Attack On Titan Changes (last chapter coming soon!)

by Creative Tree

Telling this story has been a true healing process, my own personal therapy. Thank you for sticking around and reading it to the end! -Tree. This fan fiction takes AoT into a completely new direction throughout time. Introducing new characters and reintroducing forgotten storylines, Changes brings up new mysteries in a search to solve old ones. "I'll see you in 2000 years!"

24. Chapter Twenty: Fight! -5 of 5-

Paradise

Ymir flew high across the sky, as her family watched her from down below. She looked down, planning her next steps as she hovered above that farm. There were quite a few Wall Titans near the region and Pure Titans as well. Regular ones, that is, made by the newborn Founding Titan; beyond the other grotesque Pure Titans that were in the farm, the ones created by the newest devilish curse. Ymir could also see many cracks forming across the island, that was extremely visible from up above. The island was slowly sinking. But Ymir didn't care very much about that, at least not in that moment. The goddess tilted her head, she only had her father, uncle and grandfather to fight so she could get to her brother. And that seemed quite doable to her, quite frankly. She flew down, gaining speed, turning towards the villages nearby. She did a few laps around the area, growling loudly, calling some of her children and they quickly abided. The Pure Titans near that region swiftly came running her away, and so did a few Wall Titans. Ymir then rushed over towards the farm. When she suddenly heard and felt a couple explosions near her.

Ymir looked up to see those dozen war airships flying high above her and bombing the area. She rolled her eyes and flew higher, taking down the two that were bombing down below. Destroying the others which were further behind would be an extra nuisance and she could soon have her minions do that. So Ymir concentrated on that farm again, all she needed was to reach Ezra.

The tiny newborn was crying loudly in his mother's arms, all that noise was frightening him and his mother's intensive heartbeat was also unnerving to the young soul. Historia tried to calm him down, but she was extremely nervous herself, which didn't exactly help. The Queen was trapped in that crystal formation and the world seemed to be falling apart outside of it.

The four men were stunned as they watched that sea of Titans coming their way. The Beast Titan walked forward with his extra confidence, and began to throw rocks towards the new invaders. Eren and Grisha were more concerned with the two Wall Titans already so near the farm, both considering how to fight those giant things. "You should take her out of here, son," Grisha's Titan said, knowing the Queen and her baby were Ymir's targets. And the War-Hammer-Attack Titan looked down, reflective. 'To where?' Eren thought. The entire island was being wrecked away. Levi was flying across the broken crystal pillars, still dealing with a few of the undead Titans - as most of them had been pinned into the ground by the Yeager Shifters. The situation was a mess and it became worse as the goddess came back, bringing some of her children with her. She flew straight towards Eren once again as the two Wall Titans followed closer behind.

Zeke was suddenly quite interested in taking on one of those creatures, so the Beast Titan rushed ahead and climbed onto the first one that arrived; and swiftly yanked out its giant nape with his crystallised fingers. He then made sure to control the giant's fall, so it wouldn't ruin any of the construction nearby. The small monsters that Ymir was bringing with her were not of the undead kind, but they would also be an extra challenge for the group. And she was hoping to use them as a distraction, so she could reach Ezra without any of the Yeagers getting in her way. She passed by her father's Titan and her grandfather's Titan in high velocity, trying to cut their necks with her sharp wings, but she was unsuccessful as they both swiftly moved away. She was still able to pierce through Eren's Titan's arm though, as he wasn't as fast as Grisha when moving out of the way and he used his arms to defend himself.

Ymir flew high up once again, taking another lap across the farm and eyeing the small newborn. The smallish Pure Titans soon arrived and began to attack the Yeagers. Those the Ackermann could kill with ease, and he started to do so. Levi was relieved to see them disintegrate; instead of rising again like those undead ones who were all now pinned into the ground with the shards of crystal left from the pillars Eren had built. The second Wall Titan was still rushing their way when it was suddenly defeated and began to fall down. The giant creature fell near the farm and Levi looked up, stunned and incredulous. Commander Hange stood on top of the giant's nape with her ODM swords raised as the creature disintegrated.

"Those are harder to kill. Their napes are certainly much deeper," she commented with the Captain, Hange kneeled down, analysing her fallen beast. "But they are fascinating," she added, stroking the creature.

Levi flew towards her. "You're alive?!" he let out, still stunned.

Hange laughed, standing up again. She put her swords away. "I woke up cooking," the veteran joked, her hair still wet with the Titan's fluids. "So I had to cut my way out. That's one experience I will never forget."

"You hit your head, are you ok to fight?" he questioned. "You were unconscious for hours."

Hange walked closer to him, among all that disintegrating Titan flesh. She gently held the wound in his arm and he looked down. "Come with me," the Commander said. She looked towards the Shifters. "Let them deal with the Titans, we have more pressing concerns."

The Commander then flew away from the Wall Titan she had just killed and Levi followed behind. Hange landed towards the wreckage of the orphanage's kitchen and walked around while looking at her wristwatch. It was covered in Titan fluid but it still worked, it marked two in the afternoon. Hange knew that it had been a few hours since the kids were trapped underground by the bombs. And she knew they had been in that basement for even longer.

"The people down there-" she began to speak and Levi soon interjected.

"We can't get them out now, they'll just become Titan food," the Ackermann warned.

"Yes, but they need oxygen. We need to make sure they have a way to breathe down there," the Commander noted. "And we need a way to communicate with them. I'm assuming some of the orphanage staff is down there, but I also assume it's mostly children."

Hange looked around the rubble. "Help me find a pipe," she asked the Captain and Levi began to help her search.

"So, the War-Hammer-looking one, that is clearly Eren," the Commander noted as they walked around the rubble. "And the Beast Titan is Zeke. Who is the other one?" she questioned while looking towards the Shifters as they fought the mindless Titans.

Levi only shrugged while lifting up some wreckage. "Beats me," he let out.

Hange then looked up to the sky. "I thought she would be bigger," the Commander commented, about Ymir, remembering seeing the goddess flying in the sky the day before. "Why are those pinned to the ground?" she then asked while noticing the grotesque Titans trying to free themselves from the crystal spikes.

"Will this one work?" Levi asked, bringing a metal pipe to her and changing the topic.

"Let's try," Hange replied and a bomb suddenly fell near the farm.

They both turned to see the Marlean airships coming closer.

The Ackermann grunted. "More trouble," he let out.

"Let's hope they help, rather than make things worse," the Commander added and sighed.

As the Yeagers were swarmed by the Pure Titans, trying relentlessly to fight them off, Ymir took a dive towards Historia and the baby. She landed firmly on the ground and began to walk towards the small tree. One of the airships then dropped a bomb their way and Ymir quickly spread her wings widely, shielding her mother and her brother. Historia's eyes met hers for a moment and the Queen felt deeply conflicted. The mother hadn't the faintest clue of what exactly this Titan wanted with her, but she had felt a deep connection to it from the beginning. Staring into its eyes gave her a cold feeling in her entrails, an inexplicable need to take care and protect that creature, just as she was taking care and protecting her son. Ymir took the full blast of that explosion on her back, and it severely impaired her wings, but she soon began to regenerate.

Eren's Titan grunted loudly at the airships. He was deeply annoyed as the Marleans were creating yet another problem. This was a family matter after all. He then turned to see even more and more Pure Titans coming their way. 'Why are you doing this to me, my child?' he thought, upset and tired, Eren sighed.

Levi was successful into piercing that metal pipe through the ground, using his Ackermann strength, of course. It eventually hit the top wall of the basement and it broke through a couple of wooden boards, slightly scaring the children, but also bringing light at the same time. They were running out of torches after all, so a tiny spot of sunlight actually felt quite nice. Hange began to communicate with one of the nuns. The woman informed that the kids were okay, just frightened, but unharmed. And the Commander was actually quite cheerful while promising they would take them out of there soon. Levi was impressed to see Hange's hopeful nature still shining amid all that darkness.

The Commander then turned to him and informed that they needed to find at least three or four other pipes, so the kids could get enough air in there. And Levi abided, so they proceeded to search around the rubble.

Ymir was still recovering from that explosion when they all heard another blast. This time it was a Titan transformation: Annie had arrived.

The Warrior dropped down from one of the airships and transformed midair. She stood up and quickly analysed the situation, immediately identifying her target: the goddess. Annie swiftly rushed towards the winged creature and began to fight her. The incredibly experienced fighter didn't waste any time, she could tell Ymir was distracted and weakened. So it wasn't too difficult of a target. They both eventually fell to the ground, as Annie pushed her down and growled. Breaking a large portion of the crystal arc that was protecting Historia and the small baby as both Titans fell. Annie continued to growl intensely and all the Pure Titans, including the grotesque undead ones and a large portion of Wall Titans near the area - all turned to attention. And they all suddenly began to run towards her. The noise was unbearable as all those creatures began to march their way. The small baby cried intensely, the poor thing was very scared. And his mother cradled him, trying to calm him down. The Female Titan lifted her head and looked around, absolutely confused as to what she had just caused.

Ymir began to laugh, she laughed quite joyously as the Female Titan pinned her down. The goddess stood up with much strength and pushed the smaller Titan way from her. The Female Titan fell down, unbalanced, she sat on the ground and looked up as Ymir walked towards her. She had a grin on her face. "You don't know how to use your powers, do you?" the goddess questioned, mockingly. "These half-bloods are always insufferable." she added, annoyed.

The Titans began to swarm Annie, trying to eat the Female Titan's flesh, and she growled loudly in desperation. Grisha and Zeke turned their concentration to the Wall Titans coming their way, the giant creatures were running quite fast. And they both were clever enough to understand that as a bigger problem. The airships began to continuously bomb the large creatures and one of them fell closer to the kitchen rubble. Lifting up a lot of wreckage in the area and completely burying Levi and Hange underneath earth, scorched wood and loose bricks. Eren immediately became concerned about Annie, as she was clearly in a dire situation, unable to fend off so many flesh-eating creatures. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan rushed to help, quickly killing many Pure Titans in that sea of monsters.

