Changes: I'll see you in 2000 years (ch 21 - You Are Free - 6 of 6)

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!"

26. Chapter Twenty-One: You are free- 2 of 6

All the dirigibles near the farm had fallen. They had been taken down by those odd flying Titans that were wreaking havoc all over the island. Onyankopon saw when that one dirigible went down, the one commanded by the good old man who had helped them greatly. The pilot then decided to fly in that direction and try to rescue anyone he could. He touched down near all the flaming wreckage and tried to walk through all the fire and debris. It wasn't easy, all the dirigibles were very similar and so far, he had only found dead, burnt bodies. But the man didn't give up, he walked around the burning field shouting, calling for survivors. It was difficult for his voice to be heard, for all the Wall Titans were still trampling nearby.

He finally found the one dirigible that did not have a Marlean insignia on the side. Onyankopon was suddenly confident that this was the one. There was a large explosion at the centre of the island, followed by many loud tremors and the sudden eruption of the three ancient volcanoes. All the odd flying Titans were gone, and so were the Pure Titans. And the Wall Titans were gathering together to create the new Wall. All while the pilot was looking for survivors, trying to navigate the large and burning wreckage of that dirigible. He felt upset to see so many burnt bodies. What Onyankopon didn't know was that the surviving Marlean soldiers had run to the woods after their dirigibles went down. They wanted to protect themselves from the Titans. The frightened men were scared of that island in general. They had grown up with many awful legends about that place; and so far, Paradise had shown itself to be as dangerous as they thought. Those men would only be found in those woods days, even months later.

The only survivor left behind was Quail. The old man saw no reason for running, he had come to the past to die anyway. He just hoped he had succeeded. The young pilot walked on that burning deck to find the old captain still seated on his chair. The man had burns all over, and cuts as well, for the large glass windows had shattered right in front of him. Old Onyankopon was having trouble breathing, he knew he was finally going. So he closed his eyes and thought of his love, and of their precious son. The man was ready to find peace.

The much younger Onyankopon immediately rushed to his aid and began to carry the man out of that wreckage, to the sudden surprise of his older and otherworldly counterpart.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna get you some help, just stay with me," the young pilot told the old captain as he gently dragged him out of the burning wreckage. "You'll survive this."

"I'll make sure you'll survive this, don't worry. Just keep breathing, stay with me, come on," young Onyankopon kept giving the old, injured man words of reassurance as he carefully dragged him through the green grass. Trying to find a safer spot where they could stop and he could check the extent of the old man's wounds.

He gently laid the old captain against a large rock, away from danger. The old man was breathing heavily, his face and upper body were deeply burned and filled with large lacerations from the glass. The young man kneeled in front of him, deeply concerned but trying not to show. "Don't worry. You'll survive this, I'll make sure. Just stay conscious. I know you'll survive this," he continued with his words of reassurance.

Old Onyankopon smiled. "I already have," he told his younger self. The old man looked up to the sunsetting sky.

"That sky is so beautiful, this whole world is breathtaking. I'll miss it," he disclosed.

"Don't say that, we'll get you through it," young Onyankopon reassured the dying man.

"You already got me through it," old Onyankopon replied, breathing heavily. He seemed in peace with his fate.

The young man seemed confused and extremely upset to see this old man dying in front of him. Tears fell down his cheeks, this was a difficult moment.

"I didn't live in the best of worlds, but I made the best of it," the old man said, and reached out with difficulty, pointing at the young man's heart then reaching for his hand. "I lived a good life, even with all the troubles. Now you need to promise me you'll live a good life too, so I can go out in peace."

The young pilot held the old man's hand, he was lost for words.

Time finally changed.

The old man slowly began to disintegrate into speckles of blue dust. He was ceasing to exist, at least in that form. It was a strange feeling, certainly different from dying but equally cold. Regardless, the man was extremely happy: it had worked. Time had changed and the reality that he had come from, that he had been born in, was no more. Time had begun anew. Old Onyankopon smiled.

"This sacrifice was worth it," he declared with a slurred voice but quite triumphantly.

"Don't say that, we'll get you help. You can give up on your life now," the younger man tried to counter him.

"Listen to me. You have to keep living," the old man advised. "I'll be gone soon, but now it's up to you. My life is over but your life is only beginning. Live a good life now, will you? Go around this big world and enjoy seeing it, all the colours, all the beauty, all the life. Just live, for the both of us."

The old man disappeared from existence, he was completely gone like brightly blue stardust floating through the wind. And the young pilot was staggered, just completely lost for words. He couldn't really understand what he was witnessing, but he would never forget the old man's last words, his last advice.

Onyankopon looked confusedly at all that otherworldly dust floating away and slowly fading, he looked down a held his head. "I must've hit my head hard and got a concussion," he quietly cogitated. He then thought about it and quickly reached for O-7's gun. He took out the futuristic-looking pistol and was completely shocked to see it disappearing as well. It was disintegrating into Time, just like the old man was.

It crumbled completely on his hand, to the young pilot's complete bewilderment. All of the people and things Azymondeus had brought with him from that broken timeline were now disintegrating in this new one. All the pilots' corpses and all the future machinery, anything that had been left. It was all gone. All crumbled into that otherworldly stardust.

Onyan was flabbergasted and very confused, he turned and slowly rested his back on that large rock, sitting down with his hands on his spread out knees, he held his head in confusion, and also sadness. He stared down intently at the green grass around his feet and at those tiny golden flowers dancing with the wind, reflecting on the old man's last and wise words.

"You're bleeding," Annie noted, and he startled. Onyankopon was so lost in his thoughts and so bemused that he hadn't noticed her standing right in front of him. The pilot looked up. "Your forehead," the Warrior added, signalling with her small handkerchief.

He reached up to check the blood. "I didn't even notice it," Onyan replied gently, and with a nervous chuckle; while wiping some of the blood and checking it with his hand. "I was right about the concussion then," he mumbled as he took the handkerchief she was offering and began to pressure the wound with it.

She sat down next to him, also leaning on the large rock. Annie looked up to the beautiful skies.

"What a day," Onyan commented next to her.

"That's an understatement," Annie replied, cold but sarcastically.

He let out a small smile while checking to see if the blood had stanched. The small, white piece of cloth was covered in red. "I guess I'll keep this," he told her humorously.

"Are you hurt?" Annie asked, concerned, "beyond the small wound in your forehead," she added.

"I'm not sure, probably not," he replied and began to stretch his rigid and tired arms. "But I'll certainly feel all of it tomorrow," he noted, also humorously.

Annie let out a small laugh and he turned to her with a smile. "At least there will be a tomorrow," she commented. Annie looked again to the sunset, feeling relieved.

The Warrior felt different, she felt lighter and she hoped this feeling meant she was finally free from that horrible curse. For the first time in all those years, she wanted to live. Annie was glad to be alive. She was happy. Genuinely.

"What a beauty. Isn't it?" Onyankopon noted while staring into the horizon as well. The imposing volcano was spewing fire and lava in all its might.

Annie smiled.

They stayed there a little longer, enjoying the view.

-.-

Levi methodically washed his arms and face. "I'm glad all the explosions didn't stop the running water," he let out from near one of the building's sinks. Levi hoped for a nice shower, but they still had much to do, so it would have to wait.

"Captain Ackermann," one of the nuns called his attention, coming his way as Levi, also methodically, dried his hands and face.

"Just 'Levi' is fine," he told the woman.

"I'm sorry, sir, but your son is missing. We have looked everywhere. He's the only child unaccounted for," she told him, looking quite desperate while delivering those news.

Levi let out a small smile as he finished drying his hands. "He's my nephew, and I'm not surprised," the uncle relayed, looking a little amused. "I'm sure he'll show up eventually. He's quite clever, that little one. And a true wayward."

"But, sir, shouldn't we be worried? Considering the circumstances," the nun questioned.

The consequences of that erratic day were still all over the farm. The few soldiers left were hiding away the corpses, they were all doing their best to shield the children from that war scenario.

"He only disappeared now. I can assure you: the Ackermann boy was accounted for when we evacuated the children this morning," the younger nun interjected, hoping the boy was lost only after all that battle and terror. "I counted him with all the others after we had already shielded ourselves in the basement," she firmly argued.

Levi looked away, considering that information. He knew well that doors didn't necessarily stop his nephew and he began to wonder where he could have gone. "I'll help you look," he replied, ready to take action.

-.-

Eren arrived at the Queen's Royal Quarters and carefully placed Historia over her large bed. She gently kissed him on the cheek as a thank you and better positioned the baby boy in her arms.

Historia joyfully held the newborn Ezra, while lying on that bed. And the two parents smiled at each other. Eren then gently sat on the bed as well and kissed her passionately.

Ezra was sleeping peacefully once again. The father smiled in relief while looking at this newborn baby son: his second child. He was safe and sound. Yeager then looked up and scanned the room, he was feeling quite confused. He stood up again and went over to the already prepared and quite beautiful royal crib. It was empty.

"Historia, where's Ymir?" he asked the mother in complete alarm.

"She is… safe, somewhere else," Historia replied firmly but still without being able to hide her own concerns.

"What does that even mean?" Eren asked bewildered. "Where? Who took her away?"

Historia looked away from him, clearly concerned but quiet.

