Creation began on 05-03-22

Creation ended on 10-21-22

Attack on Titan

A Decline in the Warrior Unit: Needing to move on, Wanting to stay back

A representative from the nation of Amestris had gone to Paradis under the suggestion of Marley to investigate the claims of the people there seeking peace with the rest of the world, alongside several people from other parts of the world that had Eldians that relayed the revelation that the Titans and the very power of the Titans were no longer around. A woman representative from the severely-weakened nation, with a personal order to relay to her superiors the absolute truth; if Paradis truly sought peace, if the Rumbling was no longer possible, then it was likely that Paradis would become Amestris' newest ally in restoring the nation's fallen prosperity as a result of Marley's violence.

"So, this is Paradis?" The woman, a thirty-something with dark hair, gray eyes and wearing a green and black suit, questioned as she got off the boat with a handful of former soldiers acting as her escort.

"This island has been left alone since the aftermath of the Great Titan War," said a man wearing a dark shawl over a gray suit, accompanied by his own escort of soldiers; he was from a nation that refused to have anything to do with Marley after the last war due to their views being too different to be able to accept any degree of understanding. "But now, it seems like everyone is showing up for reasons that go beyond coexistence. What brings you here, Amestrian representative? What do you hope to achieve?"

"Quite possibly, the same as you and anyone else that has suffered losses," she responded.

Several soldiers from Paradis' Survey Corps came and greeted the two newcomers from across the sea.

"Welcome to Paradis," a male soldier greeted them.

-x-

Of course, the meetings between Roman Reiss and the representatives from other nations were deprived of any violence, but the leader of Paradis was learning many things from these men and women that, contrary to what those that were hopeful of a life beyond the island, was expected to be discovered. While the goal for peace and coexistence was prominent, most were from nations that had been devastated by Marley's usurped Titan powers and desperately seeking a means to restore their dignity, their livelihood, their prosperity and so on; the idea that they could find these means on Paradis was not disbelieved by Roman…and with all honestly…it was to be expected because, in one way or another, they were all victims of how the power of the Titans had been used over the generations. In benevolent hands, the power had been able to do great wonders, but in malevolent hands, the power had caused great ravage, and while he still had the Founding Titan's power, he didn't want to risk instigating further misfortune because of how the power his ancestors misused or abused in unforgiving ways.

"…And with reestablished trade routes between Manila, Baraka, Roku and Hizuru," said a representative from Manila to him during one of the meetings, each nation will be able to rebuild and expand, in both land and relationships."

"But what if Marley decides to wage another war with our nations?" The representative from Roku suggested. "One of my contacts from Marley has informed that the military are desperate to maintain their hold of their position as a superpower now that their stolen Titan powers are no longer theirs to exploit. Even without the Titans, they still pose a significant threat if they decide to start a fight."

"Marley can't start a war without the primary bulk of their military," said the representative from Hizuru, "which is the Eldian people they had subjugated and exploited ever since their rise to power more than fifty years ago. The loss of the Titan power and the increasing demand for their release from their internment zones has made Marley fearful of the Eldians rioting and creating strife."

"But if the Eldians have been stripped of the power of the Titans, why is Marley still keeping them locked up?" The Baraka representative questioned. "If they're no different from any of us in this room, I see no problem with the removal of the internment zones. There's no risk of them becoming Titans, anymore."

"It's because they're afraid to admit their newfound problems are worse than they could possibly imagine," the representative from Amestris revealed to them; she was new to the meetings, and not many of them had expected her to divulge anything of any significance if there was a likelihood that an ally from Marley would look for a way to gain an upper hand. "After the revelation that the Titans were no longer a threat to the world, Marley has been on the decline; they relied heavily on Eldians for years after the fall of Eldia, and the very fact that they can no longer exploit them like before makes them fearful of being called monsters. They can't admit to themselves, even if the truth were staring them in the face, that they're no longer in control."