'Ah come on, daddy,' Ymir thought. 'Stop defending her,' she complained in her mind. But then turned to Historia and the baby, they were completely unguarded now. Ymir let out a half smile. 'You know what? Please do. Keep protecting her,' the goddess thought, walking towards the small tree.

"Those things will trample us completely," the Beast Titan said with a sense of urgency, he then looked towards his father. Grisha was completely stunned, just watching that sea of Wall Titans running their way. Zeke turned ahead again. "Good thing we are already dead," he joked.

Ymir kneeled down gently in front of Historia and the Queen looked stunned towards that strange-looking monster. The creature reached out her hand slowly and Historia looked back for a moment, thinking about running but also paralysed at the same time. She could see there was nowhere she could run to. A couple of Titan fibres suddenly surged from the ground, coming out from Ymir's feet. They were made from that strange alloy again, the same as Azymondeus' cage, and also looked similar to the light roots that bound Ymir herself. The two fibres came out towards Historia like snakes and pinned one arm down after the other. The Queen was horrified, but before her newborn baby could fall to the grass, the goddess held him in her palm instead. And suddenly, everything stopped.

Historia was bound, with both hands tied to the grass by those strange chains. And she watched as her baby fell from her arms into that creature's palm. Ezra was still crying intently while all of that happened, but he just stopped once he came in contact with the goddess. Ymir held him gently in her palm, feeling that evil power surging from their contact. It gave her much joy. Her Titan eyes were suddenly blackened and so were the baby's, which frightened the mother completely. That purple energy surged all around the twins and all the Wall Titans in the area suddenly stood to attention. All waiting to receive their command.

The creatures began to walk in unison, leaving the area. They had begun the path of destruction they had been built and cursed for. Those Titans were going to destroy the entire world, and nothing could stop them. Ymir's dream was finally a reality once again. Just like it had been all those times before. "Now, let's do it right this time," she said while looking to her precious light tree, in that cursed realm. Ymir's eyes were completely blackened and the tree roots seemed like part of her body now, she was completely poisoned. The purple energy - that had been building itself across the dimension for a while at that point, was now all over her. Surrounding Ymir like strong harsh winds and it made her feel extremely powerful. Her lover watched all that madness from his cage, completely disheartened.

In the crystal dimension, the toddler finally woke up from his terrible nightmare. He looked towards the tiny tree to see the baby inside completely surrounded by that purple energy too. The newborn Ymir's eyes were completely blackened there as well, as she floated in those cursed waters. There was lightning surging all over that tiny tree and all around that strange dimension as well.

High above the shores of Paradise, the immense goddess rejoiced. She could finally feel that intense power flowing all through her and it gave her much pleasure. Ymir felt genuinely happy. The monster hovered high across the sky, looking up into the universe above, it was truly a beautiful sight. Ymir could see many galaxies, and connect with the dimension where her soul was currently trapped. The dimension where she had also trapped all the cursed humans that had ingested her being. Where she herself had cursed them into. Ymir was elated. She could feel her children being generated in her entrails once again. And it was only logical to assume that they were being formed again, just as she had been, and Azymondeus had been before her. Ymir hoped to bring her precious girls into the world again. And hoped to live in that Earth for all eternity with her children.

Ymir's logic was flawed however. The feeling was indeed inherently similar to her pregnancies, but what she had been generating inside her Titan since she had ingested those cursed waters was something much more sinister. In the moment that Ymir reached across the many dimensions of that tree portal and successfully cloned herself - while using her newborn form as bait. She also ingested the cursed waters from which she and all of the other dead Titans had been formed back into the Earth. Ymir hadn't been completely wrong to assume she had been carrying her three precious girls in her insides once again, since the Nine Titans and their two millennia curse had been created through the consumption of those three innocent bodies. But what Ymir was generating inside her Titan's entrails were the results of the curse itself. As the Devil had intended.

The immense Titan looked up to the skies with her blackened eyes, Ymir had completely lost control of her own self. A control that had slowly waned over the course of those past two days. The Titan enlarged its already gigantic mouth as it hovered high in the air. And from its gigantic mouth came flying out hundreds and more hundreds of Titans. All the past Titan Shifters. All of those who had already died and whose souls had been trapped in that cursed dimension known as the Titan Realm. These Titan husks were at their ultimate form, and they had no soul. They all had wings and bodies coated in crystal, just like their mother. All extremely powerful. There were over thirteen hundred Titans in total, all simple husks of those Shifters who had already died in these past two millennia. All except the Nine Original Titans, who themselves gave the Devil form inside the Earth.

The hideous creatures came flying out of the goddess' mouth like bats from a cave. Flying fast, ready to cause much destruction. Again, as the Devil had intended. Ymir felt lost as the very energy that she had craved so much for had now stopped her from moving on her own and had taken over her body completely. She also felt intense grief. Ymir hid her grief very deep into her mind. She always did her best not to think of the ones she loved and lost. But as she was there, paralysed into her own body as her monster form hovered in the sky, giving birth to so much destruction, all she could think about were those precious girls she had lost. Her soul was shattered. She wanted to cry. Ymir also thought of her father Signe; his death had been the first time she had ever experienced grief. And she thought of Tara, the one woman who had cared for her like a daughter and whose death she had caused. Ymir began to think of all the other deaths she had caused so far, and they were too many to count. Many were coming out from her mouth in that moment.

In the crystal dimension, Azzy could hear Ymir crying. The newborn was terrified. First she had been taken away from her mother, then she had ended up in that strange pond and those odd tree roots were hurting the poor thing. The toddler stood up from the broken crystal where he had fallen over and walked to that tiny tree again, curiously. He saw the small baby in that strange and dire situation: all trapped in tree roots, with all that odd purple energy hovering around her as she floated in those cursed waters. The toddler had the daunting feeling that he had caused all this, a feeling that would haunt him forever. Azzy really wanted to help, but he knew he couldn't reach through that force field, it had just electrocuted him and had sent him flying.

The boy then accidentally pushed down one of the small crystal pillars into the pond as he moved his leg. And it interfered with the force field, creating a gap that sparkled wildly. Azzy kneeled down, the toddler tilted his head while observing it. He was clever enough. So he looked around and found a similar small pillar. Azzy took a deeper breath, preparing himself. He stood up again and gently kicked this other pillar on the other side of the tiny tree's cave entrance. And once it fell over the pond, it also created a small gap within the force field. Azzy reached through the gap in less than a second and took the baby out swiftly. The force field still electrocuted him, but not as severely. The small boy fell backwards, but successfully with the small girl in his arms. Azzy held Ymir tightly as she cried intensely. He tried to pull out those roots from her spine and muscles but they were lodged deeply inside her skin. There was nothing the toddler could do, so he just cradled her tenderly into his arms, hoping she would stop crying.

-.-

"What are you waiting for? Blast those things!" Old Onyankopon told the others over the radio. All the Marlean soldiers were very stunned as they watched those Titans marching in unison.

Down on the ground Leonhart exploded in transformation once again. She regretted not getting that ODM gear from Hitch, it could have been useful now. The Warrior could have gotten out of that Titan undetected and have just flown out of all that trouble. But now she couldn't, so she had to think of the next best thing. The Female Titan surged again, with a new body. Her explosion obliterated some of the Pure Titans pestering her, but there were still many others to fight before she could get back to her target: Ymir.

The goddess crystallised her hand after connecting Ezra deeply within her Titan fibres. She gently began to let go of Historia, as she knew the mother wouldn't be able to take the baby away from her even if she tried. But the Devil did not agree with that assessment and the tree behind the Queen began to come alive. This area had already been poisoned long before Ymir arrived after all. The branches of the tree came alive like snakes and brought Historia closer to its trunk violently; and held not only her arms but also her neck firmly against the wood. Historia looked up at the Titan, gasping for air, her eyes pleading for help. And Ymir's eyes immediately ceased from being blackened and turned green again. The woman felt deeply conflicted to see her mother in pain.

Eren was quite stunned to see those Wall Titans walking in unison, leaving the island to destroy the world outside. This had been something he had envisioned for so long, and he had a strange sense of déjà vu while witnessing those creatures marching away. He also felt a little strange since all of that had begun. He could almost feel a small voice inside his head wishing to take over his Titan, and his mind. When he suddenly had to duck away from a punch coming his way. Eren was a little out of sorts with that surprise. Grisha's Titan had suddenly turned against him, and Zeke's Titan soon followed. They both began to fight him as their souls were no longer there. Those were now only Titan husks as well. But they still maintained the same level of skill the Yeagers had when alive, which made fighting them a little extra difficult for Eren. The two Titans eventually immobilised him and began to eat his Titan's flesh. Eren was horrified, this truly was being an experience he'd never had expected to live through. A genuinely traumatising moment.

The Female Titan rushed over and swiftly kicked the Beast Titan away, and the two of them began to fight. It took a few swings but she eventually immobilised that ghost of her War Chief into the ground and yanked its nape away with her Titan's teeth. The Beast Titan soon began to steam away as its flesh disintegrated. 'One down,' Annie thought. The Female Titan looked around as she stood up again, to see if Eren had been able to fight the other ghost Titan away.

Eren was still struggling, his Titan had many chunks of its flesh eaten away, which made it difficult for him to stand up and fight. The ghost Titan was reaching for the Shifter inside that nape and Eren had to be a little more creative while thinking of a way out. So he disconnected himself from those Titan's fibres and exploded in transformation again, completely obliterating the ghost of his father's Titan in the process.

The War-Hammer-Attack Titan stood up once again, its body still steaming out in transformation and its eyes still glowing a bright green. He joined the Female Titan and they both stared at their target: the goddess kneeling in front of that tree. Ymir looked up at them, with those bright and sparkly purple Founding Titan eyes. The girl seemed lost.

