Update: 08/26/22: This is an update for all my stories. I had taken a break from writing for a few reasons. 1) It was difficult to motivate myself to continue. 2) The quality of my stories weren't up to what I wanted them to be. I had rushed a few of them to complete them and it showed. And 3) A few of them weren't really stories I wanted to tell. Now, I plan to post only when I'm sure a story is good and ready. And going forward, I plan to rewrite a few stories (The Fairy Tale, The Reluctant Hero, Dead by Daylight Tales: Silent Evil, etc.). One story that I have posted on , Attack on Titan and the Evil Self Insert, will be rewritten as well. That story and other future stories like it will be posted only on AO3 and will be renamed to Evil Self-Insert: (Fandom Name) to easily separate those stories from others. I won't give a date for the rewritten story to come but expect something in the next month or two.

Chapter One: The Fall of Shiganshina

Slowly, I blinked. I realized I was laying on my back and sat up. Right away, I noticed a few things.

First, I was much smaller than I remembered. Second, I only had on a pair of ragged black pants. My back and bare feet were covered in sand. And finally, I was not in my bedroom in New York.

I sat on an endless body of sand. The night sky above was filled with stars. And ahead of me was a tree made of light that stretched from the ground to the sky above. A tree of light I've seen before...

No...

Yes, I'm afraid.

Ahead of me, a small girl walked out of the tree of light. She had long blonde hair and gray eyes and wore a ragged dress with her feet bare. Her face held no expression but I could see her eyes were filled with... hope?

Ymir Fritz.

Correct.

I blinked. Did she just read my mind?

Yes.

"Uh... Hello?" I said or asked weakly.

"Hello, Elliot." She gave me a small, sad smile.

"Am I dead?" I dreaded the answer.

"Unfortunately, you are. Do you remember how?"

Fire. House. Father. Mother. Little sister. Safe. But not me. I dropped my head.

"Our house... There was a fire... I pushed my sister to safety... I didn't make it out, did I?"

"No... Do you know where you are?"

"This is the Paths... Why am I here?" I decided to ignore the fact that I was in an anime, especially an anime with such a high body count.

"An interesting thought. You could be in this... story? The beginning? The middle? Or the end? Or... somewhere else? Somewhere where Eren Jaeger is the Attack Titan but not the Founding Titan? Or somewhere where Eren is neither? Or where Titans never existed?"

"If they didn't, you and I wouldn't be here." My statement made her small, sad smile return.

"And if this was real, what would you do? Would you allow Eren Jaeger to destroy the people of Marley? Would you allow Zeke Jaeger to sterilize the Eldian race? Would you try to save all those who had to die for 'freedom'?"

I knew I wouldn't have agreed to either plan. Eren wanted to wipe out an entire nation of people who didn't know any better for 'freedom' and Zeke wanted to be sure that their race ended for 'salvation'. I didn't know what I would have done. But I wouldn't have allowed so many lives to be lost for either cause.

My attention went back to Ymir who patiently waited for my thoughts to finish. I knew she heard them because her small, sad smile turned into a genuine smile.

"But Eren is the Founding Titan? He will die but isn't his path inevitable?"

"That would be true if Eren was the Founding Titan."

Wait... what?

Ymir's eyes were filled with amusement.

"But what difference could I make? I'm me..."

Ymir's eyes returned to their blank stare. I felt she was staring into my soul.

"What do you want?"

"I-I don't know..." I said weakly.

Ymir's eyes pierced into mine. I felt a chill down my spine.

"You do know. You're afraid. You've always been. But you weren't when you saved your little sister... Do you know what Eren, Zeke, and you all have in common? You all want the same thing. To protect the people you care about. To protect the people you love. But their hearts were filled with anger and sadness. Same as yours. But I know you will make things in this broken world better. Anyone can change the world. But you? You will go back to That Day. You will have the powers of a Titan Shifter. And you will change the world. Only remember, you don't have to be alone."

Ymir's speech had left me stunned and speechless. I knew exactly what she meant. She wanted me to go back to the day Eren became who he was. To prevent him from going down the path he went. To save the people he lost. To prevent as much death as possible. But could I do it? Could I save him? Could I save any of them?

I didn't know if I could. But I wanted to. I noticed the slight upward twitch of Ymir's lips from my declaration.

"Wait... if Eren's not the Founding Titan... and I'm going to be a Titan Shifter... which Titan will I be...?"

Ymir said nothing. But the amusement in her eyes and the wide smile she gave me scared me more than anything.

As a light began to grow from the tree behind her, I realized what she had said without saying it. I sighed.

If this had been Harry Potter, she would have definitely been a Slytherin. I don't know if that amused or scared me.

Giggles.

Again, I sighed.

(AoTSI)

Slowly, I blinked again. I was not in the Paths. But in a destroyed building that had collapsed. I was sprawled under rubble in the living room. I turned to the broken glass on the floor around me. I could see my reflection. Dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. I still looked the same. But I looked to be around ten. I also had numerous cuts across my body.

And I briefly caught Ymir Fritz behind me in my reflection.