"Where is she, Historia?" Eren asked her again, approaching her closer.

"I already told you she is safe. Now stop with all this shouting or you'll get Ezra all rattled up too," the Queen complained in a firm whisper.

"Does that mean you don't know… where she is?" Eren asked more quietly now, trying to sound calm and understanding. He was afraid the labour had impaired Historia's judgement. Her eyes seemed a bit lost and confused.

He sat on the bed again, tilting his head with much love, hoping she could find reason and explain it further.

"I gave her to Azzy, he is looking after her for me at the moment," Historia gently relayed.

Eren immediately felt extremely cold, absolutely sick to his stomach.

"You left our newborn baby in the care of a two-year-old?" He asked, trying to remain calm but failing miserably at it. His heart was racing just with the thought.

"He is not an ordinary two-year-old," she whispered back.

"Exactly!" Eren shouted. Raising himself from the bed with much anger.

"I won't have you shouting in my ro-" Historia regally threatened as she prepared to stand up as well. Ready for a fight, still with the newborn in her arms. But was interrupted when seeing the hurt Commander slowly making her into the Queen's private quarters, with the help of Captain Levi.

"…room," Historia completed her sentence quietly while sitting down on the bed again.

The couple felt embarrassed and then awkward as they watched the Commander struggling and limping across the room. Trying to make her way to one of the armchairs, guided by Levi, of course.

"Do you want me to leave?" Eren asked the Queen, more quietly now.

"Might as well," Hange interjected while limping, "he is not a part of the military anymore," she reminded the Queen.

"Don't," Historia softly asked him as he was about to walk out, so Eren stayed in the room.

"I hope you don't mind me sitting here in your fancy chair, Your Majesty. I did my best to get my uniform all cleaned up, but I'm afraid I'm still covered in dirt," Commander Hange told the Queen. She had been buried alive after all, and eaten by a Titan prior to that. So it would be difficult to wash all that away.

"And my clothes are covered in blood. Blemishing this room should be the least of our concerns, Commander," Historia replied, quite politically. "Please," she motioned for the wounded woman to sit down.

"Careful, careful," the Captain warned while helping Hange to the chair. She held her torso, clearly in pain as Levi helped her sit down.

"Are you feeling alright?" Historia asked, concerned.

"I think I broke a few ribs, probably all, but I can't really count for sure and the doctor is dead," Hange replied with some cold humour.

"You shouldn't have climbed all those stairs," the Queen noted, still clearly concerned.

"It's fine, I needed to talk to you," Hange replied, finally enjoying some comfort in that big and cosy chair. The Commander began tapping on the large, cushy armrest, clearly calculating a few things in her head.

"We should get you to the nearest hospital," Eren said, also concerned. "You and anyone else who might be injured." Yeager suggested, he hadn't known that the doctor had been killed in that battle.

"There is no one else hurt," Captain Levi interjected, standing next to his Commander. "At least not like her. Most of them are dead," the Ackermann coldly explained.

"How many of our soldiers survived?" The Queen questioned to the Commander.

"Five," Hange relayed. "All of them guards that were already here with you, veterans. All of the soldiers I brought with me are gone. All young cadets," she informed, upset.

"And Commandant Shadis as well, unfortunately," Hange lamented, turning to Eren to solemnly inform him. And he looked down, clearly upset. Shadis was the last connection he had to his father, so that stung quite a lot.

"How come they found the farm?!" Eren burst out. "It doesn't make sense. There must have been an informant within our ranks. This should have been contained in Shiganshina."

Hange tilted her head and the Captain interjected. "If your plan was to contain the fight with the Marleans in Shiganshina then you and your brother shouldn't have broken down the Walls," Levi sharply argued.

"It will be very difficult to ascertain the amount of damage and casualties all these Colossal Titans have caused around the island," Hange added in deep admonishment.

"We didn't-" Eren fumbled while trying to argue back. "That's not what happened-"

The Captain crossed his arms. "Are you saying you're not responsible for creating all this mess?" he questioned.

"You are the Founding Titan holder and your brother is the only Royal left who is a Titan Shifter. How could there possibly be any other way to control the Wall Titans?" The Commander questioned in a grave tone and Eren looked down, clearly confused.

"I-I… I'm not sure… We triggered something, but I died… and I came back," Eren let out, clearly a little lost.

"And you brought hell back with you," Levi sharply replied.

"All those creatures, they looked quite frightening," Historia noted, the mother was still very disturbed by it all.

"The important thing is that they are gone," the Commander interjected. "The island has descended into chaos, we need to pick up the pieces."

"What do you suggest we do now, Commander?" Historia solemnly asked her.

"That is my question to you, Your Majesty," Hange replied.

Historia looked down, she began to caress her newborn baby's hair affectionately, reflecting on everything. Ezra was now sleeping soundly again.

"My first question is about the foreigners downstairs," Hange continued.

"The surviving Marleans?" Eren interjected.

"Eldians," Levi corrected him. "They are all Eldians," he affirmed.

"How can you know that?" Historia asked, curious.

"Because they are the ones you turned into Titans, Ma'am," Hange explained. "That's how they survived. Now they're back into human form again."

"I don't remember doing that," the Queen replied, contemplative. "It's been a long day," she noted.

"Still, they are war prisoners," Eren firmly argued. "They were still fighting for the Marleans-"

"Are they cooperating?" The Queen interrupted him, asking the Commander.

"They are clearly confused since they turned human again," Hange explained. "But so far passive and helpful. And I would advise to not rattle them up with the suggestion of prison, at least not while we're here. They outnumber us by quite a lot."

"Except when counting the children, of course," Levi joked, still with arms crossed.

"What is your plan, Commander?" Historia asked.

"The nuns are serving all of them dinner, all these men helped the few surviving guards to carry the bodies of the deceased to the edge of your property, Your Majesty. And the five guards are taking turns in vigil of the fallen soldiers," Hange explained and continued. "I suggest we rest this night and leave first thing in the morning. We'll bury the corpses away from your land, as I don't think it would be appropriate to have a graveyard inside an orphanage."

"I agree," The Queen concurred.

And the Commander proceeded. "Onyankopon and Leonhart have arrived after sundown, carrying a functioning radio from one of the fallen dirigibles; which I found was quite clever of him. We'll carry on after the burial and gather resources in Reiss village, to also see the state of the place. From there I plan for us to head towards Trost and try to establish communication from there with Shiganshina and Mitras, through the radios we already have in those Compounds. And the radio here will help us keep in contact with you, Ma'am. As I assume you won't be able to leave the farm in the next couple of weeks at least, maybe the next month, not only because of your medical situation but also for your safety. So it is best that we communicate solely through the radio from now on."

Historia sighed. "I believe the focus now is finding survivors, taking care of the wounded and burying the dead," she noted.

"That's what I'm thinking," Hange concurred.

"Only then we can rebuild," the Queen added, contemplative. Historia had no idea of the state of her island. She had no idea what had happened beyond the limits of her farm, but she could imagine it had been devastating.

"Hopefully the situation outside is not as bad as it feels," Levi commented.

"It's probably worse, but let us not concern too much with that. Let's take it one day at a time," Hange advised.

"I suppose you are my new Minister now. I believe you are the only higher-ranking military officer left," the Queen solemnly noted as a couple of maids appeared at the door. They solemnly curtsied and entered the room, to aid the Commander.

Historia turned to them, quite joyful and relieved. "You survived! I'm very glad to see you both unharmed," she sincerely told the women.

The two young maids acknowledged the Queen's glee a little awkwardly, as the only reason they had survived was by being turned into Titans. And that had been an awful experience, quite difficult to recover from. Still, all the Eldians saved by the Queen in that unexpected way were very glad to still be alive.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," the Commander replied, about the Queen's offer. "We can discuss this after all the citizens are all accounted for, and when most things have been settled," Hange said while standing up with the maids' help. "Who knows? I might decide to retire early after this," she joked while holding her ribs, trying not to laugh.

The Commander gently bowed her head and Historia nodded back, she then limped towards the large doors, with the maids' help and followed by the Captain.

"You became very quiet," Historia commented to Eren while looking down, to her sleeping baby. But then looked up to see he had ignored her and was following the others out of the room. Eren was deeply worried about Ymir.

Yeager gently grabbed the Ackermann's shoulder before he could leave the antechamber and Levi turned to him aggressively, pushing his hand away. "What?" the Captain whispered hastily.

"Is Azzy downstairs with the other children? Have you seen him?" Eren asked in another whisper, quietly but clearly concerned.

Levi sighed and scratched his hair for a moment. "He's missing, I already looked everywhere," he told Yeager sincerely.

"Missing?!" Eren whispered hastily, he was dumbfounded.

"I'm sure we'll find him," Levi replied, trying to ease his mind. "Come on," he added, calling Yeager to action.

The two uncles began looking around on that same floor, in all the little corners, small cabinets or any crawl spaces a toddler could fit in. Levi started to recall his previous fight with that stranger as he walked around that messy area and looked at all the turned furniture around those rooms. He began to remember all that had happened in that same morning; and how many of the things the stranger said and did, the way he fought, all of it was just: odd. Levi looked intently at the turned wardrobe, feeling quite perplexed.

