Creation began on 06-12-22
Creation ended on 06-14-22
Attack on Titan
Walk Away
A/N: This story relates to Rise, Sasha, Rise, but shall be treated as a separate piece. If you saw what was to come, but knew it would only happen if you followed the path you were on, would you still follow that future…or would you turn away from it, accepting that it couldn't happen if you took a step back?
Grisha Yeager was on his way to the Reiss chapel to try and reason with the royal family to prevent the destruction of Shiganshina District when a man appeared in front of his path. He had never seen a man like this one before, anywhere on Paradis; there was no such man with skin as dark as his.
"Who are you?" He asked the stranger.
"Someone that cares about this world and the people that live within it, flaws and all," he answered, albeit cryptically. "What did you see?"
"What?"
"You saw something horrible. What did you see? Your heart is racing, your skin is tense, and your eyes are full of dread. What did you see?"
But Grisha didn't answer him. How could he tell him? He was having a hard time comprehending what he himself saw occur.
"I'll tell you what," the stranger uttered, "I'll guess and you can tell me if I'm right. You saw a red sky and a town ravaged by death."
Grisha found himself nodding his head in response, suddenly seeing another man nearby, his eyes dark and cold.
"And you saw what comes next to be far worse than you can possibly imagine."
Again, Grisha nodded in response to this guess.
"But you don't see anything relating to yourself, do you? You don't…see your friends, your family, as though they are absent from what you saw. You're worried about the people in your life…aren't you?"
"Yes," Grisha finally spoke. "I saw my home attacked by a Titan, but I don't see my wife, my son, anyone surviving the attack. Do they make it? Will they live? Can you tell me? Please!"
"I'll do you one better, sir. I'll show you."
Flash! Grisha's eyes flared brightly as he saw what became of his home in Shiganshina District.
No! He thought as he saw the Colossal Titan kick a hole right through the outer gate. No! No, no, no! This can't be happening!
The Colossal Titan disappeared…and the lesser Titans came through the hole, attacking the people, searching through the remains of the homes and buildings that protected the people for years. And to his horror, Grisha bore witness to a Titan with a horrid smile pick up his wife, Carla, from the ruins of their home, just as their son and foster daughter were forced to be taken away by a member of the Garrison to the boat that would take them out of the district. The Titan he had seen only once almost thirteen years ago, the Titan that had once been his first wife, Dina, killed his second wife and ate her.
"No!" He cried out, dropping to his knees. "No! No, no!"
The vision he saw ended, and he sobbed.
"But this hasn't happened yet, sir," the man told Grisha, "and it doesn't have to."
"What?" Grisha asked him.
"What you saw…hasn't happened yet. You still have four days before it happens. If you hurry, you may just be able to save the people that matter to you."
"What?" They both heard the other man question. "No, he has to go to the chapel. He has to face this through to the end!"
"Face what, exactly?" The dark man asked him. "What is it that he has to see through to the end? Could you tell us, please?"
"Eren?" Grisha addressed the stranger urging him to go to the chapel. "Is that you, Eren?"
"Move forward," the stranger told him. "Even if it means your death. Even long after your death, you must move forward."
"You didn't answer him," the dark man stated, getting his attention. "Who are you? Are you this…Eren that he speaks of?"
"Never mind who I am."
"Oh, I wish I could…but I can't. Why do you want him to go to the chapel? What's there that you want him to see through to the end?"
"The Reiss royal family, the keepers of the Founding Titan," Grisha explained. "Eren, why didn't you show me what happened in Shiganshina?"
"Yeah. Why didn't he show you? Why, Eren? Why didn't you show your father the fate that could be avoided? Why keep this from him? Why deny him his right to know becomes of his wife, his home, you?"
"Keep moving forward!" Eren urged his father.
"Except what happens if he goes to that chapel…will only destroy him further," the dark man expressed, which made Grisha gasp. "Unlike you, I'll show him what befalls everyone if he goes there and meets with these people."
"No," Eren raised his voice. "No! Stop!"
Flash! Grisha was shown the outcome.
