

"When have you ever used yours? I'll answer for you: never." She bit, "Besides, the adrenaline will kick in as soon as I see them and I won't be able to feel the pain."

"Huh?" A perplexed expression took Sasha's features as she let out a weird sound, "you're counting on your adrenaline to help you kill Titans? That's your big plan? Fleur, do you know how stupid that sounds? And I know stupid."

The girl simply ignored her for a second as she listened closely to the stern words of the captain. There was no denying she was indeed acting of out pure emotion, that her actions may get her even more hurt than she already is, however, she couldn't just sit back and do nothing. It'd drive her insane to know that others were going to sacrifice their lives while she got to relax. It didn't seem fair. Besides, she asked for this, she wanted to kill those mindless giants and this was her opportunity to do so.

"As we speak the vanguard is engaging them. We have but one objective in this fight: to defend Wall Rose with our lives until the evacuation is complete!" The captain of the Garrison Regiment, Kitz Woermann, spoke with authority. "Also, as you are all surely aware, desertion in the face of the enemy is punishable by death. Mark this well, and fight until your last dying breath! Dismissed!"

The crowd yelled back with a series of 'yes, sir!' and they all ran in different directions scurrying like scared rats. Fleur urgently glanced around to try to find her group that consisted of Eren, Armin, Mina, and Thomas. It was an odd mixture of people.

"Don't ignore me, Fleur, " Sasha says interrupting her search as she stood in front of the freckled girl, "do you think it's smart to go out there? Because I'm here to tell you it is not!" The brown-eyed girl's tone hinted with concern as she grabbed Fleur's arms to pull her closer, seeming to be extremely worried for her friend. After watching her almost die and barely catching her mid-air, it made her scared of what could happen if Fleur took one wrong move.

The grey-eyed girl simply raised an eyebrow at her question confused with where all this concern for her was coming from. No, of course, she knew it wasn't smart at all to go but she's never been one to go off by logic, only emotion, and right now she was angry -another flaw to add to the list- her psyche was tainted with the darkest of reds.

"I don't care if you think it's not a good idea. I'm going and you're in my way so move. Or do you think I'm not strong enough for this?" She asked, with a questioning look.

"Of course you're strong! Are you kidding? But what I'm trying to say is that you can sit this one out and no one will blame you."

A lot of people would never let it go actually.

"Listen, Sasha, if I let one silly injury stop from me going out there and slaughtering every Titan I see then I wouldn't have signed up for this." She puts a hand on the girl's shoulder as she speaks, "yes, I know it's reckless of me to act like this in such a time of chaos- the thing is you didn't have the privilege to see when my home got destroyed, the fear on my people's faces, and... Now I have a chance for revenge so you can continue to stand in my way or move... Please."

Sasha stared at Fleur whose voice broke as she spoke about Shiganshina District but it also held fervor, a powerful aura radiated off her, the hold on her shoulder tightening a little. This meant a lot to her, whatever she thought she needed to prove to others or herself. It seemed that Fleur had no idea the adrenaline strategy wasn't going to last as long as she thinks it would but the Braus girl knew by wasting time trying to get her to change her mind would be of no use to either of them so she moved to the side allowing for her friend to walk past freely.

Fleur sighed, relieved that she didn't have to keep arguing anymore. She began to walk by attempting to hide the limp as she took each step then she stopped and realized she never thanked Sasha for saving her. "And thanks for you know... don't you dare die, you moron." The freckled girl said loud enough for Sasha to hear before continuing to walk to her group.

"I won't! I'll still be here to steal all of your leftovers." She yelled back before running to her team. Her words making Fleur smile softly in a time of unpredictable havoc. Neither of them knew if the other would make it back alive or not, still, they were optimistic.

The wind blew gently and caressed the girl's face as she looked over the village and watched as the Titans roamed carelessly around, her silver eyes narrowing angrily at the sight of them. It made her gut burn with such hatred, mouth twisting into a snarl. Although she wanted to start killing the moment she caught sight of them, She still had to wait for a signal from the veterans to allow her to jump into action.

