"Hiruzu is aiding the Island Devil."
Pieck hummed as they hid on the cliff sides overlooking the docks. "I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise. They were the most tolerant of Eldians. If any nation helped them, who else would it be but them?"
Magath nodded as he put down his binoculars. "The Founder is down there. But we don't have many options."
Pieck closed her eyes in thought. "We can only do one of two things. Try to escape or try to kill Eren Yeager. We can only do that when he leaves on the train or in...whatever that thing in the hangar is."
"An Aerovehicle. Heavier than Air. None were known to function yet," Magath said darkly. "Under any other circumstance, escaping would be the priority. You're the last of the nine we still have."
Pieck frowned. When this had all started, Marley had Seven of the Nine. The Last Isle of Eldia had only the Founder. And the Attack Titan was in the wind.
Now Paradis had eight, with herself all that was known to remain. Eren Yeager himself possessed three of them. Another Eldian of Paradis had the Colossal. Annie's fate was a mystery, but Reiner was likely dead. Did Eren Yeager devour him for the Armor or give him to another? Porco was likely dead, the Jaw either lost to the enemy or passed on randomly.
Then there was the Beast.
"He's not here. Zeke," Pieck realized.
"Perhaps we're lucky and he died before they could pass on his own Titan, "Magath said in consideration.
"Regardless, sir, you are right," Pieck said with a frown. "Normally, getting the last of the Nine back to Marley might be more important. But this might be our last slim hope to stop the Rumbling."
They both paled at the mere mention of it. The reminder that the promised wrath had been unleashed. That the Wall Titans were set out to destroy the world underfoot.
Getting Pieck back to Marley would normally be important. But...there might not be a Marley to return to.
Meanwhile
"Annie is free."
That somehow surprised neither man as much as it should.
"How free?" Levi asked with a narrowed look.
"She's out of the crystal, and awake," Hitch explained. "Some of the Yeagerists took her. They're bringing her here. Supposedly on Eren's orders?"
Armin cupped his chin. "That adds up, yeah. Eren has most of the Shifters here. He's testing the Founder's power, using it to take their Titans from them without killing them."
"He can do that?" Hitch asked in surprise.
"We're waiting to see how effective it is, but yeah," Levi mused, displeased but patient to wait longer to kill Zeke. "So. You rode ahead to tell Armin. Why?"
"Because I barely have any idea what's going on, whose side I'm on, or even what the sides are," Hitch explained with a glare. "I came here because I thought Armin should know. And to find out just what the situation actually is. Because I can see pretty well that Wall Maria is gone."
"Was there anything wrong with Rose or Sina?" Armin asked curiously.
"Nothing I could see? "Hitch answered with a head tilt.
"Good. Eren sent out a portion of the Titans in Wall Maria to deal with a fleet gathering to attack the island," Armin answered honestly. "He said he sent more than he meant to, so I was worried it might have caused problems with the other walls."
"Is that what made Annie come out of her shell?" Hitch asked with hands on her hips.
"Maybe?" Armin answered with a shrug.
"Just as likely Eren undid her hardening intentionally and sent his dogs to take her in," Levi mused.
"...Right, that. Eren's 'dogs' or Yeagerites or whatever they're calling themselves," Hitch said with a frown. "They've pretty well taken over the island. Not a lot of resistance at all."
Armin nodded. "I know. It's complicated. We thought they were working with Zeke, but Eren was tricking him."
"Eren? Tricking someone like that?" Hitch asked with a raised eyebrow. "He has changed, eh?"
"In some ways. In others, he really hasn't," Levi mused. "The Yeagerists believe the Brat is the only one who can lead Paradis to survival. We didn't have enough to show for our efforts, so now it's their show. And Eren has the Founder, so that's already a score for them as far as most people are concerned."
"Okay, seriously? I can't tell if you're with or against them," Hitch asked curiously.
"I'm going to sit back and let the brat do what he thinks is best and see how that turns out. Don't like the Yeagerists, but Yeager himself is keeping them on a leash. So, for now, it's fine for me."
For now.
"I'm glad you told us though," Levi said with a frown. "She's a slippery bitch. Even without her Titan powers, she might have broken the rest of them out."
Armin couldn't disagree with that if he wanted to.
Before anything more could be said, all three of them froze as they felt a jolt through their bodies.
They were suddenly elsewhere.
