Creation began on 02-22-20
Creation ended on 03-16-20
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: A Devil's Bargain
A/N: How far will people with the desire for power and control go until they become slaves to one that has both but lacks any compassion for any life?
The more he recalled of the other life that had occurred four years from now, the more Eren Yeager felt he had to hide himself from the people on Paradis Island. He had come to realize that when he had the power of the Founding Titan upon convincing Ymir Fritz to lend her control of the Titan's power to destroy the world, he could've done better than that; with the Founding Titan's power, anyone in possession of it could have relieved another person with the power of the Titans and save them from the thirteen-year restriction that would kill them, return someone transformed into a Titan back to normal, or even lock the power away, even lock the power away for a generation or two if they wanted to. But he didn't want to do any of that, not even to save those that had wanted to trust in him when they found out he could turn into a Titan. His stubbornness and inhumanity after the death of his mother had kept him from considering any of these possibilities, possibilities that Kaede Sogen came to realize when she took the Titan power away from him and stopped him from misusing it, and demonstrating a greater proficiency than anything he ever could have hoped to achieve with it.
So long as they can't find me, they can't kill me, he thought as he sat in the treetops of the forest nearby where Shiganshina stood. Possibly.
He wasn't sure what the Survey Corps, Garrison or even Historia and her advisers were going to do to him if they knew what he had done in the previous life due to his own agenda, and there was no doubt that they did know what he had done. It was only a likelihood that they would execute him for treason or crimes against humanity. In many ways, his arrogance back then had made him more dangerous than Marley had been before the Eldians' technological uptick or Shinji's father when he had threaten to bomb the island if he didn't surrender himself and Kaede…or the way Grausam Zanki had displayed his animosity towards the people when he returned to Paradis and let out his disgust with his past and contempt towards the collective past of all that had to live behind the Walls when they were around. But Eren doubted that anything anyone else did was worse than what he had done when he was a Titan Shifter that decided to destroy the world instead of seeking peace with it for the people of Paradis.
The Attack Titan was able to receive memories from the future, he continued to reflect upon the other life that no longer mattered to this one. It fought for Eldia's freedom by relying on the memories of the people that would come to have possession of it later in the future. I was fighting for Eldia's freedom…but I wasn't fighting for its peace. Peace wasn't the same as freedom. Neither was best for the people of Paradis without the other one supporting it.
"Even in the darkest of suffering, a man can sleep," he recalled Shinji telling him, who had heard it from Kaede's stepfather, who had heard it from her father when he was alive, "but for the man who chooses to inflict suffering onto others, his mind can't rest because of his guilty conscience, unable to know peace until their final breath of life."
With his past memories, even the ones from before he realized that his father had turned him into a Titan to devour him and take possession of the Attack and Founding Titans, Eren just hated the idea of peace so long as the Walls were preventing the people from seeing the world. But even after meeting Shinji and receiving his help in escaping the Walls, Eren still didn't feel the peace the people had received due to Marley, the only other nation left in this world, having an unnecessary war with them. It was as though he couldn't allow himself to feel at ease until there was nobody left that could and would want to hurt them, even if there was a chance that some Marleyans didn't have any actual prejudice against Eldians.
"Damn it," he sighed.
-x-
"…Any chance you know where he might be, Ms. Sogen?" Levi asked Kaede as she stood before the two leaders of the Survey Corps on the carrier. "You were able to find him the last time he disappeared."
"I used the Eldian Paths to find him because every Eldian has a metaphysical path that leads them to the nexus that used to be the Founding Titan," she explained to them. "I haven't used them to try and find anyone else since, though."
"But…you still can, right?" Erwin asked; they weren't trying to find Eren to kill him, but to ascertain whether or not their trust in him could still be assured now that he no longer possessed the Titan power after recalling their memories from the other lifetime that no longer affected their current lifetime.
Kaede nodded that she could still find him; Eren was still an Eldian and a Subject of Ymir, meaning he had a connection to the Eldian Paths that led to her Dark Titan, enabling her to find him, no matter where he was in the world. She didn't have any ill will towards him for something he did in at least one other life that paralleled to this one where they were doing better than ever with Shinji and herself, even though he had the attitude of a young man that was as stubborn as a whole herd of mules instead of just one of them. The memories of that lifetime only served as a record of one's actions and/or inactions, or to show them what not to try and echo in their new life. What bothered Kaede about the other life, though, was that she couldn't see herself in any old memories belonging to other people on Paradis, which implied, at least in her mind, that she didn't exist in the other life…and more than likely meant that her parents didn't exist, either, which was a downer. Dozens of people that could've existed in that life didn't…and people that exist in this one probably…never existed in that one.
