Creation began on 05-24-20

Creation ended on 06-01-20

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Hope from the Sky: Inhumanity

Mikasa Ackerman only had two beliefs relating to a piece of her ancestral heritage that was a recent discovery. One of these beliefs stemmed from a memory relating to the alternate timeline that had no place in the here and now…while the other belief was related to the here and now. When it came to what Eren Yeager had told her about the Ackerman clan in the other lifetime, she refused to believe what he told her; how the Ackermans were the result of experimentation with the power of the Titans and that she, being a member of the clan, couldn't fight back against this protective instinct she had to defend him from harm. But when it came to what was discovered from her own research and what Kaede Sogen and Levi Ackerman had discovered while on Gigante Island, she found the truth to be more grounded without any hidden malice or an agenda to attack the world.

And it turned out that the Ackerman clan wasn't an endangered group as it was believed the only members left alive were Kenny, herself and Levi; Gigante had up to eighty members spread across the underground city, just living under different names because the name died out over a century ago there. In the past, the Ackermans were just a regular family among eight other families that lived under the benevolent reign of Ymir Fritz, who had asked for volunteers to help build up a group of protectors that could defend the people of Eldia without needing to become Titans. They were among the top three families that had excelled in being able to manifest a minor fraction of the Titan power that included enhanced strength and speed, endurance and the ability to inherit the battle experience of past members without the memories. The only drawback that Ymir Fritz found acceptable was that the training and streamlining of Titan power granted the families an immunity to the Founding Titan's ability to affect memories; she only made one attempt to remove a day's worth of memories, only to find that the young woman that had volunteered to have her memories affected by Ymir still recalled everything she did that day.

"If Eren knew of this history, he probably chose not to believe it was true because there were many forms of truth that depend upon people's points of view," Kaede informed her. "The only other drawback that occurred a generation later was how different members of the Ackerman clan found someone they either developed an attachment to or felt needed to be protected. A triggered instinct to protect that person. This instinct, however, could be undone by whoever had the Founding Titan. But…I don't believe that you suffer headaches because of what Eren told you in that other lifetime. If it's not because some secret that spans generations into the past and forward into the future, then it's gotta be something only you'd know deep down."

"And what do you believe the truth is of why I protect him?" Mikasa asked her.

"Professionally, I couldn't say what it is because it's not any of my business…but personally, I would say that…you're sweet on Eren."

"I'm…sweet on him?"

"Basically, love makes people do things."

"Like how you looked for Shinji after the majority of the people left the Walls to live in Paradius City and found him on the carrier?"

"Uh…yeah…except I wasn't in love with him until after I started spending more time with him…and revealed that I was a Titan Shifter."

Whether or not Mikasa was in love with Eren was irrelevant to the current situation they were all in right now, which was dealing with Grausam Zanki and this SEELE group from Shinji's world. Even her current feelings about him were irrelevant. If Eren Yeager was brought before Historia and questioned about his fate, it would be up to her to decide what would befall him. Personally, Mikasa would've preferred it if Eren was just forced to perform community service indefinitely if it meant letting him live.

This wasn't the case now…because Grausam Zanki had demonstrated himself to be more dangerous than Marley had been before they ever knew about the other nation that had been intertwined with Eldia. The guy had more ferocity than those that inherited the Beast Titan or used the Colossal Titan to incite fear and desperation. He was like…a reverse of several members of the former Nine Titans all united into one whole, just a mockery with the best aspects of certain Titans being used for the sake of a vendetta that could ravage the whole island. And now he had Eren Yeager in his possession…and Mikasa didn't believe that Grausam intended to use him as a hostage.

-x-

Eren struggled to get free of Grausam's Akuma Titan's right hand, but this Titan was gripping him tightly so that he had no room to move his legs or arms.

