"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable."
James A. Garfield
Chapter 9: Decisions, Decisions
Words couldn't describe how awkward things had become in the Fritz household. After Dina led them back into the house and sat them down at a table, Eren and Cinder tried to explain that they were only trying to help. Eren began with their plan for the town while Cinder explained how the people wouldn't be afraid of them anymore. Unfortunately for them, these were the least of Dina's concerns. All she was concerned about was the existence of Titans on Remnant. Even if they were revealed to be Eren and Cinder, she was still upset.
"I can't believe it," the farmer said for what felt like the millionth time. "All this time, you've been lying to me?"
"What? No," Eren said, trying his best to defend himself and Cinder. "We never lied to you."
"Well, you didn't tell me everything about yourselves! So you used a Titan to escape Atlas, is that it?!"
"Well, yeah, but it's not-!"
Dina loudly groaned as she jumped up from the table. "Do you have any idea how many people you hurt?! How many you killed?!"
Eren was never a fan of being called out for decisions and ideas, especially when it was about gaining freedom. So he did what came naturally to him; he fought back. "Well, do you have any idea what Cinder and I went through in 'the greatest Kingdom?!' If they needed to die so we could leave, then fine!"
Cinder had a feeling all of this fighting and yelling wouldn't get anywhere, so she decided to try and calm the two of them down. "Eren-"
"These are people's lives you're talking about, Eren!" Dina yelled. Neither she or Eren heard Cinder, so they kept arguing. "Nobody has the right to play God!"
"Who said anything about playing God?!" Eren retorted. "I'm just trying to do the right thing!"
"The right thing?! Are you kidding?! You used that power to destroy part of Atlas, and you keep me in the dark about everything! You're not understanding that using a Titan of all things is wrong!"
Cinder looked back to Dina. "Ms. Fritz, please-"
"Was it wrong to stop a family that got by using slaves?!" Eren yelled as he angrily slammed his fist on the table. "To save Kuroyuri?! Cinder and I just came back from giving something that can help everyone protect themselves from the Grimm!"
"Well, what else are you planning to do?!" Dina demanded. "Are you going to make more Titans?! Do you want to take bandits and raiders and turn them into what I used to be?!"
"I don't have all the answers. I'm just saying if Cinder and I did nothing, things would have been worse!"
"There is nothing worse than two Titans freely walking around! Especially in the hands of children!"
"So what? You want us to stop fighting Grimm?" Eren pointed out the window. "Do nothing when the Grimm come back?!"
"You just said you gave the people something to use against Grimm, so yes! There is nothing else here that you need to be using those... things against!"
"That's not true! If you would just listen, I can tell you-!"
"And I can tell you that what you're doing is wrong!"
Cinder was fed up with being ignored by both Eren and Dina. Now she was about to insist that she speak. "Both of you, stop it!" she cried.
This time, Dina glanced at Cinder, but ignored her once again. She didn't care what Eren or Cinder would say next, she was still adamant about not using anymore Titans. She couldn't stand the sight of them anymore. So she once again continued her efforts to put an end to the madness. "I'm just trying to show you why all of this is dangerous. Cinder's not old enough to understand, but you are, Eren! You saw all kinds of Titans, you saw them break your walls, crush houses-!"
"I've learned how to control Titans!" Eren yelled back. "Learned from all that I did and all that I saw!"
Dina suddenly slammed her fists down. She was past the point of holding anything back, which caused her to impulsively say the first thing that came to her mind. "Well, you clearly didn't learn from watching me eat your mother!"
"..."
Both children dropped their jaws in absolute shock of what Dina just said. Eren hadn't brought up his mother since he first met Dina, he had hoped he might grow past that. But hearing someone use that memory against him wasn't something Eren expected. It drove something through his heart that caused him to ache. He couldn't speak, he couldn't think, all he could do was look down at the table in defeat.