She'd already been reckless enough to be here with an injured leg and she didn't want to get into more trouble. She could already hear Shadis's anger and series of insults thrown her way.

The citizens were all frightened when they heard that the abnormals got into their home. They collected any of their important valuables and ran hurriedly to the only exit to take them even deeper into the walls- Wall Sina, where the king lived without a care in the world and absolutely clueless to the destruction that was occurring outside of his imagination. He was probably stuffing his face instead of assisting his people in a time of need.

Fleur exhaled as she stood with all her weight on one leg trying to somehow release some pain from the other.

"I heard what happened to you," Armin says appearing from her right side slightly startling her. The boy knew this because Eren told him about it and how Fleur froze up almost falling to her death, he could only imagine the terror she must've felt. The playing with her ring seemed to be a result of the nerves.

"Yeah? well, don't lecture me about it. I've already had enough of that from Sasha." She responded, keeping her gaze far ahead of her not wanting to look him in eye from the humiliation she was feeling.

"Actually uh... that's not what I was going to do, I mean it's not smart for you to be here, yes, but I think at the same time it's really commendable." He praises her watching as she turns her head a bit in the opposite direction of him, "even when you're still hurt you continue to fight... I like... that."

Not visible to the blond, Fleur's eyes slightly widen scared for the last bit of his sentence as her ears began to turn red for some reason.

"Commendable? Huh, that's nice to hear. Honestly, I don't know what I'm thinking, Arlert, all I know is that I'd never forgive myself if I just sat and did nothing." She says eventually facing him as she tilts her head at him, "and I guess if you like it I'm doing something right... right? Since you're like an angel or whatever."

The boy's eyebrows raised a bit mirroring her head movement, he didn't know what it was but seeing the way her captivating silver eyes gazed into his set an eruption of butterflies in his stomach. It was such a simple gesture that probably meant nothing but it made his skin tingle from its effectiveness. It was no more than a second that they stared at each other before looking away- a light pink tint appearing on both of their cheeks.

"Rig-right." He stutters, scratching the back of his neck trying to find more words to say not wanting the conversation to end so early.

A low groan left Fleur's mouth making Armin worriedly glance up towards her. The girl had accidentally put pressure on her left leg in an attempt to readjust her posture.

"Here, let me help you," Armin offers as he puts an arm around her waist so she could lean on him and use him as support for her body. Fleur generously took it ignoring the way her body tensed up at his touch. Again a simple gesture but yet so effective. She could feel the tension being relieved from her limb slowly.

"Ugh, this wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't been so scared back there." She says annoyed with herself, her fists clenching tightly.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Fleur." The boy solaces, "I was a trainwreck when I first heard the news about Wall Rose being breached. I mean I know it's not the same as seeing... It up and close and I probably wasn't feeling half of what you were but we all react differently according to our past experiences. So I'm assuming you feel a bit angry with yourself because your reaction was fear?"

"It's not just that- it's the fact that because of my response to it I'm now injured and can't fight the way I said I was going to." She replied leaning her head back letting out a small breath, "it's frustrating. You don't understand my body went numb... I fainted like a complete coward."

Armin pondered, his mind trying to think of what she must be feeling at the moment- he concluded that he couldn't empathize with her but he could sympathize at the very least. Give her some heartening words because in all honesty seeing her all discouraged wasn't something he favored much.

"That's okay. No one is expecting you to be strong all the time." The boy tries to reassure her yet, the way she turned she hid her face told him that a couple of words weren't going to change the way she saw herself as someone weak because she faltered once at the hands of danger. "You're not going to let a leg injury stop you from performing to the best of your abilities, are you? That doesn't quite sound very Fleur-like to me."

Not obvious to the blond, the girl pulled her mouth up and back, a slight look of puzzlement on her face as her grey hues were still glued on the blue sky, "Okay, so what is 'Fleur-like' to you?"

