"No. No no no…" Jean mumbled under his breath; a taut fist wrapped around a clump of his hair. "That's not possible."
Historia jumped from her chair and hurried over to Connie, patting his shoulder lightly as he puked into a trashcan near the door, although her face was nearly as green as his. The rest of Armin's people were still rooted to the spot, wrestling with the panic that had engulfed them all in a matter of seconds.
Mikasa, whose complexion had lost all its color, crumpled onto the floor next to Armin in a heap.
"Eren… the Rumbling… everything we had to go through, and all the people we lost…"
Levi's teeth were clenched together, and his words came out as a hiss as his palms came down hard on the table in anger. "Everything we have ever done, and every sacrifice our people have made along the way has been for nothing if another one of those god damn creatures exist."
Arya, who had collapsed into the seat next to him, reached out and placed her hand over his in an almost absent-minded way. A gesture that at any other point in time would have raised more than a few eyebrows, but in this one it almost seemed a necessity: a lifeline to keep them from spiraling into a void of darkness that they were all teetering on the edge of. Levi flipped his hand over and intertwined their fingers fiercely; a gentle hum of energy rolling off the pair and enveloping the room in a sense of frantic calm that stayed their decent into madness, if only for a moment.
Concerned chatter had erupted from the members of the Veritas military, who didn't seem to take notice of the strange interaction going on at the other end of the room, and President Wohl was floundering under the heft of this grand reveal, letting out a tiny laugh two octaves higher than his regular one.
"My dear Armin, this simply cannot be the truth! It is a well-known fact that in the last moments of Eren Jaeger's life he banished the titans and their powers from the face of the earth; something you and your whole team were there to witness! Titans don't exist anymore, so your conclusion must be false."
"I did say you would come to regret your choice of words, sir." Armin replied as he hoisted Mikasa from the ground and ushered her back into her chair. "And I'm afraid it's more complicated than that. I doubt even Eren understood the true nature behind titan power, all-seeing as he was."
The members of Armin's team had gathered around the table again, unknowingly feeding off the subtle electricity that was issuing from Levi and Arya, allowing it to center themselves once more, albeit uneasily. Returning to their seats, Jean clapped his hands together tightly and fixed Armin with a determined glare.
"Okay brainiac, you better start explaining this, because right now it's looking a lot like two thousand years of a fucking moot point."
His words were hurried, and it was silently agreed upon that any kind of discussion or rationalization to this insanity was preferable to the alternative option: letting their fear tear them apart until they had no other choice but to take a long walk off a short pier.
"Right." He said, going back to his stack of documents for reference. "Well, what really got me considering the possibility of another source to the titan's power was the colossal we found outside Cardend. Trust me when I say that I also believed that titans were gone, but the existence of that colossal contradicted everything we thought we knew. If Eren destroyed all the titans, why was that specific one still there? The only explanation I could come up with at the time was because it was underground, but that didn't make sense either."
"If Eren's influence hadn't been able to penetrate the ground, I'd still be stuck inside a block of crystal in the Jaegerist's basement." Annie mused, breaking the silence she had been maintaining from the start of the meeting. "So, what are your theories?"
"In all honesty I'm still not sure why Eren wasn't able to blast that one away the same as he did for the rest. The only reason I can think of is that the person it had been before turning wasn't Eldian."
One of President Wohl's generals interjected; a grumpy older man whose grey hair sat in tangles on the top of his head regarded Armin with a look of frustration on his face.
"The Marlyean government tried for years to find a way to transfer titan abilities from the Eldians to our own men but failed at every turn. If there was any way to do what you just suggested, the last 100 years would have gone much differently."
Armin dipped his head respectably. "Like I said, it was only a theory; a weak one at that. There's no way to know why that titan didn't meet the same fate as all the others, but whatever did keep it anchored in our world is what led me to believe that something of titan ecology had survived.
