The sound of Titans being crushed by Trost's giant sledge went silent…as snow began to stick. When the snow began to melt, the military announced that Wall Maria had been cleansed of Titans. By the time humanity began retiring the elevators of Trost and started work to pave the main road. The flowers were budding and the butterflies were dancing. Refugees were permitted roughly one year following the attack on Trost District. And so, six years after the Colossal Titan's first attack…the Scouts once again resumed expeditions past Wall Maria.

A raven-haired boy was one of those Scouts

"It's just like you thought Hange." Levi said. "The Titans inside Wall Maria were pretty much all of them. We thinned out the majority in just a single year."

"Well, thanks to you Lando and Mikasa it only took that long," Hange said. "Now let's head straight to your target as planned."

Lando rode on his horse Hachiman, the last year had been relaxing for him. Or well, the most relaxation you can get being a Scout. As he was riding Lando was making a map he started to do this every time the Scouts went out from Wall Maria and they had never been this far out before. And Lando found he liked making maps and it helped with how boring the rides are usually.

A red smoke flare went up in the sky.

"A Titan!" Jean said.

"One showed up huh? Be careful!" Connie said.

"Lando, Connie, Jean, Sasha!" Hange ordered. "Go check it out!"

"Yes!" Connie, Jean, and Sasha said.

Lando sighed Hange always loved to send him out when there was a Titan. Not Levi or Mikasa always him.

Lando rode towards the Titan and when he got to a hill overlooking the Titan, there it was with no legs, a huge torso, and arms so little that it couldn't move. There was a line in the ground from where it crawled but it seemed to be done for good, even its mouth was in the earth.

"It's not able to move?" Connie asked.

"With a body like that…it tried to crawl to the wall little by little?" Sasha asked.

"Someone go get Eren over here," Lando said.

"I'll get him," Connie said and rode off.

"Let's get a closer look," Lando told the others.

Lando, Jean, and Sasha got to the Titan up close and it didn't even try to eat them. It didn't move.

Eren eventually made his way over.

Eren looked at Lando who nodded his head and Eren nodded his back. Eren walked up to the Titan and put his hand on it.

"H-Hey!" Floch said.

"It was shipped to Paradis," Eren said. "It's a fellow patriot."

"Is that why it gave up?" Lando thought. "Would a Titan even give up?"

"Let's go. We're close." Eren said.

Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Connie, Jean, and Sasha rode off.

"Hey!" Floch said. "Is it okay to leave it here?! Shouldn't we kill it?!"

"Leave it," Lando said. "Eren said it was a patriot."

"Shit!" Floch said as we realized they were falling behind the rest of the Scouts.

"We'll catch up," Lando said.

The Scouts rode for a while and eventually, they got to what Eren called sand. Lando looked at the sand. It was weird, it seemed like rocks but were grinded into thick dust. The Scouts continued to travel through the sand, and they came up on a wall guarding something from the land.

"I'm sure of it," Eren said. "This is the place where Eldians were made into TItans. And… beyond that…"

The Scouts rode past the wall and there was a small pass right beside the wall that you could go up. When they did the ground turned from sand into grass and there was an Ledge, Lando got up there and he saw the ocean.

"It's so blue," Lando said to Levi.

"Well be careful we don't know if it's dangerous," Levi said.

"I'm not going to be the first one to get in there," Lando said. "Armin probably will."

The Scouts descended the overside and got down to the sand next to the water. Armin took his shoes and socks off and ran into where the waves came up onto the beach and felt the water. Connie, Jean, and Sasha followed him and started to mess around in the water. Connie splashed water onto Sasha.

"My eyes!" Sasha yelled, itching them.

"Damn, it's salty!" Jean said.

"Woohoo!" Hange said, running into the water. "Is this thing seriously all salt water?! Huh? What's that?"

Lando and Levi stood on the beach not moving towards the water.

"Hey, Hange!" Levi said. "It might be poisonous, so don't touch it."

Hange ignored Levi and picked up some special-looking rock.

"You can go in if you want," Levi told Lando.

Lando took a seat on the sand.

"I don't want to risk it," Lando said. "It could have lasting side effects."

Levi took a seat as well and watched the others have fun while they talked about the dangers touching the water could have and what might be in it.

"Look! I told you Eren! A salt lake so big that merchants could spend their whole lives and still not get all the salt. The stuff I talked about wasn't wrong after all! " Armin said.

"Yeah…It's so damn blue…" Eren said.

"Yeah. Look Eren! On the other side of the wall-" Armin was saying before getting cut off.