He encountered the Reiss family, begging the current ruler, Frieda Reiss, to use the power of the Founder to stop the attack on Shiganshina before it could begin, but Frieda couldn't. She couldn't stop the attack, even if she wanted to, because of the vow made by the previous king to renounce war, prohibiting his successors from acting out and protecting his people. And then, to take the Founder from her, Grisha saw his son push him to commit murder against the family, children and all, despite his oath as a doctor to do no harm. And in the end, he murdered all except the father that escaped, taking the power of the Founder, which he wouldn't be able to use at all, just to give it to Eren a few days later.
"Do you see now, Dr. Yeager?" He asked Grisha as the man got up to his knees. "Do you see what will happen if you go down this way?"
"Yes…and I don't want that. I don't want that!" Grisha told them.
"Then walk away."
"What?"
"Walk away. Turn around. Go home. You still have time to change it, to save your second love from your first love."
"No!" Eren yelled. "What happened in the chapel is supposed to happen! Nothing can change it! Move forward! That's all we can do!"
"Are you sure about that? Nothing can ever truly happen unless we decide to make it happen. There is really no such thing as fate, only the choices we make and the consequences that follow suit. To do so otherwise is to believe that fate is written in stone when it is not."
"Except that I have seen the future, and what happens at that chapel is inevitable!"
"Prove it, then."
"What?"
"You heard me. Prove it, then. Prove that it's supposed to happen. Make it happen."
Eren, or this Eren from the future, looked at his father and told him, "Go take the Founder from the Reiss family."
But Grisha refused him.
"No," he told him. "No."
"You'd let all of Paradis Island face extermination?"
"I'm not going to kill innocent children for a Titan power I can't even use because I don't have royal blood. You don't have royal blood, and you want me to give you the Founder…just so you can destroy the world…and I don't want that to happen. If I had known that was what you wanted, I'd never turn you into a Titan to begin with."
"But Dr. Yeager…that hasn't happened yet. Your son's still a little boy. This man is just a possibility of what your son could become. He's not a definite possibility, just a possibility. You still have a choice of whether or not to enable him to become a reality, though. If he's the version of your son that has the power of the Titans in his possession, then you know how to prevent that reality from happening, but you still need to do one thing to avoid this future."
"You can't walk away from this, Father!" Eren told Grisha. "This man doesn't know what the future will be like! We do, and we both know that it has to happen, no matter how we feel! We have to move forward!"
"You have a choice to refuse this future possibility of your son, Dr. Yeager," the dark stranger informed Grisha. "You always have a choice. What does this man know about freedom of choice? He's trying to make you do something you don't want to do because it goes against your conscience and violates the oath you took as a doctor, and he's trying to argue less of the reasons to why instead of pursuing another way. Anyone who says there's never another choice is someone that doesn't want to believe in there always being another choice when something seems impossible. There is always another choice. We can always choose to do something that goes against what others believe should be done, for better or for worse. You can choose the road less traveled…or the road this man wants you to take that suits himself. But I believe in you being a doctor and therefore acting in the interests of your patients, and right now, what you do in these few minutes is your patient. You choose for yourself, here and now, what you want and why you want it. What do you want, Dr. Yeager?"
Grisha looked at the Reiss chapel, at his future adult son, then at the dark stranger…and ran the opposite way, back to Shiganshina District!
"I'm going to save Carla and the others!" He yelled.
"No!" Eren yelled towards his father. "Come back here! Kill the Reiss family! Take the Founder! Move forward!"
"I am moving forward! I'm just not moving forward in the way you want me to!"
"Well, Eren Yeager, it looks like you don't get what you want from your father…this time."
"Who do you think you are, interfering in what must come to pass?" Eren demanded on him.
"Someone that loves this world and the people that live in it, quirks and all," he repeated his cryptic reply to Grisha. "I love the Eldians, and I love the Marleyans. I love the Asians…and I love the foreigners. Who do you love? Who do you hate? What drives you to do what you do?"
"Nothing that concerns you!"
"Oh, really? That's a shame, because what happens now is…unlike anything you thought you could see happen to the world."
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
But the dark stranger turned and walked away, going down the path Grisha had come from moments ago, leaving Eren.
"What's going to happen?!" He yelled his demand to the stranger.
