Creation began on 08-10-21

Creation ended on 01-20-22

Attack on Titan

Attack on Titan: Reasonable Truce

A/N: It's not about good and evil, but about right and wrong. When you do something you know is wrong, how far will you go when given a chance to make it right?

The repair work on the outer and inner gates of Shiganshina District began late in the fall, but the lack of Titan activity had made the work almost safe for the people. And the Garrison personnel present on the wall were on the alert for any sign of a Titan in the distance. Especially Eren Yeager, who kept a vigil watch on his section of the wall, just in case a Titan did appear. It was only a week ago, in the late night, that the Survey Corps managed to find a Titan and restrain it, with the only issue being that it was located within the mountain range in between Walls Rose and Maria, prompting the construction of a new base to contain the Titan, and it possessed a feature that gave most of the corps members the creeps: It was a Titan with a terrifying smile.

Hange Zoe took great extremes in making sure the Titan couldn't escape or even move, including removing the limbs and placing metal bindings on the ends to prevent regeneration.

"I don't see any reason not to dispose of the Titan," Bertolt told Reiner as they were tending to the horses at the base of the mountain. "The longer it's left with them, the longer we run the risk of these people finding out things we can't let them find out about."

"As much as I want to rid them of this Titan, there's no opening in order to do so," Reiner responded. "They change the shifts every five hours, and it's only the veteran members that are assigned to watch the Titan. And because of that rogue Titan that cleared out the others over the years, we don't have the luxury of taking chances in keeping the truth quiet."

"Hey, what are two talking about over there?" They heard Marco ask them as he brought over two horses. "What, did someone piss themselves in front of the Titan?"

"We don't know anything about something like that," Reiner uttered.

-x-

"…Say, Eren," went Armin as he and Mikasa were with him during the rare periods the Survey Corps had during their preparations for the next expedition to the land outside the Walls, "what's with the key?"

"Oh, this key?" Eren replied. "It's just…something my father left me before he disappeared five years ago."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the total truth, either; Grisha had given him the key…and disappeared five years ago, but Eren had the impression that his father wasn't likely to be found wandering anywhere nearby, no matter how far or long anyone looked for him. And there were several times since they had returned to Shiganshina that he had strange dreams or visions of events that felt as though he were seeing them from his father's point of view. All he felt he had to do after returning to the home he had lost for five, long years…was return to the cellar study of his father's and find whatever it was he wanted him to find there. And yet…despite having found where he used to live…he hadn't entered the cellar yet.

"Maybe you need a hand to deal with whatever it is that you need to do," Armin suggested. "Mikasa and I have until the next expedition, which is still a while away. We can help you do whatever it is you haven't done yet."

"Thank you," Eren praised them.

-x-

It wasn't something either expected to hear when they arrived in one of the districts of Wall Sina, but it was what they were told to do upon arrival. Something that sounded like a random order, Krista and Ymir were assigned the job of watching the king of the Walls in Mitras. It was unexpected to be assigned the job of keeping the king protected from danger after only arriving to Wall Sina not too long ago, but as members of the Military Police, it was their duty to protect the king and the nobles from harm.

"Who'd want us newbies to protect the king when they could have a couple of veterans do it?" Krista asked Ymir as they were walking in the streets of Mitras.

"Probably someone with too much faith in the new recruits," Ymir suggested, and they stopped in front of the primary building where the king's residence was established. "Whoa."

"Yeah," Krista agreed.

-x-

Rattle! The metal covering to the cellar was lifted up off the ground and Eren, Armin and Mikasa went down the stairs that were all that remained of the former house that were still intact.

"Hard to believe that five years went by," Eren said, "and these steps are still here as though…it was only yesterday that we went down them."

"Yeah," Mikasa agreed with him; she recalled the last time she had brought Dr. Yeager's meal down to him when he was down here.

They came to a door with a padlock on it.

"Does the key go to that lock, Eren?" Armin asked him.

"No," he answered him. "The keyhole is the wrong shape and size for the key. The key is for something inside his study."

"Get back," Mikasa told them, unsheathing one of her ODM blades and sliced the padlock off, opening the door. "It doesn't look like anything has changed at all in here."

Armin stepped into the room and saw nothing standing out. To him, it looked like a regular study, with books and jars of ingredients for medicinal remedies for ailments that were readily available all over the interior of the Walls. If Dr. Yeager wanted Eren to find anything here, it would have to be something that he didn't want anyone else finding out about.

