Eren the Usurper Chapter 2
NOTE: So, as I'm sure you all know ,the site is having problems for weeks now, and no one is getting email notification. I was hoping to wait until that was fixed to update, but it's the end of the month and no word. So I'm just going to post now, and hope everything gets straightened out soon.
"I have...a lot of questions," Armin admitted cautiously, feeling strange talking to the open air, the ground still shaking a bit from the marching of the Titans.
"You and Jean both," Eren said with a frown. He could use the Founder to try bringing them to the Path, where they had all the time in the world to talk, but he was still a bit unaccustomed to these powers. It was different from the memories he saw from the...other future, he supposed. If he had to guess, without Ymir helping him, he was essentially learning how to control the Founder all on his own. "It'll be simpler to do this in person. Meet me on the main road to the headquarters. I shouldn't be too hard to find."
"Wait, Eren-!"
He shut off the connection over their protests and began walking down the road. It bought him a short reprieve, a breather to take everything in.
He actually did it. He changed the future. He wasn't bound to whatever twisted fate had formed for him between Ymir and the Attack Titan's power to see the future. Things might turn out terribly, but he might still destroy the whole world. But now, without a doubt, it was his choice if it came to that.
And it was, ironically, all thanks to the thing that started the entire existence of the Titans.
Eren absently reached up to touch the nape of his neck. He could feel it, the worm, the Source of the Power of the Titans. Not physically; something else, something more.
He felt it reach back to him, to his mind.
Eren wanted to hate this thing, to just think of it as a parasite, a monster at the source of all this. But life was rarely that simple, and what he saw in Ymir's memories showed nothing malicious or even overtly intelligent about this thing. It bonded with Ymir, but everything after that had largely been her own doing, in slavish obedience to the original Fritz.
He scowled and removed his hand. He wished Hange were here, she could probably help him make sense of these suspicions he had at the edge of his mind. But she wasn't here yet, so he'd had to put it aside for now.
Eren came to a halt, glancing southwest as he viewed the Wall Titans en route to the sea. He had to make sure they didn't cross paths and start falling all over each other. That certainly wouldn't do well for making a statement if the Rumbling started tumbling all over itself. Gods, he was making jokes worse than Connie and Sasha now.
Sasha.
Could he have changed things back at Liberio? If he had just forced himself to make contact with Zeke after the rescue, he probably could have saved her. Zeke may have wanted to sterilize the Eldian Race, but he didn't care for needless deaths. Of course, Levi and Hange probably would have stopped him.
Could he have done this all much before then, when Zeke first agreed to help him, when Eren pretended to have the same goal as him?
It was hard to say. The last few years had been a haze, a blur. He still felt everything. The pain of mutilating himself, the guilt of those he killed and got killed. He felt all of it, but he still felt like he had just been along for the ride at times. It had been his choice, and yet, it seemed like he already made them and that there was no changing course.
Now, at last, he was the master of his own fate again.
Could he have saved Sasha? Maybe. In the same way he might have been able to save the original Levi squadron against Annie.
Annie. Something else he had to deal with.
He came out of his musing as he noticed the sound of ODM gear. He looked up and saw them arriving a bit further down, all at once: Mikasa, Armin, Jean, and Connie.
They had joined up and talked briefly before coming here. He didn't need the Founder to know that. Jean's eyes held a look of uncertain understanding while Connie still just looked confused and angry. The hope in Armin's eyes was also rimmed by horror, while Mikasa was just trying and waiting to understand what all of this meant.
"Well," Eren spoke, calling over the distance to them. "Questions?"
Eren wasn't sure who he expected to react first. Armin, after what happened at the restaurant? Jean, being his usual self? To be honest, he would have expected Mikasa to march over and hit him before Connie did.
Eren took the hit without even flinching, turning his head to stare down at his shaven friend impassively. Connie glared back up tearfully, gripping Eren by the collar of his coat. "This is it?! This is why you went rogue, haven't talked to anyone!? This is why Sasha had to die?!"
Eren stared Connie in the eye. For the first time since before Liberio, Connie saw a genuine emotion in Eren's gaze. "Yes," Eren answered in resignation. Connie inhaled, looking ready to deck Eren again. "Now, do you want to fight me, or would you like me to get to work turning your mother back into a human?"
Connie's fist went still in the air, as he slowly and numbly blinked at that bold statement. "...Huh?"