-.-

Much further away from the Queen's farm, Kirstein was fighting almost on his own. Jean climbed up through all that crystal structure with his ODM gear and looked at all those Titans down below. He was tired of fighting them over and over again, he had killed Connie's cursed Titan form three times over and it had stung each time. He climbed up towards Falco, to know why he had stopped helping him in the fight, but Falco was unresponsive. The boy seemed very lost inside that Titan. Jean then flew over towards Mikasa, who herself was also trying to wake up Armin, who had been unresponsive for a while now. The soldier then looked down again, the Pure Titans were reaching Maria's Titan and Pieck's Titan. And that immediately worried Jean. But both Titan Shifters seemed to wake up before being eaten by the Pure Titans swarming them and they immediately began to fight back. They fought back very erratically and violently which surprised Jean. It seemed like they had lost themselves. The two Shifters looked angry.

Mikasa had had enough, she took out her swords. The Ackermann had decided: she was going to take Armin out of there. But before she could cut through that flesh, the Colossal Titan began to move again. Mikasa lost balance and began to fall through that sea of Titans. She regained control of her fall with her ODM gear and landed close to Maria's Jaw Titan. The Titan immediately growled at her and began to attack her mindlessly. The Ackermann was surprised, completely stunned to see that sudden change after the two of them had worked together so well. The Titan continued to attack her as Mikasa moved away again and again. The Ackermann had no choice. She flew over with her ODM gear and cut through the Titan's nape, cutting off its head completely. And the creature stopped moving. Mikasa then landed on Maria's Jaw Titan's severed head. The Ackermann was deeply saddened, she looked down at her crystal blades. Mikasa sighed in regret.

And she looked up to see the unexpected: the Colossal Titan was walking away. Just walking on its own, without saying anything to them, it wasn't even acknowledging the others. At that point, the Phoenix Titan had flown off and had taken a few laps across the sky. Pieck was feeling sickly and out of control, she really wanted to level her head. The Titan then landed on that broken crystal structure. She growled loudly at Falco's Titan. "Wake up!" The Phoenix Titan yelled.

"Pieck, what is going on?" Jean asked, landing with his ODM gear closer to her.

"I don't know, but I'm having trouble controlling my powers," the Titan tried to explain as Mikasa also landed closer to them. Pieck then turned to Falco as the Jaw Titan shook his head, trying to keep himself awake. "You can't let this thing win," Pieck told him.

"Reiner left with the giant Titan," the boy noted.

"Yes, I saw that too," Pieck replied. "And we need to follow," she added.

"We need to attack her again, and this time, we have to succeed," Jean told the group.

Mikasa's eyes were still lost as the others were talking. She then left with her ODM gear, the Ackermann expertly flew through the crystal formation; and then through the Wall Titans walking in unison - eyeing the actual Colossal Titan.

"Mikasa!" Jean shouted, but she was too far gone to even hear him. The Ackermann was inhumanly fast.

"Just let her be," the Phoenix Titan said. "We have a Titan to kill," she reminded him and took flight, the Phoenix flew high up into the skies. And Kirstein then jumped in the Jaw Titan's back.

As Falco took flight as well, to follow the Phoenix, Jean looked down below. He could still see Connie's undead Titan looking up towards him, just like the other Pure Titans were. 'I just wish you could rest,' Jean thought, deeply saddened. He then turned to concentrate into the skies.

-.-

Down in the harbour, all the scientists and the arrested soldiers could already hear the stomps getting louder and louder. The noise reverberated all around the walls of that building.

"Hey! Is there someone still up there?" Yelena questioned from her basement cell, yelling louder and louder. "Hey!"

Lady Azumabito eventually came down with one of the Hizurian engineers.

"Oh good, I thought you were going to leave without us," Yelena noted in relief.

"We will," Kiyomi replied. "We are just organising whatever rations we can find to leave it to all of you down here," the old woman explained, callously. "And water, we are not heartless," she added.

"What?!" Yelena questioned, angrily holding onto the bars. "You can't just leave us here to die!" she exclaimed passionately.

The old Lady then walked closer to Yelena's cell.

"You are a problem for the Eldian government to deal with, and I won't meddle in that," Kiyomi explained.

The engineer then brought her to the side. "Ma'am, I was under the impression we were going to take them with us. That ship is too big and most of us scientists and engineers are injured. We need more people to properly sail that vessel," the man explained, nervously.

"Well, that's good to know," Yelena noted, crossing her arms and they both looked towards her. "I can still hear everything," the prisoner noted. She truly could hear the whispers, even through all that tremendous noise outside.

"I can't just take Eldian prisoners out of their country, if we take them we will be just bringing a problem with us," Kiyomi countered strongly.

"What country?" Yelena questioned from her cell. "Can't you hear those Titans marching our way? They probably already ate all the meat available on the island and are now looking for food elsewhere," she supposed. "I would be surprised if there's anyone still alive in there," the woman added.

They both looked towards her quite stunned. It was a terrifying and macabre thought. But they both knew she was probably right as they had been cogitating the very same thing. Hearing her saying it out loud however, made the situation all the more haunting.

Yelena then put her head through the bars.

"I suggest we all leave, and soon," she proposed, "and sail to the ends of the Earth." Yelena then looked at them intensely. "And let us hope those monsters won't chase us there," she added menacingly.

Kiyomi looked at her and at the other Yeagerists' cells across that corridor, considering it all.

The old woman then turned to the engineer. "Get them out," Kiyomi ordered and climbed up the stairs again.

Yelena looked to the engineer with a smile. "Survival of the fittest, am I right?" She joked as he searched for the keys to unlock her cell door.

The harbour survivors all worked together to sail that vessel out of those docks. And they worked quickly. For they could see those Titans marching and getting closer and closer, which just made the group progressively more nervous. "Let's sail north," Kiyomi said. "Those monsters are probably heading towards the main continent first," she deduced.

As the ship was already far into the waves they could see the first Wall Titans finally arriving at the harbour. And one of the giants nonchalantly stepped over the Research Facility - completely destroying the building. Yelena turned to Kiyomi, but said nothing. The old woman understood Yelena's meaning by only the expression in her eyes. If the Hizurians had left those prisoners behind, they would have all been dead now.

-.-

The Armoured Titan had hitched a ride over that giant goddess. After she had exploded in transformation again the Shifter had quickly, and swiftly, jumped over her back and had been surfing into those skies as she climbed higher and higher up. Reiner had used his Titan's crystallised fingernails to attach himself firmly to that thing. That giant creature had grown far too big to even notice him, so she didn't set herself on fire or tried to remove him in any other way. Ymir just kept flying up.

She also had been concentrating on many other things, she was doing her best to finally meet with her brother again and when she finally did, their powers were completely activated. As the stardust creature had warned them in the Titan Realm, the Coordinator powers were now at their utmost potential and the goddess could control all of the Titans - including the Shifters.

Reiner felt numb. He was lost inside his own mind and he couldn't move neither his human nor his Titan's body. It was like a strange and long dream from which he was having trouble waking up from. The Warrior was eventually forced into awaking once the shrieks of those new flying Titans became louder and louder.

Some of the creatures immediately sighted him as they came out of the goddess' mouth and soon turned to attack the Titan Shifter.

The Armoured Titan was lifted from the goddess' back by the force of all those flying Titans and that rush of adrenaline caused by being midair, unattached to anything solid, made him come out of his dreaming state. Reiner soon began to fight those monsters and firmed himself among Ymir's feathers once again. The Warrior was clever and resourceful and he soon had the idea of using those feathers themselves. The intricate crystal formations made for good daggers and he began to stab those ghastly ghostly creatures with much ferocity. The plucking of those feathers and the scuffle happening on her back was also slowly waking Ymir from her own sad slumber.

Reiner accidentally looked down, something he was actively avoiding doing, and his heart raced much faster. He was so high up into the clouds and suddenly fully aware of the danger. The Warrior then firmed himself even further and made sure to keep his balance. He was determined not to fall.

-.-

Ymir looked up at those two Titan Shifters while kneeling down in front of her grandmother's favourite tree. The Original Titan had the small newborn baby in the palm of her hand, literally. She knew the Female Titan and the recently reformed War-Hammer Attack Titan would soon attack her. So Ymir cleverly built up a crystal dome around her and that tree, to make sure they couldn't come closer. And the grotesque undead Titans suddenly exploded in transformation again. Ymir was making sure to have an army to distance those Shifters even further away from her. The undead Titans had been pinned to the ground by the Yeager Shifters, but since they had exploded again in transformation they were no longer trapped. And that wave of abnormal Titans immediately came rushing towards the Shifters. Commandant Shadis' undead Titan led the way and all the others followed: an army of undead Titan soldiers rushing their way. The Titans stopped. And positioned themselves firmly in between the two Shifters and the new crystal dome, sending a clear message: they were not welcomed.

The Female Titan looked down, Annie was thinking. She soon raised her head again and screamed extremely loudly. A shrieking horrifying growl. The grotesque creatures immediately fitted their eyes on the Female Titan and began to speed up towards her. Annie then turned to Eren and his Titan looked up at her. She gave him a quick look and the message was clear: 'you better get this done, and soon,' Annie thought as she quickly sped up away, for those minions to follow. The grotesque creatures followed the Female Titan like a herd chasing its mother.

-.-

Mikasa finally reached the Colossal Titan as he walked in a herd himself. The Wall Titans were slowly walking towards shore and Armin was accompanying that mindless group, something the Ackermann could not understand, at least not completely. Mikasa had seen Maria's strange fit of rage and how Falco and Pieck had also lost control briefly after the Rumbling was activated. But the two Shifters quickly regained control over their Titan bodies. The fact that this hadn't happened to Armin yet and the fact that he had been unresponsive even before the Rumbling started was making the Ackermann reach a very painful but logical conclusion: Armin was dead.

