Chapter 3
"You mean Mikasa and Armin are at the doorway of our house? How did they even find this place in the first place?" Eren asks with a slight panic.
"They obviously followed our children here. Today marks the 10th year since Mikasa beheaded you." Aya says. "Are you going to tell them the truth? Or are you going to keep hiding?"
"I am never ready to tell them the whole truth. After all, I did a lot of regretful things for them in the past. But all I can do is keep moving forward. Eren Yeager is already dead, I'm now Eren Kruger." Eren says.
"And just so you know, you still have all of us on your side. We are not going to let you be harmed by the others." Aya says.
After Eren comes to meet Mikasa and the others, they gasp as they can't believe who they're meeting, Mikasa asks, "Eren... is that really you?"
"My name is Eren, Eren Kruger." Eren decides to lie to them. "Is there something wrong that needs my treatment?"
"You can cut the act right now, Yeager." Jean says while grabbing his collar.
"W-what are you talking about? Do I even know you?" Eren still tries to play dumb, "If you're talking about the devil who saved Paradis, I'm not him..."
This causes them to freeze as they let go, Armin says, "I'm sorry about my friend, it's just... your voice and your face... it looks just like Eren Yeager..."
"I get that a lot from some of my patients." Eren replies. "But isn't he dead? I mean, he sacrificed himself for the island's safety. And if you're not here for treatment, I'm sorry that I need to go back and prepare dinner for my two children."
Just then Mikasa says, "Eren... why are you still trying to lie to us?"
"And how do you think I'm lying?" I ask.
"Isn't it obvious? Your ear is red! You are our Eren, right? Why are you still trying to push us away?" Mikasa asks. "Please, stop lying to us and tell us the truth..."
Eren sighs and knows that he can't continue to lie. "Fine. You're right. 10 years ago, I used to be the devil known as Eren Yeager. But the old Eren Yeager is dead and I'm now Eren Kruger."
"But how are you still alive? And why didn't you tell us everything?" Armin asks.
"Nobody should know that I'm still alive." Eren replies. "Not even you should know. I wish you forget that I'm still alive and leave me alone."
Then Eren turns to Aya and says, "Sorry about that, Aya. I need to continue cooking for my two children, so I'll give the whole explanation to you."
Aya nods as Eren goes back into the kitchen. Aya says, "Why don't you guys come in and sit?"
When the four of them sit at the sofas, Erich and Fay are now at Gloria's house since Eren wants them to avoid the conversation. Aya says, "Sorry about my husband. All of us who are living with him really want to forget the past after all."
"So you know that your husband is the devil who killed billions of people? And despite that, you still marry him and have two kids?" Annie asks.
"All we can do right now is keep moving forward. If you don't know, it was not just Eren, all of us were dead once, but revived after a few weeks from Founder Ymir." Aya says. "But now all of us decide to put down our guilt and hatred and all we want is to live a normal life in this part of the island."
And at the same time, Eren comes back with a plate of cookies and some tea. "Here are some cookies and tea."
Aya smiles and says, "Thanks. Eren." She picks a cookie while Eren decides to sit beside him. I say, "After you killed me, I thought that I was dead as well, but it turned out that Founder Ymir decided to rebuild my body before taking away the Titan powers. The next time I woke up, I found myself in the Reiss Farm. I asked Historia to help me keep a secret because nobody should know that I'm still alive."
"Indeed. If the people know you are still alive, the island is going to be doomed." Armin says.
Aya says, "Eren, didn't you say that you're going to cook?"
"I'm already finished." Eren says. "They're now in the oven."
He turns to the others and says, "Sorry about that. But I would rather like you to continue believing that I'm dead."
"How could we forget about you?" Armin asks. "You are still my best friend despite killing a lot of people... you were trying to make us heroes to save Paradis Island. After your death, I remembered the conversation that you had before."
"I see..." Eren says. Mikasa says, "Eren... I want to know, the words that you said back at the restaurant, none of those are true, right? You said that you hate me since we were little, it was not true, right?"
Eren frowns and says, "None of them is true, but I have no choice but to say it. You will never know how it feels to see future memories and is unable to stop them. It is a never-ending nightmare, and hard to forget and change."
He says, "For example, Sasha's death. Four years before that happened, I have seen it countless times, I was hoping for a different result to happen, but in the end, it still happened no matter how hard I try to change. That's why I was laughing at that time."
"We know... the queen told us about that... Connie... he wanted to apologize to you..." Jean says. "He knows how you feel after he killed Samuel and Daz that day..."
"But still, even if I didn't see the future memories, I will still do the Rumbling. Unless I know the island is safe, I won't stop it." Eren says in a cold voice. "All you know is that I attacked Liberio that day. But have you listened to what the speech was about that day?"
Eren takes out a piece of paper, and says, "Take a look. This is what Willy Tybur said during that speech."
They start to read the paper, and Aya turns to Eren. "Are you sure you're going to show them that, Eren?"
"They need to know why I was desperate." Eren replies.
