Creation began on 02-08-21
Creation ended on 02-10-21
Attack on Titan
The Princess and the Sword: One of Many Paths
It wasn't that difficult to see that Eren was upset with Historia and the others, but it was another thing to know that they were content with the current state of things after returning to Paradis, something he wasn't content with. His reason for being discontent due to still being on the island, akin to being on house arrest or grounded; he wanted to move forward and wanted them to move forward, as well. But, as Armin had stated on the eve of the second day of rest after it was decided that the prisoners of the war were to go back to Marley's borders unscathed, including their former friends and enemies, everyone was moving forward…but just in the way that Eren wanted them to because they all had a different perspective on moving forward that was different from his own. If he was going to see something done, he needed to hash it out with Historia, no matter what the outcome was.
And so here he was, standing atop Wall Maria with her and the others that were in possession of the Nine Titans, along with Mikasa and Levi, needing to see this through.
Eren Yeager, the Attack and Founding Titans.
Armin Arlert, the new War Hammer Titan.
Connie Springer, the current Armored Titan.
Sasha Blouse, the current Colossal Titan.
Erwin Smith, the current Beast Titan.
Hange Zoe, the current Cart Titan.
And Ymir, the current Jaw Titan.
Against just one of these individuals, there was a guarantee of certain doom to a small extent. But against all nine (or eight, since one possessed two different Titans), anyplace on the planet would be endangered if they were in the wrong hands. Except this wasn't a matter of who was in the right about the Titan powers. It was a matter of how one of them needed to stop and take a look at what was around them. This was about acceptance of what is over the desire for what should be.
"…So, what exactly did Marley ask for in return?" Eren asked Historia.
"While they accepted that the Rumbling would be kept as a deterrent for Paradis," the young queen explained, "they want a guarantee that we won't use it unless as an absolute last resort, and since the Founding Titan only works for those of the Fritz royal family, that means there's still a risk of the power being abused. So, to ensure that the Rumbling won't be implemented unless absolutely necessary, I'm giving you two choices, Eren: Your word that you won't go rogue and try to harm the people of the world…or you can surrender the power of the Attack and Founding Titans willingly."
"And what I refuse? What if I find other choice to be ridiculous?"
"Eren, we don't want to do this," Mikasa told him, "but we will if you give us no choice. The war is over and Marley has accepted defeat. It's time to move on."
"Except none of you actually seem to be moving on. You're just content with standing still. There's still a world out there that hates us simply because we're viewed as monsters, and they will kill us unless we kill them first."
"They're not going to attack us, anymore, Eren," went Connie. "There's other things we can do now with the Titan power. Important things."
Nobody said anything about what he was referring to, but they understood where Connie was going. His mother, the only family he had left that was still alive, was still trapped in the guise of a Titan half-buried in the ruins of their home in Ragako, and with the power of the Founding Titan at their disposal, it was hoped upon that they could restore her to normal, along with every other person that was turned into a Titan. The Wall Titans would still be around as their deterrent against future attacks, but the lesser Titans that they had buried in the ground and kept away from the sunlight had to be dealt with properly. But in order to do that, they needed Eren to cooperate with them…or at least someone they could trust.
"We need to move forward," Eren reiterated. "We can't look back."
Erwin was about to move against Eren…when Historia moved forward and said, "No, Eren Yeager. Your way of moving forward isn't the only way to go. We all know about the Attack Titan, the one your father bestowed upon you, and we know that it's flawed because of the way it operates. True, you fight for freedom because it fights for freedom, but that's all it fights for. Freedom is all it understands. While it is important to desire such, there are people that want more than freedom. They want peace, they want friends, they want families, they want… But your perception of moving forward, towards freedom, is nothing more than a straight line you either can't or won't deviate from. Exactly, what type of freedom is it that the Attack Titan fights for? Do you even know?"
"It fights for the sake of everyone's freedom," Eren told her. "It fights for Eldia's freedom."
"Only Eldia's freedom?" Ymir asked.
"Yes."
"That's pathetic."
"How is it pathetic?"
"We weren't the only ones fighting for freedom, Eren," went Mikasa. "Our allies from the Mid-East Alliance were also fighting for their freedom, too. To place Eldia's freedom above theirs when we were all on the same side, it's just unfair to them when they had just as much to lose as we did."
"And we still have everything to lose."