Closing her eyes, she focused on finding Eren Yeager again, knowing he was still on the island. Because of the sense of impending war with the people Grausam was helping with his Jaeger Titan Serum, much of the travel means from Paradis had been restricted. While this didn't really affect the civilians because they weren't trying to escape the island, it did create some degree of tension because it kept the Eldians from establishing the means to secure peace with Marley after coming to discover that their own resources, including the ones they had taken from other nations and races in their pursuit of global dominance, had been exhausted over the years of preparing to fight Paradis, and the dwindling of resources only got worse after trying to attack Paradis several times this year. If this had transitioned from a war over race and ethnicities into a war of attrition, Paradis was likely to win because they had the resources to take out Marley. But the higher-ups of Paradis didn't want to persist in a war of that sort when it was better to let the enemy stop being an enemy and seek peace for the first time, which many of the Marleyans they had in their custody desired now after discovering of their having recollections of a future in a life they didn't live.
Where are you, Eren Yeager? She wondered, seeing herself in the realm that Ymir Fritz's soul used to live in after her death. You can't hide from me. I will find you.
From the sands in front of her, a large forest of trees materialized, resembling the Titan Forests that were scattered around Paradis. And from afar, Kaede saw a small village, probably representing a recent development from during the transition that occurred in the earlier months after Shinji defeated the Colossal Titan and caused the majority of the remaining regular Titans that had invaded the lands between Walls Maria and Rose to flee. She had to assume that Eren Yeager was hiding in the forest near a recently-built-or-reclaimed village near the remains of one of the Walls.
"…Haaaurgh…" She turned around after hearing what she thought was a Titan vocalizing, but she didn't see any signs of one or anyone else present around her. "Haaaaurgh!"
Kaede then looked up at the sky…and soon wished she hadn't. Above her in the air was the Akuma Titan, looking down at her like a ravenous predator eyeing its prey, looking as though it had undergone a series of extensive changes in the time since its possessor had been released from his underwater imprisonment. While it still had the darkened skin pigmentation, it was now leaner, slightly more muscular in its arms and legs, and there was something else about it that made the girl feel like cringing. She wasn't sure what, but something Grausam did to himself had affected his Titan in a way that was akin to an extreme body modification that would add up to facing a nightmare.
"Kaede Sogen of the Dark Titan, it's been a while since we last saw one another," the Akuma Titan spoke, its voice sounding different from the way Grausam would sound while using it. "You have definitely changed since the last time Grausam saw you, and even I can't tell what is new about you. You still look like some commoner girl that has small dreams of life as a dance star or something, but you clearly have experienced something that has changed you. I doubt that my creator has any humanity left in him to even realize what it is about you that he has come to feel threatened by."
So, just like with Grausam, the Akuma Titan didn't understand what was so different about Kaede, either? It was as though the one detail that she didn't share with the elder man or his Titan half was suddenly an interesting topic they were curious and fearful of. But Kaede wasn't going to simply tell them what it was, even if they asked nicely about it.
"I'm guessing that you've developed enough in the time that Grausam has been released from his imprisonment to have achieved a measure of independent thought," she told the Titan.
"Independent thought? Yes, that has been achieved. Although, one cannot achieve anything merely by having the free will to think for themselves."
"Potential energy is wasted when one does nothing."
"Exactly. Tell me, can you see into the future? Can you see what lies beyond the horizon that is the very next day? Grausam can't think of anything else beyond wanting to kill you, torture you, make you suffer to the point where your life becomes unbearable. So…can you see into the future? Can you see beyond the horizon that is the next day?"
Kaede opened her mouth…and uttered, "I plan ahead instead of literally seeing into the future. There was a Titan that once had such a power, but it wasn't always being used properly by those that came to have possession of it. The future is always unwritten and deserves to remain that way, no matter what others think or believe. It's okay to have dreams of the future, but they don't come true unless we shape them with our own hands. People can do so if they have the will to make it happen. So…when I want to think about my future, I just do that, and I see only possibilities of what could happen, not what will happen. I see…my family…having a happy future. I see…myself with Shinji…walking away from the fighting after it's all over. And I see…no further need for violence or hatred…and I don't see people like Grausam Zanki so full of malice and a selfish desire to inflict pain upon others."