A world of sand beneath the glow of a tree made of emerald light.
And from above, and yet all around them, they heard a familiar voice.
"Attention all Eldians of Paradis. My name is Eren Yeager. I speak to you now through the power of the Founding Titan.
The Yeagerists have taken control of the island, in the name of our continued survival and freedom.
Leaders of the previous government, too weak to take action or hobbled by their peers, have been detained and deposed.
I speak to you, not as a man seeking power or war. I speak as one of you.
For a century, we have lived in fear behind our walls.
Hated by a world we did not remember.
Crippled by the self-loathing of a long-dead king.
The very power we are reviled for turned against us.
For over a decade now, we have been at war with a foe we did not know existed.
They let loose the wild Titans upon us.
They slaughtered our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters.
They sought to take the Founder itself and grind us to dust.
No more.
Yesterday, I unleashed the Power of the Founder and sent out the Titans of Southern Wall Maria.
With their might, they will lay low the fleet gathered against us.
Under their feet, we will crush their armies and navies, and share with them the same despair we have lived in.
I do not want this war.
None of us should. But war is here.
And Marley will not stop until we have bled them enough that they know they cannot win.
The rest of the world will have this one warning, to know that Rumbling is real.
Any that should threaten the Freedom of Paradis and those that call it home will be slaughtered like animals, for treating us like animals.
And I will not stop until we make the entire world acknowledge one truth.
We Were Born Into This World.
And we are all free to live in it.
Until then, we can do only one thing.
Fight! Fight!"
Hitch and Armin nearly fell over as the vision ended, Levi managing to remain calm on the barrel he sat on.
"One hell of a speech, Brat," Levi commented lightly. "Not Erwin, but who is?"
Who indeed, Armin thought as he held his head. "Captain Levi? Do you think Eren's right? That we've been treating the situation too hopefully?"
Hitch looked between them in confusion.
Levi hummed, looking up at the sky. "What do you think, Armin?"
The blond frowned. "The Yeagerist point of view, Eren's as well, is largely that our situation since finding out about the outside world...hasn't changed much," Armin summed up, recalling the conversation with Eren. Many Yeagerists had expressed similar thoughts at one point or another. "In a way, we were always fighting the outside world. Going from Titans to humans? We looked at it and saw it as a chance to stop the fighting, to reason with them. But Eren and the others saw it as just a new face for the enemy."
"Bullshit," Levi said with a scuff. "Eren is a piece of shit in some ways, but he knows it's fucked either way. He's just convinced this is the best and only way. And we can't prove him wrong at this point. After all, we've been all too willing to kill our own in the name of the island's survival. They're just willing to treat outsiders the same way."
"Seriously, I cannot read you," Hitch said in confusion. "Are you agreeing or disagreeing with them?"
"I'm stepping aside and letting things play out," Levi repeated casually. "The Yeagerists are right about one thing. We needed an answer to the threat of the outside world. Eren has one. We don't have anything better. There's a point where you have only one plan that might work and that's the one you have to bet on. No matter how bad it is or how much you don't want to."
Meanwhile
Mikasa's eyes fell from the sky to the distant horizon, Eren's words echoing in her head even as the sudden cheering of "Fight! Fight!" and "Dedicate Your Hearts!" from Yeagerists behind her alarmed and confused the people from Hiruzu.
Something felt different now. A shift in the air, a point of no return had been reached.
Eren had taken control of Paradis, formally declaring such to all who called it home.
Titles, rank, and all that meant very little next to the fact he had done it.
She remembered well, how Eren had been in the past.
Hotheaded, reckless, stuck to what he believed in; a deep desire for freedom, to fight back against their current circumstances.
But.
Being a leader had never been in his goals. Not this kind.
Power, that kind of power, never appealed to Eren.
Yet here he was.
She wondered what Historia was thinking right now. What her role in the future would even be.
And what was Mikasa's own role now, she wondered?
What role did she even want beyond being by Eren's side?
"Mikasa."
She raised an eyebrow as she was approached by Floch. He looked calm, but she could tell something was up. "We have a problem."
Mikasa didn't react, but she gave him her full attention.
"Eren informed me that the Cart Titan and a Marleyean officer are lurking nearby in waiting," Floch explained quietly, careful not to be overheard by others.
Mikasa nodded slowly. "Eren?"
