"It all started four years ago when the nine of us returned from the battle of Shiganshina. When my lips touched Historia's hands, I accidentally accessed the Paths and using the future foresight of the Attack Titan I was able to see... glimpses of the future." Eren explained slowing down as he talked.
"And?" Jean interrupted, "What did you see?"
"Everything," Eren muttered quietly as he raised his head to look Armin directly in the eye.
"I saw the original plan, testing out the Rumbling to scare off the outsiders. It worked." he continued.
Armin immediately jumped up at these words,
"If it worked, then tell me, tell me why EREN, WHY DID U START THE RUMBLING." Armin roared as he grabbed Eren by his shirt collar.
"Armin. Sit down" Eren replied coldly as he locked eyes with Armin. Ignoring him Armin stared him down.
"Why did you do it," Armin said as he grit his teeth and tightened his grip around Eren's collar.
"You didn't see what I saw," Eren replied as he too stood up, towering over Armin. Jean and Connie immediately jumped up to pull Armin away.
"TELL US THAN, TELL US WHAT YOU COULD HAVE POSSIBLY SEEN" Armin yelled as he got dragged away by his two friends.
"If you want to know so badly, I'll show you" Eren replied as he turned and whispered something to the founder Ymir.
Suddenly the world around them changed, no longer were they in the sandy and dark Paths, they were now on Paradis Island.
"In this future, I put my trust in your plan, Armin, after a little warning with the Rumbling the other nations all agreed to a peace treaty. When the remaining four years that were left in my term were almost over, you convinced me to remove the power of the titans from all Eldians since we were in a time of peace." Eren explained as he pointed around to their surrounding environment as it changed through the sped-up years.
"So... what went wrong?" Annie questioned as Eren went quiet.
"11 years."
"The people of this island lived in peace for exactly 11 years before the other nations broke the treaty." Eren finished his whole-body trembling with rage as he spoke.
A loud roaring noise began to get closer and closer and much louder as it approached, everyone in the group looked around trying to find the origin of the sound whilst Eren just stood there quietly staring deep into the ground.
"What is this noise?" Connie tried to yell over the sound, as many others in the group, attempting to plug their ears with their fingers.
Connie repeated his question much louder this time, and almost everyone in the group turned to Eren for the answer.
Right as Eren began to speak, hundreds if not thousands of tiny black objects became visible in the sky.
"They are planes, each one holding an explosive equal to the transformation of a colossal titan. In a matter of seconds, all of Paradis Island was erased from the face of the planet. Those humans that we trusted paid us back by eradicating us from this world." Eren stated the setting around them now filled with debris and thousands of dead bodies.
No one said a word as the landscape changed back to the Paths of sandy floor and dark sky. Armin looked defeated as he fell to the floor, unable to utter a word. The other members of the alliance didn't know how to respond either as they too stumbled to the floor, their trembling legs not being able to hold their weight.
"I saw all of this four years ago, I've had that image of my home stamped into my mind for the past four years. There is no other option Armin, I refuse to trust any of these nations, not even the Hizuru, who are just on the island for their own financial gain." Eren spoke, breaking the silence.
"So, for the peace of the Eldians, every inhabitant of the other nations must be eradicated. Otherwise, they will just come back tenfold." Armin replied, turning his head upwards to face Eren.
"Correct."
"And there is no possible way for both groups to live together in peace?" Armin asked out loud in a voice that sounded of pure desperation.
"Correct," Eren replied again.
"So, for the past four years everything that has happened you knew it would happen, all of it?" Jean spoke up from behind the group.
"Yes, I have, and I planned everything accordingly," Eren answered quietly, tilting his face downwards. After hearing this the group went quiet, Reiner opened his mouth to talk but was quickly interrupted by a red face, Connie.
"IF YOU KNEW, WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP IT, WHY DID YOU LET SASHA DIE THEN" Connie yelled with tears streaming down his face.
Eren began laughing hysterically as he covered his face up.
"ANSWER ME ASSHOLE, WHY DID YOU LET SASHA DIE, WHY DID YOU LET HANGE DIE" Connie yelled as he leaped forward at Eren landing a punch right in the face.
