Usurper
Eren seethed with anger as he bore witness to the life and memories of the Founder, Ymir Fritz; The girl who had been enslaved, mutilated and hunted. Only to end up as the First Titan, waging wars and wreaking destruction in the name of her master, the first King Fritz…all leading to her death, and the cannibalization of her body by her own daughters. And that resulted in a world ruled by the terror of the Titans for thousands of years.
He wanted to end it. End it all, this accursed world that King Fritz had created. But...
The memories of the future pulsed back to him. The rumbling, the final battle with his friends and...Mikasa's choice.
All had been leading to this. The Founder and the Attack Titan made past, present, and future becoming as one. Creating a path with no hope of deviation or altering. He searched, desperately for a way out until he found he could only go with the flow of this wretched fate. No way to make peace with a hateful world, no way to escape the thirteen year curse and no way to save Sasha.
Yet, here at the precipice, he felt something. Something he hadn't felt in years; Rage…true, genuine, wrathful, defiant rage. He seethed and boiled at his situation and the powerlessness he felt.
"I reject the world's desire...and yours as well, Ymir!" Eren cried out as he held her tight.
He felt her flinch, and the branches of the PATH groaned and pulsated with light at his declaration.
"Eren! What are you doing?!" Zeke yelled, running towards them frantically.
"You're no goddess, no slave. You're just a human. And I won't be your puppet!" Eren declared in her ear. "Whatever I do now, whatever future I carve, it will be of my own free will and nothing more!"
"Ymir! Remove the ability to reproduce from the Subjects of Ymir! Do it now!" Zeke tried to command, desperate as he felt his long sought goal slipping from him.
"You've waited two-thousand years and you guided me here," Eren said to the girl in his embrace, somehow both despising and sympathetic towards her all at once. "But I can't free you, Ymir. Neither can Mikasa. You have to do that yourself."
Ymir finally looked up to the Paths, her eyes wide with tears rushing down her face from an eternity of suffering.
"Ymir, I am-!" Zeke screamed, only to be launched back by a sudden force emitting from the pair.
A great screeching sound filled the sandy realm, Eren wincing as a blinding light emerged from the back of Ymir's neck. Something...lurched out from her body and, before Eren could react, sprung to the same spot on his neck.
The great tree of lights emitted a great howl as it groaned terribly while the event went on. The ancient spirit of the founder struggled in Eren's grip, but he did not let her go. It took Eren a moment to realize that Ymir, with no voice of her own, was screaming in pain and agony as the thing tore itself from her spine. Or, perhaps, her very soul.
Zeke looked on in confusion and horror, having no comprehensible guess for just what he was witnessing though the sand and wind. "Eren! What's going on!?"
Eren had no idea. For the first time in years, he had truly no idea what was happening or going to happen anymore. It was the greatest feeling he ever known. Perhaps, finally, this was Freedom.
Freedom from fate, from a future he couldn't change, from Ymir herself.
The light ended as the creature fully merged into Eren. A great shockwave erupted at the end, sending Ymir flying out of his arms like a ragdoll. She landed upon the sand, motionless, her eyes staring upwards with a blank and broken expression.
"I am sorry, Ymir," Eren said firmly as he glared at her. "But if someone threatens to take away my freedom, I won't hesitate to take away theirs."
She said nothing, lying in the sand, unresponsive to anything now. If this was the real world, he might have thought she was dead.
He glanced back at the shuffling of sand.
"Eren?" Zeke spoke up, drawing his half-brother's attention to his confused and uncertain expression. "I...I don't understand. What have you done? What happened to her?"
Eren paused, and in that moment, the blue shade of the Paths was replaced by an ominous tint of green. "I'm not sure, Zeke," he answered honestly, glancing back at the tree. "But I believe I just usurped the Founder, from Ymir herself."
"What? But how would..." Zeke began, realization kicking in quickly. "That thing that entered your spine. It's the true source of the Power of Titans!"
Eren nodded as he faced the Beast Titan user once more. "Ymir encountered it all those years ago when she lived. Best I can understand, it responded to my will to live and to not-"
Zeke scrunched his brow as Eren trailed off with a scowl. "But Eren, don't you see? This may be our only chance to end this terrible history! To end the power of the Titans with the Eldians!" Zeke said determinedly. "The world-"
"The world can screw itself," Eren stated dispassionately. "I won't sacrifice Paradis and its future. Not because I was brainwashed, not because of the desires of the Founder, and not even for revenge."
Zeke halted his argument at that admission. "Eren. The world will never forgive us. They will never accept us. Even if you remove the power of Titans from Eldians, the hatred for our ancestors has dug too deep."
