I almost forgot how quickly this story is coming to an end, I almost made this final chapter, but decided I will make the next chapter the final one to make it even...for now.

Now that I am ready to talk Marley Arc, I know some of you have questions, especially for our protagonist and what happens. I haven't truly decided how to write that arc yet (as the first few chapters don't focus on our heroes) so I'll need some time to figure it out. If you haven't read the manga and are waiting for the anime, I suggest that whenever I upload the 39th chapter, you don't read it. Now if you have or don't care, whenever I upload that chapter, it will begin somewhere. I'll take suggestions. If you have questions, ask me in the reviews and I'll answer them next chapter at the end so those who haven't gotten to that part aren't spoiled too much.

Anyway, in this chapter, I decided to keep this Joshua-centric, so no story about Grisha off Paradis. But two episodes make this up, so there's something in here. Next chapter, the ocean...then a short break.

"Well, up to speed, Armin?" Armin's blue eyes lose all focus after Eren recounts the final moments of Armin's previous life and the argument that ensued afterward. Everyone besides me huddles up around him, Sasha, and the slowly dying Commander Erwin while my blond friend contemplates over the information he just received. It is much to hear, we heard half of the same tale and experienced the other.

"Are you telling me…the Scout Regiment...is the eleven of us here...and that's it?"

"For the time being," Jean responds. "The fighting ended four hours ago. We've been looking for survivors, but...none yet…"

"So, we managed to seal the walls of Shinganshina, but Reiner, the Beast Titan, and the Cart Titan escaped. Bertholdt was captured… Then...there was a dispute about using the injection on Commander Erwin or me...And I...turned into a Titan and ate B-Bertholdt…" Armin almost pukes his stomach out but Jean gives him some water to swallow the facts down.

"Why...did you pick me? No matter how you look at it, wasn't Commander Erwin the right one to bring back? Lieutenant! Why did you give me the injection?"

Annoyed Levi kicks Eren in the back. "I told you to tell him everything. The thing is, it seems your two friends here didn't think that way. They stood up to me, prepared to draw blood."

Eren and Mikasa bow their heads. "We'll take whatever punishment comes."

"You'll be disciplined for insubordination," Hange says, "but does taking the punishment allow you to do anything?"

"No."

"However...the final decision to choose you was mine. No… I chose this to be the place where Erwin dies, stubborn as he is being right now."

"I don't understand… There's no way it's okay to let Erwin die. If the commander is gone, how...how will we go on?"

"I agree," Hange says without any sort of remorse. "I thought it should've been used on Erwin if we're being brutally honest. No, it's a shame we were put in that position… Anyways, Erwin entrusted Levi with the decision to use it. And Levi ended up choosing you. There's nothing more to say. Erwin's life and a Titan's power rest on your shoulders. No matter what anyone says, that's part of who you are now, Armin."

"Does that mean… I need to be… Erwin's replacement? No way… I can't..."

"Hmmph." Strolling from my place on the wall overlooking the inner side of it, I look at Armin, trying not to laugh at his ridiculousness. "Don't be stupid, you'll never be a suitable replacement for the commander. But you have a strength no one else has. I'm sure the Lieutenant doesn't regret his decision…" I look down to the quiet commander, his chest slowly rising and lowering. "Just don't make anyone else regret their choices. And you too, dumbass. That's all you need to do."

We hear Sasha struggling to speak, despite her unconsciousness, but she manages to say one phrase. "Shut up." I feel that was directed towards me.

Anyway, Hange laughs it up. "We're no match for Sasha. Well, being the successor of Erwin as commander of the Scouts, we're kinda in the same boat. From here on out, we'll have to grin and bear it."

Armin drops his head. "Right."

"Now then… if it's not a problem for Armin, we should get going. Levi, Eren, Mikasa, Joshua, and I will go investigate. You other four keep watch from atop Shiganshina's wall."

"Roger."

"Eren, do you still have the key?"

Eren places a hand over his chest. "Yes. Right here." Walking as a group to the edge of the wall, we follow Eren towards his home. The reason for everything since we've joined the Scouts is now in front of us, with no enemy between us and the goal. The reason so many gave their hearts and souls, the reason so many sacrificed, the reason so many died, is now but a walk away.