Some 100 years ago, it was neither Helos nor the Tyburs who ended the Great Titan War. The one who ended the fighting and saved the world... was King Fritz. He anguished over the Eldian Empire's vicious history, tired from the endless infighting, and above all, he was pained by the endless oppression of Marley. When he inherited the Founding Titan, he schemed with the Tybur family and they fabricated a Marleyan hero. His name: Helos. The King moved as many Eldians as he could to the island and closed the gates. He claimed that if they were threatened, thousands of Titans would be unleashed as revenge. However, this was never his intention. King Fritz made a vow to renounce war so his ideology would be inherited. Because of this, Karl Fritz's ideology has been passed down, and the Titans have never left the island to attack. That is, the one keeping our world safe is the "vile" King of the walls... Karl Fritz, and his desire for peace. Peace was all he wanted. But if Marley grew strong and came to take the Founding Titan or his life, he would accept it. He believed the sins of the Eldians were so grave, they could never be atoned for. "However, until that day of retribution, let me savor a brief paradise, free of conflict within the walls. That is all I ask of you." That was his last request.
In exchange for our safety, the Tybur family joined hands with Karl Fritz and sold out the Eldians to Marley. We're no more than traitors lavishing in crookedly earned honor. The reason that I stand here and willingly part with this sham is that I know our world is in great peril. Using the power of the Founding Titan, Karl Fritz erected three walls. These walls, formed by tens of millions of Colossal Titans, have served as a shield and spear, safeguarding peace. But recently, an uprising took place on Paradis Island. King Fritz's peace was undermined by a person who stole the Founding Titan. Once again, there's a threat to our world... a rebel against peace! His name: Eren Yaeger! The threat of Paradis Island is the stampede of millions of Colossal Titans... a rumbling. As I mentioned, the vow to renounce war prevents the King's bloodline from fully using the Founding Titan. But currently, this "Eren Yaeger" who possesses the Founding Titan may begin this rumbling at any moment. Once the rumbling is set into motion, there is nothing that we can do. Nothing but tremble at the footsteps of doom, fleeing in vain. All lands and civilizations will be trampled, literally razed to the ground.
I cursed the blood I was born with. More than anyone, I wished the Eldians were wiped out. But I do not wish to die. And that is because I was born into this world. We are people of different races and nations! However, it is time to join as one and face this dreadful enemy! Lend me your strength, those of you who wish to live! Those of you who wish for a future! If we work together, we can overcome any obstacle in our way! I want you to join me in the fight against the devils of Paradis Island! Here and now, as representative of the Marleyan government, I proclaim to the enemy forces of Paradis a declaration of war!
After finishing reading the speech, Eren says, "Even if I didn't do the Rumbling, this is bound to happen because none of us were able to convince the other nations about our peace-talking."
"So I was right this whole time. Marley are a bunch of liars..." Annie growls.
"But how did you have this paper?" Armin asks.
"I was there when the speech happened. And it was during the last paragraph that I was surrounded by Marley soldiers. I had no choice but to transform if I wanted to get out of that place safely. You told me that I killed civilians and children back then, I had no choice but to do it because I do not wish to die back then." I say.
"Eren... I want to apologize..." Mikasa says. "After Historia told me everything, I realized that I never realized how you feel... none of us have realized how you feel..."
Eren sighs and says, "Aya, bring the kids back for dinner. I think it is time for us to bid farewell to our guests."
Aya nods as she leaves, and Eren says, "It is already too late for anything. I already did the Rumbling and killed billions of people because of it. Back then, I did beg you for coming up with another plan, but all of you decided to either sacrifice Historia or try to feed me into another Titan to make it easier to control. I may not hate you since we were little, but that doesn't mean I didn't hate you all back then."
This causes everyone to widen their eyes. Armin asks, "Eren... you don't seriously mean that, right?"
"I also hate myself for not being able to save the whole island without the power of the Rumbling." Eren says. "And now that I'm not a Titan anymore. I don't need to shoulder the burden of the island's safety. All I want is to spend the rest of my life with my true friends and my family."
"But we're still your friend..." Mikasa tries to reason, but Eren says, "And why do you still want to be my friend? You still can't forgive me for trampling all of the people outside of the island. You still wish that I'm dead so that your peace-talkings will be easier. And deep down inside, you might want to sacrifice me for humanity's future. Try to prove me wrong right now if you want to be friend."
The four of them say nothing, and Armin says, "You might be right... but if we continue to hate each other, then when will the conflict end? And we promise you that we won't tell anyone about it."
Mikasa says, "We'll come back tomorrow, and please don't go too far away from us as usual."
"It's your freedom to come after all." Eren says, and the four of them decide to leave. It is at the same time, Erich and Fay are back. Erich asks, "Papa! What is for dinner?"
"I manage to make your favorites." Eren says to them with a smile, something that Mikasa and Armin haven't seen for a lot of years.
"Eren seems to be much happier when he spends time with his own family and his new friends..." Armin frowns. "But are you sure you're going to continue coming tomorrow?"
"Of course. I will keep on trying until Eren finally opens up to us." Mikasa says.
"Yeah, we still need more answers from him after all." Jean says. "As for this speech, what are we going to do with it?"
"We'll bring it back to Marley." Annie says as they leave the place.
Here is a new chapter, and as you can see, Eren decides to reveal everything from his heart to the others. I hope you like this chapter.