"Connie, you think I wanted them to die. I SPENT HOURS TRYING TO MAKE A PLAN WHERE I COULD AT LEAST SAVE ONE OF THEM." Eren yelled as tears started to roll down his face.
"You think I wanted to kill any of those people. Do you think I WANTED TO LET MY OWN BROTHER DIE?!-" Eren stopped suddenly to wipe the blood and tears off his face before continuing
"It had to be done" Eren muttered almost as if he was convincing himself more than anyone.
"So now what Eren, you brought us here, we heard you out, now what?" Armin asked as he stepped in front of the group.
"Now, you all step aside and let me finish what I started before one of you dies" Eren responded without hesitation.
"And then what" Levi spat out of nowhere, "we move out of the way and let you kill everyone on this planet, then what, we just live our lives out with the guilt of letting the world's population be crushed to death?"
Eren stood quietly for a while staring at the sandy ground
"Answer me brat."
"After the Rumbling, I will erase the memories of the remaining Eldians, I will erase everything their memories of titans, walls, all of it. What they will remember is that the 'Global Alliance' protected them as the last survivors of humanity and killed the devil, Eren Yeager. Then using the power of the Founder I'll remove the power of the titans as well" Eren explained as the sky of the Paths changed to a dull, 'boring' sky blue.
"It will be like before, days of peace when we thought that we were the only ones left on this planet, no one to hate us or attack us." Eren continued as he looked up to the sky with a smile on his face.
"What Rumbling?" Jean asked, "Did you forget we killed Zeke, you don't have a titan with royal blood anymore." Jean explained as the rest of the group realized as well.
"What about the nobles? You can't erase their memories, right?" Pieck asked from the back of the group as everyone whirled their heads to the back to look at her.
"Those lying, silver-tongued nobles have been dealt with, why do you think that Zeke's wine was only given to nobles and their families, from there the Paradis army did the rest for me," Eren answered with a sneer as he turned away from Pieck to look at Armin.
"As for the Rumbling…" Eren trailed off, it was then when Historia Reiss, Queen of Paradis Island and mother of the newborn princess, Ymir Reiss, current holder of the Beast titan stepped forward from behind Eren with young Ymir in her arms.
"That's why…." Armin muttered to the sand he was lifelessly playing with as he slowly realized what Eren had done.
"You've really planned this out, huh Eren" he chuckled as he looked up at his old friend, life briefly flickering back into his eyes before disappearing again and dropping his head back down to the sand in his hands.
"You planned it all out didn't you" Armin mumbled as he chuckled to himself.
The other members of the alliance looked around at each other confused, most of them just realizing Historia was even there with them in the Paths.
It was Mikasa who moved first; she crept up slowly towards Historia and the baby.
"Eren is this...is this your child," Mikasa asked with a shaky voice as she reached towards the baby. Eren looked downwards, his expression covered as he stayed quiet.
"Eren…" Mikasa stared as her eyes flickered from Eren to the baby in Ymir's arms. Finally, it was Historia who spoke up,
"Yes. It's a baby girl, her name is Ymir," she said before quickly ducking her head away from the group breaking eye contact.
Mikasa looked broken as she still stood there standing at the baby. The others slowly began to understand what was going on.
"So, the reason you told Historia to get pregnant wasn't to protect her, it was back up for when Zeke died," Jean said, his face visible with anger.
"SAY SOMETHING YEAGER" he roared but Historia was quick to intervene
"STOP, Eren told me the real reason why from the beginning, I knew what I agreed to, so please if anything be angry at me, not him," Historia said, locking eyes with Jean until he stood down.
"So, you were lying to us too huh, thanks a lot, your highness, c'mon, Mikasa, leave it be," Jean said as he turned his back to Historia, dragging a still pale expressionless Mikasa along with him. Historia tried to respond but couldn't find the words to say, she watched as Jean and Mikasa walked away from her.
"I'm sorry everyone" the young queen whispered, finally finding the right words. Her eyes were heavy with sadness and tears as she watched two of her closest friends get further and further away from her.