She did not want to believe it, but it made perfect sense. Maria was the only one unable to regain control over her Titan body, while the Titan Shifters who were still alive eventually came back to their senses. Mikasa called Armin's name over and over again, just as she was doing before but, just as before, she had no response. The Colossal Titan only ignored the tiny Ackermann and kept marching ahead. Mikasa flew down to its left eye and then to its right eye, they both looked completely lifeless. But Mikasa couldn't accept it, she would not give up on him. She had never been a fan of logic after all. So the Ackermann stopped right in the middle of the giant's forehead, in between those two lifeless eyes. She secured herself properly with her ODM equipment and raised both of her crystal swords, holding them together. Mikasa held those handles firmly with both hands, intertwining her fingers. The Ackermann's eyes were no longer their normal black colour, but completely white, as she was about to exert much of her inhuman strength.

She stabbed the Colossal Titan in between the eyes and the giant creature fell backwards, making an enormous crater as it fell to the ground. Dust rose all around the air and it took a couple of minutes for Mikasa to properly see her surroundings again. The young soldier was curious, and apprehensive, to see if she had been successful.

Those giant blue eyes were still the same, but they looked at her more intently now, as if trying to understand what had just happened. Mikasa was standing on its upper nose and she looked down to see a smile forming on the Titan's mouth.

'Did you just stab me?' Armin thought, still very confused and out of sorts. Mikasa was relieved, she swiftly took out the crystal swords again and put them aside. The sharp pain on his head chiming again made Armin wake up completely. The Colossal Titan slowly stood up as he looked more seriously at that immense herd marching all around him. Arlert finally put the pieces together and understood what was happening. The world's destruction was on its way and it seemed unavoidable now. Something he had been fearing for the past couple of years, ever since Yeager had put on his mind that this would not only be the best solution, but the only solution to their cursed island's survival. Something Arlert disagreed with fervently.

Armin was stunned as he watched the Wall Titans marching towards shore. The feeling in his heart was cold and hopeless with the thought of the amount of destruction that those creatures were about to cause. The world could be completely destroyed if they didn't find a way to stop those things.

ϟ "We can't let those Titans leave the island," ϟ the Colossal Titan said, and the Ackermann nodded.

Mikasa then secured herself properly on the Colossal Titan's head and the giant creature began to speed up, running fast across the marching Titans and even pushing and dropping quite a few down and out of his way. Armin would soon arrive on shore.

-.-

The swarm of new ghost Titans was flying high and with much speed all across the island. They seemed like strange, over-evolved versions of those past Shifters. The Titans of centuries past were flying all over Paradise Island, wreaking havoc everywhere they arrived. Floch was surprised to see those creatures passing by his plane. And so were Tremblay and Old Onyankopon, and all the others who were flying across the island as well.

Some of them were attacking Reiner, still on the back of their Titan mother, others were flying above shore and had sighted the other Warriors in the distance. The Phoenix Titan and the Jaw Titan were both flying towards Ymir again, but were intercepted by the creatures. They attacked them ferociously and the two Warriors soon realised that their Jaw companions were among the group attacking them. The ghosts of Marcel and Porco had joined the other husks in attacking them mercilessly. Kirstein was riding on the Jaw Titan's back and he soon took out his crystal swords to defend the young Warrior. He jumped across multiple flying Titans coming his way and removed their napes expertly. Jean was beyond fearless at this point. After everything he had lived through in those past two days nothing could scare him anymore, not even looking down and realising how high up they were.

The Phoenix Titan had set herself on fire and was gnawing and scratching those pesky creatures, she held them close and scorched them until there was nothing left. She joined Kirstein in defending Falco, for the boy had begun to panic as the ghosts of Marcel and Porco were gnawing on his wings. They wanted to remove them and make sure he would fall from the sky. So the Phoenix plucked their wings away instead and made sure to burn them before watching those ghost Titans plummet from high above to the ocean far down below. The sight was horrifying, but Pieck's heart had already been hardened by all this war. And although it was difficult to hear their painful shrieks, the Warrior knew well that those weren't her friends. They were just husks.

She swiftly grabbed the Jaw Titan's arm, as Falco had lost the ability to fly. But the Titan boy looked up at her and let go, to Pieck's quick desperation. The Jaw Titan was free-falling but it was swiftly abandoned by the boy who then transformed again midair. He then emerged as a renewed, but similar Titan form. And to Pieck and Jean's relief, his Titan had wings again. Falco flew up in the direction of the fight as Jean jumped out from a Titan husk he had just killed and landed on the Phoenix's back, looking down at her for a moment to confirm he was there; so the Phoenix wouldn't set herself on fire and accidentally burn him as well in the process. The Jaw Titan joined them again and they all continued to fight.

The Colossal Titan and the Ackermann watched all from down below, on the shores of Paradise. The harbour had been completely destroyed and the monsters continued to march out, getting into the ocean and heading to the great continent. Arlert was appalled, but he was just one and he certainly couldn't fight them all. So he concentrated on the only way to end that battle and hopefully stop all those Wall Titans once and for all: killing Ymir.

He looked up at their friends struggling up above, then looked down, searching for rocks to throw at those ghost Titans. But Armin could only find sand in that vast and overturned beach. He looked at the destroyed harbour for a moment and considered throwing pieces of those fallen buildings, but he then had a better idea. The Colossal Titan began to pull close some of the Wall Titans walking past him and began to remove their heads and other limbs, to set them on fire and then throw them high up - in the direction of the ghost Titans attacking their friends, but also in the direction of Ymir. Unfortunately, the goddess was too high up so Arlert decided to concentrate on hitting only the flying monsters who were attacking his friends.

All those chunks of burning flesh being thrown up above were calling the attention of the flying ghost Titans; so many of them began to dive down towards the Colossal Titan now. The Ackermann was standing on top of his head. And she looked at that swarm in confusion as she noticed and soon recognised the new flying version of Maria's Jaw Titan, it was rushing straight towards her. Mikasa flew around with her ODM gear in between the Colossal Titan's head and shoulders, expertly killing many of those flying creatures. She avoided Maria however, hoping she should still save her somehow, but also wondering if the previous Jaw Titan had targeted the Ackermann on purpose in that fight; considering Mikasa had just killed her previous form.

The Colossal Titan removed away as many of those pesky Titans as he could, stripping their napes with its bare hands. But there were too many of them to fight off and they were much faster than his slower and bigger Titan form. He and the Ackermann were fighting those creatures down below, in the beaches. While the Phoenix and the Jaw and Kirstein were fighting them up above. And even higher was Reiner, who fought those creatures with much audacity while holding himself on the goddess' back.

-.-

The creature screamed extremely loudly from the island's insides. And with its devilish scream every alive and conscious Eldian in Paradise immediately turned into a Pure Titan. All while the freshly dead Eldians were also gradually turning into grotesque Pure Titans as the curse spread across the soil. The giants rose all around the island while the even larger Wall Titans marched towards shore. Paradise was now full of giants, heavy giants. And its soil was completely corrupted by that cancer coming from this different dimension. The Devil currently stood on its portal, trapped between its grave dimension and Earth, getting larger and larger and taking over the undergrounds of Paradise. The creature continued screaming and growling, warning the Earth of its arrival. It grew so large that it became completely stuck. Its three giant horns almost piercing through the soil, but still failing to break out to surface. The Devil continued to scream, to wake its Titans, and those screams and its body trying to move inside the earth made the island shake even more. New tremors began to become more violent, just like in the day before.

Although it was clearly stuck, the creature continued to struggle while trying to move and break itself free. Those movements were not only causing stronger tremors, but also waking up the Earth itself. The immense weight of all those millions and millions of Titans walking up above, the tremors caused by the creature trying to move, the soil weakening with all that cancer. It all contributed for three ancient fissures opening up again. Those three millions of years old fissures had themselves been responsible for the creation of that island and were now cracking up again. The three largest mountains in Paradise had once been large volcanoes. They had once spilled much lava that had cooled down throughout millennia after millennia and slowly formed the island all those millions of years before. Now the mountains were waking up again.

The tremors were getting harsher in the Reiss Lands. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan was preparing himself to fight the goddess once again, when Eren looked up, stunned. He had just heard a thunderous noise, much louder than all the stomps of Wall Titans walking around them. Yeager looked up at the horizon to see the large mountain burst into flames. 'What is that?' Eren thought, confused. No one on that island had ever seen a volcano before. The Paradisians had no idea of what lava was; not that any of that mattered at that point, as they had all, or for the most part, been turned into Titans. Only the current Titan Shifters, non-Eldians, or other Eldians away from the Devil's range could consciously appreciate the beauty of that flaming mountain.

-.-

The flying minions continued to cruise fast across the island. Those ghost Titans finally sighted their final target: the hundreds of war airships floating across the Paradisian sky. The Titans soon began to attack the Marlean battalion. Tremblay was advised by his subordinates to turn back and fly away but he decided to soldier on. The old army man knew they were the last line between that cursed island and the rest of the world. He needed to find a way to stop those monsters right then and there. He was also warned that they would soon lose all their power and those ships would be grounded in Paradisian soil. Those Marlean soldiers really didn't want to die eaten by grotesque Titans, but they still respected their leader's decisions.

Floch was flying high across the island, still unsure of what to do next. He was joyous to see the Rumbling begin, finally. And he had the best view of the whole spectacle, being so high up in the air. He began to notice the unnatural amount of Pure Titans walking across the island as well, wandering aimlessly in between the Wall Titans. There were hundreds and hundreds, thousands of Pure Titans of all shapes and sizes everywhere he flew across. The soil and the vegetation of the island was also different. It looked similar to the mutation he had seen when he travelled down to that crater only a few hours before. The Yeagerist was a little lost and confused. He was suddenly quite saddened to see what had become of his precious island, the whole place was falling apart. This had been the land where he had been born; the young soldier felt conflicted.