"Remember, not too long ago, when you told me that some of us would be better than others at certain skills, that you thought I might be a good strategist?" He inquired, receiving a nod from her, "I think you are going to be a great leader."

"Returning the compliment, are we? Though that doesn't answer my question, blondie."

"Thro-throughout all of our training, you've always given it a hundred percent, you worked well with everyone when you needed to, and not to mention you're very confident in what you stand for." He began as glanced at her to wanting Fleur to meet his eyes again, "Though you still have to work on quick decision making and your temper too because we all aren't created perfect- uh- not saying that you aren't perfect of course! An-and I'm not just saying this to be nice I mean it. Really."

A faint smile took to Fleur's lips as she listened to his stutter, unknowingly she found it... quite adorable. She never realized how much he paid attention to her during those years of training considering she also observed him too. The girl took note of how his strengths were mostly mental and not physical- unlike herself.

"You have too much hope in me, Arlert, I'm flattered." She says, putting a hand on her heart, "but what about you, huh? you also have some work to do yourself. Your judgment is great as is your teamwork, however, your combat and mobility need a little work because like you said we aren't created perfect. Yes, I paid attention as well... A little."

"So why not help each other out in the abilities we lack? And get as close to perfect as possible?-never mind that was cheesy, ignore me!" Armin speaks before his mind could even process the words coming out of his mouth. To his surprise, Fleur let out a soft chuckle, it was short and partly suppressed.

"Okay sure, at the same time treat my teaching of amazing combat skills as a 'thank you' for being kind to me when we were kids even though you didn't know me. Deal?"

Fleur carefully turned her whole body to face him, feeling Armin's hand brushing against her lower back instead of letting his arm fall to his side. The girl hesitantly extended her hand out as she waited for him to shake it ignoring the tingling sensation it had caused.

"Deal." Armin shook it without delay. Unintentionally, his thumb lightly caressed the imperfections lined on her knuckles. She could feel her heartbeat accelerating a bit from his oblivious tenderness. Or did he know? Either way, she chose to ignore it.

"And I meant every word too. You are going to be the best strategist so prove me right." She tells him genuinely, neither of them letting go of each other's hands. Fleur couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about the blond that made it so easy to talk to him in the middle of such unexpected mayhem, how with a few minutes suddenly the nerves she hadn't noticed before had soothed a little, but she grateful for his presence. It'd be the second time he's done it without being aware of how his kind actions affected her- in a good way, of course.

Armin wasn't the type of person to hide what he truly feels. He's an emotional kid. Whether it'd be sadness or the spec of uncertainty that comes and goes in his Sapphire stones, even the way he stammered would tell Fleur when he wasn't sure of something or he was just embarrassed. But when it comes to noticing the boy trying to find subtle ways to touch, she was clueless, however, he was not so much.

See, he doesn't exactly know what it is that he feels for Fleur yet. It could just be an innocent friendship between them so he didn't expect her to reciprocate anything back. He was also confused himself.

"Your leg alright, Beaumont?" Eren queried, sort of concerned, startling the two still shaking hands as they jump and let go of each other.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch. No biggie." Crossing her arms she replies with a sarcastic tone. The boy simply rolled his eyes annoyed at her humored-filled comment. Same as always, he thought.

"And you, Armin? Are you ready?" He asked his best friend who smiled and responded with a confident nod. "Remember this could be our chance to rise through the ranks and pass rookie status altogether. So give em hell." The boy reminds him again with a grin.

Fleur had never really thought about it like that. It could be a great opportunity for her to prove to not only herself but the those who have been a part of the Survey corps longer than her that she was worthy. Though their approval wasn't much of interest to her but she did want to be respected for the hard work she was about to put into protecting Wall Rose.

"I think Armin will do just fine," The girl intercepts putting an arm on the blond's shoulder, "you, however, I can't say I'm not a little worried you might reenact that hilarious stunt with gear again."

