Part 57
Hope
"At last…" Rod sighed, strolling towards his daughter, Historia, as the young blonde stared up at the still chained Eren. "Nobody here but us now."
"Father, sorry to make you wait…" Historia muttered as she rubbed her eye.
"Listen, Historia." Rod then responded, placing his arm upon the girls shoulder. "This may sound odd, but Frieda is not entirely dead." Historia gasped. "Her memories still live on."
"She does?" Historia then asked. "May I meet her, father?"
Rod's eyes narrowed as his hues then travelled down to a case in which he had placed upon the crystal ground. Opening it, the man then brought out a smaller box. Within it containing a needle, along with a blue sustenance, which Rod began to fill the needle with. The clattering of Eren's chains behind them began to echo throughout the cave as the young boy grunted and writhed at the sight of the needle, which Rod now clung to.
"They got in!" Hissed Caven, Kenny's right hand woman as she and a hand full of other members of his squad sat perched against the crystal pillars that supported the caves inner structure. Her eyes widened as barrels were then rolled down the stairs to the only way in and out. "What are those?"
Following in pursuit, Hange, Fury and Mikasa then followed the lead of Levi as they all charged in. Sasha, with her perfect aim, shot an arrow, that had the tip of it on fire, at the barrels below. Watching as they exploded and released a blinding amount of smoke as coverage for them all.
"Here they come!" Caven then called out, as through the smoke came both Levi, Fury and Mikasa, hoping to scatter all of their focuses so that Levi could gain a better observation of how many of them there were.
To keep them all covered, Conny, Jean, Armin and Hange began firing flares in their allies direction, to keep them surrounded by smoke.
"Thirty-five!" Levi called out to his squad. "Behind the pillars!"
"Spread out!" Caven the ordered in a panic. "We'll take them one by one if we have to!"
Conny, Jean and Hange then anchored their ODM's to join the fight, as Armin and Sasha remained near the exit in order to give back up with flares should the smoke begin to vanish. Using the smoke to their main advantage, both Jean and Conny were easily capable of dispatching their enemies from flanking them. Their ODM cutters piercing through their bodies like a knife cutting through butter.
Jean gritted his teeth. The thought of killing people still sickened him, but it was either kill them or be killed himself.
"What is she doing?!" Called out one of Caven's squad members in a fit of panic as Fury, eyes purely bloodshot began to use what she could with her abilities to easily maneuverer herself through and dispatch whom she could. Both in using her cutters and forcing their bodies against them. Many of them struggling to control their own muscles as their own fingers pulled the gun triggers against their own heads. Men and women now dropping like rain from a cloud.
This act of killing stunned enough of the remaining enemies for Mikasa to also take her cutters through them all.
Now, with only Caven and a handful of soldiers left, Levi himself followed in pursuit. His gaze solely focused on Caven herself, knowing she was important to Kenny.
"Yeeeehaaaaw!" Came the mocking of none other than Kenny himself, as he raised his ODM gun directly at Levi, pulling the trigger and Levi only just managing to gain cover from the shot behind a crystal pillar. Kenny's appearance was enough to allow Caven to move on ahead.
"Kenny!" Came the roar of Fury, as she received nothing but a laugh from the man as she anchored herself on the pillar opposite him, and it being the one Levi still hid behind. She grit her teeth, her bloodshot eyes angrily fixed upon Kenny as her hands squeezed against the handles of her cutters. She was both afraid and full of anger.
"Hey! You're both here!" Kenny mocked, flicking up the tip of his hat, wearing nothing but a grin on his face. "Not that I've got time to play with either of ya, but if any of you do get past here, it'll all be for nothin'." Fury allowed her hues to look down to where she knew Levi remained anchored, waiting himself with an agitated posture. Even he feared Kenny Ackerman.
"So be it." Kenny then continued from not receiving a reply from what he deemed as his two protégés. "Guess we'll all have to play together this time!" The man then leaped from his crystal pillar and swung around Fury, knowing it was best to go for Levi first. "Neener, neener, neener!" Kenny mocked as he then aimed his explosive canister at where Levi was anchored, only to see he was no longer there and that this time, Kenny had been out-smarted as Levi himself then swung up from below, his cutter clashing with Kenny's metal gear around his arm.
Kenny pushed back against Levi. "Someone's gotten stronger." He almost praised, as the two pushed away from each other. Causing both Fury and Levi to then find another pillar as cover due to Kenny releasing one of his shots at them both. "You used to hate playing, little Fury!" Kenny laughed aloud, pursuing after them as he reloaded. "Not getting sick yet?"
