True Freedom

Year: 854

The first thing Eren saw was pure darkness. No light, no sound, no smell, nothing. It felt unnatural. Even in the most darkest of rooms or the quietest of places, there would still be a small light or noise of any kind. That wasn't the case this time. There was absolutely nothing in here. The only thing Eren could feel and touch was his own skin and clothing, he couldn't even feel his bare feet touching any ground, yet he didn't feel as if he were falling either. It was a strange feeling. He couldn't even feel his own heartbeat.

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It didn't feel peaceful either. The absolute silence and the feeling of nothingness below him kept Eren slightly on edge. The atmosphere around him felt claustrophobic to him.

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Eren furrowed his eyes slightly in confusion as he turned his head both sides calmly, intending to take notice of all his surroundings.

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"No! I don't want that! I only want her to have feelings for me!" Eren was suddenly shaken out of his inner thoughts and flinched slightly as he heard a voice shouting, far out in the distance, with a desperate tone within it. After having spent what felt like a minute of absolute silence, the sudden appearance of the voice was enough to startle even Eren. He posed himself into a slightly combative position instinctively, yet there was no change in the pitch black atmosphere around him.

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"Ah… I see." Another voice responded.

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"I don't want her to find another guy! Even after I die, I want her to hold me in her heart for a long time!" The first voice cried out once more. Eren arched his eyebrows in sheer confusion as to what the voice was saying. Both of the voices sounded male, but the first one sounded strange to Eren.

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There was something off about it. The voices soon went quiet as the former silence overtook the atmosphere once more. Something felt off about the first voice he had heard. He needed answers. Now. He turned towards the direction that he heard the voices at.

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Eren had learnt more of his Titan powers during his stay in Liberio for several months. The Attack Titan appeared to be an enigma to the entire world, including the former Eldian Empire, whom itself didn't appear to know much about it, aside from that it could see the Future. From what Eren read from the public information in several Libraries and Museums within the Internment Zone, the Titan itself was an outcast of Eldian society, sometimes not being seen for even decades at a time. Some even had coined it as the "Rogue Titan" or the "Bastard Child of Ymir", due to its reputation for ignoring the Eldian Monarchy's orders very often; in other words, it also rejected the so-called Founder Ymir's own will.

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Eren wondered if this abode of darkness was another power of the Attack Titan that was never discovered before. Or maybe it was an amalgamation of both the Founding and Attack Titans inside of him. Eren didn't know. But he did know that this land, this abode, wasn't the real world. He didn't know why he felt that, he just felt reassured that none of this darkness was real. And for that reason, Eren didn't hold much fear of his surroundings now.

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And for that reason, Eren took a step in the darkness towards the direction he had heard the voices, despite not feeling anything below him. It was a funny feeling, walking on nothing, but Eren wasn't putting that much attention to that. Once Eren had a goal, he wouldn't stop at nothing to reach it. He would just keep moving forward until he had accomplished his goals. His Mother would usually call him headstrong and too stubborn for his own good. Eren admitted that fact was most likely true. It was in his nature.

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He had been walking for what felt like seconds, yet nothing had occurred yet. Eren was beginning to get second thoughts when suddenly, a flash of light swooped around him, taking away the darkness in just a second. Eren didn't feel the sudden brightness irritate him, rather it felt soothing compared to being blind in the pitch darkness.

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Within a few moments, the light began to dim down slowly but surely, and Eren began to feel something below him. It was sand. The weightless feeling he had inside of him also vanished too along with the light. Finally, after what felt like a minute, Eren could finally see where he was.

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There was sand everywhere. It was there for miles and miles and for as far as his eye could see. He could make out what appears to be some mountain silhouettes far out in the distance, jutting out of the mostly plain surface. It was a desert. And it was night. Or so it appeared, until Eren looked up to see that there was no Moon above; in fact the "moonlight" wasn't even coming from the stars; rather, it was coming from several streaks in the sky. Eren remembered reading in a museum in Liberio about strange anomalies in the sky, known as "Aurora Borealis". They only occurred in the most northern and southern regions of the world known as the "Poles", From the photos Eren saw in the books, they more or less looked the same as the streaks that were above him in the starless night sky.

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"I didn't know you could say something so awkward so blatantly." The voice rung out once more; this time it sounded closer than before. Eren's head turned around to the source. His eyes widened in shock upon seeing whose voices it belonged to. Laying on the ground, just a few meters away from him, was himself. And standing next to him was none other than Armin, his best friend.

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No. His former friend. It was clear they fought for different beliefs now. It pained Eren to say that, but he knew they were now enemies.