"You're quite the jokester, aren't you, Fleur?" A mischievous smirk appeared on his face as if he knew of the perfect comeback, his eyes glancing at Armin before he spoke, "Don't let anyone catch you chatting with the equipment or they just might think you've lost it."

The freckled girl narrowed her eyes at Eren first then at Armin who avoided meeting her gaze as he pursed his lips acting clueless.

"Eren, good luck beatin' us to the second punch a second time." Thomas speaks, getting their attention, "No head-starts for you this round!"

"Is that a challenge?" The boy questions with smugness in his tone.

"Listen up. Whoever kills the most Titans gets bragging rights."

"Better not fudge up your scores."

Fleur didn't want to say out loud but she was up for the challenge though it might seem bold to assume any of them (excluding herself) would get close to killing at least one or even survive to make it out the other end alive. The heavens did want to test her sanity so if it takes killing every single Titan she came across to prove it wrong, Fleur was honored to be its guest. And maybe it would make her feel better and rid herself of the embarrassment that was suffocating her.

"Squadron 34, move out! The vanguard needs support!"

The signal that the girl had been waiting for to finally give her the green light to go haywire sounded like music to her ears not wasting time as she pulled the trigger on both handles and let herself glide through the air- Armin and the others quickly following behind.

Her feet scurried on the several roofs creating momentum for her to go even faster. Fleur Jumped off one of the rooftops as soon as she reached the edge of it and allowed her body to ascend higher. The girl's silver eyes catching sight of the numerous mindless giants carelessly roaming without a thought behind their inhuman actions.

Her features turned into a scowl glaring down her next target. It seemed to be waiting patiently for the group of soldiers to get closer for it to strike but Fleur didn't expect it to jump so high.

"We've got an Abnormal! Hold up!" Eren yelled, in an effort to warn his team.

The girl pointed her hook into one of the far buildings on the left side and redirected her body out of harm's way. Surprisingly, the blond Titan went face-first into a hard concrete tower. A low groan escaped her mouth as she landed harshly on an uneven roof that struck pain up her leg, she quickly glanced around to see if her comrades were safe- looking one house down she saw Armin, and Eren who was hanging by the rim of the roof, they were staring fearfully at something.

She followed their line of sight and watched as the Titan still clung on tightly to the tower, its face slowly appearing with one of their soldiers in its mouth. Taking a step back as shock swallowed her whole, a trail of goosebumps covered her skin, her muscles pulled together. Fleur's lips separated, eyes fixated with horror as Thomas rested frighteningly in between its teeth. She thinks he was mumbling something, she couldn't decipher it.

Knowing his fate, tears filled his eyes and then the Titan swallowed him without mercy. It lunged off the tower and continued to walk in the opposite direction searching for its next victim.

Paled faces on every single one of them as they stood there in fear but not Fleur, no, because when she took a step back that was her preparing to run and chase down the human-eating monster. Not giving any of her comrades a warning she instantly took it upon herself to go after it. Her heart was filled with pure hatred against them. It fueled the adrenaline rushing through veins.

She would not freeze up again and lose all her senses. Never again.

"Eren! Fleur!" Armin screamed, calling out to his friends worried for their safety after what just occurred. They were acting on emotion and were not thinking logically, they were putting their lives at risk. However, the blond and the others followed. The girl heard his call but chose to ignore it, not wanting to get distracted. Knowing Eren was close behind and just as angry as her, showed Fleur that she wasn't crazy for reacting this way.

Nearing the Titan she spotted its neck and pushed on the gas of her tanks to take her faster, she readied her long blades, and once she got closer to it Fleur swung them viciously dragging the sharp edge along the nape, the feeling of steaming blood splatter onto her face satisfying her.

She flew to the nearest building as a feeling of pleasure overtook her while starting at the Titan she had killed. The sizzling of the red liquid being evaporated into nothing, a deranged smile crept upon her face.

"An eye for an eye." She said coldly.