"Are you that slow still, Connie? I have the full power of the Founder. I'm not sure how to do it just yet, but I know it's within my power to reverse Titanization," Eren stated factually. "You can punch me again, but you'll just be hurting your hand at this point."
Connie released Eren, practically incomprehensive while taking a few steps back and grasping his head with one hand. "You can...you can really turn my mom back?"
"Connie," Eren said with a small scowl. "Do you think I would say I could if I wasn't sure?"
Connie said nothing, looking between crying and laughing all at once.
Eren glanced away from Connie, seeing the approach of the other three. "I'm sure you all have somethings to talk about-"
"The last time you had a talk, Armin showed up from a beating after you hurt Mikasa," Jean interrupted pointedly.
"Jean, that's not imp-" Armin tried to stop, but was ignored by Jean, while Mikasa looked down.
"I want to hear this, Armin, from him," Jean stated, never breaking eye contact with Eren.
Eren almost felt his mask crack at that, but he refused to falter even now, even to this. "I have a revolution to keep some kind of leash on, so just spit it out, Jean."
"You're not someone that'd just try to grab for power," Jean said with a narrowed look. "But even if you were, attacking Mikasa and Armin just doesn't make sense."
Eren stared Jean down before sighing and massaging his temple. Armin and Mikasa looked surprised by the gesture, the crack in Eren's shell. "It'd take too long to explain. And I'm serious about that, it would," Eren admitted before looking up again. It struck them just how tired he looked, as his gaze shifted to Mikasa. "I was lying, to both of you. I thought I had to. Turns out I was wrong."
"...Wrong...?" Mikasa repeated as tears welled in her eyes. "You told me that I was a slave. That what I felt for you wasn't real! You said that you hated me!" Mikasa yelled, balling her fists. "And you're saying, you never even had to do it!?"
Eren kept her gaze. He didn't want to, but she deserved that at least from him. "Yes."
"But why?!" Armin exclaimed, Mikasa's hair shadowing her eyes. "What could have possibly been so important-"
"The Attack Titan can see the future."
Everyone froze, Mikasa's rage vanishing as she looked up in shock at Eren's solemn expression.
"I thought I saw only one path forward, and I thought that this was the only way to do it," Eren explained vaguely.
"What? Eren, what are you...?" Armin said slowly. "Are you serious?"
"Armin, if I was trying to lie to you, I'd say something a lot more believable," Eren pointed out bluntly.
"What? But...why would...how would that...?" Connie said, feeling overwhelmed and unable to comprehend the conversation.
"I told you, it would take too long to explain right now," Eren stated as he began to walk past them. He paused to regard them once more. "I'm sorry Sasha died, but I'm not sorry about Liberio. You can come with me to keep an eye on things or stay out of the way, I don't care. Either way, I have to finish this."
"...Why?" Mikasa asked evenly as he walked back, far calmer than she truly felt.
Eren didn't even glance back. "Would you rather I let Floch have his way without anyone to keep him in check?"
"He has a point," Jean admitted. He got a bad feeling around Floch sometimes, even before all of this started. But then again, when did it really start?
"Eren can see the future," Connie repeated wincing. "I don't know if I should be mad at him even more or not."
Mikasa silently broke from the group, following Eren. "We need answers, and Eren is finally talking."
That was all she said, and it was all that was needed.
With that, they followed Eren.
Meanwhile
Yelena wasn't quite sure what to make of Armin Arlert. The young man claimed to be moved by the true intentions of the Yeager Brothers, but she felt herself unwilling to buy the claim in full. Armin was either a clever actor that overplayed his role or just the type to have bursts of emotions when truly touched. It was hard to gauge which with his intellect.
But at seeing the returning form of Eren Yaeger, she took the presence of the blond boy and Eren's other friends that they approved or at least accepted the plan now that it was underway. "Eren, that was truly spectacular," she said with a smile, frowning in concern. "Where is Zeke?"
"He was injured in the battle. He was taken someplace safe to heal, while the Cart is still on the loose," Eren explained simply.
"Where?" Yelena pressed curiously.
"You'll have to ask Floch later," he answered with a shrug, nodding to the battlefield that Shiganshina had become.
"Of course," Yelena accepted with a nod. "But won't this affect your ability to control the Titans?"