Mikasa went by the desk and picked up a fallen cup that was part of the meal she had brought Dr. Yeager the last time they were here, and then looked at his desk.

"Eren, look over here," she told Eren, and he came by. "There's a hole right here."

He looked at where her right hand had pointed, and saw the hole. It was shaped like a keyhole. He brought the key up to the hole…and it went right in.

-x-

He was fortunate that he didn't need to worry about oxygen while he was underwater. The new Titan body removed his need for air, and he could move faster than he had expected himself to after entering the ocean water for the first time. He knew where he needed to go, what he needed to do, and how to go about it all. There was no need to question anything, to second-guess decisions already made up in his mind; this was the only path he could take, that he wanted to take, towards freedom.

The enemy is there, and the enemy will pay the price for their deceit, he thought as he surfaced and saw buildings near the water. I dedicate this onslaught to the freedom sought after!

He could see people witnessing his arrival…and how a woman screamed at the sight of his Titan before running for her life. He didn't care as he smashed a building and sent debris falling across the ground. An alarm went off, but by the time help arrived, he would already be halfway into the beginning of his attack.

"Rrrrrrrrraaaurgh!" The Titan roared as it ran down the street, smashing its arms through more buildings and trampling people that tried to run away.

-x-

"Huh?" Reiner went as he and Bertolt packed a fourth wagon full of supplies for the next expedition. "Hey, Bertolt? Did you hear someone screaming just now?"

"No," Bertolt replied. "I thought I heard something breaking, but I don't see anything broken."

The obsession for a desired goal will bring only devastation towards all that are forced to partake in the suffering, a voice uttered out.

"Okay, did you hear that just now?" Bertolt questioned.

"Yeah," Reiner responded, worried.

The price of anything desired is unnecessarily high. Always has been…and always will be. Set them free. Set them all free.

Whoever it was speaking to them, they were as mysterious as the feeling they were getting that something somewhere was seriously wrong.

-x-

"…Welcome to the home of King Fritz," said Rod Reiss as he greeted the two ladies.

"Hello, sir," Ymir greeted kindly, though Krista looked at him and became bothered by his presence. "Who are you?"

"Just a nobleman that requested you here to protect the king."

But Ymir had the suspicion that this man had done more than just put in a request for them to protect the king. Whatever his reason is or reasons are, she had to do the one thing that was really the only thing she felt was important: Protect Krista.

Of all the men to come back in my life, Krista thought to herself as she bowed her head to Rod, it had to be him. There's no way he is looking out for my best interests. Even if he kept that man from killing me that night.

Suddenly, a door opened and a woman came rushing in.

"Mister Reiss, sir," she uttered. "Your presence is needed back at your estate. There is a… There is someone there claiming to have lived there some time ago."

Rod Reiss sighs and says to the new Military Police officers, "I must go now. I'm counting on you to do your best to protect the king."

He then left, leaving Krista and Ymir wondering who the mystery person claiming to have lived at his home was.

"Okay," Krista finally uttered, "that was…a bit odd."

"Yeah," Ymir agreed with her.

-x-

"…Mikasa," went Eren to his friends, "Armin…please…don't speak of this to anyone just yet."

In Grisha's study, on his desk, three books detailing everything they didn't know about the world beyond the Walls, and a picture that was too detailed and unlike a painting to belong to anything made around the districts. The picture was of a younger version of Grisha, wearing a suit, standing beside a woman that wasn't Eren's mother, and she was holding a little boy on her lap that wasn't Eren, either.

"But Eren," Armin responded, worried about how his friend was currently feeling about what they had just learned, "we really should inform someone about this."

"And what will happen if we tell the wrong people and they decide to silence us or make it so that we disappear and all trace of our existence is erased from the town and Garrison and Survey Corps?" Eren challenged, though he was being cautious; he wanted to make sure that nothing his father had written was bogus…and that the people would be able to process this information without causing a panic. "I don't want to cause a panic with this information or this photo, but believe me, I know the public needs to be informed of the truth that the Titans beyond the Walls haven't eradicated the human race. But if we go and show this to people that could misuse them or destroy them we're without any evidence."

