The birds were flying over the sky one last time as the sun started to set over the horizon. The streets of Singhashina were now nearly empty. Eren was peering outside his window. Black figures stood outside, filling the streets, all staring at him.

A few more hours, and it would be the perfect time to leave. He looked back at the dining table. Falco was sleeping with his head on the table, while Gabi was just doing her stuff with the silver and china his parents once owned. A black figure was sitting beside Falco, looking at the seashell laying on the table. Tears were continuously falling from his eyes.

"I think Falco is better sleeping on my bed." Gabi didn't respond and instead got up. Eren picked up Falco in his arms before carrying him upstairs with Gabi. He placed the boy on the bed as Gabi sat beside him. "Sleep; we will leave by midnight." Eren said.

"Eren." Eren was surprised when Gabi took his name. He looked back as the girl patted the place next to her. "Sit, let's talk."

"Are you okay?" Gabi didn't say anything; she only patted again on the bed. Eren, hesitant at first, sat beside her. "What happened?"

"Do you think we will be happy in that orphanage?" Gabi asked.

"Yeah, Historia will be happy to have you both."

"No, I mean it when I ask, 'will we be happy?'" Eren did not answer. Gabi gave a smile, filled with anguish. "I am not complaining; Falco will be happy, I promise. I will love him; he is the most precious thing I am left with now." Gabi chuckled a bit before looking at Eren, tears falling from her eyes. "But will I be happy? All alone, broken, and isolated."

"Gabi…"

"I saw something, Reiner's memories the last time I fell asleep, destroying that gate, killing Marco, all he did here, no, I felt that, I killed..."

"Gabi, you are mixing the memories up. You didn't kill the people of Singhashina."

"I killed Sasha." For a few moments, there was silence before Gabi broke it. "I do not deserve happiness, though. Forget I said anything." Gabi looked down at Falco, still sleeping. She extended her hand and pulled his cheek, bringing a faint smile to her face. "Just tell us when we have to leave."

At the fort, Gustav watched as Berna and other soldiers were busy wearing their anti-personnel gear. In the corner of the room, Luca was sitting on the floor, his head down, weeping. He looked at the bandaged feet of the Marleyan. Uriah was a bit off, but shooting a boy's feet off was a bit too much for Gustav's standards.

"Everyone! If the Marleyan boy is correct, three Marleyan ships carrying seven thousand bastards will land at Point 36. We must round them up before they do something bad." Berna shouted at the top of his lungs before raising his arm. "Are you with me?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" The men said it in unison before marching out of the room. Berna walked out before Gustav followed him out. He looked at Luca one last time before the guard locked the room.

"What a mess." Gustav mumbled to himself before walking back to his office. He went to the stairs and started climbing them before his eyes fell on a group standing at the corner of the fort's wall. It was Uriah and his soldiers kneeling on the ground, facing the wall where some candles were lit on the floor. "What are these freaks up to?" Gustav got off the stairs and walked to the congregation. They were praying in hushed voices, led by Uriah. The man himself was praying in a low voice, his shotgun lying in front of him. On the wall, a small picture was placed with candles on either side. It was, however, blurry due to the passage of time.

Gustav shrugged it off. Uriah was always a weirdo for him. His irrational mumblings and prayers were alien to him. Because of this, Gustav felt amazed that he managed to create a small cult. Gustav went back to the stairs, as a soldier was standing there.

"Sir." He saluted. Gustav started climbing the stairs, with the soldier following him. "Johannes has said that Yeagerists around Wall Maria and Wall Rose have been consolidated."

"What about Shina?"

"Simon and Martha are currently with her majesty. Apparently, she has given birth to a girl." Gustav stopped and turned to the soldier.

"What are those two doing with the queen? They are supposed to gather our people in Shina."

"I am afraid; I don't know the reason."

"Fine." Gustav started climbing again, waving his hand to dismiss the soldier.

"Sir," Gustav said again, irritated. The day was already long enough to exhaust him. Even climbing the stairs was a tiring task for him.

"What?"

"We are going to start a search for Eren Yeager; he is most probably in Singhashina."

"Are you taking the word of that bastard seriously? A massive bird is flying in the sky. Be serious. He must have been on some opioids at that time and hallucinated the entire thing. Dismissed."

"But sir…"

"Dismissed!" Gustav said before grabbing the railings. "I am tired; no more work today." He started climbing again as the soldier looked at him.

"Tch, I will find Eren Yeager myself." He mumbled before going downstairs.

The midnight moon was at its peak as the trio came out. The two guards stood, holding the two horses. Gabi stared at them with suspicion.

"They won't remember a thing." Eren said before waving at them. "Leave and forget." Both simply gave a nod before leaving the place. Eren holds one of the horses while Gabi holds another, both getting up on it. Falco climbed up on Gabi's horse as Eren looked forward. The road ahead was filled with dark figures, only leaving a small path ahead for him. A tinge of regret was in his heart. Dark arms wrapped around Eren's torso as a heavy weight pressed against his back.

"Let's leave." Eren said as he tightened the reins of the horse, making it gallop. Gabi starts following him as they ride to the former inner gate of the city. However, as soon as they left Sighashina, Eren began to drift away from the main road to Trost.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Gabi shouted as suddenly she felt a current flowing through her again. "Not again." She turned her horse and started following him.

After hours of riding, Eren finally stopped. Gabi and Falco looked at the place where they were standing now. The building was familiar to them so much that Gabi exclaimed, "What are we doing in Braus stables? You said that we would be in the orphanage."

