Months Earlier:
"Eren?"
"Yes?"
A hooded Scout cracked open the door to the Founder's unlit room. A sly smile tipped his lips upwards as he lowered his guise and greeted his comrade, revealing messy red hair from beneath the fabric of his cape.
"I brought the volunteer with me. She's outside." Jamming his thumb behind his back, the Scout motioned in the direction of a towering shadow looming over him.
"Let her in, Floch," Eren, stood from where he had been sitting on his bed, nodding before continuing his directions. "Then wait outside. I'll call you when we're done."
"Roger."
Floch turned, grabbing his escort by the arm, and accompanying her inside. The woman, though nearly a foot taller than the Scout, readily complied, seemingly overjoyed to be in the presence of the soldier and his friend.
Floch positioned her close to the door, across the space from the Founder. He then prepared to pat her down, demanding she remove her dark overcoat, to which she readily protested.
"I assure you I have no desire to harm Mr. Jaeger."
"I assure you I don't give a damn," Floch retorted, yanking the sleeves of her jacket downwards before she finally complied, handing him the overcoat and allowing him to begin his search. When he finished his probing, he tossed the black garment gruffly in her hands, nodding to his superior that she was clean.
"Thank you, Floch."
Dismissed, Floch made his way to the door, exiting the room and leaving the two alone in silence.
The Marleyan wasted no time before speaking.
"I have been waiting to meet you, Eren."
Eren did not respond, taking a seat on his cot once again, observing her instead.
There was something subtly intimidating about Yelena.
Even in his titan form, Eren had noticed the cold, awe inspired look in her eyes when they had grounded the Marleyan ship weeks before. He remembered how she executed her superior effortlessly, joining the Scouts in their anti-Marleyan efforts equally as swiftly, without an afterthought of the consequences of her actions or the resulting loss of life.
Yelena was tactful, cunningly so, that much he knew. But Eren had arranged to meet her with the understanding that she had far more answers about this world than him. She had seen Paradis' enemies up close, shared meals and laughter with them, just as Reiner and Bertholdt had with them. All while plotting to do what? What was her motive?
He knew it wasn't solely for Paradis' technological success. Even the purest of hearts would not execute their comrades and join the ranks of foreigners for their benefit, especially foreigners who they had been conditioned to recognize as devils.
Brushing flyaway hairs from his face, he nodded in a gesture for her to continue, but persisted his stubborn silence.
"Hmm, you're not as sociable as your brother." The Marleyan smiled, analyzing him with a sickeningly mesmerized expression painted over her features. "But you're equally as majestic. Even in the dark I can see your eyes possess the same passion of your Eldian ancestors. You are a true warrior for your people."
The Founder raised an eyebrow at her crafted words, crossing his arms over his chest and saying nothing.
"I didn't expect you to be so quiet," she chuckled lightly before waving her hand curtly. "No matter. I have come with a proposal if you choose to listen."
"It better be different than the last one," Eren mumbled, recalling his brother's previous plan for them to breed like cattle, and continue the cycle of titan domination.
"I have a feeling you will like it much more." The foreign woman said. Leaning her back against the wall next to the door, she propped her leg against the wall at an angle before continuing. "It was Zeke's original plan. One far more peaceful, and far more humane." A glossy look came over her eyes as she said his brother's name. Dazed, she reveled in her explanation, breathlessly revealing it's title.
"It's called, the euthanasia plan."
"The euthanasia plan?" He repeated, to which Yelena nodded, a smile flickering over her face. "What the hell is a euthanasia plan?"
"A plan to save the world," She whispered. "Not just Eldia or Marley, but the whole world as one."
Eren shook his head skeptically but allowed her to continue.
"Zeke found a way to join the two of your powers as one. Using the founder and his own royal blood to reverse Eldian's ability to reproduce," She brought her hands together reverently, as though she were praying, to demonstrate their benevolent union. "Therefore, ending the Eldian bloodline gradually, peacefully, and permanently."
End the Eldian bloodline. Permanently.
They would die.
So that was her goal. To rebuild the Eldian empire, use it as a tool to avenge her homeland, only to revel in its "peaceful" collapse.
Furrowing his brows, Eren rubbed his palm across his face, attempting to remove the shock that had etched itself in his features.
"This was Zeke's plan?"
Yelena nodded, still grinning. "Who else could have come up with such a plan?"
Only a devil.