He was right. They couldn't risk losing any of this information that Grisha left for them, or rather, someone that didn't believe that the people behind the Walls were the last of the human population in the world, to find. But Armin was unsure if Eren was in his right mindset; he feared that Eren would do something impulsive, despite the fact that, as of late, he hadn't done anything of the sort, like he wasn't the same person the day he lost his mother to a Titan attack. In fact, Eren was completely different from the aftermath of the Shiganshina attack, like his attraction towards violence just…up and left him. He was still able to fight Titans, but he kept his cool all the time, no cockiness or feeling like he was untouchable.

Eren put the books back into the drawer and locked it.

"What do you think, Eren?" Mikasa asked him.

"I don't know what to think right now," he responded. "As much as I want to hate him right now, I can't condemn him for something that happened long ago. And from what he wrote about himself, this was over thirteen years ago, meaning the boy in the picture would be much older than any of us are right now…and his first wife…was turned into a Titan among several members of these Eldian Restorationists that were involved in trying to restore an entire nation to its former glory after his first son turned them in to these…Marleyans that were hounding them relentlessly. A Titan with a smile. If I didn't have much restraint, I'd probably do the same. Probably. But I'm not the same person I was five years ago. I'm not that boy that would pick fights I couldn't win just because someone said something I couldn't agree with out of some belief that was what I chose to believe in back then. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions and their own beliefs. To project your own upon them does nothing but confuse and misguide them, and my father did that. He did that…and then I was trying to do that, too. He wanted the discrimination against Eldians to cease. I wanted the people to stop cowering behind the Walls and venture out into the world beyond them. We both wanted people to move forward…but you can't force people to do what you want, for better or for worse. You can't make life-altering decisions for people as a whole…and expect them to be best for all."

-x-

Buildings fell, people crushed underfoot, trying to flee from the monster that had knocked on their metaphorical front door, and those that came back to fight…fell in shame.

The Titan, grabbing debris from the ground, pulled its right arm back and threw the debris across the untouched buildings away from it, causing immense damage.

"Aaaah! Aaah! Aaaahh!" The screams of the people could be heard, but all that did was make the Titan pick up more broken pieces of buildings and hurl them across more buildings untouched by its rampage.

There's nothing that can be done to alleviate this sacrifice, he thought as he walked down the debris-littered street. Any that stand in my way will be taken out. Any that impede the path to freedom is an enemy and must be removed from the path. There are worse fates than imprisonment and death.

-x-

As the night hours progressed through the day, Eren sat atop the parapets of Wall Maria as the torches present illuminated what little of the darkness they could. Once Shiganshina was reclaimed, the only personal ambition he had was to rebuild his family home. It didn't have to be like it was before the fall, but he wanted to protect the cellar belonging to his father and his three journals that contained the proof of what was really going on. A discrimination against Eldians and Subjects of Ymir, descendants of Ymir Fritz, a woman that had obtained the power of the Titans and could become a Titan, a curse she passed down to her people, a power that was divided over the generations of cannibalism until the rise of the Nine Titans, each with its own name and designation and skill set. The one that this Marley nation had been trying to obtain for decades now was addressed as the Founding Titan, the one that, according to his father's notes, control all of the Titans and belonged to the royal family. Such a Titan that could be controlled would enable one to do whatever they wanted, including world domination…

Or global genocide, he realized, as that was also possible if this Titan were ever to be misused. But the majority of such a cruel move seems to depend on the one thing that makes the Founding Titan dangerous and highly sought after: Subjects of Ymir themselves. No Subjects of Ymir, no Titans. No Titans, no power of the Titans.

Then, he took out a small knife and brought it to his left hand…and cut into the skin with just one thought on his mind: To see what would happen, not to cause trouble…but to confirm something that was suspected.

There's someone out there in the world beyond these walls, he thought, seeing the blood emerge from this wrist. Someone like me, but isn't like me, full of rage and ambition, willing to do whatever it takes to get his way, even if it means having to murder other people that haven't done anything wrong to him or anyone else. And if he possesses a power belonging to the Titans, then he's the most dangerous person alive right now.

He looked away from his wrist, shuddering at the very thought that there were people out there in the world using such powers to do great things, but some of them were not as held back as others or felt a sense of entitlement to do as they please. Suddenly, he found himself standing in a vast desert with a tree of light again. But this time, he was in the presence of three other people, and he had recognized them.

Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover and Annie Leonhart.

