-full chapter-
[this chapter is now complete]
ps: when I first planned this chapter it was supposed to be just that: one chapter. But it came out as a whole book! I apologise for the amount of text.
Chapter 20: "Fight!" has over 75 thousand words, approximately the size a regular novel. XD
Enjoy all the fight in this final battle!
It's the world against Ymir.
#tatakae
- C.T.
:)
:)
- Year 743 - Paradise Island - the Royal Palace, City of Mitras
[The Sealing of the Walls]
The Ackermann entered that dark, secret room, deep underneath the Palace. He previously hadn't been sure of what he would be looking for, but he immediately identified it once he arrived. There, at the centre of the room, laid a large glass vessel.
It was full of adornments, beautifully crafted. And for the unsuspecting bystander it could easily pass as just another overly decorated vase - quite fitting for a Royal Palace. But Lewis however, knew well that it was much more than that. The General carefully approached, analysing the glass. Lewis held the small torch towards it.
"Yep. This certainly isn't water, or wine," he joked. The Ackermann had found the serum. "Looks more like piss," he added and chuckled.
He could see how the glass vessel was hermetically sealed with only a small valve up top; which he correctly assumed served to pour more serum in, without the risk of all the rest of it evaporating. The 145th King had been collecting his precious concoction for the past two years.
"You should never put all your eggs in only one basket, Karl," the General let out. "This will be much easier than I thought," he added, under his breath.
This concoction was a mixture of Armin Tybur's spinal fluid with Karl Fritz's very own spinal fluid. A serum that would provide the King with the strongest Pure Titans possible, by mixing the Founding, the Colossal and the War-Hammer Titan powers. It was Karl's dream, to build this undefeatable Titan Army. And he believed to have been blessed with those revelations by the goddess Ymir herself.
And as the Eldians arrived in droves into Paradise, the King rejoiced, being glad to be able to accumulate so much bait. He felt even more blessed. Karl knew he and Armin would still live for a few more years. And he hoped to accumulate as much serum as to create enough Titans to cover the whole island. The whole plan had been executed to perfection and the King was sailing smoothly into victory. What he was not counting on, however, was Ezra.
The Attack Titan had arrived on that island, and had been quietly spying there for a while. Ezra was looking for his friend. Not only for the sake of friendship, but because he knew very well what Karl was up to. And he knew it had to be stopped. He eventually convinced the Ackermann siblings to help him in this quest. The plan was simple: he and Orla would rescue Armin and Lewis would destroy the serum.
That was it. The Ackermann knew very well that once he broke the glass, the serum would just evaporate. And Karl's plan would fail. He raised up his torch and extinguished it: so he could use that wooden stick as a bat. Lewis was now in full darkness and the Titan serum immediately started to glow, it looked as otherworldly as one would expect.
He lifted up the bat, ready to strike, and that was when King Fritz suddenly arrived with multiple soldiers.
"I knew you were up to no good," Karl noted, shaking his head in pure disappointment. And Lewis froze. The King stopped near his best friend. "Come on, El," Karl tilted his head. "Drop it," he ordered.
The General just looked at him, confused and unsure of what to do. His own soldiers started to surround him, all being very careful as they knew the importance and the fragility of that vessel.
Lewis only shook his head, slowly. "Kay," he softly let out, concerned. He then thought of all those people and it gave him the courage, so he lifted the bat again. He couldn't let them be doomed.
"I said drop it!" The King insisted once more, shouting, and the soldiers jumped on him.
The General finally dropped the makeshift weapon on the ground, as the soldiers tried to hold him down. First three, then five, then seven men. The Ackermann was a very difficult opponent to immobilise.
"I can't believe you would betray me like that. After all these years!" Karl complained, genuinely upset.
"I can't let you kill all those people, Kay," Lewis insisted as his own soldiers finally had gotten him down on his knees. The Ackermann had his hands behind his back and was being forced to keep his head down by the three strongest men in the group.
"They won't be killed," the King countered, full of himself. "They will be our guardians," he declared. "For all eternity. There's no honour greater than that."
Lewis looked up at him in full defiance, disgusted by all that ridiculous pompousness. He began to fight back again as the soldiers tried to take him out of the room. 'I can't lose,' the Ackermann thought. 'No, I can't lose!'
He was almost successful as one of his higher kicks in that scuffle almost hit the precious glass, it missed by very little. Lewis was struggling greatly against all those men and he even managed to elbow Fritz in the face.
"I'm gonna let you rot for that," Karl complained and spat on the floor, annoyed. "Take him away," the King shouted. "Now!"
He walked closer to his prize. Karl gently touched the glass vessel, glad that it was still intact. He then held the back of his neck, contemplative. Massaging his growing wound as he suddenly realised that Lewis was probably not working alone.
"Go check on the prisoner," Karl firmly ordered.
But that would be of no use, for Ezra and Armin were already far gone by the time the guards caught wind of it. The perfect plan that had held strong for two years had now been completely unravelled in only two days.
The King still had the serum that had been collected so far, but it wasn't nearly enough. Almost all of the concoction consisted of Armin Tybur's spinal fluid, as it was where the War-Hammer and Colossal Titan powers resided. Only a small amount of the concoction consisted of Karl Fritz's spinal fluid - only enough so he could be sure he would control those Pure Titans without fail. Now, with the Colossal War-Hammer Titan gone, there was no way for Fritz to continue producing this concoction on his own.
Karl regretted not having consumed the power when he could. At the time he had been well aware of how painful and terribly draining the whole experience would be. So he, of course, decided to manipulate his close friend into it instead. It would be less taxing this way. But, of course, Karl never expected that his golden goose would ever be taken away from him.
Now he had to act, and quickly.
He walked around the palace very contemplative, holding his small daughter in his arms. Princess Maria was a toddler now, and although quite young she could tell how her father was preoccupied. She gently rested her head on his chest as he walked aimlessly around the corridors. Karl was waiting for his men to arrive and finally give him his much needed confirmation to go ahead.
The father then caressed the girl's blond curls, lovingly. "My beautiful girl, I'll make sure of it," he gently declared, kissing her head. "I'll make sure that you will see only peace. You will grow up in this beautiful paradise. And as long as you live, no one will ever hurt you. No one."
The news finally arrived: the Founding Titan could go ahead with the plan. So Karl gave the girl for her mother to hold and went out to the garden. He took a beautiful dagger out from its nicely crafted wooden case. The dagger was exquisite. It was silver and gold, full of adornments and had a green stone encrusted in the handle. The King walked into the field of roses and held up the dagger, making a cut on his palm: he transformed. The Founding Titan emerged screaming.
It was a terrifying sight and even more terrifying for all those who knew what that scream meant. It was a scream that would change Paradise forever.
All around the Island, the cursed Eldians heard it.
-.-
The Ackermann was struggling. Lewis had no idea how long he had been underground, even if alive he felt as he were already rotting. The General had been imprisoned in that dark dungeon. And was being guarded by the same men he had once personally selected to guard that dangerous Titan Shifter. He had no escape, he had no hope of ever seeing the sun again.
It took a while for him to understand what was all that noise outside. All that metal swashing, clicking and clattering, the soldiers groaning - Lewis finally understood that something was making its way throughout those two hundred men.
Orla opened up the heavy door and rushed towards him with her sword and keys on hand, immediately opening up all the locks and taking him out of all those chains.
"How- how are you here?" he questioned with difficulty as she held him in her arms. The man was extremely emaciated.
"This is all my fault," Orla let out in tears, the state of her older brother was deplorable. She tried to help him keep his head up, Lewis was clearly confused, his eyes seemed lost.
"Haven't they given you food?" She asked him softly, still with tears in her eyes.
"I need sunlight," Lewis replied, "you and I both know that."
And Orla nodded. "Come on, let's get you out," she told him motherly as she helped him stand up. Embracing him and helping the weak man walk.
They walked out of the cell to see all those fresh corpses outside. The General couldn't help but feel uneasy as his sister helped him out of that dungeon, he could recognise all of his most trusted soldiers. All dead.
"You sure went all out," Lewis noted, under his breath. "Did you really kill all of them?" he firmly questioned as they made their way up the dark stairs, arriving closer to the crystal cave.
"They all deserved it, they all betrayed you," his sister angrily hissed, as she was forcing open the wooden hatch - underneath the chapel.
"Well, technically they are the King's soldiers, not my soldiers," The General countered his younger sister. "So you can understand where their loyalties lay," he gently explained as she helped him up through the hatch.
Orla remained silent, they had finally made it to the surface, her brother was free.
They both walked through the chapel, silently.
Lewis tilted his head, he could tell his sister's heart had been hardened. "I don't remember you being this violent, Father didn't teach us that-" he tried to softly argue, but it just made her mad.
Orla turned to him in full annoyance, interrupting him. "Well they killed him. And mum!" she revealed to him in anger. "That coward is going after everyone in our family!"
And Lewis only looked down, extremely upset with those news.
"He intends to exterminate us," Orla added more quietly as her brother was still processing all that information. "We shouldn't have gotten involved, it served us nothing," she let out in a broken complaint. Crossing her arms, she gently leaned on one of the wooden columns.
Lewis looked up at the beautiful sun rays shining through the stained glass of the high windows, contemplative.
"Did the Shifter make it out?" he inquired.
"Yes, I believe so," his sister replied, still with arms crossed. Orla was clearly upset with it all.
"So I was the one who failed, not you," her brother argued. "You fulfilled your part. All that has happened has been my fault, solely my fault," Lewis declared, broken.
"You didn't cut our parents' throats," Orla countered, uncrossing her arms. She pointed upwards and to the outside, vexed. "This is all Fritz's fault!" she angrily declared.
"I assume he proceeded with the plan," Lewis considered.
"Yes," Orla replied, walking closer to him. "It was in the water. He had the serum distributed and poured into all the water fountains all over the island. In the darkness of the night," the younger Ackermann explained, clearly upset.
She continued, "and he waited to make sure enough Eldians would drink it."
The fact that the King's precious concoction was poured into the only available sources of drinking water in the island deeply upset Orla. For it meant that people were unknowingly drinking that poison and would have no control over the outcome.
"So it has already happened?" Lewis questioned. "He has transformed them?"
"Yes," Orla confirmed, upset.
"What has he done with this new Titan Army?" The General inquired.
"What he said he would do," she explained. "They were hardened around the island." Orla continued, more saddened. "People of all ages, even young children! He got what he wanted, all for his personal protection. It's sickening."
The Eldians had gone to Paradise to escape that never-ending world war. They went there seeking refuge, after the King had promised that there would be a safe haven. And they truly believed it. The Eldians were sure they were safe there. Now, over ninety percent of the population had been transformed into those Pure Titans, and were formed into those three 'sacred' walls. Karl Fritz had completely betrayed his subjects, his own people. They were now his eternal slaves.
"Which also means we are all trapped here," Orla added, crossing her arms again. "The ones who are left, I mean."
"Why go after our family..? And not just kill me?" Lewis questioned, confused and upset as he considered all that had happened. "The others had nothing to do with it," he added.
The Ackermanns and the Fritzs had been close families for many generations, he couldn't understand why the King would just turn on all of them like that.
"I suppose he wanted you to rot in here," Orla theorised. "And take revenge on everyone else after we unravelled his plan." She then continued more hopefully. "But we got the word out, anyone who is an Ackermann is in hiding."
"You should disappear completely," Lewis firmly suggested. "Karl will be even more enraged when he finds out what you have just done here."
"I know. And so should you," she replied. "I just wanted to send him a clear message. He can't just get away with massacring our family after all this time. And he can't treat you like that, leaving you here to rot. I hope he rots in hell," she let out.
Lewis sighed, trying to organise his thoughts. "Just, take care of yourself, don't go getting into trouble," the brother advised.
"I won't." She replied firmly. "I'll disappear, and so should you," Orla reiterated.
The two siblings found their way out of the chapel and just stood there for a moment, contemplating those vasts, empty fields.
"Thank you," Lewis softly said, finally thanking his little sister for rescuing him.
He considered it all for a moment. "After Karl dies we should meet," he suggested.
"I'll send you a letter," Orla replied. "What will you do now? Where are you going? she questioned her brother.
"Oh, I'll disappear for sure, just like we said. But not just now," he explained. "There's something I need to take care first."
-.-
A hundred and eleven years later
Paradise was in flames and the Walls Fritz had built all those years ago had now fallen. The Wall Titans were loose, walking aimlessly all over the island - until sundown when they finally stopped. Now it was time for the paradisians to count the dead and make plans to hide, as they knew the Wall Titans would rise again in the morning.
Ymir too had fallen, the fight with those strange airplanes had drained her, and she eventually fell somewhere in the east side of Paradise. The enormous Titan was clearly in a deep sleep, recovering to fight again.
"It's funny how time works isn't it?" Sunny asked, tilting her head. And Ymir startled.
She opened her eyes in that cursed dimension, Ymir had fallen unconscious over the sand. The thirteen-year-old woke up again and sat upright, confused but also annoyed. "How are you here?" Ymir asked in annoyance, "again?" she added.
The twelve-year-old just looked extremely amused. Sonnenblume was sitting in front of her in the sand, cross-legged and very childlike. "That's a good question," the young Ackermann replied, looking to the horizon. "I don't know really. I've been here for as long as I can remember…" she trailed off.
"What do you want from me?" Ymir asked, aggressively.
"You're glowing, and not in a good way," Sunny joked.
The young apparition was made of many speckles of light, like trillions of stars; while Ymir was glowing from all the roots that had attached themselves to her, the roots from the light tree.
Ymir was clearly not amused by her cousin's humour. She was still waiting for Sonnenblume to answer her question.
"I'm here to remind you that it is of no use," Sunny explained, in a slightly threatening tone. "Time is set and it won't ever change," she declared. "So why don't you give up on all this nonsense already?" she questioned.
"Time has changed, I am proof," Ymir countered.
And Sunny tilted her head again. She began to explain, reminding the Fritz princess. "If the General at the time the Walls were made, the Ackermann General," she added as an important reminder and continued: "hadn't gone after, hadn't saved and looked after that young Tybur boy. If Ode and his mother had been killed like Karl had ordered; well then my father would have never been born. And neither would have I," Sunny told her with a smile. "Nor my brother," she added more somberly.
Sunny rose up and began to hover, like a small fairy made of stardust. "If the Ackermanns hadn't persisted and fought back so strongly through these past decades, after you made the Fritzs turn on then-" Sonnenblume continued more angrily. "And the Azumabito, which I am surprised you went after," she shook her head negatively. "You play dirty," Sonnen complained, disappointed.
"Get to your point," Ymir hissed back.
"You know what my point is: you were going after my parents," Sunny let out, annoyed, crossing her arms. "Did you really think you could stop my brother from existing?" she questioned, baffled.
She flew closer to the witch. "Time is set, you can't bend it your way," Sonnen threatened. "You can never stop what has already happened, it will always happen," she firmly affirmed.
Ymir looked away, reflective. "It seems you know very little, if you truly knew this story you would be on my side, not his," she observed, stoically.
"I know enough," Sunny hissed back, confidently.
"He killed me," Ymir pointed out, brokenly.
"Oh, if he had been successful in that we wouldn't be having this conversation now, would we?" Sunny countered, mockingly.
Ymir became mad, she threw the light roots towards the apparition - with only her mind. And they lunged forward violently, like snakes, attacking it. The apparition reactively flew backwards and away from her. But the light roots couldn't grab Sunny, the thin roots just passed through all that stardust and fell on the ground again.
So the apparition flew closer to the witch again, extremely vexed after that failed attack. "I won't let you destroy my island. Much less my entire world," Sunny gravely threatened. "Ever," she maintained.
"You should have never been born, you shouldn't exist!" Ymir shouted angrily.
"Well here I am," Sonnenblume replied regally, flying backwards and opening her arms wide. The apparition then flew closer to her again. "Stay away from Ezra," Sunny gravely threatened.
Ymir only tilted her head. "No," she replied very playfully.
Sonnenblume looked up, quickly observing that odd purple energy moving across the starry sky. It seemed her time was up. "I'm coming back again," she firmly promised.
"You can't stop me," Ymir hissed very threateningly.
"Oh, I will destroy you," Sonnenblume threatened once again, full of certainty.
And she opened her eyes, waking up quite startled.
The Forest Lodge
[ Year 874 ]
Sonnenblume woke up very startled indeed. She raised up hers and Ezra's hands, as they were interlocked together. And she immediately let go once she saw those faint sparkles all around their interlocked hands. Sonnen then sat upright quite agitated.
The small, wooden lodge was quite dark at night. But the moonlight was shining through their balcony, which made his face appear more clear to her as she turned towards him. Ezra's eyes were partially opened, even though he was clearly in deep sleep. His eyes were completely blackened, which made Sonnenblume startle even more. It was a very eerie sight.
Blue then jumped into the armchair nearby. She grabbed her robes and covered herself, sitting with arms and knees held together, for it was a cold night. The young Ackermann was suddenly very reflective, she looked up towards her beautiful wedding dress hanging in the corner. Sonnenblume then looked down at her hand. 'There's no going back now, I need to figure this out,' she thought.
The prince began to pass his hand around the mattress, looking for her. He too was awake now and he had immediately noticed that she wasn't there. Ezra opened his eyes to see Blue sitting in the armchair, she looked very small, all crumpled up.
"What are you doing all the way over there?" he mumbled, confused. "Just come back to bed."
But she didn't reply, she only looked vaguely to the windows, Blue seemed paralysed and lost.
"Sonnenblume, the night is too cold, I don't want you to get sick," he continued more seriously as he sat upright, inviting her back into the thick covers. For he could see how she was shivering. "Why are you even out there anyway?" he asked, concerned and confused. "What woke you up?"
"I don't think we should be touching," Blue replied very quietly, with her chin on her knees.
Ezra let out a small chuckle. "We've done a lot more than just touching already, Blue," he replied, quite amused.
"I mean while we're sleeping," she explained.
He looked up at the clock while scratching his head. "It's four in the morning," he complained, "come back to bed."
Blue tilted her head. "What were you dreaming about?" she questioned.
"I never dream," he replied.
"Everyone dreams, some people just don't remember," she argued.
"You were using your powers on me accidentally, weren't you?" he theorised. "That's why you don't want us to touch."
"No, you were the one using your powers on me," she countered, frightened.
"I would have to be awake to do that," he argued back, trying to go back to sleep again. "And also, you know, be turned into a Titan..?" he continued, from under the pillows. "You know I can't use my powers in human form," he added with a muffled voice. "You are the one with the weird mind powers."
"What were you dreaming about?" Sonnen insisted.
Ezra raised his head again. "Nothing, I already said," he maintained. "I never dream."
"Are you a sleepwalker?" she questioned, tilting her head.
"What do you mean? Was I moving in my sleep?" he asked back, concerned.
"No," she replied.
"Was I talking?" he asked.
"I don't really know, I was sleeping very deeply," Blue explained, sincerely.
"So you had a nightmare? Is that what all this is about?" the prince asked, theorising. "And you think I caused your nightmare."
"No, it wasn't a nightmare," Blue countered. She then stood up and came closer to him, she leaned in and began to touch his arms and hands, his shoulders and even his forehead. No sparkles.
Ezra was slightly amused and also very confused by all this behaviour.
Blue sat on the bed. "I suppose it only happens if we're in deep sleep," she confirmed, a little frustrated.
"Otherwise it would have happened before," he cleverly and softly pointed out.
This had been the first ever time they slept together on the same bed. The prince didn't really understand her powers very well and neither of them expected that something could be triggered while in deep sleep.
Ezra looked at her very lovingly, he could tell she was quite bothered by the ordeal. "You're not suggesting we should sleep apart, are you?" he asked, upset. The young husband began to gently cover her up with the heavy sheets, as he didn't want her to be in the cold.
"No, I- I should figure out a way to control this," she replied, Blue held her head. "This has never happened before," she continued and looked at his eyes more deeply. "I don't understand exactly why being near and touching you would make my mind go to Paths," she let out, confused.
"Paths? What?" he asked back, even more confused.
"The cursed dimension," she explained.
"I don't know what that is," Ezra maintained his confusion.
"That dimension that connects all Eldians, and where Titan Shifters go after they die," Blue explained further. "You're a Titan Shifter, surely you have been there."
Ezra only shook his head, trying and failing to think about it. He then dropped his head down and began to rub his eyes, trying to stay awake. "Wait, yes. I think I remember Dad talking about this place, isn't it like a beach but with lots of sand and no ocean?" he asked.
"I think that would classify as a desert," Blue pointed out.
"Good point," Ezra concurred.
"Are you saying you've never seen it?" she asked, baffled.
"Nope." He replied, strangely proud.
"That is a little odd," Blue commented, holding her right arm with her left hand, reflecting about it.
"And I didn't even think it was real," the prince continued, slightly annoyed. " I just thought it was part of Dad's little bullshit routine," he complained.
"Then how do you know how to use your powers?" she questioned.
"Well, I don't know very well, do I?" he argued back. "Otherwise I wouldn't have to be constantly training."
"You should have the memories of the previous Titans and access to that dimension, it doesn't make any sense," Blue pointed out.
"You're starting to sound like Dad," the prince complained jokingly. "Next you're gonna conclude I'm lying about all this just to upset and annoy you. And that he should have never lost his powers to me in the first place, blah blah blah," Ezra continued the mockery with his hand as a little puppet.
Blue smiled, "I'm not your Dad and I believe you," she affirmed.
"Good," Ezra replied, and leaned in, giving her a small kiss on the lips.
The young Ackermann became reflective again, she wondered if Ymir had kept him away from that dimension for a reason. 'Why don't you want him there?' she asked, only in her mind.
-.-
The Royal Palace
[ a couple of weeks later ]
The now royal princess walked through the corridors of the palace, she eventually arrived at the open library. Sonnenblume had been looking for her uncle.
"Do you want to continue with the book research, my dear?" Eren asked as she walked in, uncrossing his legs and putting a few documents to the side. He then gestured, inviting her to take a seat.
"That's alright," she excused herself and remained standing, and proceeded. "Uncle Eren, Ezra told me how you taught him about Paths…" she trailed off, playing with her own fingers, a little nervously.
"You can call me father now, if you'd like," Eren told her with a smile.
"I prefer uncle if you don't mind," Sonnen replied.
"It's fine either way," he nodded. "What do you want to know about Paths?" Yeager asked, sitting more conformably on his favourite armchair. He crossed his legs again in a four lock, clearly curious.
"Why do you think Ezra's relation to Paths is so different from the Shifters that came before him?" she asked.
"And by relation you mean the lack thereof?" Eren corrected her.
"You think he's lying about that?" Sonnen inquired.
"No," Eren replied and sighed. "Only because I haven't been able to reach it for many years myself," the Titan Shifter explained. "So I wonder if it just doesn't exist anymore," Eren cogitated.
"How would that be possible? A whole dimension couldn't just cease to exist," Sonnen countered.
"Well, sometimes I wonder if it all has just changed," Eren considered, he became more reflective. "If the rules of the game have just shifted, I mean."
"Shifted to what?" Sunny questioned.
"For once, I survived and was still able to pass my powers down to him, my own son," Eren began to argue. "And I hope the same thing happens to him and his powers. I don't want for Ezra to die so young, he doesn't deserve that. No one does," the father added more brokenly.
"Contrary to what you might think, considering his many complaints about me and how I raised him: I love him very much," Eren told her very seriously.
"I know, I can tell that," Sonnen affirmed. "I don't want for him to die either. And it's relieving, as you said, to know how you and the other Shifters are still alive."
Sunny thought about it some more. "But what do you mean by him passing the power down?" she questioned her uncle. Sunny knew very well how Ezra hoped fervently that those cursed powers would die with him.
"Well I hope and expect that this will be the way," Eren told her with a nice smile. "I dream that Ezra will pass his power down to his own child, freeing himself from certain death and still keeping our legacy; just as it happened to me and him on the day he was born," the father told her very proudly.
"It would certainly be less gruesome than say, what happened between me and my father," Eren added.
Sonnen stood there very quietly, trying to process her uncle's beliefs. 'What did I get myself into?' she complained, only in her mind.
"The Founding Titan will never die," Eren continued. "And, who knows? You might be already carrying the next one right now," he cheerfully considered with a lovely smile and Sonnen only raised her eyebrows quite high.
Sunny turned to leave, a little embarrassed, but returned for a moment.
"You do know I'm an Ackermann and that any kid I would ever have wouldn't be able to become a Titan, right? It's not possible," she pointed out, reminding him.
But Eren kept his smile. The aspiring grandfather leaned back on his armchair, full of confidence. "There's a lot we don't know about your family and your blood, about Titans and all these powers in general. Who knows? Maybe you and Ezra could end up having the more powerful of all Titans," he hoped very grandiosely.
"Rules that have existed for millennia can't just be broken like that," the new princess countered, certain.
"It's true, it is a fact that any Eldian child with Ackermann blood can't be turned into a Pure Titan," Eren considered, but proceeded with his argument. "And that is precisely the reason why the nine Titan families, in particular the Fritzs, never married and had children with Ackermanns; as they believed those children would be no use to them in their ceremonies," he explained, about the cannibalistic rituals the Eldians had to pass down the Titan powers.
The uncle continued, "they simply couldn't risk it," he then looked back at the endless library behind them and Sonnen followed his eyes. "You can look it up if you'd like. No royal marriage between a Fritz and an Ackermann has ever been recorded in the past two thousand years. You and Ezra are the first," he revealed with a smile.
"Your child surely will be very special," Eren continued with his high hopes. "There's a first time for everything."
Sunny was a little staggered. She only excused herself quietly and left the room. She went looking for Ezra.
-.-
The new princess eventually found her young husband in one of the many corridors of the palace. Ezra immediately smiled when seeing her.
"Yellow in Blue, you are as beautiful as ever, my love," he complimented her as she walked towards him. But soon noticed how she was not in the mood and was particularly agitated as she approached.
Blue stopped in front of him, slightly vexed. Although she could never be too mad at him; and he clearly thought she looked even more beautiful when mad, which made him smile even wider.
"So, you haven't told your parents we are not having any kids?" she whispered, clearly baffled.
They began to walk side by side, in the direction of the open gardens.
"Of course not," he whispered back.
"What do you mean 'of course not'? They are already hoping that I'm pregnant," Blue complained.
"That's their problem, not ours," Ezra replied nonchalantly, which made her look at him even more mad. "Well, have you told your mother?" He then cleverly questioned.
"That's different," Blue tried to argue.
"I knew it," he replied, laughing out loud.
Blue continued. "She is just going to berate me for the rest of my life and I'd rather delay that as much as I can," she argued. "Now your parents are the ones hoping for an heir to the monarchy and rightfully so."
"Not rightfully so," Ezra argued back, stopping them for a moment. He continued more gravely. "I'm the King, whatever I choose to do with this country is my decision. I'm not running anything by them," he affirmed.
"You're not King yet," she reminded him. "Not officially, the coronation is only in three months."
"Well then, let's wait three months to let them know there will be no grandkids," he joked.
Sonnenblume looked away as they kept walking. They were passing now through that ancient hallway and he could tell she was deeply concerned about it all. Ezra stopped them again and held both of her hands.
"And you will be my queen regardless," he softly promised. "We don't want children and that is our private business, besides, I won't need an heir," the prince considered and looked back into that ancient corridor. They had just walked through the Hall of Kings, a large corridor with many portraits of the past Fritzs monarchs, forming a very long Eldian timeline.
The prince continued, cheerfully. "I know my people will approve the idea of a Republic," he passionately let out. "It's time to end this two-thousand-year-old dynasty. The world has had enough of the Fritzs, more than enough."
"What will your father think of that?" Blue questioned. "Something tells me he won't like it a bit," she added with a small chuckle.
"It doesn't matter, he's not blood," Ezra argued while still holding her hand firmly, as they walked towards the outside gardens. "Not in this family," he continued, "as much as he hates to be called that word: he is an outsider," Ezra said with raised eyebrows and a smile.
"Why does it seem like you enjoy calling him that?" Blue asked with a small smile as they walked hand-in-hand.
"All I'm saying is that certain matters in this family are not fully of his concern. Not when it comes to our dynasty. He's not a blood royal," Ezra maintained his argument.
"Don't be such a snob," Blue let out in slight admonishment.
"I'm not. I'm just saying this is just between Mother and I," Ezra affirmed. "And I know her well enough to be sure she'll support me fully," he explained.
"Right, it's just you and her and-" Blue was about to start counting when she realised. "Oh, there's only the two of you left, isn't there? I had forgotten about that," she noted.
"There was uncle Zeke, who would have a proper say in the matter, to Father's dismay. And a part of me would love to have seen that. But he's dead," Ezra explained, jokingly.