"Heh… For a girl without so much as an understanding for science and technology, you at least see more than Grausam does. All he sees…is his drive to hurt you."
"But you're a part of him."
"In a way, I am…and in another way…I'm just his subconscious, the side of him that tries to steer him of unavoidable outcomes, the same as other people when they have a voice in their head trying to tell them something. Until we meet on the battlefield, Ms. Sogen. I look forward to ripping you out your Titan's neck."
As it faded from this realm, Kaede sighed at how similar her step-grandfather and his Titan were in the way they talked and wanted to endanger her life and the lives of those around her in the process, all for the sake of some vengeance. But then, she was reminded of her earlier desire for revenge against him for her initial belief that Grausam had stolen her future from her, leaving her reduced as a monster that could only hurt those around her. The hate was still there, deep in her heart, but the desire for revenge against him was an echo of what it had been after he was defeated the first time, as she couldn't let him rule over her future with the people around her. Still, she had to help stop him, to render him completely incapable of harming anyone else with his inhumanity ever again, or else he'd cause someone else pain and suffering.
He'll hurt your family, Kaede, she thought to herself as she returned to the tangible realm around her. He'll hurt your parents, Shinji, Historia, and everyone else on this island. You have to help stop him for good…or he'll never stop.
"Miss Sogen?" Erwin spoke to her; it might've been only two minutes of waiting for them, but it was a long time for her to ascertain any information that would help them find Eren Yeager.
"He's hiding in a forest near Shiganshina," she revealed to them.
"He lived in Shiganshina," said Mikasa. "I guess he can't stray too far from home."
-x-
"…Aaurgh!" Grausam gasped as he awoke to the next day; he had a dream where he was wherever Kaede was, but he couldn't remember where it was or what they were talking about, which was a first for him because he usually recalled everything he said or did in a dream. "Enjoy your final hours while you can, Kaede. Only one of us will be left standing."
Getting up from the cot he was on, he saw a large, wet spot, indicating that he'd been sweating for the duration of his sleep period since he was last up. He couldn't sum this up to his status as a Titan Shifter due to the increased heat his body gave off every time that he created a Titan body to serve his goals. The metaphysical realm that some Eldians from Marley's Titan research group spoke of that he overheard was mentioned as being the possibility for wherever it was that the Titans might've had some relation to, as matter and energy had to come from someplace beyond them…and Grausam finally understood what, how and why.
How could Marley not know of this? He had to wonder as he walked out of the lab and up onto the deck of the ship, feeling the warm sunlight on his skin. Ymir Fritz, the original Founding Titan, a young woman that made a deal with the Devil in exchange for power? Not even close because nobody has ever seen any demons walking among us. Ymir Fritz, a young woman that discovered the source of all living matter? Heh! Even that belief has holes in it because there are no details to explain what the source was or where she found or even how she was able to possess it. All that woman really did when she was alive…was fall into a hole full of water and get attacked by some creature that merged with her to create the first Titan she would embody. Some would call it a parasitic organism by nature while others would refer to it as a symbiotic organism due to the belief that people with the Titan power have advantages that regular people don't have. But those that possessed the Nine Titans did have one parasitic defect: Their lives were cut down by the Titans they came to possess. Who would accept only thirteen years to live after acquiring possession of one of the Nine Titans? I can't work with a reduced lifespan! I no longer have the lifespan of a regular human, freed from the laws of death by my research, able to survive forever. What value is a Titan Shifter that has an expiration date?
A Titan Shifter with an expiration date is meaningless if they die within less than fifteen years, Grausam heard the voice of his Titan identity say to him as he stood out over the ocean water. But a Titan Shifter that can live forever…has unlimited value, able to regenerate from grievous wounds, access to abilities regular Titans don't have, and are unfettered by memories belonging to a previous holder of a Titan. You don't have such limitations, Grausam. You have power beyond those that came to possess the power of the Jaeger Titans after you. You're older, wiser, and your tenacity towards life is without boundaries.
I used to have boundaries…but now I have none. I used to have limits…but I have removed them from my being. I used to be subject to all the frailties of the human condition…but now I'm master of people's lives.
"Grausam Zanki," he heard one of the SEELE followers behind him on the deck, and he turned to face the man. "We're ten miles away from the island of Paradis."
"Thank you," Grausam responded to him…and then looked down at the water.
-x-
"Anything out there that we should be concerned about?" Dot Pixis asked the young man affiliated with the Garrison as he observed the screens surveying the ocean around Paradis.