-.-

Yeager decided to soldier on, despite the suddenness of that exploding mountain. He rushed towards the crystal dome his daughter had created while the Female Titan ran fast the other way; allowing for the abnormal Titans to follow her. Annie also turned back with the loud explosion of that mountain in the distance, she turned to see that dormant volcano now spewing lava way high into the sky. Leonhart had received a more advanced education while growing up in Marley, so the Warrior knew well what a volcano was, and she just hoped that burning hot lava wouldn't find its way into the region where the farm was.

Annie had prior concerns in that moment however, so she kept running. She ran across the Wall Titans as the smaller and crazier Pure Titans chased her like she was their mother. She intended to create a good distance between them and where Yeager was fighting Ymir, but Leonhart hadn't thought of a plan beyond that. She was now deep in a sea of Titans, on her own, knowing full well that as soon as she stopped running they would catch up with her; and she was too tired to fight twenty Titans at once. She was also too fatigued to transform again. The Warrior had no cards left under her sleeve, Annie was thinking fast, she needed to find a way out of that situation.

She was too tired now, she had run a great distance and had no energy left. So the Warrior just stopped. Annie then turned and waited for the Pure Titans to catch up with her.

The War-Hammer-Titan rushed towards the crystal dome and growled at Ymir, who had trapped herself inside, together with her mother and her newborn brother. The Titan Shifter then expertly used his War-Hammer abilities and began to create crystal spikes across the dome. They grew out from the earth and into the dome like veins bulging on flesh or lightning tearing through the sky. Eren's veiny spikes were slowly breathing Ymir's fortress apart and revealing the goddess inside again, with her lowered wings and tired expression. They finally locked eyes again as the crystal dome finally shattered completely. Falling apart into many pieces of pure glass. The father was angry, but he soon noticed how his young daughter only looked confused. Ymir was trapped. She was completely paralysed.

Before he could walk forward, two flying Titans arrived. They flew fast across the sky and held Yeager's Titan's shoulders up, trying to fly away with him. But he quickly used his War-Hammer crystals to sever their hands and dropped down to the grass again. Eren looked up to see new versions of his brother's Beast Titan and his father's Founding-Attack Titan flying across the sky. They took a lap and returned to fight him once more. Eren was stunned, he hadn't seen those flying ghost Titans yet. He turned to the other direction after hearing a new howling shriek. He then saw Frieda Reiss' Founding Titan also flying down towards him. They were all ready for a rematch. Well not them of course, but the Devil using those husks was actually the one ready for a rematch with Eren Yeager.

The father turned to Ymir again, locking eyes with her once more in pure sadness. 'What have you done, my child?' he asked in his mind and the goddess heard him in her cursed dimension. The girl looked back at him with her glimmering purplish eyes fitted on his green ones. Ymir pleaded for help in her tearful stare.

Yeager turned away from her, to face all three flying Titans coming his way. He was ready for a fight. He concentrated on the ground and made a forest of Titan Crystals emerge around him while creating a giant crystal spear, to aid in his fight.

-.-

Leonhart was struggling while fighting many Pure Titans at once, and those were the undead Titans, which meant they regenerated even after she removed their napes. Something the Warrior only learned after a few minutes into that fight and it just depressed her even more. She suddenly heard a familiar motor noise followed by a strange, almost electric sound; and then saw one of the large Wall Titans falling down quite near her. It trampled over at least five of the grotesque Titans that were pestering her. She looked up to see that tiny plane and she soon recognised the pilot. Annie let out a small human smile inside her own Titan. Onyankopon then proceeded to shoot down another Wall Titan, the beast fell down on top of another three of the Pure Titans. The young pilot was using the airplane's iceburst rays. He continued to fight, taking down Wall Titans left and right. Obviously knowing he wasn't making a dent on that Rumbling, but the pilot was just angry and he needed to blow off some of that steam. At least he was helping one of his newfound friends.

Suddenly the pilot heard a new frequency coming out from his radio and after the static, a voice he really didn't want to hear. It really made Onyankopon mad.

"I have an idea," Floch said. "Is there anyone listening?"

Old Onyankopon quickly jumped into the radio, as the Yeagerist was transmitting to the whole battalion. "My boy, we have been looking for you," Quail exclaimed. "We have found the O-7 aircraft. I repeat: we have found the O-7 aircraft," he informed the rest of the battalion. "What is your request?" Old Onyankopon asked Floch.

"Well, we know I'm carrying enough Geranium to blow up a whole city," Floch reminded the old man over the radio.

"Excuse me?" Tremblay interjected from his lead ship. "Is Geranium a new explosive material I'm unfamiliar with?" the old army man soon concluded.

"Yes," Quail confirmed. "It is newly discovered and quite powerful."

Tremblay let out a small grunt. "Now I understand why you were searching for this small craft so desperately, Quail," he replied cleverly and with some humour.

"Let us just hear the soldier," Quail requested.

"What are your intentions, soldier?" Tremblay asked through the radio in pure military fashion. Thinking of course that this was one of his soldiers, not an "island devil" enemy.

"I'm going to blow it up," Floch suggested, with some slight trepidation in his voice.

"Blow what up?" Young Onyankopon interjected, asking angrily and in between his teeth. He was tired of Floch's shenanigans and he desperately wanted revenge for Danso.

"The nest. I-I know where all these Titans are coming from, I've seen it," Floch further explained. The young soldier then gently touched the blue lever. "I remember your talk with the Marlean Pilot, I know how to overwhelm the iceburst stones," Floch told Onyankopon.

The young man was reflective for a brief moment, his anger had left him. "If you do this, you know there's no way back," he solemnly replied to Floch.

"I know," Floch concurred.

"The Marlean Pilot?" Tremblay interjected. "Aren't you the Marlean Pilot?" he questioned the voice over his radio.

"No, I'm a Survey Corps soldier, sir," Floch swiftly replied. "Proudly an Eldian, born in Paradise."

"Quail..!" Tremblay called him up sternly.

"Let me handle him," the old man replied. "Where are you now, son? You need to turn on your radar," Old Onyankopon gently asked of the Survey Corps soldier.

"I need you to guide me to the giant crater near Shiganshina, that's the entrance. Have you seen it? I can't seem to find my way back there," Floch said.

"We've all seen that, it's disgusting," Tremblay interjected.

"This entire island is disgusting," one of his subordinates added, and it was clearly heard over the radio.

"Let me handle this, Tremblay," Quail firmly repeated, hoping those comments wouldn't anger the fervent Yeagerist.

The old army man and all his lead ship crew remained quiet after that. But Tremblay remained on the radio, listening intently while Quail gave the young and inexperienced pilot all the necessary instructions about the O-7 craft. Tremblay was vigilant after learning they were dealing with an enemy soldier who was carrying such powerful eruptive devices.

-.-

Down on the beach, the Colossal Titan was surprised to meet much larger ghost Titans as the Devil had now summoned the husks of the past Colossal Titans to fight him. They all had wings and crystal coated bodies. Arlert wasn't expecting to see such large Titan husks with the same abilities as the small ones they were taking down with much ease before. But it was only logical since those were clearly ghosts of all the previous Titan Shifters. He was trying to formulate a combat plan to deal with those creatures while three past Colossal Titans landed on the beach and began to walk towards him, passing across the Wall Titan march with eyes set on him.

The Ackermann still flew across the area, still using Arlert as support as she dealt with those smaller flying Titans. Much higher up in the sky, Reiner finally lost balance. The Armoured Titan began to free-fall fast across the blue sky. The Warrior was desperate and lost. It took quite a few seconds of free-falling for the Phoenix to finally swoop in, she reached and grabbed both of his shoulders with her claws, pulling him up again. Pieck had promised to catch him from falling after all. She flew up with him while Falco followed, carrying Jean on his back. They reached the immense goddess in the high atmosphere and the ghost Titans continued to fight them there.

-.-

Eren Yeager was doing his best while fighting those three familiar Titans at once. He was struggling a little but he knew he only needed to reach and remove their napes in order to stop their existence for good. So he was focusing on that while fighting the creatures. He heard the airplane's motor and saw that iceburst ray reaching towards their fight. Young Onyan had come to help him, and Yeager could also see Leonhart running back towards him as well. The pilot was actually focusing on shooting Ymir. He knew she and the thing in her hand, which he couldn't detect properly from up above, and all that devilish purple energy around them were causing all this mess. So he hoped to kill the goddess. And his iceburst ray attacks soon called a swarm of flying husks towards his plane. So the pilot was chased away from the fight. And the new and pompous swarm not only attacked him, but also the airships in that region, and those ghosty Titans attacked them with much violence since they were much slower and couldn't evade the flying creatures as fast as Young Onyan could with his plane.

The pilot was stunned as he watched that particular airship being hit and crumbling fast towards the ground. It was the ship that had rescued them before. He felt very saddened for that old man, O-7's father, who had even given him this smaller plane so they could continue the mission. Onyankopon watched all those airships fell miserably to the ground as the creatures attacked them. And he also hoped that Hitch and the small Gabi had escaped somehow.

The two girls flew down across the sky as the airship they were in and the others near it all fell crumbling and on fire, spinning fast towards the ground. Hitch was glad she hadn't given her ODM gear to Annie. Leonhart had been right after all, the MP ended up desperately needing them. She fell across the Wall Titans and surfed around them while Gabi held herself close to the MP. The little girl hugged Hitch but also her screwdriver close, as it was the only weapon she had. And she closed her eyes very tight, so as not to see how high up they were. While Hitch did her best to concentrate, remembering back to all those ODM flying lessons she had had all those years before. She had never expected to be in such a situation, but her own adrenaline helped her navigate in that sea of madness.