Cinder didn't share Eren's pain, but she was just as shocked to hear Dina say that. She saw what happened to Eren's mother, and she knew it was something private and unwise to speak about. Which is why she couldn't believe that was Dina's final argument.
And Dina's anger had suddenly disappeared. She too couldn't believe she had just disrespected Eren's mother like that. She didn't mean to hurt Eren, all she wanted to do was show him how dangerous any kind of Titan really was. While she was still afraid of the Titans, and was still willing to make sure they never saw the light of day again, Dina regretted insulting Eren with his mother. She immediately wanted to apologize by reaching out to him.
But Eren was done talking for tonight. He pushed his chair away and waked over to the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. As he left, Dina noticed a teardrop hit the floor.
Cinder was ready to join him, to offer any kind of comfort she could provide. But she had one last thing to say to Dina. Unlike Eren, Cinder wasn't completely mad at Dina. Based on what she had just said and what Cinder did when she lost control, the child could see why some people would be afraid of Titans. But Dina shouldn't need to be afraid or angry, knowing that they were trying to help. So she had one idea to share with the woman who took her in.
"I don't know what's gotten into you, Ms. Fritz... but you need to figure out the difference between people trying to hurt you... and people trying to help you."
With that, Cinder went off to join her friend, leaving Dina with her thoughts.
Cinder's attempts to comfort Eren were in vain. He didn't say a single word throughout the rest of the night, leaving Cinder to go to bed in defeat. He heard Dina go to her room as well, but not before stopping in front of the children's door for a moment. When he woke up the next morning, everyone else was still asleep. He was still angry about last night, and now he felt the need to vent. But without Cinder or Dina, Eren found himself doing something... strange.
He talked to Darkness.
"I can't help but fail to see why you're letting this squabble bother you," the dark lord said, leaving no signs of sympathy for the distraught child. "Or why you came to me with this."
Eren sighed. "I'm beginning to wonder the same thing," he retorted. Nevertheless, he continued to talk. "I don't know how to get through to her. I'm trying to help, to show that we're different. But she's used her time as a Titan to say... all of that."
"I'm sorry, I thought you were supposed to be focusing on Salem. Not on convincing some human to use your powers."
"You expect me to focus on Salem like this?" Eren pointed at himself. "I can't fight a witch in a kid's body! Not even with how my Titan is right now!"
"Well, then I'd suggest you work on that. And forget about this 'Dina' woman. She's beneath you. It's pointless to-"
"It's not pointless!" Eren jabbed a finger at Darkness. "Cinder and I have a lot of work to do before we're ready to get rid of her, and that includes defending our home! I did that when I was in the Survey Corps, so you better believe I'm gonna do it now!"
Darkness looked back at Eren. "Believe what you wish, Eren. I don't care either way, just as long as you eventually defeat her." Out of nowhere, an idea came to the god. "Although... there is a phrase that the people of Remnant say in order to help themselves focus."
"Which is?"
Darkness raised his hand. "I believe it goes along the lines of... 'Get your shit together.'" With that, Darkness waved his hand, leaving Eren to find himself back in his bedroom.
"Prick," the boy said as he moved to the door.
"Eren?" a voice from behind called out.
Eren turned around to see Cinder awake in bed, holding Vasilisa. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to wake you up."
"I was already awake," Cinder said as she got out of bed. "Were you talking to someone?"
"Uh... no. Just to myself."
"Oh." Cinder got up and went to the bathroom conjoined with the bedroom to get dressed. As she closed the door, Cinder called out to Eren. "I'm sorry about last night," she said. "Are you... still mad?"
Eren sighed as he sat down next to the door. "Yeah," he confessed. "At... a lotta things."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Maybe. But not just to you."
Cinder opened the door and looked at Eren. "You want to talk to her again?" She wasn't sure that was such a good idea, given that Dina may not have fully wrapped her head around the situation.
"No, I was thinking about seeing Ren and Nora. They gave us some good ideas last time."