"Some of us have already lost everything we ever knew, Eren," Levi told him. "Yeah, we lost things and people we can never get back, but we can't do something that endangers everyone just because we have suffered. Or are you even thinking clearly?"
"You can't expect the whole world to forget their hatred of us overnight."
"Those that fight monsters," Sasha uttered, "had best make sure that they themselves don't become monsters."
"Meaning what, exactly?"
"We're all monsters, one way or another, but I'd rather be a monster that wants to protect who and what she holds most dear from another monster that's obsessed with wanting to do something that's unnecessary. Some of us still have lives we want to live out with others, regardless of where they're from and who they are."
Sasha was undoubtedly talking about her relationship with the Marleyan Niccolo, who ended up seeing her in a different light after they met. The guy didn't even have a personal grudge against Eldians to begin with and was content with having a meal with one that found his cooking to be delicious. They'd been seeing each other for nearly a year now, and the current Colossal Titan was already wondering if the two were going to be together for the long run.
"I can only move forward," Eren resisted. "I cannot, I will not, stop."
Historia balled her right hand into a fist and the Witchblade materialized into its gauntlet form. She knew Eren was stubborn, but this was going too far, even for him. As much as she respected his desire to keep going on and to be free, she had to consider the moral consequences of what could befall the people they had met in the war, their friends and allies, their brothers and sisters-in-arms, if one of her people, a young man hardened by his initial drive to get revenge on the Titans…and his drive to gain freedom for everyone on Paradis, refused to stay in check.
"I saw the future you saw, Eren Yeager," she finally spoke up, "and I didn't like it at all. Your intentions may come from a place of meaning and concern, but it's all one-sided. You, the Attack Titan, the Rumbling, that was all just a future you saw, the only future you could see. Your Titan may enable you to transcend time to some degree, but if you can't view other possibilities, then you can't truly see the future at all. You can move forward all you want, but if you never look back, if you never stop and consider what could be if you do or did something else…then you're just as rigid and stale as that future is. I can't predict the future any more than any of us up here can, but I'd rather not know the future if it's just going to be something you want to make sure happens. If I don't like that future, I'll search for a different one, where the worst to come doesn't have to transpire. The Witchblade can do that."
"Do all of you really believe in that bracelet being able to change what is fated to happen? Do all of you honestly believe that…that hunk of metal and stone to be that powerful to match the power of the Titans?"
"The Witchblade is that powerful," said Mikasa to him, "because we believe it can change our fates…and it has changed a couple of our fates. When we took the throne from Historia's father, we were able to do it with minimum casualties. When we took the power of the Titans from Bertolt, Reiner, Pieck and Zeke, we were able to do so without killing them because of the Witchblade. Even when we were looking for allies and friends across the ocean, it was because of the Witchblade's aid that we were able to establish new relationships with people we never knew were out there, people that knew more than we ever could. The power of the Titans might've been a boon in fighting back against Marley and their allies, Eren, but the power of the Witchblade…was what made it possible."
"You don't even know what the Witchblade is. Not even Historia knows what it is."
"We do know what it is," Erwin declared; Historia had confided in each of them what the Witchblade was and why it chose her to wield it. "It's a metaphorical and literal balance between the positive and negative factors of existence. It's literally a representation of all things and people in the balance of existence. The Witchblade is a living weapon that only a woman can wield…and it chooses who it wants."
"The more it's wielded by its chosen women, the more it adapts to every situation they're in," Hange added. "It becomes whatever form of protection or weapon that's needed, allowing its wielder to wield powers beyond our understanding…and it's still evolving."
"We owe much of everything we have ever achieved to the Witchblade," Levi confessed, "but we still need the Founding Titan to resolve other matters that can still be resolved, and none of them include causing the Rumbling in the foreseeable future we're looking toward now."
But Eren raised his right hand up to his mouth.
"Eren," Historia expressed as she raised her right hand defensively.
"I refuse to accept this as victory," he told them. "I refuse to accept this as the future."
"Eren," went Armin, "don't force us to do something we don't want to do to you. We don't want the Rumbling to happen. We don't need it, anymore. Everything is getting resolved peacefully. We're not hated as much as we were before we ventured off the island."
The second Eren opened his mouth to bite into his hand, the Witchblade acted by unleashing tendrils at him, sending him onto the ground, restraining him arms and mouth.