He then walked outside of that room again to see Yeager looking firmly through the high windows. It had been where Levi and the stranger had fallen through during their fight, landing on the grass below - only about twelve hours before. The beautiful large window had been completely shattered, but it was now externally protected by Yeager's own Titan Crystal.

Eren looked firmly to the moon and the stars and Levi joined him in that apparent wonder.

"A Titan?" Eren let out, confused and worried. And Levi then finally noticed what Yeager had been observing intently: the creature flying through the night clouds.

"Great, another flying one," Levi mumbled as Yeager rushed down the stairs.

The group of Eldian soldiers was all huddled together outside of the large building, all surrounded by many large torches, there to illuminate the area and to fight away the cold. They were standing together with the surviving Royal Guards, as Onyankopon explained to the Paradisian men how that radio worked. Most of the Eldian recruits, who had been raised in the much more technological Marlean society, were a little amused to see how the Paradisians had no idea how to work a simple radio. While some of the others were showering Hitch, the only Military Police Officer there, with all kinds of questions. Questions the MP was having trouble answering, mostly about the island and about their future. Hitch was getting a little overwhelmed, she was just wishing the Commander would come back downstairs.

Leonhart was sitting on an old wooden crate, very near the orphanage's large doors. She was clinically checking Gabi from head to toe as the small girl stood in front of her. She held the girl's shoulders tenderly. "Are you alright?" Annie asked her, the small twelve-year-old looked very preoccupied.

Gabi gave her a half-smile. "I'm glad to see you survived," the girl said and turned to the skies again. "I'm just worried about the others… do you think they're okay..?" she asked, nervous and concerned.

"I'm sure they're fine," Annie replied, gently fixing the small girl's hair back behind her ear. Annie then held one of the girl's shoulders more firmly, to comfort the girl, and continued. "We'll soon leave here to meet with them," she said.

Annie couldn't wait to see her friends again, the Warrior had been alone, completely isolated, for the past four years. For four years she yearned to be free from that cursed place.

"Falco!" Gabi yelled in pure joy as she sighted that enormous bird cruising through the clouds. And Annie's eyes met Eren's as he reached the last steps of the staircase.

The Warrior had been facing the open doors of the orphanage - and enjoying the heat coming from inside. But she now stood up and turned to face towards the fields, where Gabi had already rushed to. And Yeager soon joined her outside.

"What is that?" Eren asked, clearly rattled.

"The Jaw Titan, it seems," Annie coldly noted as they both looked up. She too was surprised Gabi had recognised the Shifter.

"Flying?" Eren questioned.

The only Titans Yeager had seen which possessed wings had been the ghostly ones, and Ymir. He hadn't seen any Titan Shifter with that ability, so he was on high alert as the creature approached.

"You're flying," Gabi graciously mumbled, with eyes full of wonder as the Jaw Titan flew down in their direction.

The Titan touched down fast, landing quite close to the crystallised building and Mikasa swiftly slid down from the feathers. Gabi rushed in, and the Shifter soon recognised her, it gently moved its head down to greet her and she hugged it tightly. The girl felt relief, Falco was the only friend she had left, so she was glad to see he had survived.

"Azzy is missing," Eren immediately said as Mikasa walked towards him, his tone filled with urgency. He looked at his sister with eyes full of worry, but with also a hint of blame.

Eren was angry, he was bitter. But his resentment for his nephew was only starting.

"Missing?!" Mikasa questioned back in pure alarm, immediately rushing into the building.

Armin slid down from the Titan's back as well, not as gracefully. Arlert had finally finished regenerating - apart from his Titan marks and the scar in his arm - but he still felt faint, quite frankly, he felt beaten.

"I'm sure he'll turn up, you know he always does this," he commented while leaving all those feathers behind.

"He's got Ymir with him," Eren explained further, with arms crossed. That was the real reason why the father was so worried.

"Who's Ymir?" Armin asked, while clumsy walking towards Yeager, and while the Jaw Titan sat down, still being hugged by Gabi, clearly quite happy and relieved as well.

"My daughter," Eren gravely explained as Armin walked towards him. He then stopped. "Oh, right, the baby," Arlert realised. "Well, I'm sure we'll find them in no time," he added, trying to comfort Eren with a gentle clasp on his shoulder.

"What if he jumped?" Eren asked back bitterly as he stared threateningly into Armin's eyes and removed his old friend's hand from over his shoulder.

"I'm sure he didn't. He's probably hiding in a cupboard somewhere," Armin swiftly affirmed. "Come on, let's look for them," he added as he walked forward, towards the orphanage's large doors.

Arlert lied of course, but quite confidently, as always. He knew very well that his son had space-jumped to wherever they were fighting, earlier that same day; and that Mikasa had convinced the toddler to hide somewhere safe. Armin was secretly hoping that 'somewhere safe' in Azzy's mind would mean a nice hidden spot in that orphanage building, or perhaps in the Lighthouse. What the father wasn't accounting for was the possibility of Azzy ending up with that baby in a different dimension, and that was exactly what had happened.

Armin was walking into the building as Eren followed behind him, when he turned. "And get out of there! You've been in that Titan for too long, it's dangerous!" he shouted back to Falco, who was still inside the Jaw Titan. The boy was proudly showing Gabi his feathered wings while Annie approached confusedly, she hadn't expected the Jaw Titan to look like that, Marcel certainly didn't. She was followed by Hitch and Onyankopon, as they all admired the gracious beast.

"Now!" Arlert shouted again from the orphanage's large doors, as he and Yeager entered the building.

Eren stopped to watch that beast from afar as well, as Falco came out of the thing. This was the last Titan Shifter leaving their Titan's body after all the Island conflict. And it would be the last Titan Shifter to do so for many, many years. Yeager looked down reflectively, he stared at his cursed wound as it gradually healed; and turned to Arlert, as the man was worriedly passing his hands through his hair, to confirm how their wounds were exactly the same. He then walked inside of the building as well.

Armin had been right. Falco shouldn't have stayed that long inside that Titan. The boy passed out as soon as he was disconnected from all those Titan Fibres. Annie rushed to hold him as he fell from the beast. Gabi was paralysed. Falco was bleeding profusely.

The many Titan Marks around his body - the places where he had been deeply connected to his Titan - should simply regenerate, releasing that signature Titan steam, like always. But that did not happen, the boy just began to bleed out instead. The marks had become open wounds. Annie looked down at all that blood in extreme confusion, this was something she certainly wasn't expecting. For the Female Titan Shifter herself had already regenerated completely since she had disconnected from her exterior Titan form.

"That is just a kid," Hitch mumbled while standing next to Gabi, she turned to the girl flabbergasted and also noticed how helpless Gabi looked. Annie's clothes were gradually being soaked with that overflow of red. And so did her hands and arms as she held that small and unconscious twelve-year-old boy.

"Is there anyone among you who has some form of medical training?" Onyankopon bellowed to the crowd of soldiers while standing on that old wooden crate. He looked around the crowd of Eldians in that dark night, hoping to find help for the boy.

-.-

"He is probably hungry, it's been a whole messy day," Armin let out, cogitating, as he was huddled together with Eren and the approaching Levi.

"You must be the boy's father," the older nun noted while approaching as well, she could tell how the toddler looked like a miniature version of Arlert. "I'm so sorry about this, sir. We had our eyes on him the whole time. I don't know how this happened," she lamented, quite guilty as the father and the uncles all looked at each other.

"It's fine, I'm sure we'll find him," Arlert softly replied to the old woman.

"You're right, he must be starving, just like the other children," she concluded. "But if that's the case why hadn't he shown up here in the main hall?" the old nun questioned, as all the other children were already having their dinner there.

"Perhaps he's too shy?" another nun approached, suggesting it.

"Or perhaps it's soup," Eren noted, quite rightly, he knew his nephew hated any sort of healthy food, especially soup.

Levi crossed his arms. "Do you have any jars of cookies unattended around the building?" he asked the women.

"The kitchen is gone," the old nun noted. "Maybe in the servants' rooms..?" she considered it.

"We have one full of candy in the toddlers' playroom," the younger nun told them while finally approaching the group.

"Then he has probably seen that," Armin concluded.

"Oh, absolutely," the younger nun confirmed with raised eyebrows.

"So that's a start," Eren let out, already approaching the first steps of the staircase. He was visibly worried, quite agitated. The men all climbed up the large stairs, to start looking.

Mikasa was miles ahead from the three men in her family. The mother was going by instinct, not by deduction. She had found out, very early into the boy's strange development, that Azzy could hear her, whenever he disappeared into a different realm.

"Azzy! Azzy?!" she shouted softly while walking around the many corridors. "I'm here," she told him. "Like I told you I would be."

The mother continued to walk, very attentive to every corner and any small armoires she could see. "You are not in trouble. We are going to go home and mummy is going to bake you your favourite pie. And we are going to play by the fireplace together," she told him lovingly. "Come on, Azzy, it's all safe now, I'll give you all the cookies you'd like-"

Mikasa immediately stopped by the door of that storage room, as she had just seen the boy's signature blue light flashing in the small cupboard by the corner. The mother then smiled in relief.