"And we can see how the rest of the town is doing." Cinder lowered her hand to Eren and helped him stand up. "Come on, maybe we can get some breakfast too." Cinder led Eren to the front door, and neither of them bothered to see if Dina was awake. They instead made their way to Kuroyuri, expecting to see the town continue to rebuild their houses and talk about the Titans.
And it seemed that the people lived up to their expectations. Most of the trees in the surrounding forest were gone, the wood being used as support beams and new building materials. The whole town seemed to be busy, each person doing their part. Even the street vendors stopped selling their merchandise in order to feed the workers and use their merchandise as supplies. But what amazed Cinder was the project that was going on by the main gate.
"Eren, look!" she said as she pointed to the gate.
Eren turned to see the two crystal structures he made last night. Just behind those structures was more wood being cut and sanded. The pieces were being nailed together to make a long bridge, just as they suggested last night. Eren felt a sense of relief and satisfaction that the people listened to them rather than turn the other way and run. And they even added to the idea by killing the Grimm with arrows that could be easily replaced. It seemed this town would have a future free of Grimm after all.
"Here you are, Father. The builders said these were the right size."
"Thank you, Lie. These will help."
The Ren family were helping rebuild Kuroyuri as well. At the moment, Li and his son had joined an effort to rebuild the houses that were burned and broken. While some of the houses were broken beyond repair, others could be fixed with the right amount of people and time. And with Nora's surprising speed, she made moving debris much easier and faster.
While she couldn't carry the worn-out beams and pieces requiring a three-man job, Nora was able to make a pile of old bricks and break wood into smaller pieces for her to carry. It was clear that Nora wasn't like most children her age. "Come on, lazybutts!" she yelled back to the people moving debris with her. "We still got three more houses to help!"
"My word, that girl is remarkable," Li complimented Nora's above average strength and determination to help. "You certainly have a good taste in friends, my son."
"I was thinking the same thing," Lie said with a small laugh. "Keep up the good work, Nora!"
As she heard those words, Nora quickly looked away from Ren. She wasn't embarrassed to be in the spotlight during this time, she only wished to hide her blush. And when the heat disappeared, Nora smiled at two familiar faces. "Eren! Cinder!" She quickly dropped the pile of bricks she was carrying and ran over to her friends, oblivious that the pile had landed on a man's foot.
"Hey, Nora," Eren greeted the young girl. "We came down to see how things were going."
"Well, you like what you see?" Nora spread her arms wide to show the progress of the town. "We're almost done with clearing out the junk, and this was only our first house! Yep, out with the old, and in with the new!"
"That's good to hear," said Cinder, who smiled at each sight her amber eyes landed on. "Really good."
"Hey, now." Nora quickly wrapped her arm around Cinder's neck. "Don't forget about the help you put in, Little Miss Human Torch!"
"Woah, Nora!" Eren quickly put his hands on her shoulders and looked around. Fortunately, everyone was too busy to hear the ramblings of children. "Keep your voice down," he whispered.
"Oops! Sorry," Nora whispered back. "But really, you guys did great last night! All anybody wants to talk about is the work you two did. It's inspired everyone to work even harder."
"Actually, we wanted to talk to you about that. We might need some good ideas right now."
"You got it!" Nora quickly ran over to Ren and took his hand. "Come on, Ren! Eren and Cinder are here, and I think you deserve a break!"
The little boy could do nothing but follow Nora's lead, leaving Li to work on his own. But he had enough supplies to continue his work, and perhaps he needed a break himself. So he let his son and his friends have their fun while he went to get some water.
The children were able to get some food free of charge, since people working on the city were coming to all street vendors for food. Some of the people who lost their homes were also invited to whatever food they needed. So once they got their food and found a place to eat, the children ate as they talked.
"That was a great idea," said Nora, who was referring to the moat and drawbridge. "Everyone's saying they might not have to worry about Grimm for much longer."