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Something was wrong with the figure of him laying on the ground. He looked disheveled, and appeared terrified and scared. Neither of the two false doppelgängers appeared to notice the real Eren standing a few meters away as they keep conversing with each other. Eren took a cautious step towards them, in order to hear better what they were saying.

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He now understood why that voice felt off to him. It was his own voice. But some he didn't understand was what he was talking about to Armin. He kept mentioning "her". He didn't want her to be with another man.

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Who was "Her"?

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It almost sounded as if he were jealous.

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'But who was it?' Eren couldn't care less about something as trivial as jealousy. He already had someone he promised to return to after this all ended. He knew that she would most likely hate him for what he did, but he knew it was for the best of their people, the people of Paradis. And for their unborn child too.

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Historia.

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Before Eren could think of anything else, his doppelgänger spoke once more. The next words he said startled Eren to his very core.

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"I want to be with her. I want to be with Mikasa." The mirror image of him uttered out quietly.

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'What?'

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'Mikasa? My sister? What the hell?' Eren's mind slowed down enough for him to process those thoughts. Eren held his forehead as he began to feel an oncoming headache.

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'What the hell? Why would I be in love with my damn sister?!' Eren tried to comprehend it, to no avail, as he shook his head in denial. He even felt somewhat sick to the stomach.

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"I've annihilated most of the forests. I wanted to turn all of the Earth into a new land. But the Rumbling was stopped." His faux self told the faux Armin.

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The real Eren stopped walking towards them and stood still as he heard those words being spoken out.

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He felt his legs give in as he fell down to his knees as he looked down at the sandy ground, his face full of terror.

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'I failed. I didn't save them.' Eren realized. He stood still for a minute as he shook slightly from his crying.

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'No. No!'

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'I didn't fight just for this. I didn't sacrifice this much for this! I didn't see most of my comrades die for this. Sasha, Lobov, Erwin, the Scouts that died in Trost and Shiganshina. None of them died in vain. I'm not going to let this happen.'

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Eren's green orbs leaked out a few stray tears, not of shame, but of raw rage and of sheer determination.

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"Fuck destiny! Nothing has been written yet. I won't let anything control the way of my life no more." Eren whispered as he stood up slowly, his eyes red from the tears. He felt his hands turn into fists as he took a step towards the doppelgängers.

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"Why you ask? Isn't it obvious?" Eren asked loudly at no one in particular. He noticed that some of the Sand dunes were beginning to shift around from the sudden harsh winds, but he didn't care.

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"It's because I was born into this world!" Eren roared at the vast emptiness. Eren felt everything around him begin heating up as everything around him was starting to disintegrate into fire, including the doppelgängers. Soon enough, Eren couldn't even see just a few feet before him because of the fire surrounding him. But he didn't care. He had a Goal, and he was going to accomplish it. He isn't going to be babbling about his faux romantic feelings to his former best friend.

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He was going to save Paradis and her people. He didn't care what race they were, whether they were Eldian or Marleyans who fled with the Eldian after the Titan War ended. They all were the people of Paradis, and Eren was going to save them.

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Soon, Eren's vision turned dark abruptly.

Eren opened his eyes. His vision was blurry. His hearing was also muffled out too.

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"Eren, you okay?" He heard a familiar voice call out to him. He recognized the voice instantly.

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Floch.

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Four years before, Eren couldn't understand why Floch was so cold and harsh. Now he understood why after all these years. He still didn't know where he was though.

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"I'm okay. Where are we?" He asked calmly. Floch arched an eyebrow in confusion.

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"We're in a carriage heading to Shiganshina. We took the Scout's inside the Marleyan's restaurant captive a few minutes ago." Floch informed him. Eren nodded in understanding as he laid his head back against the headrest. Floch was sitting on the other side of the Carriage. He kept shooting him strange looks.

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"Eren are you sure you're okay? You look like shit, no offense." Floch chuckled a bit at his joke. Eren nodded once more.

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"Yeah, I just haven't had much sleep recently." Eren responded.

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"Then I'd suggest you rest for a while. Shiganshina's almost two hours from here." The redhead informed him.

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Eren nodded for a third time as he kept staring at the ceiling of the carriage.

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He had a fierce glare in his eyes.

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If what he saw was what was going to happen in the Future, he wouldn't let it come to fruition.

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He will win.

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Nothing was going to stop him.

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He will just keep moving forward until all his enemies were destroyed.

I'm not sure if I should make this a One-Shot or a full-fledged story. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of it. Thanks.