Hi guys! Here's the next chapter! As always, massive thanks goes to my good friend ARCEUS-master for proofreading this chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it! :3

''Titans!'' Speech

''Titans!'' Thoughts

Zeke Yeager, the honorary Marleyan citizen who wielded the beast titan and also the perfect example for every Eldian living within Marley; who strived for a better life by renouncing their devilish heritage, was currently looking idly over the crystal-clear ocean. The sun was beginning to set, casting upon the calm waves a soothing hue of red and orange. They splashed harmlessly against the hull of the ship that had its course set for the island of Paradis. It's been years since Marcel, Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt had been given the delicate mission to retrieve the founding titan. Under orders of commander Magath, Zeke was tasked with the mission to supervise and report their progress so far.

''I wonder…'' Zeke thought to himself, coolly resting his chin on the back his hands. His elbows were placed firmly on the railing of the ship while the salty sea breeze billowing by reassured him. While his glasses and neatly trimmed haircut made him look more like a professor, his evidently toned physique screamed otherwise. He was by far the strongest and most experienced titan user. As such, he was in direct command of the eager titan shifters seeking to become honorary Marleyans.

Truthfully, Zeke despised Marley. Ever since he purposefully turned in his father and mother to Marleyan authorities, he'd been working as a mole while swearing to himself that he'd avenge them and somehow free his caged brethren for good. However, that had proven to be quite tricky. Working up the ranks as beast titan meant he had to kill a lot of innocent people from neighboring countries, and now, it was inevitable he probably had to kill a lot of Eldians too. Even though he still considered the Eldians on Paradis island devils by nature, in the end, he knew they couldn't do anything about it. Rather, he felt the blame rested solely on the decision of the treacherous king Fritz.

True, the Eldians on Paradis didn't deserve to live, but that didn't mean massacring them was the right decision. Rather, Zeke had plans to euthanize them once he had the founding titan. Since royal blood ran through his veins, he would have no trouble controlling the founding titan and that way, they'd all die out slowly and peacefully without being able to reproduce. He hoped that'd be enough for Marley to forget the wrongdoings his brethren had done. In turn, that meant the power of the titans would perish as well.

He just hoped everything had gone all right with Marcel, Annie, Reiner and Bertolt. He wasn't sure if it was such a great decision from Marley to leave this crucial mission entirely in the hands of twelve-year-olds. Of course, they had the power of the titans, they had experience with combat and knew how to use their respective titan in battle efficiently. But at the end of the day, they were still kids, not even adolescents either. Sure, they'd be adolescents by now, but Zeke was still of the opinion that sending young adults to Paradis with the power of the titans would've been smarter.

''Hey,'' a feminine voice greeted him kindly. Getting out of his stupor, Zeke eyed his companion who joined him in gazing out over the endless ocean. ''You've been standing here for hours, not even bothering to get anything to eat. Are you thinking about tomorrow?'' she questioned curiously. Her eyes were filled with a kindness rarely seen, yet they did nothing to hide her slyness, like a completely transparent veil covering her face. Her beautiful black hair hung undone around her, accentuating her natural beauty. Indeed, Pieck was naturally very beautiful, however, her feral instincts allowed her to be completely merciless in combat. As the wielder of the cart titan, it was peculiar seeing Pieck outside of her titan, since she could stay inside of it for months on end, and that is what she preferred to do.

As such, it was even more peculiar seeing her stand upright. Usually, she'd walk around on all fours because she found that more natural. Still, Zeke had always considered Pieck his right hand. They complimented each other's strengths perfectly and they made each other's weaknesses practically non-existent. Naturally, it was obvious he'd choose her to come along with him on this critical mission.

''I'm thinking about tomorrow, yes,'' Zeke answered honestly, breathing in deeply and then letting out a profound sigh. Tomorrow they'd dock at Paradis island, which hopefully meant the final phase of his plan was about to start. ''I'm just wondering how Marcel, Annie, Reiner, and Bertolt are doing.'' He liked the kids, so he hoped they had been doing well.