While watching Historia quickly wipe the tears off her face Eren locked eyes with her and whispered
"It's time Historia" she then nodded whilst wiping one more tear, handing Ymir over into her father's arms and taking one last look at her friends before slowly creeping back into the fog eventually disappearing, and effectively exiting the Paths.
"After sending you all back to your bodies I will recommence the Rumbling, you and the rest of the Eldians will be carried back to the island by-"
"Eren, can you leave me behind? Leave me behind with the colossal titans." Reiner interrupted, almost immediately Reiner was surrounded by his fellow Warriors and Alliance members,
"Hey, Reiner, what are you saying? Are you trying to trample to death!" Jean yelled as he quickly turned around, grabbing Reiner by his collar,
"Yes Jean, that's what I want," Reiner whispered, staring Jean directly in the eye. Jean stared him down but eventually gave up as he dropped Reiner with a thud.
"I don't deserve to live through this and spend my days out on Paradis when all of this is my fault. I ordered the attack on the wall-" Reiner grunted as he slowly lifted himself from the sandy grounds of the Paths, but he was quickly shoved back down against the floor as Annie interrupted him,
"Reiner, the attack on the walls isn't your fault, we all knew what we were doing, it's what we signed on for, all of us, Bertolt and Marcel too," Annie said as she stomped her foot down on Reiner's chest pushing him back to the ground.
"Still, it was me who-" Reiner started again but Annie was quick to intercept, digging her heel deeper down into his chest,
"Shut up you old man, didn't I just tell you, we all knew what we were doing we agreed to it, and since those two are dead if you want to pin the blame on any of us then we are both equally responsible," Annie explained again as she lifted her foot off of Reiner's chest, only to kick him once more,
"C'mon get up you oldie," she said as she extended her hand out to her fellow Warrior.
"Annie, I can't… I can't live on with that guilt, all those people died because of me, let me repent for all those deaths with my own" Reiner said as tears started to stream down his face.
"Reiner you know none of us blame you right, we understand you just followed your orders, you did it to survive," Armin said as he knelt beside Reiner,
"Well, I still hate you but yeah what he said," Jean said as he mockingly kicked Reiner's side.
"Thank you, Armin, but just because you may forgive me doesn't mean the hundreds of people who died by my hand's will. This is something I have to do."
"Reiner if you are not listening, Eren will erase your memories and everyone else's you can live guilt-free, you won't even remember what you did. So please Just come with us" Pieck begged as she stepped forward now standing over Reiner.
"I don't want to live guilt-free, I'm finally ready to take responsibility for what I did so all of you just let me go." Reiner pleaded as he got up from the floor Pieck opened her mouth to reply but it was Annie who spoke first,
"Fine but if you're going, I'm going too" Annie exclaimed as she too stood up on her feet beside Reiner,
"I told you I didn't, we're both equally responsible for what happened that day, it's not fair if only you go and die for both of our guilt, so I'm coming with you." Annie finished as she dusted some remaining sand off of her body and stepped further ahead in the distance.
"But Annie, what about your father? I can't ask you to do this when your-" Reiner started before quickly being silenced by Annie's hand,
"I've already made my choice, don't try to coerce me out," Annie told him as she removed her hand from his mouth.
Reiner let out a tiny smile before turning around and hugging Gabi and Falco both of whom were trying their best to hold back their tears,
"Please Reiner…. don't leave us" Gabi sniffled as she tried to wipe her face clean from all the tears running down her face,
"It's ok I'll be fine guys, just remember that promise you made to me ok Falco," Reiner said with a grin as he hugged Gabi tighter and ruffled with Falco's hair.
"Pieck take care of these two for us ok," Annie said as she and Reiner turned back to look at everyone one last time as they walked out of view, and out of the Paths, and into the battlefield.
"Ymir, recommence the Rumbling" Eren ordered as soon as the two were out of the paths. The Global Alliance stared, shocked at Eren's order, some members were trembling in rage but there was nothing they could do as they sat down and stayed put.