"I bet you're wishing you still had the power of the Titans in your possession, don't you, Eren Yeager?" The Akuma Titan asked him as he ran towards the coastal city. "Didn't Reiner Braun grab you like this when he was the Armored Titan? Back on the Wall of Rose when he revealed that he and Bertolt Hoover were from outside the Walls of Paradis? And none of you had any clue that that were people alive outside the Walls, not until after you reclaimed Wall Maria and went down to your father's basement and found those books that only told you about the world beyond the Walls from his perspective. I was impressed by the revelation of there being people beyond Paradis. They were going to kill me before I could fully embrace my freedom. They were going to kill me…until I offered my services to them. The power of the Titans is no different from the power of knowledge. If you have it and are willing to share it with those around you, you're all the more powerful. You had power…and instead of ensuring peace and freedom for your people, you chose to become a tyrant."

"I was trying to free the people of Paradis!" Eren yelled.

"Oh, spare me your twisted belief. You're as stubborn as you're incapable of letting go of your anger over even the most minor of offenses. The only good that little bitch did you was making you as human as you were before you ever had the power of the Attack and Founding Titans and taking them for herself. And what do you know, she has greater control than you had, though that's understandable because you had to learn on the go instead of being given time to train. But I guess this is also a truth that most tend to ignore."

"What truth?"

"That females are naturally more talented, more gifted and more in control of their emotions than males are. I guess that would make Kaede your superior."

"Your superior, as well!"

Once he reached the outer limits of the city, Grausam stopped and turned to face the Dark Titan that was chasing after him with the Survey Corps.

"Only because she has the power of all nine of Ymir Fritz's Titans," he told Eren. "You only had two, but even then, you were no stronger than any other Titan Shifter that used the sum of Ymir Fritz's essence. A Jaeger Titan, however, is just a Titan Shifter that doesn't rely on the essence of some woman that died a long time ago. But the Dark Titan…there are no sums where there is a unified whole. But you knowing doesn't matter. You won't be around to care any further."

"So, you're just going to kill me?!"

"Isn't it obvious? It's nothing personal, but your family is nothing more than a hindrance because at least three of the men failed to accomplish anything meaningful. Your father, Grisha, failed to make a difference because he relied upon his own children to do what he couldn't. Your half-brother, Zeke, failed to make a difference because he grew up knowing too many different beliefs that he couldn't conform to one without warping the others into something false; he was going to sterilize all Subjects of Ymir in order to erase the Titans from existence, an impossible feat. And you, Eren Yeager? You failed to make a difference because, to state the obvious, you failed to let go of your anger, your stubbornness. I will never understand what it is about you Yeager men that feel that they can decide what will be and what won't be, but I can decide one thing about you…and that's how far to throw you into the ocean."

Eren's eyes widened as he looked back to the Dark Titan, seeing Mikasa hanging onto its hair on her left shoulder.

"Have the good grace to greet the rest of your pathetic family in Hell!" Grausam yelled, pulling back his arm.

-x-

The Dark Titan stopped, watching as the Akuma Titan pulled its fist back within the city, and then watched as it released its captive, sending Eren Yeager spiraling into the air.

No! Kaede thought; she wanted Eren to repent for what he did in that other lifetime, but this was not the way to do it. No!

Eren, Mikasa pleaded, watching as the boy kept going higher and higher into the air, possibly missing the AT-Field of the Eva, and then disappearing from sight because of the buildings, the Eva and the Wall Titans.

One of her precious memories of Eren that flashed before her eyes was of him emerging from the Rogue Titan after defeating several Titans that had invaded Trost through the breach made by Bertolt when he was the Colossal Titan, alive and well, with all of his limbs intact. And then the memory ceased, as if to signify that he was no longer there in her life.

"Good riddance," they heard Grausam say through his Titan.

"You'll pay, Grausam Zanki," Mikasa declared, enraged by his soulless act against Eren. "YOU WILL PAY!"

To be continued…

A/N: I wanted this to be longer, but two recent songs I heard off Cartoon Network affected me in a way that interfered with the move. I hope y'all question what you think will happen next. Honestly, the last part of this chapter was inspired by an old memory from a Tenchi Muyo episode with Ryoko. I just wanted to see how I'd feel if I had Mikasa get pissed off because someone she didn't know or care much for attacked the one person she cared for the most.