''They're cunning little things,'' Pieck reassured him. ''I wouldn't be surprised if they've killed off a lot of Devils already. Breaching wall Maria means all the mindless titans have a free pass inside their first line of defense. Marley taught us that most Devils live within wall Maria. So, I'm sure they've located the Coordinate by now, maybe even already come up with a plan to take it.'' Her voice was steadfast with not a speck of uncertainty. She had full confidence they'd get the founding titan soon so the war the neighboring countries were waging on them would end.

''I have no doubts about that,'' Zeke lied through his teeth. His silver tongue was unbreakable, hence Pieck believed everything he said. ''They are a remarkable bunch, hence why they've proven themselves worthy in inheriting a titan power. What worries me is that we haven't heard anything from them.''

Pieck perked a brow in astonishment. ''That is what's been keeping you musing, Zeke?'' She shook her head. ''Honestly, sometimes you surprise me.'' When Zeke gave her a silent plea to elaborate, she did so enthusiastically. ''They are on an island full of devils and titans. Do you think they can afford to give themselves away so carelessly like that? Moreover, you forget the promise King Fritz made when he withdrew to Paradis island. ''Heed my warning, for whomever tries to disturb my Paradise shall feel the wrath of a million titans flattening the earth underneath their feet.'' If they'd been caught, surely the Fritz family would've retaliated by now.''

Pieck's reasoning was pretty solid, Zeke knew. However, he also knew that the Will of the King was a little different than what was taught in Marley. The few times he'd been able to talk to the Tybur family, which had conspired alongside king Fritz, he'd heard that the Will of the King also accepted any punishment Marley would inflict upon the Eldians. He wouldn't be surprised if Marley had decided to attack Paradis full out, nothing would have happened other than the destruction of all the Eldians on Paradis.

''You are right.'' He gave her a fake, but loving smile, ''I am probably worrying over nothing.'' Yet, Zeke couldn't shake off the feeling that something had gone terribly wrong. Maybe he really was nervous over nothing, but the feeling that he had to prepare for the worst persisted.

Pieck saw this too, and gave him an amused chuckle. ''Is that why you insisted on bringing along three ships and one-hundred of Marley's finest soldiers?'' she asked him playfully, elbowing him slightly. She could see the slight embarrassment appear on his face, yet he wasn't about to change his mind on the notion that it wasn't necessary. Even when Commander Magath asked him why he needed so much back-up, he assured him it was nothing but precautionary if they'd get attacked by enemy ships.

In reality, Zeke was deadly afraid they were going to receive some heavy opposition somehow. If he had full control over the situation, he would've brought along more soldiers, but Commander Magath refused simply because they needed these men to defend Marley. ''Yes,'' Zeke eventually assured Pieck, not changing his mind, ''and that's why I brought your battle armor along as well.''

Seeing that Zeke didn't want to talk about it further, Pieck let the matter rest, though she kept on wondering why he was being so cautious. Changing the subject, she pointed to the beautiful setting sun. ''Gorgeous, isn't it?'' she spoke idly, cupping her cheeks as she leaned on the railing of the ship. The wind made her hair blown in every direction while Zeke readjusted his glasses.

While it helped to calm him down, Zeke wasn't particularly fond of nature. Happy that Pieck didn't press on further, though, he nodded his head anyway. ''It's certainly a phenomenon. No wonder that we used to see it as a benevolent deity in the sky.'' Zeke stretched himself lazily, his hunger finally catching up to him as his stomach rumbled.

Pieck giggled while he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. ''You should probably come inside and eat something. I made sure there's plenty of leftovers for you,'' she stated sweetly, getting on her hands and feet to walk back. ''Well, Zeke? Are you coming?''