"There's a sea," Eren said. "On the other side of the sea…is freedom. That's what I always believed. But I was wrong. On the other side of the sea…are enemies. Every part of this is exactly how I saw it in my dad's memories."

Hange, Levi and Lando were listening in on Eren.

"Hey…" Eren said, pointing at the sea. "If we kill all our enemies…over there…will we finally… be free?"

Lando knew this, he figured since they found out about another civilization trying to kill everyone in paradis including his father. The Scouts would have to fight and kill them, all of them. Lando learned from Kenny that keeping an enemy alive is the worst thing you could do. It was Kenny's last lesson Lando learned from him, he kept Levi alive, and fighting Levi was how he died. Lando would do everything to ensure his father's safety even if it meant killing every Scout here.

Timeskip.

Lando sat down overlooking the water he watched as this big hunk of metal called a ship went across the water towards Paradis. When the ship got close Eren in Titan form rose above the water and lifted the ship, Eren walked with the ship to land and dropped it.

"Hello, friends from Marely!" Hange yelled to the ship. "Welcome to Paradis Island! I'm Hange, here to greet our special guests who've come so far across the sea! Now step this way and join us for some tea! By the way, we're already friends with this guest who arrived before you! Isn't that right, Nicolo?!"

Levi held a sword to Nicolo's back stabbing him a little already.

"Captain! Forget about me and shoot these devils!" Nicolo screamed.

"What are you saying, Nicolo?!" Hange asked.

"Captain!" Nicolo yelled.

"He's tired of your shitty skit," Levi said.

"Nicolo!" The captain yelled back. "Understand this, you devils! Marely doesn't mingle with filthy blood!" The captain raised his rifle at them. "Go drink your pig piss with your filthy friends!"

"Aww! Hey! You sure you wanna be rude to us?!" Hange yelled back. "Can't you see the Titan behind you?!"

The soldiers turned around and saw Eren's Titan standing over them.

"We'll never yield to you devils! Say hello to this!" The captain said.

Lando rushed forward and pushed Nicolo in front of everyone so he would take the bullet, the more Lando came in contact with Marley the more he thought they needed to be wiped out.

There would never be peace between them

One of the soldiers on the boat pulled out their gun and shot the captain in the head before he could shoot.

"Hands up, Yelena!" One of the soldiers said, aiming his pistol at her.

"Drop your weapon," Yelena said as other soldiers disarmed soldiers.

"What the hell is going on?" Lando said.

"Seems like a munity." Levi said.

"Hange, I'd be happy to accept your invitation," Yelena said, taking off her helmet. "Let's have tea."

Hange and the soldiers who mutinied decided to have a meeting after tents were set up for them.

Later that night Lando and the rest of Levi Squad sat on the rocks overlooking the Marelyans.

"That huge lady of theirs shot and killed her comrades," Connie said. "Wonder what her goal is."

"Who knows? Whether friend or foe, she's not to be trusted." Jean said.

"No napping, Sasha," Mikasa said, waking her up.

"But their willingness to share information is unbelievably lucky for us," Armin said.

"Yeah, we've been really lucky," Eren spoke up, "We stopped their landing by pure chance. If Marley comes in force, we'll be screwed. We've gotta do something."

"What will we do?" Lando asked.

"You will know when the time comes," Eren told him.

The rest of Levi Squad looked at them not knowing what to say. There had been a drift between Levi Squad, Eren, and Lando who were hellbent on eliminating Marley and the others.

Lando realized that if Paradis was to ever win a war against Marely they would have to strike first and surprise them. It was clear that Marley was more advanced than them when it came to technology, and it seemed they wanted all of them dead.

The next day Hange took a report to the military commanders to discuss what was said between Yelena and her.

Hange explained to them how Zeke sent Yelena and the Anti-Marelyan volunteers to help free Eldia.

"That concludes Zeke Yaeger's requests," Hange said. "For the sake of all Eldians whose existence is threatened- "

"Absurd! I don't want to hear it!" Someone said,

"He's the Beast Titan! He turned the people of Ragako into Titans and incited a panic! This is the same person who nearly annihilated the Scouts!" Another pointed out.

"His one and only goal is to retake the Founding Titan." One of Historia's closest advisors said. "Since he can't do it by force, he'll attempt to do it diplomatically."

"He'll know we'll expect that. Let's hear what he has to say." Pixis said.

"According to Zeke, he has a secret plan to solve the Eldian issue," Hange said. "To carry it out, he requires the Founding Titan and a Titan with royal blood. With both, the world can be saved. However, he will only reveal the plan when his conditions are met."