"For the last three minutes, I've noticed that there are at least three seafaring vessels about ten miles offshore of Paradis," the man explained to him. "I sent a request to the people in charge of satellite surveillance to try and see if they were Marleyans, but I haven't heard back from them."
"Good things come to those that wait," they heard a woman and saw a female member of the Garrison enter the room with a pair of photos. "These ships don't belong to Marley. Several of the soldiers confirmed these ships don't fit their past designs. And…he was on one of them."
She showed Dot Pixis the second photo, revealing a closer image of none other than Grausam himself, looking ready for conflict and more alive than from before he was deprived of his limbs and left to spend the rest of his life buried underwater.
"How long until they get close enough to Paradis to signify their threat?" He asked the man monitoring the ocean.
"I can't give a definite answer, Commander Pixis," he responded as he checked the three ships. "Their speed is…zero knots."
"They're dead in the water?"
"They're just stationed where they popped up on the radars."
"Call it in to the others."
"Yes, sir."
-x-
"…You look like you've seen better days than today, Shinji," Sig told the boy as he saw him lying on a bench in the room he was occupying, his plugsuit on the floor as he had his arms over his face, looking up at the light shining down on them. "You want to talk about it?"
"I'm terrified about what's going to happen when the enemy gets here," he explained. "I'm prepared to do whatever I have to in order to protect the people here, but my father is among those out to destroy what is here…and as much as I despise him for his actions against the people of Paradis, I do worry that he has obtained the power of the Jaeger Titans from Grausam and has now become worse than ever."
Kaede had explained to he and Christine that what they heard from Vega Howl about how Grausam's Jaeger Titan Serum affected people a lot more than just giving them the power to turn into Titans at will, and Sig had to suspect that Shinji was right about his father becoming worse because of its effects. So far, the majority of people injected with his father's formula were either those with less-than-intent motives for attacking Paradis back in the earlier days…or were similar to Grausam, being completely devoid of any morality, with his stepdaughter being the only example of a good person possessing the power with noble intentions, becoming a great person that used such power to help the people around her, never for her own gain.
"Don't pity the people that choose to inflict pain on others, Shinji," he told the young man. "Pity the people that won't find peace on the path they chose to take when they could've walked away. Whatever happens to your father is a fate that he brought upon himself because he chose to persist in trying to take what would not be his."
"He's the enemy, I know and understand because he threatened everyone in front of me, and I know that if I hesitate from doing whatever it takes to stop him, he won't hesitate to take someone's life. I just hate that someone in the enemy's numbers is related to me and wants to cause harm to the people I swore to protect."
"You wish you didn't have to deal with him?"
"I wish he wasn't here at all. If the guy hated me so much, he should've stayed in the other dimension when he found out I was here in this one after I was displaced, but instead of doing that, he comes here to this one and brings other people that detest me like I did something wrong. It's like the guy hates me…but he can't move past it like I want to because he's too obsessed with me."
"Obsession is just another path to an unforgiving fate if one can't let go of who or what is either not there…or doesn't want to be there. From either fear or desire, it leads one to anger, denial, hatred, and eventually…suffering that is inescapable."
"Where'd you learn that from?"
"A wise and powerful…little green guy."
Shinji chuckled and gave Sig props for learning from someone beyond themselves.
-x-
"What are you doing, Zanki?" Lorenz Kiel questioned as he saw the Titan Shifter sitting on the deck, looking out at the ocean water leading towards the island that was still miles away.
"Learning," Grausam expressed, sounding unconcerned with the present. "There is more to the power of the Titans than what I've witnessed or experienced. For the longest time, ever since I gave myself the power to escape the Walls and get off Paradis, and then revising the formula and modifying the abilities every time, I've only been scratching at the surface of what I can do. In terms of percentages, one could say that I've only been using anywhere from five to seven percent of my power. I found myself kept in check by the two things that prevented me from realizing the total sum of what I'm capable of."
"And what are they?"
"All of these…measly and insignificant restraints that make up one's morality and humanity. Morality is what keeps those from going too far…and humanity is what keeps those from being much more than what they already are. Sacrifice those…and you can realize more than just strength and durability. I will shed those restraints…and show the bridge that leads to glory."
Then…Grausam got off the deck…and fell into the ocean.
BOOM! A jet of water shot up into the air above all three ships, showering them with a mist of ocean water.