They finally landed somewhere near the farm, further away from where the Wall Titans were, and began to run in the opposite direction as to where they were marching towards. The Wall Titans were marching to leave Paradise, and Hitch and Gabi were running in the direction of the now crystallised Orphanage building. They could see the Titan Shifters' scuffle in the distance, and it was the same place to where the Female Titan was also running towards, so they felt safe and confident to follow her. Gabi turned her back for a moment, and watched all those airships catching fire on the grassy ground, and some of them even being trampled by Wall Titans, the unfortunate ones that had fallen in their paths. She couldn't imagine the countless lives just lost in those crashes, the thought saddened her deeply. The small girl clutched the screwdriver in her hand while turning ahead once more, and continued to run, following Hitch.

The pilot landed near Quail's crashed airship. Young Onyankopon was determined to save the crew who had just saved his own life only a few hours before, and who had helped this cause so fervently. So he walked inside the crashed vehicle, protecting himself from the flames and looking for survivors.

-.-

Yeager finally pinned down Frieda Reiss' Founding Titan, after he had taken care of his father's and his brother's Titan husks. He reached through the Titan's neck and pulled away the nape completely and her Titan began to disintegrate. Eren sat down on the flaming grass for a moment, with a sigh of relief. He stood up once again in all his might and began to walk towards Ymir, as the young goddess only stared down. Perhaps avoiding her father's eyes, or perhaps already completely out of herself. The father could not tell and he was now surprised with a kick to his Titan's spine, so he completely lost his focus, and balance. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan then fell to the ground, surprised by that hit. He looked up to see the Female Titan staring down at him. Her eyes completely whitened. Annie had lost control.

The Female Titan positioned herself, ready to fight. 'Are you kidding me?' Eren thought. He had no time to process any of that however, as the Female Titan soon began to attack him. And she attacked him mercilessly, with unexpected kicks and punches. He did his best to evade and lunge out of the way while he still recuperated himself from the previous fights. His Titan's body was still regenerating in some places and his human muscles had rigidified due to the crystal curse he and Arlert had placed upon themselves. He was slowly losing movement on his right arm due to his crystal mark only widening across his veins and muscles every time he activated that crystal power. Something his best friend had to deal with as well. But Arlert had no use for crystal anymore, and had put a stop to that. While Yeager couldn't help himself, he had become the War-Hammer Titan and producing crystal was ingrained to his nature. He did his best to evade the Warrior and began to think of a better way to take her down. This was difficult however, for Leonhart herself was the one who had taught him all the cleverer moves he knew.

-.-

"Quail, are you there? Quail, do you copy?" Tremblay asked. He was worried after the transmission from Quail's ship had stopped short.

"Sir?" Floch also asked, confused.

"We believe that airship was taken down, Sir," another Marlean Commander joined the call, informing them. "And there are many of those odd flying Titans attacking us as well. We are doing our best to avoid and shoot them down, Sir, but there's too many of them," yet another Marlean Commander informed Tremblay, trying his best to keep calm and collected.

"Alright, Forster, let's pick up where we left off, shall we?" Tremblay addressed the Survey Corps soldier.

"Were you listening before?" The young soldier questioned back, trepidatious.

"Of course," he promptly replied, and continued. "I'm charting a faster course, keep following northwest and you will soon sight all of our battalion in the distant skies, in about three minutes. Don't forget to prepare the right distance and angle Quail calculated before making your entrance to the cave. You need to be at maximum speed once you reach this giant tree you spoke of," the old army man reminded him.

"No," Floch replied, dryly.

"No?" Tremblay asked, confused and fearful. It was clear Onyankopon had a much better time dealing with him.

"Not this way," Floch continued. "I won't die and let my people in your hands. I want to save them. If I'm doing this you need to promise-"

"Promise what?" Tremblay promptly asked.

"That you'll leave us alone." Floch told him. "All Eldians. You Marleans and all those other nations who hate us and harm us and hunt us so much. You need to promise me this ends now. Never again will an Eldian be locked up behind walls, marked or used in warfare for others' gains. No more Pure Titans, no more awful experiments, no more slavery. I can't stand my people living trapped and in fear. And this evil excuse of us having to pay for our ancestors' sins. We have done nothing to deserve your punishment," the Survey Corps soldier declared to him with all his might. "I'm only doing this if you can promise you'll leave my people to live their lives in peace."

"This is hardly the right time to be having this kind of conversation, young man," Tremblay told him.

"This is exactly the right time to be having this conversation, old man," Floch passionately replied.

Tremblay looked back at his crew as they all stared at him, he also knew this channel was open to all the other aircrafts. Tremblay sighed. "I'm only one Marlean, Forster, I can't make promises for all my people or for all other world leaders, I'm not a world leader myself. I'm my own leaders' subordinate," the old man began to justify himself, trying to get out of it.

"Won't people want to know what happened here today? The day we fought the Devil itself? What are you going to tell them?" Floch questioned him.

"I still don't know if I'll survive this," Tremblay replied, with a small and nervous chuckle.

"Then you better survive this," Floch firmly told him.

The old man looked at that old and rusted radio, thinking for a moment.

"I give you my word," Tremblay said solemnly. "The Eldian Persecution ends today. I'll make sure all your demands are met. And you should also be aware of my eight thousand Marlean soldiers who had just heard my pledge to you. They are all witnesses, so let us hope this moment will stand in History and that this pledge will remain true over the centuries."

There was a long moment of absolute silence as Floch was reflecting on those words and in what he was about to do.

"Guide me to the crater," the Survey Corps soldier asked Tremblay.

The O-7 aircraft was finally sighted by the Marlean Battalion, as all the soldiers heard Tremblay giving the last instructions to the Eldian soldier. The plane turned the angle perfectly and began to gain speed in the direction of the crater.

"Now, go kill this Devil," Tremblay said and Floch let out a small smile. He entered the crater at the fullest speed of that supersonic aircraft. "I'll see you on the other side," the young soldier jokingly replied.

He flew fast across that heavily mutated underground land. Tremblay and the others had lost radio contact with him, so Floch was now completely on his own. He made sure to keep a straight line, following the route the goddess had taken when she herself emerged from that tree portal, the day before. Floch was in deep silence for the next twenty minutes as he flew extremely fast towards the centre of Paradise. He knew there was no going back now, he only hoped Tremblay would keep his promise. Floch suddenly felt an overwhelming fear as he realised his death was so near upon him.

He finally saw that overgrown monster in the distance, he couldn't even distinguish what it was, for the whole giant mess was on fire. Floch had been looking for that tree, but something on his insides told him this was his real target. He looked down at that blue lever and pulled all the way through. The airplane motor was being overcharged and all the Geranium petals were becoming overwhelmed. "I'm sorry, mother," Floch said, thinking back to his home and the life on Earth he was leaving behind.

The plane soon crashed into the large creature, causing an extreme, immeasurable explosion. The massive blast expanded through the island's insides and was quickly overtaken by the lava of the now three completely exploded volcanoes.

The Earth was fighting back. The beautiful ancient planet was finally aware of the disease that had grown inside of it over the past trillions of years and was now taking some measures to cure itself.

The immense crystal structure Yeager and Arlert had created the day before held together as the lava passed through. And it was the only thing standing, for all the mutated land was being washed away by the intense fire. The river of lava was coming out from within the Earth's core and it came up high above with its intense pressure; finding its way to the surface through the three volcanoes' mouths. But also flowing freely through the island's recently opened insides, burning away all of the anomaly the disturbance had caused. Washing away all that the Devil's dimension had modified and killing all of its grotesque and overgrown creatures. As the Devil's consciousness had finally left the Earth's dimension. For the moment that is, it was now dormant again, waiting for its next prey.

All the Titan husks were immediately unmade. All the flying Titans that were attacking the Marlean Battalion suddenly vanished, as vapours in the air; which signalled to Tremblay that Forster had kept his end of the bargain. 'Now I have to keep mine,' the Marlean thought.

All the grotesque undead Titans also soon vanished, leaving behind the hundreds of thousands of Eldian corpses the Devil had possessed. Connie, Shadis, Louise and many others could now rest in peace.

The husks also disappeared suddenly while fighting the Warriors and the Colossal Titan down on the beach. The ones up above couldn't really tell why but Arlert and the Ackermann soon connected it to the large tremors they could feel and the large explosions they could hear in the distance. Armin could finally stop to breathe and to properly think as those monsters disappeared into vapours. He took a moment to assess the situation, when yet another large explosion happened; and he turned to see those three large streams of fire shooting high up into the air, and the mountainous land all fiery red all around them. Those streams of fire were in three different points of the island and the land seemed to still shake all around them. Armin, just like Eren, had never seen a volcano before. He had seen drawings of them in his old and precious book. But those black and white illustrations didn't really match all the redness he was witnessing, so he didn't identify them as such.

The Ackermann landed on the Colossal Titan's shoulder and joined him in watching those strange eruptions. Armin didn't know what those fiery explosive things were, but it was clear that their island was completely doomed. The area where those fiery streams were looked like giant bleeding wounds. And the land continued to shake tremendously. Armin was suddenly reminded of Eren's constant dreams, about the island sinking. Plummeting into the ocean. And he was then completely overwhelmed with fear.

High up above, the Warriors no longer had weird ghost Titans standing in their way again. So they proceeded with their mission: it was finally time to kill Ymir.

The Phoenix Titan ignited her wings and began to fly across Ymir's wings, burning holes in them with her hot fire. While the Armoured Titan climbed his way to her nape. Ymir was slowly waking up again, after she had lost control of her enormous titan form. Up in her cursed dimension, the witch began to laugh joyously, and in secret relief. She was finally in power again. That interdimensional creature was no more.

"Do you know your role?" Jean asked Falco while looking down into his Titan's eyes. Falco looked up.

"Yes," he replied. "Reiner takes the witch out of the nape and I crack the crystal," the Jaw Titan said.