"He must think we're idiots!" A captain said.

Eren stood up slowly and put his hands on the wooden desk to support himself.

"He's telling the truth. I remember…The one time I was able to use the Founding Titan's power was when I touched the Titan with royal blood. That Titan had to be my father's other wife, Dina Fritz. Zeke, Dina's son, must have figured out a way to elude the vow renouncing war. The one single hope remaining for us Eldians: To wake the millions of Titans sleeping in the walls and activate the rumbling. "

"You…" Levi said. "Why did you keep quiet about this for so long?"

"I was concerned for Historia's safety," Eren said. "I couldn't let her get made into a Titan based on some hunch of mine. Yeah, it was careless of me."

"Well talk about it later," Levi said.

"But if that's really true, Zeke's secret plan holds up. "

"Are you nuts?! You trust them?!" A captain asked.

"Yeah! We can't have all those soldiers on the island!" Another captain said.

"We oughta hand them all!" A Military Police captain said.

"No, we can't do that," Hange said. "To protect the island from Marely's scout ships, we need volunteers."

Timeskip.

Lando and the Scouts were back by the seaport and with the help of the new Anti-Marelyan who used some type of communication called wireless radio lured the new ships. The ships got past the rocks and with no way out Armin rose above the water in his Titan form. The ships flipped over with the waves, and Lando watched as the soldiers swam to the shore. One soldier climbed all the way up the rocks when he got to the top he saw one man with a pistol pointed at his head kneeling and another standing next to him.

"Welcome to the filthy island of filthy devils. You're gonna love it here." Levi said.

"As long as you like pig piss," Lando added.

"You can leave it if you want, but not on a ship. Are you good at swimming?" Levi asked.

Timeskip

It had been a few weeks since the new Anti-Marelyan volunteers arrived and they began helping with Paradis's infrastructure. Even making some Marelyan food for them.

Lando looked at the food and it all looked weird and very colorful. Lando was especially scared of the big red thing with claws.

"What the hell is this food?" Jean asked.

"Smells fishy," Mikasa said.

"You've never had seafood? Nicolo's a master of Marelyian cooking." Yelena said.

Lando hadn't said a word to Nicolo after pushing him forward to take that bullet. Nobody knew he was an ally.

"Jerks," Nicolo said. "If you don't like it, don't eat. Eldians like you don't-"

Sasha grabbed the big red thing and took a bite out of it while yelling.

"So good!" Sasha said, scarfing food into her mouth. "Nicolo you're a food genius." Sasha was now crying.

"S-Stop eating like a pig!" Nicolo said.

"I've never had anything like this!" Sasha said.

"There's plenty so take your time," Nicolo said.

Lando didn't eat the food he caught the part Nicolo said about how Eldians like us don't deserve it, even if he didn't finish the sentence. Lando decided to walk away.

"Hey!" Yelena said to him as he walked away.

Lando turned around.

"Hm?"

"You are leaving without trying the food?" Yelena asked.

"I guess," Lando said.

'Who are you by the way?" She asked.

"Lando."

"Well nice to meet you," Yelena said.

"You too,"

" I can't make you stay but I would recommend you do, this food is something you have never tasted," Yelena said.

"I wish I could but I have something to do."

"We'll good luck with whatever that is," Yelena said.

Lando nodded his head and walked away, he would wait to see what Eren did with them since he knew the future.

Timeskip

Lando was with Eren practicing their marksmanship when Mikasa and Armin came over.

"The port will be finished soon!" Armin said. "Thanks to the Marelyan engineers building it's been quick."

"They've sure been cooperative," Mikasa said.

Eren shot his rifle.

"It went bad at first since neither side trusted the other. But given enough time, if we set aside our labels and see each other as people, we can understand each other." Armin said.

"Armin. Have you seen Berthold's memories?" Eren asked.

"Huh?" Armin said. "Yeah, but there's nothing that seems helpful."

"There's not much time. Zeke has less than three years left." Eren said.

"Yeah, about that…" Armin said. "Do we really have to go along with Yelena's plan?"

"What's the problem?" Mikasa asked.

"Is using the rumbling to threaten the world the only way to protect Eldians? When we will be the devils that terrorize the world. Before it comes to that, can't we talk? If we can fix Marley and the world's misconception…"

"Misconception? What misconception?" Eren asked.

"You know, like how we're scary," Armin said.

"The world sees us as monsters who can turn into Titans. They're not wrong." Eren said.

"They're Marleyans who like us, too," Mikasa said.

