"Ugh" Eren groaned as he was cleaning his gear "I don't know how you manage to be done with it so fast…"
"It's simple" Marcel replied "you just rub it for a while."
His fellow trainee was always better when it came to pretty much everything. That didn't make Eren jealous, but it was still an annoyance.
"Asshole…"
"Hey" Marcel interjected "you were the one who wanted to jump into the mud."
"Yeah" The young boy sneered "because someone told me I would get extra points for taking the hard route…"
"Well, I admit it was funny to see you make a fool out of yourself" the brown-haired boy said with a smile.
As the bickering continued, Eren thought about something that's been bothering him for a while, now.
"Hey, Marcel" he started.
"What is it?" The other boy asked.
"What will you do, once all of this is over?"
Marcel pondered on the question for a moment.
"I guess I never thought about it" he responded, "but nothing would truly be over for me, at least for as long as I live."
"Huh?" Eren asked with a surprise "what are you saying?"
"There is a cycle of hatred within the human race. Our nature doesn't allow for anyone to truly save humanity" he explained "sooner or later, some kind of conflict will emerge."
"Are you saying that it's all pointless?" Eren asked with a doubtful look.
"No" Marcel slowly replied "what I meant, was that we are soldiers, and nothing would ever truly be over for us. As long as there is a single reason for a fight, humans will always pick it…"
"Your realism is mundane and depressing."
"And your idealism is idiotic."
"Eren" Marcel whispered as he saw who exactly called for this meeting.
"Long time no see" the man in question responded as he raised a hand.
Upon closer look, the warrior noticed that there was a small cut on it.
"Huh?" Falco exclaimed as he noticed the wound "Mister Kruger, did you hurt your hand?"
"Yes" Eren responded "but it's just a scratch."
'He prepared himself well' he thought as he inspected the room they were in 'no one would be able to hear us, especially now that the play is about to start.'
"Sit down, Marcel."
The place was a small cellar, just behind the stage. Above them, several stories of living quarters were filled to the brim with excited spectators. The best he could do, was to comply.
"What do you want, Eren" the warrior asked as he took a seat.
On the stage, Willy Tybur has just started first of his many speeches.
"I just wanted to talk to you one last time, before everything unfolds."
'So, they set something up' Marcel thought as he listened to the sounds of the play.
"Alright, I'll be going now…" the young boy exclaimed as he felt that something was wrong.
"No, Falco" Eren said calmly "you will stay here."
"Just do what he says" Marcel affirmed, glaring daggers at the rogue shifter.
Minutes passed, as the Tybur patriarch told the history of the Eldian Empire. How the great Helos managed to end its reign and just what kind of danger did it pose, even today.
"How did you get here?" The warrior asked "you look like crap…"
"I got here the same way you got here" Eren replied cryptically "and I'm not a fan of this outlook either."
"Are you here to get revenge?"
The rogue shifter looked in some unspecified direction.
"My ideals brought me here" he responded, "I will take back my freedom."
"Freedom" Marcel sneered as he mocked his former friend "there's no freedom in what you want to do…"
"Please tell me" Eren continued disregarding the mockery "how is that in one hundred years, despite having the absolute power, no warrior ever rebelled against the government?"
"Terror, propaganda, indoctrination" Marcel recited with a light-hearted voice "I can think of a few more reasons…"
"You're wrong" his former friend exclaimed "they just didn't desire freedom enough…"
"That's harsh, Eren" the warrior said, "you can't simply vilify people who don't agree with you."
As Willy Tybur revealed the truth about the end of the great titan war and Karl Fritz, steam began to emanate from his former friend.
"I was born free" the rogue shifter spoke "and no man in the world will change that. No amount of force can truly stop you from believing in your ideals…"
"THE WORLD IS IN DANGER ONCE MORE" the voice of Willy Tybur came from the stage "A MAN HAS APPEARED WHO OPPOSES THE PEACEFUL WORLD!"
His former friend took off the bandages covering his eye and leg, and started to heal them on the spot, much to Falco's shock.
"THE NAME OF THIS REVOLUTIONARY, IS EREN YEAGER!"
"You… you tricked me…" the boy said slowly as he fell to the ground.
"Sorry Falco" the rogue shifter said.
"Those letters…" the boy in question stammered "…where did they go…?"
'So, he used Falco' Marcel thought as he closely watched the events unfold.
Their situation was bad. Someone had to know about this. But how was he supposed to inform everyone on time?
"Hey, Marcel" Eren started once again "you never actually gave me an answer…"
He couldn't transform here. What if something happened to Falco? But he needed to act quickly.
"What answer…?"
"What will you do, once all of this is over?"
The warrior stood up from his seat. He really didn't see any way out of this.
"I told you already" he started with the intention of stalling for time "we cannot really…"
"I will end this cycle of hatred once and for all" Eren exclaimed as he looked right in Marcel's eyes.
"AS AMBASSADOR FOR THE MARLEYAN GOVERNMENT, I WILLY TYBUR WISH FOR WORLD PEACE!"
"I'm going to do the very thing I was born into this world for…"
"AND SO, I PROCLAIM ON THIS DAY, TO THE ENEMY FORCES ON PARADIS!"
"I'll just keep moving forward, until my enemies are destroyed…"
In this very moment, a bright flash of light filled the cellar.
"THIS IS THE DECLARATION OF WAR!"