Levi then looked behind him to see the man giving chase. "Oi, Levi! What did I teach ya? When chasing your enemy, don't just stare ahead!" Kenny laughed, firing another shot at Levi. Though just in time, Fury bumped him out of the way and the explosion was absorbed by crystal. However, whilst the two tried to recover from the disorientating blast, Kenny came at Levi with a knife in hand at full speed. The Captain only just managing to avoid the blade, though still sustaining a small slash to his face. As Kenny then turned to then aimed at Fury, Levi threw a bag of gunpowder at the man. His shot contacting the powder itself and causing the explosion to occur in front of him. Both Fury and Levi then both charged towards Kenny, through the lingering flames and their cutters ready to kill. But this was Kenny and he was still able to block both of their incoming attacks. However, in a fit of rage, Levi was still able to push against the man and allow his second cutter to tear through Kenny's abdomen, his blood covering his clothes and drops of hit hitting against Fury's cheek.
The wound Kenny now sustained was enough for the man to retreat, one hand of his trying to put pressure on the slash to stop the flow of blood leaving him.
"Hange!" Came the cry of Jean, just as Levi was about to go after the fleeing Kenny. Hange herself had been taken out of the fight by Caven, and she laid unconscious on the crystal ground.
"Fall back!" Caven ordered the last of her men. "To the defensive post!"
"Don't either of you follow…" Kenny muttered to himself as he looked back at both Levi and Fury, as the rest of them went to Hange's aid.
"It seems they have found their way in…" Rod worried from hearing the explosions nearby. "We must hurry…"
Eren then continued to clatter his chains. His desperate gaze focused on Historia as the girl then frowned. "What are you glaring at, Eren?" She asked aloud.
"He has perceived his fate." Rod answered. "The stolen powers will return to where they belong. Historia, this means within you.
This crystal cavern was built over 100 years ago by the power of a Titan. The three walls were also built by that same power. With the Bloodborns no longer capable of keeping the Titans out, the walls were built to protect humanity. But the power of that Titan reached out and altered the memories of the people. However, some bloodlines and the several Bloodborns that remained were exempt from that. Yet their descendants retain no memory of the world that once existed. A world without walls. Except for one, however. Which was Frieda.
Your sister possessed more than just her power as a Titan. She knew how this world came to be and all the details behind it. She was just 15 when that knowledge became hers… Right here, 8 years ago, she ate her uncle. Frieda inherited the Founding Titan and all the memories of the previous holders. As had been done for 100 years, repeated and passed through generations. What I'm saying is that if Frieda used her powers, there wouldn't have been as many problems. We may have even eliminated both Titans and Bloodborns from this world entirely. Only humans would remain. If Eren's father hadn't stolen that power from her… Well, that same very power now exists within Eren. But that power can't truly manifest unless the blood of the Reiss family runs through them. If Eren remains as a vessel for that power, this hell will always continue."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Kenny interrupted, limping into view and still clutching on to his wound. "So unless it's a Reiss that eats Eren, they can't become a true King?" Rod nodded. "Then… even if I turned into a Titan and eat Eren, it'll mean nothing?"
With gritted teeth, Kenny then grabbed Rod's collar and lifted the man up from the floor. "Do you think I'm lying to you?!" Rod struggled as Kenny aimed his gun at him.
"Nope! But I've waited a long time for this day, 'cause I knew you weren't lying about the succession ritual." Kenny hissed. "For crying out loud… You used me this whole time knowing full well what I was after, you playboy!"
"I… I am grateful for you." Rod writhed, his eyes never leaving Kenny's. "You may have been a stray dog that my whimsical brother took in, but-"
Kenny then shoved his gun to Rod's forehead, his eyes narrowed and full of anger. "Keep on insulting Uri, and you can say goodbye to half of yer head!"
"Stop it!" Historia begged.
Kenny then looked down at the girl whilst he maintained keeping Rod lifted off the ground. "You're plain pitiful, Historia… You remind me of my little Fury when she was young… But don't you get it?! This father of yours wants to turn you into a Titan and make you eat Eren."
"It's my duty!" Historia argued back. "I'm going to eat Eren and bring my sister back! I'll inherit the world's history… and exterminate every last Titan!"
