Creation began on 06-25-21

Creation ended on 07-02-21

Attack on Titan

The Devil Unleashed: Penance

A/N: What is there left to do?

Eren didn't want to believe it, but there was no denying the truth in front of him. He was was in Hell alongside Zeke and the others from the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers and Yeagerists. Or at least on his way to Hell. This…was their retribution for their goals to either purge Marley or the nation of Eldia. And it wasn't just fire and brimstone; he could see darkness and dampness wherever he was forced to wander as he started to notice how he and everyone else were being separated from each other.

Sister Deception may have provided Marley with the means to destroy their Eldian enemies, but she didn't promise them a monster that could be controlled, just one that would destroy everything that was in the way…and Marley let it out. The power of the Titans was completely useless against it, not that it was being used to begin with to stop it, what with everyone too scattered or diverse to understand what was happening, and because trust was no longer a luxury any of them could afford, this enabled the three-headed devil to destroy everything and everyone. A creature that was beyond any of them was a force superior to the potential threat that the Rumbling had represented but was unable to be implemented. But Eren had to accept that it was hardly the girl's fault that everything they did was what led them here now; true, she provided them the means, but it was Marley that chose to act, just as it was he who chose to act, just as it was Zeke who chose to act, with nobody really telling them what to do, making decisions of their own volition, behind everyone else's backs.

People trying to throw blame on other people to escape their responsibilities for the repercussions that resulted from their actions was indeed the oldest excuse they could try and not be excused for. No matter what Eren or any of them said or did, they couldn't shrug off their roles in the suffering they caused. He wanted to be free so badly that he was willing to kill for it, his brother wanted to free their people so much that he was willing to kill and sterilize them, and Marley wanted the resources of Paradis Island to the point that they were willing to go to war for them. There was plenty of blame to go around…and plenty of people involved to be blamed for what went down, regardless of whoever did whatever, wherever, whenever and however.

"If it's been said once before," he heard a man's voice say, turning to face one sitting on a rock, flesh scorched and ragged, covered in tattered rags, "it's been said multiple times in multiple lifetimes: In the end, those responsible for the wrongs committed will be forced to pay for their sins of violence against others."

"Who are you?" He asked him.

"I'm nobody. I'm just a man among men that have lost whatever faith they had in people being pure of heart and devoid of hatred in their souls."

The man then removed the rags forming a hood on his face, revealing a charred skull with blood-red eyes and bits of muscle and nerve tissue covering it.

"Ugh!" Eren gasped as he backed away.

"I was burned to death in a fire caused by that devil with three heads, trying to rescue my little sister after our parents were killed. All any of us knew…was that someone from Paradis had provoked Marley hard enough to make them release a creature that was so feared by people of the past that they were afraid to write about it, wanting to forget about it, almost as much as they wanted to forget about whatever wrongs the people of Eldia were said to have committed. And you know the worst part of dying and ending up in between Heaven and Hell is?"

Eren nodded in the negative that he didn't know.

"I have to sit here and see everyone that comes through, asking them and telling them what they did to deserve this path they're on. It's my penance for failing to protect the ones I love more than I hate and love myself. One guy even suggested that those that don't take sides in any war are the ones that get punished the most. Maybe he was right; I took no sides in the wars Marley had with other countries…because there was no point in fighting in wars that were based on choice. Those that choose to fight in a war are the ones that are dead set on doing whatever they please, regardless of the repercussions. Why did you go to war?"

"I went to war for freedom."

"Freedom? Weren't you already free?"

"Freedom isn't freedom if you can't go wherever you want and live however you choose."

"That's hardly freedom. It's more like debauchery."

"What?"

"Self-indulgence. Hedonism. People that devote whatever remains of their life to whatever goal they have in mind, not knowing or appreciating what they have…until they no longer have it and can never get it back."

"I was from Paradis! I was fighting for everyone's freedom!"

"Everyone's freedom? What exactly does that mean, everyone's freedom?"

"My people's freedom!"

"So, then, you lied to me just now."

"What are you talking about?"

"You said you were fighting for everyone's freedom, but then you said you were fighting for your people's freedom. If you're from Paradis, then that means that not everyone's freedom was what you fought for. Paradis was an island, and you can't fit everyone on an island."

"I was fighting for the people on Paradis," Eren restated. "We were prisoners by Marley and the First King, Karl Fritz! We couldn't leave the island and explore the world! I was trying to change that for everyone on the island, so we could leave and go wherever we wanted!"

"And how did that work out for you?"

"I didn't have any other…"

"No, you answer me!" The man yelled at him, cutting him off. "You answer! How did that work out for you?! What you say you wanted for everyone on Paradis! How did that work out?!"

"It…it didn't work out," he answered. "Nothing worked out."

"Why? Why?!"

"People were…were too angry and hateful of Eldians to believe they could change."

"That's bullshit, boy."

