Chapter 4 9 Royal Families
When Eren, Mikasa, and Armin are back in Shiganshina, there are already a lot of people living there. Eren says, "With the help from the Revees Company and all the people here, Shiganshina will be back to its former glory."
"I never knew there are so many people here..." Armin says in awe.
"It's Eren!" "Welcome back!" Just then, a lot of people are surrounding Eren, who smiles and says, "Ah, good to see all of you again. How are you doing?"
"We're doing fine." Will the queen come as well?"
"Ah, I'm sorry to say that the queen won't be coming with us because I was with the Scouts. I requested a two-month break with my friends and we'll be staying here for awhile."
Everyone nods in agreement, and Armin whispers to Mikasa, "Is it just me, or has Eren somehow become popular around the people here..."
"I heard that most of the people are asked by Eren and Historia to rebuild this place." Mikasa replies back.
Eren turns to the two of them with a frown, he was planning to train Peter and Odom with the Scouts' training during these two months, but with them here, he would have to make excuses. He could manipulate Armin's memories, but Mikasa is an Ackermann and she's immune to it. Not to mention she is going to stay with him in the same house, so it will be hard for him to leave without her noticing.
Eren manages to find excuses by having another identity as a doctor to heal the sick and overworked patients, that way, he is able to sneak away from the two of them while making his own soldiers. And after two months, Peter, Odom, and some of the Eldia Restorationists are now good at the ODM gear and the Thunder Spears.
When two months of break have passed, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin return to the Scouts and they learn how Marley sends their first survey fleet to Paradis Island. With Eren and Armin's Titans, they manage to stop them, and they also meet the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, led by Yelena and Onyankopon. They give them information about Marley and their technology, as well as Zeke's secret plan to save the Eldian people. Other Marleyan soldiers are eventually convinced to lend their aid to Paradis Island.
One afternoon, Eren is shooting at glass bottles with a rifle with Mikasa and Armin keeping him company.
"The port will be finished soon!" Armin says. He is sitting on a box behind Eren while Mikasa stands beside Armin with a rifle in her hand. "Thanks to the Marleyan engineers, building it's been quick."
Mikasa looks at him and says, "They've sure been cooperative."
"It went bad at first since neither side trusted the other. But given enough time, if we set aside our labels and see each other as people, we can understand each other." Armin says.
"That is only just your wishful thinking..." Eren thinks while aiming the rifle at the bottle and shoots it. Then he says, "Armin, have you seen Bertolt's memories?"
Armin's eyes widen and he looks at the ground while saying, "Huh? Yeah, but there's nothing that seems helpful."
"There's not much time." Eren states. "Zeke has less than three years left."
"Yeah, about that..." Armin begins. "Do we really want to go along with Yelena's plan?"
"What's the problem with that?" Mikasa asks.
"Is using the rumbling to threaten the world the only way to protect Eldians? Then we will be the devils that terrorize the world." Eren shoots another bottle while Armin continues. "Before it comes to that, can't we talk? If we can fix Marley and the world's misconception..."
Eren sighs and says, "Misconception? What misconception?"
Armin looks at him while Mikasa looks at Armin with a sad look. "You know, like how we're scary."
"The world sees us as monsters who can turn into Titans. They're not wrong." Eren says.
Mikasa frowns at him. "They're Marleyans who like us, too."
"How many?" Eren asks her while he aims at a bottle again. "Most of the Marleyans are sitting in prison cells."
"But given enough time..." Armin says.
"That's right." Eren says. "And to buy that time, we've gotta keep them at bay."
After the training is over, Mikasa and Armin are going with the Scouts to taste Nicolo's cooking, Eren was going along until he is stopped by one of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers.
"I hope you don't mind if we talk a little, right?" The soldier says, Eren looks at the black-haired person and sighs, "What do you want to talk about?"
"I can't tell you right now, is it possible that we can talk over at Shiganshina?" The soldier says, "After all, the walls have ears and I wish this conversation should be a secret."
Eren nods as the two of them are now at Shiganshina's house. Besides Eren, Peter and Odom are with him since they are helping with the guarding.
"First of all, let me introduce myself to you. My name is Gloria Tybur, an Eldian just like you." Gloria says.
"Tybur? You're that Tybur family?" Eren notices the growl from Peter and Odom's face, Eren stops them and says, "I heard that the Tybur Family is a house of Eldian nobles living in Marley as honorary Marleyans, or should I say... Marley's highest authority and the family of the War Hammer Titan, am I correct?"
"You're correct. However, we're no more than traitors lavishing in crookedly earned the honor by selling Eldians out to Marley." Gloria says, "I came with the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers under disguise, so I can come and seek you."
