The footsteps that trembled the earth ceased.
From an atmospheric point of view, all that could've been seen in the vast majority of the territorial world was scorched red land contrasted by the vast blue oceans that hugged the purged earth.
The counterattack of mankind had failed, this earth was now for the race of titans that called that blood-soaked island home.
A couple of hours ago, the greatest battle this planet has ever witnessed took place in the soil and in the clouds. A clash of the heaven and earth for the fate of this hell.
From a higher power's perspective, or really any observer that could see beyond the reality of this world, that battle was a great dilemma. A collision of ideals and truths like the few versus the many on a planetary scale and the refusal of both sides to accept fate with open arms.
The combatant devils, all but one, betrayed their blood and kin for the sake of humanity as a whole. Two millenary enemies, Eldia and Marley saw the last remnants of their forces become comrades to attempt to stop the evil according to their view.
Such a poetic way to face extinction, the global alliance did not suppress their hatred and their nature, such a thing was simply not possible for anyone of the human species. Not before Ymir's power was discovered, not after.
Nevertheless, the Marleyans and the noble traitors ignored and swallowed their hypocrisy. For they had a last war to win, together as allies this time.
They tried, they really gave everything they had in them to concoct a last stand, a saving use to the power of the titans that had been used to inflict terror and darkness for millenia.
This, they thought, would be humanity's finest and brightest hour, and with hope, not its last.
Unfortunately for them, they did not win.
The reluctant heroes lost their edge and forgot the life they led, and one by one they were slain by the founder.
Humanity's strongest soldier from the walls fought valiantly, but his injuries took the toll on him and he was no more after the fighting spirit of Eren Kruger took him down mid-flight.
The cart titan was brutally dismembered by a group of past holders of the Beast and Female, once exposed, the woman was effortlessly killed.
The current holder of the female titan who was carried by none other than her own wishes was killed by the founder himself in a form of personal vengeance for his old squadron's demise at her hands.
The children from Liberio, the great man from Trost that should have been named commander of the Reconnaissance Legion, the boy from Ragako that dreamed of being a good soldier and carried the weight of backstabbing his former comrades and friends on his conscience, they all died heroic deaths of resistance, but vain ones.
But a man remained standing, albeit broken by his sins that his armor couldn't protect him from. Reiner Braun was the brightest flame in this dark abyss the world was plunging into.
He fought, not as Marley's shield, but as a warrior. Fighting for survival, fighting for existence. Fighting for himself.
He faced a group of three attack titans from centuries ago and came up ahead. He was tortured by his past, he thought to himself that he was no different than these three monsters from the past that sought freedom from their own personal cages and brought domination and suffering upon others instead. Nonetheless he kept going at it, he kept fighting.
In his charge he was met with the past form of Tom Ksaver, his former comrade's surrogate dad whom he inherited the beast from. Doctor Ksaver as an intellectual thought of himself as useless in the fray but his juggernaut form of bighorn sheep proved to be a fine weapon.
Because even though he was nothing more than a puppet instructed by the founder to kill, the weight of nihilism and worthlessness Doctor Ksaver displayed during lifetime was fuel to the ram against Reiner. It was a bizarre sight, as if the corpse actually smelled Reiner's turmoil and was livid that his adversary fought for himself.
And so it was, an advocate of a euthanization crusade that would put down all Eldians like dogs in pain for the sake of the world, in a bizarre directive to escort the founder's march and burrow the world's hate. It made no sense, he just saw the Armored titan and sensed its struggle, that was all that 'Ksaver' could know. An enemy.
Reiner stood guard in the same stance his old friend and enemy Eren had taken him down many times before and waited for the incoming charge.
When the ram lunged at Reiner, he jumped to the right and with great ability locked Ksaver in a step overhead hold. It appeared to be working, Reiner could hear some of the beast's ribs cracking and the arm in his hold giving in.
However filled with battle fever and his undeniable strength and devotion to carry on, Reiner was never the most capable at combat. Neither was Ksaver for that matter, but what he had of intellect he used up close and personal, so Reiner's advantage was gone when a trident picked up from a fallen warhammer impaled his shoulder.
The bighorn titan stood up, albeit with difficulty and moved his arm in circles because of the damage. Still, he charged one more time at Reiner and this time the head on impact landed and shattered part of the armor's biological cuirass and sent him flying.