"Yes, true," Blue confirmed, and smiled again.
She was enjoying seeing him so cheerful and jokey as always, but she was surprised to see his face change suddenly. Ezra became more reflective, he looked down.
"And Ymir is gone too…" he noted, trailing off.
Blue stopped. "Huh," she casually let out.
And Ezra looked up "What 'huh'?" he asked, suspiciously, he could see the wheels quickly turning behind her eyes.
Blue only shrugged and kept walking.
"How is your book research going by the way?" he asked.
"Funny you should ask," she replied. "I've made some progress. When I have a full transcript I'll share it with you," Blue promised.
-.-
- Year 854 - October 31, the Queen's farm
Queen Historia was already feeling the intense pains of labour in the darkness of that room. A new day was starting and at its first hour, countless people walked fast all over that building as the Queen cried in pain.
Servants and nuns quickly lit up the corridors and some of the rooms with candles and torches as the crystal lights seemed very weak and not being able to work properly. The doctor and the nurses rushed all over, beginning to prepare everything. Historia breathed heavily, she could feel how the pain increased more and more with each contraction and she knew it would only get stronger. This was only the beginning.
Paradise Harbour
Hange walked into the Communications' Room and was immediately staggered to see Levi just standing there, fully recovered.
He gently walked closer towards her. "We can talk about it later," he quietly said.
Reiner waved, calling the Commander over as he was speaking on the radio and Hange approached.
"Sir, this is Hange Zoe, the Commander in charge here," Reiner introduced her through the radio.
"This is Sir Magnus Tremblay," the pompous man spoke on the other end of the line. "I am in command of these air troops," he explained. Tremblay was talking from the main dirigible.
"I hope it's good to meet you Sir Tremblay," Hange replied, picking up a chair and swiftly sitting next to Reiner - in front of the large radio.
"That's quite a party you're having down there," Tremblay pointed out, jokingly.
"I wouldn't exactly call it a party, Sir," Hange replied in a serious tone.
"Well it's good to know our troops are welcomed to join," Tremblay expressed, more professionally.
"I assume we all want the same thing here," Hange said.
"We certainly don't want your infestation to spread out to the world," the Marlean Chief explained. "Especially to our great continent."
"Indeed," Hange concurred.
"We are dispatching most of these airships and our bombs to the location of the squadron," the man proceeded, "as they have signalled us informing where the giant beast has fallen."
"And you intend to launch all your bombs into the creature?" Hange asked.
"Not all of them," Tremblay replied.
And Reiner decided to interject. "Sir, you surely have been informed by the pilots that they have bombarded the nape of the creature and there was nothing in it," the Warrior explained. "I don't think just bombarding it again will work."
"Oh, we'll make it work," Tremblay sternly replied. "We have quite a lot of ammunition as you well know, Braun," he pointed out.
"You said not all of them," Hange noted. "Sir, are you threatening to bomb my island?" she gravely asked.
"Well, ma'am, I won't let millions of man-eating monsters loose to threaten humanity's existence," the Marlean Chief argued back. "I'm sure you understand. There's no guarantee that slaying this one giant monster will be enough," he added, "but there's one thing we've been told that will do the trick."
"What will do the trick?" Hange asked, warily.
"Braun, haven't you told your new allies the entirety of the Warriors' mission in this operation?" Tremblay asked the Warrior.
"No, sir," Reiner replied.
And Tremblay informed the Commander. "The ground mission is solely to eliminate the Fritzs, what should have been done years ago," he revealed and proceeded, "Braun has informed me that Finger has fulfilled their half of the mission."
"Yes, sir," Reiner replied. "Zeke Yeager is confirmed dead."
"So the Queen is next?" Hange concluded, baffled. "Are you threatening to kill our sovereign?" she questioned, bewildered.
"Come on, Zoe, you and I know this will be better for everyone," the army man appealed, hoping to bring her into his mindset. "That family has too much blood in their hands, it's about time we end this curse, once and for all."
"Reiner, are you in charge of that mission?" Hange turned and abruptly asked the Warrior in pure admonishment - just as a mother would. She was vexed and Reiner had no words.
"Oh, no," Tremblay countered from over the radio. "Braun, Finger and Galliard were sent to kill Zeke Yeager," he explained, nonchalantly. "I've sent our best operative to kill the Fritz queen."
"Don't you know she's with child?" Hange asked Reiner, still completely bewildered.
"Yes, we are well aware of that," Tremblay again interjected from the radio. "The order is to kill her and her little demon child - effectively ending the bloodline. Tybur is ruthless and I know he won't fail in that," the army man added in pure confidence.
"Who is Tybur?" Hange questioned Reiner once more.
"It was the soldier dispatched for that job," Reiner explained, shrugging with uncertainty. "There was an airship designated just for that. It should be arriving at the Queen's location in the early morning," he finished informing the Commander.
Hange became silent for a moment, already beginning to calculate things in her head. The Commander's eyes were focused deep into her utmost concerns.
Tremblay proceeded gravely. "Reiner, gather together the other Warriors and come to this east point to help us kill this beast," he ordered. "You have the coordinates. We are already heading to that location. And, Commander Zoe, we have no intention to bomb this island and harm any of your civilians," he promised, vaguely.
And continued. "We will help you deal with the Titan plague. But don't think of interfering with our plans, the Fritzs must be exterminated, it's about time this Titan era ends." The army man solemnly declared, in his slightly threatening and condescending tone, and he then cut off the communication.
There was pure silence in the room.
"Do they know the Queen's true location?" Hange swiftly asked Reiner, lunging closer to him as Captain Levi only grunted in the corner.
"Yes, unfortunately," Reiner replied, a little afraid of the woman. "Don't ask me how, I have no idea," he continued, "they know she's in the orphanage. And they even think it's a cheap ploy, her surrounding herself with children like that."
"Who this guy thinks he is to boss us around like that?" Levi complained with arms crossed and grunted again.
Hange was quiet, leaning over the table and tapping around with her fingers, thinking; forming the ideas in her head. She finally turned to Reiner again. "You better be ready if you want to keep that makeshift bed here," she warned him. "Because they won't take you back after this."
The Warrior only nodded, solemnly. And Hange stood up.
"Alright, let's organise this," she let out, and walked out of the room as the others followed her.
-.-
Shadis and some of the cadets were fixing up their own airship, waiting as it filled up and making sure it would be ready to fly. Louise had volunteered to help fly the big thing, and so did other young cadets that had been following the now arrested Yeagerists. The old Commandant was glad to see all his pupils working together again, just as it was in training. But he was still wary, even if they needed the help, he was still making sure to keep an eye on all of them.
And he was right to, as Louise herself had only joined with the intent to kill her old disciplinarian, in revenge for what he had done to Floch.
Commander Hange and Captain Levi were walking around the harbour, supervising the others as the teams gathered together. They were all waiting for this new airplane to arrive, and for the airship to be full, so they could go ahead with their plan. All while the hundreds of Marlean airships were still making their way into the island, slowly passing above them in that dark sky. It was past midnight, and the 31st of October had arrived.
-.-
"How would they know that?!" Mikasa asked very nervously, as Reiner explained to their team how the Marleans knew where the Queen was and that they were going to attack there.
"Maybe it was that doctor," Jean cogitated, with arms crossed. "Why would they trust a Marlean Physician is beyond me, he is probably a spy," the soldier complained.
"But isn't he Eldian?" Connie asked, sitting a little further away, closer to the still comatose Falco.
"Still, from the continent," Jean maintained. He turned to the Warriors again, still with arms crossed. "Why didn't you tell us that was your mission from the start?" he questioned, annoyed.
"Because our mission was to kill Zeke, and that has been dealt with," Pieck firmly explained, from the back of her Titan. She hadn't removed herself completely, as she didn't want to have to transform again.
And Reiner only nodded, crossing his arms.
Mikasa was still a little distracted in the middle of that discussion. She was looking towards the airship, as it was inflating into the air.
"Well, now we have to split the team," Jean pointed out to Reiner as the two of them stared each other down, both a little annoyed at one another.
Mikasa finally turned towards their conversation. "I'll go with them," she immediately decided and began to walk away. But Reiner stood in front of her, still with arms crossed.
"No-no, you're coming with me," he firmly said, and then chuckled. "You're going to slay that dragon," he declared, pointing at her crystal swords.
"My son is in there!" Mikasa hissed back at him as he blocked her way.
"Why would he be there?" Jean questioned, baffled, and they both turned towards him.
"Where else should I have taken him?" Mikasa questioned back.
"An orphanage is not a good omen," Connie pointed out, still sitting a little further away.
"You have a kid?" Reiner asked, bewildered. "When I met you, you didn't even have boobs," he added, with another small chuckle.
"Settle down, Reiner," Jean admonished.
"Weird comment, man," Connie added.
"You know what I mean," Reiner protested.
"When we met I was twelve," Mikasa clarified, stoically.
"You joined the army when you were twelve?" Pieck asked, from her Titan.
"Don't you guys join when you're in diapers?" Connie questioned the Warriors.
"It was either that or starve here," Mikasa explained to Pieck.
"Yes, good point," Connie concurred.
"Didn't you join just to show off?" Jean confronted Connie, jokingly.
"I joined to prove-" Connie stopped himself. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore," he let out, and became a little saddened.
Reiner then turned to Jean. "You joined to be in the cushy Military Police," the Warrior reminded him. "Oh, right you changed your mind to follow Yeager, how is that going for you?" he asked and laughed.
"I don't follow him," Jean complained, annoyed.
"And you joined to be a hero," Pieck reminded Reiner, from up her Titan. Braun stopped laughing and became more serious again.
"Why did you join?" Jean then asked Pieck.
"Good dental plan," she joked as Commander Hange and Captain Levi were walking over to speak to them.
"Right, Armin hasn't come back, so Reiner is in charge of this team," Hange determined.
"Reiner?" Pieck complained, jokingly.
"Yes," Reiner confirmed, and turned to Hange. "What's the procedure?" he asked.
"Meet with Armin at the crater and go to the east side," Hange explained. "You Shifters can then decide your plan of attack, and I'll make sure that this airplane arrives with the petals on time."
Reiner nodded.
"What if something happened to Armin at this weird crater you talked about?" Connie questioned. "I mean, why hasn't he come back?"
"Let's hope not," Hange replied. "The last thing I need now is to lose my Colossal Titan," she let out.
"Mikasa, we are just talking about how Armin could be in peril, in what world are you at?" Jean questioned as the Ackermann was visibly lost in thought, looking to the ground intently.
She looked up and then walked forward, about to say something to Hange but the Commander stopped her in her tracks. Mikasa was going to offer to join her team and Hange already knew it. She could see how trepidatious and concerned the young mother was.
Hange only raised her hand before Mikasa could talk. "I know what you're going to say," she let out and pointed at the Captain. "Levi is coming with me, don't worry about it."
The Commander then turned to address the team, she looked at her watch. "You can all leave, the sooner you can find Armin the better. And let's hope the kid wakes up," she added, talking about Falco, and walked back in the direction of the dirigible.
Levi walked closer to Mikasa. "I'll take care of the little brat, don't worry," he whispered. "I owe you one."
Mikasa then hugged her cousin very tightly. "Don't go dying on me," she whispered back. And Levi nodded and walked away, following Hange.
"Great. Now we lost the other Ackermann," Reiner complained as Levi walked off.
"Well, we still need to protect our Queen," Jean interjected. "We can't just let the Marleans dance around this island like clowns," the soldier complained, he then looked around the dock. "I assume we need to gather all our supplies so we can go?" Jean asked Reiner, their new team leader.
"And I assume I'll have to carry all of our supplies," Pieck let out, since Falco was still in deep sleep.
And Connie then looked to the side, checking on the small boy. "Let's hope he wakes up," the soldier said.
They then all began to organise themselves to leave.
Reiner was tightening up the ropes as they all prepared the Phoenix's makeshift saddle when Mikasa walked over to him. "Please don't make comments about my breasts again," she firmly warned.
"Noted," Reiner agreed. He then laughed but Mikasa remained serious. "I'm sorry," he apologised, still chuckling. "It just caught me by surprise." The Warrior then smiled, thinking of their training days. "You must be a good mom, you were always bossing us around anyway," he joked.
Mikasa finally smiled back at him, sweetly. "Let's slay that dragon," she complied, holding his shoulder affectionately, before they left.
-.-
It wasn't long after Reiner's team left when the remaining soldiers looked up to see that beautiful, futuristic air machine finally arriving. They were all mesmerised as it landed on the water.
Onyankopon went over towards it, extremely excited and still mesmerised. He waited as the large cargo door opened up automatically, which he didn't expect; as it finished opening he walked up into the belly of the airplane.
"An automated door, how impressive," he excitedly noted as he walked into the futuristic machine. Danso, the pilot, stayed seated for a moment - emotionally preparing himself; then he finally stood up and walked over to greet him.
"Very nice to meet you, I'm Onyank-" Onyan, stumbled on his words as the pilot removed his helmet. "Onyankopon," he then reiterated.
"I'm Agent O-7," the pilot replied, and became a little uncomfortable as Onyankopon stared at him.
"I imagine 'Agent O-7' is not your real name," young Onyan awkwardly joked.
"Of course not," Danso replied, removing his gloves and putting his helmet aside. "That would be ridiculous," he added as he shook Onyan's hand.
"I'm sorry, I know I'm staring," Onyankopon admitted.
"Yes, you are," Agent O-7 concurred.
"I've just never seen someone quite like you before," young Onyan explained. He looked up, thinking. "Actually, I haven't seen someone who looks like me in a long time," he revealed.
"Who looks like you?" Danso questioned his word choice.
"Are you from the south?" Onyan asked.
"The south of what?" Danso asked back and crossed his arms.
"Of the continent," Onyan explained. "I'm from Ninua, where are you from? I mean you're not Marlean," he concluded, wrongly.
"I am actually," Danso revealed. "And I'm even a bit Eldian as well, if you can believe it," he explained, playing with his gloves. "I'm a little bit of everything," the pilot added.
Onyankopon chuckled, awkwardly. "I'm sorry I've just never seen a black person with blue eyes before," he explained, astounded.
"What? Are you lost in my gaze?" Danso joked back at him. The pilot was relieved, this encounter was going much better than he had imagined.
"Well, I guess it makes sense since you said you're a little bit of everything," Onyan concurred. "I mean, your skin is clearly lighter than mine," he noted and they both smiled. "Where did you get all these people to mingle so much?" Onyan asked, jokingly.
"Earth?" Danso replied, also chuckling a little.
Onyankopon then put his hands on his hips, looking around the airplane, admiring it. "This is a beauty. Where did Marley get all this technology?" he questioned.
"That is classified," Agent O-7 replied.
"You're certainly very mysterious," young Onyan noted. "Your name is classified, where you're from is classified, this plane is classified…" he trailed off with his argument.
"I'm Special Ops," Danso clarified, "that's just the norm," he shrugged his shoulders. "So, I was told we are supposed to pick up a cargo, what is it?" the pilot asked.
"That is classified," Onyankopon replied with a charming smile.
-.-
The Titan Realm
Somewhere, sometime, in that cursed dimension
"How is this kid here?" Maria asked, leaning down and poking the young Shifter's chest. The former Jaw Titans were huddled together around Falco, all confused with his sudden appearance in that realm.
"Are you dead?" Marcel asked.
"No, I'm not," the boy promptly replied, and looked around at that sea of people, extremely confused.
They were all incarcerated into those thin light cords, it bounded their wrists and it seemed attached deep into the sand somehow.
"Who did you pass the Titan to?" Porco asked, slightly annoyed but also very curious.
"I'm not dead," Falco said again.
"I bet it's gonna be born into some random kid," Porco added, bumping his brother shoulder to shoulder and Marcel nodded in confirmation.
The twelve year old became a little annoyed. "I'm telling you I'm alive, I just ended up here somehow," Falco tried to explain, looking around that strange dimension.
The former Jaw Titans were silent for a moment.
"Are you sure you're not dead?" Marcel asked again, really confused.
"He probably doesn't know, he couldn't just be here otherwise," Maria pointed out. "Well, not physically here," she added.
"Maybe he is not physically here," Porco supposed.
And Maria bent over to poke Falco again. "I'm not dead!" the boy exclaimed, a little more annoyed. He reached towards her, trying to grab her arm before she could poke him and inadvertently pulled the thin light cord instead - breaking it immediately.
All the former Jaws Titans were completely stunned.
Maria looked down as that magical thin root just faded away from her arms - freeing her completely.
"How did you do that?" Marcel asked.
"Maybe it's because he's a kid, pure heart and all?" Porco cogitated.
Falco tilted his head, he walked forward and also easily broke off Marcel's and Porco's cords as well, also freeing them. The boy smiled. "Only the Jaw can break the crystal," he reminded his predecessors.
They all observed the cords' dust flying through the air and quickly disappearing. It was indeed Titan Crystal.
"You are correct," the apparition pointed out. "Quite clever," she added.
"What are you?" Falco asked as he turned, completely startled. "You look like a fairy," he pointed out in amazement at that creature made purely of stardust.
"Fairy?" Maria asked, and the brothers also looked confused.
"Who are you talking to?" Porco questioned.
"Consider me your fairy then, young Grice, you've done very well so far," Sonnenblume praised the young boy.
"Why can't they see you?" Falco asked.
"Because they are no longer alive," the apparition explained. "They can't see me now, but they will once they come back into the real world."
"You can bring them back?" Falco asked her more excitedly.
"It's probably Ymir messing with his mind," Maria commented with the brothers, very mistrustfully.
And Falco turned towards them. "She said she can see you and hear you, and that no, she is not Ymir. And that you need to trust her," the boy relayed.
The boy stopped again, paying attention and turned once more. "And she said she is not the one that can bring you back, but the creature," he relayed.
"Creature?" Porco asked.
"The otherworldly creature who gave us our powers," Falco relayed. "She said it is pure evil and it will use the fallen Titans again. Only the ones it wants, to do its bidding. The ones as evil as the creature itself."
"Who is this creature?" Marcel questioned.
"The Devil," the young boy explained.
Falco then turned again to hear more instructions. "I brought you here to free the Titans who could fight the creature. Go ahead and choose the right ones," Sonnenblume told the boy. And then proceeded with more detail.
"Falco?" Porco asked as he was still very attentive into getting those instructions.
The boy turned to them again. "She told me to choose who to free. Once the creature decides to bring the Titans back, it will only choose to bring the ones it trusts to protect it. The others will stay here, trapped as they already are," Falco carefully explained, talking about those thin light cords.
"That's why this fairy brought me here, so I can free those who want to kill the Devil and will fight strongly against it, to protect the island and the world," the young boy declared.
"So are you saying we can come back to the real world?" Marcel asked, baffled.
"Only as Titans," Falco clarified. "To fight."
"And what will happen to us after that?" Porco questioned as Maria seemed perplexed and stunned besides him.
Falco turned his head again, waiting as the apparition replied, and he then turned to relay to them. "You will be free," the boy said.
That got the attention of the other Titan Shifters all around them even more; most that were in close range had already been listening quite intently into this whole conversation.
Maria, Porco and Marcel could then finally see that apparition, she was truly made of pure stardust.
"So you better say goodbye to this cursed dimension, you won't be seeing it again," Sonnenblume added, with a nice smile.
"We-we can see you?" Porco exclaimed, confused.
"Welcome back to the real world, enjoy the fight," the apparition said. "You won't have very long on this Earth."
Sonnenblume then continued, hovering closer to them. "Your Titan bodies are still forming again, underneath the Earth. You are technically alive now, but you still have some time here," she pointed forward. "So go ahead, pick and choose," she gestured to all the other Shifters near them, and the former Jaw Titans looked back at all those people, trapped.
The apparition then disappeared, leaving them all stunned.
The Original Coordinator was crouching, not far from them. He had heard it all, Torin began to contort himself, standing up with some difficulty. "What's this about us being freed?" he asked, intrigued.
"Real world again? Sounds fun, doesn't it?" his twin sister added. Elke smiled at all her brothers, all the Original Titans were incredibly intrigued.
"I've been waiting for a real fight for ages," Torr gravely noted, extremely excited.
"No-no," Maria firmly told Falco. "Those will be the Devil's first pick, believe me," she swiftly explained to the young boy.
"Don't you think we can fight a real monster to show our worth?" Torr questioned, indignant.
"We have a sea of people far better than you here," Maria replied, ushering Falco the other way.
-.-
Maria Region - Somewhere deep underneath the odd crater
ϟ "Who are you?" ϟ the Colossal Titan questioned, warily. The giant creature stood up, staring intently at the stranger up in that tree.
"You know, mum recognised me right away," Azzy noted as he stood up again and crossed his arms. "Both times," he added, quickly tilting his head, realising it.
He then jumped out of that giant tree branch and reappeared on top of a large crystal structure, closer to the Colossal Titan, and his father smiled. He could recognise that signature blue energy anywhere.
Armin slightly removed himself from the Titan and appeared on the nape. "How are the 880s?" he cheerfully asked. "Or the 870s? I can't really tell your age," the father noted, squinting a little.
Azzy then jumped closer to him, he reappeared on the Colossal Titan's shoulder.
"I knew you would be able to do that eventually," Armin continued very cheerfully. "How does it feel?" he asked.
"How does what feel?" Azzy asked back, sitting on the Titan's shoulder.
"Travelling through time," Armin reiterated.
"Huh," Azzy let out. "I never thought about it like that before."
"It's so odd to see you like that," his father noted.
"Thank you," Azzy replied jokingly, with his signature charming smile.
"And to think the image I actually have of you in my mind is so different," Armin continued. "You were- you are very little," he sweetly said, smiling.
"I know, I know, I was very cute," Azzy interjected, still maintaining his charm.
"I mean just a couple of months ago you were pooping all over me," the father continued, "and you still do it," he added.
"Thank you for that image," his son replied, ironically.
Armin tilted his head. "What was it like travelling back here?" he asked, curiously. "Wait, and why are you here?"
"You know I can't really answer your questions," Azzy pointed out, crossing his arms.
"And you also should know I have a million questions," his father informed.
"Yes I expected that," Azzy replied.
"So why did you come?" Armin asked.
"Here? Well I saw you coming inside this odd thing," Azzy replied while looking around the cave. "I could see the ground glowing from the sky, that immense crater, when I was up there on my way-" he stopped himself as he was pointing upwards. "I mean I was in an airship, I can't fly," he loosely explained.
"An airship? See? You're already answering my questions," Armin cleverly noted. "Now why would you be in an airship?" he questioned, thinking.
"Ok, I'm gonna stop you right there," Azzy interjected, raising his hands. "Don't- don't try to figure this out," he warned and his father smiled. Azzy continued. "So I saw you coming into this weird place and I just thought I should come after you," he explained, "this whole thing is… is new…" he trailed off.
"See? Again you are telling me things," Armin pointed out. "So you are saying in your version of reality this didn't happen?" he questioned.
"This- this place. I didn't specify the situation, I didn't say this whole situation didn't happen before," Azzy clumsily tried to argue back. "And I'm not sure. I've never heard of this appearing here, it certainly doesn't belong on Earth," he firmly said while looking around the area.
"So you followed me here, were you following me the whole time?" his father questioned.
"Well with your size it's very difficult for me to keep up," Azzy let out in slight complaint. "Even with how slow your Titan walks; and I'm trying to save up my jumps," he explained.
"Why would you be trying to 'save up' your jumps?" Armin questioned.
"Well, for once, they drain me," Azzy began to explain, charmingly. "I don't want to be low on energy, it doesn't feel very good…"
"Yes, I expected that would be the case," Armin cleverly noted. He tilted his head. "And the way you're talking makes me think you used up a lot of energy so far; and are planning to use even more in the recent future," he theorised.
"Ok, just stop doing that," Azzy warned. "You can't just try to figure me out."
"Oh, I just want to know what you are doing here," Armin continued. "You must have imagined that it would immediately intrigue me and yet you still came to see me, why?"
"I just don't like this," Azzy maintained, about that strange place. "We should get out of here."
"Have you ever seen anything like it before? You said you think it doesn't belong on Earth, have you travelled places outside of Earth before? I've wondered if you could," his father questioned.
"Maybe," Azzy replied, scratching the back of his head.
"Maybe? When?" Armin asked.
"When I was a kid," Azzy tried to explain, vaguely.
"How old?" Armin persisted.
"It was after this, I was much older than two," Azzy continued, still vaguely.
"But you don't want to tell me the year? Or don't you remember it?" Armin continued questioning.
"The important thing is that I accidentally ended up in this weird dimension and it looked just like this," Azzy explained. "Well it looked much prettier, this just looks creepy," he added, looking up and around.
"How did you end up there? And how did you get out?" Armin continued to shower him with questions.
"I just jumped there, then jumped out," Azzy replied, shrugging.
"Just like that?" Armin asked and was met with silence. "You don't want to tell me, do you?" the father concluded.
Azzy came closer, and began to explain. "The oddest thing about it was this eerie feeling that there's someone watching you. I can almost feel it here too, can you feel it?" he asked his father, concerned.
Armin looked around that strange cave. "Well, there are a lot of odd overgrown creatures all around here," he pointed out.
"No, it's different, these are just animals. I can sense a conscious being," Azzy insisted and looked up, "lurking around," he added.
Armin tilted his head slightly. "Maybe being on this different dimension when you were so young just did a number on you," the father cogitated. "You seem traumatised."
"Oh, I'm not denying that," Azzy firmly agreed. "We should just leave," he insisted.
But Armin was distracted, curious to find out more. He only wished he had his notes with him, the father had been curiously researching his son's odd abilities since the day he'd been born. Armin turned to him again. "What about Paths?" he asked. "How does it feel being in there? That's certainly a crucial dimension for you."
"Crucial? How do you even know I've been there?" Azzy questioned.
"Because it was the first place you ever jumped to," the father informed. "Not long ago, when you first started. Not long for me, that is, it first happened when you were less than one. Almost two years ago."
Azzy scratched his head. "I don't really remember going there when I was little, I don't really remember any of my early jumps at all. How do you even know that's where I went?" he questioned.
"Because I can see it, I can track you, wherever you go," Armin explained. "Like a little bright blue light in my head," he added with a smile, briefly closing his eyes. "Every time you jump anywhere you first stop there," he revealed.
"Well, I'm not sure if I still do that," Azzy expressed with genuine uncertainty. 'And I certainly can't stay there for very long,' he thought, looking to the side.
He then looked at his father again. "Can you really see wherever I go?" Azzy asked.
"Well, yes, if I focus on you specifically," Armin explained.
Azzy raised his eyebrows. "So you can tell where everyone is?" he questioned.
"Not everyone, just Shifters, and the Ackermanns, and any royals, even some of only noble blood. I can see them through paths, they all light up in different colours in my mind," Armin revealed.
"That's interesting, can you tell where all the Shifters are? Right now?" his son questioned, intrigued.
And Armin closed his eyes, concentrating. "At the moment they are all on this island. I can also tell where your mother is, and your uncle Levi," Armin relayed.
"You can tell where mum is at all times?" Azzy asked, jokingly.
"Only when I concentrate," Armin explained, with a small smile.
Azzy became a little reflective. "Huh…" he let out. "Do you think my powers developed from that? From you?" he cogitated.
"Definitely not." Armin replied with certainty. "But there could be a correlation," he conceded. The father tried to draw a conclusion. "Considering your connection to the Titan Realm, it makes sense that you use it for your jumps. I can't believe you never noticed it before."
Azzy crossed his arms. "Just because I did that as a kid, doesn't mean I still do it," he countered.
Armin just tilted his head again. "Go ahead, jump," he proposed to his son.
Azzy then jumped from one side of the Colossal Titan's back into the other. Armin moved his face to the right, knowing exactly where he was going to appear.
"You just did it," the father noted, cleverly, once his son reappeared. "I was right," he chuckled. "You use that dimension as a mode of transport," Armin finally concluded, quite proud of his discovery. "I can't believe you don't even notice it," he added.
"Maybe it has become just second nature to me," Azzy joked, scratching the back of his head, a little embarrassed. The time traveller was surprised to finally realise this deep connection to that cursed dimension.
He then looked down at his hand, thinking about how his body quickly started to dissolve every single time he spent too long in that cursed dimension. 'That might be the only place that can kill me,' Azzy cogitated.
"I wonder what else has become second nature to you," the father lightly questioned, observing his boy.
"Oh, you don't want to know," the Original Ackermann swiftly replied, with a small grin.
"I hope you have used these powers wisely," Armin sternly told him.
"Ah, Dad, I'm not you. I never had my Mikasa," Azzy joked and his father tilted his head in light confusion.
"Sometimes I wonder how you'd have turned out if it wasn't for her," the son continued, coming a little closer to his father. "I just have an enabler," he added, venting a little.