"Then drop me up over her head first," Kirstein asked.

Jean then landed on Ymir's head as the Jaw Titan flew off, and as Reiner continued to climb up through the immense creature. The Survey Corps soldier looked down, he had noticed her eyes had been opened, but so far she hadn't shown any reaction while they had been fighting the ghost Titans. It was clear the goddess was in some sort of a trance of some kind. Regardless, Kirstein's job was to blind her, so he readied his ODM gear as he had done before, and made his jump: to begin cutting through her eyes. However, Ymir's eyes became alive again and she followed him with care. The goddess then lifted her arm, something Jean hadn't expected.

-.-

Yeager finally pinned Leonhart down; he used multiple crystal spikes to hold the Female Titan down into the ground. Four on her legs, four on her arms and three on her torso. She began to lift her head again so The War-Hammer-Attack Titan made yet another crystal spike and pierced through her head, piercing her Titan's brain. That didn't matter, however. For what was controlling the Female Titan's body was the Devil. Annie herself was dormant and so was her Titan's mind. So the Titan continued to struggle intently, trying to break free again. Eren looked down to the Female Titan's crystallised chest, thinking of a way to get Annie out of there, so the Titan would disintegrate. But he soon heard the intense, thunderous explosion. Floch had reached his target and the Devil lost its control over all earthly creatures. The Female Titan's eyes ceased to be whitened and she closed them, Leonhart was exhausted. Her Titan stopped moving.

-.-

The Phoenix rushed to gnaw on the giant goddess' arm, before she could attack Jean. And now that all the Warriors had noticed that the goddess was awake, they knew it was only a matter of time before she set herself on fire once again. They needed to end her beforehand. Jean whistled to Pieck and she flew towards him. The Survey Corps soldier then landed on her back, in between her long black hairs, and they flew away. The giant goddess then began to follow. She stopped her long-standing hovering and began to fly forward with her immense crystal wings - those which Pieck had already burnt large holes into. Holes which impaired her flight.

She flew clumsily forward, trying to grab the small Phoenix Titan; while the Jaw Titan also flew quietly behind her and the Armoured Titan hid between her wings.

Jean had a new plan, he put his two crystallised blades back into his back-holster and took out his remaining two, old and reliable metal ODM swords again. He dropped to the Phoenix Titan's face and looked into her eyes. "Can I put my swords in your mouth?" Jean asked, then made a gesture with his two swords, in between his arms and his shoulders.

"Oh, that's clever," the Phoenix noted with a nice smile.

The soldier put the two swords in the Titan's mouth and the Phoenix Titan began to heat the metal with her own fiery breath. All while turning back to face the goddess. Flying fast. Jean jumped to the Phoenix Titan's back and swiftly held up his two flaming metal swords.

He used his ODM gear and flew around Ymir's right arm, melting her crystal coat on its weak spots and severing the arm from the shoulder. Followed by the Phoenix then helping out on popping the rest of the inside flesh out. They were quite fast, and Ymir had no time to react with her left hand. The Survey Corps soldier landed on the Phoenix Titan again as the enormous arm fell off from the sky. Jean was almost surfing on her back as the Phoenix flew fast across Ymir's chest, while reheating the swords on her fiery mouth again. And Jean soon arrived at the witch's left arm, and once again, they severed it. He flew around the flesh with his ODM gear, cutting through it with the Phoenix's help. It was almost like cutting a very large tree trunk, something Jean had done a few times during his military training. Of course, the Phoenix helped greatly, gnawing the flesh away while Jean cut the edges through. All as Falco had begun to distract the witch, hovering and gnawing all over her face.

After they were done Ymir was left without arms to reach for them. But the goddess was more concerned with the Armoured Titan, who was now using one of her own large crystal feathers as a spear, to reap through her nape. Ymir turned her head to one side and then to the other side, over and over again, trying to find him. She had no upper limbs to reach for the smallish Titan.

"Let's go for the knees now," Pieck suggested and flew down, while Jean prepared himself on her back. They then proceeded to cut her lower legs away as well. After the Phoenix had reheated the Survey Corps soldier's swords. Jean was burning his hands throughout all this, but he knew it was worth it.

Reiner finally took out the crystallised woman from that nape and Falco soon flew down. They were both impressed, they had been expecting to see a two-thousand-year-old mummy, not a very beautiful young woman. Reiner even recognised his teenage crush as he saw that porcelain skin and long and straight blond hairs falling down through her shoulders and chest. He recognised even more once he focused on her angelic face. The Warrior couldn't wait to finally meet the Eldian Queen again after all this, and present himself as the hero he always deserved to be. He already had this joke on hand to break the ice with Christa, about how he could see the family resemblance between Her Majesty and her ancient ancestor: the monster he had just slayed.

The Jaw Titan soon opened its mouth and began to break the crystal encasing apart. And as soon as it began to crack, Ymir began to set her entire Titan body on fire again. The young Warrior tried to endure through the heat, but he couldn't find strength to crack the crystal further. He was burning up and the Armoured Titan growled for the Jaw to leave. He insisted on staying and Reiner then grabbed the smaller Titan by the shoulders and threw him off from the flames. Falco flapped his wings above the goddess' Titan, looking down below, looking for his Warrior friend, extremely worried about Reiner.

The Phoenix finished severing the goddess' left knee - after they had already severed the right one - while Jean protected himself in between her hairs, for the heat of the witch's fire was too strong, even further away. Ymir's lower left leg then fell through the skies. They had been successful in severing her four limbs, which made Ymir look more like a butterfly now, as she flapped her absolutely enormous wings. For all the humans who could see her down below, she only looked like a giant butterfly in the sky now. Some people in the islands around and in some areas of the great continent just thought she was a vision. Or some trick of celestial lights. The Phoenix then rose up in the air, almost as the same height as Falco was and her and Jean could notice how he looked intently and fearfully to down below. It was clear: Reiner was still down there, in that pure hell of fire as Ymir set herself ablaze with much anger. Her eyes glimmered its purplish Founder light, shining in all their might.

The Warrior was still grabbing the crystallised witch. He had tried to sever her from the Titan but she was still attached to it by nine powerful crystal cords and he couldn't cut her out of them. She swiftly regenerated much titan flesh around her crystallised human self, recreating her nape. The Armoured Titan's arm got stuck inside of all that flesh as he had refused to let go of her crystal encasing. Ymir then crystallised the entire nape further, which made the Warrior now permanently stuck there. Reiner was doing his best to endure all that heat, but he felt like he was already losing his mind. His Titan was melting, even his own brain felt like it was melting too in all that intense heat. The goddess continued to set herself ablaze, hoping to pulverise the pestilent small Titan still on her back. And the Warrior began to sever his own Titan hand with the crystal spear he had fashioned out of Ymir's own crystal feather.

Reiner was finally successful, he was free. He looked up above while still keeping his balance by thrusting the feather deeper into the goddess' flesh and using it as a support cane. He began to wave with his yet-to-regenerate wrist. The flames the goddess was emitting were extremely high, it truly looked like hell down there. The Phoenix and the Jaw looked down intently, trying to find the Armoured down there.

-.-

Hitch and Gabi ran fast across the burning fields, they made a longer lap, to avoid the fight between the War-Hammer-Attack Titan and the Female Titan. Hitch was still trying to understand while they were fighting in the first place but she decided to avoid it all and keep going nonetheless. Her target was that clearly well-secured building. The MP knew she would be safe there and her survival instincts were screaming in her head. She just wanted to protect her own life.

"Look!" Gabi exclaimed and stopped. Hitch reluctantly stopped and followed with her eyes to where the small girl was pointing. They could both see Christa pinned to that odd tree. Her old regiment comrade was in quite a peril. Hitch sighed, she looked towards the safe building then looked towards the Queen once again. "Come on," she told Gabi and they both went over to help.

As they arrived closer they could see the Female Titan struggling while the War-Hammer-Attack Titan slowly pinned her down with its crystal while fighting her with determination, to keep her pinned down.

Gabi soon began to use the little screwdriver Onyankopon had given her to try to break away the odd wood that was holding Historia by the neck and arms. The Queen clearly was having trouble breathing. "It's no use," she whispered with difficulty as Gabi intently tried to carve away that mutated wood.

Hitch had quickly noted the rifle on the grass and she held it up. This was a weapon the Military Police soldier was much more familiar with. She reached for the bayonet that was loose further over the grass and then gave it to Gabi, who then began to use that blade to try to break through the wood. But it was also of no avail. Hitch was examining the rifle, making sure it still had usable ammunition, when she noticed how Historia's eyes were fitted somewhere. So she naturally followed the Queen's eyes and became completely stunned to see that tiny newborn baby trapped, embedded in all titan flesh and crystal. "That's right," Hitch whispered, thinking of the rumours about the Queen being pregnant.

Her Majesty had tried to hide It, but there were rumours everywhere about it, especially in Military Police circles. The MP also noticed how blooded the Queen's nightgown was, so it was easy to put all the pieces together. This royal baby was clearly triggering all this somehow. Or helping trigger it. She could also see how extremely miserable and fearful Historia was, she had been crying that entire time. Hitch looked closer to the newborn baby and she saw those blackened eyes. She walked forward, with the intent to help the baby but that evil purple energy threw her backwards and the MP fell hard on the green grass. She began to stand up again and her eyes locked with Historia's and the Queen then looked towards the baby again. Hitch understood the mother wanted her help and she also felt horrible seeing such a tiny and frail human in that frightful situation. So the MP grabbed the rifle, ready to shoot that Titan's wrist off, hoping this would save the boy.

Gabi was still trying to free Historia with the bayonet but it was of no use. Eren had finished pinning down Leonhart's Titan, when the extremely large explosion happened. When Floch reached with his plane onto the extremely large interdimensional creature. After it lost its control over the earthly creatures, that tree holding Historia just became normal again, and she dropped forward, kneeling over the grass. Gabi helped her, holding her up, the mother was clearly extremely weak.