He sighed. He wanted to decline and ease the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach further, but Pieck just knew how to draw him in and convince him. Maybe it was her tone of voice, or maybe it was the sweet scent of food wafting in his nose. Either way, he let go of the railing to follow Pieck inside of the ship to get some much-needed nutrients inside of his body.

Eighteen months had passed a lot quicker than Eren thought. He could still remember vividly the briefing he had done with the generals and the diarchy like it was yesterday, and now, he was preparing his ambush for when Zeke and Pieck arrived.

Getting Paradis titan-free was pretty easy. After all, he had the founding titan and Dina at his side. Every mindless titan he came across was easily defeated by just ordering them to stay where they were. Then it was just a simple matter of his elite squad to finish them off.

Right now, he was sitting on the wall were his Eldian brethren had been turned into mindless titans by the Marleyan army, sentenced to wander Paradis island forever. It had hurt to kill them off as they were ultimately innocent people, but since there simply was no way to bring them back other than making them inherit a titan power, he had no other choice.

Staring out over the ocean in the general direction he knew Marley was located at, he breathed in deeply. A sense of nostalgia washed over him, recalling the time he stepped foot in the ocean for the very first time. Thinking back on it, he really couldn't fathom that after all he went through, he still had to fight off an entire nation and eventually, the whole world.

Luckily, it was only Marley at the moment and Eren really wanted to keep it that way. That's why the last six months were spent creating ships and potentially reaching the nation of Hizuru and in particular, the Azumabito family. While it started out rough, since nobody on Paradis had knowledge on building an oceangoing ship properly, four months in they finally had success. Since Eren knew where the nation was located at, he'd prepared a little test trip to see how the ship would hold.

He didn't travel the entire distance, because the nation of Hizuru was far away. It'd take at least three months to travel there and another three to get back, but on his findings from the few days he was on the open ocean with the ship, he concluded it'd be durable enough to make the round trip.

So, a month ago, a group of twelve Eldians had set sail towards Hizuru with their ship full of valuable resources easily found on Paradis to show they came in peace and had the offer of a potential alliance.

In that time frame, Eren had practiced his ambush with his team daily. He wanted to make quick work of the beast and the cart titan and not let it escalate in any capacity. The last thing he wanted was to lose one of his team members because of something stupid.

While he was idly rotating some smooth rocks in the palm of his hand that he had picked out of the ocean earlier, he could clearly hear footsteps approaching him. By the way the footsteps carried themselves, Eren knew it was no one other than Levi. He didn't bother turning around, just enjoying the comfortable warm breeze as humanity's strongest stood behind him.

''No ships of Marley yet?'' he commented idly, like he had done every day over the past two weeks. He'd find Eren looking out over the ocean for a few hours, before he'd return towards the camp that they'd set up not too far from their current location. At first, Levi didn't really bother with the fact why he did it, but eventually, his interest was piqued enough to come up to him and ask him that question.

''No ships yet,'' Eren replied. His answer was always the same, too.

Levi would just keep him company silently for about ten minutes. Afterward, he'd leave Eren alone again without another word. However, today something was different than the others, namely the rocks Eren was playing with. ''Ocean rocks, right?'' Levi couldn't help but ask him.

This time, Eren turned around so he could look into Levi's seemingly unimpressed eyes, yet he could see his curiosity burning underneath as well. ''That's right, they are. What gave it away?'' he asked.

Levi pointed at how smoothly they moved in Eren's hand. ''Because they are perfectly round,'' he stated matter-of-factly. ''You'd see that in river beds too.''

''Yes, only these ones form a lot quicker because of the added salt. I like that, personally; the sea removing all the roughness, creating perfect harmony.'' As Eren said this, he threw the rocks away, making Levi perk his brow.

''Why did you do that?'' he asked neutrally. ''Didn't you just say that you liked those rocks?'' Levi cocked his head a little, but other than that, his expression didn't change whatsoever.