Quickly, I turned and found no one behind me. But the sound of screaming drew my attention outside the broken window. I could see a number of people fleeing in terror. But what caught my attention was a young blonde-haired Hannes carrying two crying children and a third child running beside them.

A boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue jacket, white shirt, brown pants, and brown shoes.

A girl with long black hair and gray eyes. She wore a pink coat, white dress, and brown shoes. She also had a red scarf.

A boy with dark brown hair and green eyes. He wore a maroon coat, green shirt, brown trousers, and brown shoes.

Armin Arlelt, Mikasa Ackermann, and Eren Jaeger.

From their tearful and horrified expressions and their focus to the sky, I knew what was about to happen.

You do know. You're afraid. You've always been.

This was the day that changed Eren. I had to help him. I had to save them.

You're afraid.

I failed to notice the bright yellow lightning cracking around me, damaging the already destroyed house. Or the blood leaving my left hand as I dug my nails deeper into my palm.

You're afraid.

I remembered my own family. My father. My mother. My little sister. If it had been them. I blinked away the tears. I felt sadness. I felt anger. I felt power. I raised my left hand to my mouth and bit my fingers.

You're not afraid.

(AoTSI)

Lightning struck the destroyed house. Screams from those running around me. Tall shadow. Ribs and spine made of jagged bones. Jagged bones pointed out. Tan skin. Skull head. Glowing stormy gray eyes.

Where am I? Who am I? What am I?

Tall creature ahead of me. Mouth opened. Woman in hand. Long black hair. Hazel eyes. Cream color sweater. Long red skirt. White apron. Brown shoes.

I remembered. Carla Jaeger.

"STOP!"

I screamed. It listened. It stopped. I sprinted towards the Smiling Titan. I grabbed its arm. I felt bones grow out of my own arm and wrap around the arm holding Carla. The bones cut through the arm and the hand opened, dropping the woman. I dropped the torn arm and grabbed the woman.

Safe.

Then I punched the Smiling Titan far away. Alive. It would live for now. Only because I knew who it was.

I looked down at my hand. The woman's tearful eyes were wide and her mouth opened in shock. I realized there was only silence around us. I turned and saw Scouts, Military Police, and civilians watching me. Hannes had stopped with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. All gapping at me for what I've done.

Slowly, I walked to Eren. I could see the fear in his eyes. I bent down and opened my hand for Carla to fall out. She kept her eyes on me but scrambled back to her son and adoptive daughter. I looked at Eren. I looked into his eyes. If I had been human, I would have smiled from what I saw.

Hope.

(AoTSI)

After running and hiding behind a tall building, I left my titan. As I did, I fell to the ground below. Its body faded away slowly from the steam. I could see what I had become.

A titan with a spine and ribs made of jagged bones pointing out, a skull head with no hair and glowing storm gray eyes.

I realized I needed to leave and ran toward the docks evacuating citizens. On the way there, I thought back to what happened. I turned into the Founding Titan. But my mind wasn't fully there in the beginning. And another thought entered my head.

Where was the Colossus Titan and Armored Titan? Where was Bertholdt and Reiner? Did they break the Wall? Was it Annie? Who broke the Wall if it wasn't them?

What I had failed to notice was the four figures from the nearby alley watching me.

Eventually, I managed to make it onboard a boat to leave Shiganshina. No one paid attention to me. All the attention was focused on the "Bone Titan'' as they began to call it. Exhausted, I ignored all the talking and sat on the floor.

It was over. I saved Carla Jaeger... But I looked around at everyone else around me. Grieving the people lost. Friends. Families. Cousins. Grandfathers. Grandmothers. Fathers. Mothers. Sons. Daughters. Brothers. Sisters... The memories of my family came back to me...

I blinked away the unwanted tears. I failed to fight them back, realizing where I was and what I am. Realizing I'll never see them again.

Finally, I noticed the shadow above me and looked up. Carla Jaeger, Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackermann, and Armin Arlelt. Thankfully, I was too tired to show the shock on my face.

"Hello dear... Are you alone?" Carla asked.

"Y-yes..." I kept fighting back the tears.

I'll never see them again.

I'm not afraid.

"I-I'm fine..." I felt the tears leave.

"Of course..." I could see the look of sadness and disbelief in her eyes and theirs. They felt... pity for me? Why? They lost their home here... They lost more than me here... I was a stranger... I didn't deserve their pity... I don't want their pity...

Stop… Please…

"I said I'm fine!" My childish outburst caught a bit of uncomfortable attention. But I ignored them and the tears left my eyes. I whipped them away with the sleeve of my torn shirt. I lowered my head. And I felt a pair of arms wrap around me, holding me and telling me it would be okay. I felt tired.

I'll never see them again.

I felt my emotions fade.

I'll never see them again.

My face blanked.

I'll never see them again.

"I'm fine."

Damn you, Ymir.

This time, I heard nothing.

A/N: So this is my first fanfic. As I watched the final season, I couldn't help but have this idea enter my head. I mostly have an idea of where to go with it and will update it every now and then. I already have a draft for the second chapter where there will be a time skip, introduction to the usual group of cadets (old and new...) and some answers to a few questions raised in this chapter.