The once shield of Marley stood again, with difficulty, but regained his posture defiantly. Ksaver's ghost could absolutely not take the insolence and struggle, and it showed. The titan moved its right hoove in a pawing the ground manner and letting out angry bellowing sounds.
When it charged at full speed with the intent of finishing Reiner off, the alive man quickly changed his stance to grab the beast by the horns and withstand the force of its push. The pressure was numbing for Reiner, even inside a Titan he felt as if he was tasked with carrying the sky, but none of that was in his head at the moment.
Fight…
Images of his mother, his marleyan father, Zeke Jaeger, Captain Magath, Marcel Galliard, Marco Bott's final moments, Ymir and Historia Reiss, Bertholdt Hoover and Annie Leonhart sitting around a fireplace, the rest of the guys from the 104th, Falco Grice and Gabi Braun smiling all flashed and disappeared just as fast from his view.
Fight.
The view of Shiganshina after he shattered the inner gate of wall Maria. The laughter of his comrades. The desperate screams of a mother witnessing her children get devoured by titans after his deeds. The admiring smile of a child witnessing his return when he returned from the Middle East.
FIGHT!
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
With a mighty roar that could shake mountains he harnessed all his strength and ripped tha horns from the head of Ksaver's ghost. Quickly making use of the beast's confusion he inserted both of the horns in its throat, killing it instantly.
The armored titan was battered and broken, but the sight of it was one thing the world who witnessed it would never forget, even when the age of titans comes to an end. Reiner Braun's monster standing triumphant and crying screams of liberation.
This, was the sight of a free man.
His roars were the catharsis he always needed, the one he always longed for. It may be so that no one was left here to see it, but he was there, himself. He was free at last.
Then he thought of Eren, his friend, his equal.
He turned around to see the founding titan only to find its head downcast and lifeless, instead an old acquaintance let itself be seen. The Attack Titan's green eyes were staring directly at him and approaching.
Reiner knew he had no strength left to possibly make a decent fight for Eren, but what mattered in this world anymore?
They roared at each other and charged with fists facing the other.
Reiner suddenly jolted up in his human body. He wasn't wearing his dirty Marleyan military coat, but a comfortable white shirt. His Eldian armband was visible, but he wasn't wearing it.
In a paramo of white sand that had a massive tree of light what could be assumed to be the center they stood. The figure who was holding his armband in its hands stared at Reiner in the eyes but said nothing and ripped it apart.
"Hello Reiner."
"...Eren."
"Why are we in the paths? What happened?" He asked the wild boy from Shiganshina that failed to master the ODM gear in his first two tries back in their cadet days.
"Your life is currently leaving your body out there. I sent us here for your final moments."
"...I see, so you beat me again huh?"
Eren's face could not hold the small smirk his lips made. "Teaching me how to fight, biggest mistake of your life I believe I told you once."
Reiner sighed and accepted his demise, he was at peace.
"Don't worry, we got time." Eren said in a tone he had not heard in years.
"Time for what?"
"To talk."
He looked up and saw Eren's emerald eyes, he had never seen him like this. Eren's persona even during their green days was that of struggle, of passion and fury. He then saw him lifeless and resigned to the events that elapsed in the past few months.
Now he looked like an old man staring at the dawn. His eyes were still tired but tranquil. With hundreds of stories to tell and experiences that he will take with him to the grave.
"Why did you do this Eren, y'know, the rumbling?"
Eren blinked and sighed a deep breath.
"I did it for me."
While Reiner was flabbergasted, he couldn't say he did not get it. He doesn't know how, but he understood what Eren meant. It was unexplainable to themselves or to anyone, more so considering this was mass genocide that was being done for the sake of one.
But that is what this couple of devils do. They kept moving forward, even if the world stood in their way, because the world made damn sure it did. So no matter if the weight of their sins would crush their backs for eternity, it was a price worth paying.
They were free, both of them. And they were probably born this way.
Eren once more approached Reiner who was sitting in the sand and reached his hand to him, helping him up.
The two friends shook their hands and gave each other an embrace of closure, it was over.
"Farewell Eren."
"See you soon Reiner."
Reiner Braun's eyes closed, both in the paths of the subject of Ymir as well as in the earthly plain.
Before Eren even returned his conscience back to the world, an explosion of great dimensions blew away the face of the founding Titan, but did not manage to kill the holder inside its mouth.
The only Colossal still moving had ceased to exist in an attempt of taking himself and the founder out in a same concentrated explosion.