We walk silently on a street of the ruined city until we take a pause to look at the ruins of our home. A pause too long for the lieutenant. "Hey, where's your house?"

"Right." Eren and Mikasa continue to lead while I continue gazing around. Despite the chaos of that day, it leaves behind a startling serenity. I can remember running down these streets as a kid, my parents buying groceries, maybe catching some soldiers playing a card game while drinking their asses off. I'm sure Eren and Mikasa see the same sight I do.

We finally come to their house, and as described, a boulder sits on top of it, a remnant of the outer wall. Another reminder of the pain of five years prior. Another reminder of our vengeance and future.

"Right here. Under this are the stairs to the basement."

"Good," I do not know how the lieutenant thought this was "'good.'" We had to use wooden posts to move a large rock out the way, which took a lot given our wounds, but I guess it could be worse if it was underneath the crushed house. Eren removes the rubble and lifts up the floor panel that is the basement's entrance.

Hange looks down into the darkness with a flashlight. "That's a relief. It's not flooded with water." Levi, with a light of his own, leads us down into the depths. A wooden door stands between us and the room behind it with Grisha Jaeger's secrets.

"Eren." As Levi calls him, Eren steps forward, key in hand. He fumbles with the lock and key for a distressing amount of time. My brow drops as I begin to let the worst possible outcome form in my head.

"This… This key… it doesn't go to this door."

"What?"

"You're kidding… I'm certain that's the key Dr. Jaeger had."

"Step aside," Levi says. "I'll open it." Against Hange's protests, Levi kicks the door open. The room is dark, even with our lights, but one lit torch later, we get a dim look into the office of Shiganshina's doctor and the holder of the world's secrets. Shelves with books, capsules of medicine

"It almost feels like a laboratory down here."

"My dad was a doctor, so...he was always cooped up down here mixing medicine."

"That makes sense. In fact, if this medicine is all labeled correctly, it's stuff that's widely available. And since all the books here relate to medicine, at first glance, it's just a doctor's study. 'There's nothing suspicious here.' It's like that's what he wants people to think."

"Yeah," Levi agreed with the new commander as he holds up two bottles. "If you're hiding stuff from the Interior Police, you wouldn't want it out in the open. Hey, quit standing around, brats. Erwin's hunches are rarely wrong."

"Right." We begin to search, but for three minutes, nothing comes of it. I do find a great deal of medicinal knowledge that, at one point in her life, Historia would have liked to read about. But besides that, nothing worth being secretive about.

"Eren," we hear Mikasa's voice from the desk, "there's a keyhole right here." We hurry over, Eren bending down to the keyhole in the side of Dr. Jaeger's desk. After a little coaxing from Hange, Eren puts in the key inside and turns.

"It opened... It's empty?"

Levi reaches inside. "Look closer. It's a false bottom." I sigh in relief. Dr. Jaeger surely was careful to hide his secret. Levi removes the false bottom and places it on the table. Underneath were three colored books. Levi collects the books while Hange picks up the cloth they were on and smells it.

"It smells like peppermint oil and charcoal. Were these treated to keep moisture and bugs away?"

"We were looking for something and these must be it."

Eren places his hand on the green book, then looks to us. "I wonder what it was my dad wanted to show me." Mikasa joins her hand with Eren's, and together they flip the cover to a picture inserted on the page. A picture of Dr. Jaeger, but with a woman and son that is not Carla and Eren Jaeger. Eren picks it up curiously. "This is a portrait?"

"Let me see that." Hange takes the picture from Eren and analyzes it. "No… It's far too detailed for this to be drawn by a person."

"That's Dr. Jaeger's writing," Mikasa points out.

"'This is no illustration. Instead, this uses light reflected off a subject and burns the image on special paper. It's called a photograph. I come from a place outside the walls where humanity lives in elegance. Humanity has not perished. I pray the person who finds this book is a fellow patriot.'"

Later that day, we return to the wall. I say nothing to those who remained, heading straight for the one soul who deserved to know the truth. I kneel at his side, not checking to see whether or not he's dead or alive, whether he can hear me or not. He got us to this place, it is only fair that he knows the truth of the world.