"Damn it, Eren!" Historia yelled as she approached. "I didn't want to do this, but you've left me with no other choice!"
With her land, she touched Eren on his forehead…and the world went dark.
-x-
The sky was dark, but the light streams over were amazing.
Where…am I? Eren wondered as he came to, finding himself in a sandy environment.
"We're the realm of the Paths," he heard Historia's voice, and he turned to see her sitting three feet away from him, her face rather moody. "We're basically in a realm outside of time, beyond it and death. It's my first time here, and I'm the only without Titan powers."
He saw that she had the Witchblade on, which probably had something to do with her presence here, and got up to his feet.
"Historia," he uttered, "I…"
"Don't, Eren," she cut him off, pointing away from him. "I just got through talking with your dark future self, and he had nothing better to say to me when we were chatting."
Eren turned around and saw…himself, older and looking like he was more upset with the world…and laying on the ground with various bruises on his face and a bloody mouth.
"Ugh," he groaned, turning to look back at Historia.
"He was just as full of rage as you are most of our last conversation," she explained. "All he wanted to see happen was the Rumbling and cause the ruination of the world, something I didn't want, no matter what he, you, said. You want to know how I feel about the Rumbling? I feel that it's only necessary when everything else fails. Peace talks, gathering sympathizers, looking for like-minded people that believe in peace and coexistence. When these attempts don't pan out, after exhausting the most important aspect within each and every one of them, which is the aspect of patience, of self-control, of having compassion, that's when you have to accept the ideas that you don't want to consider implementing."
"But I saw the future, Historia! I saw that the Rumbling was the only way to save us!"
"No, Eren, you saw a future that was all your Titan could see. You saw some future, but it wasn't the future everyone else saw…and you weren't going to tell any of us what you saw, believing that it was inevitable. Any future can be prevented, Eren. Any future that has darkness in it can be averted if people try to change it. The only problem with anyone acting on so-called memories of events yet to transpire is that you don't know what led to those events in their entirety, the same as with trying to understand what happened in the past because the memories of the previous holders of the Titan power are as incomplete as future memories. And if you've seen yourself from a future where the Rumbling happens…then you know what your father did because of your goading, because you only showed Dr. Yeager events that hadn't happened yet and didn't show him everything. As much as I wanted to believe you were incapable of such violence born of hatred, Eren, I don't believe you'll ever let go of your rage. Not for the people and not for yourself."
"You're too merciful! The enemy isn't going to be merciful!"
"Your mother was killed by a Titan, and I am sorry for your loss. Truly, I am, but I can't let you do something unforgivable…based only on a future that you saw."
Eren then noticed that they were standing by this giant pillar of light that looked like a giant tree, branches reaching high and far into the sky. In the center of the tree was…a girl in rags.
"Is that…her?" He asked Historia.
"Yes, it is," she responded. "But you already knew that, didn't you? You knew that was Ymir Fritz, the first person to obtain the power of the Titans. And you know why you can't implement the Rumbling…now or ever."
"If we're here right now, the Rumbling can be implemented."
Eren tried to approach Ymir Fritz, but Historia used the Witchblade to restrain his legs.
"Historia, no! I have to save Paradis!" He yelled as she pulled him away. "Ymir! Please! Help me save Paradis! Help me destroy our enemies!"
But Ymir merely stood there, as if deaf to his pleas.
"Forget it, Eren," Historia informed him. "If you relied on your future self's memories more than you ever relied on your friends, then you know that she only listens to people with royal blood, meaning she'll listen to me, and I know exactly what I need to do to keep you in."
As the queen walked over to Ymir Fritz, Eren feared the worst she could have her do; Historia could make it so that he had no memory of any of this, or worse, just kill him. Whatever she could desire from the original Founder, Ymir Fritz would do for her.
"Ymir Fritz, my ancestor, founding mother of all Subjects of Ymir," she spoke, "please…separate the Founding Titan from the Attack Titan…and then give me the Founding Titan…without the ideology of Karl Fritz…please."
Ymir Fritz then walked over towards Eren and took something out of his back.
"Aaaaurgh!" Eren howled in pain as the girl dug her left hand deep into his spine. "Aaaugh! Historia, stop! Stop! Aaaurgh!"
Ymir Fritz then pulled her arm out of him, holding something horrific. It looked like some sort of worm or centipede, about the size of a small child's arm. Then, she walked over to Historia, who her place the creature on her armored right arm.