''I do like those rocks, but I can easily find hundreds of different ones, can't I? What should these two rocks matter to me specifically? Aren't they insignificant?'' he replied back to Levi, who shrugged his shoulders.

''I suppose you're right.'' He didn't say anything else afterward and continued to stare at the ocean right behind Eren.

''They're arriving tomorrow,'' Eren revealed, his voice now turning deadly serious. ''The sea has been rough all day, yet the wind hasn't changed at all. If I had to guess, it'll be three or four warships in total.''

For the first time, Levi was genuinely impressed. He had no idea Eren could predict that by just watching the sea, but apparently there was a good reason why he'd been sitting there staring at the horizon every single day without fail.

''We should probably head back to the camp then, and prepare,'' Levi suggested, not bothering to wait for Eren as he had already started walking back. Eren closed his eyes, breathing in deeply before exhaling and opening his eyes once more. He knew that tomorrow all hell would break loose around this part of the island. Slowly, he stood up, giving the ocean one last glance.

''I wonder…'' Eren thought deeply, putting his hands in his pockets, silently following behind Levi as the setting sun began to disappear underneath the horizon.

Paradis island was nothing like Zeke imagined it to be. He'd always thought it'd be a barren wasteland were titans roamed free everywhere, but from a distance, it actually looked pretty beautiful and peaceful. He could vaguely make out the wall Marley had built to protect themselves for any sudden titan attacks. They couldn't climb it even if they were twenty-meter class. ''So, that's where treacherous Eldians are sent to wander Utopia forever,'' Zeke thought in disgust, that uneasy feeling returning tenfold. It made his stomach feel iffy, his heartbeat speed up and his fists clench.

''Something is definitely not right,'' he concluded. He couldn't figure out what it was, but the feral instincts he inherited from the beast titan screamed at him to take action. ''Captain!'' he yelled from the main deck. ''How long before we reach Paradis?'' he questioned abrasively.

The captain gave him a signal that it was still about thirty minutes away. Muttering under his breath while his eyes turned sharp, he walked inside again where he knew he'd find Pieck. The young woman was currently resting on a chair, playing a game of cards against some officers, who were losing badly against her.

''You're definitely cheating!'' one of the officers spat, venom dripping from his lips. He wanted to strangle her so badly, yet Pieck only looked on with amusement twinkling in her eyes at his obvious annoyance.

''Or maybe you're just that bad at this game? Who knows? Either way, it's not nice accusing your opponent of cheating when you don't have any proof,'' she joked playfully.

The officer slammed his hands on the table aggressively, almost spilling his own drink as the cheap furniture rattled underneath the force. ''The fact you are a filthy devil is proof enough!'' he retaliated, hoping to provoke her. However, the only reaction he got out of her was a mocking pout that made his blood boil even further.

''Pieck!'' Zeke shouted urgently, grabbing her attention while she gave him a friendly wave.

''Oh, hi, Zeke! Are you here for a friendly match of cards against me as well?'' she questioned. His finicky movements made it abundantly clear to her that definitely wasn't the case, so when he'd uttered his next sentence, she became deadly serious.

''Get the soldiers prepared and make sure you're battle-ready before we've reached Paradis island,'' he commanded her, ignoring her question. ''I'll be going on ahead.'' Not bothering to wait for an answer, Zeke walked outside of the ship again. He made his way to the back of the ship until a voice stopped him.

''Zeke, hang on!'' Pieck yelled, running after him. ''What do you mean with going on ahead?'' For the first time, her eyes were filled with concern for him.

Zeke elaborated simply by pointing to the approaching island. ''Somethings is not right,'' he whispered to her. ''I don't know what it is, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. The beast titan has excellent swimming capabilities. I'll reach the island in less than five minutes from here and scout ahead.''

Pieck's breath caught in her throat. ''What do you expect to find on the island then? What has you so spooked that you're going out of your way to do this?'' she inquired him nervously.