She rushed into the room, and Arlert caught a glimpse of her doing so. Armin could see that happier and excited gaze in her eyes, and her gentle, motherly smile. He turned to Eren, who was standing much further away in that corridor and called his attention with a cheeky stare and a charming grin and Yeager followed him apprehensively. Mikasa kneeled in front of the cupboard and opened the small doors to see her boy immediately look up at her. He seemed tired, but very happy and relieved to see his mother. Mikasa then looked down to his arms and gently moved the cloth from the baby girl's face. And was relieved to see she was breathing, Ymir was just quietly sleeping.

"Let me hold her," the mother softly ordered and the boy offered the baby for his mother to hold. Mikasa gently held the girl, and began analysing the newborn. She was glad to see her niece was healthy and warm. The experienced mother saw no issues with that baby, 'she might be hungry though,' Mikasa thought. She then brought Azzy closer to her with her left arm as she held the baby on her right arm and over her knees. She caressed the boy's hair. "You did good, my boy. Well done, you protected your cousin from this whole mess. I'm very proud, sweetheart," she softly praised him, for she could see her boy was still very scared and apprehensive. Mikasa hugged him with one arm while holding the baby with the other.

Armin soon showed up at the door and Azzy turned to him in surprise, he ran fast and hugged his father's knees affectionately and the father leaned over and picked him up. Armin hugged him in relief, there were many times during that day, and the day before, when he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to hug his son again. So Arlert enjoyed that sweet moment to the fullest. Azzy leaned his head on his father's shoulder and smiled softly, closing his tired eyes.

Mikasa stood up, fixing the baby's blanket very motherly, she walked in the direction of the door again as her niece slept soundly in her warm arms. Ymir felt safe and cared for, she trusted her aunt's essence. The newborn would forever keep that jasmine smell with her, together with her own mother's lilac scent, as they both brought her peace.

The Ackermann showed up outside of that storage room and locked eyes with her brother right away. "She's fine," Mikasa immediately relayed.

Eren was clearly shaken and deeply concerned, the father became paralysed, he was lost for words. Mikasa approached more softly and carefully placed the baby girl in his arms and Eren looked down. Still apprehensive and seemingly unprepared, but happy to see his daughter breathing and sound asleep. Eren smiled. It was a sweet moment, but it soon started to become awkward between those three life-long friends, as no one was saying a word.

"See, I told you they'd be in a cupboard somewhere. Safe and sound now," Armin let out, finally breaking the awkward silence, as the toddler hugged his shoulders tight. Azzy hid his face beside his father's neck. "No harm done. No jumping," Arlert added.

Mikasa gave him a look of admonishment and also confusion. She knew Armin was lying again, but she soon realised this lie would be for the best, considering Eren's very probable reaction otherwise. So she turned to her brother again, seemingly unfazed.

Ymir began to cry in Eren's arms, faintly at first, but those decibels soon began to increase. The inexperienced father was completely stupefied and beginning to panic. And Ymir was only crying louder.

Armin couldn't help but to let out a small smirk. "I guess she only cries in your arms, huh?" he noted in a quiet but almost vicious tone. Reminding Eren of how he had endlessly teased Armin when he went through the exact same situation with a newborn Azzy. But those were different times between those two friends, they had changed greatly since then.

Eren looked up at him, clearly not amused. While Armin was now busy kissing his son's head very fatherly.

"Come on," Mikasa quietly told her brother while gently gesturing his shoulder towards the long corridor. "She needs her mother," she softly added. And Eren began to walk towards the stairs, as the Royal quarters were on the third floor, and they were currently on the second.

The other two followed behind a little more leisurely, they waited for Eren to finish climbing the stairs with the small baby, so they could begin to talk.

"He named her Ymir," Armin quietly commented. Wondering if the purpose was truly to pay homage to their lost friend, or if it was just Eren's obsession with Eldia's grandiose past. Or perhaps both.

"Where do you think Azzy ended up this time?" Mikasa interjected, turning to him. "Where did he take her?" she questioned in a whisper as they both looked up those stairs.

Armin sighed while caressing the boy's hair. Azzy was very quiet, still with his head lying on his father's shoulder. The boy was clearly confused and tired.

"Probably the Titan Realm, but we can't be sure. The important thing is that he came back, and the baby is thankfully unharmed." Armin argued while giving the sleepy toddler for Mikasa to hold.

The mother held him tenderly and fixed up his hair and jacket while the boy only scratched his eye. Azzy was beyond worn out after that crazy day in that strange land. Armin continued, looking down to the floor below. "We should go help Hange and the others. I'm sure they-"

He stopped as he noticed Mikasa had begun climbing up the stairs. He held her arm firmly, stopping her in her tracks in the third step. Mikasa turned back to him, absolutely confused.

"We are not going up there," Armin firmly told her as he held her arm.

"Yes we are," Mikasa firmly countered.

"Fine, you go and-" Armin began to concede and Mikasa interrupted him abruptly.

"You are coming with me," she declared.

Armin climbed up one step, looking at her very vexed. "You know very well I won't stand being in a room with Eren right now. We got the baby back to him, she's fine, that's done with. Now we should gather our things and leave with the others," he firmly affirmed.

"Armin," Mikasa let out in a downhearted tone.

So Armin climbed one more step, he began to whisper hastily. "You were flying on the Jaw Titan's back with me for the past few hours, you saw everything that I saw. You have been fighting this endless battle with me from the start. You have seen all the same destruction and all the death, same as I have. Eren is responsible for all of it, Historia too. They planned this from the start. A bad plan that backfired completely and almost destroyed the whole island and killed so many people in the process." He then angrily pointed up the stairs. "They are responsible. So don't expect me to go up there to make up smiles and congratulate them on the premature birth of their bastard child."

Mikasa opened her eyes wide, she looked down at his arm still holding hers. The Ackermann swiftly switched their wrists and held his arm instead, pulling him closer to her as the toddler hid his face in her chest, clearly scared.

"Yes, we are going upstairs," she told him gravely, looking Armin in the eyes. She began to pull him further by the arm, while holding the toddler as well. They climbed up the stairs and Mikasa continued in a whisper. "You don't know if this is all Eren's fault. You just suppose it is," she argued as she continued to pull him behind her.

"He released the Devil and its monsters!" Armin immediately argued back in another angry whisper. Mikasa looked back down at him. "And don't call the baby a bastard that is very unkind," she admonished him.

"But it is the truth," Armin replied with a small, almost faint chuckle. And Mikasa only pulled his wrist with more force as they reached the top of the stairs, Armin was still clearly reluctant. He sighed, looking at the hall and all the corridors. "I don't want to fight him," he told Mikasa gravely.

"Then don't," she replied firmly.

"So there you are," Levi cheerfully said, coming from the main balcony of the third floor. The uncle was relieved to see the boy unharmed, lying in his mother's arms. He had been very afraid something bad had happened to Azzy during that awful battle.

Azzy immediately stood to attention once he heard Levi's voice. He looked at his mother very lively and smiled widely for the first time, clearly ready to play and have fun again. He began to move his legs very energetically and she finally put him down, so he went running to hug his uncle.

Levi crouched down to receive him and Azzy jumped on his arms very happily. And the uncle held the boy tenderly.

"I guess he's not tired anymore," Armin noted.

-.-

Historia had heard the baby crying from the start, and was elated and extremely relieved. The mother was also very happy once the cry started to move closer to her direction. The Queen was up on her feet, the maids had helped her clean herself from most of the blood and dirt and were now helping her change into clean robes.

"She woke up Ezra again," Historia joked with a small smile while side-eyeing the baby boy in the crib as Eren showed up at the door.

The two maids curtsied and left their presence. Taking away the blooded clothes as Historia finished fixing her braided hair.

"Are you feeling better?" Eren immediately asked, happy to see her in her feet. Ymir was still crying loudly but more sparsely and her brother had joined in the choir.

"Well, I slept for fifteen minutes, it seems," Historia replied, again with a small smile, as she walked to the cribs.

Eren followed in the same direction and they both stopped near the beautifully crafted bassinets. The father then gently put Ymir in Historia's arms.

"I knew you would come back to me, my angel," she told her baby daughter very softly and kissed Ymir's forehead. The baby began to cry more softly as Historia cradled her while walking to her large Royal bed. And she eventually stopped once her mother made themselves very comfortable on those cosy sheets. All while Ezra still cried loudly in his father's arms.

"You must be magic then," Eren told Historia while trying his best to cradle the boy in his arms, and failing miserably at it.

Historia let out a small, joyous laugh and gestured for Eren to bring the boy to her as well, while she was already preparing to feed her firstborn. Eren walked towards her and sat in front of her on that large bed. He helped place the second baby in Historia's arms, and also helped to secure both children better under their mother's breasts.

"They are just hungry, sugar," she told him with a smile as the father was making sure the twins were both cosy and warm. Adding more pillows under the mother's arms and adjusting a nice blanket over the now feeding babies.

"Well, they were eating my eardrums," Eren quietly commented while finishing up the feeding babies' little stronghold. Enjoying how the silence had fallen again in that room. He finally turned to kiss her once again. He hoped for a surprise kiss, as the mother seemed distracted in her elation over her babies. So he leaned forward.

She looked up at him abruptly, stopping Eren on his tracks.

"You better get used to that," she abruptly replied, "unless you'd rather go visit Marley again instead," Historia suggested jokingly, but also looking at him spitefully.