Eren connected the dots, combing his memory as the pieces fell into place. Suddenly, he understood why his brother had done everything he had, made every choice, to get to this moment; why he had executed the people of Ragako, crushed his comrades with countless boulders, and aided his enemies in their attack on his home.
Finally, Eren realized, Zeke planned to exterminate his people. Not liberate them.
"What happens when our terms are over?" Eren asked, breaking the silence. He imagined she had an answer. Zeke's plan was masterful in her idolatrous eyes, but he persisted in hopes of discovering a flaw. Anything to dissuade the Marleyan and his brother from their plan of eradication.
"Answer me." He demanded. "Who protects Eldia when we can't?"
"We will do as we've always done." She answered calmly, "We use the rumbling to our advantage. Historia has an heir does she not?"
Eren nodded, darkness rolling in his turquoise eyes.
"She will inherit the powers of the Founder, and with it, the powers to protect her people. As will her children, until there is no one left to inherit the Eldian birthright. Once the titan powers disappear, they will be gone forever. Nothing more than an ancient myth."
Eren clenched his fists at his sides. Anguished, he allowed tears to roll down his face, feigning as though they were an expression of relief.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Clenching his jaw, he reluctantly agreed, wiping the moisture from his face. "I never thought it was possible to save the whole world."
Yelena took a deep breath, drinking in the grandeur of the brothers and their unmatched power. "And here, Eren, the opportunity has been presented to you. You are the key, the essential piece needed to obtain our goals, without both of you brothers, this plan means nothing."
Eren watched the Marleyan stand and spread her arms wide in awe, his forehead creasing with a confused frown as she continued. "You have the Founder, the path leading to the paths. Without your brother you would get nowhere, and without you, he would be no one."
Eren stood, abruptly summoning the Scout. He'd heard enough reveling in their extinction.
"Floch!"
Tipping his chin at the volunteer, he issued his farewell. "I imagine we will meet again, Yelena."
Floch stood in the doorway, awaiting his next directions.
"Eren," Yelena smiled cordially, preparing to take her leave. "None of this will come to pass if Paradis does not choose this path. I believe someone is needed to convince the people in our favor."
"I understand." The founder nodded to Floch, who escorted the woman out, but not without pleasantries.
"A pleasure to meet you, Eren Jaeger—"
"Shut up." Floch demanded, slamming the door before she could say another word
Cursing under his breath, Eren lay on his bed, addressing his brother across the ocean.
"Zeke, is Eldia's salvation not beyond her extermination?" Shaking his head, he allowed tears to flow, once again from his eyes.
"So, even you, brother, are my enemy."
The Mess Hall, The Next Day:
"Eat, Eren."
Mikasa pushed a dingy plate closer to her friend, with a motherly glare in her eye that left no room for argument. Sighing, Eren muttered something under his breath before he picked up his spoon and reluctantly took a bite of his food chewing slowly before choking down the disgusting soup.
Armin watched his friend pick at the gruel, equally as concerned as Mikasa. "You'd been quiet today, Eren. Are you alright?"
Jean rolled his eyes, shaking his head emphatically. "Idiot's been moping the whole day, even though it's his own fault we had to work with Hange today."
"I swear I've never done so much work in my whole life," Conny whined, to which Jean shushed him.
Mikasa glanced towards Sasha, who was sleeping on the table, her plate already wiped clean of crumbs. Smiling lightly, she nudged Eren, pointing at the picturesque scene of a snoozing, and most importantly, a quiet Braus.
Eren allowed a small chuckle, taking another obligatory bite.
Armin shook his head, looking to Jean, "Who's going to carry her to the barracks?"
"Not me," Kirstein argued, finishing his food, and crossing his arms over his chest. "I carried her last time." Raising his eyebrow at the shorter boy, he volunteered his friend.
"Conny?"
"No, I did it last time," Conny complained.
"I just said that I did it last time," Jean rolled his eyes, slapping his hand on his friends back. "It's your turn."
"Why don't we just wake her up?" Armin asked.
"You never wake Sasha up after she's eaten." Conny glared at Armin as though he were retarded. "She'll go feral."
"You don't know that" Jean protested, sighing loudly. "Fine, I'll do it. You take my plate to the disposal Conny."
"Hold up, I'm not done eat—"
"C'mon, let's go." Jean pulled his shorter friend to his feet, Armin standing with them.
"I'll leave with you guys," The blonde announced. "I have to be somewhere."