"That's good to hear," said Eren. "Thanks for the idea to do some good, by the way. Showing we're just here to help may have been easier said than done, but it's something I had to do before." It may have been long ago, but Eren could still remember how he didn't win the trust of the Survey Corps overnight. Even after the trial he had to endure, the people he worked with were still afraid of him. His only wish now was that he could pay back Hange and Levi for believing in him. But that would have to wait.
"Right..." Ren awkwardly said. There was something on his mind ever since last night, and he was glad he had the chance to bring it out in the open. "Eren, I'm sorry about yesterday. Coming over with that knife and Nora's hammer was my idea, but now I see-"
"It's fine." Eren put his food down and looked to Ren. "You're not the first person who was scared of me when they saw what I could do."
"And you're not the last," Cinder sadly said. She also put her food down, suddenly having lost her appetite.
"What do you mean?" Ren asked. "Did someone else find out?"
Nora quickly put her food down and moved to Cinder, invading her personal space. "Did they try to hurt you? Who was it? Ren and I won't let anyone throw you out!"
Cinder's widened eyes died down as she gently pushed Nora aside. "Thank you, Nora. But it's not that simple. Ms. Fritz found out when we went home last night, and... she wasn't very happy."
"Why, what happened?"
Cinder knew Eren was still upset about what Dina had said and how she said it, so she decided to tell the story. She told them about her frustrations and her ideas that the Titans were dangerous. And the one thing she made sure not to do was to mention Eren's mother. Instead, she ended the story with her uncertainty about the future. This left Ren and Nora feeling all kinds of sympathy for their friends.
"That's terrible!" said Nora, who pulled Cinder and Eren into a hug. "I'm so sorry."
"I can't believe she would be like that," said Ren. "I don't think I ever heard Ms. Fritz yell before. Especially at a child."
"Yeah, it was... a surprise for all of us," said Eren, who decided to join in on the conversation.
"Well, what are you going to do?"
Eren and Cinder looked at each other with the same face, which shared the same idea; they had no idea what to do. Only Cinder was brave enough to tell them. "Well... that's why we came to see you," she said. "You two gave us the idea to help Kuroyuri, to do more than anyone else can do."
"And we were hoping you could help us again," Eren continued. "We know this isn't your problem, but you helped us last time. I know that's-"
"Of course we'll help!" Nora said as she jumped up. "That's what friends are for! Right, Ren?"
"Of course," Ren agreed. "Did you try talking to Ms. Fritz today?"
"Well... no," Eren sadly said. "Cinder and I were thinking that she wouldn't really listen."
"Well, maybe you can show your memories again," Nora suggested. "Let her see your story and why you're doing this."
"That's not the problem, Nora. Ms. Fritz... doesn't like Titans. When I tried to convince her what we were doing, she blew up."
"Well... maybe we can talk to her," Ren suggested. "We were afraid of you too, but you showed us who you really are."
Cinder didn't like the idea of someone fighting her battles for her, so she quickly stood up and began to dissuade the young boy from doing this. "Ren, you don't need to do that. We just need-"
"It's okay," Ren insisted. "Sometimes the worst action to take is to take no action at all." His father's words have stayed with him since the day before Kuroyuri was invaded. And Ren made it his mission to live by that lesson every day of the rest of his life. And he couldn't think of a better time to do it today. So he began to walk back to the farm with Nora. "Are you two coming?"
It had been about two hours since the sunlight found its way to Dina's room. And yet, the farmer found herself unable to get out of bed. She was still reeling over the fact that the Titans she feared were none other than Eren and Cinder while trying to make sense of the argument she had. Dina still regretted saying such a terrible thing to Eren, and knew she owed him an apology. But that still didn't help change her mind. She wanted nothing more than to make sure nothing bad happened to anyone because of Titans.
But from what she heard, neither did Eren.
Over and over again, he expressed nothing but his desire to help Kuroyuri. What seemed to stick out about his words weren't his promised actions for the future, but the amount of passion he had last night. She had only seen that kind of passion once in her life. She saw it in her husband, Grisha.