"Merge it with the Witchblade, please," she told Ymir, and she did.
The creature was absorbed into the metal and the red gem that looked like an eye glowed brightly for a short moment.
"Thank you," Historia praised her. "Now, please…if we're all connected, if everyone that was killed by the Titans in the past were all Subjects of Ymir…please…bring them back. Bring them all back…please."
Ymir, once again, did as she was instructed. She walked back into the light and left Historia with Eren, who couldn't believe any of this.
"I don't understand," he told her. "How can you do any of this?"
"I'm simply choosing a different path to take," she responded, and then dropped to her bottom. "You can only see one future. I can see other futures. The future can be changed. If time were a river, a stone thrown into it creates ripples, allowing for an infinite number of outcomes. Fates, destinies, they can be changed. You need to understand how time works from the perspective of one that has been educated in such knowledge."
Historia then sat down on the ground and drew a line in the sand.
"What?" Eren asked.
"Let's say that this line represents time. Or rather, it represents the time your Attack Titan moves toward as it goes forward, only forward. And these (she drew two curved lines around the one in the middle, making them look like a symbol of sorts to Eren, resembling an eye that had been closed or something (A/N: Picture this: ( | ) if you can) or even a ball or sphere). They each represent a path to the future, but each one is different from the other. The only difference between the two curved lines and the one that is straight…is that the straight line is rigid and allows for no chance of any deviation or change. The two curved lines allow for different events to transpire, situations where the outcome could differ in any way imaginable."
"Like the Rumbling never taking place?"
"Exactly. Or even where the Titans never existed, where the Walls were never breached, where my father never had an affair with my mother, or…even where none of us, you, Armin, Mikasa, Sasha, Jean, Bertolt, Annie, Ymir or I…never existed. But time is elastic, Eren, malleable, flexible…reversible, even. But the Attack Titan's perception of time, while dedicated to freedom, is not entirely promising because it can't or won't deviate or permit a small chance of events taking a different turn."
"But…it wouldn't have ended badly for everyone, Historia."
"Except a lot of people were still gonna die because of the Rumbling if you triggered it, and that's not a future that's just full of bloodshed. We all have blood on our hands, Eren, but one of the ways we can atone for the lives we took, or couldn't save but wanted to save…is to let go of whatever desires that involve harming others, let go of the anger, forgive those that hurt us and the people we lost."
"And what if you can't?"
"Anyone who says that they can't are lying to themselves and those around them. Anyone that says that they don't have a choice is lying to themselves. There's always a chance to forgive and forget. People can change, but the ones that claim they can't may often the ones that don't want to, no matter what anyone else thinks about them. So, which one are you, Eren Yeager? Are you someone that wants to change…or are you someone that wants everything around him to change, including the people?"
Eren was about to speak, but then looked at Historia…and saw her not as the person she currently was, but as the person she was in the future he had seen. The Rumbling might've changed things in his mind's eyes, but there were those that didn't see it as a benevolent way to change the world for all Eldians. In the future he saw, Sasha Blouse, Ymir, Erwin Smith, Bertolt Hoover, even his own brother, would be dead, Levi would've been crippled, and his relationship with Mikasa and Armin would've been permanently ruined because of his decisions. While he viewed these as small prices to pay, there was no forgiveness for what he wanted to make happen. They would've fed him to some other Titan just to be rid of him if they felt he couldn't be trusted any further; in his future memories, he saw the way Connie and the others looked at him after Sasha died, he knew that he had burned those bridges.
He kept his mouth shut in front of her and looked at the tree of light.
"You know, there's a reason why I didn't ask Ymir Fritz to take the Attack Titan from you just yet," she told him. "As stubborn as you are…and as suicidal as you are…there's not a person in the Survey Corps right now that wants whatever memories you have running around in their heads. They might not want your memories or whatever future you saw, but I want to believe that the Attack Titan can still serve a benevolent role in the new future…if you're willing to accept the new future we're all living in…because I have to believe in something about the future that is worth believing in."
"And what is that?" He finally spoke up.
"The only way we're all going to get there is if we're together. So, I'm asking you, Eren Yeager…can you trust me when I say that peace and freedom with everyone…is better than simply freedom for just Paradis? You still have less than eight years left before you have to give up the Attack Titan before you run the risk of dying and it transfers to an unborn Eldian child, and so long as I have the Witchblade, we can ensure that nobody has to be eaten like they had been in the past."