"And many more who want nothing more than to wipe us out," Lando spoke up after being quiet.

"Most of the Marelyans are sitting in prison cells," Eren added.

"But given enough time…" Mikasa said.

"Yeah. We need time." Armin said.

"That's right. And to buy us that time, we've gotta keep them at bay." Eren said.

"Do you both really believe that?" Armin asked.

"Yes." They both said.

Timeskip

Connie, Jean, and Lando were hammering away in the hot sun on the railroad that they were building. Ever since the Marelyans showed Eldians trains the possibilities were too tempting and they built one right away.

"Hey! Is this…something…they really need us… to do?!" Connie asked.

"Nope! We wouldn't be doing this, but that idiot opened their mouth." Jean said, referring to Eren. "We can develop the island and our muscles," Jean said, mocking Eren. "My ass."

"We can't do much but wait for Hizuru's answer anyways." Connie said.

Lando remembered when Hizruru's first envoy came to Paradis about a week ago. The Anit-Marelyan volunteers had been there for a year and finished the port. The Scouts with Eren showed up and they lined up across from each other.

"Eren, I haven't seen you since you lifted our ship a whole year ago," Yelena said. "I'm honored to work with you."

"No you won't be working together," Levi said getting in front of Eren. "You're lucky enough to see his face."

"Plenty enough for me," Yelena said. "Today will be a joyous day! The port is complete and we're welcoming our first outside visitor. From Paradis Island's sole friendly nation, Hiruzu- Special Envoy, Kiyomi Azumbito."

Kiyo really wanted to see Mikasa but Lando didn't see what happened, he wasn't needed there. He had to ask his Dad about what happened. Kiyo showed Mikasa a crest, and Mikasa had the crest on her wrist and after Mikasa told the story of her mother Kiyo started to cry, and apparently, Mikasa was lost descendent of Hiruzu and the nation's leader she was the hope of Hiruzu.

Lando was then forced to attend a meeting with Kiyo and the rest of the military because she wanted all of the Ackermanns there.

"Zeke Yaeger said if we cooperate with him, our nation may just helm an industry that restores it to its former glory. And yet, he hasn't even prospected your reserves. But a resource like that in this age of modernization would be worth its weight in jewels and treasure." Kiyo said.

"Looks like they're after money." Lando thought. "Of course, they would be why would they make the trip if they didn't gain anything from it?"

"And? What exactly is the arrangement you have with Zeke Yaeger?" Historia asked.

"As you know, Zeke Yaeger has a secret plan in mind. To achieve it, Hiruzu's cooperation is needed. Here are his three points to protect Paradis with the rumbling. The first is a test run of the rumbling to release a sample of its power and show the world its devastation. Next is Hizuru's cooperation. Your military must be strengthened until use of the rumbling isn't necessary. Lastly, the Founding Titan and a Titan with royal blood must be passed down. That's the third point. Zeke will pass the Beast Titan down to someone of royal blood. Until their 13-year term ends, they must bear as many kids as possible." Kiyo explained.

"Very well. I will inherit the Beast Titan." Historia said. "As long as the rumbling is tied to our survival."

The room was silent for a little bit until Eren stood up.

"After years of getting trampled on now we've gotta breed like livestock? If that's the price of getting to live, Zeke Jaeger can take his damn plan and shove it!" Eren said. "It's too dangerous to gamble on having the rumbling. We need to explore what other options are available to us."

Back to the railroad.

"Yeah. And I hope they can be our mediator to the world." We're grasping at straws here trying to avoid the rumbling and save Historia." Jean said.

"Yeah," Connie said.

Lando wasn't actually mad with Zeke's plan; it meant that he and his father would be able to live in peace in their lifetime.

"Hey!" A voice yelled out to everyone.

"Hange." Lando thought.

"Man, you're all working hard in this heat!" Hange said.

"Yeah, well, we're stuck watching this idiot," Jean said.

"Unbelievable. You're all growing up so damn big." Levi said. "Especially you."

"Must be mom's side of the family," Lando said.

"Or Kenny's," Levi said.

"Kenny was like six feet right?" Lando asked.

"A couple inches above that," Levi said.

"When you're a Scout, being smaller is usually an advantage," Lando said.

"Stop trying to make me feel better," Levi said.

Lando was a couple of inches taller than Levi now, but he was still one of the smaller Scouts.

"Is it about Hiruzu?" Eren asked Hange.

"The Azumabitos sent their reply," Hange said.

"And?" Eren asked.

"No good. Looks like we can't turn to Hizuru." Hange said.

Paradis was on their own.

