Creation began on 11-21-22

Creation ended on 12-28-22

Attack on Titan

Live or Die: I don't want to kill you

"Hmmmm!" Eren Yeager, the only child of Grisha and Carla Yeager, panicked as he was taken out of his room in the dead of the night by something that was strong enough to do the crime that was kidnapping him from his home. "Hmmm!"

Then, his kidnapper did something that was beyond what he believed only the Survey Corps were capable of. They took a leap…and it felt like Eren was being propelled right off the ground and into the air, going over the wall and down to the ground below, and they were doing it all without any of that mobility gear they were shown to have. Just who was this person?

"Whether you live to see old age," he heard them say, "or you die where you end up being dropped…is up to how you decide to answer the questions you'll be given. As much as it pains me a little to do this, you can't go back to Shiganshina."

-x-

Thud! He looked up from the small campfire and saw the pale-skinned young man standing in front of him, holding the boy under his right arm.

"You made excellent timing," he told him. "I take it there was no trouble?"

"Trouble is relative," the pale man replied, setting the boy down, revealing that his arms and legs were tied. "Whether this one lives or dies is up to him and how he answers the questions you ask him to answer. But I must be honest about this. He's not a sinner; he hasn't killed anybody or driven someone else to kill, stolen from anyone or even something as upsetting as having an unjust relationship with someone already in a committed relationship with someone else. He's just a brat with an attitude that is self-destructive because he can't get along with people that don't think or do what he wants."

"I wouldn't ask you to cross that line unless he is unwilling to accept a compromise in exchange for his life. Even then, I leave his fate up to you. It's as you and I both understand; it's not the dying part that people should fear, it's what comes after. You may remove his gag."

Eren had his scarf used to shut his mouth up removed by the pale man, who then turned and sat down on the ground a few feet away from himself and this other stranger that seemed to be one with the darkness around them.

"Speak," the man instructed Eren.

"Who are you people?" He asked them.

"We are crusaders in the furthest reaches of justice and innocence. We will use methods that most others will not even consider in order to make an effective difference in the lives of the innocent. I am a spiritual relative of the all, he is a former member of mortality who has since embraced his demise and rose to greater heights of what his path led him to when he chose to forge his own way. He is Death, the Endgame. I am Brother Correction. We are here to prevent unforgivable acts from being carried out by those that have less than graceful intentions."

Eren looked at him, then at the pale man, Death…and worried about his life.

"You're going to kill me?" He wanted to know.

"In the end, your fate will depend upon how you answer…and what you do. Because, as I am sure Death has told you…you can't go back to Shiganshina. But what I'm positive he didn't tell you yet…is why this is so. Tell him, Death."

"You are a threat to people if you stay there," Death reveals. "More so than other people, and you don't become a threat until after you come of age. The fact that you always want to leave the land behind the Walls, that you don't get along with anyone that doesn't see anything from your perspective, is what you makes you a risk to others in society. In the end, you question the reality of what others are content with having to provide their stability. You pick fights you can't win with people you don't like because of their opinions. And when danger strikes, you choose to embrace the violence that lives in your heart and soul, becoming a monster without so much as a conscience or any delusions of morality, inciting others to do the same just to be prepared for a future that will never be realized."

"But…I just want to see the world beyond the Walls, to be free."

"And what is free?" Brother Correction questions. "How do you define 'free'? It's just a word with a multitude of meanings, but if it's not specific in words you use, then it could mean anything…or nothing. And you make trouble because you're not specific in what you're after, which causes trouble for the people that care about you. So I ask you, Eren Yeager, since you can't go back to the only home you've ever known, bringing harm to others because of your desires to leave and…be free… Where do you want to go? Where do you want to be?"

"What is it you pray for at the ends of your existence?" Death added.

Eren thought about where he wanted to go, but couldn't fathom such a choice. As much as he kept thinking about leaving the Walls and going to explore the world beyond, he didn't really think about what he would do once the opportunity came. All he knew was what his friend, Armin, had told him of the places that might've existed in the world. These…fantastic places he could only describe from the words he read in books belonging to Armin.

"Those that don't plan for any eventuality are those without a single thought for what they intend to achieve once they have all the time in their lives to do whatever comes to mind," Death told Eren. "Those that do plan for any eventuality are those that have already decided how their lives will go. If you expect to be met with disappointment in every sense, then you're one that can never be disappointed by anything or anyone in any sense."