"Enabler?" his father asked, worriedly.
Azzy sighed, sitting closer to his father. "I should have seen it for what it was, a long time ago. But I was just very young. And quite frankly, just stupid," he confessed. "And that cost me a lot."
'It's costing the whole world a lot,' the time traveller thought.
"Are you saying you never fell in love?" his father asked more softly.
Azzy awkwardly chuckled. "That's a much more complicated question," he replied. "The short answer would be: yes."
The man continued, a little broken. "But my love was not as breezy, as simple or as sweet as yours," he leaned back for a moment. "I wish I had what you and mum have. I really needed someone like that, someone to stop me when I'm going too far," Azzy confessed. "But there you have it, to each one their own," he let out.
"When have you gone too far?" his father swiftly questioned.
"Multiple times," the man chuckled.
That made Armin even more intrigued, suspicious and even slightly upset. "What are you doing here?" he questioned more firmly, with his suspicious but clever eyes.
"Rescuing you," Azzy replied, simply.
"You know that wasn't my question," the father told him firmly.
Armin was again met with strong silence, his son wouldn't budge.
The father looked down, thinking. He was beginning to cogitate if he and his son were not on the same side in this war.
Azzy stood up. "Alright, let's carry you out of here," he said.
He then approached and held his father's shoulder.
"Wait, can you carry me with the whole thing?" the Titan Shifter abruptly asked.
Azzy then looked down to all that flesh.
"The whole Titan?!" he exclaimed. "Certainly not. I've carried big objects with me before, but this is way too much," he explained, scratching his head.
Armin looked down and sighed. "That's fine then. I can't afford to disconnect, I don't know if I would be able to transform again and I'm not taking this risk," the father explained, to his own dismay. "You go ahead," Armin looked up, "I think I can make my way back on my own."
"Are you sure?" Azzy asked.
And his father nodded. "It's a shame though," he commented, raising his eyebrows. "I haven't been on such a trip with you, yet." Armin told him with a smile.
"Then let's make sure to remind my younger self to take you on a trip someday," Azzy replied, smiling as well.
"I would love to know the experience," the father added, extremely curious.
"Something tells me you wouldn't throw up like most people," Azzy commented. He then stopped to pay more attention to his father's appearance.
Armin was quite emaciated and even deformed. Something that was difficult to notice under all those Titan fibres, but quite visible now that he was standing so close to him.
"How long have you been in this Titan?" Azzy asked, concerned.
"Since this morning, so the whole day," his father replied.
Azzy shook his head. "This can't be good," he let out.
"Actually, I was even injured," Armin began to remember. He looked down to his torso, the Titan fibres made it impossible to see his chest. "I'm not sure if I have regenerated yet, I haven't really been focusing on that."
"Dad!" Azzy admonished him, concerned.
"That's fine," Armin shrugged off, unwisely. "The longest I've spent in the Titan were two whole weeks," he justified.
"Two weeks?" Azzy asked, raising his eyebrows.
"It was an experiment," Armin commented, shaking his head and chuckling. "And it wasn't good, it ended quite badly. It almost ended me! And your mother-" the father stopped himself.
"Why am I telling you this?" he questioned himself, then proceeded. "Let's just say you were born not long after that," he revealed, with a small laugh.
His son squinted a little. "Were you going to say she was happy to see you?" Azzy questioned, crossing his arms.
"Well, I almost died," Armin let out, raising his eyebrows, jokingly.
"Urgh, Dad!" Azzy complained, disgusted, sounding like a teenager.
"Ah, come on, you're an adult," the father noted in light admonishment. "I bet you already have kids of your own," Armin let out. "Do you have kids of your own?" he then asked.
His son became a little staggered, his facial expression slowly changed and he looked away. "You know I can't talk about that," Azzy told him, very quietly.
"Well, I wish I could have met them," Armin expressed and that made his son a little teary.
Armin sighed, he looked for his son's eyes. "Was I good to you when you were growing up?" he gently asked. "Right, you can't talk about that either," Armin rapidly concluded.
"We have many good memories together," Azzy told him, with a teary smile.
Armin smiled back at him. "I suppose I died when you were eleven," the father said, quite brokenly. "You know, it always makes me upset to think I would never see you grown up, so this is actually very nice," he expressed, happily.
Azzy smiled back more hopefully, he then looked up. "Can you really make your way up on your own?" he asked.
"I believe so-" Armin began to reply, but stopped suddenly. The Titan Shifter became motionless and his eyes turned completely white, which scared his son a great deal.
"Dad?" Azzy asked. "Dad?" he asked again, full of concern. But the man remained unresponsive. Armin was in a trance.
Azzy reached down to shake him awake but as soon as he touched his father's shoulders he received quite a strong shock.
"What's wrong with you?" Azzy asked, starting to feel a little desperate, and very confused.
-.-
The Reiss Lands
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," Hitch cheerfully told Yeager, with a hint of mockery.
Eren slowly opened his eyes. He had been completely unconscious for quite a few hours and it took a while for his mind to adjust. He raised himself up to see Annie staring at him through the high flames of their makeshift bonfire and Hitch leaning in much closer to where he was. Eren held his head as he sat upright, confused.
The sun hadn't risen yet, it was only four-thirty in the morning. But the moon was shining very bright up in the sky.
"It's impressive how you can regenerate so rapidly with only the moonlight," Annie observed. Eren had almost completely recovered from the emaciated state they had found him in.
That deplorable state had actually frightened her. So, in a sense, Annie was glad to see him recover. But she was still very unsure about him, and very wary of what had brought them together.
Yeager was still very lost, he was trying to remember what had happened, and trying to situate himself.
"What's that in your hand?" Annie asked, intrigued, as Eren put his hand down from his head. She had never seen anything like it. "What a strange scar," Hitch added as Eren held up his hand.
"A promise," Eren replied, bringing up his hand closer to him and analysing that crystal scar, passing his other hand over it.
Hitch stood up. "Well it's good that you're awake, we should get moving," she noted. "Those things will wake up soon."
"Eren can control them," Annie replied unconcerned, talking about the Wall Titans.
"I can't," Eren countered.
And Annie raised her eyebrows. "I thought you were the Coordinator," she noted. "And the Attack Titan," Annie added.
"How would you know that?" Eren questioned, mistrustfully.
"We had a bet, the boys and I. They thought you were either one or the other but I could tell you were both," Annie explained. "Have I won that bet?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Well, in a sense, yes. You were right," Eren replied. "But I don't have royal blood. And even if I did, I kinda lost those powers, the Coordinator powers I mean. So I couldn't control them even if I wanted to," he clumsily explained while scratching his neck.
"Wonderful," Annie let out, ironically. She began to stand up.
"So is that why those big things are walking around aimlessly like- like… ?" Hitch was searching for a word to finish her question as she helped a weak Eren to stand up.
"Like Pure Titans?" Annie helped her. "They are Pure Titans, Hitch. That's how they walk, they have no mind," the Shifter explained.
"They have minds," Eren interjected, already up on his feet. "They're just dormant. Talking about dormant, I'm glad you finally came out to play," he joked. "Welcome back to the real world."
"I assume you still had those powers when you dragged me out," Annie let out in complaint as she and Hitch extinguished their bonfire.
"What are you talking about? I didn't release you, I wouldn't even know how," Eren replied, confused.
"Then who did?" Annie asked, walking closer to him.
"Or what did," Eren suggested. It made him think about the otherworldly creature that had just entered their realm.
The three of them began to walk, preparing themselves to cross through the ancient Reiss lands and all its ruins.
"Aren't you gonna ask what brought us to you?" Hitch asked Eren as he walked further ahead while she and Annie walked slower behind.
Eren turned nonchalantly. "What did?" he asked and kept walking.
"Certainly noth-" Annie was about to say when Hitch interrupted with some excitement. "A ghost!" the MP said.
And Eren turned with a smile as they all kept walking.
"Do you know who the dead child is?" Annie questioned, slightly freaked out.
"I do," Eren turned with the reply. "It's someone from my future," he said. 'And from everyone's past,' he thought.
"Who?" Hitch asked, also finding it all very freakish.
"One of my granddaughters," Eren replied, smiling. And kept walking.
Hitch just turned towards Annie, looking extremely confused.
"He's the Attack Titan, they are all weird like that," Annie explained, slightly annoyed.
-.-
Paradise Harbour
Agent O-7 had just given young Onyankopon a very quick but quite comprehensive tutorial about this new air machine, before they could set off on their mission.
Of course, this was quite a bewildering situation for the pilot, as Onyankopon was the man who had taught him how to fly in the first place. But he kept his cool, Danso was a very stoic man, even in such a bizarre situation.
"This is pretty much it, think you can do it?" he asked.
Onyan scratched his head, "I think so, it's certainly not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. And not that different from the airships, actually, very similar to what the air machine was going to be," he pointed out. "And much less complicated."
"Technology evolves to make things easier," Danso cleverly noted. But this pilot from the future immediately regretted choosing the word 'evolves'. Fortunately Onyankopon didn't really catch on to that.
"And it seems Marley secretly had the most advanced technology there is," Onyan noted, looking around the fancy airplane. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Right," Danso awkwardly agreed and let out a small smile. He held Onyan's shoulder. "It's nice to have a copilot," he expressed, and then suggested. "I might even let you take off, but not land, landing is harder."
Onyan smiled, he then passed his hands through the modern control panel, quite impressed.
"Would you genuinely trust me with that?" he asked.
"I'm sure you're ready," Danso replied, clasping his new friend's shoulder. The pilot even let a little more emotion show, he couldn't help it, this encounter was heavier than he'd expected.
It was indeed fairly easy to fly that futuristic jet, as an unwelcome passenger was also discovering. The two men were so focused in that sweet bonding moment, that they hadn't even noticed how a stowaway had entered the craft and had also learned all of those commands. Danso and Onyankopon were setting up to take off, and they weren't about to fly alone.
"So," young Onyan put his hands on his hips, quite excited and relaxed. "How long until we get to Mitras?" he asked his new pilot friend.
Danso smiled. "Oh, less than an hour," he swiftly explained.
"Really?" Onyankopon asked in pure confusion.
And Danso let out a small chuckle. "This is a supersonic jet," he clarified.
But that didn't help. "I don't know what that means," Onyan replied, sincerely, he also laughed.
"It means it goes very fast," Danso explained, excitedly.
Commander Hange and Captain Levi entered the aircraft, which startled the stowaway, who swiftly hid inside the small engine room beneath the cockpit.
"This is Commander Hange Zoe," Onyan began to present them. "And-" he was then interrupted by Danso.
"Captain Levi," the pilot soon noted, stopping them all on their tracks.
"It's an honour to meet you, sir," the pilot added, shaking the wary Ackermann's hand.
"How do you know who Levi is?" Onyankopon asked him.
"Oh, well, he's quite a legend, isn't he?" Danso swiftly justified. And Levi only raised his eyebrows, with his arms already crossed. He was, of course, secretly glad to know he was still feared, even that far from the island.
"Even in Marley?" Hange asked with a small chuckle.
"Commander," Danso nodded and shook her hand.
"This is Special Operations' agent: O-7," Onyankopon then formally presented the pilot.
Hange smiled as she shook his hand. "It's always nice to meet more citizens from Ninua," she told him, quite diplomatically.
"Oh, I'm not from the same place as him," the agent explained with a smile, pointing at Onyankopon. "I was actually born in Marley," he explained.
"See? I'm glad you're finally sharing a little more," Onyankopon noted. "He's been quite mysterious so far," he told the others with some charm.
Hange was a little lost, looking around that futuristic air machine. "This is all so fascinating, I can't believe the Marlean army is so far ahead!" she exclaimed with some excitement.
"It's private investment, of course," Danso disclosed. "Not really connected with the Marlean army."
"That's even better," Hange told him with a wide smile. "Well, O-Seven. If you care to stick around a little longer after this battle is over, you are more than welcomed to," the Commander made the invitation.
"We Paradisians would love to learn more about all this technology," she explained with much excitement, shaking his hand again.
Danso looked down, quite taken. He looked up again. "I won't be sticking around, but thank you for the invite," he politely declined and went over to his pilot seat.
"Right," Hange let out. "You have the schematics?" she asked young Onyankopon.
And he nodded, showing it to her.
"Good," Hange noted. She then removed her Commander's pendant, and turned it to reveal a small and very delicate key hidden on the other side, which surprised even Levi.
She held the key up. "Don't lose this, you will need it once you get there," she advised, gently giving it to Onyan.
"Are you all set?" she asked and both Onyan and the pilot nodded.
"Good luck," Captain Levi told them and turned to leave.
Commander Hange also turned to leave, but rapidly turned to them once again.
"Onyankopon, once you do have the petals, don't try to be a hero," she gravely warned, then looked to the side, showing him with her eyes the parachutes - making her advice clearly understood to both young Onyankopon and the pilot.
"Good luck, boys," she also wished, and left the plane.
"Are you ready to take off?" Danso asked, very cheerfully.
"From the sea?" young Onyan asked.
Danso chuckled, "that's the longest airstrip you'll ever get. You gotta fly at some point," he pointed out with much humour.
"Let's hope the winds are good," Onyankopon replied.
The brand-new copilot completed the takeoff successfully and was very excited about it. "See? I told you you could do it!" Danso cheered him.
They both continued the procedures in their control panel.
"Can I be rewarded with a fact?" young Onyan gently asked the pilot, as they cruised over the harbour.
"A fact?" Danso asked back.
"I'm determined to know a lot more about you before this mission ends," Onyan promised.
Danso chuckled, incredulously. "How determined are you?" he challenged.
"Very. I'm not a big fan of mysterious people," Onyan explained, more seriously now. "I like things straightforward, not deceptive." He then smiled again. "I bet I can get your name by the end of it," he proposed.
"I'm not giving you any personal information, sir," Agent O-7 replied sternly.
The pilot was beginning to regret being so playful with this young version of Onyankopon, he wished he could have prevented this. But it was clear he couldn't avoid their bond.
"Alright, not so personal, okay," Onyan conceded, still excited and cheerful. "Alright, okay, how about your eyes?" he asked.
"My eyes?" Danso asked back.
"I can't stop staring at them." Onyan commented and chuckled.
"Are you in love with my eyes?" The pilot promptly asked, jokingly, Danso couldn't avoid laughing with his bewilderment.
"They're certainly very prominent and you can't deny it," Onyan argued. He was quite mesmerised by those blue eyes, and very curious. "Where did you get them from?" he asked.
But he was met with silence. "Come on, that's not that personal, is it?" Onyan insisted.
Danso reflected on it and decided to reveal. "From my late mother," he told young Onyan with a small smile.
"Was she pretty?" Onyankopon promptly asked back, jokingly.
"I'm not answering that," Danso promptly replied, and they both laughed.
-.-
Far away, the Phoenix Titan was also cruising across the sky. Full of heavy supplies and carrying two humans, two Titan Shifters and one Ackermann, the creature was clearly tired. But that wasn't the reason it began to slow down and slowly descend.
"I can't see this crater anywhere," Mikasa noted, looking down, since they all expect this to be the explanation of why they were descending.
"Reiner? Reiner?" Connie called the Warrior. "What's wrong with him?" Jean questioned.
Reiner's eyes had suddenly turned completely white, and he was completely motionless, like in a trance.
The Phoenix slowly reached the ground and landed safely. And the Titan then stayed motionless as well, almost as if it had fallen asleep.
Connie thought about it as the other two just looked around confused. He swiftly leaned in closer to Falco and opened his eyelids - something he now regretted not having done from the start. And yes, Springer confirmed his suspicions: the boy's eyes were also completely white.
Falco had been in that trance all this time, and now so were Reiner and Pieck.
"What do we do now?" Jean questioned.
.
The Titan Realm
Somewhere, sometime, in that cursed dimension
The Titan Shifters all opened their eyes in that dimension, they had been summoned there.
"Annie?" Reiner asked in pure surprise. And they both immediately looked to the side to see Marcel standing there, still a teenager, just as he was. The three of them hugged each other very tight. Pieck walked over and messed around Porco's hair, and they both smiled at each other, sweetly. He brought her close and kissed her on the side of the head.
All of them were greeting each other very joyfully, Annie and Marcel were amazed to see Falco so big, especially Marcel. The other Warriors brought the twelve-year-old closer to their huddle, all playing and laughing quite happily.
"It's so odd seeing him older than you," Reiner noted to Marcel with a small chuckle, talking about Porco.
"Well, I've lasted longer," Porco joked.
"You are all older than me now, Reiner, technically," Marcel pointed out, smiling and Reiner scratched his head. "True," he conceded.
Annie couldn't help but stare at Marcel, she was completely lost in her old friend's eyes.
"Well isn't all of this lovely?" Eren ironically questioned, crossing his arms, a little further away.
"Did you call us here?" Armin asked, by his side.
"No," Eren replied. "Did you?" he asked.
"The kid did," Maria interjected, next to them. She nodded, showing them Falco.
"Huh," Armin let out, thinking. He turned to see all the Titan Shifters from all the ages in the distance, and immediately became very intrigued.
"We decided to huddle a little further away from them, just so we could all talk," Maria explained.
"It's nice to see you," Eren sincerely told Maria. "I'm sorry we couldn't save you," he apologised quietly.
"It's okay, I ran off myself," Maria replied, to ease his mind.
"And I still don't understand why," Eren complained, admonishing her.
"I didn't want them to get in trouble," she explained, turning to the Warriors.
"Yes, but why would you want to help them?" Eren loudly questioned her while pointing at the group.
"Settle down, Yeager," Reiner also loudly - and sternly, advised. Braun crossed his arms.
"Eren, when are you going to understand that we are all in the same boat?" Maria questioned him.
"Indeed," Annie concurred.
"Where are you now?" Reiner turned to ask Leonhart, curiously.
"With him," she replied in complaint, nodding forward, showing him Eren.
"In the dungeon?" Armin swiftly asked.
"Dungeon?" Reiner questioned.
"Well, he was climbing out of the dirt when I found him," Annie told the others with arms crossed.
Armin turned to Eren. "You climbed all the way out?" he asked, baffled. "You could have died!" he admonished with deep concern.
"Do you care?" Eren challenged his best friend. "You left me there to rot."
"I am kilometres away!" Armin argued back. "I was going to rescue you as soon as I could."
"Would you?" Eren questioned.
"Why are you with Eren?" Reiner quietly questioned Annie.
"That's a good question," she noted. "And a better one is: why are we all here?" Leonhart asked.
"Yes, I'm assuming we were all summoned to discuss how we are going to take this Titan creature down," Pieck supposed and the former Jaw Titans nodded.
"Sure, let's discuss our plan right where our enemy can hear it," Reiner complained, still with crossed arms.
"Considering we know who our enemy is," Eren let out, staring Reiner and the others down.
"We know who our enemy is, Eren," Armin sternly affirmed, by his side.
"Ymir won't know you're here. She won't hear you," the apparition suddenly told them. "Don't worry, I'll make sure of it," she affirmed.
They were all startled.
"What is that?" Pieck questioned with strong concern, pointing at the strange figure.
"That's Falco's little fairy," Porco joked by her side.
"Who are you?" Armin curiously asked, completely mesmerised.
"Oh, no one important," Sunny replied with a small smile.
"Are you one of the previous Titans?" Reiner also asked, also curious. But Sunny ignored him.
"The Queen is giving birth right at this moment and she is in grave danger," the apparition told the Titans.
And Eren immediately interrupted her. "Danger?! Why?!" he questioned with extreme concern.
Sunny turned to him. "Because there's going to be an attack where she is," she explained.
"There are airships going there," Pieck informed. "Yes, to bombard the area," Reiner added.
"What?!" Eren exclaimed in anger. "I knew it!" he shouted and turned to Armin in pure anger. "I told you! And you want to trust them?!" he challenged.
"Eren, settle," Maria complained, next to him. "Just let the star creature speak," she advised.
"She is giving birth to the next Founding Titan," the apparition informed. "The baby is being born today and must be protected."
"Oh, so that's how you lost it," Annie noted, coldly mocking Eren.
Armin thought about it. "Wait, I thought you said they are twins," he pointed out to Eren, by his side.
"Yes, it's the girl," the father softly told Armin and looked down, proudly thinking about his precious Ymir.
And Sunny tilted her head, she corrected him. "No, the boy," the apparition said and Eren looked up in surprise.
The apparition continued to explain. "The girl is being born first and the boy will be born last. He is being born as the Founding Titan holder and he has Fritz blood," she reminded the Titan group. "And as soon as he is born, Ymir will sense his power. All she needs is to reach him to gain control over all the Titans," she warned.
Eren couldn't help but let out a small smile. He couldn't wait for all his Wall Titans to destroy the whole world, he was extremely proud of Ymir.
Sunny stared sternly at him and at that small grin on his face, she reiterated. "And when I say all Titans, I mean all Titans. Including you." She revealed.
"How could she control us? We are not Pure Titans," Pieck hastily asked, challenging this fairyland creature.
"Because all of your powers come from her," Sunny explained, she continued. "And all of her powers come from the Devil itself, and that thing has been playing with all of you from the start. It has been playing with all of us," she sternly affirmed. "The first thing that will happen will be the destruction of this very island and the rest of the world is next."
Sunny then hovered closer to Eren, continuing her warning while staring him down sternly. "So let me make this very clear: Ymir can not reach that child. And she must die."
She looked around at all the Shifters. "Now it's your time to play," she proposed. "Your move."
The apparition then disappeared into millions of stars.
"She's feisty," Reiner commented with a small chuckle. He then turned to address Maria. "Ok, so first things first: we need a new name for you."
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"It's kinda complicated calling you 'Ymir' when our enemy and target is also Ymir," Porco explained, walking closer to her.
"We could come up with a nickname for her," young Falco suggested.
"My name is Maria," she revealed.
"Oh, hey! You figured it out!" Porco exclaimed happily and put his arms around her shoulders, hugging her. "I'm proud of you," he sincerely told her. "She was having trouble remembering the name her parents gave her. Before, you know, she ended up in a bunch of orphanages," he explained to the others.
"No need to expose my sad story," Maria complained, jokingly.
"Sorry, Maria," he replied, bumping her shoulder affectionately. "And sorry I couldn't really help you there. How did you figure it out, Maria?" he questioned, joking but curious.
"Maria… I like it," Marcel added. "Why haven't you told us before?" he also questioned.
"It wasn't crucial before," she firmly explained and turned to the others. "No confusions needed here. My name is Maria," she declared.
"Unless of course we might confuse you with the giant wall," Reiner joked.
"That wall doesn't exist anymore," Pieck reminded him and the others.
Armin was lost in his own concentration, puzzled, still thinking about that apparition. It had warmed his heart somehow.
"Don't you think she sounded just like Mikasa?" he quietly asked Eren.
"Ergh," Eren let out.
"And she looked like…" Armin trailed off, still mesmerised and staggered.
"Armin, you're just delirious," Eren noted, clasping his shoulder. "Drained. We both completely spent all of our energy in the past few hours," he reminded him.
"But-" Arlert was about to argue when Pieck interrupted him. "How could you tell what a bunch of little stars looks like?" she challenged.
"Well, it was clearly a person," Marcel defended him. "I think," he added in uncertainty.
"It could be a collective illusion, we are all in Paths," Pieck pointed out and Eren looked down, conflicted.
He then took Maria to the side. "You know who Ymir is, don't you?" he questioned, whispering.
"Yes," she whispered back. "And I can see how difficult this must be for you, but she's evil and you just need to accept that. I know I have," she quietly admonished her close friend.
Maria had been his own personal conscience for most of Eren's adolescent years. And he did miss talking to her. But just as he would do all those years ago, he just quickly dismissed her warning.
"She's here in flesh and blood, right?" Eren asked back, trying to reach to a conclusion.
"Of course, she's dead." Maria replied coldly, speaking loudly again. She continued. "But she returned to the real world and so will we apparently."
Eren looked to that crowd in the distance. "All those people out there, they're all past Shifters…" he trailed off.
"Yes…" Maria confirmed.
"But what about the other dead? The eldians? The regular people I mean," he questioned.
"Eren, what exactly are you asking?" Maria questioned back.
"Well, aren't they here?" Eren asked.
Armin looked at him with concern, he could tell his friend was upset. "Eren, this isn't a form of afterlife, this is a cursed dimension," he softly explained.
"Exactly, there are only Shifters here," Marcel also clarified.
"It does feel like a very cursed afterlife if you ask me," Porco joked, by his side.
"So there aren't any regular people here, right?" Eren then quietly asked Maria again, sounding like a small, lost child.
Maria sighed. She looked around, to all those stars and to that strange purple energy above them. "This place can really mess with your mind, it will give you the most horrific illusions," she explained to him. "It makes you see people you cared about deeply during life, but they're not real: just illusions.
"Have you seen someone?" Eren promptly asked her.
Maria only tilted her head. "Who do you think?" she asked and Eren soon understood.
She continued. "I've seen my parents as well, and others from my past. But my parents are far the most frightening because I could never hear them speak," she confessed brokenly. "Exactly because I was too young to remember their voices. This thing, it uses our own memories to hurt us. Who have you seen?" she questioned, curious.
Eren looked down, upset. "My mother," he replied.
Armin soon looked away, heartbroken after hearing all that. He had been so happy to see Azzy as an adult, that wish had been a secret very deeply guarded inside his heart. But Eren was right, he was delirious after spending so much energy. He immediately dismissed that encounter completely, Armin felt angry for letting this creature mess with his mind as well. Unfortunately, he was very wrong and his encounter with his son had been real.
He slightly scratched his eye. The father couldn't help but feel emotional. "That was a perfect illusion," he angrily lashed out, with one tear running down his face.
"What was?" Eren softly asked, concerned for his friend.
He only shook his head. "It doesn't matter," Armin coldly replied. "I need to get out of this place," he strongly affirmed, still angry.
"We will meet you," Marcel told him sternly, ready for a fight.
The Warrior continued. "Maria, Porco and I, and we will guide you out and then meet with Falco and the others," he firmly explained.
Reiner turned to him quite proud and nostalgic to see Marcel taking charge. He clasped his shoulder. "It's nice seeing you again," Reiner told him very sincerely.
"Yes," Annie complemented, happy but broken as they looked into each other's eyes.
She then looked into that crowd in the distance again, a little upset and concerned. "Where's Bertholdt?" she finally asked, sounding like a small, naive child.
"We don't really know," Marcel replied, upset. "I've looked for him everywhere, he's not here."
"He disappeared a little before all this," Porco softly added. And he then looked down, reflecting on the strangeness of this entire situation.
He looked up again. "What is going to happen to us after all this?" Porco asked his brother, anxiously.
And Marcel held his shoulder, "one thing at a time, Percival. One thing at a time," he advised.
Maria turned to Eren again. "Do you think you can do this?" she quietly asked him.
She could tell he was extremely upset and disturbed with the idea of killing his own daughter.
"I'm not really sure," Eren told her sincerely. The man was broken. "You might have to kill me if it comes to it," he asked of her, more loudly.
"Eren!" Armin admonished him in pure concern.
"I won't be in your team," Maria swiftly told him. "But if it comes to it, Annie can do it," she proposed, nodding at Leonhart.
"It will be my pleasure," Annie replied with cold eyes.
Armin turned to him in pure fatherly admonishment. "Eren, why are you even saying this? Surely you can't still be confused of which side you're fighting for," he gravely said.
"All I want is to protect Historia, and our island," Eren solemnly and sincerely declared to his best friend. "Our children."
"Well I'm glad we are all on the same page then," Reiner concurred.
The Titans then proceeded to plan their attack.
-.-
Somewhere in the east side of Paradise Island
The airships began to arrive as the sun was rising in that cold and last October morning. And they soon spotted that gigantic creature lying on that field. It was completely shielded by its crystal feathers and motionless. The troops soon radioed the two pilots on the ground, asking for information.
"She's been there the whole night," Langley - Agent O-6, reported. "Not moving."
"We tried burning through her feathers with our cannons but it doesn't work," Richmond - Agent O-3, added.
"Whenever we were firing at her before it was around the Titan's body or at the insides of her wings, and that worked after a while, but the outsides of the wings seemed to be made of a much stronger crystal," Langley further explained.
"We just have to bomb it then," Tremblay concluded.
Both pilots chuckled to each other. They knew very well that their iceburst cannons were much stronger than those bombs.
"Alright, sir," Richmond replied. "Just let us move our vehicles first," he joked.
-.-
Queen Historia had been struggling that whole night. The mother was in a delirious mixture of pure pain and pure joy. And as the sun was rising, she got relief. Among all the sweat and tears, Historia smiled in pure happiness. Her deep struggle had been sweetly rewarded: her baby girl was born.