Eren looked down, scratching his hair. "I don't think they want to see me now," he quietly joked back. "I don't even want to think of all that," he commented, looking away.

"Then we better stay in our Paradise a little longer," Historia replied, also hoping to keep those problems away. She leaned to kiss him. The joyous parents kissed happily and for quite some time, while their babies enjoyed the warmth and safety underneath. Eren then looked deeply into Historia's clear blue eyes. "I'll make sure we'll stay here forever," he promised her, and she smiled.

And, in a way, they both kept that promise; throughout the rest of their lives, neither Eren nor Historia ever left Paradise.

They were both very joyous as they watched their children feeding frenziedly. Their energy and eagerness while receiving their precious milk almost made the parents laugh. "They clearly are your children," Historia joked and Eren gave her a small, side-smile. It had been a very messy and difficult day for all of them, including the twins, and the poor babies hadn't been fed yet. They hadn't had a single drop of milk since they had arrived on Earth, so their extreme eagerness was excused.

"How does it feel?" Eren curiously asked Historia.

"Odd. That's probably the best word to describe it," she replied, looking down at her feeding babies. "But also special, in a way," the new mother added.

"You should probably eat something too," Eren noted.

"Oh dear, what happened to you?" Historia exclaimed, looking towards the antechamber and Eren turned to see Mikasa and Armin under the open, large wooden doors.

Armin looked down, he had completely forgotten that large wound on his chest from the previous day. The wound had healed of course, but most of the front of his shirt was missing and the edges of the hole were completely burned and blackened.

"I was shot by Marlean forces in Shiganshina," he relayed. Almost having to remind himself of it as well, as most of the day before was already a blur in his mind.

"Well, it makes sense they would immediately aim to attack you," Historia noted, in a tone almost backhanded. She turned to Eren. "I imagine the situation in Shiganshina was a bit of a disruption," she inquired from her closest confidant.

"A bit of a disruption?!" Armin immediately questioned the Queen's choice of words and Eren also immediately stood up to argue. Already planning to complain about Armin's raised tone while walking forward.

But Mikasa quickly defused the friends' tension as she walked towards the bed. "Look at you," the Ackermann happily noted and the Queen immediately smiled. "I didn't know there would be two of them," Mikasa added, clearly surprised and a little confused about that.

"Well, that was our little secret." Historia told her, looking towards Eren for confirmation, while Mikasa gently sat near her on that bed. The slightly more experienced mother admired her friend's small newborns, caressing them very lovingly and gently.

"Where's my brave little hero?" Historia questioned their friends while looking around the room again.

"He's with Levi," Mikasa explained with a small smile.

"I knew Ymir would be safe with him," Historia affirmed happily. "He's so clever! I can't imagine how he'll be once he's older," the Queen added with praise.

Armin looked to his old friend with arms crossed, as Eren stood closer next to him. "You should go back to jail and await trial. It is the least you could do if you respect the laws of this Kingdom and of the Army you once served. But of course: you don't," Arlert admonished him with a clear hint of disdain in his tone.

"Nonsense," Historia interjected. "That was absolutely unnecessary," the Queen complained and looked down at her babies again. "I was very upset with Zackly, he wouldn't even let Eren come down here to see me, absolutely ridiculous," she continued to disclose her distaste.

"Well, he's dead. So you don't have to worry about him anymore," Armin sharply replied and Historia looked up again.

"That's right, I almost forgot about that for a moment. So much has happened in the past few days," Historia commented and noticed Armin was eager to sharply argue once more. "And before you say anything else: no, I had no hand in his death," the Queen firmly relayed.

"There's no stopping a crowd once they set their minds into something," Eren commented next to Armin, he seemed almost amused while uttering those words. Yeager secretly enjoyed the protestors' praise, he was their King after all. Even if he could never be it officially.

"So are you saying you had no hand in it either?" Armin questioned, clearly doubtful. He walked even closer towards Yeager, "most of those kids grew up here. You practically raised them," Arlert noted, talking about some of the more rowdy Yeagerists. "It's very hard to believe you haven't indoctrinated them in your ways," he affirmed.

"That's one big word," Eren replied, amused and clearly not taking Armin seriously. Which Arlert, of course, didn't take very well.

"You really need to blame me for everything, don't you?" Yeager then questioned, now more agitated. "Why? Does it make things easier..? To remove your own blame?"

The two women looked at each other. The level of animosity between the two old friends had gradually increased over the last few years, and they were upset to see it had reached its breaking point. Armin and Eren's long-life friendship seemed irreparable.

"You boys mind taking this nonsense outside?" Mikasa interrupted the argument. "Historia can't afford to be stressed right now, you are only rattling the babies too."

Historia sighed. "I'm sorry about Shiganshina," she told the trio, for she knew their hometown was a soft-spot from them. "It was good that the place was evacuated before the worst," the Queen also commented.

"Well, I knew they would attack us. And it was only logical Shiganshina would be their first target, I even bet it was Reiner's idea," Eren proudly relayed, for he had been the one who took charge in the evacuation and much of what happened afterwards.

"Of course they would attack us," Armin firmly interjected. "After you personally went there to wage war against them."

Eren couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "You caused a lot more damage there than I did," he noted, friendly hitting Armin's exposed chest with the back of his hand.

Armin looked down, clearly not amused. He looked up at his old friend with eyes filled with reproof. Armin was appalled to see how Eren could take all those deaths so lightly, he was appalled, but not surprised.

He sighed out his disapproval and turned to Historia. "I'm glad to see your children are safe and unharmed," he told her. "I'll go down to see what Hange needs for now," Armin added to the group, and walked away from the Queen's room.

Mikasa and Eren then began a small and silent, eye-only communication while Historia turned to concentrate on the feeding babies again. The sister's eyes admonished her brother's, clearly telling him he had to go after Armin. Eren was reluctant, trying to fight back, but he eventually caved. So he left the room and went after his best friend.

"Do you think I pushed Eren into this? Armin certainty does," Historia quietly questioned Mikasa once they were alone in that room.

"I've known Eren long enough to know he can't be pushed into anything," the sister replied. "He makes his own decisions."

Mikasa sighed as both mothers admired the little newborns. "And don't mind Armin, this has all been very difficult and stressful for him, for all of us. And Eren is right about one thing: he needs to put the blame somewhere," she softly explained her point of view, perhaps trying to ease her good friend's mind.

"I supposed that's only natural," Historia replied, while playing a little with Ymir's tiny fingers.

"It is," Mikasa concurred.

The Queen looked ahead, thinking. "All of our people will be doing that, and the world outside of the Wall too," she noted.

Historia had realised they needed a good explanation for all that madness and destruction. So the clever Fritz woman began to concoct one in her mind. Something that would leave Eren, herself, all the other Shifters - all the Eldians in fact, completely: blameless.

"I believe so, we all need answers," the Ackermann distractedly commented while she caressed Ezra's dark hair. The aunt could already tell how much her little nephew looked like her brother, and she was heart-warmed and even a little amused by it.

"I still want him on my side, I need you both on my side," the Queen told her good Ackermann friend. "There's a world outside we need to deal with, and I can't leave the Island. I don't want to leave," Historia told Mikasa, quietly disclosing the latter.

"And you shouldn't," the Ackermann began to advise. "It's too dangerous for you out there, even more dangerous for the Kingdom while the children are still so young," she noted, considering Historia and her newborn twins were now the only Fritzs left. And her death would cause disarray among the Paradisians. "Perhaps when they are older-" the Ackermann considered but the Queen interrupted her.

"Even then. All my life I wondered what lay beyond the Walls, but now that I know-" Historia stopped herself, she continued. "Paradise is all I need. There's nothing for me out there." the Queen declared.

-.-

Levi walked around the corridors, and back to the open balcony with the small toddler in his arms. They looked up to the bright clouds in that dark night, the boy seemed very quiet again while leaning on his uncle's shoulder. The Ackermann was watching the soldiers' vigil on the edge of the farm. It was quite far away, but he could see all the lighted torches in the distance. Most of the surviving soldiers had already left the orphanage grounds and were making camp there, resting and guarding the many corpses of the fallen. They planned to bury them at dawn. And leave soon after.

In the orphanage, the children were already being sent to their beds. Many of them had been improvised by the nuns, since almost half of the building was now missing, including many of the children's rooms. But the three surviving nuns and the four surviving servants were doing their best to accommodate all the kids and make sure they all felt safe.

Azzy was gently leaning on Levi's shoulder. The boy seemed lost in his own time. He had been staring at that nasty wound on his uncle's other shoulder and upper arm for quite some time. It made him feel saddened. The toddler couldn't comprehend why, at least not completely. But he knew that somehow it had been his fault, his own doing. Or rather it would one day be his fault. It would be his own doing. But that linear concept sometimes got lost in the toddlers' swirling thoughts. An unfortunate affliction that would follow the cursed boy throughout his whole life, no matter the time or dimension.

He finally lifted his small fingers and reached towards it. Azzy gently passed his tiny hand around Levi's wounded upper arm and the Ackermann looked down as he felt it. He could see how Azzy seemed puzzled but also regretful. The boy looked up at him with sorrowful eyes and then hid his face in his uncle's chest. Levi only kissed the top of his head and fatherly caressed the boy's honey coloured hair.