"It seems they want to monopolize Paradis Island's resources. They won't help us trade with others. The world wants Paradis Island to be the root of all evil. It helps unite all nations and brings stability to the world." Hange explained.

"So, we've got no choice but to rely on the rumbling and sacrifice Historia," Eren said.

"That's right," Levi said.

"You're kidding! They decided we're devils without knowing our intentions? Why won't they consider a path to peace?" Armin asked.

"I think…because they don't know. They fear us because they don't know who we are." Mikasa said.

"That's right. They won't trust people whose faces they have never seen." Hange said. "So let's meet 'em! If you don't understand something, go figure it out! Isn't that what we Scouts do?"

Lando didn't agree, did Hange really think that meeting them would change anything? What would stop them from killing them on the spot besides Eren and Armin's Titans? And if we did meet diplomatically there was too much history between Paradis and all the other nations for peace to ever be an option. What they needed was a show of force that scared everyone, unless every nation decided to go to war.

"What if it doesn't work?" Lando asked his Dad.

"We don't know we would probably go from there," Levi said.

"So we don't have a plan if it backfires?" Lando thought.

"Are you sure this is the best course of action?" Lando asked.

"I'm not sure myself," Levi said.

Timeskip

Levi Squad was riding in a makeshift cart on the train tracks they built.

"Make a base in Marely and infiltrate, huh?" Jean said.

"Hange sure has a plan for everything," Sasha said. "I'll be able to chow down on real Marelyan cuisine!"

"Yeah? What should I bring? It would stink to get the runs." Connie said.

"Stomach medicine, toothbrush, a taste of home…" Sasha said.

"Did you even hear Hange's plan?" Mikasa asked.

"If the world knows that we want peace, maybe something will change," Armin said.

The cart was silent for a few minutes.

"If only we had more time," Eren said. "I've just got over five years left. We're gonna have to decide who inherits my Titan soon."

"I will," Mikasa said.

"Not you. We still don't know what the Ackermans are." Jean said. "So that also excludes Lando. And won't it hurt any plans with Hizuru if you become a Titan? No, for so many reasons"

"Then who will?" Mikasa asked.

"Me. First of all, I'm way smarter than Eren." Jean said. "Instead of a suicidal maniac, you'll have a gifted leader who shows good judgment in all situations. In other words, me. I hate getting an Eren hand-me-down but who better than me?"

"Someone that amazing we don't wanna lose in 13 years, moron," Connie said.

"Huh?!" Jean asked.

"You should aim to become a regiment leader," Connie said. "I'll inherit Eren's Titan. It works out good, right?"

"Connie…" Eren said.

"That's not good at all. You're an idiot." Sasha said.

"Don't eh me. We can't leave such an important role up to an idiot." Sasha said.

"Eh?" Connie asked.

"How about Lando?" Sasha asked.

"What about him being an Ackerman?" Jean asked.

"We can test it on him," Sasha said. "And he is probably the best one out of all of us to inherit it."

"I guess.." Jean said.

"I don't want to do it," Lando said. "I would be more valuable outside of a Titan."

"Can't argue with that," Connie said.

Lando had a long life ahead of him, not a 13-year death sentence.

"Doggone it…I'll inherit it…" Sasha said. "I've got combat experience…I'm someone you could trust…By process of elimination, it's gotta be me."

"You guys…" Eren said.

"I dun wanna. I sure dun wanna though." Sasha said.

"Wait huh? Isn't that weird?" Connie asked.

"What?" Sasha said.

"Well, you know…You said an idiot's not fit for the role." Connie said.

"Hmmm?" Sasha asked.

"You're more an idiot than I am so you're contradicting yourself," Connie said.

"Huh?" Sasha asked.

"Huh..?" Connie said.

"I don't want any of you to inherit it," Eren said.

"Why not?" Jean asked.

"Because you're important to me. More than anything else." Eren said. "So I want you to have long lives."

The cart was silent.

"Huh?!" Jean said looking at Eren who's cheeks were red. "What are you turning red for?! The hell kinda mood is this?!"

Now everyone was red except Lando. It was nice that somebody other than his dad cared for him but he still had his goal for him and his dad to live in peace.

"Sorry," Eren said.

"Jean, it's the sunset," Armin said. "It's making our faces red."

"Oh. nothing we can do about the sun." Jean said.

Lando took out his journal and started to draw, nobody had anything else to say.

End of Chapter 50.

I know there is a lot of skipping but it was necessary or there would be a lot of time skips in later chapters. This Chapter is also kinda slow, sorry for that.