Eren saw it from the paths, as he also sensed the soul of his best friend enter it.
A pained expression was painted in his face, but alas, what was done was done. And oh God, at last it was done.
He returned to the world and exited the head of the founder, sitting atop it as the great skeleton fell to the ground and started releasing steam.
There was no humid rainforest or glacier or shore in his view, but this was what he wanted. Albeit alone and with so, so much blood on his hands, this was what he wanted to achieve.
It was not only about Eldia's future or avenging his mother.
True, he had seen the future of the Island had he stopped mid-rumbling. And it was that of fiery doom from the sky.
He had seen the future of the island had he opted not to activate the rumbling at all, and it was that of bondage and oppression. With a hungry and mechanized world using their hatred as an excuse to pounce on Paradis' resources.
He had seen the killers of his mother in death, and made peace with them.
The real factor that led him to this sight, of scorched earth and haunting silence, was that this was not supposed to take place.
Armin, and Reiner and the rest were not supposed to die today, he was. Eldia's future was that of the annihilation he foresaw because that was what was meant to happen. Every choice and every turn of events pointed towards a future that would entail him surrendering his dream and betraying himself.
But the thing about having the power of a God, no matter how much is at play and how much is inherited from a line that's whispering your brain to do its bidding, at the moment of truth, you can choose to do whatever the fuck you want.
The freedom and survival of those in the Island and more importantly, of his unborn child and Queen were a glorious added bonus.
He was happy that his home was not subject to entropy and that the only people waiting for him to return would live. But what made him smile again for the first time in what felt like 2,000 years was that he managed to not be a puppet of destiny.
Let the earth know that the one who committed this horrible atrocity was Eren Jaeger. Son of Grisha and Carla, a son of Eldia, but most importantly out of all, a free man.
Eren sat for hours at the top of the slowly evaporating head of the monster, contemplating life. He had no idea what to do with the four years remaining he had, and killing himself was out of the question.
Suddenly, the body of the founder Ymir materialized beside him, her blonde hair flowing with the wind. She was looking at him with teary eyes, but said nothing, and then Eren realized she couldn't.
He closed his eyes to test if he could and tried to manifest something.
Suddenly the girl's eyes widened and she panicked as steam started coming out of her mouth, but Eren held her shoulders to sooth her.
"It's okay, it's okay. You're good."
The girl was still alarmed but nodded and let the process of her tongue regenerating take place.
"A–"
She gaped like a fish and managed to out mono-syllable sounds, after all. Two millennia without the ability to speak would make it a challenge for anyone if they suddenly got it back.
After a few moments she managed to utter a coarse "Danke."
Then Eren remembered again, with two millennia of difference, language is prone to change, he understood ancient Eldian, of course he did if he had the memories of every single Eldian to exist for centuries, but truth be told he just liked the dialect he grew up speaking better. He touched her forehead again and instantly taught her how the tongue she had once spoken, that of the subjects of Ymir had evolved.
"Th-thank you Eren." she smiled, causing Eren to respond in kind.
"No problem kiddo, any day."
She giggled at the quip, but soon her expression turned somber.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Eren asked, noticing how sad the founder looked. A total contrast of that burst of rage and fight he had seen from her when they started the march that ended her bondage.
"To take action was beautiful, but it felt more cathartic than liberating. After all, that is the one thing I actually did that was dictated by my free will and it was the last. My time is finally up."
"What? No! Ymir, you can finally live again. Live the life and future that Fritz stole from you!"
"I'd like that, I'd really like it. But I'm afraid I'll have to leave shortly, I'm not in this world anymore." She smiled bitterly
"Hey, what part of 'I have the power of the titans, paths and I can basically do what I want' is not clear? You don't have to leave! It's a new world, yours to see entirely. Come on!"
Eren offered with a hopeful tone to his words.
Ymir shook her head. "It does have limits, Eren. Try bringing Carla Jaeger or Eren Kruger back from the dead and you'll find that we can manifest here with you and see what you see. But we are not here."
Eren's joyful expression fell, the young founder had almost read his mind as he did think of bringing his mother back from the grave.
"I am tied to you until you die, hopefully whoever comes after you never grows aware of this power and we can all rest. A pity that even in a world reborn, endless children will die at thirteen years just by coincidence, and if one comes to know of this curse it can all happen again."
Ymir's worries were growing heavier by the moment and Eren's face turned into horror.