"Something…full of a smaller pain…but with more hope than you can possibly fathom," the stranger stated, albeit cryptically.
"What did you see?! What will happen?!"
But the stranger just kept on walking.
Small agony…but more hope. The future has changed. Let hope be realized…and faith bestowed upon those that can grant it.
Turning around to see the future Eren, he saw that the man had become see-through; whatever future he hailed from was losing its cohesive anchors, meaning the timeline was being erased from existence, and once it was gone, this future version of someone from the here and now would become nothing more than a forgotten memory that never was.
There are other powers greater than that of brutality and vengeance, the stranger thought.
-x-
Grisha ran forever to get back to Shiganshina, and by the time he crossed the space between the inner gate, he saw the horror of what the future Eren had shown him only to a certain point: The Colossal Titan, outside the wall, a horrific sight that frightened everyone. And then…came the breach and the destruction. He wouldn't make it in time to save Carla and the children. At least…not as a mere man.
With people running away from the Titans that came through the hole in the wall, he was trying to get to the ruins of his house. There was ample opportunity for him to do one last thing to save his family from being killed by the Titans. But if he did this, there would be a chance that he wouldn't see them again. This would be the last time he would ever see his wife, son and foster daughter for the final moments of his life.
But I will die saving them, he thought, giving into his conviction, and taking his scalpel out and cutting his right hand. Carla, Mikasa, Eren… Please, live to see a better future.
FLASH! An explosive burst of light came from behind some buildings that some Titans had gone beside, and a fifteen-meter Titan with bulky muscles and pointed ears appeared…and started knocking down Titans that approached it.
"Rrrrrraaurgh!" The Attack Titan roared, charging towards the ruins of the Yeager home, seeing the Titan that had caused a grief so immense that there was no way to mend it without any further pain in the process. Forgive me, Dina.
He raised his fist and let the Smiling Titan have it in the face, sending it flying backwards away from the ruins of his home, and the other Titans saw that he was present…and were attracted to the power he possessed, seeking to return to their lost humanity. Except he already had one of them in mind and needed to make sure that the rest of them were disabled to ensure the transfer was done without risk of losing the revived victim. Once he saw Carla, Eren, Mikasa and Hannes moving away from the ruins and going down the street towards the boat that would take them away from Shiganshina, Grisha sighs as he begins knocking out more than a dozen or so Titans that came his way; he recognized some of them as people he failed in the Eldian Restorationists, and others were Eldians that had been accused of one crime or another by Marley and turned into Titans as punishment.
The Smiling Titan rose back up from where it had fallen and attacked the Attack Titan, only this time with some success. As it bit into its nape, a fifteen-meter Titan, covered from head-to-toe in strange, plates of hardened skin, came running towards the inner gate.
Grisha knew that was the Armored Titan, but couldn't stop it from destroying the inner gate and causing the abandonment of Wall Maria. But he knew in his heart that someone would help retake the wall, and they would do a better job than anything he could hope for. He could feel Dina's breath on his nape as he ripped off the head of a former patriot, saddened by his actions.
You'll be alright, he heard the voice of the man from before in his head. What you're doing right now, Dr. Yeager, will change the future you saw. Here is a glimpse of what will happen. I hope it gives you some comfort.
Flash! Grisha saw a muscular Titan with feminine features, similar to the Founding Titan he almost fought and killed to take from the royal family, and this Titan was fighting against other Titans, aiding the Survey Corps in reclaiming Wall Maria. He saw the same Titan face the Founding Titan, and, unlike his manipulated efforts to take the power from the young woman that had it and was under its influence, the Titan defeated the woman…but spared her life, resulting in a shift in the order of the government in favor of the Survey Corps. And from within this Titan, he saw his first wife, retaking her life and helping to lead the people within the Walls towards a better future that was different from what they had originally intended.
"Grisha," he heard say. "This isn't the future we originally wanted…but it's better than we had believed it could be. I just wish that Zeke could've accepted this as the future for everyone."
