Chapter 16 The Alliance gathering Part 1
The next day, Eren and Historia are now standing in front of citizens and soldiers alike, he says, "Right now the Colossal Titans have left the island, and the rumbling noises have finally ended. We of the Eldian Empire have been persecuted by the world for over a century, because of our great sin of starting the Great Titan war and using the power of Titans for 2000 years of bloodshed. However, our first Reiss King decided to end the 2000 years of bloodshed, we even give our enemies the freedom they deserved. However, instead of negotiating with peace, they decide to do what our empire used to do, and that's why we have been suffering for these years! They neglect our desire of having peace, and we of the 9 Royal Families, who fought against each other in the Great Titan War, have united once more!"
Historia says, "Thanks to our King Eren Yeager, the Pure Titans are finally gone from the face of the earth, and even if you were injected by Spinal Fluid, you don't need to worry about turning into Titans. Eren Yeager and our seven chosen soldiers will be the last remaining Titans along with the Rumbling. And now, you are all free!"
Everyone cheers after the great news, Jean and Connie are also in the crowd as they frown, to achieve this, how many people they are going to kill for it to happen? When Eren and Historia also announce Mikasa to be the second queen, they also hear that the people are also cheering as well.
In the market, Armin, Colt, Falco, and Gabi are now wearing cloaks while having some food in their arms. Armin says, "Anyway, we must hurry up and get to where Reiner is."
"He'll be in a coma for two or three days. Galliard is taking care of him right now, so don't worry." Gabi says.
"But should we really take this detour?" Falco asks.
"We still need to fill our stomachs first." Colt says.
As they are now sitting at the table, Colt says, "So you're saying that the former Female Titan, Annie, was still alive?"
Armin says, "Eren said that the Female Titan powers were already taken a year ago, and I have still been talking to Annie, who is trapped in the crystal. But if the hardening has gone undone, Annie might be-"
Before he can finish, he hears someone choking, they turn around and find that Annie is eating beside him.
After a while, Hitch comes with another pie, only to find that Annie has already left with Armin and the others.
At the Scouts' place, Jean and Connie are now sitting together. Jean says, "How's your mother?"
"I'm glad to see her returning to normal." Connie says, "Sasha was right, Eren was only trying to save all of us. I blamed him for Sasha's death, only to find that Sasha is still alive... I blamed Eren for betraying us, but we were the ones that were trying to betray him by trying to feed him to another Titan..."
"Connie..." Jean frowns, and then they hear Hange calling to them.
"I'm glad you two came, Connie, Jean." Hange says after they are now outside. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been on the site with you guys. You have done well under such an adverse situation."
"What about Captain Levi, how is he?" Connie asks.
"He's not unscathed, but he's alive." Hange says. "He won't be able to fight for a while, though. And lastly, we joined forces with the remaining Marleyan forces. It is to stop Eren. Genocide is a mistake."
"And how are you going to stop him? He did say that even if we kill him, the Rumbling won't stop until it destroys everyone outside of the walls." Connie says.
"We must first gather allies. What we can do depends on who we have on our side. But we are powerless without the help from you guys and the nine Titans." Hange says. "The old chain of command has been wiped out and I'm no longer your superior. With that in mind, I ask you-"
"We can forget about the Nine Titans." Connie says. "All of them are Yeagerists and they aren't going to help us stop the Rumbling."
"And even if we manage to stop the Rumbling with the miracle, what will you do? Eren tried negotiating with the outside nations, and they all continue to loathe us, stopping the Rumbling will also mean leading the island to its doom."
"From how I see it... the Marley assumes the Rumbling happens immediately after their surprise attack. At the very least, they won't lay their hands on this island for a while."
"Unless we destroy that island completely, we'll never know when they'll destroy the world. It'll just stir up more rage than Willy Tybur's speech!"
"You may be right. Either way, even if this island is to be destroyed, we'd still get at least a few years to spare."
"But the last time we decided to explore possibilities with the time we had, we couldn't solve a single thing! That's why Eren decided to wipe out the world-"
"Genocide is wrong!" Hange yells at him. "There is no right reason to commend such an act!"
After staying silent for a while, she frowns, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted like that. Just like Jean said, Eren was pushed to do this...all because of my feckless idealism. And I might be howling about it... but I was trying to run away... to abandon everything... to forget it all and just survive... but I'm still the Commander of the Survey Corps. Many of my comrades dedicated their hearts to the freedom of humanity...and I can feel they're all looking at me. Almost all of them died without even knowing that humanity exists beyond the walls. It's all good as long as the island is free. Do you think a single of them would've been so selfish to say that? We only have one chance to stop this genocide. And that is now."