"It was the truth! Everyone was hateful of Eldians! Even if we attempted peaceful negotiations, they would've taken years! I didn't have years! I had to act right then and there! For the sake of my people on Paradis!"

"And acting as you did, how did that work out?"

"I… My actions would've made progress."

"For who, exactly?"

"My friends! They would've lived long lives, free from conflict!"

"And how many friends had to die for your progress? How many?"

Eren didn't answer.

"Then let me reiterate," the man told him. "How many people had to die for your progress? How many casualties?"

Still, Eren refused to answer him.

"If you're not going to answer my question, then you might as well go on to Hell now," he told the boy. "My penance here is merciful because it's temporary. Your penance has yet to start…and it's not going to end, even when you want it to."

Eren resumed his walk on the path he was on.

"He who has the power to transcend time can undo the mistakes made," the man uttered, "but he who chooses not to atone is one that can never know forgiveness or receive redemption."

He stopped and turned around to face the man as he replaced his hood.

"What are you talking about?" He asked him. "What do you mean by that?"

"That's for you to understand for yourself," the man told him. "If you still have time to complain or ask questions, then maybe you still have time to do something else."

Eren just walked on down the path. What that man said about the power to transcend time, it sounded exactly as what his father had once said to Frieda Reiss about the power of the Attack Titan, about how it could receive memories from those that had yet to inherit it. But the more he thought about it, the more it seemed like the memories he was able to receive were barely his father's memories and more of his own memories of events that had yet to transpire…but now those events were undone because of the unforeseen advent of the three-headed devil that took the world for itself…and a little girl that helped it from a distance. The memories of the Rumbling, the death and destruction of over half the world, he couldn't see any of those transpiring because they were no longer part of the future. But he could still see the past, the day his father was going to be turned into a mindless Titan and saved by Eren Kruger, the day the Colossal Titan attacked Shiganshina, when Ymir Fritz fell into the water and made contact with the source behind her Titan powers. Oh, how there were times where he wished he could take it all back, everything that he did.

"He who has the power to transcend time can undo the mistakes made," the man's words echoed in his mind. "He who has the power to transcend time…"

But can I change what happened? He thought as the path in front of him blurred with his vision. Can I undo what befell everyone…and change it?

"He who chooses not to atone can never know forgiveness or receive redemption."

And then…Eren fell down. He fell…into a pool of water. It was cold, almost freezing, and he couldn't reach for air.

"Eren…just come home," he remembered Mikasa telling him.

"Let's see the ocean," Armin had told him.

"You took advantage of our trust in you, Eren, and we've lost our trust in you," Hange expressed in disappointment towards him because of the events of Liberio.

"Show some restraint," his mother once told him, once again upset over the fact that he was picking fights with people.

The next thing he knew, Eren was on another path. A cold and powdery one. He looked up and saw two people present, each one on opposite ends of himself. On his right was a little girl and on his left was an adult man.

"Choose," the man told him.

"Choose," the girl repeated.

In front of him, a path had been cleared. A forked path, one leading towards the girl…and another leading towards the man. A crossroads.

"Forgiveness," the man uttered.

"Or penance," the girl expressed.

Eren chose the path the man was on; after seeing Sister Deception, he had enough of seeing little girls hiding behind smiles. And as he walked towards the man, he fell again, hearing voices.

"He who has the power to transcend time can undo the mistakes made."

"People often ask what you'd do if you had a chance to go back and repair your mistakes…"

"What's it like to have lived your life…"

"…We all make mistakes…"

"Second chances are rare…"

"…Everyone can change, but not everyone wants to…"

"…If you've always hated her, it's only because you made a conscious decision to hate her…"

"Don't pity the dead… Pity the living…and those that live without love or friendship…"

"…They only win by making us think we're alone…when we're not…"

"I didn't care what she was… I loved her…"

Eren couldn't get up from where he fell.

"Why do we fall, Eren Yeager?" The man asked him. "Why do we fall each and every time?"

He didn't know how to answer him.

"If you stay down, then that means you've given up on everything."

"I…I haven't given up."

"Then get up again. Get up and stand."

Eren struggled to do just that.

"If you're lucky, you may die an old man surrounded by grandchildren and friends," the man told him, "because that is among the closest anyone will ever get to absolution!"

He walked towards the man, feeling like he was going to freeze to death.

"Now, what do you want and why do you want it?!"

"I want…I want to atone. I…I made mistakes! I admit it! I made mistakes and I cost everyone their lives! If I could, I would change things before they could go bad! I would trust people more! I would believe in them! I wouldn't be so stubborn and set in my own beliefs!"

"Do you want forgiveness?"

"Yes!"

"Do you want redemption?"

"Yes!"

"Are you willing to die for it?! You and you alone?!"

"Yes!"

The man smiled.

"See you on the other side," he told Eren.

Soon, the world around Eren was enveloped in light.

Can those in Hell atone and reach Heaven?

A/N: What comes next? I'll let you decide. For me in this case? Maybe Eren will get a second chance…and maybe he'll do better.