"Do you get disappointed?"

"Only with the people I kill; they disappoint me because they chose the path they died on. They could've done something to atone for their sins, to make up as much as they could for all of the wrongs they committed to their victims. Instead, they chose to become the scum of existence, a universal stain on flesh of the innocent. So when I become the one that ends their wretchedness, I make sure that they have a place in Hell where they can be driven to madness by their faults. And make no mistake, young man. I have killed children. The most unforgivable, the ones that have no capacity for empathy, remorse for their actions, not even any measure of tolerance towards those that have done them no wrong, whatsoever. An eight-year-old, sociopathic girl that does curtsies with a body count of three victims, a ten-year-old boy that blames everyone else for him not getting his way and tried to kill his little sister, a thirteen-year-old boy that murders a little boy that never did anything to him, not even a conversation, I took each of them out of the grand equation that is the progress of the world. I don't want to kill you, Eren Yeager…but if you cross the line…there's no going back. There's no forgiveness, no atonement, no second chances. You die by my hand, the masters of the underworld will lay claim to your soul…but your corpse will belong to me."

Smash! He punched a medium-sized rock beside him, reducing it to bits in front of Eren.

"As you can see, he is more prone to cast judgement on those who have done wrong or have yet to do wrong than I am most of the time," Brother Correction told Eren. "And yet, he is among the few people in this life and the next and last that I know I can trust with helping to prevent an escalation in both unnecessary acts of violence and terrorism against the innocent lives that needn't be dragged down by those whose hearts beat with the drive to cause harm unto others for the sake of a goal that is not entirely justifiable."

"You trust him?" Eren questioned, noticing that Death's right hand was nothing more than bone when his gauntlet, that metal glove of his that covered the limb, retracted to reveal said limb. "My God."

"Please," Death scoffed at him, "whatever god you believe in…didn't do this to me. I'm in the eternal debt of another deity who chose to take a risky chance on me and I did my absolute best to help bring her goal to fruition."

"What goal was that?"

"Heal the world that was maimed by the arrogance of people that desired to be actual gods when they were terrible at pretending to be gods. It doesn't matter how you come to possess what is only a taste of what can be either greatness or dread in the form of power, how you choose to act when you pretend to be a deity carries repercussions that will reverberate throughout the collective memory of whoever chose to believe in you when you become an actual deity. Those that don't have what it takes to be true gods…don't deserve to pretend to be gods."

"And what makes one a true god?"

"That…would be telling. And you have yet to answer the question you were asked: Where do you want to go?"

"Where is there to go?"

"Anywhere that isn't Shiganshina District…or anywhere else on this island," Brother Correction told him. "Wherever these places that your friend, Armin Arlert, told you about, those are possibilities that are now open to you."

"Flaming waters? Frozen deserts? Salt in water that you can never collect? These places actually exist? Have you seen them?"

"I have seen many things over many lifetimes, time and again. Forests the size of cities, volcanoes leaving trails of magma, the flaming waters, that eventually form into new landmasses when they cool down, tundras, the frozen deserts, that are constantly changing in landscape, and oceans so vast and deep, you could traverse them for years…and you wouldn't know everything they have to offer in historical knowledge."

"Places that you think are gone because of the Titans are the places that only people with the drive to destroy are responsible for taking them away," Death added. "If people don't want to lose these places, these amazing reliquaries that their world can no longer protect because of them, then they need to let go of their destructive drive and embrace the opposite of destruction, which is creation. You think you wield this power and influence over your world when it is the other way around; you don't wield, you are wielded. You don't coexist with your environment if you feel you need to reshape it to your own liking, you destroy your environment in order to reshape it to your liking. Walk away from your destructive tendencies…and you end up being a step closer to being free from your hateful nature."

-x-

"…Nobody saw him leave," Grisha told Carla as he returned home after looking for Eren, seeing his wife holding a note in her hand. "What is it?"

"He didn't leave," Carla reveals to him. "Someone came into our home and took him. They left this note explaining why they did it."

Grisha looked at the note and couldn't believe what he was reading.