"We're not being attacked, are we?" Eren countered, looking off to what had been the western corner of the town. "I had all the Pure Titans gather over there. They shouldn't attack anyone."
"That's a relief," Yelena admitted absently, eyeing Eren as if she expected him to say more, to explain more. And he did.
"The Power of the Founder is in my control, for now. Constant contact with Zeke isn't needed, apparently, but I can't stay too far from him with an unknown time limit," he lied evenly.
Yelena didn't pause. She had bought it. "That is fortunate then," she said with a smile.
"Leave the Pure Titans be for now, we have other issues. Right now, I need you to gather up the Anti-Marley Volunteers," Eren instructed.
"What?" Yelena asked in surprise. "Why?"
"Something of a thank you, for helping us get this far, among other things," Eren answered. "Something to let everyone know things are going according to plan."
Yelena seemed a bit reluctant but accepted it still. "They're already inside. I'll take you to the meeting room."
Armin watched as his friend entered the damaged building, Yeagerists standing or sitting about, taking a breather now that the battle was over. Upon noticing his arrival, they all stood straight and saluted him with their hands over their hearts. Eren said nothing as he passed them, his friends growing uncomfortable as they followed him, suspicious glares cast on them by many.
"You'd think he was the king or something," Connie muttered under his breath.
No one commented on that. No one wanted to.
Armin found his brain working harder than he ever recalled, trying to make sense of what was going on. Obviously, Eren was lying to Yelena, but what did Eren want with the Anti-Marley Volunteers? Was he going to have them arrested, or even killed? He didn't know, not anymore. More importantly...
He glanced out a window, to where the steam created by the march of the Colossal Titans could still be seen in the distance. Eren said he was going to rumble Northern Marley. How much did that even mean? That could describe everything from the upper tip of the continent to Liberio.
If Eren did that, could they ever have peace with the world?
He was ripped from his thoughts as he realized they had reached the top of the stairs, Eren looked back at them with a small scowl.
"You can wait here or not, but don't interfere," he instructed sternly.
Jean tsked in annoyance at the order while Connie remained mostly unresponsive. Mikasa and Armin shared heavy stares but didn't speak against Eren for now.
The New Founder continued on, accompanied by a rifle-wielding Yeagerist on either side as he reached the room in question, the doors opening for his arrival; inside waited the chattering Volunteers. Some looked relieved, others exhausted. At the front was Onyankopon, noticing their arrival, and drawing the attention of the rest of the room to them.
"Eren," Yelena addressed with a smile as she took her place among the Volunteers. "As you requested."
Eren slowly looked over the people, a mixture of individuals from various countries Marley had conquered. Places he had never seen…so many places that, even if this accursed situation didn't exist, perhaps he couldn't visit all of them in one lifetime.
"You've all risked much in helping Paradis," Eren started firmly. "You've all courted death and worse to defy Marley. Many of your comrads have died along the way, all leading to this moment: I have unleashed enough Titans within the Walls that no fleet, no army could ever stop them," Eren stated, his calm voice somehow making it grander yet ominous all at once. "Within two days, the gathered fleet will be destroyed. After that, the Titans will destroy various ports, to prove to the other nations of the world that the Rumbling is not something they can face or dismiss."
The relief was palpable on some. All of their efforts and all of their hard work were finally bearing fruit.
"But to Marley, a simple warning will not do," Eren said, pausing and closing his eyes briefly. "The Titans will rumble the north of Marley. Everything from the tip of Acirfa south to Thollon Bay in the west and the City of Nabrud in the east."
Silence spread at that, as the implications began to sink in.
"That's over five hundred thousand square kilometers," one of them realized, stunned. "How many...?"
"Twenty Million," Onyankopon summarized in shock.
It struck each of them differently. Some were horrified or solemn, others settle into calm and acceptance of this being the next stage of the war. A few were even pleased to have Marley bleed for all they had done over the past century.
"Marley is not a peaceful nation by any definition," Eren said firmly, and someone even snorted at the obvious description. "They've invaded your homelands, and now this island twice. They will do it again even without the support of the world, even if we destroy thier armies again and again. The only way to make them back down is to show them the consequence of attacking Paradis."
Yelena was internally torn, but outwardly pleased. True, this was beyond what Zeke had planned, but she supposed that she shouldn't be surprised that Eren insisted on taking a larger pound of flesh from Marley for all that they had done. And truly, on some level, she agreed with Eren on that.
