Prologue

Destruction. It was a clear sight of destruction before his eyes.

Blood splattered generously across the land; bodies crushed into unimaginable, unidentifiable shapes; and an eerie silence.

His eyes slowly ran over the bodies close enough to him, trying to make out if he could find any face he'd known for years.

"Mikasa... Armin..." the droopy eyes of the founding titan were the windows for him to see the corpses, "Jean... Connie?"

The crooked form of the titan moved forward, creating loud sounds which resonated in the silence and dust. Wet sounds generated when it moved over the pools of blood, crushing the leftover bones of the people who were now wiped off the face of the planet. Although there was no expression on the lifeless face of the titan, Eren's eyes were beginning to water upon seeing nothing before him.

Nothingness is a funny word. How do you use it? Calling the cessation of the world nothingness, when there used to be boisterous smiles and squeals of excitement among the people, is a little unfair, isn't it?

Although there were corpses of people spread all over the ground, it was a scene of nothingness... because there was no life. It was the life on the land that distinguished it from nothingness.

And now, those lives were gone.

The huge, mighty founding titan stood victorious on the ground; alone, but victorious. Yet, there were tears in Eren's eyes. Why was he in such despair? After all, he got what he wanted, right? To protect his island and his people. To protect his friends...

But he knew he failed when he saw his friends' lifeless faces lying before him.

Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie, Levi. They had all been killed by him.

Memories flashed before his eyes; the time when he had promised Armin to go and see the sea with him; when Mikasa had reminded him time and time again how important he was to her; the times him and Jean had fought over merely nonsensical topics; how Connie always had his back; and how Levi had taught him discipline through tough lessons.

That's when he realized that they would be the only memories with him that contained them. He couldn't make new memories with them for as long as his life was left.

If he knew that his plan would backfire in such a way, he would've never left them; never told Mikasa that he hated her, or beat up Armin, or betray anyone in the mildest manner even.

Only if he knew.

But he did save his people, right? He saved the Eldians that resided on Paradis Island. That was his aim since the beginning, wasn't it? His friends' lives didn't go to waste for sure.

"Mom, are you proud of me?"

He was back in the paths, standing beside Ymir, as he watched the titans undo themselves and vanish into thin air. The colossal titans of the walls collapsed and commenced evaporating. The head of the founding titan fell from its delicate set of bones. Surprisingly, the head didn't evaporate; it lay on the barren land, unmoving.

At last, the world was free of titans, just as he had wished ever since his mother was eaten by Dina Fritz's titan. His goal was achieved successfully.

But why was he crying?

His heart felt like it had died long ago - only the worthless beating remained. What was he going to do with that beating if his reasons to live weren't there anymore?

As he was about to retreat, he felt a hand grip his wrist, and turning around, he realized that it was Ymir who had dared to hold him. Fear terrorized his features when he realized that the visions he'd had about the future were indeed going to come true.

He had failed to free Ymir, and now, he was stuck with her in the paths.

(a/n: okay I'm SO SORRY if it doesn't make any sense right now, but everything will be explained later. Since I'm not Hajime Isayama, there are probably going to be plotholes in this, but I do hope that it makes sense soon lmao. Thanks for reading!)