Zeke had already climbed the railing in the meantime. He looked at Pieck with a seriousness that made her believe whatever was on that island, was going to give them heavy opposition. ''The enemy,'' he replied seriously before he let himself drop into the cool water.

He waited for a good while before shifting himself so as to not accidentally destroy one of the ships. When he did, thunder crackled from above and struck the ocean exactly where he was swimming. Flesh and connective tissue built up all around him and rapidly grew out to form his beastly appearance. He used his powerful and long arms to propel himself forwards in the water freestyle stroke, with the powerful splashes creating considerable waves all around him. He almost looked like a sea-monster, moving at the speed of a torpedo and easily overtaking his own ships. Of course, he swam around them in a wide arc, but still, from Pieck's point of view, it was an intimidating sight to behold.

Once she had shaken herself out of her stupor, she ran back inside of the ship again, barking out orders to prepare and get her battle-ready before they'd reached the island. While she could swim in her own titan just as well, the added weight of her battle armor made her sink like a stone. She had to improvise and shift on the front deck for her transformation, probably destroying most of the ship in the process. Ultimately, Zeke's instincts were never wrong, especially not since he was the beast titan.

''I just hope you know what you're doing, Zeke,'' Pieck thought, biting her lip as every officer and soldier alike was running around frantically to prepare.

At the same time, Zeke had almost reached the island already. He knew he could already touch the bottom if he wanted to, but his weight wouldn't allow him to move very well since he'd sink ankle-deep into the mud. Rather, he made a few extra strokes so when he stood up, the water just reached his knees. From here, he could easily look over the wall and far inside the mainland of Paradis.

He idly wondered if he'd be able to spot the walls all the way from here, but he quickly concluded that wasn't possible. Paradis island was actually very big. It'd probably take them around a day or two to reach the walls in their titan forms. Still, what he saw he didn't like one bit. ''Where are all the titans?'' he thought sharply, looking over the unblemished plains. He couldn't see a single one of them.

True, they might be all inside the walls since Marcel, Annie, Reiner and Bertolt had breached it, but the number of titans roaming Paradis should be well over one-hundred-thousand. He couldn't fathom that all of them would have walked randomly in the breach. Tentatively, he walked all the way out of the water, his large feet rumbling the earth underneath with every thundering step. He looked all around, but the only thing he could spot was the endless plains and the ocean stretching from the east coast and the west coast.

While he wanted to look around, his instincts screamed at him to stay exactly where he was. Usually, he'd ignore that, but today, he decided to listen. He hadn't prepared so carefully for nothing. Not yet spotting anything out of the ordinary except the absence of titans, he waited for his back-up to arrive.

When the ships had docked, Pieck joined him in her quadruped titan form. Her battle armor was strapped on, with four Marley soldiers operating the heavy machine guns on her back. ''All right, mind explaining to me now what we should be afraid of so much?'' she said, her titan voice producing a heavy rumble.

''You'll see,'' Zeke responded, reaching down to break off big parts of the wall with his powerful hands to use as ammo. ''Tell the officers to keep our one-hundred soldiers at the ready. I have a suspicion we're going to need them soon.''

Now feeling confident enough, the beast titan took a step forwards, kicking up dust everywhere. He was now officially on the mainland of Paradis. When nothing happened, he took another step forward and then stopped. He looked around critically, expecting something to happen. His instincts had never been more right.

A good distance away, two powerful yellow-hued thunderclaps struck the ground, indicating the shifting of two titans. Pieck immediately tensed as she joined Zeke's side. Through the smoke, they could see two pairs of very menacing yellow and blue eyes staring back at them, and they definitely weren't friendly. Once the cloud of smoke had cleared enough, two unfamiliar titans stared back at them that vaguely resembled the armored titan and the female titan in Zeke's mind.