-.-
And in that distant field, to the surprise of all the air troops and the two pilots, the giant Titan began to move again.
Ymir was waking up.
The Reiss Lands
Eren and Annie opened their eyes in the real world again, after all that talk in the Titan Realm. And the two quickly noticed how they had been holding hands that entire time.
"You were holding hands with eyes closed for quite a few minutes, and I thought better not to interrupt, it looked very cute," Hitch noted with a small smile, sitting down a little further away from the two Shifters.
They both looked down. Annie held their hands up. "Lovely," she responded with sarcasm to Hitch and turned to Eren, showing their hands again. "You can let go now," she said, slightly warning him. And Eren suddenly turned to her, he seemed distracted.
"Oh, sorry," he apologised, very embarrassed. Eren immediately let go of her hand and scratched his head. Annie began to walk forward, annoyed, keeping some distance. She looked around the trees and at the open fields, trying to plan their next step, as Hitch stood up and came walking in her direction.
"I'm- I'm sorry," Eren stumbled on his words while still scratching his head. He wanted to find something to say to make the situation less awkward, all while Hitch held her laugh near them.
"I-I know we had a thing before," he let out without much thought. "Thing?" Annie stoically questioned, looking back towards him again with raised eyebrows. Eren continued. "But I'm committed to someone else now…" he trailed off awkwardly while this [other] tiny, blonde and fearsome woman stared him down, unamused.
"Thing?!" Annie asked again, coming closer to him and Eren walked backwards, understandably fearful. Hitch finally laughed out loud.
And she kept laughing. "Honestly, I think it would be a good match, you didn't see how cute you two looked just then, while you were both in a trance," Hitch relayed while wiping her laughing tears.
Annie stared both of them down in admonishment, still unamused. "And here I thought I was the one who hadn't aged in all those years, but you are both just immature teenagers," she hissed in complaint.
"Who says you didn't age? I mean, you clearly have," Eren sharply replied. And both girls looked at him confused and baffled. "I am not saying you look like an old woman-" Eren tried to explain as Annie stared at him with fury. "You- you look good," he tried to justify, awkwardly.
"Just stop talking," Hitch advised.
But Eren kept going. "All I'm saying is that you look our age." He then pointed his hands towards him and Hitch, "our age," he repeated for emphasis. "Just like you should…" he trailed off his voice, feeling absolutely embarrassed and confused.
Annie walked off towards the open fields again, shaking her head, annoyed. And Hitch walked a little faster to catch up with her, while Eren walked slower, yet again scratching his head in his pure embarrassment.
"You are two for two," Hitch whispered in Annie's ear, jokingly.
"What?" Annie asked back, confused. Hitch only winked and smiled, and they kept walking into the field.
"Where are we going now?" Hitch asked, curious.
"To this farm…" Annie trailed off, looking up into the sky. The morning was becoming imminent, the sun rays were already gently appearing.
"Farm?" Hitch questioned. "Oh, the Queen's Farm?" she soon realised. She looked around. "It would be good if our horses hadn't run off," the MP complained.
"Well, they were tired, the poor things ran for hours in the dark woods, I don't blame them for bailing on us," Annie replied, looking around the field.
"Why are we going to that farm?" Hitch questioned.
"To protect Historia," Eren explained, he then looked down at his hand, clearly anxious.
"Who is Historia again?" Annie quietly asked Hitch, she had already forgotten.
"Christa," Hitch replied.
"Right, I can't believe she was the Fritz. That whole time we thought it was you," Annie complained to Yeager.
Eren didn't even pay attention to their comments, he was thinking, staring at his hand. He then abruptly bit his left palm with all his might. And he immediately began to bleed out. And he bit his hand again and again, in different places, already beginning to cry.
He couldn't transform.
Annie walked closer to him and swiftly slapped his hand away.
"Stop it," She told him sternly.
"Historia is in danger! I have to save her," he told her brokenly.
"Well you clearly can't transform now! Save up your energy. Reiner said he was going to Shiganshina and radio the Commander to send us an airship," Annie sternly reminded him.
"Reiner..?" Hitch asked, trailing off in confusion.
"I'm not getting in a filthy Marlean airship," Eren hissed back at the Warrior.
"Well, are you growing wings and flying there then?" Annie questioned him angrily. "You can't even regenerate," she added.
Eren looked down at his bleeding hand. He was still very weak and almost feeling like passing out but he remained standing, he looked up at Annie again in complete determination. "I need to protect Historia," he told her firmly.
"Urgh," Annie let out and walked away. "If anyone had told me six years ago that you would've ended up so obsessed with Christa of all people, I'm not sure I would have believed it," she coldly argued, with a hint of mockery.
Eren stared her down, quite upset and angry. "Well, you don't know her," he pointed out.
"Yeah, you don't," Hitch concurred, with arms crossed. "She's totally a two-faced bitch," she added.
Eren immediately turned to Hitch in complete fury and she looked at him defiantly. The MP let out a small grin as Yeager walked to her in pure anger.
Annie stepped on his path. "Don't," she warned, standing in front of him.
Eren's attention was suddenly taken away, as he saw that rider in the distance.
"There's a horse coming our way," he said and both Hitch and Annie turned to look, "with a rider," Eren added.
Soon they could properly identify the small girl who was on that horse, as she galloped closer and closer.
"Gabi?" Annie asked, confused, as the girl approached. "I just saw Falco today," she added with a small smile. "Do you remember me?" she asked as she helped the young Warrior down from the horse.
"Of course," Gabi replied and hugged her. "I'm so glad you didn't die on this place! We were all worried," she added, hugging Annie even tighter.
Annie kneeled down in front of the twelve-year-old, she fixed up Gabi's hair. "You are both so big now," Leonhart told her with a small chuckle.
"Is he alright?" Gabi asked her promptly. "And the others? Do you know?"
"They all seem okay," Annie replied, "so far," she added.
"Why are you with him?" Gabi then whispered. "He's a monster," the small girl added and Eren rolled his eyes.
"Well, we are on the same side, I hope," Annie explained.
"Oh, I'm on your side, sure," Eren interjected. "But not hers," he added angrily. "This girl shot me! She's the entire reason I lost the Founding Titan in the first place! I almost died!" he lashed out.
"You should have died!" Gabi lashed out back at him and Yeager walked towards her menacingly. And Gabi walked backwards, scared.
Annie stood up again in all her might. "Back off," she warned severally.
"You want my help? Then you're gonna play by my rules," she told him sternly. Annie then turned to Gabi and held her shoulder soothingly. "It's alright," she softly told the girl.
Hitch chuckled. "I've never seen you so friendly with children before," she noted with arms crossed.
"She's Reiner's little cousin," Annie explained.
"Really?" Hitch asked, crouching down in front of the girl.
"I used to hold her in my arms, when I last saw her she was still a toddler," Annie relayed.
"She's so cute!" Hitch exclaimed, as she crouched down.
"Are you our method of transport? You could have brought more horses," she told the small girl. Hitch stood up again. "Why is Reiner sending us a kid?" she whispered, questioning Annie.
"I'm not a kid, I'm twelve," Gabi contested.
"Well, I still think you're a very cute kid," Hitch told her while squeezing her cheek, slightly condescendingly.
"She's the brat who killed Sasha," Eren revealed to her while crossing his arms.
Hitch took a moment in silence, looking at the twelve-year-old very stoically. "Well, not the first psychopath I've hung out with today," she coldly noted, and side eyed Annie very sternly.
"It was an accident!" Gabi exclaimed.
"Sure, tell yourself that," Eren replied.
"I didn't know she was a good person!" the small girl continued to defend herself. "There shouldn't be good people here," Gabi added more quietly, reflecting on it herself.
"What?" Yeager asked in pure annoyance. He was bewildered to have to deal with that small preteen.
"She's not our method of transport," Annie told Hitch. "How did you get here?" she then questioned the girl.
"Were you looking for us?" Hitch added, crouching down again.
"I just followed this butterfly the whole night, and it got me here," Gabi explained.
"A butterfly?" Annie questioned.
"I- I think it was some sort of an apparition," Gabi tried to explain. "A few times, it felt like it was a little girl."
And both Hitch and Annie then turn to look at Eren. Annie raised her eyebrows.
"It disappeared right before I got here, and then I saw all of you," Gabi relayed, she then looked at Eren's mangled hand as the blood dripped down.
"Your hand is bleeding," the child softly said, showing her concern. Gabi reached down to her pockets, she took out a few clean bandages that she had brought with her from the hospital. And she offered them to him.
Eren looked at her, still in disdain. He hastily took the bandages from her, and began to wrap them around his hand.
They all looked up to the sky, the whole region began to lit up with those orange rays. The sun was rising.
Annie could see all those Colossal Titans in the distance. She looked at Eren sternly as he wrapped up his hand with the bandages.
"You better recover," she warned. "I'm not fighting a bunch of Titans alone."
-.-
Maria Region - Somewhere deep underneath the odd crater
The Colossal Titan opened its eyes again. Armin was a little surprised as he realised he was completely inside the Titan and not partially out from the nape as he first was. Maybe he hadn't ever left it in the first place.
He cogitated it all as he looked around, still searching for Azzy, a little hopeful that it hadn't been all an illusion. But he soon gave up once he was sure that he was alone in that odd crater. The Titan looked down, this whole situation had left Armin extremely upset.
The Jaw Titans came growling in the distance, all running very fast upwards through the crater. And he eventually could hear them approaching. They walked over to him and climbed up to his shoulders and back. The Colossal Titan then began to make its way back out, taking Maria's Jaw Titan, Porco's Jaw Titan and Marcel's Jaw Titan with him.
-.-
Up on the mouth of the crater the rest of the team looked downwards, all very disturbed at all that strange matter. The Phoenix Titan hovered above, looking down with deep concentration. Pieck was glad to fly light, as they had left all the supplies secured somewhere near the area.
The Phoenix Titan growled as she finally spotted them and the rest of the group was then finally relieved, and also more excited.
The three Jaw Titans climbed out quite rapidly and greeted the rest of the team as the giant hand of the Colossal Titan slowly reached out, confirming that the ground was firm so it could pull itself up and out from that hole.
Jean, Connie and Reiner brought the Jaws to where Falco and the supplies were, while Mikasa swiftly jumped into the crater. She aptly slid down the back of the Colossal Titan as it was making its way up into the sun again. She skilfully stopped near the nape, expertly securing herself with her grappling hooks.
"Are you all right?" she softly asked, hoping Armin would come out and talk to her as it customary for them.
ϟ "Yes." ϟ The Colossal Titan turned to her and replied, quite sternly.
Mikasa looked at it with some confusion and concern. She blinked for a moment, hazed. The Colossal Titan then turned its face frontwards again and finished climbing up. Mikasa stared at the nape with concern and passed her hand over it softly, hoping she could reach Armin in there. "I hope so…" she quietly let out, worriedly.
"He's still unconscious," Connie told the group as the others approached. Falco was lying in a shadowy spot, still in deep sleep. Connie then reached down and opened his eyelids. "They're not white," he informed the others.
"He should wake up then, right?" Jean asked Reiner.
"Well, here goes nothing," The Phoenix Titan let out, flying down towards them.
"You should all probably stand back," Marcel's Jaw Titan informed Jean, Connie and Reiner.
The Phoenix Titan scratched its own claw and it began to bleed out. It then reached out and made a small cut on Falco's arm. Well, small in Titan proportions - it actually cut open most of Falco's forearm, to the bewilderment of the others watching. The Phoenix then positioned its claw on top of the bleeding arm and let its own blood drip on top of it - mixing their bloods.
-.-
Falco was in a deep dream, feeling the nothingness of a purely white dimension, when a small blue butterfly suddenly appeared in front of him. To the boy's amazement, more and more blue butterflies appeared all around him. Falco smiled, he then saw himself in a bright greeny field, he could hear laughter so he turned to see those three small girls playing around in the distance.
The smallish one suddenly revealed her beautiful crystal wings and came gracefully flying towards him. Sina smiled, hovering right in front of him. She reached down and touched his forehead. And Falco finally woke up.
-.-
The current Jaw Titan exploded in transformation, revealing its majestic crystal wings, to the amazement of the others watching.
It seemed a little disoriented for a moment but it eventually looked focused, trying to move around its limbs and flap its wings. The young Titan Warrior looked up at its fellow Shifters with childish happy eyes. It was clear that Falco was finally in control again and the team was relieved to see it trying to take flight.
"Alright, let's see if you can really do this," the Phoenix playfully challenged Falco as Reiner climbed and secured himself on her back. "Race you to Shiganshina," she proposed. And both Titans flew off.
The Colossal Titan watched them flying away, it then looked around to see all those Wall Titans dormant near the area. The sun was already rising.
'I hope they don't take long,' Armin thought.
It then reached down to grab all the supplies with only one of its hands - and the giant took a lot of dirt and even two small trees as well in the process.
"We will wait for them at Shiganshina's gates," Maria's Jaw Titan informed Jean and Connie as all of them, both the Jaw Titans and the two soldiers, climbed up the Colossal Titan's back. The Jaws used their claws and the soldiers used their ODM gears, of course.
The Colossal Titan then set off, returning to Shiganshina.
-.-
Flying somewhere above the Rose Region
"I'm sorry for your loss," Onyankopon commented. He had cleverly noticed how the agent had said 'late' mother, Onyan was determined to know more about this curious stranger.
"Nice try," O-7 replied. "As I already said, I'm not getting personal with you," Danso warned, lightly. "Especially about my mother," he added, opening his eyes wide.
"Okay, I understand," young Onyan conceded. "How about Ninua?" he asked.
"What?" Danso asked back, trying to concentrate on the controls, as he was doing most of the flying.
"Well, you said you're from Marley. But have you ever been to Ninua?" Onyan questioned. "I mean, your father must be from there, or maybe other ancestors further down the line?"
Danso chuckled, awkwardly. "There are tons of countries in the south, Ninua is not the only one with black people in it," he cleverly reminded young Onyan, trying to get away from the personal ancestry topic.
"Yes, but it is the oldest," Onyan replied. "And the best one," he added with a charming smile. And Danso couldn't help but smile back at him.
There was a moment of silence between them as they cruised across the skies.
"It's a bomb, isn't it?" Danso asked. "The package," he added.
"You don't want to answer my questions, why should I answer yours?" Onyan cleverly argued.
"It's an iceburst bomb," Danso correctly guessed, and that took Onyankopon completely by surprise. He turned to the pilot a little staggered.
"I know Eldia already has the technology at this point," Danso added.
"How?" Onyan asked, baffled.
And the pilot quickly fired up the rays from the plane, staggering Onyankopon even more. "Iceburst stones are a very good energy source, very strong and reliable but also quite dangerous. I'm not surprised that Paradise has already figured all that out," Danso explained.
He continued. "This entire aircraft, the cannons, the engine - it's all powered by one single stone." Danso then showed him the blue lever. "If I pull this one all the way to here," he showed. "It will overwhelm the stone and this entire plane would eventually blow up. And it would be quite a big explosion, well it will be quite a big explosion."
Down in the tiny crawl space of that engine room, underneath their feet; the stowaway was attentively listening to their entire conversation. And waiting for the right moment to strike.
"It will be?" Onyan asked, confused.
"Don't worry, after we get this 'package' I'll drop you down somewhere safe," Danso promised. "You don't wanna be here when this engine overheats, trust me," he chuckled. "That plus whatever power the Eldian iceburst stone has, well, it's gonna be a big explosion. Hopefully big enough to kill that monster once and for all."
"And I assume you're planning to parachute out?" Onyankopon asked, gravely.
"Parachuting? The plane will be going too fast for that," he replied, shaking his head.
"So you're planning to die?" Onyan asked, and the man didn't reply. Danso just stared ahead, stoically.
"No way, I'll do it," Onyan proceeded. "You already showed me how," then held onto the lever. "I'm sure you have a lot to live for," he solemnly said, completely disregarding Hange's advice for him to not try to be a hero.
Danso reached out and took Onyan's hand away from the lever. "My plane, my rules. You're not dying today," he firmly told his young copilot.
"But you are?" Onyan protested. "I won't allow it."
"You won't allow it?" Danso chuckled. He then became more serious. "That's what I came here for," he solemnly revealed.
"You came here to die?" Onyankopon questioned.
"I came here to give you all a future," Danso replied. 'A better chance,' he thought.
Onyan became stunned, completely speechless.
They then received a message through the radio. "Onyankopon, I got an update about Arlert," Commander Hange informed.
"They found him?" Onyan asked, apprehensively.
"Yes, Reiner radioed from Shiganshina to confirm it, and they are going ahead," Hange explained.
"Good, I was starting to worry," Onyan replied, relieved.
"There's more, I will need you to do a detour," Hange informed.
"A detour?" Agent O-7 asked.
Hange then proceeded to explain in more detail all the changes to their initial plan.
-.-
The Queen's farm
Her sacrifice had been rewarded. Historia could still feel pain, but it had decreased significantly. The morning had finally arrived, and with it: Ymir.
There were quite a few people in that large room, at least five nurses and the one experienced, but young doctor. Also the guards by the door and three or four servants coming in and out to serve Her Majesty in anything that was needed.
"Bring her here so I can hold her," Historia told one of the nurses as they finished cleaning the small newborn. She positioned herself better on the large bed, and extended her arms so the nurse could give her the baby.
But the doctor raised his hand, stopping the nurse. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but not just yet," he firmly said, but somewhat condescendingly. And Historia side eyed him, quite annoyed. "We need to be sure that both babies will arrive safely, so just rest as much as you can. It will all begin again soon," he explained.
Historia tilted her head as she stared ahead, thinking she might be delirious again. Through the high windows of that room, right in front of her, she could see these odd forms flying in the sky. Coming closer and closer, those things certainly weren't birds. She started to hear commotion on the floors beneath them, and then even more commotion with the guards outside.
The forms flew closer and soon became clearer. The first dirigible quickly arrived and hovered on top of the building, completely shadowing the whole area. And that was when the first bomb was launched.
Somewhere in the east side of Paradise Island
Ymir opened her eyes, a little scared and startled. And she became even more scared once she saw nothing. Confused by the odd blindness, she tried to recompose her thoughts.
'Where am I?' she questioned.
She could feel her heart beating, her lungs breathing. She even felt a little hungry, a sensation she hadn't felt in a very long time. Ymir tried to move her arm and in doing so, she could hear tremors and the earth immediately felt a little loose beneath her.
The young woman finally recognised what was blocking her vision, at least of her human eyes. What was attached not only to her entire face, but also to all her limbs and torso, to her whole body: Titan fibres. That extra muscle tissue that had been grown in surpass of her human skin was obviously key to her Titan's movements, which made Ymir finally understand that she was in fact inside of her Titan form.
The haziness in her mind was finally going away. 'I'm alive,' she thought. 'It worked.'
Ymir's human body had regrown inside her Titan once her soul arrived into Planet Earth, just as it had happened to Azymondeus before her. What had been just a supposition had now come to fruition and Ymir was absolutely amazed and joyous by it.
She was indeed alive once again, and it didn't take long for her to realise what that meant: she could be killed.
The expert Titan Shifter immediately crystallised herself inside that enormous titan nape. Ymir pressed her eyes tight, concentrating. She then opened her Titan form's eyes - taking full control of that extraneous body, now from within.
'I'm home,' Ymir thought. She felt like that small toddler again, dreaming of going back to Paradise. The princess simply could not believe she was actually there, Ymir was extremely joyous.
The Titan began to rise again in the middle of that field. And her joy soon turned to anger and stress as the airships began to bombard her nonstop.
'You are not going to kill me!' She thought. 'I've come this far, and I will live.'
The Titan growled extremely loudly.
"Stay out of range and throw at this thing everything you got!" Tremblay told the troops over the radio.
Ymir swiftly grabbed one of the airplanes with one of her Titan's hands. And completely crashed the small thing inside her palm as she tried to spread out her wings among all those bombs blasting on top of her. The pilot didn't even have time to react. In less than a second, Richmond was gone.
The airships continued to bombard away, hovering above her quite high, and Ymir couldn't wait to take flight and crush them all. But she knew she had to destroy that other airplane first. She knew those rays could actually destroy her. She had more trouble reaching the second plane as Langley tried to take flight. The pilot was vexed. He had seen that monster kill all his close friends and he had had enough.
He moved that blue lever up, knowing the amount of destruction he would cause, he didn't care anymore. The pilot evaded all the Titan's lunges and flew right into its torso, the engine was overwhelmed and the iceburst stone exploded in that collision. The massive explosion took out over two hundred of the airships above it and all the vegetation of the surrounding fields.
Tremblay watched everything from his own airship, horrified. Neither he nor his soldiers had ever seen an electric explosion before, it was a terrifying sight. The old army man deeply hoped this had worked, for he had just lost almost half of his entire battalion in only one go.
But through all the fire, the Titan began to move again.
Old Onyankopon's airship was also not so far from all that action. And he felt a strange sense of relief and also immediate regret. He began to grieve those two pilots deeply after witnessing them perishing so violently. And he felt ashamed for the relief he had felt while watching all that.
He had felt relief for knowing that O-7 was not in that region anymore, as he had decided, against Onyankopon's wishes, to go help the Paradisian team. And the old man had then felt immediate regret for instinctively putting Danso above his other pilots.
The old man looked down, thinking what the best course of action would be now, after all this. Old Onyan pressed down one of the buttons of his control panel. "Alright boys, this party doesn't seem very welcoming. Let's turn around," he ordered the crew through the speakers. And the airship turned, leaving the site.
-.-
Princess Ymir wasn't the only person in that island to have their corporeal imprint duplicated: two versions of the same self, from two different points of their timestream now in proximity with one another. For the Princess was her only minutes old self in that crib, about to be bombarded by Marlean airships and her much older version, inside that enormous flying Titan.
For Azymondeus was an almost three-year-old toddler, also in the same about to be bombarded building and again, a much older self roaming somewhere in that island. For Onyankopon was his older self: a life that had seen a lot, from a very different timeline, now grieving the loss of the men he had brought over to fight with him in this battle. And hoping all this would be worth it. And a much younger man, fearful for the end of the world, of course. But also secretly enjoying an interesting adventure with a curious stranger.
There was another anomaly in that island however, someone who hadn't been born yet. And it wouldn't be born for over eleven years. Danso, like the other young pilots, had come from almost five decades in the future, hoping to change the course of history. Hoping to give their lives so they could then be born again into a better future. Running the risk of not being born at all.
Old Onyankopon could hear Danso cheerfully talking with his younger self over the radio, which was an extremely odd experience all together. He decided not to interrupt of course, he was just checking and glad to confirm that Danso was in fact still alive.
The two young men were now flying above the Reiss Lands, looking for the humans down below. And hoping not to call the attention of the Wall Titans around the area, as they slowly began to move.
"What is that?!" Gabi exclaimed, running fast towards it as she saw that strange object flying across the sky.
"It doesn't look like an airship," Annie noted. "At least not the ones around in my time."
"It looks like those air machine prototypes," Hitch pointed out. "Just much better," she added.
"Well, at least it looks like a fast vehicle," Eren noted in small complaint, but in secret relief. He was anxious to get to Historia as fast as possible.
The small group watched the airplane smoothly land across the field, then rapidly walked towards it. And they were clearly welcomed as the automatic cargo door began to open.
As they walked in, Danso's heart sank, but he quickly recomposed himself. He looked towards Onyankopon and then looked forward again. 'This mission just keeps getting more difficult,' the agent expressed in his thoughts.
He then decided to deflect a probably difficult topic, into a lighter one as he analysed the people in that group. "Why is there a kid with them?" Danso asked Onyankopon, comically, as Hange hadn't informed them of that.
"I suggested leaving her in the field," Eren Yeager explained. "But I was outvoted," he crossed his arms. "Apparently 'the Titans could try to eat her'," Eren imitated, gesturing the air quotes. "Bet they wouldn't want that," he added bitterly.
"Oh, she's coming with us," Annie firmly told them, laying down the law.
"Yes, ma'am," Danso promptly obeyed, firmly nodding.
Hitch looked at the men, quite curious. "Yes, I remember you," she addressed Onyankopon. "You're one of the defectors," she added, walking closer, very interested.
Annie looked towards him in pure disdain and crossed arms. "Why anyone would give up their country's information and their own personal freedom to help and live here in this backwards island is beyond me," she sharply expressed. And Eren side eyed her disapprovingly.
Onyankopon gave her a charming smile. "Oh, I'm not from Marley, so I was happy to share as much information as I'd like," he told the Warrior, then pointed at Danso. "He's a Marlean though."
"Yes, I like your friend," Hitch replied with a smile. "He's even more exotic than you," she added, flirting a little.
"For fuck's sake, Hitch," Annie admonished her, rolling her eyes.
Hitch smiled again, with little content, pressing her lips together. She reached out to shake their hands.
"I'm Hitch," she presented herself and pointed at Annie. "This is my best friend, or she used to be before she destroyed a whole city fighting this other idiot," she explained. "Idiot?!" Eren interjected. "But you know how Titans are like," she continued. "So destructive," she added, looking Annie in the eyes.
"Yes, I'm well aware," Danso coldly replied and proceeded. "Annie Leonhart, the Female Titan and Eren Yeager, the Attack Titan," he said. The pilot then didn't look particularly happy to have to carry those two in his plane.
"You've done your homework," Eren noted.
"He's Marlean Special Ops," Onyan explained.
"I never said I was Marlean, just Special Ops," Danso clarified.
"You said you were born there," Onyan protested.
"I mean I don't work for them, I'm a private contractor," the agent explained.
"Well, that's more reassuring," Eren noted.
And Danso turned to him. "It doesn't make me your compatriot, or friend," Danso firmly clarified. He then looked around the room. "Now, there are rules to be in my ship," he warned. "The main one is take a seat and the second one is: shut up."
He showed them the seats, walking around the plane in pure military fashion as the others sat down and fastened their seatbelts. "This won't be a long flight, as soon as we pick up this package I will drop all of you in this farm," he explained while pressing the button to close the automatic cargo door.
"No! We need to go to the farm straight away-" Eren began to argue but was soon stopped by the Special Ops agent.
"Our mission is a priority. You'll be there shortly, believe me," Danso reassured Yeager as he climbed on his pilot seat, next to Onyan's. "I can drop all of you off much faster than if you'd been going on foot," he truthfully noted.
"All? Including me?" young Onyan asked with concern, by his side.
"We've discussed this, I'm doing it alone," Danso stoically replied as he began to turn on all the gadgets.
"What are you doing alone?" Annie questioned from her seat, curiously.
"None of your concern, ma'am," he sternly replied.
"Ooh, he's a hot head," Hitch joked.
"I'm just sick of dealing with teenagers," Danso complained.
"How old are you? Forty?" Eren asked from his seat, annoyed.
"I'm thirty-four," the agent replied, coldly. He was in fact the oldest from that bunch, which Danso thought quite ironic.
Gabi turned her head sideways, looking into the cockpit. "You're looking good for your age," the twelve-year-old noted.
"What was the second rule to be on my plane?" the agent firmly questioned.
"Shutting up?" Hitch asked.
Agent O-7 nodded firmly at the group in the cabin and turned to Onyankopon. "Do you want to take off?" he proposed.
Young Onyan put his hands on the yoke excitedly. "I'm beginning to enjoy this," he noted, under his breath.
They ascended at full speed, climbing higher and higher, in the direction of Mitras.
-.-
The Queen's farm
Historia opened her eyes again, in deep confusion after that bomb had hit. She looked around seemingly alone in that large room. She looked up and the roof was still over her head. It seemed that it all had, perhaps, been just a warning. The explosion had been smaller than expected and not on the building itself. Regardless, the Eldian soldiers in that farm had no way of fighting back.
The Queen could see a small girl next to her baby's crib, the girl looked attentively inside, smiling. Historia was a bit delirious, and incredibly fatigued. She couldn't recognise the girl as being any of the ones lodged at the orphanage at that time. Historia had no idea who she was, just that she looked extremely familiar.
The girl looked at the Queen after admiring the newborn quite endearingly for a little while. "She looks very sweet," Maria sincerely told her grandmother, smiling.
And Historia smiled back at her, confused.
One of the nurses came rushing into the room. "Your Majesty, it's all going to be alright," she explained, trying to keep the Queen, and herself, calm. The woman proceeded. "We are moving everything to the basement, and you and the children, you will be all safe there."
"Did you see the small girl?" Historia asked, curiously searching around the room again. The girl had disappeared. She wondered if the small child had run off because of the woman.
"What small girl?" the nurse asked, confused.
"She looked like my mother," Historia noted, under her breath.
There were three Marlean airships on top of that building, shadowing it completely. And now one more arriving.