"My comrades! We'll overthrow Marley and restore the pride of Eldia!"
"A child with royal blood... I'm sure he'll one day lead us to victory."
Dina never thought about it before, but now she realized that it may have been the exact same passion that drove both Grisha and Eren to do what they did. Grisha wanted to do whatever it took, such as making his own son into a Marleyan Warrior, to accomplish his goals.
And there was no denying that Eren was willing to do whatever it took to keep Kuroyuri safe. And nothing she could say would dissuade him from that.
But that's exactly what scared her. Dina knew that using Titans was Eren's way of thinking he was keeping everyone safe. Maybe if she tried talking to him again, things would be different. So after getting out of bed and getting dressed, Dina set out to find Eren.
Only to find him outside her bedroom door, with Cinder, Ren, and Nora.
"Good morning, Ms. Fritz," said Ren, who slightly bowed his head. "We were hoping to speak with you."
Ren and Nora spent the next ten minutes talking to Dina about how they discovered who, or rather what, Eren and Cinder really were. They were able to sympathize with her, they knew how scared she must have been when she found out.
"We were pretty much the same," said Nora. "When we saw what Eren accidentally showed us, I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night."
"I wanted to know more, so I attacked him," said Ren. "Now I see it was a stupid mistake. Eren and Cinder would hurt themselves before they would hurt any of us."
"You're not alone, Ms. Fritz. We know how you feel."
"And we want you to know that Eren and Cinder aren't going to hurt anyone here."
"And our town's doing great thanks to them."
"Do you... have any questions?"
"..."
Dina didn't say a word throughout the entire conversation. She simply sat and listened to two young children who went through a similar experience. They saw who Eren and Cinder really were, and the four of them apparently found a way to do some good for Kuroyuri. And it seemed everyone wasn't completely afraid of them at the moment.
But there was still something Dina was afraid of. Something she needed to get off her chest.
"Lie, Nora... thank you for coming here," she said with honest gratitude. "It's nice to know you helped protect everyone." She turned to Cinder. "Cinder, would you mind taking them to your room? I need to talk to Eren."
Cinder looked back at Eren, worried about how things between the two would go. But Eren assured her it would be fine when he nodded twice. So she led Ren and Nora back to her room and waited to see what would happen.
As soon as the door closed, Dina turned back to Eren. "Eren, we have a lot to talk about," she began. "I still don't know everything about your Titans. If you're willing to tell me..." Dina placed her hand over Eren's and gently squeezed. "I'm finally ready to listen."
Eren looked at Dina and thought about telling her the whole truth. It was a lot, and he didn't want it to be a flash of memories like he went through. He wanted to tell the truth, so that's what he decided to do.
"I... I want to tell you everything," he said. "It's a long story, and I don't think you'll believe it." That didn't stop him from backing down from his decision. "What I'm gonna tell you... isn't something you'll like."
"Eren... I don't care. I'm ready to listen to you. And I'm ready to apologize. Not just for saying those... terrible things, but for not listening to you in the first place." Dina squeezed Eren's hand a little harder. "I promise that I'll listen now... if you can forgive me."
Eren squeezed Dina's hand as well, finding some comfort in the embrace. So without letting go, Eren told Dina everything. His main focus was how he gained his new Titan and what his purpose on Remnant actually was. In order to prove it, Eren asked Dina for her permission to go to the Coordinate. Once they left her house, Dina's attention was captured by the faceless purple man.
"Eren... my dreams have always left me on edge, gave me a sense that danger was coming," said Dina. "Well, in short... who is that?"
"That... would be the God of Darkness," Eren replied, still holding her hand. "He's the one who sent me here."
"Eren, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Darkness asked sarcastically, not really caring who the lowly woman was.
"So, this is the place?" Dina looked around at the black wasteland. "This is the Coordinate connecting the Titans together?"