Everyone stood around quietly after Annie and Reiner left no one sure what to say or how to say it. It remained like this for about twenty minutes before Pieck spoke up,
"Annie and Reiner are they..." she started, she couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence, tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to face Eren his face was expressionless almost like a blank wall, but his eyes told a different story, his eyes were filled with anger and sadness.
"The two of them, are they dead?" Pieck asked after taking a deep gulp, she already knew the answer, but she still asked.
After a moment of silence, Eren simply stated,
"Yes, they are dead"
Pieck nodded her head, that was the confirmation she needed. Tears quietly streamed down her face as she continued to nod her head and wipe them away. After wiping away the tears she walked over to Falco and Gabi, the latter of the two was devastated and began to bawl her eyes out, letting off a scream of anger and sadness. Falco however stood still a single tear strolled down his face as he reached over and hugged Gabi giving her a shoulder to cry into. As Pieck got closer he helped Gabi stand up and the three of them walked together out of the Paths.
As they walked into the distance Falco clenched his fist and whispered in a tone so low only, he could hear himself,
"I won't forget my promise, Reiner, I swear." And with that, the trio disappeared in the fog until not even their silhouettes could be seen.
The minute the Marelyan trio disappeared into the fog, Levi Ackerman spoke,
"Oi tall one help me up" he grumbled as he kicked Connie in the shins.
"Now brat" Levi grunted as he slowly stood up and pointed his finger towards Eren,
"Let me out of here and send me back to the battlefield" he continued
Connie stunned almost dropped the commander as he snapped his head towards him, but it was Jean who spoke first
"WHY would you want to go back?! You can't even fight right now!"
"I've lived long enough, besides Erwin, Hange, and the rest of them will get impatient if I keep them waiting any longer. On top of that, I'll just be a burden to all of you because of my leg."
"But Levi-" Connie started, however, Levi quickly shut him up,
"But nothing brat, I've fulfilled all my promises, I finally killed that damn monkey, and I brought you all past the walls safely. Now let me take out two or three of those colossal bastards then I'll rest" Levi said as he turned away from Jean and Connie to face Armin, the two of them locked eyes and Levi simply nodded before turning to Eren,
"Captain...are you sure about this" Eren muttered as he stared down at the ground unsure what to say,
"Of course, I'm sure brat, why else would I say it, don't make me kick you" Levi responded
"Ok," Eren said plainly as Levi slowly started to become transparent, his body leaving the Paths.
"Connie and Jean don't come rushing after me, you two still have family waiting back on Paradis, you still have lives to live, especially you Connie. Armin and Mikasa, I think you two have already made up your minds so there's nothing to say to you, other than I'll see you on the other side. As for you brat, you better protect the island like you said you will. GOT THAT BRATS"
"Yes, sir captain Levi" the group muttered miserably as tears started to stroll down the survey corps faces.
"CMON DEVOTE YOUR HEARTS, YOU GOT THAT BRATS" Levi screamed immediately all five of the survey corps members raised their hands to their hearts and replied,
"YES, SIR CAPTAIN LEVI" in loud ear-deafening unison,
"Good, that's more like it you brats," Levi said with a smile as his body disappeared completely and returned to the frontlines against the army of Colossal Titans.
"Furlan, Isabel, Erwin, Hange, sorry to keep you waiting, I'll be with you shortly," Levi said as he looked up at the towering, colossal titans stomping their way over the corpses of the Armored and the Female Titan. He smirked as he shot out his ODM gear and sped into the crows of titans one last time.
A single tear rolled down Eren's face as he turned and faced his fellow 104th training corps.
"Jean, Connie, what about you two?" Eren asked quietly with his head down.
"Before that, Eren, you already knew that Reiner, Annie, and Levi would choose death, didn't you?" Jean asked as he turned to look Eren in the eyes.
Eren sat quietly, the unsurety could be seen in his eyes as he was deciding how to respond,
"Yes, I saw it all happen many times before," Eren said as he turned to face Jean, when he did, he could already see Jean forming his next question, so he quickly spoke over him,
"As I said before, I looked at numerous futures trying to find the best possible one, where I could protect all of you and protect the Eldian people, I watched this future play out so many times, I've watched you all die in so many different ways throughout these futures," Eren explained,
"If you have seen this future over then why are you still asking us? You know what the outcome will be." Armin asked as he jumped into the conversation,
"I'm hoping that things will play out differently, that you will make the better choice," Eren responded, locking eyes with Armin. It was then that the tears started streaming down Eren's face again, not just a lone single tear but multiple were streaming down and fast.