''That's definitely not Reiner,'' Zeke muttered with a snarl, ''and not Annie either.'' He perked a brow as the female titan raised her arms. On top of her arms was a contraption that vaguely reminded him of a crossbow. That realization made Zeke mutter a yelp of surprise as she shot a bolt with deadly accuracy straight at his face. Even though the distance was considerable, Zeke barely had time to dodge the attack. His instincts and reflexes made him jerk back and to the left, causing the arrow to just whizz past him harmlessly. Zeke could feel the raw strength radiate from the attack as the bolt traveled further and dug itself into the ocean behind him, barely missing one of the ships.

''Zeke!'' Pieck cried out in worry. ''Are you all right?'' her concern was palpable even in her titan voice.

''I am, don't worry. Now stay close to me and be ready. If that arrow would've hit me, I would've been defeated in one blow,'' he warned her, his face turning into an angry snarl as he roared loudly. With a deadly accuracy that easily surpassed that of the titan shifter before him, he threw both of the big pieces of rock he had been handling towards the female titan. However, the armored titan at her side simply defended her by standing in the way of their trajectory. The rocks crashed potently against him and were pulverized into a blast of pebbles and dust upon contact with the shiny onyx scales of the titan, which in turn took absolutely no damage.

''Who are they?'' Pieck cried out, following Zeke's advice and staying close to him.

Zeke harrumphed, knowing he had no choice but to use his back-up now. ''The enemy,'' he said simply yet again.

Eren had cursed underneath his breath when he'd noticed the shifting of a titan somewhere on the ocean. They were all lying in position, expertly hidden and waiting for Zeke and Pieck to show up. However, the last thing that Eren had expected was for Zeke to shift and show up in his beast titan form. ''Did he feel something was off?'' he wondered to himself, eying the terrifying appearance of the beast titan as he looked all across the island.

Of course, Zeke couldn't see them, but the fact he didn't move further inland and patiently waited for Pieck to join him made Eren more nervous than he would've liked. He had hidden his teams in multiple areas. Connie and Sasha would be the lead attack. Jean would be back-up when necessary and thus was hidden separately.

Then, he had Levi's team under command of Erwin Smith himself. One team was led by Levi and consisted of Eld, Gunther, and Petra. The other was led by Erwin and consisted of Mikasa, Armin, and Oluo. If somehow that still wouldn't be enough, he still could shift himself and help out.

It was a solid plan and would be more than enough to overpower the beast and cart titans, however, the fact the beast titan wasn't doing anything yet made sweat drip from Eren's face. ''C'mon, Zeke. What are you afraid of? Move…'' Eren thought desperately. His prayers were left unanswered as instead, the ships managed to dock and joining the beast titan's side was the cart titan. However, the moment Eren saw her fully prepared for battle, he knew Zeke was somehow anticipating an ambush.

''How is it possible?'' he thought, annoyed that his half-brother apparently had a sixth sense. Maybe it was one of the beast titan's skills that he was unaware of. It did make sense, and if that was the case, Eren had no choice but to attack him while the ships remained docked, meaning Marley would definitely realize something was going on.

''It isn't optimal, but then again, no plan ever works out exactly the way how you want it to go. It's a good thing we rehearsed a few times for this exact scenario as well,'' he reasoned with himself. When the beast titan finally had made a few steps forward, he gave the signal for Connie and Sasha to shift. ''Let's see how you will answer to this,'' Eren thought confidently.

As expected, Zeke was at a loss for words the moment his head nearly got blown off by Sasha and his attack was simply blocked by letting it hit Connie's thick armor. ''Excellent. Even with their precautions, it seems this battle will be a breeze,'' Eren reasoned, calming himself down somewhat.

That was the case until about one-hundred Eldian prisoners appeared behind the beast titan.

And then, Zeke reared back and let out a thundering roar.

And that's it for this chapter, people! Did you like it, love it, hate it? A review would be appreciated! Next chapter the start of the battle against Zeke and Pieck! Hope to see you then! :3

~Syrup