Eren could see Annie was finally out, so he turned his attention to Ymir. The goddess was no longer paralysed as the Devil had lost its absolute control over her. She turned her head, for she could see Hitch aiming the rifle at her left hand. So she reached with her right hand, to attack the small MP. And her father soon grabbed that right arm. He held it all the way down to the other side, effectively pinning her down, since her left arm was crystallised. Hitch aimed at the wrist and took a first shot, then a second. But the rifle shots didn't do much damage to the Founder Titan's skin. Eren stared her down extremely sternly and she looked up at him with her pleading, lost-child eyes. Hoping that would trick him and melt his heart. But Yeager cut down her wrist without hesitation. He could only cut the titan flesh however, for the connection remained through a large crystal cord that went all the way to her Titan's nape.

She soon began to kick him, as she would eventually begin to do in a few years, whenever she would misbehave. Something Ymir had already experienced and had strong memories of, since it was all in her past. But Eren would still have the pleasure to go through all those tantrums in two or three years' time. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan stood up slightly, still holding her right arm down, and pinned both of her legs underneath his Titan's right foot, while kneeling down. He made sure to keep balance. He held her right arm with his left one and as she was completely pinned down he produced yet another spear with his War-Hammer ability. The last spear. They locked eyes as Ymir growled and shrieked, and he kept his grip firm on her, holding down her two legs underneath his foot and her right arm with his left arm, while her right arm was already crystallised into the ground - and held the newborn baby inside. Ymir screamed at him, but he didn't let go. She cried in her angry tantrum in the same harmony as the newborn crying in Azzy's arms, in the crystal dimension. The toddler looked down to her back to see that crystal cord pulsing and glowing, it went all the way inside the tree pond. And it pulsed and glowed in the same rhythm as the crystal cord that attached her Titan to her newborn twin brother.

Hitch better positioned herself for her third and final shot. Since that rifle was about to lose its last ammunition. She aimed at the pulsing illuminated crystal, hoping to free the boy.

"Kill him," Historia said, and Hitch stopped. The MP looked at her, absolutely terrified and confused to hear the mother saying that.

"The-the baby?" she asked back, extremely hesitant as she held up that rifle. Historia was crying, the mother was in clear pain but she knew there was no other way. The MP looked at the small, fragile thing. The newborn's eyes were completely blackened and his entire body emitted that strange purple light.

"It's the only way," Historia insisted, with her head in the grass, completely defeated.

"I'm sure you don't mean that," Gabi calmly whispered to the mother.

But Historia only shook her head as Gabi held her shoulders affectionately, trying to keep her calm. "Just kill him. Otherwise this will never end." Historia maintained.

Hitch then turned and began to aim at Ezra's tiny heart. She couldn't stop shaking with the realisation of what she was about to do.

The War-Hammer-Attack Titan held up its crystal spear as Ymir shrieked at the top of her Titan lungs. Eren thought back to his conversation with Maria and his hesitation to kill his own daughter. The thought of what he was about to do deeply saddened him. But Ymir had already lived her life. Be it in a completely different time and land, but she had already lived it. And she had already died there.

There was no turning back time. The past was the past and there was no changing it. The father knew Ymir would eventually vanish from his life. He didn't know when or what would trigger it. His Attack Titan powers didn't show him that far. He only knew she had her destiny to fulfil and that it would trigger all of this. It all needed to happen.

He had to let go of her. He had to let History take its course. Ymir had lived in the past and died in the past. She couldn't exist now in their present, she couldn't come back from the dead.

Eren held back his tears. And he cut that Titan's throat with all his might. Severing Ymir's Titan's head from its body, and hopefully destroying the nape.

The Titan stopped struggling, it stopped moving completely. So Eren then stood up, letting go of the spear. He turned towards the Titan's crystallised hand as Hitch aimed the rifle towards the baby boy. Eren could see that all that purple energy was still there, and how the crystal cord was still glowing and pulsing. Yeager tilted his head, trying to understand why. The father was so lost and tired that he didn't even notice how Ymir's Titan hadn't started to disintegrate, as it was supposed to, if he had indeed killed it.

But he clearly hadn't.

Once again, another Eldian from the future had failed to realise he was dealing with the Original Titan herself, and her father, nonetheless. The goddess was disappointed.

This had been a wrong move, a deep miscalculation on Yeager's part.

As Eren looked down analysing that headless Titan, Ymir's right hand swiftly moved up. Her crystallised nails rapidly pierced through her father's chest. She reached right into where Eren's human form resided inside his Titan. And began to crush the Titan Shifter inside his own titan form. Eren reached with both of his Titan's hands, grabbing Ymir's arm, trying to defend himself. But she only crushed his human form even further. Eren was doing his best to keep connected to his Titan's fibres as Ymir crushed his entire human body with only her Titan's hand. She had her thumb and index's nails both slowly piercing his neck while she held him; as she cogitated killing him the same way as he had just so coldly killed her Titan's body. She was cogitating severing her father's human head from his human body. Ymir was angry.

-.-

The Titan Realm

Azymondeus had been very quiet for a while. Ymir was extremely concentrated on her glorious world destruction. And her attention had been divided into controlling two Titans at once, so she almost forgot about him. Well, not necessarily. But she trusted she had made a cage he could never escape from.

The whole magical entrapment seemed to have been made just for him, and it kept him clearly bound.

Az was already completely falling apart, since he had already spent way too much time in that cursed dimension; and the time traveller's molecules were becoming one with that strange environment.

He could no longer endure the pain, so Azymondeus finally gave in. He completely disintegrated into sand - leaving the cage empty.

Ymir could sense that he was no longer there so she soon turned and saw that the cage was suddenly empty. The goddess then looked around the dimension - searching - her eyes like ones of a naive child. "Azzy?" she asked, still searching. Desperate and deeply fearful.

"Azzy?!" Ymir shouted again and it was followed by deep silence.

Her precious light roots became a little less lively and her eyes turned green again as Ymir continued to scan the area. Clearly concerned. She looked at the cage again, now completely empty. She couldn't really believe he wasn't there.

'Where did you go?' Ymir questioned in her mind.

"Azzy!?" she shouted again, but there was nothing but silence in the Titan Realm.

She looked down, saddened.

When suddenly the Ackermann reformed himself into sand right behind her. He rose between Ymir and her precious evil light tree. She immediately turned towards him in complete surprise. Azymondeus had disintegrated his own self into billions and billions of sand grains, which made him free from the cage. Now, his body was reformed, as the billions and billions of sand grains formed him in the exact way as he previously was.

He then lunged and swiftly jumped on top of her, pouncing like an animal; with his precious sword at hand. To Ymir's immediate surprise, she couldn't even process it. He forced her down as they fell on the sand. Ymir looked at him absolutely petrified as he lunged with that sword over her neck. The Ackermann was ready to sever her head, this was his favourite move after all. The blade had already pierced through the surface of her skin when he stopped. Azymondeus hesitated when Ymir looked at him with those naive green eyes.

He loved her deeply.

His hesitation didn't last even a second, but that was more than enough. Ymir could control those tree roots with her own mind, like her own personal snakes. She instinctively ordered them to take him away and they obeyed.

'Sacrifice,' Ymir heard again, inside her head.

Those roots pulled Azymondeus into the light itself, and there was nothing Ymir could do. She looked at his eyes one last time, he looked absolutely confused and saddened as his body was pushed over to that otherworldly energy. Ymir immediately regretted it, lunging forward to reach him, but there was nothing she could do. So she stopped. She just remained there, paralysed, on her knees as she watched her lover's doom.

That pure energy quickly consumed all his body, destroying it completely. She could see he was in immense pain as all his limbs were eaten away by that light. His skin and muscles were completely gone in less than a second. She could see his internal organs dissolving away and his eyes exploding while looking intently into hers. That image deeply scarred Ymir. And she would never forget it. His bones also dissolved away and his nervous system seemed to linger a little longer, but soon was completely dissipated into pure light.

Azymondeus had been right: his powers did not come from Titans, and he was also right, for although he had spent all his life not knowing where his powers had come from, he always had the sense that he would one day find it all out. And that day had finally arrived.

This very moment would forever change the very fabric of his existence. Everywhere, in any point in time, the boy who had just been born normal, to normal parents in a perfectly normal world would now never be normal at all.

His fate had been decided long before he was born.

"That was… unusual," Armin said. After watching his newborn baby's eyes glowing intently with that otherworldly blue light, as the baby boy smiled at him joyously.

The curse that had been given on the moment of his death would follow him through every moment of his life. To every place he would ever go, to every decision he would ever make.

'You let me draw,' were Azymondeus' last thoughts as that atemporal energy deeply consumed him, changing every fibre of his being. He deeply regretted not saving Ymir from her own death and that was all he could think about now, during his own death.

Ymir was stunned, paralysed. She had just realised how in killing him, she had doomed him into that cursed power that had haunted him throughout his life. The guilt was overwhelming. And she could not believe it: she had in fact just killed him.

Ymir could not bear it.

The light roots fell away from her spine. She no longer wanted any power.

Ymir was in shock.

"NO!" Ymir realised. "No, no, no. I killed him," she repeated over and over again while shaking her head.

"No, I killed you, no!" she persisted.

"No, it can't be," Ymir whispered in her cry.

"I can't lose you." she let out, brokenly. "I love you."

His body completely dissolved away and the light went out.

And Ymir continued to cry in pure darkness.

-.-

High up in the skies, up above the shores of Paradise, the Titan goddess began to free-fall. Ymir had lost the will to live so she stopped moving her beautiful wings and just allowed herself to fall.

-.-

Like a fallen angel

Swept away by the winds of time

Falling down into the starry night

Like a goddess

Embrace me for all eternity

As we fly into heaven

End of Chapter Twenty: "Fight!"