"On that note, you are all free."
Everyone looked to Eren in confusion, not catching his meaning.
"Free? What do you mean, Eren?" Yelena asked asked with a frown.
"Onyankopon is not wrong, Yelena. A large chunk of land is about to be leveled and smashed to dust. Millions of lives, snuffed out," Eren admitted with a heavy tone. "You all came here with the hope of freeing your homelands. And when the time comes, I intend to return the favor, the hope you have all given Eldia. Regardless, if none of you want to be a part of this, you are free to leave without consequence. You may remain on the island, or we can eventually bring you to the mainland. Either way, the choice will be yours."
That was a heavy thing to swallow, and Yelena looked very, very concerned by the expressions on her comrade's faces.
"One more thing," Eren continued, glaring directly at Yelena. "Yelena, you're under arrest."
Several gasped in the room, but no one moved as the two Yeagerists pointed their rifles squarely at the blond. Yelena looked stunned before her face settled. "I see. So, you were lying earlier."
"Less than you might think," Eren answered coolly. "You and Zeke plotted to have all the Eldians of the world sterilized through the power of the Founder, leading to the slow genocide of our entire race. Some of you knew this, I'm sure, but I won't hold you responsible," Eren said firmly never taking his eyes off Yelena. "Just you, Yelena."
"I see. Give me one truth then. Was all of this just to rebuild the Eldian Empire of old?" Yelena asked with a disappointed tone.
"No, Yelena. It's what it has always been about for Paradis," Eren answered firmly. "Survival."
Yelena seemed slightly less disappointed, nodding to him. "Very well. I won't resist."
One of the Yeagerists cautiously approached her, removing her pistol and binding her hands behind her back.
Eren watched as she was escorted out, watching as she was led past his friends who witnessed the exchange with wide, tense eyes.
With that done, he looked back to the stunned group. "Onyankopon? I'm assuming you're the new leader for now," he stated simply. "My offer still stands for everyone. Remain here, or don't."
He turned and left without another word, leaving the stunned Volunteers to consider their situation.
"Should we really leave them be, Sir?" the Yeagerist to his side asked quietly.
"Yes. They've earned that," Eren stated firmly, nodding for the soldier to leave. The man saluted him before leaving, Eren looking at his friends once more. He subtly led them to the left, having them follow him to another room, empty of any occupants.
"We should have some time now," Eren stated simply as he turned to them.
"Well, that was...something," Connie stated uncertainly.
"You really...you really plan on destroying that much of Marley?" Armin said slowly.
"Yes," Eren admitted with a heavy look. "It's only a small part of Marley in the grand scheme, but the death toll alone should make everyone rethink the idea of attacking Paradis again."
"Eren," Mikasa said with a soulful look. "What you're doing...you know it won't be any different than Liberio, than Shinganshina."
"It'll be worse," Eren admitted without hesitation. "Tens of millions lives, snuffed out and barely knowing why. And under the trampling feet of Colossal Titans, there will be almost no possibility of survivors."
"Then why are you doing this, Eren?!" Armin asked urgently. "All you're doing is confirming all the world's worst fears ab-"
"Armin," Eren said coldly. "Shut up."
The blond fell silent, looking at his friend in surprise.
"I lied before to you and Mikasa, but it wasn't hard to. Not to you, at least," Eren said with a scowl. "You keep acting like if you can just get people to just...talk that they'll come to understand each other and put aside their differences. But this isn't a storybook, Armin. The rest of the world, with few exceptions, treats us worse than Marley. And Marley itself has been conquering other nations for decades now. I don't know why you think you can reason with them, I really don't. Marley doesn't want to reason with us, they want us conquered or dead. Enslaved or Extinct."
Armin grimaced under Eren's words, knowing there was some truth to them...
"You once told me that to change things, you have to be willing to throw away your humanity," Eren said, glancing to Mikasa. "You've always known the world is as cruel as it is beautiful, Mikasa. So...when did you two forget that? When did I become the only one that realized we were still at war?"
"Eren, they're not like the Titans, they're people," Mikasa reminded softly.
"And? You say that like it changes everything," Eren said coldly. "An enemy that desires our utter destruction, with means beyond our normal ability to match, out scaling us in almost every way, keeping us trapped in one space to call our own until they try to push us to extinction again. Facing Marley doesn't sound much different than facing the Titans in those regards."