Historia could see a shadowy figure in the next room, as she looked through the door that the nurse had left wide open. The man approached, wearing a strange armour, but the Queen didn't have much time to think about it as she was then completely startled. He walked behind the nurse and promptly shot the woman on the back of the head.
The nurse fell to the floor, bleeding out. Dead.
"So is that how these things work?" Az wondered, looking through the barrel. Speaking in Old Eldian, not only because it came more naturally to him at this point. But also because the broken man didn't want to be understood by the people of his own time.
"Get out of my room!" Historia firmly warned. The mother's heart was beating almost out of her chest as she looked towards the crib, her small newborn was peacefully sleeping inside.
Azymondeus ignored her, and walked closer to the crib.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Historia warned him gravely. The man approached and looked down at the small baby, Ymir was indeed sleeping deeply.
"I will kill you." The Queen further warned, looking around the room for a weapon. Historia was forcing herself to stand up, but after giving birth, such act was very difficult.
Az stood there for a moment, and she couldn't understand what he was doing. He was looking intently at the baby as well, just as the small girl was. He seemed very peaceful, almost as if the peace of Ymir's sleep had reached him.
The father could immediately recognise his three precious baby girls in that newborn's face. And that had stunned him completely.
'I guess all three of you looked just like your mother when you were little,' he thought, sweetly. Az reached out soothingly, to caress Ymir's face. And Historia became more apprehensive as his hand reached down into the crib.
The Queen looked up to the high windows again, she could see that dirigible coming their way, it was coming in high velocity and at a much lower altitude than the ones that came before it. The airship was suddenly very close to the building and a man came crashing down through the glass window.
The Ackermann landed on the floor smoothly, to Az's genuine surprise. Levi launched out one of his ODM grappling hooks and it lodged into the time traveller's chest before he could even react. Levi pulled the grappling hook back to him, bringing the man with it. He then elbowed the side of his face with much strength and swiftly kicked down his legs to begin to immobilise him.
It took a few seconds for Azzy to decide what to do, it took a few seconds for him to completely process who he was about to fight with. But he finally concluded that he had to get his uncle out of his way somehow, without hurting him. Which as he knew very well, was going to be extremely difficult.
Az punched him in the stomach with one hand and threw him across the room with the other. Hoping Levi wouldn't break any bones after that fall. He then side eyed Historia angrily.
"Right, you're here to protect the Queen," he firmly said. "Why am I not surprised?"
He looked at both of them in disdain. The man was wearing a helmet, but his dark blue eyes were visible and so was the anger inside of them.
"I bet you two can smell each other's blood," he said, and shook his head. "Cursed blood," he affirmed.
Levi swiftly stood up and rushed towards him with a gun, hoping to shoot the intruder at close range. And he did so, shooting him on the chest that had already been injured by the grappling hook, but the man didn't even move.
Az took the gun from him and hit Levi's face with the back of it. 'Sorry,' he thought, genuinely conflicted.
Levi then kicked his lower leg with much strength, clearly breaking it into two parts. But the man only straightened it back together. Levi looked up at his chest to see that steam rising up, he was regenerating like a Titan Shifter.
The Survey Corps veteran was stunned. He quickly thought about all the Titan Shifters in his head, there was no way this man was one of them as well. It didn't make any sense. Levi couldn't understand how he was regenerating. The uncle then quickly looked to the corner of the room where the intruder had just thrown him over. And he finally realised it would take more than just regular human strength to throw someone that far.
"You are all my clones," Az joked, and Levi looked at him confused.
Kneeling down on that floor, Levi quickly pulled out his two swords, ready to fight. And the intruder quickly pulled out the gun he had been given. Again, conflicted about firing it or not. He was now holding both his gun and the one he had just taken from Levi.
His conflict didn't last even a second, as Levi quickly disarmed him and began to attack him with both ODM swords. His nephew then expertly took one of the swords from him and they continued to fight.
Historia mustered all of her strength to stand up from that bed. She then swiftly ran out of the room, carrying Ymir in her arms. As the two Ackermanns continued to fight intensely.
-.-
Up on that rogue dirigible, Shadis ushered all of the cadets out and jumped right after them. All flying down to the building with their ODM gears, all ready for a fight. Hange stayed there on her own, and began to speed up to then turn the immense aircraft. She placed the dirigible in a collision course with two Marlean crafts and then jumped out of it as well. Flying down into the building as the three dirigible exploded into one another.
Hange looked up, watching the explosion and many soldiers jumping down to their deaths or holding onto the ladders and ropes for dear life. The crafts all crashed together into the fields, immediately catching all the vegetation on fire.
"Only one to go," the Commander thought, looking up at the one Marlean craft that was left. She quickly started to organise a plan in her mind to invade and take over that one aircraft.
It all had happened quite fast, the Marleans had no idea that this new craft coming over was not part of their troops, so at first they thought it all had been just a freak accident. But as soon as they saw the Eldian soldiers fighting their soldiers using those strange acrobatic contraptions they realised it had been an attack.
They immediately radioed for backup, and Tremblay didn't hesitate to send them seven more crafts. A second wave of attacks was now coming their way.
-.-
The nuns and the servants quickly rushed the orphan children into the basement, as the soldiers did their best to protect them. The medical team had partially been killed, with now only two nurses and the doctor remaining. The Marleans had blocked the stairs and had begun to storm the higher floors, looking for the Queen.
Historia was on her own, delirious, tired and still feeling strong contractions. She struggled to walk and she was terrified by all the noise and all the commotion. She roamed the upper corridors, holding Ymir closer and tightly into her arms. And Ezra even closer, still inside her stomach. The mother felt beyond desperate.
She stopped for a moment, feeling very weak and about to pass out. This was all too much for her. "No, I won't let them kill us," she whispered to herself. "I won't let them kill my children," she declared more firmly. The mother knew she had to find strength, she had to keep going. She turned, and saw that little girl again.
The small girl smiled at her at the end of the corridor, and gestured for the Queen to follow her. And Historia immediately stood up again and kept going, trusting this ghost to be a good omen.
-.-
The two Ackermanns continued to fight violently. Levi had lunged at and stabbed that man multiple times, but it was of no avail. While Az was doing his best not to hit Levi, or at least not to hurt him too badly, which was difficult considering how thirsty for blood his uncle was.
Another problem for the time traveller was his fighting style. Although it had been a novelty all those two thousand years ago, among those savages. It certainly was not helping him now, as he was fighting with the one man who had taught him everything he knew. Levi could predict every move, block every lunge. This was truly the most complicated and most conflicting fight Az had ever faced.
The nephew was trying his best to just evade him. But that was clearly difficult as Levi choked him with the thin, but strong wire of his ODM gear. The thin metal was slashing through his skin, and he began to bleed out. Az looked across that room, trying to figure out a next move. He then mustered his strength, and swiftly threw the older Ackermann high and over, in the direction of a wooden wardrobe. Levi hit and broke those wooden doors with much force and as he fell to the ground, the whole wardrobe fell on top of him.
There was finally silence. Az was relieved as he stood up again, still breathing heavily but finally glad to have taken Levi out. He then rapidly left the room - as his neck and other wounds quickly regenerated, and went into the corridors. Looking around frantically, the time traveller knew he couldn't fail, the entire world was depending on it. But the Queen and the newborn were nowhere to be seen.
He could hear laughter, of a much older child. And he could almost recognise it, which slightly disturbed him. Az then caught a glimpse of a small shadow running across the corridors and he immediately followed it. Almost in a trance, the man walked around trying to follow and discover the origin of that sweet sound of laughter.
The girl revealed herself to him with a very lovely smile, right next to the high windows, at the open end of one of the large corridors.
Azymondeus froze. "Baby girl?" he softly asked, feeling completely lost and delirious.
He had never thought he would one day see Maria's face again. The father was staggered.
The child's figure was clearly translucent, but the man only confirmed it once the sun rays came through those stained glasses of the high windows and passed right through her. What made that whole experience a true spiritual encounter. Az stood there, just motionless and reactionless, lost.
Levi then came rushing in, out of nowhere, and pushed the man like a freight train. They fell together through the glass window, all the way down below.
A small toddler was now coming up the stairs, curiously. Little Azzy saw half of the action and rushed to look down from that high window. A Warrior soul, he was curious to watch it all unravelling, the small boy enjoyed fights far too much.
Maria's apparition stood right next to him and the toddler looked up excitedly towards her. She smiled and patted him on the head affectionately. She then called him over, almost as if to play, and the almost three-year-old followed her excitedly.
-.-
Somewhere in the east side of Paradise Island
Ymir was trying to rebuild herself. That large iceburst explosion had damaged her Titan greatly, and if she hadn't crystallised her human self, it would probably have killed her. The Titan growled loudly as it rebuilt its crystal coat and crystal wings again. The airships were hovering high above it, and Tremblay was considering it all, thinking of what to do next. The man considered retreating, as he had now confirmed that this beast was almost impossible to kill.
The army man then saw his hope rushing fast towards the area. "Finally," Tremblay let out as he confirmed those were his Warriors running in the distance. He then ordered his troops to fly even higher and keep as much distance as possible. 'This is going to get messy,' he thought.
The goddess was still reorganising her thoughts. She could see the Wall Titans walking aimlessly in the surrounding areas, which made her frustrated. For although she really wanted it, she knew she didn't have control over her precious children yet.
'Ezra,' Ymir thought. 'I need to get to him.'
The Titan then looked forward in confusion, she not only saw what looked like two Titan birds in the far distance, but she also saw something very very tiny flying fast in her direction. The brave Warrior had been strongly catapulted by his Colossal Titan friend. Reiner took out his knife as he flew across the sky. Concentrating deeply to conjure a powerful transformation, he slashed his palm.
The whole odd attack caught the goddess completely by surprise. And Ymir now found herself inside of yet another powerful explosion.
-.-
Mitras - The Royal Palace
The airplane was landed on the great garden, as Danso had cleverly used the large main path as an airstrip. The whole area was absolutely empty, as the entire city, including the palace, had been evacuated during the night in fear of more tremors.
Hitch and Gabi were left waiting inside the airplane, as the others left to grab the petals. The two of them sat on the pilots' seats, comfortably, waiting for everyone to return. The twelve-year-old was quite curious to touch the panels, but she knew that would not be wise. While the MP was more careless about it all, Hitch sat leisurely, with arms crossed and her legs on top of the console.
She looked around for a moment, and turned to Gabi a little concerned. "Do you also get this feeling that we are not alone here?" she whispered to the girl. The woman could almost hear breathing and that was weirding her out. "Almost like we're being watched?" she whispered even lower and closer.
Gabi looked ahead, out of the large glass window of the airplane; nervously considering all the creepy, gooey matter crawling over the cities and all the odd Wall Titans they had seen as they flew over the Sina Region. "I just want us to leave as soon as possible," the twelve-year-old replied.
The cargo door began to open again and Gabi promptly stood up from the copilot's seat, feeling glad and excited. While Hitch stayed sitting, nonchalantly.
"Well, that was fast," Hitch noted, turning the chair towards them.
"We couldn't get in," Eren complained while Onyan scratched his head.
"Didn't Annie try to kick the doors for all of ya? I bet she's a little annoyed there are no guards for her to punch," Hitch joked back. But she wasn't wrong.
"This is Historia's home, my home. Even if there were still guards around they wouldn't attack any of you. Not while I'm here," Eren reminded them firmly and pompously. As all of the guards and most of the Eldian people considered him as their king.
"Ergh," Annie let out, and rolled her eyes. "The first doors were easy," she explained to Hitch. "But that damn basement is made of pure stone," the Warrior complained, annoyed.
"Yeah, the whole castle is made of iron and stone down there, very difficult to get through," Onyankopon added, holding his schematics. "Hange did not mention that."
"I think this building classifies as a palace," Danso noted. "And I think she expected there would be people here, not that they would have run away and have closed everything down," the pilot theorised. He looked back to that enormous, empty palace. "It's so creepy seeing a big building like this empty," he added.
"We are going to the ruins of the old castle beneath it, so he is not wrong in calling it a castle," Eren explained to the foreign agent.
Annie walked forward. "Come on Gabi, we need you," she told the girl.
"Me?" she asked, confused. "Why?"
Eren crossed his arms and let out a little smile. "Because you can fit," he explained.
The girl went with them, a little confused and anxious.
"Stay and guard my precious bird," Agent O-7 told Hitch and she saluted him back, charmingly as the cargo door closed.
The group went over to the inner gardens of the palace and stopped in a small corner.
"I'm not climbing in there, it's full of shit water!" Gabi protested after they had explained the plan to her. And Yeager couldn't help but let out a side smile, secretly enjoying all that.
"Come on, Gabi, this is really important," Annie told her sternly, kneeling down to her height. "It's just a storm drain," she pointed, explaining it.
"Isn't there any other way?" the girl asked, indignantly.
"Gabrielle," Annie let out sternly and motherly.
"If there was, do you think we would have gone back and called you?" Eren challenged the small preteen, annoyed.
Yeager was anxious, this mission was taking too long and he couldn't take his mind off Historia and their children. He was extremely worried.
Onyankopon also kneeled down, giving her one of the schematics, as he had drawn her the path. He began to explain. "Just go in there and follow this precisely-"
Gabi interrupted him with concern. "What if I get lost?" she asked anxiously.
"You won't," he affirmed, fatherly. "Just keep going west. Once you find the next grid, you'll have to climb up the stairs and open all the iron latches of that big, heavy door, and let us in. We will be waiting for you on the other side."
The girl looked down and gently nodded. She looked towards that small grid and to the darkness inside, knowing this whole experience would be extremely claustrophobic.
"Good," Onyan told her after she had nodded.
"Alright," Annie told the others while standing up. "Help me break this," she proposed, preparing herself.
But Onyankopon only raised his hand, still kneeling down next to Gabi.
"There's no need," he gently informed, while taking out a screwdriver from under his jacket. He gave Yeager all those palace schematics to hold and then proceeded to gently unscrew the iron grid.
"You walk around with a screwdriver in your pocket?" Annie asked while crossing her arms. And Danso looked down with a small, sweet smile. He secretly felt like a child again.
Onyan, shook his head charmingly as he was smoothly unscrewing the grid off. "I got it in the middle of that chaos in Shiganshina yesterday, in the Compound. I was looking for a weapon," he explained.
"You were in an army compound and all you got for a weapon was a screwdriver?" Annie questioned, raising her eyebrows.
He turned to her with the screwdriver at hand, pointing at her. "You weren't there in all that tremors and chaos, so you don't get to judge," he comically pointed out, moving the hand tool up and down. Onyankopon then removed the storm drain grid.
Gabi looked inside, concerned, Onyan then held her shoulder affectionately and fatherly. "Hear my advice: follow the light," he told her and gave the small girl the screwdriver. "See you on the other side," he added, smiling.
"Well, you can still stab someone in the eye with it," Eren noted to Onyan while giving him all the schematics back. "Exactly," Onyan concurred.
"Or even kill someone while stabbing them through the chest," Danso also argued, "if you're close enough," he added.
And Annie looked up at them a little annoyed as she helped Gabi into the storm drain.
The small girl ran fast once she was inside, she kept going left and following the glimpse of light as Onyankopon had told her. Gabi was afraid of the dark so she ran as fast as she could. She eventually found another iron grid and began to unscrew it gently, fortunately her arms were small enough to pass through the iron bars with ease.
She entered the ancient room, all its walls were made of rocks, it looked very old. Gabi had never seen ruins like that before. She then climbed up all the stairs and opened all the ten huge iron latches of that large door. It took all of them to move the heavy thing, they all pushed the large door until it was wide open. And Gabi soon jumped and hugged Annie very tightly. It took a while but Annie hugged her back, a little staggered. Onyankopon gently caressed the twelve-year-old's hair. "See? You didn't die," he charmingly joked with her.
They all went down the stairs, carrying wooden torches. Eren was visibly nervous. "This is taking too long," he quietly let out, under his breath. And the agent side eyed him.
Danso gently passed his hand over his gun, looking around the stone walls, contemplative.
"Can you calm down? Your Commander already said they have a team going to the farm, she's going to be just fine," Annie noted, and sighed with annoyance as they climbed down all those stairs.
"I know that won't be enough," Eren maintained, firmly. "Marleans are just ruthless and violent," he proceeded. "I can't imagine what they will do."
"Yes, because Eldians are the most serene and lovely people, true model of peace," Annie threw back at him stoically.
"You're just brainwashed," Eren replied with a small, angry smile. "And she's even worse," he added, pointing at Gabi.
Danso turned back towards them. "All of humanity is horrible, there's no need for competition. Now can we move on from that stupid conversation?" the agent firmly asked as they reached the end of the stairs.
Onyan let out a small laugh. "They're just in that phase when we philosophise a lot," he told the agent.
"What phase are you at?" Danso asked him.
"Dreading my thirties," Onyan joked. "They're getting closer."
Danso grabbed him by the shoulder. "You'll survive it," he replied jokingly.
They moved into the next stone room and saw another large door, now with a strange puzzle at the centre.
"Alright, this is the vault," Onyan confirmed while looking into his schematics.
Eren looked close into that door handle and let out a small smile. "This all screams Armin," he noted, suddenly missing his best friend. It indeed had been Arlert who had created that vault lock, it was very similar to what his parents used to make.
"It's actually just a simple number code," Onyan explained, even though the lock seemed complicated. He began to move the pieces. "It's the date of the Queen's coronation," he revealed.
"I doubt Historia ever knew about any of this," Eren let out, sceptically.
"Under her own house?" Danso questioned ironically.
"She would have told me about it," Eren maintained.
"Because she tells you everything," Annie joked, under her breath.
"Yes," Eren replied, turning to her. "You know, for someone who was so defensive before," he leaned closer to her face. "You sure seem very jealous."
Annie only chuckled. "Oh, I am only pointing out that she doesn't trust you," she explained, amused.
The vault was finally unlocked and the door was opened. They all walked in and Onyan took out the small key Hange had given him to open that metal case over the stone table. As soon as that case was opened, the three blue stones inside glowed incredibly bright.
"Yep. Those are iceburst stones," Danso confirmed with arms crossed. The three stones were the same as the one in his plane's engine, but they glowed even brighter.
"They're shaped like tears," the small girl noted, coming closer to take a look. "Careful," Eren warned, barring Gabi from getting closer.
"I believe they were shaped like geranium petals," Onyan explained.
"Why are there two missing?" Eren asked.
"Apparently there were tests made," Onyan disclosed. "But you can ask your Commander more about it after all this," he added.
"Or the Queen," Annie suggested and Eren side eyed her, the Warrior was successfully getting on his nerves.
All of a sudden, Danso swiftly took out his futuristic gun and pointed at Yeager, about to fire. And Leonhart quickly kicked him on the stomach with much force. Her reaction was unexpected and the agent now didn't know what to do, as if he fired again in that stone room there was a chance that the bullet would ricochet into the petals.
He'd had a perfect shot but it had been lost, now the Special Ops man was having to deal with Leonhart's unexpected attack. She not only swiftly kicked him on the stomach, making him fall back into the stone wall, but also in the arm. Still, he didn't drop the gun. Even though she almost broke his hand with that kick. Annie then hit his head against the wall once, she kicked his legs and turned him on his back, and down on his knees. Pinning him firmly against the wall. Leonhart knew very well that this was the best way to deal with a man twice her size.
"Drop it!" She firmly ordered, holding his left hand down on his back and his right hand - with the gun - against the stone wall. "Drop it!" she ordered again.
'Unbelievable,' Danso thought. He dropped the gun and Annie reached down to get it, letting him go.
Eren was staggered and so was Onyankopon, who had quickly put Gabi behind him and was protecting her in the corner of the room.
The agent stood up, vexed.
"What was all that?!" Onyankopon asked, baffled. Gabi's heart was beating fast as she hid behind him.
"If you knew half of that man's crimes you wouldn't be defending him, ma'am," Danso told Annie. "He's better off dead."
"I don't care about his crimes. I care about the only other being here that can fight Titans off with me," Leonhart firmly said. "So until we fix this problem, I'm keeping him alive," she told him sternly, walking closer. "Understood?" she asked.
Danso retracted to his usual military stance. "Yes, ma'am," he coldly replied.
"Stop calling me ma'am," Leonhart complained. "How old do you think I am?" she asked, fixing up her hair again.
"Right," Danso conceded. "Miss," he corrected himself, a little unsure.
"That's somehow worse," Annie complained while tying up her hair. And Onyan gave out a small chuckle. He was amused by the soldier's stuffiness and that girl's energy.
She then checked the odd looking gun and secured it again in her belt. Danso side eyed Yeager, annoyed.
"Let me guess, you lost people in that festival too?" Eren asked, challenging the agent.
"I don't need that to motivate me, I was just following your Commander's orders," O-7 revealed.
"Her orders were to keep him here, not to kill him," Onyan firmly argued, admonishing him.
"What?!" Eren strongly questioned, confused.
"The Commander's orders were to keep you out of the way," Onyan revealed to Yeager. "To leave you here, stranded in Mitras. You and Leonhart." He turned to Annie, "she doesn't trust either of you," Onyan explained.
Annie and Eren looked at each other. The Titan Shifters were the only ones who knew that the Queen was giving birth to the next Founding Titan and how important it really was to defend that farm.
Eren was absolutely vexed. "You've been purposefully wasting our time?! While the Queen is in danger?!" he yelled at the agent and at Onyankopon in pure anger.
"Well, she's not my queen," Danso swiftly replied. "And your Commander was the one who gave the orders," he added.
"She's not my Commander," Eren firmly replied and Danso walked closer to him.
"Besides, whatever little demons she's having," the agent said. "That isn't our priority. We have a real monster to kill," he reminded the team. And Eren lunged forward towards him, about to pounce.
The father was very angry, not only with that comment, but also with the fact that they had wasted his time.
"Enough!" Onyan finally intervened, standing between them, annoyed. He then walked to the metal case and took the petals. Giving one to Danso and another to Gabi. "Don't drop this," he warned them both. Holding the third one.
He took the flower-shaped metal support where the petals were being held. "And you get to hold this," he told Annie while giving it to her. Onyankopon turned to Yeager. "And you get to hold nothing because you're a loose cannon and quite frankly, I don't trust you. Now let's get out of here," he firmly declared, pointing towards the stairs in the next room.
They all went running up the stairs when they suddenly began to feel tremors again.
"I can't believe the earthquakes will start again now!" Onyan exclaimed, angry and anxious.
Eren looked at the glowing petals on the others' hands, he was feeling a little dizzy, almost as if someone was trying to talk to him.
"Can you hear something?" Annie asked him.
"Yes. But it's not here, it's there," Eren replied, referring to the cursed dimension. And Annie nodded, looking a little scared.
"There?" Danso questioned, as they all rushed out of that stone basement and into the palace corridors.
"The dimension where all Eldians are connected," Eren explained, but Danso just looked more confused.
"It's an Eldian thing, you wouldn't understand," Annie told him as they continued to run.
"Who says I'm not Eldian?" Danso asked back, challenging her with raised eyebrows. And Annie looked forward, a little confused.
As they arrived back into the inner garden they saw a Titan transformation in the distance. A former Titan was climbing from the dirt in the rose garden nearby. Hungry for a fight and ready to chase them. Eren and Annie looked at each other again, they remembered the warnings from that stardust apparition.
"What is that thing?" Gabi asked with much concern, she brought that small tear-shaped stone closer to her, scared. They kept running.
"That's one of the previous Founding Titans," Eren noted while turning back.
It was Karl Fritz himself. And it was chasing them in pure anger, gaining speed fast.
'You will die,' they could all hear the king threatening them inside their minds, over and over again. All except Onyankopon, who did not have Eldian blood.
Gabi began to cry, quietly. The small girl would never forget that voice, it would haunt her for the rest of her days.
"Should we transform?" Annie asked Eren while he himself was already bringing his hand closer to his face, to take a bite.
"No!" the agent shouted as they ran. "We can make it," he firmly told them.
Suddenly other transformations began to happen all around them across that large garden. They were in a Titan minefield.
"We can make it!" Danso shouted again and they kept running.
Hitch was still curious, and still a little freaked out. So she kneeled down near the pilots' seats and tried to look through the hatch, to down below. She was almost sure that there was a shadow moving in there. When the cargo door opened suddenly and everyone came rushing in.
"Give the petals to Onyankopon and take your seats," Agent O-7 strongly ordered while pressing the cargo door shut. They all took their seats in the cabin and Onyan gently sat on the copilot seat, firmly holding that plate of iceburst stones on his lap.
Danso swiftly jumped into the pilot seat and fired up the engine. He was about to do what he had been doing all his life until this point. What he had been born to do: kill Titans.
The airplane sped up fast across that garden, taking flight before the former Founding Titan could grab its tail. The futuristic craft then made a long but sharp turn and came back down, facing the Titan again. Danso fired up those bright rays through its neck and cut Fritz's head off. The airplane then proceeded to hit and take down all the other Titans that had appeared as well, all very fast and efficiently. But they all could see through their windows Fritz and the others just rising up again.
"You can't kill them!" Eren shouted in conclusion.
"Then let's just leave," Danso replied. And they flew off, leaving Mitras behind.
Eren looked back to the region through the airplane window. Looking at those ghost Titans and to all the destruction left by this Devil creature so far. Most of the Sina Region was in shambles and the Wall Titans were just roaming around, destroying it even more. Yeager knew the situation all around the Rose and Maria Regions was the same. The Devil's destruction was everywhere. 'I caused all this,' he quietly thought, deeply upset.
-.-
Somewhere in the east side of Paradise Island
The Colossal Titan held Reiner deep inside its hand as it ran quite fast, with the three revived Jaw Titans and the one Ackermann on its back. Followed behind by the two flying Titans, with the two soldiers flying on their backs. As soon as they all finally sighted the giant goddess in the distance they all knew it was time to act. It was time to begin with their plan. Armin slowed down slightly, carefully aiming ahead. He raised his Titan's arm and threw the Warrior quite a distance. And the Armoured Titan exploded in transformation before Ymir could even react.
The explosion was great, and the Armoured also used a secret trick. It threw its own first armour out as shards of crystal in all directions, piercing the goddess' skin and injuring her severely. The Armoured Titan stood on its back, rapidly regrowing a second armour. He held himself firmly on her wings and shoulders as Ymir tried unsuccessfully to shake him off and take flight again.
That simple throw had left Armin in severe pain and rigidness on his left arm. His initial transformation hadn't been ideal and it had happened the day before. Armin had been on this Titan for many hours and he knew that something wasn't right with his human body inside all that. But that was the least of his worries at the moment, so he marched forward relentlessly.
The shards of crystal had flown all over Ymir's body. They had pierced the back of her head, in between her long hairs, and also all over her back and spine. There were even shards in the back of her arms and she was extremely annoyed with that small Titan surfing on her back. Ymir looked up to see the two flying Titans high above her. The soldiers on board of them began to throw down sticks of dynamite into both her wings, making Ymir even more confused. She was having trouble understanding what was happening and how to react.
Ymir growled extremely loudly and tried to take flight, and she was successful for a couple of hundred metres. She flew ahead, moving her wings despite the constant bombing on top of them, and also despite the small Armoured Titan trying to hold her down. She flew in a straight line, without being able to gain altitude. But the Colossal Titan suddenly arrived, he'd finally reached her.
Colliding with her immediately, and pressing her enormous face down into the earth with all the strength he had. Armin pressed both his arms down, despite all of the internal pain he was feeling. Burying her head into the ground in the middle of that inertia, finally managing to slow her down despite Ymir trying to charge ahead. She pushed forward and upwards but the Armoured Titan and the Colossal Titan pushed her down. The gigantic creature eventually stopped. And the three wingless Jaw Titans jumped on top of it.
Marcel's Jaw Titan and Porco's Jaw Titan began to gnaw all over her wings and limbs while Maria's Jaw Titan jumped into the creature's back, carrying Mikasa with her. The Ackermann flew down with her ODM gear. She reached and touched the creature's spine, very close to the nape. She wanted to be as close to the goddess' nervous system as possible. She closed her eyes, concentrating, and opened them again: Mikasa's deep dark eyes had now turned completely yellow.
Mikasa saw herself in a dream: in that beautiful park in Trost, where she had been a few days before. She leaned back on that bench, with her head raised up to the bright skies, Mikasa enjoyed the peaceful breeze. She looked ahead to see her two children playing joyfully in the bright green grass. The small girl looked at her with a sweet smile. "Go," Mikasa softly told her, and Sunny ran off into the stars.
Ymir's concentration was broken yet again in her cursed dimension. As she stared at her precious light tree, the stardust formed all around her.
"I told you, I'll destroy you." Sonnenblume threatened her strongly, placing both hands on Ymir's face. The goddess tried to attack her with her light tree roots again but they couldn't reach the apparition. Ymir suddenly looked thirteen again, and then only four years old again.