"More than likely," Eren agreed with a frown. "Even if the power of the Titans had vanished before the walls were breached, I imagine the world would have come to wipe us out regardless."
"Then don't you understand?" Zeke implored. "It would be better if no more generations had to-"
"I've seen the world, Zeke. Not all of it, but enough," Eren interrupted firmly. "Even if the entirety of Eldians vanished from the Earth, it wouldn't change anything. People would still find something to fight and hate each other over. The end of Eldia doesn't solve the world's problems. It just makes them look for a new target."
Zeke said nothing to that, realizing that they were at an impasse.
"Now stop trying to convince me to sterilize our people. I actually have good news," Eren informed.
Zeke paused, wondering just what Eren qualified as good news. "I'm listening."
"Eldians can't turn into Titans anymore," Eren said bluntly.
"What? The founder can- how?" Zeke questioned skeptically.
"To use the analogy, it's like I can put a block in the paths of the Power of Titans. The only ones who still can transform, for now, are the Nine," Eren explained.
"And Karl Fritz never did this, why?" Zeke asked, his intellectual mind intrigued to say the least.
"The First King's Will," Eren said with some disgust. "He wished for his Titans to rule for eternity. So Ymir would keep creating them, his will overruling all others."
Zeke furrowed his brow. He supposed that made sense, or as much as it could. And that did neutralize the power of the Titans in theory. "...What about the Nine, when they die?"
"Hard to say for sure. No one has ever done this," Eren answered, scowling with a thoughtful hum.
"You don't need me anymore, do you?" Zeke asked grimly. "If you are effectively the Founder now, the royal blood is no longer a requirement."
"It was never a requirement, really," Eren answered with a scowl, glancing at Ymir's limp form. "It was her...obsession, I suppose."
Zeke raised an eyebrow but didn't press him. "Then why am I still here? Why haven't you begun your true plan?"
"I suppose I'm just enjoying the moment," Eren said as he glanced away and...
Zeke became bewildered at the genuine, peaceful smile on his brother's face. The first he had seen, ever, on the young man's face. "You're different, Eren, than you were just a few moments ago. What happened?" he asked, troubled yet, admittedly, still concerned. "One moment you made our father kill the royal family in the past and the next..."
"Do you know what the worst hell is for someone that craves and values Freedom, Zeke?" Eren asked tonelessly, glancing back at Ymir. "It's seeing the future and being powerless to change it."
Zeke paused, considering that for a moment. "And the future that Da-Grisha saw? The one he told me to stop?"
"I don't know. Not anymore," Eren admitted with a hum. "I suppose that depends on Marley and the rest of the world."
"What do you mean?" Zeke asked, a flash of panic running in his veins.
"What it always meant: I will defend Paradis," Eren said coldly.
"Earlier you said it wasn't for revenge. Then what, pray tell, is it for?" Zeke asked with a scowl. "Or did you come to desire the return of the Eldian Empire all on your own?"
"No. It's because we were born into this world, Zeke. And regardless of why, Marley and the world want to take away even that last freedom," Eren stated coolly.
"...If anyone takes away your freedom, you'll...," Zeke repeated in realization, eyes widening as a rather horrific understanding came to mind. "You're really going to do it, aren't you?"
"If I have to," Eren said before frowning. "But I'll give the world a chance."
"A chance?" Zeke pressed. "How?"
"That's no longer your concern," Eren said with finality. "We're done here."
"Wait, Eren-!"
Meanwhile
Gabi stared on in terror as a giant, glowing centipede-like creature emerged from the decapitated spine of Eren Yeager, latching onto the severed head in Zeke's head, pulling it back towards the body.
The entire battle froze as the entire island shook with terrible power. The walls of Shiganshina began to crumble, revealing the Colossal Titans that had long slumbered within them.
Everyone looked on in disbelief, and varying other emotions, as Eren Yeager arose once more, his face as determined as ever.
"He's alive...?" Gabi muttered in horror…Because she had been the one to shoot him. She killed Eren Yeager. She shot his head off, destroying the nape of his human body. He couldn't have survived that. No one, not even a shifter. So how- it didn't matter! She had to try again, shoot again! She had to-
He looked at her, as coldly and dispassionately as ever. Her breath hitched in her throat as she found her vision going dark. She stared down at her hands as it faded to blackness. Was she dead? Did Yeager just kill her with a look? No...no, she could still feel everything just fine. Her panicking heart, the rushing blood in her veins. She was alive, just...
Blind.
He blinded her, and with the deafening sound of thundering Titan feet, she might as well be deaf.