"In the back, and keeping an eye on them with the Founder. I don't think they comprehend that Eren can just listen to everything anyone says if they have the Blood of Ymir," Floch said with dry amusement.
A strange power, when Mikasa thought of it. It would have been almost useless to the royal family when the Subjects of Ymir numbered so little. Only when entire countries' worth of people were counted with that blood did it become so overwhelmingly unfair in some ways.
"Is there a plan?" Mikasa asked idly.
Floch smirked, just a bit.
For now, it seemed her role was unchanged.
She was a soldier. One of the best on the entire island.
And she still had enemies to defeat.
Meanwhile
Dot Pixis had never given much thought to retirement.
Most in the military didn't, not since Wall Maria fell. Death seemed like a more obvious end than getting to grow older in peace.
Still, confined to a cell as he was, he didn't have much to do with his time but to ponder life outside the uniform now.
Well, it was that or ponder the encouragement he got from others, wanting him to help them undermine and take back control from the Yeagerists.
He found this more interesting than that. For the sake of it, he had to assume peace to imagine this lasting. Or at least that they weren't all going to be slaughtered for many years.
He couldn't imagine doing nothing at all. He didn't see himself becoming an instructor of any sort.
Perhaps it was best to just try and reconnect with his children. Never truly estranged, but these strange times strained many relationships with how much it demanded of some. They all had lives of their own outside the military, and starting their own families. Maybe he'd find a new calling among family.
A pet sounded good though. A cat, perhaps. He always preferred the coy creatures, an easy companionship in exchange for food and care. His wife would love a cat.
"Pixis?"
He smiled as he looked up to see a fellow former commander. "Niles," he greeted as a guard let him into the cell. "What do I owe the pleasure?"
"I asked them if I could move to your cell. To get away from the...others," Niles said with a frown.
Pixis nodded in understanding. "Some of them are scared for their own safety, others are more worried about their own lost power still."
Niles made a noise of agreement at the obvious statement. "You think it's the right thing, leaving it in the hands of the Yeagerist?"
Pixis hummed. "I think we've reached the point where two old guards like us have to accept that if this is a mistake, it is their right to make it. After all, we're all only doing what we can with the pieces provided."
Niles scowled. "Everything changed so fast. First Maria fell, the Shifters, a conspiracy from the crown itself, then the humanity outside the walls, and now..." Niles shook his head. "Every time we adjusted to the new status quo, it was thrown aside again."
"That was a mistake in your mindset, "Pixis scolded with an amused chuckle. "I just treated it all as one continuous confect. In that, I understand Eren and his Yeagerists. What I can never truly wrap my head around is this sheer...hatred the outside world has for us," he admitted grimly. "How much of it was Marley? How much of it was our so-called King, willing us to become extinct? How much of it was just...us?"
"We'll probably never know," Niles murmured. "All memories and histories we had of beyond the walls were erased long ago, and what remained kept out any mention of this Empire we had."
Pixis paused for a moment. "Eren Yeager likely knows. The Founder has the collected experience of all the Kings of Eldia."
"What? But that's..." Niles shook his head. "I don't know why I bother being surprised anymore."
Pixis snorted. "Tell me, did the grumbling get quieter or louder after that message we all received?"
"You mean, when we were in a green desert and hearing Eren Yeager's voice in our head?" Niles asked, obviously unnerved by that event. "Both. Some got silent, others got desperate. That kind of power, it's terrifying to be enemies with something like that."
"Eren is not our enemy," Pixis said neutrally. "Only if we try to make him one will he be a threat to us. I'm more worried about the Yeagerists."
"Isn't that the same thing, considering?" Niles asked skeptically.
"You know very well that people will do terrible things in the name of a cause. More so with a leader to tie it to. It's probably only by Eren's clear decision to save us from being Titans that some Yeagerists have not tried to take matters into their own hands," Pixis said, humming to himself before chuckling.
"What's got you laughing? "Niles asked in surprise, almost hoping it was something he could laugh at too.
"I imagine the Yeagerists feel similar about Eren's power but to an opposite degree. That absolute power, in his hands? It must be a relief to them. Like their own personal god answered their prayers," Pixis mused.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't some cults for him eventually, "Niles acknowledged. "Oi, I'm glad I'll never have to deal with the "Church of the Yeager" as a government official at least."