The small, lost princess felt overwhelmed, her mind was lost in pure grief and much disturbance. She could see her children being eaten, her lover being cut to pieces, her father's throat being slashed through. Her mother walking aimlessly through the dark woods, calling her name and bleeding out, dying. Herself being eaten by her children, Ymir could feel again the unbelievable physical and psychological pain she had felt as her daughters ate her body. All traumas she had buried deep in all that sand, as she made up that whole dimension to be her own eternal prison. Ymir blamed herself for everything. 'I killed them,' the small four-year-old thought.
Sonnenblume held her face firmly, bringing out all those nightmares to the front of Ymir's mind, hoping to overwhelm her and finally destroy the dimension Ymir had created. Sonnenblume deeply wanted that place gone, as she herself had been trapped there for all eternity and she desperately wanted her mind freed.
The four-year-old seemed broken, weaker and weaker with each passing moment as she felt more and more overwhelmed by all those horrible memories. A true nightmare. Mikasa and Maria looked up, as the dark sky began to crack all around them. It almost felt like the entire dimension was in actuality made of glass and it seemed to be about to be broken. Ymir cried very quietly.
She was about to accept it all, but the four-year-old suddenly raised her head again. "No," she declared to that apparition. "This is my new chance. I won't let you kill me!"
Ymir brought Sonnenblume closer and held her head firmly with both her hands, giving the witch a taste of her own medicine: she pressed Sonnenblume's head with all her might. And the apparition broke apart like shattered glass herself.
"Sonnenblume!" Mikasa yelled, wanting to walk forward but Maria held her back by the arm. Suddenly the two of them were engulfed in flames.
And they both woke up in the real world again to feel the hot flames of Ymir's fire. The goddess had set her Titan ablaze. Fortunately, Mikasa had been wearing a full-body crystal armour. And despite her face and hands having suffered burns, she immediately began to regenerate. Maria's Jaw Titan took the Ackermann between her teeth and began to run off from the hot flames, being burnt herself.
Ymir's fire was very strong, its heat incredibly intense. The goddess began to shake them all off her, violently. She continued to burn her own skin in all her might, hoping to melt all of them away.
She reached back with both arms to grab the small nuisances. And threw Marcel's and Porco's Jaw Titans into the distance: both burning up with her flames. She tried reaching to grab the Armoured Titan as well but he evaded her. His armour completely prevented him from getting burnt, and Reiner wasn't even bothered by her flames. He reached down with all ten fingers and firmed himself onto her, gashing down into her skin with his titan crystal. And Ymir growled loudly.
The Colossal Titan was also getting burnt, so he began to use the same trick on her, igniting his own fire. Still pressing her down, and hoping all the heat would melt her off, even if melted both of them off. The Colossal Titan continued to release its fire intensely, together with her, both trapped in a hell of their own making. When Ymir finally raised her head again, absolutely vexed. She reached out with one of her arms and began to choke him while waving her other arm towards one of the flying Titans nearby. She swiftly grabbed Falco and brought him closer to her, to crush him, and Connie as well.
The soldier fell in flames, between her fingers, to a drop of over two hundred metres. Falco bit and gnawed desperately, eventually freeing himself from her hands. He immediately found out he couldn't spread his wings, as they had been crushed. So the Jaw Titan made his way down fast. Speeding downwards through the flames. Trying to reach Connie's body as he fell. The soldier was almost falling unconscious.
The Phoenix Titan saw it all and so did Jean, flying on her back. She immediately sped up towards the fallen soldier, but she was also too far. All of them watched as Connie hit the ground violently, breaking every bone of his body in the process. The bright blue sky was the last thing Connie saw, before nothingness.
The goddess spread out her wings again, still holding the Colossal Titan by his neck. She threw him away violently and began to finally take flight, still with the Armoured Titan lodged on her back. Armin was vexed. He turned and swiftly grabbed one of her legs before she could properly fly away, trying to hold her down. Ymir turned and cut her own lower leg off with her crystallised fingers and the Colossal Titan fell down violently with it. She also grabbed the Armoured Titan with much strength and also threw him off her back violently. She then rose up into the sky.
The Colossal Titan growled very loudly as she flew off, in deep anger. Something he had never done before, which deeply frightened Mikasa and the others. Jean jumped off from the Phoenix before she even got to the ground, running towards Connie's body. The Phoenix Titan then turned to see the goddess flying off, getting away. Pieck was very mad too.
The Armoured Titan was thrown some distance away. Reiner looked up to the skies as he tried to stand up once again, when he saw the Phoenix Titan flying fast, following the goddess. 'Pieck, no,' he thought, knowing this had been a bad decision on her part.
Jean rushed towards his friend's body on the ground, absolutely desolated, the soldier was in deep pain. He could not believe this was happening, he didn't want to believe it. Falco's Titan came over closer, also extremely upset. The boy felt very lost, and guilty.
The Wall Titans that were roaming around the region had already paid attention to them. This amount of Shifters in only one place had instantly attracted the mindless monsters. They came over, ready to feast. Armin was down on his knees, staggered, his brain couldn't even think properly with the amount of anger and grief that he felt. He rapidly stood up again as the first Wall Titan approached. Hitting the thing up on its chin with that enormous leg the goddess had left behind.
Armin began to use it as a weapon, to swiftly take out all those Wall Titans around them. He was tired of losing his friends in an endless and nonsensical cycle of violence. The man was broken and angry. His grief cut deeper when he thought of all those people who had already died on that island in only those past two days.
"This is my fault," Falco's Titan let out, deeply upset.
"No, it's not," Mikasa told him firmly, but softly as she held the side of his Titan's face.
The Titan then softly dragged some earth with its claw, to gently cover the body, showing his respect.
Jean was kneeling near it, sobbing in much pain.
The other two Jaw Titans finally approached again, standing next to Maria's Titan, clearly understanding the significance of the situation. But also rightfully apprehensive about the amount of Wall Titans slowly approaching the area.
"They don't care about us, there's nothing inside our Titans," Porco noted. "But you, Reiner and Arlert are in serious danger here," he told Falco.
"Even the humans are, those things are Pure Titans," Marcel added.
"We need to leave," Maria concurred.
Mikasa gently walked towards Kirstein. "We should take you somewhere safe," she told him softly while holding his shoulder. And he abruptly stood up again. "What?" Jean asked back aggressively.
"Do you think I want to lose you too?" Mikasa questioned, deeply upset, she was avoiding to look at the mangled body. "It hasn't been a month since we buried Sasha!" she reminded him.
Jean walked towards her firmly. "I'm standing my ground and finishing the mission," he strongly affirmed. "We are going to kill that thing."
"Don't be stupid, Jean," Maria's Titan warned him severely.
And he walked towards her. "Ok, do you want to leave me somewhere safe?" he questioned, turning again to Mikasa as well. "Then tell me what place is there on this wretched island that is still safe," he argued and was met with silence.
The Colossal Titan approached them solemnly, he dropped his arm down, positioning it next to Jean.
ϟ "Stab me with your swords." ϟ He said.
Jean looked at him confused, but eventually did as he had been told. Kirstein stabbed the Colossal Titan's arm with both his ODM swords. And was a little startled to see them glowing underneath its skin. He took the swords out again and they were completely coated in titan crystal, just like Mikasa's. He looked down at the swords then up at his friend, and the Colossal Titan nodded at him.
Marcel's Jaw Titan then rapidly climbed up to the Colossal Titan's shoulder. "What now?" Marcel asked.
ϟ "We go again." ϟ He replied.
The Colossal Titan stood up once more, as Maria's and Porco's Jaw Titans also climbed on its back rapidly. Followed by Mikasa and Jean who also climbed up using their ODM gears.
Falco took a moment, he finished burying Connie's body and hoped it wouldn't be disturbed by any of those Titans roaming around. He then climbed on the Colossal Titan as well, as his wings were still regenerating. They then set off, to meet with Reiner and Pieck, and find that monster again.
-.-
The Queen's farm
Levi came crashing down on the side of that building, bringing the stranger down with him after they had fallen off that window. He then jumped up again, securing himself upwards with his ODM grappling hooks, while the intruder kept falling. Az quickly took out a small dagger from under his armour and used it to hitch onto the wooden wall of the building. He pierced the dagger through, slashing down to the ground while also trying to grab onto something. And despite helping slow him down, this act still didn't prevent him from hitting the ground hard.
Before he could recover himself, the Ackermann jumped down on top of him, holding that stranger's face down with his foot. Levi pressed his boot down, almost dislodging his helmet. Az then took Levi's leg with both his hands and threw him off, making the uncle fall completely unbalanced. They both stood up simultaneously and Levi took out his swords again, rushing towards him. The stranger began to defend his lunges with only that small dagger he had, deflecting and trying to steal one of Levi's swords. Or perhaps disarm him completely.
'This is much worse than any training we ever had before,' he thought, secretly feeling like a teenager again. 'I don't think you ever bullied me this much,' Az also thought, trying his best not to permanently injure his favourite uncle.
They continued to fight across that field, while bullets flew inside that building and the fallen dirigibles burned away not far from where they were. The one Marlean dirigible left had retreated slightly, only hoping that their soldiers already inside of the building could finish the mission and bring back the Queen's head once and for all. Inside the orphanage, the Marlean and the Eldians fought in a strong crossfire, both hoping the orphan children wouldn't get caught in it.
Az accidentally slashed through Levi's left arm with the veteran's own sword. The cut was deep and was bleeding out rapidly which left the nephew staggered and the uncle vexed. Levi pounced on him, taking away his ODM sword from that stranger's hands and then trying to decapitate him at all costs. Their struggle was intense, but Az finally overtook him. He pushed the older Ackermann down into the grass, lunging on top of him to finally immobilise him.
They locked into each other's eyes. Face to face over that field, as Az held him down strongly with a sword over his neck. Levi was angry, trying to reach his sword again, struggling. But also confused as that stranger stared deep into his eyes, with clear hesitation and innocence. The Ackermann couldn't understand why that Marlean soldier was suddenly so conflicted.
Levi tried to reach for his sword but Az pressed into that gashing wound in his upper arm and he growled in pain. The stranger pushed him down again, into the grass, bringing the sword closer to his neck as a warning. "You are going to pay for that," Levi strongly threatened.
'I know,' Azzy thought, but he still didn't move. Levi was completely immobilised as they both laid on that grass. The man had successfully pinned him down. But the Ackermann wouldn't give up, he continued to struggle. 'Don't make me kill you,' Az thought, pressing him down harder into the ground.
Suddenly the small boy came rushing out from that screen door, with the newborn baby in his arms. The Queen had met little Azzy in those corridors, and in her deep pain and delirium she gave him Ymir, asking for the boy to use his strange powers to keep her newborn daughter safe. The boy walked towards the two struggling Ackermanns with much excitement. And Azymondeus lifted his head up, in absolute stagger.
The small toddler only tilted his head with much innocence as his eyes stared deep into his much older self eyes. Azzy looked down at the precious small girl sleeping peacefully in his arms with a large smile. He began to build up his bright blue energy, and looked up at his older self again. Still smiling, almost as if giving him a farewell.
Azymondeus could not believe this was happening, he couldn't believe he was about to be defeated by his child self. The toddler began to disappear into his own energy, carrying the baby away with him.
"No!" he exclaimed, but it was clearly too late. The boy had jumped off.
He finally realised while chasing in his deep memories that he knew something like this had happened before. Azymondeus was baffled, he had just been betrayed by his own younger self. He had lost, and he felt lost.
In all his confliction he absolutely forgot that he was supposed to be pinning that Ackermann down, and Levi swiftly took control again. Turning the fight on him: pinning him down and now holding the sword over his neck. Levi was determined to kill that man, he was exhausted and extremely vexed at that relentless Marlean soldier.
Levi pinned his head down with much force and in doing so, the helmet of the stranger finally came off. Those conflicted and innocent eyes looked even more lost while staring straight at his uncle. Levi stopped, confused. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to slash that man's throat.
"I'm sorry," the nephew said and Levi became stunned as he saw all that otherworldly light.
Az built up his energy and swiftly jumped away, making Levi face plant straight into that green grass.
The Ackermann raised himself up with difficulty, absolutely confused after all that madness. That man's face had given him an eerie feeling down his stomach, and that otherworldly energy that had made him disappear made Levi's eerie feeling grow even more. The Ackermann stayed there, in that grass field, completely confused.
-.-
Flying over the Rose Region
"Ok, it seems the worst is over, so let's touch down," Agent O-7 noted after they had finally found an area free of Wall Titans. "I need to put that down below," he added, pointing at the geranium petals on top of Onyankopon's lap.
"Yes, please," young Onyan agreed. He had been extremely nervous while carrying those dangerous stones during that messy flight. "Where will you put them?" he curiously asked after the plane landed on an open field.
Danso gently took the flower-shaped disk from Onyan's hands. "I'll secure it down in the engine, with the plane's own iceburst stone," he explained, and turned to the passengers. "You can stretch your legs if you want, but this won't take long," the pilot informed.
The group stood up and hung around next to the open cargo door, a little apprehensive but also talkative. Eren stayed further away, watching them chat about the end of the world. He wasn't in the mood for talking, he just wanted to finally get to that farm.
The agent opened the hatch underneath the pilots' seats and went crawling down below, to the small engine room.
The space was a little claustrophobic, full of machinery and with just enough space for engineers to check and do repairs in the airplane's complicated system. Danso crawled closer to the heart of the engine, ready to secure the disk with a couple of spare seat belts so the stones wouldn't fly around once the plane took off again.
He immediately felt a presence next to him. But before he could react, he felt the cold metal of a gun barrel next to his head.
"Please, finish it," Floch ordered. As the pilot had suddenly stopped securing the stones once he had noticed that he wasn't alone in that small room.
The Yeagerist pressed the gun closer to his head. "We wouldn't want for this air machine to blow up before time, now would we?" he added in mockery.
"How the fuck did you get on my plane?" Danso asked him gravely.
The agent immediately reached down for his own gun, but found nothing. He was defenceless since Leonhart had confiscated his futuristic pistol. He also considered fighting, but that space was too small for him to be able to immobilise the stowaway. And he knew moving erratically so near the plane's engine wouldn't be very wise.
"Don't try anything funny, it won't end well for you, or for the others outside," Floch warned, pressing the gun on his head again. "Come on, move," he ordered.
Danso finished securing the stones and slowly crawled back out, with the Yeagerist following right behind him, still threatening him with the gun.
"I knew there was someone in there!" Hitch exclaimed. They were all startled. She turned to Gabi, "I told you we weren't alone," Hitch added nervously.
"How are you still alive?" Onyankopon exclaimed in pure confusion, as Floch had been one of the rebels who had been counted as dead after the struggle down in the Harbour.
"Salt water is good for grazing wounds, quite painful though," Floch replied while holding the pilot by the collar, bringing Danso back closer to him. He had the gun aimed straight at the back of the pilot's head.
Annie abruptly moved to walk forward, wanting to take Floch down, but Onyankopon held her back by the arm and shook his head at her. He knew this wouldn't be wise, their pilot's life was in serious danger.
"Come on, Floch, you clearly haven't thought this through," Eren gravely noted, walking a couple of steps closer and hoping to negotiate with him.
"Get out," Floch simply ordered, walking forward with Danso.
"Are you gonna kill our pilot, you dumbass? If you do that we'll all be stranded here waiting for Titans to eat us!" Hitch argued strongly.
"You'll be stranded here, I'm flying away," Floch replied with an angry smile.
"Fine. I don't mind taking you with me, just let them go unharmed," Danso told him, still feeling the cold metal pressing against his head.
Floch only brought him closer. "Shut up," he whispered threateningly.
The group began to walk outside as Floch approached closer to the cargo door with his hostage.
"I'm not letting you or any other Marlean kill our goddess," Floch told the pilot as they walked forward. "I'm not letting you ruin everything. Get out!" He firmly ordered to the pilot and to the others.
"Are you going to fly the plane yourself?" Onyankopon asked, confused.
"You said it," Floch reminded him while tilting his head, "'it's pretty easy.'"
"To take off, not to land," young Onyan clarified nervously.
"I'm not planning on landing," Floch replied.
"Where are you going?" Annie questioned.
"Where do you think? I'm bringing these petals as a gift to the continent. I heard they can level a whole city," Floch told her and turned to the pilot. "How about storming the capital?" he suggested.
"Are you out of your mind?" Hitch questioned, baffled, as Gabi hid behind her.
"Do you think I would help you make this more of a mess than it already is?" Danso questioned. "You must be stupid." He affirmed.
"Don't make me kill you," Floch threatened him, pushing the gun into his head again.
"Oh, you better kill me, otherwise I'm gonna rip your intestines and choke you to death with them," the agent stoically threatened while staring straight ahead.
"Come on, you gotta think this through," Onyan tried to argue. "So you blow up a Marlean city, what then? You're just going to make things worse for the island."
"It would make things even. I'm not just standing here while they invade us," Floch told them decisively. "I'm leaving them a statement, a mark. Going out with a bang. Taking them all to hell with me."
"And kill yourself? You clearly are stupid," Annie told him coldly.
"You don't get an opinion here, Leonhart," Floch told her firmly. "Do you even have any idea of how many people you killed?! Your own people. You disgust me."
Floch then turned to Eren, who had been looking down this entire time, Yeager was clearly reflective and conflicted. "And you," Flock said. "You are weak," he told Yeager with a look of deep disdain and disgust on his face.
And Eren walked forward threateningly, extremely vexed with his own creature; while Danso also slightly reacted, hoping to turn and immobilise the rebel. But Floch abruptly shot the pilot on the back of the head before he could properly turn.
They were all startled, some were stunned and others screamed with that sudden shot. Danso was dead.
The pilot fell down into the grass as a pool of blood immediately formed around him, and the Yeagerist swiftly pushed the button to close that automatic door, running inside. Floch was now alone in the airplane and he prepared himself to take off.
They rushed towards Danso, all very frightened and confused.
"This is all your fault!" Hitch angrily told Eren and pushed him backwards.
"How is it my fault?!" Eren contested, equality angry.
"You created him!" Hitch told him, even more angry. She pointed at the airplane, now completely closed off and clearly turning on.
Onyankopon looked upwards towards the air machine, worriedly. "Stand back!" he warned the others. "The engine-" he added, explaining, while bringing Danso's body back with him.
That futuristic motor was lighting up its cold fire and Eren thought fast, he quickly touched down into the earth and created a crystal arc to protect them. Eren was still debilitated, he also wanted to use that crystal to hold the airplane in place but he knew he wasn't strong enough. And his crystal arc almost melted down completely once the cold fires of the iceburst stone reached it. Still, it was able to protect the group.
Eren looked ahead, extremely upset as the plane successfully took off. His one chance to finally reach Historia was now gone. Yeager felt defeated.
The man was already down on his knees, and as he reached to clean the blood dripping from his nose he lost balance. And Gabi swiftly held him back in place, worriedly.
"Are-Are you alright?" the small girl asked him anxiously.
Eren looked up at her with pure anger. "Get off," he told her firmly.
Gabi understood and let go of him as Eren struggled to get up on his own. He cleaned even more blood dripping down from his nose and Annie came closer to him. "You've got to stop using all this crystal," she admonished him sternly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you wanted to die today, burnt by a plane engine," he complained ironically and angrily.
Onyankopon looked up to the sky as the airplane finally disappeared. "Where are you going?" he thought, conflicted.
Annie and Hitch walked closer to the pilot's body, both visibly disturbed. Annie kneeled down by his side, upset. His bright blue eyes were now completely empty, lifeless, and she felt eerie while staring at them so she closed his eyelids. Annie stayed there, very close to the stranger's body as her mourning cut deeper than she could ever expect. The Warrior was clearly profoundly moved by that death, and she felt guilty.
"We never even knew his name," Onyankopon commented, also extremely upset.
"I killed him," Annie revealed with watery eyes, which took Hitch by surprise as she'd never seen her friend getting emotional before.
"That's not true," Onyankopon softly replied, trying to console her. But Annie took out the gun she had confiscated from the pilot out of her belt, reminding him. "He couldn't defend himself," she said, her bright blue eyes full of grief and guilt.
Young Onyan remembered the pilot's own words, of how he was willing to die so they could have a better future. And that also cut him deeply.
The entire team was very lost. They felt confused and hopeless.
Annie held up that gun, staring at it for a moment, contemplating it all. Hitch took out her green cape and placed it over the dead man's face as a sign of respect. And they all stayed in silence for a moment.
The greeny region was peaceful, but they could all hear the Wall Titans walking in the distance. Those loud stomps were an eerie reminder that they weren't safe. That entire island was infested with Titans, all ready to feast. Many Eldians had already died that day. Perhaps not in a similar but in an equally violent way as Danso's terrible fate. Either eaten, burnt or shot, many had perished. Death was thriving in Paradise.
"Are we all going to die today?" Gabi asked, naively and anxiously.
Although the small twelve-year-old had been joyous in military missions prior to this, all this chaos was feeling much different. She had seen tragedy after tragedy in those past twenty-four hours alone. First Colt, then Niccolo, now this brutal murder right in front of her eyes. The young girl thought this exceptional agent was invincible. Now he was just nothing, motionless, dead.
The intensity and the danger of those past two days had been too much, the girl was desolated, and she wasn't the only one: the whole team had been deeply shocked with the events of the past few minutes. They not only had lost their pilot, but their way of transport and the dangerous geranium petals.
Annie stood up with determination after seeing how lost they all were. She gave the futuristic pistol to Onyankopon and turned to Gabi. "I'm not dying today," she firmly informed the girl, and the others.
The Warrior took out her small silver ring and began to walk forward. She turned to Eren for a moment. "You are next," she firmly noted, so Yeager could prepare himself as well and they could take turns. The Warrior looked around, thinking of the direction in which the airplane was going prior to all this, and planning her steps.
She put her ring on, after she had taken some distance from the others and slid out the small spike, gently cutting her finger. And the Female Titan exploded in transformation.
The beautiful creature rose up from the ground, still looking around and considering where to go.
Eren walked forward, towards the fellow Shifter as he still wiped some blood from his nose. "Come on," he called the others.
Onyankopon was clearly stunned, very impressed but also a little confused after witnessing that tiny woman transform into a Titan.
"You have never seen a Titan Shifter transforming before, have you?" Hitch asked, a little amused by his facial expression. And Onyan only shook his head slowly.
The Female Titan dropped down her hand next to them, and the team hopped onto it, securing themselves. She stood up and looked ahead again and young Onyan could tell what she was thinking about.
"Yes, we should just keep going southwest," Onyan confirmed to her and the Female Titan nodded. She then set off, taking them all in the direction of the farm.
-.-
Somewhere above the Forest of the Giant Trees
[ beyond the Maria Region ]
Old Onyankopon was following the conflict with the goddess from the distance. Flying his airship stealthily through the thick clouds, glad that Tremblay had completely forgotten about him. He could see that this monster was invincible and that perhaps Azymondeus had been right. Perhaps the only way was to kill her in her infancy. The old man was conflicted. 'No,' he thought. 'There must be another way.'
He could hear Tremblay and the others over the radio, discussing about sending more airships to the Queen's location, as it seemed that chaos had erupted there and they hadn't been able to kill her, or the baby, yet.
Apparently a rogue dirigible had arrived and had brought reinforcements to the Eldian army down below. And had somehow managed to take down two of their airships simultaneously. 'Hange,' old Onyankopon thought with a small smile. He hadn't thought of his old friend in many years.
Tremblay decided to send seven more airships to that location, frustrated with their incompetence. "It's only one woman in an orphanage! In a rural area. Get it done," he ordered. The other soldiers abided and old Onyankopon decided to also follow back to that region.
-.-
The Colossal Titan and his companions were absolutely surrounded. They had been running west, in the general direction in which they expected the giant goddess to have gone. But they hadn't spotted her again, which was making Armin even more frustrated. That was the least of their problems however, as they were now overwhelmed by Wall Titans all around them.
The Phoenix Titan had followed the goddess straight away, and she hadn't returned, which made them more worried. The Colossal Titan, the Armoured Titan and all the four Jaw Titans were fighting the incredibly large amount of Wall Titans that had surrounded them, together with the two small soldiers who flew around on Falco's back. The current Jaw Titan had finally regenerated its wings, which was now somewhat helpful.
Jean and Mikasa both had crystal swords, which made slicing those large Titans' napes a little easier, and the fact that this crystal didn't wear out like regular ODM swords was also helpful. But although they had unlimited blades, they didn't have unlimited gas. They couldn't fight forever. The two soldiers did their best to save up gas by riding on Falco and hopping around between the other Jaw Titans as well.
The Jaw Titans would hop around from Colossal Titan to Colossal Titan, expertly gnawing on their napes and taking them down. The Armoured Titan was using its crystallised fingers, climbing on top of the giant Titans and ripping their necks away from behind. And the actual Colossal Titan was ripping their heads off completely, one by one.
They were slowly making their way, freeing themselves from that enormous herd that had found them. And hoping they would finally move on from that area before even more Wall Titans took notice of them. The scenery was dry and dusty, as the midday sun arrived and more and more Wall Titans fell disintegrating on the grassy ground - catching the vegetation on fire, turning the once beautiful fields of that island into a living hell.
"Is that a child?" Porco's Jaw Titan asked, baffled and confused as they gnawed and killed the Wall Titans.
A small boy had suddenly appeared in that field, out of nowhere. And he was carrying something small in his arms.
"It's a child with a baby," Maria's Jaw Titan noted.
"How did they get here?" Marcel's Jaw Titan questioned, confused. As that entire area had been stomped and flattened, if the boy had been there initially, he would have already been crushed long before they all arrived.
Maria's Titan just ignored Marcel's questioning and moved on to continue gnawing the Titans. They all had their hands full.
Azzy walked around confused and frightened in that field of Titans, the boy was looking for his mother. He held the sleeping baby closer to him, looking very scared. Ymir however, slept soundly through all that noise and chaos, the newborn felt very safe in her cousin's arms.
The boy's father had noticed him right away, Armin could sense his son's otherworldly jumps and track him down everywhere with his own otherworldly powers. The Colossal Titan was doing his best so that the boy wouldn't suffer any harm in that Titan battlefield. The boy kept wandering aimlessly as Wall Titans fell all around him, he began to cry. All the noise and dust, all the fire and the immense destruction were terrifying him.
ϟ "Mikasa!" ϟ the Colossal Titan warned as he held yet another Titan from falling over where the little boy was standing. Azzy looked up at his father and at the other Colossal Titans, very frightened. He clutched the baby even closer into his arms.
Mikasa looked towards the direction the Colossal Titan's eyes were showing her and she startled. The mother then immediately used her ODM gear and flew down in the direction of the small boy.
"How did you get here?!" she anxiously asked the boy as she came down.
"Mummy!" the boy cried for his mother, running closer to her.
Mikasa kneeled in front of him and saw the newborn baby in his arms, which startled her even more. The mother began to think very fast, trying to suppose how things ended up this way and how her boy had arrived there with this newborn baby.
She knew the orphanage was under attack by the Marlean forces, and she had been fearing for Azzy's safety ever since she had learned of it. She began to wonder if Hange's team hadn't arrived there in time, and if that sudden attack and all the stress had made Historia give birth prematurely. She then feared for her dear friend's life, trying to understand how this newborn had ended up with Azzy in the first place. Mikasa suddenly feared that not only Historia but the whole orphanage had perished and that somehow Azzy had gotten away. She began to feel very anxious and nervous.
All of that supposition troubled the mother deeply, but she couldn't mull that over for too long. Titans were all around them and she needed to act. All she wanted in that moment was to protect her child and that fragile baby in his arms.
"Mummy, help!" the small toddler pleaded.
Mikasa put her swords away and held the boy's shoulders, softly but sternly. She leaned down and looked deep into his eyes. "Listen to me: everything is going to be just fine," the mother promised in a soft tone as giants were falling all around them. "Just hide. I need you to hide," she told the boy.
Azzy lunged closer to her. "But I want to be with you," the toddler pleaded, extremely scared. But Mikasa held him firmly back.
"I know, I know," the mother replied, soothingly. "Just hide. Go to the safest place that you can think of," she told him. "The safest you can reach! And I'll be there for you when this is over. I promise you, baby boy," Mikasa held her tears. "Everything will be okay, sweetheart," the mother told him softly.
She kissed her son's forehead and fixed the baby's blanket, checking to make sure the newborn was fine. Baby Ymir was sound asleep in the toddler's arms.
"I'll see you soon," Mikasa said, holding up his chin and the boy nodded.
The toddler then started to slowly build up his energy. Mikasa was still looking deep into his eyes as she saw that otherworldly energy coming from within his dark pupils - making them completely white. He disappeared in front of her eyes in a multitude of blue light. Taking the small newborn with him, holding Ymir in his arms.