The uncle then took the toddler inside again, for it was a cold night.

-.-

Armin's mind was distant. He had been concentrating on that river of flaming lava for a while; the stream was flowing down vividly from the higher mountains and passing through the fields of the Reiss farm. Arlert was enjoying the heat provided from that hot lava steam, for it was a very cold night. And he was also enjoying the solitude, Armin wanted some time to gather his own thoughts, that was the reason he was so distant from the orphanage and the soldiers' vigil. His concentration was broken as he began to hear steps coming in his direction, and turned to see Eren arriving.

Yeager swiftly threw a piece of clothing his way, and Armin also swiftly caught it. Eren had brought him a shirt from the Royal Guards uniform. And also a coat, also from the same uniform kit that he had fished while searching through the guards' armoury; a hidden location in the building's basement.

"Thank you," Arlert said, a little reluctantly, he then removed his ragged and burned out shirt and threw it in the flowing lava. And they both watched as the piece of cloth immediately caught on fire.

"Don't put your hand in there," Eren joked with a small chuckle as the piece of cloth was consumed into smithereens.

"Of course that is the first thing you'd think to do," Armin replied while putting that almost brand-new Royal Guard shirt on.

"I mean it looks pretty innocent," Eren argued, defending his known impulsiveness. He then threw Armin the military coat, so he could be better protected from the cold.

The hot lava was everywhere, flowing vividly like fresh blood. Not showing any signs of cooling down, and it wouldn't, not any time soon anyway. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. That hot, flowing lava actually helped heat the Eldians in the next few cold nights, as most people had been left without shelter after all the earthquakes that destroyed countless buildings and levelled entire cities. Paradise had been reduced to shambles, now covered in volcanic ash. The intense earthquakes and the awakening of the three ancient volcanoes had changed the topography of the land drastically, the whole island was being reshaped at that very moment. Paradise had begun anew.

Armin and Eren were standing close to only one of the flowing lava streams, as there were many more around the Reiss lands. The two old friends were actually standing in a slightly higher ground; and they could see the three main fissures on the farm fields, where Grisha, Zeke and Frieda's Titans had emerged from, earlier that afternoon. Those remnants of the Devil's caves were also being filled with lava, as the Earth cauterised itself. The light red coming from the three fissures only accentuated the power of nature, as it healed Paradise's wounds.

"I imagined lava would be blue," Armin commented, thinking back to those days when their knowledge of the outside world was limited to that one colourless atlas. "I didn't even understand it was supposed to be hot and related to fire," he added, slightly amused. "I never stopped to consider what the insides of the Earth were made of."

He finished putting that warmer army coat on and sighed, putting his hands on its pockets. Secretly glad he could finally hide that large wound on his arm, and deeply hoping it would soon heal.

Eren also put his hands on his jacket pockets, also intentionally hiding his matching one. He chuckled. "It's funny how we never talked about that," the friend noted.

Armin gently raised his eyebrows, to concur.

"What about the ocean?" Eren curiously asked.

Armin chuckled, letting his guard down and feeling more comfortable with his friend again. Despite his anger and disappointment; it was just too easy to go back to his old ways. They had been friends for a long time. "I pictured it yellow in my head," he disclosed, "well water is transparent of course. But since the book said there was sand underneath it, it made sense to me," he further explained.

"It does make sense," Eren concurred. "I thought it would be green so I guess I was closer," he said, gloating slightly.

"Green?" Armin asked.

"Well, most rivers are green, so," Eren explained, shrugging, still with his hands inside his pockets.

"Good point," Armin concurred.

"Not this one," Eren noted as they turned to the flaming stream near them.

"This is not water," Armin replied, with a small smile and a smaller chuckle.

"It looks like blood," Eren commented back.

"I've seen a lot of blood, Eren," Armin swiftly replied, already changing his facial expression. "It's all over the island," he added, starting to feel angry again. Eren looked down, avoiding those blue, admonishing eyes.

Armin then reached down, near his feet, and picked up a small pebble. He rolled it inside his hand for a moment, then threw it into the river of fire. Just like they would play when they were little, but this time, to let out some of his own steam, as that anger began to boil inside. He turned to Eren again and began his admonishment. "It will take a while to know the extent of the damage all this caused. The entire island is destroyed, we still have no idea of how many Eldians were killed in all this mess." Arlert walked forward, closer to him. "Your mess," he gravely added.

"I didn't expect this would happen," Eren replied, sincerely. Yeager felt confused and conflicted. He wished to destroy the world outside, but his decisions had led to the destruction of the world within.

"Of course you didn't!" Armin exclaimed. "You never account for anything! You never think things through," he continued, angry and upset. "Seriously? Trusting Zeke of all people?" he questioned, vexed.

"He's my brother-" Eren justified and was immediately interrupted.

"No!" Armin exclaimed. "He is not. I am!" he continued passionately. "I'm your brother, Eren."

Armin stopped for a moment and looked away, to that river of lava once again. "I was," he added quietly and sighed. "I was there for you from the start, we always did everything together," he reminded his best friend.

"I know you," Eren interjected. "You wouldn't do this together," he argued, almost humorously. "You would try to get me out of it-"

"Because I know you. And I know none of that is you," Armin immediately rebuked.

Eren sighed, "prhh… people change, Armin," he argued back, sounding frustrated. He had been down the same road with Arlert one too many times.

"People never change, Eren," Armin countered him once again. "Especially not to this degree. Your so-called brother is a psychopath and he blatantly manipulated you," Armin told him firmly. "Who knows? He was probably being manipulated himself by that awful witch-"

"Ymir is not a witch," Eren soon interrupted him, rushing to defend his precious angel. "You don't know what I know, you don't know what she went through. She was extremely hurt and she was the one who was manipulated all her life-"

Armin then interrupted to maintain his own argument. "She is a psychotic, evil monster who did all of this!" Arlert shouted with his arms opened wide. "And you let her," he added, pointing firmly into Yeager's chest with his still wounded arm. "You set the monster free."

Eren looked down and back towards the orphanage. "I think we should go back inside," he noted gravely.

Yeager was tired of arguing and their argument was getting into points he could never discuss with Armin, or anyone else for that matter. So he began to walk away.

"What are you going to do about the boy?" Armin asked, putting his hands back inside his pockets.

Eren turned to him again defiantly. "Which boy? Yours or mine?" he cleverly asked back.

"Yours," Armin soon replied. "As long as the Founding Titan is around-"

"What are you even suggesting?" Eren questioned him in alarm.

"That you conceal that information," Armin replied. "Only we, the Shifters, know and we better keep it that way," he further explained. "Now that the curse was lifted we can finally negotiate some level of peace with the other nations-"

"If he inherited that power from birth, that means the curse is still in effect," Eren interjected.

"That was before we killed the witch for good," Armin reminded him, for Eren had inadvertently passed those powers down to his son the day before, twenty-six hours before Ezra was finally born.

All the Titan Shifters had felt their powers waning after the goddess' two Titans began to disintegrate and after the new Wall was completely solidified. Armin walked closer to Eren again. "Unless you feel any different than I do, I'd say this curse is effectively over," Arlert noted, looking up, to wait for Yeager's reaction.

Eren scratched his neck, considering it. "We'll only know for sure when one of us dies," he joked, almost ingenuously.

Armin swiftly took out his prized dagger from his trouser holster while pushing up Eren's sleeve and holding his arm firmly down at the same time. He slashed Eren's lower arm all the way to his palm, and Eren looked down, paralysed and absolutely confused. "Tell me in how long you're healed, and we'll know for sure," Armin told him with threatening eyes and let his arm go. Putting the dagger to the side, with Eren's blood dripping fast from the blade down to the grass.

Eren held up his arm, surprised and upset that he couldn't make it regenerate immediately. Arlert had made only a thin cut, almost too superficial but enough to bleed out right away, and Eren was almost annoyed that it kept on bleeding for the next few seconds: no Titan steam to be seen.

That thin cut would eventually change the scar forming in Yeager's arm. At this point, their matching wounds had lost all the Titan Crystal inside, all the crystallic dust had flown away in the last passing hours. But their wounds hadn't healed so far, they had been cut too deep and their Shifter regeneration had waned after sundown. It had waned faster than the cursed wounds could heal.

Arlert and Yeager would permanently keep the scars from the deal they had made the day before. But Yeager's now also had that thin line across it, that would forever remind him of this moment.

Eren sighed, putting his arm back down again, as his blood slowly dripped to the ground. Completely stunned. He then realised he truly had nothing left to say, so he left. Yeager turned away and walked back towards the building in the distance.

Armin stared at that image upsettingly, he was saddened about many things, and seeing his old friend walk away embodied them well. He then turned to watch the flowing lava again, contemplative, but also admiring it.

He eventually looked down to that blooded dagger once again. He cleaned it softly with a piece of leaf from a nearby shrub. Admiring his precious and well-crafted instrument. It was a beautiful and ancient piece, gold and bright silver, with a dark amber stone encrusted in the handle. This was the weapon Armin always used to transform, it had been a wedding gift. This was Cillan's dagger.

Arlert eventually left the area as well, noting Eren's blood was still sprayed everywhere. But that cursed, Titan blood would eventually evaporate and completely dissipate into the atmosphere, just like it should. It would just take many more hours. And no one would be there to witness it.