"What are you three doing here?" He asked them.

"Us?" Bertolt responded. "What are you doing here?"

"If I knew the answer, I'd be able to tell you."

For one of the nine, violence is not just a path taken, a voice spoke up to them, but the only path they want to take, and it leads only to agony and despair for others. The one that chooses only to move forward is the one that may never know how to look back.

"Hey, who said that?" Reiner demanded, looking around themselves and seeing nobody. "Where are you, huh? Show yourself!"

Eren looked at the tree of light…and saw her again.

"What is going on?" He questioned.

The one that moves forward attacks with only carnage in mind, the silent voice of Ymir Fritz replied, and the four teens were shown something that was too detailed to be an illusion for them.

It was of a city being devastated by a Titan, slightly larger than fifteen meters, with an irregular jawline. Anyone nearby was trampled underfoot or crushed by falling debris.

"No!" Bertolt gasped. "That's Liberio! That Titan's attacking Liberio!"

"Liberio?" Eren asked him. "That's not a town from Wall Maria."

"It's…it's where we live," said Annie. "That's our home."

The Titan smashed right through eight buildings, not caring one bit that there were people inside them, trying to hide of flee. But there was something wrong with what they were seeing. It was night where they were, and the Titan was attacking in broad daylight.

"This was…this had to have been hours ago," Reiner realized too late. "They're dead. They're all dead."

Bertolt and Annie couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing. Not even the screams of the people in Liberio could undo their feelings of grief and hatred towards the Titan that had destroyed their home, their families. As much as Eren felt like saying something cruel and unusual of him to say to these three, like, "Karma and payback sting like crazy", he didn't say anything of the sort to them. Instead, he pitied them. He pitied them because their lives had been uprooted twice now, once before they left their homes, and another when they discovered their homes had been desolated.

"This Titan," he asked, "is it still in Liberio?"

For now, Ymir's voice responded, but he won't stop with Liberio. He can't stop with just Liberio. He is driven to be free from all at all costs. He will not stop until there is nothing and nobody left to oppress him. This is the Attack Titan being wielded by one that is unable to let go of desire. A puppet without strings…that decides to do as it wants without fear of the repercussions…and is unbound by conscience, remorse, reasoning or any feelings of morality.

"The Attack Titan?" Annie questioned. "That's one of the Nine Titans that Marley could never find. Nobody knew where it disappeared to."

"The Attack Titan?" Eren responded. "What is the Attack Titan?"

"All Marley ever understood about it," went Reiner, "was that it was the one Titan that the former nation of Eldia couldn't control at the time. Despite being among the Nine Titans, the Fritz royal family had the hardest time keeping it in check with the other seven Titans. It was always fighting others, never listening to others when it went too far. Marley had deemed it the most violent of the Nine Titans because of its inability to be kept in check. And now, it's attacking Marley and killing the people we warriors took an oath to protect against attacks."

"How can it be the most violent if it's not even huge like the Colossal Titan or able to plow through a wall like the Armored Titan? And the last time anyone ever saw it, if that was even it that appeared that day in Trost District, it killed the other Titans that got in through the breach and then plugged the hole up. It never went after any of the people. Why the change? Why suddenly go after people?"

"Why did the Colossal and Titans attack the people of the Walls five years ago?" Annie responded. "Why did the Colossal Titan appear again to attack Wall Rose? Why does a Titan that never eats people decide to kill them? It's the same with people; they can choose when, where…and even how to do whatever it is they're going to do."

"Except that Titans as a whole don't do what the Colossal or Armored Titans did. Or even what that other Titan did when it plugged up the breach. They just walk around and try to grab whoever they can reach and devour them without question. But…to do what those three Titans did…that's not aberrant behavior. That's something done deliberately, with intention."

Eren then realized something he couldn't undo.

"Titans with intelligence comparable to humans," said Bertolt. "Some people believe that a Titan that actually thinks like a person would is the most dangerous force in existence."

"Which would put us all in the same boat," he told the three as he kept his distance from them. "You three are the Titans that attacked Shiganshina five years ago. You caused pain and misery to countless people in the years following the abandonment of Wall Maria. And for what? For what? You deliberately attack people that don't even know that they're not the last of the human race…and now a Titan that might've kept most of the other Titans at bay attacks your home and kills people deliberately. Where does it end? If I were to ask you to help stop this Titan, would you even consider it?"