"Where are you going, Armin?" Conny inquired, taking both his and his friend's plate in his clumsy hands, nearly spilling the contents on the floor.
"Nowhere, I was just going to…" Armin glanced towards Eren for help, but Jean was the one who saved him, distracting Conny from his interrogation.
Tossing Sasha over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Jean barked orders at Conny, demanding they get moving. Sasha, now partially hanging upside-down, only briefly stirred from her sleep, jolting with a sudden snort, before returning to her unconscious state.
"You almost woke her up!" Conny's eyes widened with fear, "Do you want her to go feral?" Following Kirstein with their plates, Conny continued warning his friend against jostling the girl too much, to which the taller strongly protested, jostling the girl yet again to prove she was unconscious, prompting an argument as the two left the group and made their way away from the table.
Armin, unimpressed with their bantering, turned to Eren and Mikasa, briefly waving his farewell.
Eren responded with a sly smile, issuing his own warning.
"Careful, Armin, she's still a monster."
The sheepish boy blushed violently, but said nothing, pretending he didn't hear and following his squabbling friends.
"Where is he going?" Mikasa inquired, watching the chaotic group discard their plates at the disposal.
"To see Annie, I imagine." Eren said, still picking at his food.
"Hmm."
"What does that mean?" The Founder's mouth tipped in a subtle smile.
"I wish he'd let me go with him," Mikasa's jaw tensed as she watched Armin exit out the mess hall doors. "I know Annie's condition hasn't changed in years, but I still worry."
"Armin is smart." He surmised, shoving another bite of his food into his mouth and swallowing. "I'm sure he'll be fine. You worry too much."
The girl turned to face him; her onyx eyes still shaped with concern. "Someone has to." She retorted. "If I didn't who would?"
Eren shook his head, scraping the last few bites of gruel with his metal spoon. "No one." He said, putting one of the final bites into his mouth and resisting the urge to chew the disgusting mix of fibrous vegetables. Swallowing the bite whole, he continued, changing the subject to the state of his meal. "Look, I'm almost done."
Mikasa smiled lightly, watching him suffer through choking down his last two bites.
Satisfied with his effort, she patted his arm, standing and taking both their dishes.
"I can take my own plate, Mikasa." Eren protested.
The girl shook her head, as her friend stood and followed her to the disposal. "I've got it," she assured him, handing the plates to the recruits, and dumping their drinks in a barrel, before finally discarding the cups into a bucket for the volunteers to wash later.
"You always do everything for me." Eren grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets as he fell into step beside her.
"Like I said, if I didn't, who would?"
As the two approached the exit, Eren stepped in front of the girl, grabbing the handle before she could protest and opening the door wide. "Maybe I would." He said, his turquoise eyes bored into her own as she walked out the door, fighting the heat that was climbing her cheeks.
Eren abandoned his post after Mikasa exited, catching up to her easily with a few long strides. He could tell she understood what the gesture had meant, but said nothing, like they always had done. They said nothing.
He knew tonight, he had to say something, even if it wasn't much.
"I want to take care of you, Mikasa."
"You do," The Ackerman said softly. "You always have."
Eren sighed, frustrated that the only way he had ever fought for her forced her to come to his aid. "I want you to be happy." He continued, brows furrowing as he spoke. "I want both you and Armin to be safe, and live happy lives."
Mikasa turned towards him, her lips pressed into a thin line before she spoke. "We are happy, Eren."
"But you're not safe," He argued, as they approached the entrance to the girl's barracks. Stopping in front of the doorway, the pair faced each other in brief silence. He wished he could tell her so much more, but now wasn't the time. Not tonight. Not before he left.
Instead, he settled for empty promises.
"I swear, Mikasa, someday all of this will be over."
Mikasa titled her angular face, confused why her friend was talking this way, but she didn't have the time to ask before the boy drew her into a hug, nestling her face in his chest as he made his final assurance.
"Someday, you won't have to worry about me."
The Ackerman felt tears brimming in her eyes but said nothing, leaning further in his embrace and allowing herself to listen to his rapidly beating heart.
The pair remained there for a moment longer, before Eren pulled away abruptly, a blank look in his characteristically passionate eyes.
"Goodnight." The Founder said, turning and leaving with a curt farewell that was as dethatched as his expression.
"Goodnight," the girl mumbled, his warmth lingering on her body and promises ringing in her ears.