-.-
The Queen's farm
Levi stood up again, trying to stop the bleeding from his arm. He looked up to see that airship flying down closer to the building and ran inside.
There were more airships coming as well, they could already be seen in the distance. The Ackermann walked fast into the building, trying to shoot any Marleans that he found. The children had been locked down in the basement, for their safety which gave the veteran relief as he walked around the ground floor to see many of the servants, some nuns and all the medical staff now executed on the ground.
Levi kept going to the upper floors, looking for targets, feeling increasingly more angry and upset as he saw the state of that orphanage.
Queen Historia was being chased around on the third floor, still relatively close to her Royal quarters. She could hear all the shooting and screams down below as she ran through the corridors, which was also making the pregnant woman extremely angry. She reached for a rifle on the ground - that had been left next to the body of one of the guards, and held it up firmly. The Queen began to walk around attentively, looking for targets.
She shot three Marlean soldiers that were following and shooting at her and kept going. Historia walked down the stairs to the second floor with difficulty and then looked up through the window to see what was casting that shadow. The Queen could see that airship now right on top of the building, with not only more soldiers jumping down from it, but also clearly preparing to drop down bombs as well.
Historia quickly thought about it as she ran down the stairs and the next stairs again. She shot a couple more soldiers with that rifle and ran outside. The Queen knew that they were after her and she hoped that her presence in that field would divert their attention to her and they would stop attacking the building.
She felt deep sorrow as she ran out, Historia had refurbished and expanded her own childhood home to make it into a home for the orphan children from all over the Walls. It had been one of the first actions into her reign and was followed by many other orphanages that she then inaugurated all over the island. But this one held a special place in her heart, and was now being absolutely destroyed because of her. She just hoped the children were safe.
The Queen ran across the field and eventually stopped beneath her mother's favourite tree. She held up the rifle and waited for the enemies to follow her, quite fiercely. She sat down on the grass, trying to contain her contractions while still holding up the rifle. Ready to attack, or better yet: to defend herself, and her baby.
Shadis and the cadets were successfully making their way up that building while Hange was following them closely behind. Although they had killed, injured and disarmed most of the Marleans inside, there were now even more coming down from that airship. The team arrived on the roof and began to fire at the new intruders, hoping they would have enough ammunition to handle all of them.
Firing at them wasn't very difficult, as many were being shot dead before they could jump down from the airship, as they were easier targets that way.
The captain aboard that airship was getting increasingly concerned. He was losing his men fast and he could see the reinforcements arriving in the distance. He didn't want the shame of losing to those filthy Eldians, the captain knew he was going to be berated by his comrades once they arrived at that farm. So, he sent the order for his soldiers to retreat and the few still left in the airship did not jump down.
The airship began to go upwards again. And Shadis and the rest of his team looked up at it confused. The old Commandant became puzzled as to what they would do next.
Louise looked towards the Commandant in pure resentment, she had found her moment. Most of the other cadets were distracted, at least the ones who were not on her side. She swiftly pointed the gun at Shadis and he turned to her slightly confused, but not entirely surprised.
"What do you think you're doing, soldier?" he gravely questioned her, in pure military fashion.
"You killed our leader. You don't deserve being on this Earth anymore," she hissed back at him in pure anger. And shot him.
Louise had been waiting for that moment of revenge since they had left the harbour. The young soldier was vexed since in her perspective, the Commandant had killed Floch unfairly and had humiliated him and their whole faction.
It all happened very fast. Commander Hange finally arrived on that roof to see the young girl shooting at her fellow veteran. She didn't think twice before pulling out her own gun and shooting at the girl. Louise immediately fell on that roof with a bullet in her chest. The wound bled out and confused itself with the red of the scarf the young girl had stolen from her hero. The last thing she saw were those bright lights and fire all around her and the airship flying upwards and away. Louise was dead, and soon they would all be too.
Hange ran towards Shadis as the old man fell on his knees, also with a bullet lodged into his chest. But before she could reach him, the airship released three bombs that set off all around them, completely destroying that roof.
The captain of that airship knew very well how unethical all this was. He knew there were young children in that building, but he didn't want to lose and he didn't care anymore. Besides, in his mind, those were only Eldian children and they don't really count as humans. He lifted up that airship into the air after dropping a fourth bomb and took some distance from all the explosions so as not to damage the heavy vehicle.
Levi had finally arrived at the roof as well, as the bombs were reaching down. That first blast had knocked Hange out and she was falling fast through that roof. So he swiftly flew towards her with his ODM gear, quickly passing through the flames to catch her. Some of the younger and more agile cadets were able to fly down from the building in time, but many also perished. Shadis' heart could not take those blasts, his cardiac arrest only added to the pain and destruction that bullet had caused to his insides. The veteran died even before his body hit the ground.
Some cadets died mutilated by the blast, others died burnt by the flames. Regardless, all their bodies fell down through that destroyed roof, together with the bodies of the Marleans they had just killed. Louise's body hit the ground of the fourth floor and so did Shadis' and all the others. Many lost under the flaming rubble. And Levi fell through all the rumble as well, holding Hange in his arms and desperately looking for any sturdy pillar where he could latch his ODM hooks into, but all that they grabbed immediately broke down as well. The building was made of wood, and it was burning down fast. Levi and an unconscious Hange fell through it again, as the fourth floor collapsed into the third.
The fourth bomb was not directed to that roof, but to the lower one on the side. The orphanage had a side - ground level only - building, which housed their large kitchen. That particular structure also housed the orphanage's basement. The children were all terrified with the extremely loud noise. It shook the earth like the earthquakes of the night before and also pulled apart some of the dirt from the stone walls. They all held each other very close together as one of the young nuns rushed up to the entrance, she couldn't force the door open. The building on top of them had been completely destroyed, and they were now trapped underneath all that flaming rubble.
The Queen looked at all that destruction with extreme desperation as she sat underneath that tree. The whole building was in flames. Historia couldn't help but cry.
- Year 874 - Mitras, the Royal Palace
[ the night before the coronation ]
Ezra took the crown on his hands for a moment, very reflective. He put it down again and turned to look at himself in that mirror, quite contemplative about his life. He suddenly felt a presence close to him, he saw the reflection of a woman further behind him in the mirror. Which startled him and made him turn rapidly and look behind him.
The prince was not used to seeing ghosts and he didn't get a good glimpse of the apparition, but deep down he knew exactly who had just paid him a visit. The man looked down in grief. "It was never supposed to be me, it was always supposed to be you. I'm sorry that I took your crown," he told his dear sister.
His mother walked in, hearing the very last part. "Oh, darling, but it looks so good on you," Historia joked. She walked closer and put her hands over the crown, also contemplative. She turned to him with a smile. "Are you training for tomorrow? Have you tried it on?" the mother asked.
"Are you sure you're ready to let it go?" Ezra joked, a little embarrassed.
"Deary, I'm tired. I've been doing this for more than twenty years. Even before you were born," the mother explained, clearly exhausted. "I've had my share, now it's your turn," she suggested with a smile. Historia held up the heavy crown.
"I'm sorry they had to enlarge it for my big head," he joked as they both examined the old thing.
"They were only fixing it, they had to adjust it to fit my small head all those years ago," his mother joked back, quite amused.
Historia thought about it. "Did you know, the last time it was worn - before me - it was over a hundred years ago?" she told her son curiously. The Queen continued, looking into the metal object. "There were no coronations after that. You and Karl have similar circumferences," she noted while inspecting the rims and the readjustments. Historia let out a small chuckle.
"Do you ever feel bad for being related to so many awful people?" the young prince asked his mother.
Historia tilted her head, sweetly. She gently put the crown over his head. "What they were doesn't make me. I am my own person and that's what matters. And so are you," she held his shoulders firmly and affectionately after putting the mantle over him.
"You are going to do greatly, my dear," Historia told him as they both looked at their reflections in that mirror. "I can already see it," she added and Ezra finally smiled, still quite timidly. He looked down while holding her small hand near his shoulder. Historia looked at him quite affectionately, her son's timid smile was identical to his father's. "You look so much like your father," the Queen noted and Ezra looked up into the mirror again.
"And eerily like my father," she also added. "But that doesn't stop you from being your own person," the Queen firmly told him and her son nodded in deep agreement. Ezra had no doubts as to who he was. But he had doubts of his true right to be standing there, with that metal object on his head.
"Don't you think she would do better than me?" he genuinely asked his mother, while taking the crown from his head and putting it to the side. "I was never born for this," he reminded his mother.
"Oh, my darling, there's no way of knowing," Historia replied, upset. She fixed up his mantle very motherly and looked down.
There was not a day gone by that she didn't think about her firstborn. Ymir was frequently in both of their minds. Their family had lived in grief for many years. "Don't be worrying about that," she gently advised. Historia turned Ezra to the mirror again. "Just think, wherever she is now, she's watching over us. And I'm sure she's proud of you," the mother declared with a sweet smile.
'Yes,' Ymir agreed, watching over them through that tree of light. The lonely soul was filled with somber sadness, she only wished she could be there with them. Ymir longed deeply for her family.
The Queen's farm
[ Year 854]
Historia cried in desperation as the orphanage burned down. She let go of the rifle and looked up to the skies, crying in pure anguish and despair, underneath that tree. She could feel the pain increasing again, the mother was about to give birth once more. The Queen held her stomach as the contractions became stronger and stronger, but before he could come into the world, her boy gave her a present. Historia rested her back on that tree trunk, breathing heavily, trying to endure the pain. When suddenly, her eyes became completely black.
The Queen was able to reach the Founder powers within her, unknowingly and instinctively. She screamed very loud with the pains of labour. Unearthly loud. And as she screamed, every Eldian in a two kilometres radius was transformed into a Pure Titan. The Last Founding Titan was creating an army of protection for his mother and for himself before coming out into the world.
The surviving young cadets and Royal Guards were running out of the building and looking for ways to stop the flames so they could possibly rescue others inside. When they all suddenly exploded in transformation all over that field. And not only them but also many soldiers inside that airship, to the surprise of that captain and the other Marleans on board. Not that they didn't know that there were soldiers among them with Eldian blood, they just didn't expect that they could transform like that.
The airship was completely destroyed as the now Pure Titans fell down through the air. And the same happened to the seven airships coming in the distance. They all exploded with those intense titan transformations as all of them also had Eldian soldiers inside. The Pure Titans began to walk around the fields, leisurely picking up and eating any Marleans that had survived the crashes of the eight airships.
Historia's eyes were completely dark, blackened. The Queen's screams also affected a few villages nearby, as the radius of her power only increased as her own pain and screams became stronger. Those transformations were actually a good thing for those villagers, as becoming Titans themselves stopped them from being eaten or trampled by the Wall Titans all around them.
Levi held Hange closer to him in the flaming rubbles of that third floor. He could see a deep gash over her temple and he became very worried. They were both with a few burns as well, and he could tell she was deeply unconscious. The fifth and the fourth floors of that building had been destroyed by those bombs, but so far, where they were was still holding steady as some of the structure was made of stone.
The Ackermann could see all the dead bodies all around him, so he held Hange even closer to make sure she was still breathing. Levi then looked to the fields once he heard Historia's screams, to see all those guards then turning into Pure Titans, and all the airships in the sky exploding apart with many more Titans falling from them. And even more and more explosions in the far distance. It was a true nightmare.
Apart from the children and the nuns underneath the earth, who were trapped in that basement and couldn't hear anything. And Commander Hange and any other Eldian who was unconscious at that moment, all of the humans with Eldian blood who could hear Queen Historia's screams transformed into pure, mindless Titans.
Levi looked around, completely perplexed at that living nightmare. The Ackermann had been left alone to fight in a field of Titans.
-.-
The Crystal Dimension
The toddler appeared in that odd, but beautiful dimension, coming from within his own otherworldly blue light. He carried a small newborn girl in his arms, the boy walked around that green grass and pinkish crystals holding the small girl even closer into his arms. Azzy felt a little lost, and also a little scared. There was something eerie about that place and even at that tender age, he knew he wasn't supposed to be there. He felt unwelcome and he had no idea of how he had arrived in that strange dimension.
Ymir had been sleeping on his arms for some time now. The newborn had been alive for a few hours at this point, three to be exact. She was now slowly waking up, for she was a little hungry and the hard palpitations of her cousin's heart were bothering her a little bit. Azzy's heart was beating fast, for he didn't know where he had ended up and also wasn't sure of how to get out of it. The toddler was nervous, he brought the newborn closer to his chest again and she became more bothered by his nervous heart. Ymir woke up, and began to cry, she cried extremely loudly.
The place was very eerie and Azzy immediately feared calling the attention of wild creatures, but he soon realised that they were alone in there. Although he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, he could tell there was nothing really alive in that place. The dimension was made of soft clouds, green and blue vegetation and many, many crystals that reflected many colours all around them. But nothing in there was alive, at least not in the perspective of that two- almost three-year-old.
The newborn continued to cry as he walked with her aimlessly through that dimension, Azzy felt very lost, he didn't know what to do. He eventually spotted that small tree in the distance and began to walk towards it. The thing was little and looked quite cosy. It stood at not even one metre tall and its roots formed quite a nice design, it looked like a bassinet with a small pool of crystal clear water between them. The waters reflected all those beautiful colours from all that dimension and also reflected the boy and the small crying newborn as they approached it. Azzy looked into it very attentively and tilted his head, thoughtfully. He then put the crying baby into the pool and she immediately stopped crying, her expression became more soothing.
He could see Ymir was going back to sleep again, much more calm now, so he sat next to the pool, watching over her from between the roots. He held his knees with his arms and put his head down, cold and silent, just watching over as the newborn slept.
Those waters accepted that offering quite nicely, and those two souls' destinies were changed forever.
-.-
Somewhere in Paradise
The airships' troops were hovering over the Paradisian sky, looking for the monster, and for the Warriors somewhere east of Shiganshina. They were having no luck, for their battalion was quite large, but their airships were very slow and they hadn't spotted anyone in the distance yet. Tremblay then received some more problematic news.
"Sir, they are eating us! Please, help!" one of the soldiers informed through the radio in pure agony. After all the eight airships were destroyed by the titan transformations near the Queen's farm, one of the soldiers had reached a functioning radio that had survived its airship's crash.
"This is unbelievable!" Tremblay shouted back through the radio in pure complaint, as he realised this was yet again a report from the farm mission. "How haven't you been able to kill this woman?! It's just one tiny, insignificant queen we are talking about," he complained to the soldier over the radio, absolutely vexed.
"Sir, one thing we all have forgotten," the man replied, crying. "This is the Queen of the Eldians we are talking about. She sent her Titans to kill us! Everyone one, all the Eldians, even the ones in the ships. They're eating us, they're eating us," he repeated desperately. "We are all dead, everyone is dead, please help."
The broken man's plea was heard all over that airship, and in many others and the signal then cut off suddenly. Those had been his last words, the soldier was eaten as well.
"Damn Eldians," Tremblay let out, frustrated.
There was sudden silence among the crew.
"Sir, what do we do?" First Officer Carlisle then turned to ask his superior, disturbed and concerned.
Old Onyankopon had also heard all that, so he immediately entered in contact with the lead ship. "Tremblay, this is Quail," the old man informed through the radio.
"Ah, Quail," Tremblay replied. He only knew that old man by his codename. "I was wondering where you were. Are you there?" he questioned, "in the location," the army man added.
"No, but I'll soon approach it," Old Onyan replied. "How many Eldians do you have in these ships?" he gravely questioned.
"About a third of the crew in each ship is probably Eldian, cheap labour is hard to come by these days," the army man informed and complained. "But don't worry, I won't let any vermin destroy my ships," Tremblay firmly told Quail and everyone else listening.
"Attention, anyone who is an Eldian must leave these airships immediately, and don't hide your marked badges," Tremblay warned firmly to all airships over the radio.
"Are you saying we should evacuate, Sir?" First Officer Carlisle nervously asked his superior and Tremblay nodded. The young man then held his star badge upsettingly. "Are we allowed to take parachutes?" he quietly asked.
"Sure," Tremblay replied coldly. "You're lucky there's enough for the lot of you," he added, with two small slaps to the young man's face.
Carlisle looked down, clearly nervous and upset. The prospect of ever becoming a Titan had never even crossed the young soldier's mind, much less being eaten by one. He was terrified.
"Hey, you might get lucky and not even turn into one. And if you hide well enough, they might not kill you," Tremblay tried to ease his First Officer's mind. "If you survive this, you Eldians can stay and live on this cursed island you all love so much," he told Carlisle and the other soldiers who were already preparing to jump.
"I'm Marlean, Sir," the First Officer replied, proudly reminding Tremblay where he had been born.
"No, you're not," Tremblay retorted condescendingly. "None of you will ever be," he told Carlisle and the others. "Bunch of cursed monsters," he added under his breath in pure disgust as he firmly walked through the deck.
"Open the gates!" he firmly shouted, ordering the soldiers so the cursed Eldians could be evacuated. All the marked soldiers then began to jump out of those hundreds of airships, dropping in droves into Paradisian soil.
"It's time to end this," Tremblay firmly said, with arms crossed as he watched a third of his able-bodied battalion being whisked away from his hands. The army veteran was beyond vexed.
Old Onyankopon was soon approached about it on his own ship. "Sir, shouldn't we follow the order to evacuate?" one of the crew members quietly asked. "No," the old man replied, "and don't call me sir, there's no need. Just Quail is fine," Old Onyan told the young soldier. "We both know I have no ranking in your military," he added.
"But, sir. What if the Eldians transform? Won't we all be doomed then?" another crew member questioned nervously.
Old Onyankopon stood up with the help of his cane. "I won't send anyone mindlessly to their deaths. This island is infested with Titans," the old man said while calmly walking through the deck. "Just cover your ears to avoid your queen's scream," he told the Eldians onboard.
"Something tells me she won't be able to use that for long," he added, under his breath. Old Onyan was considering that the Queen had been using the prince's Founding powers somehow, which made him conclude that she hadn't given birth yet. And he was right.
Floch had heard all that over the radio as well, Tremblay's quick decision to send the Eldians to their doom deeply angered the Yeagerist. He considered looking for the battalion and decimating their whole lot with the powerful iceburst rays of that airplane. And he also considered going to aid the Queen.
The young soldier was not particularly sure of what path he should take. Regardless, there was one thing he knew well, and it was that he could never land that plane. He didn't know how and he wasn't completely sure of what to do next. He wasn't even sure if he was flying it correctly, but he kept going.
That was when he suddenly spotted the giant monster in the distance. It was truly enormous and it was flying low; with the airplane's speed, the creature soon became bigger and bigger into Floch's perspective as he was approaching it at such a high velocity. The creature took a swift and gracious dive into what appeared to be a giant hole in the ground, and that made the young soldier extremely confused.
The airplane finally reached the area to see the absolutely enormous crater tearing apart the earth. Floch looked down at it attentively, he had also spotted a smallish flying Titan following close behind the goddess. The Phoenix Titan was persistent in her pursuit.
The Queen's farm
It was finally over. After enduring the terrifyingly extreme pains of labour, Queen Historia finally gave birth again, underneath her mother's favourite tree. She finally smiled with deep relief as her eyes became purplish blue again. The Queen mustered the little strength she still had and reached down beyond her soaked and blooded nightgown and held up the incredibly small baby. Taking him away from among the blood filled green grass and its tiny golden flowers.
The tiny baby was crying very softly and she held him up with much joy, bringing his small face closer to hers. Historia closed her eyes and shed a small tear in pure happiness. Ezra stopped crying. She then chuckled sweetly once she felt the tiny child sniffing her intently. Historia opened her eyes and reached carefully to the musket, to take out the bayonet's sharp blade. She calmly put Ezra in between her knees and held up his afterbirth, holding the cord in two places she swiftly cut her son away from it and threw those blooded contents to the side.
"Alright, we need to get you cleaned," she softly and childishly told her small son while booping his nose. A deep feeling of eeriness and sadness suddenly came to the young mother. As she saw her son laying there safe in her lap, peacefully and gracefully moving his little arms and legs, trying to reach her, Historia suddenly realised Ymir wasn't there with her. The feeling of regret cut deep into her soul.
She looked around into the burning field and at the Titans walking all over it, and to the burning building in the distance. "I just hope your sister and your cousin are safe," she softly whispered, looking quite lost. Historia looked down to the baby and saw that sudden transparent drop fall into his small cheek and downwards to his chin. That liquid certainly wasn't blood, or any fluids left from the birth. And it wasn't a tear either. Historia looked up to see a thin rain falling over the farm. It indeed cleaned up her small baby son, and it also gently began to put out all the fires in that field and in that building. That rain had truly been Heaven sent.
The rain was thin, but cold. That had been a dry and cold Autumn morning that was now turning into an even colder afternoon. Historia held up her baby again, bringing him very close to her chest, deep inside her arms, to protect him from the rain and the cold. The mother was at her limit, she had no energy left. She had dealt with a sleepless night of pure labour pain, and two difficult premature births in those past three hours alone, in the middle of all that chaos. It was truly incredible that she had held herself together for so long, but she just couldn't anymore.
Historia softly laid her head on that tree trunk while embracing her baby son strongly, desperately yearning to hold Ymir too. She closed her eyes and inevitably fell asleep.
The odd crater - Maria Region
The Phoenix Titan was following the giant monster closely, but trying her best not to be detected. Ymir either didn't care for her, or was too busy inside her own thoughts to even notice that the small Titan was flying behind her.
The goddess could feel her brother had arrived, she could sense him clearly. So she was trying to concoct a plan to get close enough to him, or better yet: she was rushing to ask the devilish creature what she should do next. In the cursed dimension, her soul looked intently into her precious light tree, getting her next orders as the cursed light roots firmed themselves even further into her spine and her muscles. Ymir was under a deeply controlled spell, and she enjoyed it. All that death, the gruesome sacrifices, it all gave intense pleasure to her grieving mind. She wanted her revenge and she wanted much more. Ymir didn't care for the price she'd have to pay for it.
Pieck was deeply disturbed as she flew deeper and deeper inside that odd crater. The mutation of the land was gruesome and otherworldly. The strange bright colours radiating everywhere, the bizarre overgrown vegetation among the crystals; and the giant vermin mutated animals running around made an extremely unsettling sight for the Warrior.
She could hear that loud motor so she turned to see that one of the airplanes had appeared, following closely behind her. 'Good. Help me fight this thing,' Pieck thought, hoping this was one of the highly trained Special Ops fighters. The machine surpassed her quickly, but Pieck could tell it was stalling strangely, almost stopping. 'Perhaps it's damaged,' she also thought, and continued flying after it, and after the goddess.
The airplane and the Phoenix Titan eventually spotted an absolutely gigantic tree somewhere deep inside that crater and watched from the distance as the goddess approached it. The tree was over eight hundred metres tall and had a deep clear pool among its giant intricate roots. The three-hundred-metre Titan goddess looked a little smallish in comparison. She hovered over it strangely, slowly and graciously moving her wings until she stopped, letting her Titan's feet touch that otherworldly grass. Ymir landed in front of the pool, letting her wings rest for a moment.
'Is that where you came from?' Pieck correctly theorised as she flew quite a few hundred metres behind, cleverly shielding herself from view behind all that overgrown vegetation, hoping that demon goddess wouldn't spot her. The Warrior also observed the high velocity airplane just doing laps around that immense tree, also taking a distance. And flying extremely slowly when comparing to how fast she remembered those air machines were flying during their brief training a couple of weeks before.
'Is your motor really damaged? Why are you not attacking? The creature is vulnerable and it's right there! Are you afraid? Are your cannons busted? What are you planning?' All those thoughts came rushing through Pieck's mind as she observed the airplane mindlessly doing long laps, just watching the beast.
What she didn't know however, was that the pilot of that airplane was not one of the highly trained officers she had made friends with a couple of weeks prior. It was Floch, the Yeagerist and he had no intentions to kill the Eldians' goddess.
Pieck could see the giant beast reaching down into the giant clear pool. That's why she thought the creature was in a vulnerable moment and that it was the perfect opportunity to attack it. Ymir placed both her Titan's hands on the bottom of the two main roots to balance herself and took a dive; with only her Titan's face and some of her body under the clear water, and her long hairs floating above it.
The Warrior tilted her head. 'Are you drinking the water? Is that how you feed yourself?' Pieck questioned, beginning to theorise. And in her distraction, she failed to notice the tree behind her coming alive, and its own roots and branches quickly wrapping themselves around her Titan, making her completely immobilised. The strength of that otherworldly vegetation broke down the Phoenix Titan's crystal wings and it was beginning to break down her bones as well. Pieck couldn't move.
The roots and branches covered up her entire face, apart from a narrow spot across her Titan's eyes. The clever woman was paralysed, rapidly thinking of how to get out of that situation. She suddenly stopped struggling and the tree also stopped pressing her in, she was just then kept there, almost as if being kept as a snack for later. The reason why she stopped struggling was because Pieck was a little shocked and weirded out by what she was witnessing.
Ymir was not drinking that clear water, although it was indeed inevitably entering her facial cavities and streaming down into her Titan's oesophagus as she floated inside that pool. The goddess was instead concentrating deep inside her own mind, letting the otherworldly waters take her through space and time as she searched for her own self.
The Crystal Dimension
The toddler was almost falling asleep too, laying next to those intricate tree roots as he watched over his newborn cousin. Azzy eventually closed his eyes, only for a small moment, quite a regretful moment indeed. He turned over and rapidly tried to whisk the baby out of the pool as he saw those strange, tiny, bright blue light roots reaching all over the child. Ymir cried very loudly as those vermin roots attached themselves all over her spine and muscles, it was quite painful.
The newborn's eyes were infested by that bright blue light and she stopped crying, entering a full trance. Azzy reached desperately, trying to grab her and take her out of there. But as soon as the light roots were fully attached, a force field was created around the pool and the boy was thrown away quite a distance by that otherworldly energy. The newborn was trapped.
Azzy was thrown hard against the crystals and the vegetation, the boy hit his head. Deep inside his mind, he could see six strange men coming after him in the darkness of the night. Their faces only illuminated by the low flickers of a bonfire. They all had all kinds of sharp weapons and the toddler's body began to be strangely cut all over. In all the exact places he one day would be diced up to his death.
"Why did you kill her?" he could hear Ludvík's voice clear inside his mind, deep inside his nightmare as he laid in a pool of his own blood in a completely empty void. "You let me drown," he also heard, heartbreakingly.
The toddler was deeply unconscious, trapped inside an endless nightmare and he couldn't rescue his cousin from that terrible entrapment of her own. If only Azymondeus would wake up.
The odd crater - Maria Region
Pieck and Floch both witnessed the strange sight as the giant Titan jerked itself upward for a moment. Still holding firmly to the bottom of those large roots, it appeared to be in pain. Ymir held her giant face up again, coming out of the water. The Titan was breathing heavily, almost as if it had indeed drowned for a moment; she held both hands intensely into those large roots, even breaking the otherworldly wood in some places as she pressed down, trying to sustain her own pain.
The Titan's back muscles were jerking intensely and her spine began to light up while her wings were down, spreading themselves away. Suddenly they could see two very small hands coming through her spine, and then also two feet. Soon a whole body began to emerge from the goddess' lit up spine: a true, but smallish clone. The small Titan was only fifteen metres tall, and it looked like a strange tumour coming to life from the goddess' back.
They were still linked - spine to spine, as the smallish version of Ymir began to create a coat of crystal all around its body, to protect itself - just as the gigantic version of her had one. And soon her two wings were formed around her, also made of crystal feathers. Ymir had taken advantage of her own newborn presence into that pool. The smallish Titan opened its eyes as it fully detached itself from the giant spine. The small Ymir began to hover, a little confused, slowly moving its wings as if it was still learning how to fly.
The giant goddess stood up from that pool completely and flew away from the crater, with her tiny version following close behind. Ymir's attention was now divided into two Titans, but she didn't care, for this was what she needed to fulfil her plan - according to the Devil.
Floch was doing yet another lap, he looked down to that giant tree and all that otherworldly matter growing all around it. Deep down, he knew this was breaking his island apart and he felt deeply conflicted about it.
But if this was what was needed to destroy the world outside and finally bring victory to the Eldians, well, then in that case he believed the sacrifice to be worth it. The Yeagerist finished turning the plane and proceeded to follow the goddess, Floch wanted to make sure she wouldn't be harmed by the Marleans before the Rumbling could be fulfilled. The small plane continued to follow the giant monster, like a bodyguard.