"The one back home connected all of Ymir's subjects, but this one works the same way," Eren explained.
Dina pointed back to Darkness. "And he's someone with the power of the Titans."
"My powers are much more than Titans," said Darkness, chuckling at the woman's ignorance. "Eren may have the ability to change himself, but I've created Remnant itself."
"He and his brother are really the Gods of Remnant," Eren said. "He sent me here to stop Salem."
"The witch," Dina remembered. "You said she can... control the Grimm?"
"Every Grimm except Titans."
Before Dina asked another question, Darkness stepped closer. "Wait a minute," he said. "You're Dina, aren't you?" When the woman nodded, Darkness immediately felt that he was wasting time. If he had eyes, they would be rolling. "Eren, why are you wasting time with her? I already told you, she's beneath you."
"I don't think so," Eren argued. "Dina Fritz has been through more than I ever had. And she's come out of it kinder and braver than anyone on Remnant." Dina felt a heat rise to her face as Eren continued talking. "I don't care what you think of her, but I'm still staying with her. And so is Cinder."
Darkness had one response for this. "At least tell her to treat her savior with more respect."
Eren was confused by the response. "What? No, I'm not angry with her anymore."
"I meant me, Eren."
"You? What are you-?" Eren's jaw dropped. "Oh. Well, I actually didn't tell her yet."
Dina looked down at Eren. "Tell me what?"
Eren took a deep breath and looked up at Dina. "Ms. Fritz, there's something else you need to know about Darkness. He's... the one who brought you back."
Dina gasped as she turned back to Darkness. Feeling that she at least deserved some kind of explanation, Darkness spoke to Dina once again. "Not on purpose, mind you," he said. "I trust Eren told you about the warrior named 'Ozma?' Well, I'll have you know my brother, the 'God' of Light reincarnated him without telling me. To even the score, I chose a few souls at random and threw them here, there, everywhere."
Eren tugged on Dina's hand to make him look down at her. "He got angry one day and wanted to mess with his brother."
"Ugh." The two turned back to Darkness, who had his arms crossed. "Only humans know how to make matters like this sound childish."
"That's because it is childish."
Everyone looked at Dina, who looked contemptibly at the God of Darkness. "Are you really entrusting a child to defeat a witch who wants to destroy the world? What kind of sick man thinks that's smart?"
Darkness clenched his fists. "You dare-?"
"All for what? Just to win some perverted game with your brother?! Are you really that pathetic, hiding your true goals from Eren and Cinder?!" Dina knew enough from her time in Marley to know when the words of comfort and respect from officials were just political and hiding a more sinister agenda, and this was no different. "I don't care what you want when all this is over! But if you think you're going to make our lives, my life, a part of your fun, then you can just go to Hell!"
Eren suddenly felt worried about Dina's safety. He had seen what happened the last time someone spoke out against a god, so he tried to stop Dina from making everything worse. "Ms. Fritz, stop talking! You'll just make things worse!"
"Eren is wise to know his place," Darkness said as fire grew from his hand and close to Dina's face. "I could destroy you in an instant, should you choose to keep insulting me."
"...No," Dina said as she backed away. "I'm done here." She looked down to Eren. "I'd like to go home now."
"Sure thing."
As the two disappeared, Darkness began to calm down. He was pretty close to making the simple woman suffer for treating her savior in such a manner. One would think she would be grateful, being given a chance to live again. And in a world without the one thing she feared, no less.
Then again, Darkness was able to commend Dina on one trait of hers; she figured out that there was more to his desires than stopping Salem. But Eren didn't need to concern himself with that.
Not yet, at least.
Author's notes: thank you so much for reading all of this. The Avenging Titan and I were really surprised at how the number of favs/follows has grown with more chapters. Please be sure to leave your honest thoughts/opinions in the comments. Even if you didn't like the chapter, we want to hear what you have to say and what you think.
Once again, thank you for reading, and we'll see you next chapter!