A wave of thrill surged her, grey hues darting around to find her next victim. But when she glanced back to see where Eren was, the girl's eyes widen finding out that he was unconscious and his leg was bitten off, Mina was nowhere to be seen, and Milieus was begging for his life trapped in a Titan's hand. And when she noticed Armin on his knees, shaking while looking at his friend the trapdoor in her stomach opened revealing the pit of nothingness settling in.

Devastation took over instantly making her jaw clench as she struggled to keep herself calm. All she wanted to do cancel out every bit of noise and disappear from this tragic tale that is her life.

"Wha-what... the hell happened you guys?" She murmured to herself, her voice trembling at the same time. The world was muffled for what felt like forever to her. Why did they let themselves get devoured? She's sure they were all prepared and well trained for this, she had hope and knew that they were strong, so what happened? Was it the universe playing some kind of sick game on her?

Fleur was not close with most of them but still, the strings tug at her heart watching them get eaten alive. One by one they dropped like flies. If her group faced their ends like this she couldn't imagine the ones who weren't good and barely made it into the military. The girl is starting to understand why the dropouts left the second they knew they weren't strong enough for this life because they didn't want to die such a savage death.

They knew they'd die.

That could've easily been her. The way she acted impulsively it should've been her, they were following her because they didn't want their group to be separated. And like a broken record the feeling of guilt began to eat away at her. The scene before her made the rhythm of her heart go at an unstable velocity. She needed to somehow help Armin get Eren to safety but that is if the blond could even think straight or form a proper sentence.

Heavy stomps caused Fleur to slowly glance at the noise. Immediately her vision became tunneled as her shoulders took on a predatory bow, eyes blazing murderously at the old-looking Titan approaching Armin.

"Armin!" The girl yelled, trying to get some sort of reaction from him, hating the way he stood there paralyzed, "I know you're scared but you gotta move! Do something!"

Her words of plea sounded inaudible to him as he let himself her picked up by the Titan. The boy had no strength left in him to fight back- watching his friends get consumed was just too much and the fact that he couldn't do anything made him believe he was more than a coward. Something weaker and more worthless. Assuming this was going to be easy? He was a fool. But seeing how much confidence Eren had... And Fleur, he thought he could do it too.

Making deals and pretending he had it all together when in reality he wasn't sure if he was made to be a part of this life to fight against the enemies for his survival. So when the Titan dropped his senseless body into its open mouth he didn't struggle.

"Dammit, Armin!" Fleur cried out as she took off from a rooftop, leaving a line of gas behind her. She continued to ignore the annoying throb shooting up her leg. The girl saw the boy get dropped into the Titan's mouth and somehow her mind convinced her she could still save him. There was time.

Suddenly, another giant appeared from nowhere blocking her path as it swung its arm at her trying to catch her mid-air. It definitely caught her by surprise, she wasn't prepared to go head-to-head with another one, not yet. Not until she knew Armin was okay but it didn't care for her troubles. And when Abnormal attempted to attack again this time with its mouth. She decided to use one of her blades to stab it in the eye to blind it and go in the opposite direction- Blood gushed out staining her skin once again and the white-collared shirt she wore while the Abnormal screamed out in pain.

While doing so Fleur was now closer to the Titan forgetting to trigger the gas. It took the opening letting its set of large teeth bite down on her jacket completely ripping it off her body and barely grazing her skin. The girl was stunned, unaware of where she was flying towards she flew straight through a window and into a random empty home.

She landed with a hard thud, her back hitting the first wall it came into contact with, the girl's body ached as the air got knocked out of her lungs.

Hushed moments passed, they went by slowly, and for a second the thought of laying there forever sounded so nice, however, she couldn't. Not when she made a promise to stay alive until this all over, to make her dad proud. Perhaps it was her stubbornness that gave her the strength she needed to force herself to get up from the cold surface that was covered in shards of glass or the fact that she still didn't know if Armin was okay.