It was only because of these meetings that Roman learned that Marley was fighting a losing struggle because they were hesitant to accept the current state of things. This was to be expected; when you've been fighting for years, you rarely see that there is always another way to resolve something that doesn't require conflict, bloodshed or destruction. If this was going to get any easier for all of them, Marley had to accept that they couldn't force their Eldian citizens to fight against other nations any further unless it was of their own choosing.

One day at a time, Roman, he instructed himself as he sat in front of the representatives from around the world, one day at a time. Resolve the matter as peacefully as possible. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary.

-x-

Two weeks later

Marley was facing scrutiny from people from other parts of the world now. With the increased security at the gates of the internment zones, it raised suspicion that the military was refusing to release the Eldians due to fear and bias. Fear that they were being misled by the king of Paradis…and bias over the fact that they have done this for years and see no reason to stop and reevaluate their actions. But the longer they tried to deny that they were in the wrong now, the harder it was going to be to change their standing in the world.

"…This is getting worse," a soldier informed Calvi, an hour after getting confirmation from one of the internment zones. "The Eldians are building rams to break open the gates because the Marleyans are refusing to let them leave the internment zones. There's no longer any war to fight and the Eldians drafted into service are refusing to do anything until we admit that they're as human as we are."

"We can't let them out yet," Calvi declared. "We still haven't received confirmation from the Amestrian representatives on what is happening with Paradis."

"Sir…confirmation from Amestris was four days ago," another soldier informed him. "Paradis has no Titans anywhere on their land. Not even walls made from Titans. Amestris has severed their ties with Marley in favor of Paradis in order to rebuild their lands and establish coexistence. The nations of Roku, Manila, Baraka, Hizuru, even Gardius are accepting of Paradis. It's pointless to keep the Eldians locked up if they can't turn or be turned into Titans. It paints us in a bad light."

But Calvi was willing to accept that likelihood; he refused to admit that the Eldians were not up to anything devious. They were still the enemy and needed to be controlled.

-x-

"…Is this true?" Roman asked a contact from Roku, having an update on the nation of Marley regarding the Eldians confined to their internment zones.

"The information is solid, sir," she told him. "The military of Marley and its remaining allies received confirmation that there's no longer a threat by any Eldian groups…but they're refusing to treat Eldians as regular people. They don't want to admit they're being monsters by refusing to accept that what they believe to be an enemy to the world is no longer out there to get them or anyone else in the world."

"So, Marley is hesitant at accepting that Eldians aren't monsters, anymore?" The representative from Baraka questioned.

"Not hesitant," the Roku contact explained. "The military there is unwilling to accept that they're no longer monsters. They don't want to admit they're no longer monsters. They can't admit they're no longer monsters. But this is causing unrest with the Eldians locked up in the internment zones; they're becoming desperate to get out of the zones and be free from confinement. Things in Marley are getting ugly."

Roman sighs and questions, "How long until things in Marley escalate past the point of no return? How long until the situation with the Eldians in the internment zones grows out of control and a riot ensues?"

"Possibly a week. Maybe less than that."

"I need to go to Marley."

That revelation made both the representatives and the officials of Paradis uneasy to hear. It was one thing to make changes on the island and establish budding relationships with other nations from across the ocean, but to decide that you're going to a nation that has refused to accept peaceful change and treat your people as people and not worse than animals…was another thing altogether different.

"Are you sure about this, sir?" One of the officials asked; because he was the current (and as far as anyone could tell, last) Founding Titan, he put himself at risk by going into enemy territory.

"Yes," he answered; regardless of what he was still capable of as the Founding Titan, he still wanted to help free the people from the oppression demonstrated by Marley because of their fear and hatred towards Eldians due to being unwilling to accept change and move past it all. "Yes."

To be continued…

A/N: Updating chapters as fast as I can. What do you think will happen when Roman goes to Marley? There's bound to be unrest.