Kenny dropped Rod to the ground, lowering his gun. "Historia… Have you forgotten everything this guy has done to you? The only thing he cares about is the blood inside of you. Just like all I once cared about was following orders from a family I know nothing about… He doesn't wanna become a Titan himself! He's just scum that forces his brother and his daughter to become one instead! Father of the fucking Year, right here, huh?"
"He's wrong, Historia…" Rod coughed from having his collar squeezed around his gullet from moments ago. "I must not become a Titan myself. Do not believe what anyone says." Rod then looked up at Kenny. "You served well up until now. You're free now. Go and find another purpose in life and live out your years, free of regret."
"… That would bore me to death." Kenny sighed with a roll of his eyes as he began to walk up the crystal staircase that lead up to where Eren was still chained, listening to all of this.
"Kenny!" Rod called out. "What are you doing?"
"Go ahead! Turn into a Titan." Kenny called back. "I won't interfere anymore." The towering man then grabbed Eren by the hair and pulled his head back. "However, no head starts. You both become Titans and have at it. If Historia wins, you'll have your peace…" Kenny then took the tip of his knife across Eren's forehead, blood spilling forth and down his face from the cut. "But if you lose to Eren, things stay the same."
Rod then sprung up and grabbed the injection as he then grabbed on to Historia with a panicked demeanour. "Historia! With this injection, you can become a powerful Titan! Then you can eat him! But in fact, it's more than that! You must bite his spine and consume his spinal fluids!"
Historia held the needle to her arm, but she remained unsure. She then looked up at Eren, noticing his continued writhing had ceased and it confused her. "Eren, why?" She called up to him. "Why aren't you shifting? If I become a Titan, you'll get eaten…"
Eren lifted his head and his expression further shocked Historia. The young boy allowed his tears to flow from his eyes.
"It shouldn't have happened…" He choked. "Me. My dad, too… If he hadn't done what he did, your sister would have been able to do something… But my dad stole the power of the Titans from its rightful place. Just how many died for that? Armin's grandpa… Thomas, Mina, Nack, Milieus, Marco… Eld, Gunther, Olou and Petra. The people of Stohess. The soldiers who came to save me from Reiner. Even Hannes… I could never atone for all of that. So, at the very least, let it end by your hand. Save humanity. Eat m-me."
"So you're trying to play the nice girl, huh?" Came the words of which Ymir once spoke to Historia. It shook her more. Enough so that questions began to spur within her and they needed to be asked.
"Father… Why didn't the Reiss family… In that whole 100 years… eliminate Titans and Bloodborns to save humanity? All while possessing the power to control…"
"Because the first Reiss King who built the world within the walls wished for us to be controlled. But I don't truly know why. It's only known by those who have seen the world's memories! To create this world… To govern its foundation… To be an omnipotent being as to what my brother and your sister came to be… Do you know what we call that? We call that God. And my duty is to bring God back and offer them my prayers. And with hope, that God will guide humanity into an era of peace."
"Christa, I have no right to tell you how to live your life. So, actually, this is nothing more than some hope of my own… I want you to live a life you're proud of."
With a new resolve, Historia threw the injection the ground. Its liquid leaking through the shattered glass that contained it. Rod, in despair, grabbed Historia and shook her. "Why?!" He roared as Historia grabbed his collar and flung him to the ground.
"God, my ass!" She hissed. "You're just giving yourself an out and manipulating people! I've had it with being looked down on! I won't let you, or anyone, kill me!"
Kenny looked on as this all played out. Watching as Historia grabbed her father's case and began running up the stairs to Eren. "Tch… now you really do remind me of my little Fury…"
"What are you doing?!" Eren called out as he watched Historia pull the keys out to unlock his chains. "If I keep on living, everyone will suffer!"
"Shut up, cry baby!" She mocked. "Exterminate the Titans? Who the hell wants to do that bullshit? I'm starting to see why Fury dislikes humanity so damn much! Let them be wiped out by them! I'm humanity's biggest enemy, not unique people like Bloodborns who tried to keep us safe, right?! Got it? I'm the worst! But you need to get out of here!"
As Historia threw Eren's chains aside, a flash of blinding light lit up the cavern, shaking its foundations and debris began to fall around them. Rod had pulled himself over to the spinal liquid that puddled on the ground and allowed the tip of his tongue to taste the essence. A skeletal form began to build around them as Rod shifted into a fleshly mound of skin and bone as he was constructed into a Titan.