Suddenly, something new emerged from the water, surrounding all three ships, looking like…a ring of crystallized matter. Something else began to emerge from the water on the eastern side of the trio of ships, resembling a growing, expanding mass of flesh and bone.
"What…in God's creation?" One of Kiel's men gasped.
"Not God's," he corrected. "Grausam's."
The upper portion of the mass refined itself into a pair of large arms and a head, resembling the Titan head of Grausam.
"Ahhh!" The Titan head roared. "It's not enough! More! Sacrifice…all that you are!"
Then, with a thrust of its right arm, a path of hardened Titan flesh emerged from underwater and shot across the distance.
To think that Paradis, the land of my birth as a regular…and my rebirth as a Titan Shifter…would be where it all ends, thought Grausam as he was secured within the nape of his Titan form. Kaede Sogen, I'm coming for you!
-x-
"…He's hiding in this forest," Kaede told the Survey Corps members that came with Levi to get Eren, serving as a guide for them to lead the way. "He's somewhere in the middle, hiding eight meters above the fifteen-meter height that pure Titans regularly achieve upon being injected with the Titan Serum."
"I feel the need to ask you this question, Ms. Sogen," went Jean to the girl. "It's a question that's going around by mostly everyone that can recall what happened in that other life that no longer matters, but do you think Eren Yeager can still be trusted?"
Kaede looked over at Mikasa, who seemed devoid of emotion, professional and personal. Although she was being asked for her personal opinion over Eren, Kaede felt some expected to hear a professional response; in a situation like this, personal feelings were irrelevant. Except she couldn't be professional, as her personal feelings had to be expressed.
"If Eren Yeager still possessed the power of the Titans," she started after inhaling a new breath, "his judgement would be in question to the point of ascertaining what his intentions would be if he ever had access to the Founding Titan's abilities. However, as he no longer possesses any Titan power to speak of, including the former Attack Titan and its ability to see into the future memories of its possessors, he is nothing more than a regular person…with a temperament that makes him uneasy to comprehend because he doesn't really talk about himself much. So…I must believe that he can be trusted so long as he never has access to the Titan power again. Also, as understandable as it might've been for his father to give him the Titan power back then, there were other factors that were not considered when such a decision was made."
"Such as?" Mikasa questioned, wanting to know about these…other factors.
"One being…Eren's age at the time," Kaede explained; while he would've been around the same age as most of them were, any child made to become a Titan with no conscience and later devour someone with such power became disorienting and losing some gaps in time and recollection, especially if the transformation and subsequent transferal were rushed and no proper guidance or explanation was given to the person in question prior to both events. "Another factor being his mental health during that time. This occurred shortly after his mother passed from her injuries, so his mind wouldn't have had time to process his grief and he'd be too angry about the Titans to really focus on what his father did to him when he felt his time with the power coming to a close. You give a young child Titan abilities with no guidance or explanation and they suddenly become a Titan, either by accident or through some form of intent, it's…not all that different from a child thinking a gun is a toy and they decide to pull the trigger at someone they know."
Mikasa sighed and nodded in understanding at the girl; she felt it was terrible when the Sogen girl made sense over what an inexperienced mind with Titan powers was capable of when misusing them due to one thing or another.
"What about the access to the memories belonging to the previous holders of the Titan power?"
Levi asked Kaede.
"Sometimes, memories don't really shape how a person turns out," she answered. "How a person really turns out…is based on how they feel deep down. Eren, in that other life, wasn't molded by memories not belonging to him. He was molded by his own experiences, his own beliefs, which drove him to make his own choices without ever informing anyone that wanted to trust in him. Put quite simply, he, like all the rest of us when we decide to do something that goes against what others have decided or believe should be done, is responsible for his own decisions. Some of you felt that releasing some of the Wall Titans as a contingency plan against the Marleyans in that other lifetime was only in case peace talks and civil negotiations didn't pan out, but Eren thought differently than the rest of you…and chose to release all of the Wall Titans, resulting in a lot of collateral damage and the deaths of many people that lived close to the Walls when they were destroyed. But if Eren recalls his past actions just as we all do, then he must regret the fact that he was the direct cause of what happened in the other lifetime…and has no other choice but to live with his mistakes so as to not repeat them again."
"He can't pin his past crimes on anyone else if he was the one that chose to commit them," Mikasa uttered.
"Say we do find him," went Petra Ral to the group, "what will you do to him, Ms. Sogen? Will you…erase his memories of his crimes?"