"Why?" Reiner questioned. "Liberio is gone now. Everyone we knew is dead."

"Because it's not just about Liberio…or Marley…or wherever the Hell you three are from. You heard the voice. This Titan won't stop with where it began. It won't stop until there's no one left to impede it, which means it'll take out the rest of the world. And if he is who I think he is…then he won't have any capacity for listening unless he's forced."

"He?" Bertolt went. "Do you know who this Titan is?"

"I fear I do. He's me."

"You?" Annie went, confused. "No, that's not possible. I saw you in Trost, and you were fighting the Titans that showed up before that Titan did. It's impossible for anyone to be in two places at once."

"It is…if you believe in evil twins."

"Evil twins?" Reiner scoffed; of course, he didn't believe in such nonsense. "There's no such thing as evil twins. I've never even met any twins."

"That's the thing, up until five years ago, he didn't exist…until he did exist. Say you're one person, everything about you is as you understand it; you have your good days…and your bad days, but then…something happens…and you feel different from before. You probably can't tell, but something is off with your sense of self. Maybe you don't feel the same way about things as you used to, maybe viewing things from a more positive or negative standing, or your behavior isn't the same as people understood it…or your relationships are different to you. I used to feel anger at people for shaming the Survey Corps every time they came back from beyond the Walls with fewer members and no results, always wanting to go out in the world because they went out to see whatever was there to be seen, because they were the hopeful ones of a life beyond the Walls. Even though I could've joined up with them after graduating, I chose the Garrison to safeguard the people in case danger returned to the Walls…and I don't regret that choice."

"And, what, you think this…evil twin of yours may not have any regrets about anything that he does, which, apparently, includes murdering people?"

"He's the part of me that killed before, and if he has developed a taste for it, it makes him more dangerous if that's how he chooses to move on. A person that's willing to kill…is one unable to be reasoned with. Kill one person, you're a murderer, regardless of the reason that led to the death, self-defense or negligent. But kill until there's nobody left…then you're a genocidal maniac. What's the point of being out in the world if you're going to destroy it?"

"If we had the Founding Titan in our possession," said Annie, "couldn't we stop him by removing his Titan powers? Marley has made the Founder seem like an unstoppable force that can do anything, including destroying the Titans."

"How much about the Founding Titan do you three know about?"

"Our knowledge of it is limited to just knowing that it has been possessed by the royal family for over two-thousand years," Bertolt revealed, "and that it commands other Titans and that it created the Walls."

"It…it made the Walls?"

Bertolt, Reiner and Annie were silent. None of them wanted to say anything more or less revealing to someone that was ignorant of the world.

Eren then looked at his wrist where he cut himself…and saw no cut or blood. He sighs as he needs to ask them a new question that was invasive.

"How long do you three have left to live?" He asked them, which surprised them to hear him say. "Do you honestly think I don't know that the power of the Titans comes with its own death penalty? How long do you have? Ten years? Seven years? Whatever answer you give me doesn't change the next question I'll have. How long do you left to live?"

"Less than eight years," went Annie. "Everyone that acquires the power of the Titans will always die after thirteen years."

"If we could prevent your early deaths, among other things, would you stop attacking my home and the people and help stop the Attack Titan and change people's perception of Eldians?"

"What makes you think we could do anything to stop the Attack Titan?" Reiner asked him.

"Because right now…I'll only say this about what you're feeling for what happened to your home and the people that lived there: I am sympathetic towards your loss…but you're still here…and you're still able to do something about the jerk that chose to hit you where you live. So…if you're still able to act against someone that has no intention of stopping ceasing their negative actions against others…you can either focus on whatever it is…or whoever it is that you've lost…or you can fight to preserve who and what still remains. I lost my parents. I can't change that, no matter what I do. Even if I can't protect everyone…I do want to protect those that still deserve to be protected from someone full of hatred."

-x-

Rod Reiss was beyond surprised. He had reason to be. In front of him was a young woman that was not who he had expected to see again.

"Frieda," he uttered, seeing his daughter sitting in a chair in the living room area of his home. "But…but you…I saw you die."