"Why do you wish to seek me?" Eren asks, "What is your goal?"
"Before I talk about that, I shall tell you about the Great Titan War that happened hundreds of years ago. After the Eldian Empire began to run out of enemies, the eight families who held the Titans turned on each other in an endless cycle of conspiracy and betrayal. Amidst the conflict, the nation of Marley succeeded in gaining the powers of seven out of the Nine Titans which held dominance in Eldia, dramatically turning the tide of the war in their favor. King Karl Fritz grew tired of the constant conflict between the houses and pitied Marley for its history under the empire's tyranny. By conspiring with the Tybur family, King Fritz fabricated the hero Helos to present Marley as the nation that led to the Eldian Empire's downfall. And everything changes."
Gloria closes her eyes and says, "Marley has been doing the same thing as the Eldia Empire once did. They fabricate a lot of lies to make sure Eldians are under their control, and they are also using Eldians for war against other nations, they made the world hate Eldians more and more. After all, the ones who are fighting are Eldians, so the world should hate them instead of Marley. My wish is simple. I wish the return of the Eldia Empire with the uniting of the 9 Royal Families, and I also want the Rumbling to happen."
Eren is surprised about what she said, he sighs, "You know that activating the Rumbling is not an easy thing to do right? And if you do this, what will the other Anti-Marleyan Volunteers think?"
Gloria says, "Some of the members of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers are actually on my side. They are the ones with their family living in the conquered nations. I will promise their family's safety as long as they are willing to cooperate with Eldians and the Rumbling."
"Okay... and what do you mean of the unification of the 9 Royal Families?" Eren continues to ask.
"Those who inherited Titan powers will die in 13 years, however, with the right blood and the right Titan, and also with the Founder's approval, the curse can be lifted. The reason the Great Titan war happened because of the fighting of 8 families. Then the solution is simple. Instead of fighting, we should unite instead. Eren, the Yeager Family is one of the 8 houses. They are the Royal Blood of the Attack Titan."
This causes Eren to be surprised. "You said that I have the Royal Blood of the Attack Titan, and you have the Royal Blood of the War Hammer Titan. What about the other 6?"
Gloria looks at Peter and Odom and she says, "Fischer and Wolff, right? Both of you are from the Eldia Restorationists, and you were turned into Titans because of Zeke's betrayal, right?"
"So what?" Peter asks while still glaring at her.
"The reason the Owl finds your families to join in is that you two are also holders of the Royal Blood. The Fischer Family is the family of Jaw Titan, while the Wolff Family is the family of Colossal Titan. The other four families are the Cara Family, the Forster Family, the Neumann Family, and the Braus Family." Eren widens his eyes as he knows Braus and Forster family. Peter and Odom are also shocked to hear what she says.
"So you want the Titans to be returned to each family, and after the Rumbling is over, the 9 families will unite and rebuild the world, am I right about that?"
"That's my goal, and just so you know, Zeke's secret plan is not helping the Eldians, instead, they are killing the Eldians in the most humane way: By taking the Eldian's ability to reproduce so that nobody, including all of us, will be able to bear children."
"That is a messed up plan!" Peter says.
"Yeah, Eren, you can't just agree with this plan." Odom says.
"Of course, I won't." Eren turns to Gloria and says, "Gloria, I appreciate your willingness to share secrets with us. In return, I shall share my secrets with you. I don't actually need Zeke to use the power of the Founding Titan, and as much as this plan is messed up, I made Eldians outside of Paradis unable to reproduce a year ago. Because I can't bear myself to kill Eldian infants."
"I see... if you have the power of the Rumbling, I assume you're just waiting for the right moment to activate?" Gloria asks.
"One of the traits of the Attack Titan is that it has the ability to see the future." Eren says. "I saw the future of me activating the Rumbling. And I'm waiting for that moment to happen. Since you're here in Paradis, what are you planning to do here?"
"Simple. I'll be helping out with Yelena and the others until the moment has come, but if you want to, I can also help you train some of the soldiers. We of the Tybur family not only adapted the Warrior style training, but we also combined some of our own so the War Hammer Titan can be the strongest other than the Founding Titan."
"I see..." Eren nods. "I'm glad to have you on our side, but just remember that I have the full power of the Founding Titan, if you reveal the secret or backstab us in the end, you will know what will happen, right?"
"I know the consequences, but I promise you that my loyalties belong to Eldia, not Marley." Gloria says as they shake hands with each other.
Here is a new chapter, and as you can see, I bring a new character: Gloria Tybur, into the story, she will be on the side of the Yeagerists, despite being a Tybur family. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be the meeting with the Hizuru and other things.