And somehow, in this new future he was seeing, their son, Zeke, didn't survive. Whatever had befallen their son was likely unavoidable, even if they had tried to save him. He blamed himself for whatever fate befell Zeke; if only he had treated him as a son instead of turning him into a soldier and tool for the Eldian Restorationists' plan to restore Eldia, maybe he would've had a better life. In the end, all he could was hope that, if he ever received a chance to live again, that he'd have an opportunity to meet with Zeke and talk with him.
And then…the darkness claimed him.
Crunch! The Smiling Titan's jaw bit hard into the nape of the Attack Titan and bit it off.
-x-
This was a strange place to find oneself in upon waking up from what felt like a long, dark and…seemingly-unreasonable nightmare, but this was only her opinion as she came to. As she got up to a sitting position, she saw a man in front of her with strange burns on the sides of his face and under his eyes.
"Gr…Grisha?" She questioned.
"Dina," he responded, becoming see-through. "It's all up to you this time. Do what you feel is necessary and don't live with regrets like I did."
Before she could ask him what he meant by that, he was gone, leaving her alone. As she got up to her feet, she looked around the strange place, seeing nothing but sand and night sky for miles in every direction, with strange lights in the air that all seemed to be coming from somewhere further away from where she was. They were beautiful lights, though. A slight chill ran down her spine, reminding her that she was as bare as the day she was born…but a vision from beyond made her forget about her indecency for the moment.
A small girl, dressed in rags, standing before a pillar of light in the shape of a giant tree with branches that reached into the sky in every direction, raising her right hand and pointing towards her as her eyes showed small tears spilling from them.
Ymir Fritz? She wondered as she soon felt she wasn't alone in this mysterious place, and turned around, seeing a man that was unlike any she had seen before in her past.
"Welcome back to the world, Ms. Fritz," he greeted her kindly, "or should I address you as Mrs. Yeager? Or both?"
"Who…who are you?" She asked him, placing her hands in front of herself to pathetically cover her indecency.
"First up, don't bother covering up; I've seen indecency enough times to be numb to it," he told her as he raised his left hand up to reveal a blue dress that just materialized out of thin air, "and secondly, I am nobody. Well, that's not exactly true. I am many things and nothing at the same time. A voice of reason and a voice of sorrow, a stranger and friend, a teacher, a monster, a guide, even someone that has seen many a terrible fate and wants only to change it into something benevolent. And right here and now…I will help you understand what kind of power you now possess to help lead this world into a better future…because the future is up to you."
"I don't…I don't understand."
"That's okay. This is a first time for something like this to have ever happened."
He gave her the dress and waited for her to put it on; so long as they were here in this realm of existence, they had all the time they needed to teach her everything she needed to know…and everything she wanted to know.
"I…I thought I saw my husband for a moment," Dina expressed.
"You did see him," the stranger told her as she put the straps onto her shoulders. "He was your predecessor to the Titan power you now have."
"What?"
"Before him was your contact in the Eldian Restorationists, a person you only knew by a codename: The Owl, and before them were others that passed on the Titan power in secret, keeping it out of Marleyan possession. Originally, after your husband's passing, it was to be his youngest son to inherit the Titan power, but the future that came from his possession of it was full of suffering and brutal hatred that only promised more hatred from those that remained in the world he would seek to destroy. That future has become nothing more than a memory that deserves to be forgotten about…because now you hold the power that he doesn't possess, anymore…and never did. You, Dina Fritz, are the new Attack Titan, one of the Nine Titans created after the passing of Ymir Fritz, and this Titan will serve you as you head towards the future to ensure that your people are truly accepted as people and not an abomination."
"The Attack Titan? Me?"
"Yes."
"But…I don't know anything about the Attack Titan."
"Again, it's okay. We have all the time in existence here to teach you everything from the basics to the impossible before you go back."
"And what is this place?"
"The Eldian Paths, where all people descended from Ymir Fritz find themselves in at one point in time or another, either for as long as their entire lives…or as brief as a second or two. This place is a world beyond time and death, where knowledge and power are able to transform and transcend the boundaries of physical existence. Here, you will find Ymir Fritz waiting for you and others to do the impossible…and it is here…that the real battle that will decide everyone's fate will be decided upon. Are you ready for your first lesson?"