Kaede looked to the older woman and responded, "No, Ms. Ral. That would be against my conscience and an immoral act to do so. Even if I did, that wouldn't change anything; people would still know what he did in the other lifetime, even if he didn't know, anymore. Taking away his memories wouldn't solve anything. I'd be no better than Karl Fritz when he took away the people's memories of the world beyond the Walls."
"Well spoken, Ms. Sogen."
The Survey Corps left Kaede at the entrance of the forest in case Eren tried to escape from apprehension and went inside to find him.
I really shouldn't be here, she thought as she found a large rock to sit on as she waited for an eventuality that may never come. I should really be on the lookout for these people, this…SEELE…that are coming to attack us for our resources and very lives.
The worse part was that they didn't have time to gather the fraction of Eldians that went to the smaller island away from Paradis to rebuild the settlement that had been abandoned there for rehabilitation, meaning they wouldn't have members of the Survey Corps who had more to offer than just mere strength and numbers. Over time, it was agreed upon by a handful of the Survey Corps and Garrison that Sasha Blouse was among those that possessed extreme proficiency in the art of archery, mainly because she learned to use the bow and arrow long before she picked up the blades of the ODM gear they originally used to fight Titans. And as for those gifted with intellectual strategies like Armin Arlert, they were going to need as many gifted intellectuals as possible to help lead the Eldians into the future on Paradis Island when this discord between people was resolved. They all had to think about their future united as a whole, full of peace and cooperation rather than stick to a past buried by violence and hatred.
Thinking about the future, Kaede simply imagined a simple day where she was having dinner with her family. Her mother was feeding some mashed peas or carrots to a small child sitting in a highchair; Kaede never saw the baby, so she couldn't tell if she had a little brother or sister. Her stepfather was talking to Shinji about something Kaede wasn't hearing, most likely how things were between Kaede and himself. And Shinji turning to face her and smile as he says something to her, saying anything for her to hear him say, just to see him with her.
Then…she just saw Shinji alone with her, holding her hand, kissing her lips, his breath on her neck, just being in her life and…
Whoa! She thought as she shook her head clear of these fantasies. Stay in the here and now, Kaede! You venture too far into such a fantasy you know isn't real, you may lose yourself in it.
And so Kaede sat there on the rock, waiting for the Survey Corps to return, either with Eren or without him.
-x-
"…Get these people away from the beach!" Erwin yelled as they saw a large, crystallized construct of hardened Titan flesh extending far from the island across the calm ocean.
"What is this?" Rico Brzenska questioned, seeing this thing that just got here from across the ocean. "It looks like…some sort of road."
A road was what it might've been, but it led out to the ocean, over the water, so it was more like…a basic bridge.
"Send out a drone," Erwin told Rico.
Meanwhile, inside the Eva facing out at the ocean, Shinji looked out at the strange construct that led out into the sea, wondering if this was part of SEELE's attack against Paradis. It looked as though it was something Grausam had managed to sculpt, but this felt like something Kaede could've created with the power of the War Hammer Titan, too. As he used the Eva's visual abilities to zoom in across the bridge-like construct, Shinji couldn't see anyone or anything on it.
"Erwin Smith to Shinji Ikari," he heard the Survey Corps commander speak through the intercom. "Do you copy?"
"I copy, Commander Smith," he responded. "I'm not seeing anyone on that bridge. Orders, sir?"
"Maintain your position. We're going to send a drone out to investigate."
"Understood, sir."
He was playing the waiting game, but it was difficult due to the fact that his father and these people could attack at any time…or from anyplace other than the bridge in front of them. But it seemed unlikely that they could without them knowing now; Paradis could now detect anyone approaching the island from miles underwater…and so far, it hadn't seem like anyone was approaching the island from underwater…or from the air, meaning it had to be an assault from this bridge-like construct.
I don't like this, he thought, looking his screen to see how much time he had left before the Eva had used up its power. Any battle would be short now that we have the means to defend ourselves against an enemy…but the wait is long and unpleasant. Getting the people to the underground shelter is assured to occur before any attack starts. We have to make sure that they have their homes to return to when this is over.
It was pointless of him to check the time limit, since the consumption of discarded Titan husks Kaede provided gave the Eva a substantial amount of power that was currently measured to a year now, but he did so just to pass the time. He was going to help protect Paradis from Grausam and his own father…and wasn't looking forward to it, but it was his duty to serve the people of his adopted home.