Whatever the reason may be she thanked it for giving her motivation to push herself off the ground. Her hands trembled as her blurred vision tried its best to look around. She noticed the awful hand-drawn pictures hung all over the room and the tiny pink bed with stuffed animals arranged from small to big. For a moment it made her jealous to be reminded of the little things like that she didn't have growing up which didn't bother her back then and it shouldn't matter to her now because bigger problems were impending and she needed to worry about that instead.

Fleur scoffed, tearing her eyes away from the room in a disgusted manner, and walked toward the broken window with a limp even if her body was sore making it difficult to do. Looking out warily, the girl gripped her only blade tightly becoming cautious of Abnormals. She was at a disadvantage and if she wasn't careful, who knows what could happen? She didn't want to find out.

She glanced to the roof that Eren was supposed to be laying on but he wasn't there. A surge of concern coursed her as her eyebrows pinched together. Then a loud shriek pierced her ears breaking through the short-lived silence, it was chilling, filled with such agony and distress. A shiver ran up Fleur's spine, the scream, the voice sounded familiar which sent her into motion quicker than ever.

The red-haired girl was up in the air in seconds, her psyche clouded with the worst of scenarios of what could have happened in such a short period.

A paralyzed Armin caught her eye and she headed in his direction with concern as she watched him stare into nothing. As soon as her soles touched the rooftop she dropped her blade to the side and ran to him. When crouching down in front of him and ignored the discomfort in her limb, she realized he was in shock by the way the muscles around his electric-blue irises had become unnaturally still.

It was upsetting for her to see him like this, stricken by fear, whatever he witnessed seemed to overwhelm him. It reminded her of when she was also struck by fear and didn't have anyone to snap her out of it.

"Armin? Hello? Can you tell me wha- what happened?" Fleur grabbed his shoulders gently and spoke to him in a soft tone in an attempt to get any response from him which failed as she expected it to. She scanned his body for any injuries and sighed in relief when there were none. Though the sticky gunk on his jacket made her face twist with suspicion, how the hell did he get out?

Things just didn't make sense per usual.

She had no inkling of what to do. She wasn't good at this type of stuff, and yelling at him won't bring him out of the state he's in. There was no one around to help either. Just her luck.

"Armin, can you hear me at least? You don't have to speak I just need something to know you're okay." She tried again and nothing. His mind was somewhere else, lips dried and parted, and he was shivering like crazy. She couldn't leave him alone, it was even an option for her. But staying here where Abnormals could easily attack them put Fleur in a dilemma. It made her head hurt.

God, she was horrible at making decisions at times like these.

Great leader. "What a joke." She mumbled to herself recalling Armin's words as she let her body sit tiredly.

From experience, Fleur had an idea of what was happening inside his head. His conscience was blaming him for whatever occurred and the guilt was eating him alive with no mercy- he wouldn't recover without difficulty. For her, it felt as if she was trapped inside her body completely immobilized. It was a feeling she didn't wish upon anyone. She had to force herself to move if she wanted to live and deal with the effects alone later.

But Armin didn't have to go through it alone.

Silver eyes glanced up at the boy who was still quiet and frozen. Instead of reaching for his shoulders, she cupped his face in her hands softly turning him to look at her. His long eyelashes were stained with tears, blue hues gawked inattentively at Fleur, however, they held such despair that made her feel disturbed.

She didn't quite know what to do from there but she did know when he broke out of the zone he was in with some assistance, he'd be back into that state of panic once everything hits him again and she'd be there for him. Tried to at least.

The sky had begun to turn into a mixture of different shades of greys as the clouds joined together to form an even bigger one. Darkness hovered over Wall Rose, the scared citizens, their deceased comrades, them. One was scared to the point of being unable to speak and the other had no way of bringing him back- she only waited patiently for him to snap back into reality, called his name every other minute, and brushed off the pounding in her head too driven by determination to get him back.

This was just the beginning of the never-ending nightmare.