Which brings me back to the Eldian race, because that's what all this was about, right? The Founder's obedience to all her descendants throughout history. This connection was why every Eldian had the potential of being turned into a titan or the ability to take on one of the Nine. The capacity for this was passed down through our bloodline, which was why we were able to be influenced by Eren and the titan organism."
There was a sharp intake of breath across the table from where Armin sat, and they all turned to look questioningly at Oz, whose mouth had fallen open in surprise.
"But…" He began, comprehension taking shape in his eyes as he regarded Armin in shock. "If there is another Founding titan organism out there somewhere, that begs to reason there is an actual source behind the evolution of titans. Which means… which means that the only influence Eren and Ymir would have had was removing Eldian power specifically, not titan ecology as a whole."
"Exactly!" Armin leaned forward enthusiastically; the two nearly smiling at one another in satisfaction as the rest of the room considered this implication.
"That explains it!" Historia said suddenly. "Why the Jaegerist Council was so desperate to stop Ymira from leaving the island."
"How does that figure in?" Pieck asked curiously.
"Well, I doubt the Council had a real plan for Ymira." Armin said, nodding along to Historia's claim thoughtfully. "But we did give them as much information as we could during our peace conference. General Loren isn't stupid, and the concept of titan power still existing after all this time isn't a new one; he could have easily come to believe that since Eren didn't pass on his titans before he died, they may have been "reborn" in his daughter, though it's pretty clear that that didn't happen."
"But Armin, if the Jaegerist's find out about the second organism-"
"Then yes, it's safe to assume they would force Ymira to take on the Founder, so that Eren's spirit could live on to provide them with the retribution they think they deserve." Armin concluded, and Historia's response was shrill.
"We can't let that happen! I won't let them turn my daughter into a vessel for their hatred!"
"It won't, Historia." Mikasa said, her expression dark and certain. "We will get her back before they can even dream about it."
Once again, they were all faced with the how of that precise problem: how were they going to get Ymira back safely when the entire island was armed to the teeth and waiting for them? No one believed that "the third times the charm" when it came to going back to Paradis.
"Here's an idea:" Pieck piped up. "We tell them about the other Founder."
This comment was met with aghast faces, but Gabi quickly came to Pieck's aid.
"What she means is, instead of trying to infiltrate Paradis again when they are fully expecting us to go back for Ymira, we could leak information about the second organism. Edited, of course, but enough to tempt the Council into searching the mainland."
Pieck bobbed her head. "We've already figured that the Jaegerists have some kind of connection in Marly, and what Historia mentioned about foreign dignitaries raises even more red flags. Onyankopon is fairly certain the extremists involved in Levi's capture were working in tandem with the Council after Darcy's escape; somehow pass them some half truths about a made-up location and bam! Ymira is ours."
Before Historia could answer, Reiner gave the two women a harsh look.
"We have no idea if that would even work, and we would be putting Ymira in way too much danger, even if the Jaegerists are intent on keeping her alive. It's too risky."
"It's not just risky… it's a gamble." Armin said quietly.
Levi looked at him sharply; that all too familiar word in an all too familiar tone bouncing around their heads like a wayward thought caught in the wind. It always came down to a gamble, didn't it.
"A kind of gamble we can't afford." He continued, looking between Pieck and Gabi, then back to Historia. "There's never just one leak in situations like this. If our edited information can slip out whether we orchestrated it or not, then there's no way to guarantee that the truth is totally safe either. We would never ask Historia to put Ymira's life in that kind of danger, so I'm taking this completely off the table."
After a long moment of staring at her hands, Historia lifted her sights to the group.
"Do it."
"Historia…"
"Don't. I understand it's a gamble, but after what I saw in Mitras I'm certain that Loren's desire to keep Ymira alive for the sake of Eldia is strong enough to balance out the risks. The thought of putting my daughter in harm's way makes me sick to my stomach, but my belief in all our strengths outweighs how scared I am. I will gladly pay any price I must to get her back."
Armin was hesitant, but eventually dipped his head courteously. "I don't like it, but it's something to consider."