The curse had not been lifted, it had just shifted, and all their Titan powers were now dormant, and would stay dormant for the next thirteen years. The curse and its powers would be awakened on Ezra and Ymir's thirteenth birthday.

-.-

Azzy was now sitting on his mother's lap, over that large bed. He tilted his head, a little confused to see those two very similar looking babies, as the small toddler thought the one he was given to babysit was the only one in existence. The twins were sleeping soundly on the centre of the large Royal bed, surrounded by Historia, Mikasa and the toddler. The mothers were very joyful, showing the toddler his new cousins.

"That one is Ymir, and the other is Ezra," Mikasa softly explained as she pointed at the babies, speaking very quietly, so the tiny things wouldn't wake up.

"They're very little now," Historia added, also whispering, quite lovingly. "But in a few years, I'm sure you will have fun playing together."

"They're pink," the toddler mumbled. He looked up at his mother, a little confused, and Historia let out a small laugh.

Mikasa also smiled, she brought him closer to her, hugged him and kissed his head very lovingly. Azzy looked up to her again. "Sun..?" the boy mumbled to his mother.

"Is he afraid of the dark?" Historia asked Mikasa, thinking the boy had asked when the morning would arrive, for it was very dark outside.

"No," Mikasa replied, letting out a small, timid laugh. "It's- he's just tired," she was about to explain, but became hesitant.

What she was about to explain was that she was pregnant again, and that the boy had probably associated those newborn siblings with his own unborn sister. But Mikasa decided to keep it to herself.

The boy climbed further into Mikasa's arms, looking for comfort. Azzy was indeed very tired, so he was looking for the best way to sleep in his mother's arms. He was clearly having difficulty positioning himself so she began to help him. The boy then found his perfect, customary spot, and closed his eyes. Ready to fall asleep in the best and truly safest place he knew, ready to hear that heartbeat that he was so accustomed to.

"You know this is not going to be easy, right?" The Ackermann then asked her friend, with her precious boy in her arms. "I haven't slept in almost three years," Mikasa added with some humour.

"I know," Historia replied, gently caressing her babies, clearly happy but also slightly conflicted.

Mikasa tilted her head. "Is this what you wanted?" she asked.

"Yes, but not now," Historia explained, deciding to disclose. "I was fourteen when I took my crown, and ever since then my life has been an incessant mayhem. And now this has happened," she said, pointing at the babies. "And then all of that happened," she then pointed outside, sighing.

"You're not alone, you know that," Mikasa interjected, gently holding her hand.

"Eren left me alone," Historia suddenly let out, turning to her again. She looked down. "There were moments I thought he would never come back," she timidly disclosed and looked up again. "And when he finally did, he brought all this chaos back with him," she complained bitterly.

"You told me yourself, you said he didn't want your children to be born cursed," Mikasa calmly reminded her, as she could clearly see her friend was very rattled after a ghastly labour. They both looked at the babies again. "And he succeeded, the curse was broken," the Ackermann also quietly argued.

'At what cost?' Historia thought. She sighed, admiring her newborns "I suppose he has succeeded," she conceded. "Do you think he'll leave me again?" she then asked, looking very conflicted.

"Why would you think that?" Mikasa asked back, the sister was completely taken aback by that question.

"Well, this wasn't what he wanted, or what I wanted," Historia disclosed a little brokenly. "It just happened," she added. "Just like all the mayhem before and after it."

"Eren never knows what he wants," Mikasa replied, shrugging slightly. "He's the kind of person who just lives day by day."

"That's exactly my point," Historia said.

Mikasa sighed. "But you know he loves you, right?" She argued, and almost chuckled. "He loves you to death! He's been absolutely infatuated by you ever since we were twelve," she argued further.

"Yes, but this is different," Historia soon argued back. "This is way more than either of us ever asked for," the young Queen disclosed, she then held her stomach, upsettingly. "I remember when I found out-" Historia stopped herself, almost amused. "You weren't there when I told him," she disclosed with humour, but clear vexation inside her eyes.

"We all react differently to having children," Mikasa replied, hoping to defend her brother. "You are right, it's a big life change."

"How did Armin react when you told him?" Historia asked, curiously.

"He built the Lighthouse," Mikasa replied, she couldn't help but smile. "He wanted our baby to be born in a safe place, the safest place possible," Mikasa almost laughed, thinking of that impenetrable fortress. "And he was obsessed with it being near the ocean," she added with a sweet smile, reminiscing about those days while caressing Azzy's hair.

Historia let out a small, irritated sigh. "Golly, they are very different," she noted, almost sarcastically.

"They're not that different." Mikasa tried to counter. "Eren is just a bit-"

"Too much?" Historia interjected with her own suggestion.

"Unrestrained," Mikasa finished her sentence, while holding Azzy better in her arms. Fixing his position, so the boy could sleep better.

"What's wrong with their arms? What caused those ghastly wounds?" Historia asked Mikasa in an even quieter whisper, very curiously and also fearfully. "Why do they match like some ghoulish branding?"

"Good question, you should ask Eren about it, because I don't understand it very well," Mikasa replied.

"What did Armin say?" Historia insisted.

Mikasa shrugged, holding Azzy even closer, for her own comfort now. "It seems to be some form of a curse they got in the Titan Realm," she quietly disclosed. "Because of a pact they made to save the island."

"Urrrghh," Historia let out, almost rolling her eyes. "I'm very tired of all these curses," the Queen disclosed, clearly annoyed.

-.-

The sun was finally rising and the soldiers started digging. They had rested long enough. Most of the corpses were lying over cloths on the grass. Only Commandant Shadis' body had been lifted on a makeshift stand, lying on a makeshift box. Hange had been staring at it intently through the night, while all the others slept. Her soul was broken. When the time came, she stood up from that small wooden chair, with the help of Levi and Onyankopon. She limped slowly, with the help of the two men, and finally arrived near that box. To say goodbye to one of her old-time friends.

Mikasa gently passed her hand through that old scarf. It had been Carla's before being hers. And now it laid enveloping that deceased girl's body. Hitch kneeled down in front of her and watched as the Ackermann gently fixed the scarf around Louise's neck, with a small tear running down her face. "I'm sorry, I know it's yours, we thought about removing it-"

"No," Mikasa soon interrupted. She sighed, reaching out to fix the scarf again. "Nonsense," Mikasa let out lovingly.

"She looks peaceful this way," she continued, fixing up the girl's hair, very motherly. Mikasa then turned up to Hitch again, very tearful. "I watched her grow up," she disclosed, almost unable to utter those words. And Hitch held her shoulder affectionately, as the sun began to appear on the horizon.

"Is he really okay?" Armin asked, observing Falco sitting quietly in one of the carts. The boy was wrapped in bandages but he was conscious and seemed to be recovering rapidly.

"He scared me a lot, but he seems to be getting better," Annie replied, her shirt completely red from Falco's blood.

"This is my fault," Armin let out. "He should have left his Titan right away, but we insisted on coming here," he noted, regretfully.

"It's not your fault," Annie soon countered. "If you hadn't come here right away Eren might have launched another rumbling just because of that damn baby," Leonhart complained coldly.

Armin let out a small smile. "Don't even worry about it, he can't do that anymore," he said smugly.

"I hope you're right about that," Annie replied, almost ominously.

Armin looked over to the distance for a moment, the father was like a hawk, constantly watching Azzy. The boy had been left in the care of the younger nun, just during that early morning. And she carried him around the fields, cheerfully showing him the small shrubs and any bugs crawling around them, as they knew how the boy was obsessed with insects. All that to distract the clever child while his parents dealt with this military burial. Which would not be an adequate place for any child to be.

Arlert turned to Annie again. "Can you regenerate?" he soon asked, to make his point.

"No," she quickly replied.

"Falco clearly can't either," Armin noted, to maintain his point: the curse was in fact over.

He then looked down, noticing how Annie was constantly tapping her foot, with arms crossed. She had stayed up all night and was eager for this burial to be over.

"We'll leave soon," Arlert noted, hoping she would calm down.

Annie shook her head slightly, clearly full of apprehension. "I need to know if Reiner is still alive," she let out.

"I understand but-" Armin tried to argue, but Annie cut him short.

"No, you don't," she firmly said.

Armin sighed, looking away from her. 'Yes, I do understand. I understand it very well,' he thought. He still had no idea where Connie's body was, they were currently witnessing the burial of many young cadets, just like they all once were. Not to mention the amount of friends he had to bury over the years. A lot of them indirectly, but also many directly killed by her, and Reiner, and Bertholdt. His mind was rushing with those arguments, almost fuming with pure anger. But he decided to keep it all to himself. Arlert was tired of dealing with so many enemies. He saw no point, and in a strange way, he felt for her. Reiner was the last connection to the world Annie yearned deeply to see again. And she didn't want to lose it.

He looked up to the horizon, watching the sunrise as he reflected about it all. And turned to her again. Annie was now mindlessly fidgeting with her now useless ring and its small retractable spike. Armin held her hand down and she looked up at him.

"It will take at least three days for us to get to Shiganshina," he told her calmly. "But we can try to get information about him through the radio once we get to Trost tomorrow," Armin solemnly said, offering assistance to one of his old enemies, hoping to ease her mind.