That the truth of the world is that he was right all along, and if he isn't dead, he can die in peace now.

Days later

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I wake up suddenly to the screams of Eren. My heart beating rapidly, I look at him along with Armin and Mikasa. He looks confused about his surroundings. "Where is this? Who...am I?"

"Eren, relax! You're in the stockades. You and Mikasa are serving time for insubordination."

"Were you having a nightmare, Eren?"

"Yeah… I was…"

"Then what was that 'Who am I' business about then?" I question.

"Huh?"

"You did. Are you crying, Eren?"

Walking away from Armin, Eren drops with his back against the steel bars of his cell. "I feel like… I just woke up from the longest dream ever. No… Not a dream… Memories. Just now, I was connected to my dad's memories. That Titan…it was you… Dina."

I turn to Mikasa, dropping my jaw. With only me, Eren, and Mikasa in this corridor having read that book, we know who Dina is. But I don't know if Mikasa made the same connection I just did, but I cannot say a word to her or Armin. If Eren wants to tell the truth of the Titan, he will. She's Grisha's first wife and the mother of the boy in the picture, Eren's older brother and our enemy, the Beast Titan, Zeke Jaeger.

"The Owl called it 'The Curse of Ymir.' The founder Ymir lived that long after her powers awakened, so it's only appropriate we live that long, too."

Armin looks up from the desk he's penning Eren's words. "I've got thirteen years left… And you…"

"Eight years left… Not even."

"You're wrong," Mikasa says. "This has to be...a mistake. It's wrong."

I say nothing, just stare at the wall while Eren continues. "If one possessing the power of the Nine Titans dies without passing it on, the power is inherited by a baby yet to be born by a Subject of Ymir. It's as if all the Subjects of Ymir are connected by something we can't see. One inheritor said they saw paths. The blood and bones that form a Titan, and at times, even memories and thoughts are sent through those paths. All the paths cross at a single coordinate. In other words, that's the Founding Titan…"

"That includes the Titan you will inherit. No matter which era this Titan has found itself in, it has pushed ever forward, seeking out freedom. For the sake of freedom, it fights. Its name is… The Attack Titan."

"What are you doing?" Eren turns around to see me and Armin with Hange and Levi dressed in our formal military jackets. The commander leans against the wall, mocking Eren. "'The Attack Titan.' Did you just do that?"

"No."

"Huh? He did that, right? Didn't you three see it just now?"

I nod while Armin looks away. "Yeah, but that was…"

"See?! What was that all about, Eren?"

"No, it's nothing."

"It's the name of your Titan, isn't it? What were you doing talking to yourself?"

I sigh. "Commander, I think that's good enough."

Levi agrees. "Enough, Hange. He's 15 years old. Everyone goes through a phase."

"Huh? What kind of phase are we talking about?"

"Hange, I'll explain to you later. It's not right with him here."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"What the hell did you come for?" Eren's outburst quiets us while Levi walks in.

"Get out."

"I'm supposed to be disciplined for ten more days."

"It's over. Hange just now was punishment enough."

I nod. "We talked with Premier Zachary, so don't worry about it."

"If we jail the heroes who toppled the Armored and Colossal Titan, it kinda sends a bad message, you know? Plus, you were defying us morons who let the Beast, Armored, and Cart Titan get away." I chuckle at the memory of that part of the meeting.

As Mikasa steps out, she looks thinner and groggy. She lost weight in a manner of three or four days. Did she...not eat? In any case, she's alive, so we head out of the stockades for an audience with Her Majesty. An audience that is days overdue.

Hange and I meet with Historia along with Jean before the audience. In the days between now and then, I have read Ymir's letter along with Hange. It is a short, sweet letter from the bitch that is Ymir Fritz, I although believe it impossible those were her words. So As Historia reads, I sit closest to her, remembering each word of the letter myself.

To my dear Historia,

As I am writing this, Reiner stands next to me. It's pretty obvious that he's sneaking peeks at this love letter. He can be such a creep. No wonder he's single. However, he did promise me he'd deliver this letter to you. He says it's payback for saving them that one time. I'm sorry about then. I never imagined I would end up choosing time over you.