No. No. No, no, no. That cannot happen. All those deaths, everything that happened cannot be for it to just repeat itself.
"TWO THOUSAND YEARS EREN. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH PAIN I FELT SEEING THE ONLY GOOD THING THAT CAME FROM BEING RAPED BY THAT MONSTER, MY DAUGHTERS DIE JUST THIRTEEN YEARS AFTER THEY WERE CURSED?! AND THEN EVERY DESCENDANT AFTER THEM BE CURSED AND INFLICT SO MUCH DEATH UPON EVERYONE?"
It looked like Ymir's mental breakdown and sobs were going to be left unheard but Eren once again decided that fate was not going to fuck with them and embraced her like a father would.
"WHAT IF IT DIES WITH ME?!"
"-!" Ymir felt his strong arms bring her back to her senses and try to reassure her.
"What if I make it me! The curse is gone now or in four years. I die, it goes with me! Can it be done?!"
"I-I don't know.."
"We have to try! The cycle cannot repeat itself!"
Eren brought them to the plain of the paths holding her hand and thought of what to look for but Ymir was ready. She started to mold sand with her hands, urging him to help. They had to make one titan and it might just work.
They worked in rushing a pure, run-of the mill titan. And when they finished it Eren felt a ripple through his very being. He was tied to this thing he knew was attached to all titans but he had never seen it personally.
A bright blue creature that resembled a living spine inspected the sand figure. It probably noticed that there was no host attached to this sand and hesitated, and that was just the window they needed.
Eren had also never turned inside the paths, but he had to. He bit his hand hard and the attack titan appeared. He who fights through the ages for freedom lunged at the devilish worm.
The thing was taken by complete surprise and intended to struggle, but Eren was not here for a fight. He was here to end the bloodshed. He grabbed it with his two titan hands and a strong grip… and bit off the head of the worm.
Eren had eaten people before, he tried not to think of the taste and it usually worked. But the Titan tasted whatever this thing was and so did he. It tasted absolutely revolting and it had a gelatinous consistency, but he chewed and swallowed nonetheless.
Ymir awaited anxiously at the sight, that disgusting thing had turned her miserable and painful life into a never-ending hell. Now she had to wait and see what would happen after it was gone.
And something did happen, the tree of the coordinate where all Eldian lives converge, it started disintegrating.
Ymir was baffled, she initially hated that damn tree, but she became numb to it with the years. Now she was shedding tears of content and respite.
She fell to her knees and grabbed a handful of sand only to see it fade, it really has ended. But in her joy she did not notice Eren out of his titan body, writhing in pain.
"Eren!" She ran to him.
The man had steam coming out of his back and shoulders. Ymir ripped his shirt to see what was happening to him, and the sight was not pretty.
Eren had a large luminescent mark on his back, the coordinate literally marked itself in him.
As Eren opened his eyes they appeared back in the earthly dimension, ending the existence of the paths dimension.
Eren had stripes of light below his eyes where titan transformation marks would usually go.
They were gradually going away, but it was clear that something else had inserted itself into him. The paths were the place that transcended physical space, now it was Eren.
Ymir was horrified at such a fate, but the man joked about it. "Freedom at a cost am I right?"
"Eren, what did you do to yourself? If I had known you would become the physical coordinate I wouldn't have let you do it. Now your four years will be nothing but pain and that thing trying to take over you."
"Hey it's fine. It 's gone. No one can become a Titan anymore, no one will. Only I could titanize others, but now I can't. I sealed it. I can't even become one myself anymore! No titans roam this world no more Ymir." He smiled.
"But-"
"And best of all, the curse of the thirteen years is gone as well. I have all the time in the world or until I catch a bullet to live."
Ymir could not believe it. It seemed to be too good to be true.
"What was the cost then?"
"I wonder that too, Eren." A third voice interrupted their conversation.
Technically only Eren could see it, but since Ymir was being manifested through the same way, they both turned to see the vision of Armin Arlert.
Hello there. I had been sitting on half of this since like, mid-July but today in my school's library I decided to finish it with whatever came out.
I've known the premise of this fic for a while now, let us hope I can update at least periodically and carry Eren to a peaceful existence, free at last.
While the topic is out, feel free to check out my Floch-Sasha centric fic: 'Hunting for our freedom'.
Edit 28th of November: I edited it a bit and polished Ymir and Eren's conversation a little, felt too simple before.