"Yeah, but that still doesn't help us with the real issue here, and that's this supposed second Founder! If we don't do something about it, then aren't we running the risk of watching history repeat itself with a whole new generation of titans?" Jeans brows were furrowed, the magnitude of their situation evident in his voice as he gazed around the table. "It's pretty likely that we can intercept the Jaegerists in their search for the tree and rescue Ymira, but who's to say that these exact same events aren't going to happen in another 2000 years when someone else stumbles on the Founder?"
The silence that followed Jean's question was a heavy one; the occupants of the room fearfully mulling over the implications their discovery had on the future of mankind. He was right, or course: The Founder Ymir had stumbled upon the tree by sheer chance all those years ago, so wasn't it just as possible that somewhere down the line another would meet the same fate as she did, repeating the steps of the past in some god forsaken loop to once more bring Titan wrath down upon the world?
This knowledge was like a ticking time bomb for humanity; some unpredictable moment in time that would spell the end of everything they had fought so hard to achieve, and potentially offering up a new wave of darkness to their already crippled world. Perhaps this was simply the fate of man; destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again until the only thing that was left was rubble and blood. Who was to say this wasn't the fate that was meant for them?
"We are."
All eyes snapped to Levi, who had fixed Armin with a fiery stare; their fearful mutterings falling silent in the wake of his steely proclamation. His expression had changed dramatically, shifting from boiling anger and grief to one of blazing triumph, as if this this exchange was the break they had been waiting for.
"I can't pretend that any of this is good news: too many of our comrades have given their lives in a war that just doesn't seem to want to end, and it makes me wonder… if they had known the truth, would they still have been so eager to dedicate their hearts? Would any of us have walked this same path if we knew it would lead us to this?"
The room was thick with memory; all the lost souls taken by the ruthlessness of the world could be felt around them: Erwin, Sasha, Hange … Eren. Everyone who ever stood up in arms for a cause so much bigger than themselves, determined to carry their people forward and into a life worth living.
"It is my belief that they would." Levi continued. "And so are we. If there is ever going to come a day where we can finally put their mission to rest, that time is now. If there is indeed a source behind our fucking nightmare, then we will do what we have always done and put an end to it: and this time it sure as hell better be for good, because I'm getting way too old for saving the world."
The energy within the room gave a sudden lurch as Levi locked eyes with Arya, whose expression had changed into one of courageous resolve at his words, a hysteric grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. Their hands atop the table tightened and the force of their conviction rolled over their companions, stirring the air and filling them with a sense of determination stronger than any they had felt before.
Arya looked back to Armin, who was regarding her with a sense of wonder.
"I think it goes without saying that there's never been a room of people more capable of pulling this off than the one we're in right now. You're the Heroes of Humanity, after all: Warriors of Marly and carriers of the Nine titans, Earth's two most powerful soldiers, a certified genius who carries the weight of the future in his hands and some of the world's most seasoned veterans. The lot of you have faced more terrible things in your lifetime than all of humanity combined; what's one more?"
She swept her gaze around the room at her friends and the atmosphere around them changed: like the windows had suddenly been thrust open, light pouring in around them and offering up a fragile sense of hope. Her certainty in the people that sat around her was so familiar in its intensity, and for a moment it felt as though they had gone back in time to another place altogether, with a different person filling their hearts with strength and courage.
"Fate has asked so much from you already, that demanding you do it all over again is nothing short of insanity. Every one of you deserves to live the life you fought so hard to achieve, but so does the rest of humanity; if we leave this unchecked, future generations will be left to clean up our mistakes, just as we are. So, there's really only one thing left to do: find the location of the titan's power source and destroy it. That's the only way we can finally put two thousand years of death and pain to rest, while still honoring the sacrifices our people have made. There will be no more fear of titans lingering in the back of our minds and plaguing our every waking moment. We will truly be free from it, once and for all.
Because if there's one thing you have all taught me in the last six years, it's this: the only way to be free is to try… and the only way to live is to fight."