-x-
The refugee camp in Trost was large, but that was to be expected when everyone from Wall Maria was told to evacuate after Shiganshina was attacked by the Titans. It was going to be madness like this for a while until things could be settled. The people upset that their homes were lost to them, the food supplies dwindling faster than they could on banquet days, and the influx of survivors crammed into a smaller setting causing unrest. This was how things were right now for Eren, Mikasa, Armin and Carla, who was the most fortunate person to have survived a Titan attack right now.
Eren looked away from his mother and friends and thought he saw someone that he didn't recognize at all, but they had disappeared from sight when someone else walked passed them. The guy he saw seemed angry at everything and everyone, almost as much as he had been a while back. They had lost their home and peaceful lives, and he had nearly lost his mother until that strange Titan appeared and stopped the other Titan with the creepy smile from killing her.
Is it even possible? He wondered; to his knowledge, there was never any word of one Titan attacking or killing another. It was as though…I saw a human become a monster…just to fight other monsters.
And if it was possible, were there others like it around? It was the most…unrealistic thing he had ever seen before.
-x-
It felt like she was there for days, but it was over in an instant, and Dina was back in the waking world for the first time in thirteen years, returned to humanity and knowing what needed to be done. Looking around the ruins of Shiganshina, she found, to her relief, that she was wearing the blue dress the stranger had given her while in the Eldian Paths; she wouldn't have to worry about clothing for a while. Her basic and extensive knowledge of how to use the power of the Attack Titan would be her only edge against the Titan horde that was now inside the lands of Wall Rose after passing through the inner breach created by the Armored Titan, forcing the people to abandon Wall Maria's districts and villages. For now, she would need to help the people from a distance, dealing with the Titans until she could meet the royal family and face the current holder of the Founding Titan without killing them.
"Murder is still murder, regardless of the reasons behind it," the stranger told her during her lesson on the benefits of Titan regeneration. "Even with the power of the Founder at your command, the ideology of Karl Fritz would come into conflict with the rebellious nature of the Attack Titan; one side obsessed with freedom at all costs and the other side dedicated to order and control, with neither wishing to concede to the other. The Founder will be dedicated to the one path already laid out from beginning to end while the Attack Titan will be dedicated to constantly changing the unwritten future by rewriting the past in its pursuit of freedom. Because the Attack Titan refuses to submit, it will clash against any that try to control it, so you must never, ever, ever kill and consume anyone that holds the Founding Titan or run the risk of having what happened to Eren Yeager echo on yourself."
"But…if the current holder is bound to the king's ideology, how will I free them from the vow renouncing war?" Dina asked him, and he smiled.
"You already know the answer to your question. You just don't know it yet. There is a time and a place for everything to occur as you can intend them to now. When you meet the family and face the Founder, bound by a will not their own…you will know everything you need to know and free them. The Attack Titan will be strengthened by something far greater than its ability to act on the limited memories of the future. Something far greater than its desire for freedom."
If Dina already knew the answer to the question, it was beyond herself right now. She wouldn't know until after she faced the Founder. For now, she would have to focus on other things until that day came. But she had time, thirteen years of time, and she would need every last day to help the people here.
Well, that outer breach isn't going to fix itself, she thought as she held up a discarded hunting knife and slit her left hand.
FLASH-BOOM! An explosion came from the side of the wall and a new Titan was seen.
It was shaped like a woman, petite and muscular, very human in its appearance, and no longer sporting that insane smile it once possessed. This was the new Attack Titan.
"Rrrrrraaaurgh!" It roared as it ran through the breach and began its goal to close up the hole; once the outer breach was sealed, it would go after the Titans that came through, enabling the people to reclaim Wall Maria. There should be some large stones laying around nearby. Titans are strong, but not bright enough to make use of their strength.
To the new future…and to hope
A/N: And there you have it, the origin of how the past was changed to help reshape the future. If anyone knew about how the future was going to be and actively refused to let it happen, opting for another choice, something like this would be possible. Also, there's bound to be other works that show what could be if someone other than Eren received the Attack Titan, like Armin or Jean or even Ymir herself; the future is always unclear, even if someone can see it. And since this story ties into Rise, Sasha, Rise, you can get a perception of how things are in the story now. Until next time, stay safe, sane and full of creativity.