-.-

"You have to admit it's quite pretty," Gabi noted as she stood near Falco. The two young souls were still at awe, admiring the deep red lava shooting up in the sky. Still coming out violently from the volcano, and now mixing with all the pinks and oranges of that slow sunrise.

"It is beautiful, but deadly," Falco replied, sitting in that cart, wrapped in bandages. He continued. "And after everything that has happened, we should be glad to still be alive. It's been erupting for hours now, I wonder when it will finally stop."

Gabi turned to him, to fix up some of the fallen bandages and put some medicine on his face. She noticed how his face wounds were still the same, exactly the same as the night before. Falco was still full of unhealed Titan marks all over his body.

"You still have your Titan marks," she quietly noted.

Falco shrugged. "I'm just taking much longer to heal," he explained to her sweetly. The boy didn't want her to worry.

"Maybe something is wrong with your Titan," she cogitated, also quietly.

"I don't think I have a Titan at all, not anymore," Falco told her. He let out a small, and relieved laugh. "I'm just regenerating at a normal person's speed," the boy added humorously and looked down, raising up his bandaged arms and legs. "At least I didn't lose any limbs, or that would be permanent," he disclosed, also humorously.

Gabi looked down, she stared reflective at that small bowl of homemade medicine.

Falco moved and firmed his hands back on his sides and leaned slightly backwards on that cart, looking up at the sun-rising sky. He then closed his eyes. "I'll get to live," Falco quietly let out, in his own personal wish, while taking the sun in.

-.-

The burial didn't take long, and that small procession soon organised themselves to leave. Yeager watched it all from that large, now shattered and posthumously crystallised, window. He had a contemplative look on his face and arms crossed as he watched them all go. Eren then looked back into the building. Everything was quiet, all the children were sleeping, and so were the surviving nuns and servants. Peace was reigning on that crystallised building.

Historia was in bed with the babies, feeding them again, as she looked up to see Eren by the door, arriving back into the room. The mother was secretly relieved. She breathed more freely, almost showing her happiness, but still incredibly tired. "I suppose my life is only this now," she said, almost complaining. "But I don't mind," Historia added, and smiled.

Eren smiled back at her and walked in, he sat on the bed and deeply exhaled. And Historia maintained her side-smile as she checked the babies again. He leaned down on the end of the bed, slightly over her lower legs. Eren was finally allowing himself rest. For the first time since he learned he would be a father.

He then turned and looked towards Historia again, he was glad to see how the babies were covered in so many layers of clothes and blankets. It seemed Historia hadn't witnessed the evilness produced by those two babies touching, otherwise the mother wouldn't be so peaceful and cheerful.

'Good,' Eren thought. He wasn't rested enough to deal with that yet. But the father knew that he would eventually have to show it to her, and try his best to explain what this energy was. Even if he couldn't understand it too well himself. Eren knew Historia was clever enough to connect all the dots the moment she saw this energy again. He knew she would be quick to realise how Ezra had produced all that evil energy capable of controlling all those Wall Titans, solely because he was in direct connection with his sister.

Eren was dreading the mother's realisation, for he didn't know how she would react.

But it was inevitable, Historia would eventually know who Ymir truly was, and who Ezra could have become.

He sighed, looking up to the ceiling. Eren sat upright again and began to take his ragged clothes off, the dirty jacket and shirt, the torn trousers. He threw them away from his sight, leaving himself with only his undergarments on. He turned to Historia as she looked at him almost amused. "Did you get to sleep?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"And eat?" he also asked.

"Yes," she also replied.

Eren looked content. He then leaned down again and slowly moved up on the bed, to his side, looking up at the ceiling intently. Eren sighed.

"Oh dear, I hope no one walks in," Historia joked about Eren's state of undress as she looked towards the open wide doors.

Eren looked up at her, smiling. He sat, almost upright again next to her, he caressed one of the babies and then the other. And then kissed her right cheek. "Give me five minutes, and I'll do whatever you want," he told her, sliding down again into the many, fancy pillows.

"What an indecent proposition," the Queen joked while Eren was looking up, he turned his green eyes towards her blue ones. Eren let out a small grin. "I mean anything you need me to do," he corrected himself and Historia only raised her eyebrows, which made him smile wider.

Yeager buried his face and then himself lazily into the pillows. "Five minutes," he muffledly repeated.

Historia went back to admiring her precious little newborns while they fed from her, still intently but clearly less frenzied now. The babies were peaceful, they felt warm and safe. She could see the time passing on the large clock, it had been five, now almost ten minutes and Eren hadn't been able to shut an eyelid. Yeager had tossed and turned, he was now just staring up intently at the wound in his arm, and at the thin cut Armin had made through it more recently. Eren seemed very reflective.

"What's bothering you?" Historia finally asked and he looked up at her.

"Do you blame me?" He asked sincerely, with sorrowful eyes.

"No," she soon replied.

Eren sat upright again, facing her. "So many of our people are dead," he brokenly said. "That's not what I wanted," Eren disclosed upsettingly.

Yeager sat more comfortably, with his right arm leisurely resting over his raised right knee. In his customary nonchalant figure-four stance. He rested his head on his left arm, over those many pillows and continued to argue. "I was supposed to protect them," he told Historia, clearly frustrated with himself and hoping for some advice. "I was supposed to protect you," Eren added, gesturing at her with even more self-loathing.

"You did protect me," Historia soon countered.

Eren sighed, almost humorously and unbelievably. "I ruined your life," he replied.

"Don't say that," she reprimanded him deeply.

"I wonder how much better things would have been if you had eaten me in that cave," Eren told her, still in deep self-loathing.

"Eren, stop saying stupid things," she hissed at him.

"That's how it should have been and you know it," Eren proceeded. He deeply wished he was never given the powers of the Founder, or any Titan powers at all for that matter. 'Why did my father do this to me?' he brokenly questioned, only inside his mind.

"They wouldn't be here," Historia soon replied and he turned to her. They both looked down to those peaceful, feeding babies. "And I can't imagine a world like that," she told him firmly. "I don't want to."

The young Queen continued, "I can't imagine a world where I would have killed you," she stopped and sighed, almost annoyed. "Hhmph… Eren, you're just tired."

Eren looked down, clearly still extremely downcast. "I love you," Historia said. "And I love our children, even more than I can comprehend," she declared to him.

"Even after I caused you so much harm?" Eren asked.

"You haven't caused me any harm, Eren," she replied.

"I destroyed the island," he insisted, still very broken.

Historia looked away, the Fritz Queen was ready to plant the seeds of her own elaborate concoction. She turned to Eren again. "It's a curious day for our children to be born, don't you think?" she cleverly questioned.

"What do you mean?" Eren asked her back, confused. Yeager buried himself a little deeper into the bed again.

"Of course, that was all a coincidence. Hell was already breaking loose, quite literally. And it's only natural for any heavily pregnant woman to go into labour in such circumstances," Historia continued and Eren looked at her confused.

"Our children-" Eren was about to say but he was interrupted by Historia. '-caused all this,' the father finished his sentence, only in his mind.

"The last day of October has long been regarded as a devilish day. It's surrounded with eeriness and superstition. Supposedly the birthday of the goddess Ymir herself," the Queen continued to argue.

Eren looked up dubiously at her, with tired green eyes; he was too exhausted to expose the irony. So he simply decided to question her. "What are you getting at?"

"You didn't cause any of this," she gladly arrived at her manufactured point. "I didn't cause any of this." The Queen said, pointing first at him and then at herself.

Eren almost lifted himself up again. "How would explain the Marleans coming to attack us right before all those demonic Titans were set free? Coincidence?" He questioned her newfound logic.

"They already knew this would happen," she quickly supposed, "and they came here to help us battle it. Am I wrong about that? Isn't that exactly what happened?" Historia questioned him back.

"Yes, but-" Eren was about to argue, but she interjected once again.

"Eldians and Marleans fighting together. Taking down the biggest otherworldly threat this Earth has ever faced, and permanently stopping it from spreading to the rest of the world! Saving millions, billions of lives!" she told him gloriously. "Winning a real war against the Devil itself, together." Historia said, and repeated, "together."

She smiled, cunningly. "Doesn't it sound beautiful?" Historia questioned him cleverly.

The Queen had written her own History.

"Damn," Eren let out, leaning down next to her again. "You are a politician," he said among the pillows. "No wonder your people stayed in power for so long," Eren added muffledly.

"Not a politician, darling. I'm a queen," she gently corrected him while caressing his dark hair. And Eren lifted his head again, slightly. "My Queen," he said, leaning up to kiss her.

He finally felt peace in that moment, after so many months of anguish and restlessness. "And you are my King," she sincerely told him after pulling away from that warm and gentle kiss.

Eren then reached out, embracing her lower torso; passing and firming his right arm underneath the pillows that supported the two feeding babies, and meeting his left hand on the other side. He gently leaned his head on her side, hugging her closely and feeling the warmth of the three most important people in his life. Historia continued to caress his hair very lovingly as Eren watched over the twins intently, he was incredibly happy just to see them breathing, and to see how calm they were. Historia could see his eyelids slowly shutting down in the next few minutes.

Eren finally fell asleep.

-.-

To be continued...