"Well since you already know" Jean grunted as he stood up, "let's get going, Connie" he finished, patting Connie on the back.
"Wait, I haven't even decided yet how do you-" Connie replied as he stood up in a startle,
"Captain's orders, besides your mother is going to be waiting for you when you get back right, you shouldn't keep her waiting" Jean replied as he started to walk into the fog like all those before him,
"But-but, Armin Mikasa I can't just-" Connie said as he broke out crying,
"Go, Connie, forget about us" Mikasa replied with a smile plastered across her face, Connie shook his head, rejecting her statement, and turned to Armin.
"Go Connie, be reunited with your mother, that's an order" Armin added on, he too with a smile across his face.
"Th-thank you, commander," Connie said as more tears streamed down his face and he started sniffling
"Come on Connie don't make me leave without you" Jean's silhouette yelled from inside the fog.
"Thank you, Eren" Connie whispered as he wiped his tears and ran after Jean,
"Hey, there you are you little crybaby, took you long enough" Jean yelled as Connie joined him in the fog,
"Oi, shut up horse face" Connie retorted as he and Jean left the Paths together in arms.
It was now just Mikasa, Armin, and Eren left in the sandy Paths, alone, with Ymir watching over them somewhere. The trio sat there for a while before Armin steeled his nerves and spoke,
"Eren, you already know what I'm going to say, I don't want to return," Armin said looking up at his lifelong friend.
"I understand that to you, this is the only way to peace. But I cannot live in a world of peace that was built by violence. I know it's impossible to win, but leave me with the Colossal's powers, I'd rather die fighting for what I believe than live in your 'peaceful' world." he exclaimed as he stood up.
"Thank you for becoming a mass murderer for our sake Eren, but I can't accept this." Armin finished as he reached in and hugged a frozen Eren. It was then that Eren finally broke all the emotions he had kept hidden deep inside when he sent everyone off it all came out and his facade shattered.
"Why? Why when we finally have peace do you want to let yourself die! WHEN EVERYTHING WE DREAMED ABOUT IS FINALLY IN REACH!" Eren yelled as he grabbed Armin
"Stop defending these people and just go live your life out, please Armin" Eren almost whispered as his grip on Armin weakened and tears started to roll down his face.
"It's as you said Eren, I have the freedom to defend the world's freedom"
"Armin, I don't want to watch my best friend die," Eren said as he looked Armin in the eye,
"And just as I have the freedom to defend this world's freedom, you have the freedom to continue moving forward, Eren." Armin finished as he removed Eren's hands and walked away.
Eren stood covering his eyes as the tears rolled down his face and dropped on the sandy terrain of the Paths, after standing like this for quite some time he turned to the last person, Mikasa.
"Mikasa," Eren croaked as he looked up at the last member of the alliance and his only family still alive,
"Eren, you told me I was a slave, that I followed you everywhere because I viewed you as my king, someone I had to protect. I was told by you to sever that connection and forget about you. This is proof of my disconnection; I will follow my commander into battle" Mikasa replied to Eren. She slowly unwound the scarf from her neck and stared at it one last time.
"Goodbye, Eren," Mikasa whispered as she tossed the scarf to him and walked away alongside Armin into the fog and out of the Paths.
Once they were gone Eren broke down on the floor as he cried and let out everything,
"WHY JUST WHY COULDN'T YOU ALL PICK TO LIVE" Eren screamed to himself as he was left alone in the Paths,
"Why, why couldn't you pick life, I MADE IT SO EASY FOR US, WHY" Eren continued as he bawled his eyes out on the sandy floor of the Paths.