"If you think you'll be able to stop it, then you're wrong." They turn to see Sasha standing at the doorway, she is closing her eyes while biting the potato.
"S-Sasha?" Connie asks with surprise, Sasha says, "Eren knew that you're going to be here, which is why I was sent here to give you a warning. Under the government's command, you are no longer the Survey Corps Commander, Commander Hange."
"What?" Hange flinches in surprise and Sasha says, "Genocide is wrong, that might be true, but those you are going to ally yourselves with all want genocide of our people, that's why they started the attack before Eren decided to do the Rumbling. Eren has the ability to see the future, he has been plaguing about this for four years non-stop. He can feel that his comrades are blaming him for their deaths, the ones in the Levi Squad, the ones who tried to save him when he was abducted by Reiner and Bertolt, and our comrades, Thomas, Mina, and the others, they all haunted him for letting our enemies roam free."
This causes everyone to stare at her, and Hange says, "But still, the Rumbling needs to be stopped. Are you here to stop us?"
"No, I'm not here to stop you, I'm just here to bid you farewell. Eren can see the future, if you choose to stop the Rumbling with the others, you would either be branded a traitor and forbidden to step on the island, or maybe you would die to the Colossal Titans just like the others." Sasha says.
"Why are you saying this to us, Sasha? Aren't we supposed to be friends?" Connie yells.
"Of course, we are still friends." Sasha says while leaving, "It is your choice after all, I'll also report this to the king and the queen, don't worry, they are not going to stop you. After all, you are free to do whatever you want."
Jean and Connie still agree to go with Hange and the others to stop the Rumbling, despite Sasha's warnings, and they also find Reiner and Porco, now all of them sitting around the fire while Hange is making the stew.
"So Mikasa didn't come?" Hange asks.
"She's busy helping Eren and Historia with the government duties." Jean says. "I doubt she will leave Eren now that she is crowned as the second queen of Eldia."
Magath says, "It's quite curious. What changed your mind? If you just let Eren Yeager be, you'll attain the world you wished for. A paradise for the island devils. We were so close to killing Eren Yeager and his comrades had it not been for you guys helping them."
"As I explained, General. None of us wished for genocide." Hange says. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be hiding here in the forest and making a stew."
"So you're saying you finally see whose side justice is on?" Magath asks.
"Justice? Did you just talk about justice? You're saying that we're the bad guys for fighting back against the Titans you people kept sending? Listen! We fought as hard as we did because we didn't want to be eaten alive by Titans!" Jean yells. "And you're saying that's something only a devil would do, you old geezer?"
"Yeah. You do look like devils to me." Magath replies after taking a sip of the booze. "All our fears about the threat of Paradis have come true, and the world is on the brink of destruction. This is the result of all your struggle. Isn't it?"
"Listen here! If he hadn't watched his mother eaten alive when the wall was breached... Eren would never have done anything like this. No, Eren didn't want this as well, he tried to negotiate with all the nations for peace, and in return, they all attack them and kill a lot of our soldiers, and just after the failed negotiation, Willy Tybur also go with that speech! You people left him with no choice but to use the Rumbling!"
"Oh, so now you want to talk about history? You should at least understand that Eldia was the first to devastate Marley and put our people through hell."
"How long are you going to play the victim over something that happened two millennia ago? History is meant to be a warning so that we won't do the same! But you are doing the same as the past Eldian Empire, that makes you no better than them! Even worse!"
Hange says, "Aah, let's stop this. An argument over what happened 2000 years ago when you're not even there bores me. Jean, the General is perplexed over our existence. To him, we're strange devils who'd abandoned our own paradise just to save the very people who tried to eradicate us. We lived in the outside world for several months. We can never go back to being the ignorant island devils."
Jean stops, and they decide to talk about the plan. "Even after resting the horses, it'll still take five hours at full speed to the harbor. We'll have to rely on the Azumabito. According to Lady Kiyomi, there's a flying boat meant to observe the Rumbling ready at the harbor."
"I knew it. So the Azumabito were helping you behind the scenes." Magath says.
"But are you sure they're going to help us? Hizuru is not on the path of the Rumbling, and with Mikasa and Aya Neumann, why would they want to help us?" Armin asks.
"If only Yelena wasn't being executed, we could've asked for more information about it..." Connie mutters.
Here is a new chapter, and as you can see, Jean and Connie are still going to help stop the Rumbling. I hope you like this chapter.