Frieda Reiss, redressed in attire similar to what she had on when she consumed her uncle to take the Founding Titan, looked at him and responded, "the new Founder has found purchase in a different place without the twisted sense of the people here deserving to die. The Founder was separated from the usurper, but the ideology that was possessed by our ancestor was removed, leaving the drive to use its power intact. However, when the thief tried to pass the Founder to the next holder, he caused a reaction that has led to repercussions unlike any the world has ever seen. The power of the Founding and the Attack Titans divided the new holder in two, one representing light and the other representing darkness. Right and wrong, good and bad, order and chaos. The Founding Titan was retained by the positive half of the holder, but the Attack Titan has ended up in their negative half, resulting in an evil twin of sorts."

"An evil twin?"

"They're obsessed with being free and have no hesitation to take lives if it means being free. They will seek out anybody that is perceived by them as a threat and will kill them, including the world beyond Paradis Island. And worst of all, they will take the power of the Titans from other holders to ensure they will never be bound again."

Rod was frightened now. His family had possessed the Founding Titan for generations and now it was possessed by someone unbound by the ideology of the First King…but the man that killed his family had caused the Attack Titan to be inherited by someone that became a psychopath. But if they could regain the Founding Titan, there was a possibility of salvaging their future.

"Do you know who the new Founding Titan is, Frieda?" He asked her, hoping she could tell him.

"No," she replied, "but whoever they are, they will need help in facing the Attack Titan…because they will return for the Founder. The evil twin will view the good twin as the greatest threat to their life and will use the power of the Titans to ensure that they will never be bound again. The Founder's holder will be one that is protective of others, but from a distance so as not to control them, wanting them to live for themselves but to also live a life without regrets. In a sense, they will be like half of who they used to be…but also more of who they could've been like."

This didn't help their family's situation in the least. If they couldn't find the person with the Founding Titan, they couldn't retake the order that was within the Walls. However, this wouldn't impede him from finding the new holder and relieving them of the Titan power. He at lease had his daughter back, meaning there was some hope for their family.

"Father," Frieda spoke, breaking him from his train of thought, "I know it's been five years since the theft of the Titan and the murder of our family…but tell me…is my sister Historia still alive? I'd like to see her again."

-x-

Ruins. That was all he left of the entire city when he was done. It took him more than five hours to achieve, but he was making sure there was no one that could pose a threat to his freedom. He spared no one, not even a small child crying for their parents. As he sat his Titan down to ponder his next move, he looked up at the night sky, enjoying the tranquility it brought.

Three different Titan powers will not be enough, he thought. I'll need more. The price of freedom is high…and I'll not be cheated. To continue moving forward, I must destroy all that threaten to oppose me.

Then, rising up to his total height, the Titan walked again, leaving the ruins of the city behind. If there were survivors, he'd come back at another time and lay waste to them as he would all other threats to his freedom.

-x-

The sun was rising, but the silence was so tense, you could cut butter with it. As the people of Shiganshina were awakening to the new day, it was as though they had stepped back through time, all the way back to that horrible day from five years ago. The sight of their greatest nightmare returned. But what shocked some over most others was the action being witnessed.

The Colossal Titan had returned again, but with its arms raised in a manner similar to one that was attempting to…surrender. On its shoulders were two other Titans, one of which was recognizable as the Armored Titan, and the other was one they had never seen before. Their arms, too, were raised in the same manner. Did these Titans…come to surrender.

"What the… What is going on here?" Eren heard someone question.

If he could answer the question, it would've raised suspicion, even if he could answer. The best way to answer…was to wait for the people in charge to be informed, and then they would be able to calm the masses. For now, all any of them could do…was wait. But it wouldn't be a long wait. That…Eren was certain of.

To be continued…

A/N: To those that paid some attention in an earlier chapter, Frieda Reiss was brought back to life, and to those that don't understand, Eren was split between his good and bad sides. While the good side retained the Founding Titan, the bad half got the Attack Titan and has done only a semblance of good for the people while in actuality doing only what would ensure his own freedom. Attack Titan Eren has taken the powers of the Beast and Cart Titans into himself to begin his campaign of violence against the other parts of the world because he feels threatened by the people that live in it, caring only for his freedom, no one else's. In short, he is the villain while Founding Titan Eren will be the hero once he has obtained the trust of those he can believe in to believe in him without fear of his actions echoing his evil twin's. I hope you'll continue to root for him while at the same time wanting to see his Founding Titan form; I'm still trying to decide how to make it look, since I've decided that it has to look heroic.