"...You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?" Jean said, massaging his temple.
"But you're ignoring the most important part, Eren," Armin countered, almost pleading to his friend. "We can reason with other humans, we can talk to them."
"Being able to talk doesn't make them reasonable, Armin," Eren countered harshly. "I've given the world a warning, and I'm making an example out of Marley. With any luck, I might never have to use it on this scale ever again. In that time, maybe we can make peace with the rest of the world, but that was never an option with Marley."
"And how does this save Paradis in the long run?" Armin countered with a glare. "How is this any different than the plan to use Historia?"
"Because I don't plan on leaving my problems for the next generation to deal with," Eren said before sighing. "Or, barring that, I'll leave it better off instead of worse."
"And, you know, you don't need two people to use the founder now," Connie pointed out awkwardly, getting strange looks. "What? It's true, that's what he told Flock when he let us all eavesdrop with that Founder mind-link...thing."
"He's not wrong," Eren agreed, even if it was a very Connie-way of putting things. "If you're hoping that you can reason with me, Armin, you can't. I've already decided against anything worse than this for the time being."
Armin scowled while Jean looked at Eren curiously. "You're going to turn them back, aren't you? The Pure Titans?" he asked knowingly.
"Some, I'm tempted not to," Eren admitted freely. "But I'll do it anyway. Once I've practiced it on them, I'll turn your mother back, Connie."
"...Thank you," Connie said with a trembling voice.
"Save it for after it's done," Eren said solemnly. "Now, could all of you give me a moment with Mikasa?"
There was a tense silence now. "Assuming she wants to," Jean agreed reluctantly, looking to the Ackerman in concern.
"It'll be fine," Mikasa assured.
Armin looked ready to stay where he was, even as Jean and Connie stood up. "I guess we're not going to talk about the whole see the future thing yet?" Connie asked Jean, who sighed at that topic.
"It's okay, Armin," Mikasa promised evenly.
"No," Armin said firmly. "No, it's not."
Despite his words, he rose and left the two alone.
Silence enveloped them. "Why do you always try to run where we can't follow?" she asked quietly.
"Mikasa, I haven't been running anywhere," Eren said bluntly. "It's feels like I've been trapped in the same place all these years."
Mikasa stared at him, long and hard, studying every inch of him. She had seen the spark, the life drifting out of Eren's eyes for years now, ever since the return from Shinganshina. Those green eyes had been empty at Liberio.
Now? Now there was something of the old Eren creeping back into them.
"I don't need you to explain everything," Mikasa said bluntly. "Just tell me why you thought you had to do all this?"
Eren leaned back in thought, thinking of how to simplify this without dragging in the future he erased. "I thought I found a way to destroy the source of the Titans. And I thought I needed to be killed for that to happen."
Mikasa started. "You mean, you were pushing us all away because you...you thought you had to die? You thought we'd be fine with that?"
"I knew you wouldn't. Not unless you thought it was the only way," Eren agreed before snorting. "Hell only knows what I did to deserve friends like you all."
"And what happens now?" Mikasa asked doubtfully. "We just...pretend nothing happened?"
"No, that would be stupid," Eren said as he stood up. "We move forward, like always."
Mikasa almost sighed at that.
"I don't expect you all to follow me, but I don't plan on running anywhere anytime soon."
Her head snapped up at that. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I have a mess to clean up," Eren stated as he headed to the door. "It's up to all of you if you want to lend a hand."
End of Chapter
Hello again! Hope you all enjoyed this. Eren is now dealing with te fall outo f aborting his old plan of turning his friends against him, while also dealing withte messier aspects of leading a revolution. Aka, he's keeping a leash on the yeagerists.
In regards to "Thollon Bay" and "City of Nabrud", I went with Isayama's toutine of taking existing names and putting them backwards, messing with lettering as needed. Their RL locations would not "Nolloth Bay" and "Durban City", both in South Africa.
Considering the setting aand in this upside-down world, that would be a very cold region, I'm going to assume that it has a population beteen 10-20 million.
Well, that's it for now. Though, I did have fun with Jean pointing out that if Eren just wanted to take over, pushing Armin and Mikasa away wouldn't make much sense.
Until next time!
Early viewing of chapters 3-4 avaliable on my pat-reon:
p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64