Eren sat on all four as he slammed his fist onto the ground repeatedly, shaking the ground all around him, as his tears continued to fall into the sand. His tears eventually dried out and he fell over, laying down on his back, he stayed like this for over a day. He lay there as Armin and Mikasa both got trampled over by the thousand moving Colossal Titans, as the remaining 20% of humanity was also trampled, he lay there still and unmoving until Ymir showed up in front of him.
"It is done, the rumbling has wiped out all of humanity. Only the Eldians on Paradis Island are left" she told Eren looking straight ahead in front of her with a dead stare.
Eren stayed on the floor, spending a couple more minutes laid out on his back as one last tear made its way down his face. He stood up slowly and looked down at Ymir,
'This is all her fault' he thought to himself in the back of his mind, a wave of anger fueled his voice as he directed it all onto her,
'If she just died instead of running away all those years ago none of this would be happening' he thought again as he still stood over Ymir, reaching his hand out to her head now angry. Suddenly his mind went clear, as he realized something while staring down the little girl and his hand above her head,
'She's so young, it wasn't her fault, it's not her fault she is constantly being exploited and used. Not even by the long-dead king but by everyone.' Eren thought feeling pity for the girl in front of him,
"I'm so sorry Ymir" Eren whispered as he knelt down and hugged the child,
"Just one more thing and you will be free, I swear to it" Eren whispered louder as he tightened his grip. Ymir blinked and looked down at Eren, some life finally showing in her eyes,
"What does it mean to be free?" the girl asked, the confusion written all over her face and her eyes. Eren was just as shocked as the girl was confused. This was the first time the founder, no Ymir, had spoken of her own accord, not only that Eren could not think of an answer to Ymir's question. No matter how hard he thought or what he tried to remember, had he ever really been free? Had he ever felt what the freedom he fought and killed for was like?
Eren let out a small smile as he told the girl,
"After this, you and I will both find out"
"Ymir aside from Jean Kirstein and Connie Springer, erase the memories of the walls, titans, and the Rumbling from the Eldian survivors, replace them with memories of Eren Yeager, the devil of the Earth leading an army of his followers killing everyone on sight. They are to believe that they are a group of survivors who were saved due to the heroics and sacrifices of, Theo Magath, Keith Shadis, Hange Zoe, Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhart, Pieck Finger, Levi Ackerman, Armin Arlert, and Mikasa Ackerman who fought against the monster and his army alongside the Queen of Paradis Island, Historia Reiss and defeated him before he could destroy the last stronghold of humanity." Eren told the girl as she set everything, he told her in motion.
"That's a believable enough story, don't you agree you old king, better than the bullshit you made up at the least." Eren smirked as he swore off the old King of Paradis out loud.
"The task is done," Ymir said as she completed erasing and rewriting almost every Eldians memories.
"Aside from Jean Kirstein, Connie Springer, and Historia Reiss, everyone on the island believes you to be the ultimate devil of the Earth who was killed by the great heroes, the Global Alliance." she stated once again.
"Thank you, Ymir," Eren said as he once again sat in front of the little girl,
"Now it's my turn" he stated as he locked eyes with Ymir,
"I, Eren Yeager, current holder of the Founding Titan set you Ymir, the Original Titan free from the Curse of Ymir, thus ending the existence of all titans for now until forever. Ymir you are now free," Eren told the little girl as he reached in and hugged her,
"Now go be free," he whispered as the Ymir started to disintegrate into tiny bright lights in front of him and slowly the Paths around him, using his connection to the Paths one last time taking himself back to the battlefield where the Colossal Titans had stomped out the rest of humanity.
'And just like you Ymir, I too am free now too.' Eren thought to himself as he stood up and stared at the looming Colossal Titans and the millions of dead bodies underneath them, a memento to remind him of what he had done.
Eren walked over to one of the giant craters left behind from the Colossal Titan, he slowly walked up to it, sliding into the crater, he glanced around at the thousands of dead bodies. Among them all he spotted the corpse of Mikasa Ackerman next to the foot of the titan. He walked to it and sat down right beside it. Leaning his head back on the leg of the humongous titan, it reminded him of a much simpler time under an oak tree. Eren leaned back and shut his eyes, he never opened them again.
END