"The only way this gets resolved is when you are all dead," Gendo's voice echoed in his mind.
Except it doesn't have to go down this way, Father, he thought as he leaned forward in the plug. You just want to spite me because you can't have the Eva, the Titans or Kaede. But now you're working with Grausam, a Titan Shifter so corrupted and inhuman, you may get more than what you desire from his help.
Then he looked over and saw the small drone the Survey Corps was using to investigate the construct for anything suspicious. One of the benefits of living on Paradis was that Shinji got to see the various technology that the people here had access to that aided in just about everything they could do with the power of the Titans, many of which were made through the power of the Titans, as their flesh generation and manipulation afforded them an inexhaustible resource. And the drone they were using was an airborne version.
"You don't see those anywhere in Tokyo-3," he expressed as the drone took off into the air.
-x-
"Drones," said Gendo as he noticed the small machine in the air as he and several men walked on the path of hardened Titan flesh leading towards Paradis. "They have drones, too? Is there anything these people don't have?!"
"An evolutionary drive?" A woman told him as she walked past him. "They weren't looking to evolve all of mankind like we were. Hmph! Again, I blame you for screwing us all because you couldn't keep your damn son on a tighter leash…or put a bell around his neck to warn you of when he'd do something stupid and reckless."
"No, he had no reason to do either of those things," a man expressed as he walked behind them. "Even if he had put a bell on his son, there was very little chance of it ever ringing to alert anyone of his actions."
"Then what exactly was the point of forcing the boy to pilot the Eva for him? All he had to do was play his role as an expendable pawn, an insignificant asset that served no other purpose than to keep the Angels from triggering Third Impact. But Ikari here couldn't even do that right. Now that I think about it, this man can't do anything right, and his son abandoned his world for another one that wasn't maimed…and for a pretty face that actually gives a damn about his feelings and such."
"I'll kill him when I get my hands on him," Gendo told them.
"Don't you mean, he'll likely kill you if he sees you?" The man questioned. "It'll be a miracle if we all become large Titans with hardened skin plates and adequate mobility."
"You're saying you don't trust Grausam's Jaeger Titan Serum?" Another man asked him.
"No, I don't trust Ikari here to screw everything up because he can't admit his initial faults that led us to being here to begin with."
Gendo fumed and took out his syringe to inject himself with the serum, looking forward to becoming a Titan with intelligence and attacking these people with his arms and legs, wanting to see the look on Shinji's face when he finds out that he caused some chaos in his son's life.
-x-
"…There's not that many people on the path," Hange revealed to Erwin as she observed the enemy on her console, "but they're clearly not coming over for a chat. You can even see Shinji's father among them, and it looks like he just injected himself Grausam's Titan Serum."
"There's a chance that Kaede's Dark Titan spinal fluid won't affect them like it did the Marleyans and Eldians injected with his previous variants," Erwin expressed his doubts that one of their countermeasures would help them. "Go prep the jets. As soon as possible, we need to be able to attack them if they go Titan."
"Yes, sir."
As Hange ran off to go get the jets ready, Erwin looked up at the Eva; all he could do was hope that Shinji could set aside his personal feelings about his father and keep the enemies' attacks to a minimum if possible.
-x-
The boredom of waiting around for the Survey Corps to return with Eren from within the forest was long and agonizing for Kaede, as she was now laying on her back, looking up at the sky. One thought that ran through her was that it couldn't have taken them this long to find Eren and just talk with him about what happened…unless they decided to forgo talking and resulted to using force, a method that didn't help any of them clear the path before them.
"Show me, please," she uttered, and her vision was blurred to reveal to her the path that the Survey Corps had taken, seeing through their eyes what had transpired during the time they were in the forest.
Eren Yeager was hiding in the trees, and then Mikasa spotted him, resulting in Eren fleeing out of fear of being caught, tried and/or executed for what he did in the other lifetime. Unfortunately, he was unable to get very far, since Levi and Mikasa had more experience with the ODM gear than he did, and they cut one of his lines, causing him to fall towards the ground. Thankfully, his fall wasn't as bad as expected, since he hit one of the lower branches that broke his collision and then fell atop a thick bush.
Ouch, Kaede thought as she saw the others get Eren and apprehend him.
"If I could, I'd execute you right now," she heard Levi say to him, brandishing one of his blades against his neck, which made Mikasa feel the need to reach for one of her blades in self-defense. "Unfortunately, I don't have the authority to do so without Historia permitting me. And unfortunately, all we really want to know right now…is whether or not you can be trusted since you no longer possess the power of the Titans to exploit. So…do you think you can be trusted, Eren Yeager, knowing what you once did in another lifetime that affected everyone on Paradis?"