"I have changed my mind." Eren got off the horse. Falco and Gabi looked at the house with hesitation, especially Gabi. All this time she was hoping to avoid the Braus family, and now Eren had brought them to the very place.

Both got off the horse before looking at Eren, confused. His back was towards them.

"You know that I killed Sasha, their daughter. You know that I will be a horrid reminder to them about the tragedy, and yet..."

"They have already forgiven you; you haven't." Eren felt the arms gripping his body harder. The head was resting on his shoulder. A tear fell from his eyes. "Gabi, I understand how you are feeling without using the founder. But you were a child who knew next to nothing what reality was."

Eren turned back to them before walking to the horses. He climbed his horse, trotting a few steps away from both. "Falco, Gabi, this is where our path diverges for the last time. Live with the Braus family, play, be happy, grow up, start a family, and always look after each other." The horse trotted a few more steps away, neighing. "My road has ended, but I promise you both will live a long life."

"'My road has ended?'" Falco asked, though Eren rode away from them, becoming smaller and smaller till he finally vanished on the horizon. He looked at Gabi, still hesitant. The morning was an hour away. "Let's go." Falco held her hand before moving towards the house. Gabi allowed herself to be pulled by Falco. There was nothing else she could do now.

Falco knocked on the door. Both kids stood close to each other, taking deep breaths. The door gently opened as Mr. Braus came out. Both kids looked at him, and his eyes widened.

"Ben? Mia? What are ya doing 'ere, in the cold?" Mr. Braus exclaimed before dragging both kids in. "Ya both are wearin' such light clothes." He grabbed some logs before tossing them into the fireplace. He picked up the oil canister.

"What happened?" Mrs. Braus came out with the kids as they looked at the duo. "Ben, Mia."

"Come near the fire." Mr. Braus told them before lighting the fireplace up. "Lisa, make some soup for 'em; they were in the cold for god knows how long." Both Falco and Gabi were dumbstruck by the care Mr. Braus was showing them. He went to the kids, guiding them back to their room while Mrs. Braus was busy preparing the food.

Gabi didn't like it; it was too unreal. She killed Sasha, their daughter, and they were busy making sure they were comfortable. They said they forgave her, but she was not sure if it was true or just to make them comfortable.

"Ben, Mia? Where were you both all this time?" Mr. Braus asked them, and Gabi just got up. "Mia?"

"Mr. Braus, we went with our friends to stop Eren Yeager from destroying the world. We failed and lost everything—our parents, our hometown, our country. I never wanted to come to you, but Eren Yeager forced us to be here." Gabi bowed down. "I killed your daughter; I deserve no forgiveness. I am ready to work for you as a maid for nothing; I am ready to leave you home forever. I am even ready to give my life to you as compensation. Just let Falco live here; let him be loved like other kids here." Gabi closed her eyes, prepared for any consequences.

"Gabi, that's ya real name, right? Well, tell me something." Gabi looked back up as Mr. Braus was on his knee, facing her with sympathetic eyes. His half-face was lit by the fire. "Tell me who Sasha killed that caused ya to kill her."

"Those two were Marleyian guards; even when the whole world hated us Eldians, they made us friends. They never treated us badly. They even stopped me from going to the war zone before. Gabi choked.

"Gabi, I will be honest with ya; when Sasha went to the corps, I knew that she would die one day. The fall of the wall showed Maria that anyone can get killed at any time. My only regret will be that she killed a human before dying."

"So, you don't hate me, even when I killed your daughter?" Gabi tearfully asked.

"I forgive ya for this transgression, but I will never forget." Mr. Braus said this before getting up again. "Ya killed Sasha; I do want you to compensate for that. Not by being a maid, ya life, or being banished. One daughter for another."

The last line touched something in Gabi; she immediately hugged Mr. Braus, crying loudly. The old man simply smiled and patted her head. "Enough, it's time for ya to eat."

The sun was slowly rising on the horizon as the population of Mitras was still asleep. There was silence enveloping the entire city, except for the occasional barking of the dog and the trotting of Eren's horse.

Mitras was a grand city, the only one that wasn't confined by the walls. The houses were tall, wide, and decorative. It would be a fitting city to be the capital. He rode to the palace, stopping by the gate. The guards standing there stood on the other side.

"Halt, who are you?" One of them asked him, clutching their muskets, ready to fire. Eren got off the horse and removed his cloak. "Eren Yeager."

"Where is Historia?" Eren asked as the guards opened the gate for him. He walked inside.

"She is in a safehouse; shall we call her?"

"Yeah." Eren said this before walking into the palace. The staff looked at him, whispering to each other. "Can I stay in a room?"

"Yes sir." A lady said as she gestured to him to come with her. Eren followed her to a room on one of the upper floors, maybe a guest room or something like that. Eren entered the room as the staff member closed the door behind him.

Eren was weary, and his back was strained. He went straight to the bed, lying down. Every part of his body ached, and his mind ached more. Ever since Ymir left, the burden of the founder fell directly on him. He saw the life of every Eldian, on and off the island. Memories of all Eldians, dead and alive, flowed through him, ravaging his mind. He could see the emotions, the thoughts, the plottings and the conspiracies but all of them were too much mixed up for him to understand what they were.

But what strained him most were the dark figures surrounding him. Eren didn't say anything to them; there was nothing he could have said that could make things right. He looked at his side as he lay next to him, looking at him.

Eren closed his eyes; he could not face him anymore. "Armin, go away." He begged, but the apparition didn't go away; he was still there, looking at him. Testament to his legacy, one of blood. Eren felt a wet hand brushing his hair. His eyes remained closed, slowly drifting to sleep.