Eren turned his gaze away from Gabi, seeing Reiner still trying to get up, despite the punishment he had taken. Eren flexed his hand, and at once, the Armor Titan began to crumble away and dissolve. So, he could control even the remainder of the nine. Good, that made things simpler. He glanced back to Zeke's body. He was alive, but passed out. After fighting and regenerating so much in one day, Eren wasn't surprised. Still, he'd have to deal with him soon.
His head perked up as he felt a familiar presence, several in fact. He turned to see them: Jean, Connie, Armin and Mikasa. They were all staring at him with such lost expressions. Torn between anger, confusion, hope, relief, and so much else.
He breathed a deep sigh. They had...a lot to talk about. And as much as he'd like to use the din of the Rumbling as a reason to prolong this reprieve, moving forward was his usual tactic. Even in situations he didn't want.
'Hey, can you hear me?'
The four jerked in surprise at clearly hearing his voice over the noise, but not seeing his mouth move.
"How the fuck did he do that?!" Connie yelled at the others.
"I'll take that as a yes,' Eren answered, and found himself almost smirking in fondness. 'I'm using the power of the Founder so we can hear each other's thoughts. Easier than screaming our heads off.'
'I actually kind of feel like screaming at you some after everything, Eren,' Jean thought pointedly.
'I've earned that,' Eren admitted with a scowl. 'But this battle isn't done yet.'
'Wait, Eren!' Armin called out. 'What are you doing? You unhardened even Wall Maria!'
Eren didn't answer, glancing to the side. 'Shut up for a moment and just listen,' Eren instructed, just before Floch landed near Eren.
Floch tried to yell something at Eren, but the new Founder merely tapped the side of his head. "What?" Floch yelled in confusion.
'Can you hear me?' Eren responded through a new mental link, making it so the others could hear him and Floch, but Floch couldn't hear them.
Floch looked surprised only for an instant before regaining his calm. 'I thought you were marching with the Titans? Did the plan not work?' Floch asked in his mind.
'Plans changed, Floch,' Eren answered simply. 'Is the city cleared?'
'Almost all the enemies have been dealt with, but the Jaw and the Cart Titans are still at large with their commander,' Floch explained.
'The Jaw was devoured by another Titan. It'll be a blond boy that was with the brat that killed Sasha,' Eren answered.
'Right, her,' Floch muttered, glancing over to the girl, who was currently leaning against the side of a house while trying to stand. 'What is she...?'
'She's blind. Leave her be for now,' Eren instructed, glancing down at Zeke. 'Get him and Reiner in a cell. Underground, obviously. They shouldn't be able to transform, but best not take chances.'
'Shouldn't we just kill them now, have another Titan devour them?' Floch suggested with a raised eyebrow.
'I need to test something later. Which brings me to why the plan changed,' Eren continued, pausing to collect his thoughts in the simplest way possible. 'The simplest version is that I've obtained the full power over the Founder. I don't need anyone else to access it.'
Floch's eyes widened as he smiled in relief. 'That's wonderful! That means we don't need to worry about you losing contact with him.'
Eren nodded. 'Along with that, the thirteen year curse is no more.'
Floch didn't hear Mikasa inhaling deeply, but Eren did and struggled not to react. 'By the walls, what's next?' Floch thought in amazement.
'I'm giving the world a warning shot,' Eren explained, making Floch look surprised. 'The full Rumbling was mainly because of my time limit and requiring Zeke. I thought this would be my only chance to use this power. Now, time is on our side.'
Floch digested that for a moment before nodding. 'But you wouldn't need the entirety of the walls for just that, would you?'
Eren nodded. 'I only sent out those in Wall Maria. They'll destroy the fleet gathering near the island before flattening many ports around the world...and Northern Marley,' Eren concluded. 'We've been at war with Marley since Maria fell here years ago. The rest of the world has this one chance to back out of this, knowing we aren't bluffing about the Rumbling.'
Floch nodded firmly. 'I'll have the Armor and Beast dealt with, before continuing with the rest of the plan,' Floch stated, glancing to the group of four watching them. 'I'm guessing you need some privacy.'
'It'd be appreciated,' Eren acknowledged.
With that, Floch departed and the Colossal was no longer deafening from this range. Jean's eyes held a look of realization while Connie still just looked confused. Armin's were dimmed with horror, and Mikasa's were...wide with disbelief.
"Well," Eren said, physically, calling over the distance to them. "Questions?"
End of Chapter
Well, there you have it. Eren Usurped Ymir herself! I figured the Parasite would react to Eren's will and desire to live, thus choosing him over Ymir. And with the full power of the Founder, ERen is more inclined to do a partial Rumbling, his way though. So, Marley is partially fucked and the world gets a chance to back down.