But Eren didn't say anything. It was either because he didn't know how to answer the question…or because he didn't feel he should answer the question.
They then bound his arms and escorted him out the forest.
Kaede sighed as she got up off the rock and looked over the entrance to the forest, seeing some people emerging from it.
It's about time, she thought as she noticed several of the Survey Corps coming out with Eren in restraints, the young man looking as though he wished he was anywhere but here now. We just need to know if you can still be trusted. If we know that much, then we can move on. Try to forgive and forget. Forgive the transgression…and then forget it ever happened…because nothing of this has happened yet. I mean, I have the power of the Founder and I let the Wall Titans out and much of the Walls are still standing. Of course, I didn't tell the Wall Titans to undo all hardening. I just told them to get out of the Walls and spread across the island to protect us from the attempted airstrike by Shinji's father.
"Are you alright, Ms. Sogen?" Levi asked her.
"I'm fine, Captain Levi," she responded, and then noticed that Eren looked like he had seen better days outside of restraints. "Did he put up much resistance?"
"Only when he tried to flee. We can't execute him for something he hasn't done in this lifetime that he did in another lifetime."
"I noticed when I looked through the paths."
"You should head back to the city now. We have everything under control here."
"Yeah, I should be helping to keep this SEELE bunch away from the island."
BOOM! A loud explosion was heard from afar, getting their attention.
"Kaede Sogen," went one of the soldiers to her, "you better haul ass and get back to the city."
Kaede ran away from the group and then bit into her left wrist, drawing blood.
BOOM! With the power of the Jaw Titan, Kaede's Dark Titan ran off towards the coastal city.
"Damn," went Petra as she saw her take off. "I know we've seen her turn into different variations of her Titan, but you cannot deny it: Ms. Sogen has some style in how she does so."
Levi didn't challenge her on that belief of hers, but had to admit to himself one of the benefits of having Ms. Sogen and Shinji on their side was that ever since they both appeared and brought their individual strengths to service for Paradis, he had more time to actually sleep with the reduction of Titan attacks and calm periods. The last time he slept good before a situation escalated was for about six hours, the longest he had ever slept within a five-day period.
"Let's head to Shiganshina," he told them.
-x-
Ascension of the Akuma Titan
Although it happened less than seven miles offshore of Paradis, it was still close enough to be heard by the Survey Corps and Garrison members still above ground to act as the defense against the enemy force. But what was shocking, however, was the horrid sight before the soldiers that were closest to the coast on the piers. Rising from the ocean were massive Titans, armored and perfectly formed, all around fifty meters, but that wasn't the tip of the metaphorical iceberg for any of them. No, the tip of the iceberg…was the Titan behind them that was much bigger than they were…and was a worse sight than what they had thought of the Colossal Titan when it attacked them at Walls Maria and Rose.
"Yes…yes… YES!" The voice of Grausam Zanki in his oversized Akuma Titan boomed as he rose over the fifty-meter Titans that were the SEELE members he had affiliated with to get revenge. "I've finally achieved the power I have long sought for ever since I escaped from that pitiful island! For the first time in my entire life, I feel fulfilled of my greatest hunger! Attack!"
And then…the Titans moved, but not like the Wall Titans that Karl Fritz created when he made the Walls that Kaede controlled when she obtained control over the Founding Titan centuries later. These Titans moved…like the lesser Titans that were less than twenty meters, exactly like did when they had to move in the water, undeterred by the laws of physics that should've hindered their movements. But Grausam…stayed behind in the water, deciding to wait until the best opportunity to show his newfound power further.
Soon, he thought, finding himself in the same place that those with the power of the Titans often found themselves in when they come to realize it, seeing the sands around him rise and fall with mere thoughts and the motions of his hands, shaping into whatever he imagined. I see all…and I know more than I thought possible. I no longer scratch the surface of what is possible. The surface no longer exists for me. I used to be subject to approach…but now I'm above reproach. I am above mortals. I…am…a god.
To be continued…
A/N: I'm sure that the majority of you that read the canon manga are curious as to just how massive the head Titans are, just as I am, and I'm uncertain as to just how massive Grausam's new Titan form will be, only that he's larger than all previously-seen Titans right now. What do you suspect will happen next?