Pixis nodded. "I wonder how they'll take it when they realize Eren is using the power to reign them in as much as he is anything else? But I suppose that depends on how well he is at hiding that he's doing that at all."
Niles fell silent for a moment in thought.
"Don't let them strongarm you into something foolish, Niles," Pixis said with a sigh. "Even if we mounted some form of resistance, the people would hate us all the more and make us enemies of all."
"Dammit, I wish Erwin was around at times like this," Niles admitted. "He'd have some strange insight on the situation that would somehow help eventually."
"Possibly," Pixis admitted. "The world is for the living to worry about, the dead need not worry about it more. That is perhaps the only peace we humans are afforded."
Niles fell silent at those words.
Meanwhile
"Yeager is on the move, he's heading back to the train," Magath said.
"We need to move. The closer we are to the tracks, the less time he'll have to react," Pieck said as they both ran for the tree lines and headed toward the path of the train.
"Eat him if you can, but kill him no matter what! The Founder is better lost than in his hands!" Magath called back, holding the Anti-Titan rifle at the ready. "I'll cover you as best I can."
"Right," Pieck said with a scowl.
It was a long shot, but it was their last and only one. The Wall Titans were already set loose, the Rumbling had begun.
If they failed here, everyone outside this island might die.
They ran in silence for a time, until they heard the whistle of the train, signaling it was on the move. "Get ready," Magath said, teeth gritting with tension.
Magath stopped running to avoid being caught in the blast of the transformation, while Pieck barreled on.
'Not yet,' she thought, seeing the train out of the corner of her eye.
'Not yet,' she repeated as the engine was in front of her.
'Now!'
Pieck leaped forth, biting her hand and transforming in mid-jump with the intent to slam into the train cart, to send the entire thing off the tracks. If she was lucky, she could devour or slay the Founder before he even transformed. If not, well...
The transformation completed, and Pieck's Titan was mere feet away from the train-
There was a surge in the air.
Spikes of hardened Titan flesh suddenly erupted from the ground, stabbing into the Cart Titan. Her momentum only made her sink into the spikes more.
The train passed and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Eren Yeager walking towards her from the opposite side of the tracks. His face was a cold mask beguiling the ire within him for their attack.
"He can do that without transforming?!" Magath cursed, already taking aim with his rifle.
But before he could even try to get a proper aim, a blade was on the back of his neck.
"Move even slightly, and I will kill you," Mikasa warned with a steel to her voice.
Pieck pulled herself out of the neck just in time before her entire Titan started to harden, trapping her from the waist down.
Yeagerists zoomed into the area, making themselves known.
Floch landed in front of Magath with a smirk, forcibly taking the Anti-Titan weapon from him.
Pieck and Magath could only scowl in despair. They had been outplayed.
And now they were prisoners of the Devil King himself.
"Commander Magath. I wondered if we would ever meet in person," Eren said, glancing towards him idly before looking up at Pieck. "And you are the last of the Nine."
"I suppose this is the part where you devour me?" Pieck asked calmly.
"Not quite. I think it would be fitting to give you the same fate as Zeke," Eren said vaguely.
Pieck was about to question that before she blinked.
The prison of crystalline Titan flesh was cracking around her.
Eren raised an eyebrow at that but remained calm.
Even as Pieck managed to bust out of her restraints.
"She's free?!" one of the Yeagerists exclaimed, trying to shoot at her.
But Pieck had already transformed.
And still, Eren was calm.
Calm yet very annoyed as he stared down the Cart Titan.
Or rather, what he "saw" with her.
A little girl, invisible to the rest of the world, glaring emptily at him.
'So, that's how it's going to be, Ymir,' Eren thought with a frown. 'Shall we, Eldia?'
The Source of the Power Of the Titans responded with thousands of echoing, annoyed voices.
'Gladly.'
End of Chapter
Well there's that. Annie is free but taken captive, Levi is playing fence-sitter, Dot Pixis is contemplating retirement, Eren made a speech but ONLY to the Eldians of Paradis, and Ymir made her move.
I find it amusing that I have developed this story to where people on the island are more warry of the Yeagerists than Yeager himself. Gives off very big "I like your Christ, just not your Christians" vibes, but it does make sense. Anyone that knows Eren knows he won't tolerate the kind of bullshit the Yeagerists would pull if not kept on a leash.
Early viewing of chapters 12-13 avaliable on my pat-reon:
p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64