"By the time you read this, your son will have been taken beyond your home. I took him not to kill him or sell him or any other form of cruelty that goes beyond the scope of morality. I took him to spare the people of whom he would endanger if he stayed here. I was shown his future, and his is a fate full of grief that reverberates for years with no real legacy to leave behind. Again, I took Eren not to kill him, but to spare the people, and let's face it, he is a young man who cannot demonstrate restraint or make friends without being bossy or rude. But have hope. I pray that you will see him again. Just not now. You didn't do anything wrong to deserve this. The people needed to be protected from him had he stayed." The note read, and Grisha couldn't believe that whoever did this would make some claim that Eren would endanger the people if he stayed in Shiganshina.

"How could they possibly think that he would endanger the people?" He questioned.

"Probably because of the Survey Corps," Carla suggested. "He's always thinking about joining them when he's old enough."

As the couple tried to come to terms with what was done to them, the pale-skinned youth-like being looked down at the people of this district that were safe from the Titans they never saw and feared because the Walls were all they knew that kept them safe from certain doom. He didn't pity them for their fear of the world beyond these barriers, only for their lack of awareness of what would become a part of their normality in due time. In due time…but just not yet.

"Is the scenery beautiful from up here?" Death heard Brother Correction ask him, turning to the left to see him floating beside himself.

"It's…beautiful," he answered, "even when I don't think it is."

"You worry for these people?"

"They're innocent, regardless of what others think or feel, because they have never been beyond this small island that they have no idea is where they reside. When they find out where they are, eventually, they will start to lose their innocence and become like everyone else elsewhere. I mean, most of them are innocent, but the ones that are from it, I want to pay them all a final visit so that they know they must pay their dues with more than they can possibly imagine."

Brother Correction looked up ahead at the vastness behind Shiganshina and responded, "In the next few days…you'll get to do that and more with Marley. The Warrior Unit is halfway back to the continent. But before you go there, I need to make sure that this one goes back with an additional warning."

Death looked beside Brother Correction…and saw the young man that had been killed by the Titan that devoured him in front of his allies in the Warrior Unit, looking like he was asleep.

"You revived him?" He questioned.

"Without the Jaw Titan, of course," he replied. "Despite being a soldier for a branch in the military, he is still a child and was exploited by the hatred within the hearts of the men and women that will do anything to take what doesn't belong to them. Send him back to his family with a message of retribution to those who have no temptation to heed the dread that awaits them…and let your blade be the casting of final judgement upon them."

"And the one with the Jaw Titan?"

"Everyone needs a friend, even the ones that others feel don't deserve any measure of companionship. I will give a companion to the one that needs it more than most."

"Another innocent life?"

"Yes."

"What comes next?"

"What comes next is…protecting the helpless, ensuring a better future for all…and delivering justice to the victims of the arrogance within our stained hearts. Are you ready, Death, the Endgame? Are you ready to do what is necessary to protect the innocent?"

Death looked at him, his mouth making no effort to move in order to voice his response.

"I said…are you ready, Death, the Endgame?" He asked him.

"I died ready to take on anything," he finally spoke, and Brother Correction smiled.

"Excellent."

-x-

Standing before a grand ocean, Eren Yeager couldn't take his eyes off the gracious scenery in front of him. As the small waves hit his feet, he couldn't believe that he was given the choice to explore a new world with only a quick death being his alternate choice. He knew he couldn't go home for the time being…or ever…but he hoped that someday, he could return, just to tell his parents and people what he had seen.

Pinch! Something pinched his right foot.

"Ow!" He gasped as he moved his leg up, revealing a crab had pinched his foot. "Aah!"

Fortunately, the crab was tiny, but its pinchers were strong and painful. But the injury was mild and would heal. As he walked away from the water and sat on a large rock with a strange series of patterns on it. He was also fortunate that Brother Correction supplied him with a backpack with some supplies that he would need for his travels; he took it off and pulled out a small bottle of medicinal cream for his crab injury.

Suddenly, the rock he was sitting on started moving.

"What the…" He gasped, seeing a strange, greenish creature emerge from under the rock. "What is this thing?!"

To be continued…

A/N: To those that have something to say about what I did to Eren in this, I say this in response: In this scenario, if you could give someone like him a choice to either go away and live or stay and die, you would hope that they would take the gentler choice and you wouldn't have to cross that line. So, I made it in this situation where I didn't have to cross the line with him. The next chapter will be after the New Year, with some actions and reactions you can probably guess are to be expected when you write a scenario in which you try to change many things. What do yo think will happen next?