It won't be long before I die. But I have no regrets. That's what I'd like to say, but there is one thing… It's that I wasn't able to marry you. But he will because you have always loved him. Make sure he knows before he does something stupid.

Sincerely, Ymir.

Historia places her hand over the paper, in which I see a small spark of familiar lightning. Nothing drastic happens, but it is enough to shock (pun intended) Historia. "What...was that?" I say nothing to let her know I saw anything.

"Something wrong," Hange says, who definitely didn't see anything.

Historia sets the papers down. "Uh, no. Is that all there was?"

"Yes. Of course, I doubt she was able to write anything beneficial for us."

"Was there any secret message only you would know? Like a code?"

Historia sighs at Jean's question. "I don't know. But I doubt she would do something like that." She looks out the window with a sigh. "Ymir is such a dummy... Such a dummy. You'd play it off the second you're embarrassed. I just never know with you."

A moment later, Levi, Eren Mikasa, and Armin come in, bowing to Historia, which I find comical because I haven't done it seriously. "So much happened, didn't it. But all I did was stare at the south sky from within the walls."
"It's an important duty of yours to stay alive."

"Yeah, that's right."
Historia smiles. "I glad to see you're acting as usual."

"Well, that's… It just hasn't sunk in for us yet."

If this meeting wasn't so important that even I was invited, I would fall asleep right now. Alas, I am so important I sit in the center column of tables with the rest of the surviving Scouts, Sasha excluded, with my seat at Hange's side in the front along with Levi. Eren, Armin, and Mikasa sit behind use, Jean, Conny, and Floch behind them. Leaders of the other regiments circle us, with Historia sitting between the Premier and some lady.

"The Early Life of Grisha Jaeger. The Extent of Our Knowledge of Titans and Their History. Information About the World Beyond The Walls. The only people who know about the existence of these books are those in this very room. These were gained by the efforts of ten living Scouts and the 199 others who are not here today. Today, and in the Queen's presence, I would like to assess our situation and establish an agreement in terms of our course of action. Scout Regiment Commander Hange Zoë."

Hange stands up. "Sir. The Scouts have lost a great deal, including Erwin Smith. But in exchange for the many heroes we lost, we have retaken Wall Maria and stolen the Colossal Titan's powers. However, humanity that lives within the walls remains in a precarious situation. It would be a relief were Titans the only monsters we had for enemies. However, the true identity of the enemies we've been fighting is humans. A civilization. You could even say the world. According to these, we're a special race called Subjects of Ymir who can turn into Titans. There's also a belief that we may rule the world again. That's why the world wishes to eradicate us Subjects of Ymir for good."

No matter how many times that fact has rolled in my head since we hypothesized Conny's village were the Titans inside Wall Rose, it stuns me that our enemy is our own people. Now that we know our enemy is our own race enslaved by another enemy, that the Titans don't consume us to eradicate us, but in search in one of the Nine Titans, it angers me. With Eren's memories of his father, and hopefully soon, Bertholdt's memories in Armin might provide more insight into our true enemy.

"Mr. Jaeger later achieved his mission and entrusted the Founding Titan to his son Eren. In order to wield the Founding Titan's full power, it must be possessed by someone with royal blood. However, even if that person possessed the Founding Titan, they're enslaved by the King's ideals, which only leads them down the path to humanity's downfall. That is the vow renouncing war. However, Eren was able to control Pure Titan in the past to escape a dire situation. So it may be possible even without royal blood for Eren to wield that power as well."

"It can't be!" Eren's sudden outburst (which it doesn't seem he realizes) gains everyone's attention.

"You scared me. What was that about?" Eren seems to stammer in place, but I know him well enough to know he knows something. I follow his eyes, leading straight to Historia… Eren later sits down and Hange assumes it is due to his "phase" but I realize that he only stood up after Hange mentions the one time he controlled the Titans. If I recall, he told us it happened after he punched the Titan's hands...The Titan that ate his mom and Hannes…"That Titan…it was you… Dina."

I turn back to Eren, he looks at me, and I think in my eyes he sees that I know the truth about that moment. A truth I'll never let happen to Historia.