"What should happen if you don't have the Witchblade, anymore?"
Historia wasn't blind to such a possibility; she had relived the experiences of the previous wielders of the Witchblade in her sleep and found that most of them were being tested by the talisman through such a harsh trial. Every once in a while, simply because it could when it wanted to test a chosen wielder's worthiness, the Witchblade would abandon women during their time of greatest need, slipping away from them when it was needed the most. She hadn't experienced that just yet, but knew that day was approaching; nobody chosen by the Witchblade was exempt from being abandoned by it when needed the most. But so long as she was alive and still worthy to wield the Witchblade, she would wear, wield and serve it to the best of her abilities and protect and serve the people here on Paradis.
"Then we go back to eating each other to keep unborn Eldian children from having to inherit the power of the Titans," she admitted. "But we could be years away from that…and, yes, there will come a time where I won't have the Witchblade, either because I it will abandon me…or because I have to pass it on to a new wielder. Whichever comes first. But we're not at that day yet. Who knows when, if ever, we'll get to that day? Except for, perhaps, the Witchblade. And I don't want to think about it, Eren Yeager. So, your answer? Can you trust me when I say that peace and freedom with everyone is better than simply freedom for just Paradis?"
What other choice did Eren Yeager have? If he accepted the young queen's way, he'd probably have to live with a short leash around his neck until the day came where he had to give up the Attack Titan to keep an Eldian child from having to live with having the power and position for who-knows-how long. But if he refused to submit and get with the new times that they all chose to live with, then she'd probably do something worse to him than relieve him of the Founding Titan, like take the Attack Titan and give it to another member of the Survey Corps that could be trustworthy and not give her or the others a hard time, like he had half the time…and most of the time in his future memories where he betrayed them all in the name of freedom. However, as much as he wanted to admit to her that he still disagreed with her on her views and that they could still be assaulted by Marley or some other nation in the future unless they wiped them out first, he didn't want to die right now, something he got the impression that she would make a reality with the Witchblade if he tried anything that went against the new world.
"Okay, Historia," he submitted, "you win. I'll cooperate."
Historia then got up and looked at the tree of light.
"We better go now. They're probably waiting. All of them." Historia told him as she walked towards the tree.
"Who else but everyone on the wall would be waiting for us?" He asked.
She looked back and uttered, "If all of us are Subjects of Ymir and are connected to these Paths that were created by Ymir Fritz gaining the power of the Titans and serving as a nexus through the Founding Titan…then everyone we know, everyone we love. The ones that are still Titans have to be taken care of, but the ones taken because of the Titans we had to deal with in the last few years… Time runs differently here in Ymir Fritz's realm because it exists beyond time…and connects us all beyond death. Even if faced with the end of the world, the end of my life, I'd accept it if it means I can live again in the future and see Ymir and Frieda again."
Eren got up, unhindered by the injury on his back Ymir Fritz left on him when she took the Founder from him, and followed her towards the tree, the version of himself from a future he had believed in turning to sand and blowing away in the wind.
-x-
Eren awoke to the sight of Mikasa, Armin and the others looking down at him.
"Looks like Historia was more merciful than we thought," Ymir expressed. "She says she took the Founding Titan, but left you with the Attack Titan."
Historia was standing two feet from Eren as he got up and looked at her.
"How do you feel, Eren?" She asked him.
"Calmer," he answered. "You could've taken my memories with the Founding Titan…but you didn't. Why?"
"Forgive and forget, Eren Yeager. Making you forget wouldn't mean you'd be forgiven. If you try something like that again, knowing that it's unnecessary…I will make certain that the only freedom you get left in this life…is the freedom to die in a hole in the ground somewhere."
Eren bowed his head to her.
"Hey," went Connie as he looked over at the land outside of Shiganshina District, "check this out. It's unbelievable."
Ymir, Levi, Sasha and the others looked out over the wall…and were greeted with a magnificent sight that seemed like a dream come true.
To be continued…
A/N: Sorry, y'all, but until the next few chapters of AoT, you'll have to wonder what they're all looking at. The next chapter of this story will include the epilogue. I'd like everyone's opinion on this chapter since the poll is affecting its progress. Until next time, yo.