Pieck was starting to lose her senses, that whole strange place was making her feel mad, confused. She could feel the roots and branches of that odd tree pressing her down, trying to crush her even more. The Phoenix Titan had had enough. She had been momentarily distracted by that horrid sight of the beast cloning itself; that duplication had been disturbing to witness, but now the monster and its minion were fleeing the cave and Pieck knew she had to follow.
The Phoenix Titan ignited its incredibly hot fire, setting its whole body ablaze and burning down her wooden confinement. The Titan fell forward, still in flames, burning away all the otherworldly vegetation around her. Pieck needed a moment so her crushed wings could regenerate themselves, but as soon as they did, she flew rapidly out of the crater as well.
It took some time but she eventually reached the mouth of the crater again, and flew out of that nightmarish wonderland. The Phoenix's eyes slowly adjusted to the midday sunlight once she flew out of the hole, she hovered above it for a moment. Pieck could see the giant Titan and the airplane flying on its tail, but she didn't see the tiny clone. The Warrior looked around the area for a moment, looking for it, but then decided to follow the giant beast instead.
The Queen's farm
Levi looked up through the thin rain to see those Abnormal Titans staring down below. The roof of the orphanage building was completely gone. The rain was slowly putting out the fires around them, and even though there was debris everywhere, he knew they couldn't exactly hide. He was holding an unconscious Hange in his arms and they were the only two people left alive in that partially destroyed third floor.
The fallen debris of burnt wood and tiles, and dislodged bricks was a good obstacle, it made it more complicated for the Abnormal Titans to reach down below. Some of them were quite small too, which made it more difficult for them to reach up to the third floor, so the cleverer ones began to look for other entrances. But a couple of taller ones could see and reach that destroyed floor clearly. And they began to pick up the corpses that were laying around on the third floor and then toss them into the fields, discarding the bodies once they could tell they were no longer alive.
Levi was clearly disturbed by that horrid side, as the Abnormal Titans flickered away those bodies as if they were spoiled food. And granted, that was exactly what they were in their lost, cursed minds. The Ackermann reached out for one of the small bricks that was still on fire, before the rain could put out those flames from it. He then pressed the flaming hot brick against his deep, gashing wound, cauterising it.
Burning his own flesh severely to stop the bleeding, just so he could properly move his arm and fight again. He then carefully dragged the unconscious Hange to a safer corner and jumped right into the closest Titan's nape. Swiftly killing it, even though the pain on his left arm was extremely strong as he moved his arms around to slash that flesh with his ODM swords. The Ackermann moved to the next tall one, and then down to the smaller ones who were looking over the lower windows of the second and first floors, or trying to get through the doors on the ground floor.
The ruins of the adjacent building were a more complicated story. Levi knew the children were trapped under all that, because he knew that basement was also considered as a potential bunker when the blueprints were made. To protect the orphan children, exactly in the case of a potential attack against the Eldian Queen, or another similar disaster.
Now, the Abnormal Titans were all over it, sniffing down the potential food hidden down below and moving away the rubble. Levi didn't have many advantage points, apart from the side wall of the taller, still standing, building. So moving with his ODM gear was complicated, the experienced fighter then resorted to cutting down the Titans' legs so he could reach their napes. And also using the Titans themselves as support to fly around closer to their napes.
It took a few minutes but the Ackermann eventually obliterated the Abnormal Titans around the orphanage building. Levi then looked towards the countless others just standing around or walking slowly through the fields. Those were all Pure Titans. The ones who went naturally looking for human flesh had all been Abnormals, the Survey Corps veteran could clearly tell that. These Pure Titans were a different story, they seemed more compliant. They genuinely looked like guards, a whole army safeguarding the Queen as she slept under that tree.
Levi waited, still breathing heavily, ready to keep fighting. But they showed no interest in him. So the Ackermann turned to the partially destroyed building again. He flew towards Hange once more and brought her down with him, and placed her over a badly scorched table in the rubble of that destroyed kitchen. He checked her wounds as the rain seemed to stop, hoping she would wake up. As the sun shone again, he looked towards the building, for it was shielding them from the light, casting a shadow over the destroyed kitchen.
The orphanage building was now completely empty - of Titans or people. And Levi just hoped the structure wouldn't collapse over that basement, trapping the children even more. The structure seemed to be holding together strong, so far, but the Ackermann knew he had to get Hange and the others out of there. He tried to think of how to do all that with all those Pure Titans infesting those fields. Levi sighed, extremely tired and feeling defeated.
The man felt lost and lonely, he was unable to find a solution. Levi just wanted to save all those people. He looked to those corpses spread around the field, that tossing had been cruel. One of the Pure Titans nonchalantly stepped over Shadis' body as it walked, and that made Levi feel completely defeated, once and for all. He turned to Hange over that table, looking broken. 'We are all going to die here,' the Ackermann thought.
Historia was sleeping quite deeply under that tree. She held Ezra firmly inside her arms, dreaming she was also holding Ymir too. Her small baby daughter smiled at her in her dream and that made Historia elated. She finally woke up, smiling as well. The Queen was still coming back to her senses, slowly processing her latest thoughts, and she could hear swooshing sounds. Historia soon realised that odd noise was what had woken her up. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the grass to see a shadow casting all over that tree and then looked up to see that strange Titan graciously hovering above her.
The beautiful Titan creature was slowly moving her crystal wings up and down, hovering above that tree. She had long bright blonde hair that fell graciously over her crystal coated body, and a quite simple female figure. The fifteen metres tall Titan was staring intently into the Queen's arms with her bright green eyes. She was staring lovingly at that sleeping baby boy, happy to have found him. Ymir then turned and met Historia's eyes. The Titan smiled sweetly at her mother, and Historia became absolutely terrified.
.
In the city of Mitras
The capital city of Paradise was now almost empty of people, but full of Titans. The big creatures roamed around, like guards, as the Underground was the main gateway above the Devil's cave. There were still a few thousands of humans trying to get out of the city, most of them upper class citizens who had refused to leave the day before, despite the constant warnings of the Underground citizens and of the Military Police.
Many had already died, trapped beneath the rubble of many tremors, or burnt in the many fires. The city was being split open by the constant earthquakes caused by the beast below. The Royal Palace was the only building that stood firm through all the tremors, for its recluse position in the city and more importantly: its stone base. Most of the Titans walking over the city were previous Founding Titans. And although they couldn't turn the small Eldians around them into Pure Titans; those ghostly Fritzs still had a minor command over the Wall Titans, who stood in the distance, also like guards. Karl Fritz and his ancient family were all standing to attention, expecting an attack any minute. The Founding Titans were ready to protect their master and creator.
And Karl was indeed attacked: by the Attack Titan himself. Ezra's attack was swift and surprising. The smooth spy was a much better fighter and he held strong resentment against his contemporary King. The Attack Titan quickly held the Founding Titan down, immobilising him swiftly and promptly removing its head with his Titan's bare hands. All while his contemporary Jaw, Armoured and Beast Titans all jumped on other Founding Titans. The Cart Titan was assisting the Colossal War-Hammer Titan, showing the rubble that should be lifted - to get the humans still alive below to safety; while the Female Titan had picked a fight with Maria, Karl's daughter. The only Founding Titan there that had been one generation into the Walls, and not from before, like the others.
The humans still in Mitras were absolutely terrified, and completely confused. They couldn't understand how come some of those Titans were helping them while others were clearly evil. Regardless, they accepted the monsters' help and did their best to get away from all that mess. Armin Tybur wasn't particularly good as a Colossal Titan, he had never been trained for that. But he was an exemplary War-Hammer Titan and he quickly made crystal structures to protect the humans and help them escape.
He then turned to the fight, and carefully took Karl's titan body from underneath the Attack Titan. Ezra looked up to see his friend tear up the King into two pieces with much pleasure, letting the two halves fall down again.
"Are you enjoying being the Colossal Titan?" Ezra asked.
ϟ "More than I thought I would," ϟ Armin conceded. He then turned to the battlefield and stomped his foot, creating more crystal through the ground and upwards. Expertly impaling the Founding Titans that had been pestering them through the neck, killing them all.
"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Gerhald, the Armoured Titan asked Armin with some humour.
The group of friends hadn't played together in over a hundred years, and they certainly never had this amount of toys to play with before. They could breathe safely now and concentrate on evacuating the city, or so they hoped. All the Founding Titans suddenly exploded in transformation, appearing with brand-new bodies once again.
"They should all be dead!" The Female Titan exclaimed in complaint.
"We are all dead, Lillah," Alex, the Jaw Titan replied.
"Okay so let's trap them without killing them, that should stop them from coming back again," Ezra told the group, thinking fast, and they all abided. "We need to get these people out of here," the Attack Titan added.
They continued to fight the Founding Titans, trying to find clever ways to immobilise and trap them. "This would be much easier if the kid had freed more of us," Lillah noted in the middle of a scuffle.
"Well, we must work with what we have," Gerhald replied, also in a scuffle himself. "And it's not like there were enough Titans there that we could trust," The Armoured Titan added.
They eventually were successful in evacuating the city, still with some casualties, of course. The Colossal War-Hammer Titan then turned to help in the fight once again.
"You should probably focus your powers into preventing this city from sinking," Ezra told Armin.
ϟ "Good point," ϟ Tybur swiftly agreed. The Colossal War-Hammer Titan then put its hands down on the ground and began to produce crystal down below - to support the city.
-.-
Much further down, kilometres below the Underground city, stood the doorway into a different dimension. The giant tree stood taller than before, and from its clear waters it formed the Devil's favourite nine creatures: the nine original Titans whose curse had lasted for the past two millennia. Those were the last Titans being formed within the giant tree.
The Nine Titans slowly formed themselves into that water, with Torr, the Colossal Titan being the last to finally come out. They then stood to attention, guarding the gate.
"Why are we doing this?" Torin eventually questioned his younger siblings.
"Because we are the most powerful of all Titans and the creature wants us as a last line of defence," Jari swiftly replied, beside him.
"I think he means 'why' are we defending the creature," Elke explained.
"When we could seize this power and this world for ourselves," Torr complemented the thought.
The nine siblings then turned towards the giant tree and its portal inside. "Let's cut this tree down," Torin told his siblings. And Torr, the biggest of them, swiftly began to pull out the higher branches. While Osmond created shards of crystal, piercing through the otherworldly wood and the others pulled more branches and gnawed the tree away.
They were slowly being successful into that tree consumption, and the nine siblings felt powerful while destroying that gate. It had all been an illusion however, the Devil took advantage of all that flesh so near it and began to use it to create its own earthly form. The Nine Titans were sucked inside the tree again and the water began to mutate them together. The process was quite painful and absolutely agonising as they lost their freedom and control over their bodies and consciousness. Their souls cried in terror.
The creature began to emerge: with eighteen eyes, nine noses and nine mouths, eighteen arms and eighteen legs. A hideous figure with three giant horns. It began to grow uncontrollably, growing and growing underneath the island. The ever-growing creature made the earth shake violently once again. The earthquakes were even stronger this time as the creature found itself trapped inside the earth, trying its best to grow more and get out into the world.
-.-
In the city above it, things seemed slightly under control. Armin, Ezra and their friends had successfully trapped the Founding Titans and had evacuated the humans. They were now concerned with the sudden tremors when their nightmare truly began. There were sudden explosions all over the city as the Devil unveiled its latest trick: all the fresh corpses that were decomposing under all that fire and debris were suddenly turned into Pure and Abnormal Titans.
The old Shifters were absolutely terrified, this was certainly new. There was something extremely macabre about those new undead Titans and it horrified them. The creatures came over violently and swiftly began to bite and gnaw on the Shifters, so they had to keep transforming again and again to avoid being eaten away. The group wasn't sure of how long they would last, if they had enough energy to keep going, or if it was even worth it to fight anymore.
The Titans made out of fresh Eldian corpses began to rise all over the island. Every land the Devil touched the dead began to rise again.
-.-
Somewhere in the Rose Region
The Female Titan was running fast, or as fast as she could, through those fields. They weren't really sure of how long it would take to get to that farm, or even if they were going in the right direction. A group of Wall Titans was leisurely following the Female Titan, they walked slowly and further behind. But with time, and with their size, the giant creatures eventually caught up with the smaller Titan. Annie kept running.
"Aren't you wearing ODM gear?" Eren questioned Hitch, as they all secured themselves more firmly inside the Titan's hand.
"Yes, but I'm not fighting those things," Hitch replied, baffled. "I never even killed a Titan before," she argued. "Let alone: that!" the MP exclaimed while pointing at the giants.
"What are we going to do?" Onyankopon questioned in deep concern as the Wall Titans got closer.
"Damn Military Police," Eren complained, under his breath, as he reached his hand up to take a bite: and finally transform.
"Maybe we could take a ride!" Gabi suggested cheerfully. The small girl pointed to the airship appearing in the sky. It was making its way to them fast.
"Let's hope they spot us," Hitch let out while squinting, with her hand protecting her eyes, trying to take a better look at the airship through that midday sun.
"Do you think they're friendly?" young Onyan questioned, rightfully so.
Yeager was still conflicted about getting into a Marlean airship, but he was beyond desperate at this point. Gabi soon noticed, as the ship approached, that it didn't have any particular insignias or flags. And the small girl became a little worried about the ship's origin.
Old Onyankopon was at the helm of that dirigible. The machine flew at high speed, rushing to aid the soldiers in the farm chaos that had been reported. The old captain spotted the Female Titan running down below and the three Wall Titans slowly chasing after her. The sight of her warmed the old man's heart. Onyankopon hadn't seen Annie in many years. He told the crew to prepare themselves and focus on the targets.
The airship swiftly bombed the three Wall Titans that were chasing her down, one after the other. The small humans were surprised with that first blast, and so was the Female Titan, as she hadn't spotted that airship flying behind her. The group covered their ears as the next explosions followed, and Annie protected them better inside her Titan's hand.
Those bombs were enough to take the Titans down for a moment, but they would soon regenerate, and they all knew it.
Those three Titans were the ones closer but there were many others further behind. They were in a sea of Titans and were of course all relieved once the airship dropped down that ladder while hovering above the Female Titan.
They all looked up. And Hitch soon helped Gabi to climb up the rope ladder, following close behind.
Yeager was next, he swiftly climbed up as the Female Titan dropped down slightly and Annie completely removed herself from her Titan. Young Onyan then helped her up into the ladder and followed close behind as the Titan began to disintegrate.
They all arrived at the opened hatch and entered the airship, one by one. Once Eren set foot on the wooden deck he noticed the guards solemnly nodding at him. "Sir," one of them said, greeting him as they continued to operate the craft. Yeager could see the golden stars on their chests, but he was still impressed that they knew who he was. So he nodded back, equally solemnly.
Soon the young Onyankopon entered the craft and the crew pulled back the ladder again. They closed the hatch and the airship stopped hovering and began to move fast again. In the direction of the Queen's farm.
The old captain soon came to greet them. Walking fast and smoothly through the deck with his cane, he finally approached the group of youngsters. "You were all in quite a peril out there, it's a Titan minefield down below," the old man noted in a raspy voice. Old Onyankopon had put on his goggles and had lifted up his scarf slightly to cover most of his chin and mouth. The man's face was barely visible.
He looked around that group, scanning himself and the others. Onyankopon couldn't believe how young they all once were and how much things had changed over the years. He had even forgotten that Gabrielle had once been that small.
"I'm assuming we are going to the same place," Yeager soon interjected.
"Thank you for rescuing us," Hitch told the old man sincerely.
Old Onyankopon nodded solemnly at her and turned to Yeager. "Yes," he confirmed, and proceeded. "It seems the Queen is proving to be much more troublesome to the Marleans than they expected," he commented.
And Eren let out a small smile, that made him a little less worried and less anxious for a moment, he looked down, thinking about Historia.
"You're not Marlean?" Annie questioned the old captain.
"Do I look Marlean, Miss Leonhart?" the old man questioned back with a light smile. And young Onyankopon only chuckled behind her.
Annie tilted her head at the old captain. "I'm surprised you know who I am," she noted.
The old man lifted up his cane to aid him, and then walked through the group. "I've been tracking all of you since this started," he began to explain. "Follow me," he added.
The group followed him to the next room as he continued talking. "I know your particular group was flying on the O-7 aircraft." The old man stopped and looked back at them. "What happened to it?" he questioned the group.
They all looked stunned and felt very upset with that question. "Whoever is piloting that craft either doesn't know how to work a radio or has no intention of responding to me," the old man firmly added.
"Both," Eren swiftly explained.
The old man sighed, he gently put his hand over the sheet covering the giant object in the centre of that room. "I'm assuming Agent O-7 is no longer with us?" he questioned the group, visibly upset.
"I'm sorry, sir," young Onyan informed the old captain, quite solemnly. "But he was shot."
"There was nothing we could do, it all happened very fast," Hitch explained more emotionally and then looked to the side, deeply saddened.
"He was an outstanding pilot, and I'm sure one of your best agents," young Onyan noted, to complement her.
"I've lost all of my best pilots today, and quite quickly," the old captain informed the group. He sighed, "it has all been quite difficult. But O-7 was my son," he disclosed while gently caressing that white sheet. And a small tear fell down his cheek.
Annie then gently nudged Onyan, showing him the pistol with her eyes, to remind him and he took the futuristic weapon out of his holster. "I'm sure he would want you to have this," he told the old man while solemnly offering him the weapon.
Old Onyan looked down at the pistol, considering it. He didn't believe it would be a good idea to touch his younger self. "You can keep it," he told the young man. The old captain then swiftly removed the white sheet, revealing the older airplane underneath it. "You'll need it," he added. "You're a pilot, are you not?" he also questioned.
"It's so tiny," Gabi noted, the airplane was indeed much smaller than the one they had been travelling on.
"Because this is only a combat plane, it has only two seats," the old captain explained.
"It's good that it has two seats," Yeager swiftly noted and hopped on the back seat. "Come on," he called his young friend with a sense of urgency.
"Can you pilot it?" the old captain asked young Onyankopon. Already knowing the answer, of course.
The younger man looked around the big dirigible with his hands on his hips. "I'm used to aircrafts like this," he noted. "I've only learned recently about these smaller crafts, but your son is a wonderful teacher," he complimented with a nice smile.
The old man smiled back at him, still with most of his face hidden. "Well, I taught him everything he knows," old Onyan replied. "Everything he knew," he corrected himself more quietly.
Eren proceeded to hand young Onyan the helmet, goggles and gloves that were in the front seat, as Yeager himself was already dressing up for the flight with similar equipment he'd found on the backseat. The old man looked at those young men and how friendly they were to each other despite the urgent and overwhelming circumstances. Onyankopon had forgotten that Yeager had once been a good person and a close friend, being reminded of all that made the old man feel eerie, but hopeful.
From the older man's perspective Eren Yeager had lost his way many many years ago. 'Perhaps things will be different now, perhaps he will be different,' the old man thought.
"Be very careful, this aircraft was made solely for combat. It goes much faster than the newer passenger models," the old captain soon explained as young Onyan was about to hop into the main seat. "And it has a pretty decent weapons system," he added while showing it to the young man in the panel.
"Newer? Are you saying this one is older than those other ones?" young Onyan questioned as he sat in the front seat.
"This is the very first. I've piloted it for many years," the old man explained while gently caressing the aircraft. Onyankopon had brought his reliable craft on this time journey with him, not being sure if he would ever use it, but still sure it would give him luck.
"Where was all that? How come we've never even seen these crafts before?" the young pilot questioned.
"Well, it was a very secret project," the old captain justified.
Young Onyan then looked at the big symbol on the airplane's nose. "What does the 'O' stand for?" he questioned, full of curiosity.
The old man thought fast. "Original, Zero," he swiftly explained. "Again, this one was the first, the others that followed had added numbers," he further clarified.
The two friends were ready to set off in that tiny plane and the captain soon showed them those tubes and oxygen masks, quickly explaining to them how to work it all. "You'll need this to breathe, just in case you want to reach a higher altitude," the old man said.
"Will that help us get there faster?" Eren asked while putting the mask on.
"Yes, you'll be there in less than twenty minutes, for us it will take longer than an hour," the captain explained. "Good luck," he wished them both while gently hitting on the plane's nose. The old man turned to the girls. "We should probably stand back," he advised while the young pilot turned on the engine.
The old captain asked the crew to lower the rear gates and the plane swiftly flew downwards and away. Quickly finding its balance again and disappearing in the sky.
"Wow, it really is fast," Hitch noted.
"How long would it have taken for us if this aircraft hadn't shown?" Annie asked the captain. The Shifter felt exhausted and her Titan marks were still regenerating.
"Three to five hours, depending on your Titan's speed," the old man replied, guiding them back into the aircraft's deck.
Annie quietly sighed, she felt relief.
"It's a good thing you showed up then," Hitch noted and the old man nodded.
-.-
"Can you hear me?" young Onyan asked Eren through their communication system, as they both had masks and earmuffs on. The small airplane was unbearably noisy.
"Yes," Yeager replied. "Are you getting the hang of it?" he asked.
Onyan passed his hands tentatively through the weapons system. "Yes, I only need to figure out this radar. And as soon as I drop you, I'm going after Floch," he told Yeager with determination.
Eren was quiet for a moment. "Do you think you can shoot him down?" he questioned.
"Let's hope that I can and that I will succeed. It will be an enormous explosion though," Onyan replied, firmly holding his yoke.
"Then you better do it somewhere open and empty. This island has had enough destruction," Eren advised, worriedly.
"I'll drive him into the ocean then," Onyan conceded.
-.-
Somewhere in the fields of Paradise
Azymondeus was laying down in that field, looking up to the sky above him, feeling absolutely defeated. The fields were calm in that particular region, the winds only shook the foliage slightly in that cold afternoon. But he could still hear the stomps in the distance: the Titans were everywhere, Ymir had won.
"Seriously? Killing a baby? Stop mocking around," he suddenly heard his sister admonish him. That familiar voice made his cold heart a little warmer, but not enough for him to stand up.
Azzy sighed. "Defeated, by a child," he let out in deep complaint as he stared at the bright blue sky.
"By yourself," Sunny added while crossing her arms. The apparition stood quite near him, but the man hadn't really noticed yet.
"Ah come on! He's like two, he's not me yet," Azzy argued while slightly raising himself up, to then see his sister standing there: all grown up.
"And let's hope he never becomes you," Sunny told him, still with arms crossed. "This timeline needs to go," the Queen of Eldia added while looking around that field.
"Oh, so you're here again," Az noted with a smile, but still a little confused. He sat up straight. "I thought you were just in my head."
"I am in your head," Sun replied. "Did you really think that was going to work? Killing a child? Or are you just doing everything to avoid seeing that dreadful woman? Something tells me it's the latter." The sister confronted him.
"How are you here?" Azymondeus asked, tilting his head.
"I'm in your head," Sunny repeated.
"Yes, but you're real, right? Or are you just my conscience?" he questioned and his sister began to pace around.
"I'm real," Sunny replied, "and I don't think you have a conscience at all," she added, still admonishing him.
"Urgh," the time traveller grunted, annoyed.
"What are you even doing?" Sonnenblume questioned, still pacing and with arms still crossed.
"Don't say I'm making things worse," he argued while strongly pointing at her. "I know things can't get worse than what I've seen. And I've changed all that."
"Well, do you think this is better?! What do you think will happen in this future if we don't intervene now?" she questioned him, quite vexed. Sunny had her arms opened wide.
"You are still alive, for now that's all I care about," her brother swiftly replied, looking her in the eyes and that stunned Sun for a moment.
"Where are you?" he asked again.
"It doesn't matter," Sunny replied, defiantly.
"Yes, it does. It matters to me," her brother argued firmly while crossing his arms, and his legs, sitting firmly in that grass and putting on his best fatherly face. "Where are you physically? Where are you talking to me from?" he questioned.
"I can't answer you, and you know it," she cleverly informed.
Azzy looked at his sister, tilting his head again, thinking. "You said you hope the little version of me here won't become me eventually," he began to conclude. "And where I come from, you're dead… Well I travelled further in time so maybe you're still about to die. And if that's the case, sorry for telling you now, in advance," Az coldly joked and looked into her eyes, trying to read her, but she gave him nothing.
He scratched his head. "You must be from a different future, come on!" he insisted.
Sunny looked at him quite stoically. "I can't tell you," she maintained.
"So where you are coming from, this version of me… doesn't exist? And that little version of me roaming around now will be different? And that will be the version you'll grow up with," he concluded firmly while pointing at her.
"I can't confirm you that," Sunny replied while shaking her head, putting on her blandest face. He had fallen on her trap, that was all the witch needed. The apparition walked closer. "You know what you have to do," she told him gravely.
"If I… kill Ymir, now," Az began to consider with deep pain in his heart. "Then Titans will cease to exist, this world will be much different… But if I have done this already in the world where you come from, then how come you still have your powers? How are you talking to me?" he questioned, rightfully so.
"My powers are deeply connected to Paths, that's a more complicated issue," she replied. "An issue that might finally be solved once you do what I told you to, a lifetime ago," Sunny complained.
"Will I finally be normal?" he asked his sister with naive, childlike eyes.
"You told me once your powers don't come from Titans," Sunny reminded him, she then tilted her head. "Where do your powers come from?" she asked. "You said you'd find out… eventually," she also reminded him. This had been a conversation the two siblings had had a lifetime ago, in their family library - in Hizuru.
"I- I'm still not sure… I," Azzy began to consider. "It might come from a whole different dimension than all of these we've known…" he suddenly stopped in his own concentration as he finally noticed that gentle ring in Sunny's smallest finger. The brother immediately became intrigued.
"What's the insignia in that little ring you're wearing?" he questioned his sister. Az knew that was possibly a royal item.
Sunny looked at her left pinky for a moment then hid her hand behind her dress. "It doesn't matter," she maintained but Azzy looked incredibly intrigued. "You know I'm an illusion, right? This is just how you perceive me," she argued.
"No-no," Az countered. "You control the illusion," he argued back, pointing at her firmly again. "You messed it up," he laughed. "What? Are you a princess or something?" he asked in disbelief. The brother was quite amused.
"Queen," Sonnenblume replied, simply.
"Of what? Hizuru? Your clothes clearly point otherwise. Where are you 'the Queen' of?" Az asked and Sunny only tilted her head. She gently looked around those fields. "Oh," Azymondeus realised, absolutely disgusted.
The man was completely appalled, he dropped his head quite dramatically over the grass, clenching his stomach.
"Stop it," Sunny complained.
"…argh, I'm going to throw up," he continued, holding his stomach while facing down on the grass. His sister only rolled her eyes.
She crossed her arms. "Grow up, Azymondeus," she admonished him severely.
"I am genuinely physically ill right now," he maintained while sitting upright again. "You're lucky I haven't eaten anything. Seriously? Why him? I mean: why?" her brother complained severely. "He's so dull! You deserve better."
"Come on, you two met for twenty seconds," Sunny complained back. "And who are you to judge?" she questioned.
"That's not- we are in a very different situation," Az argued with a nervous chuckle.
And Sunny walked closer to him. "Exactly," she firmly confirmed.
Az tilted his head. "Does Ezra know you want to get his dear sister killed?" he questioned in pure mockery.
Sunny then walked even closer and dropped down near his face, looking her brother in the eyes. "Yes," she simply replied.
"He's the whole reason I'm here," Sunny further explained and Az looked down, confused and conflicted. The Queen of Eldia then walked away and began to pace around the field again. "Ezra has just been born. And in a few moments, Ymir will reach him. You can't let that happen," she strongly warned.
"I know, you told me once before, they need to be apart," Az replied, disheartened.
"And you know what happens when they are united. If it happens again, then we lose. I won't exist anymore and neither will the good future where I'm from. Those two can't coexist, you need to kill her." she strongly advised.
Az only looked down, upset and reflective. And Sunny tilted her head, looking at her lost brother with loving and worried eyes. "I understand how difficult this must be, but-"
"I know," he interrupted her and sighed. "I'm sorry I failed before, I won't fail again," Azymondeus firmly promised her.
'Perhaps you haven't,' Sunny thought.
"I won't fail again," he maintained, seeming much more certain this time.
"Then kill her, once and for all," Sun replied and he nodded. The sister smiled. "And after all this is done, come find me. I can't wait to meet you again," she told her brother with much love in her eyes. The apparition then disappeared into a million stars.
The Ackermann stood up in that field, he looked around the greenery and then up into the bright skies of Paradise - one last time. Azymondeus then began to build up his otherworldly energy and to prepare himself mentally for the physical and emotional pain he was about to endure. He then finally jumped through space and reappeared again in that cursed dimension.
He looked around the infinity of that grand dimension, and began to walk. He walked through all that sand for a while, already feeling the weight of that strange land pulling his cells apart. Az could feel himself slowly turning into sand, but he held it together - the Ackermann had a mission. After walking for a while he eventually saw a shadow in the distance, and in his confusion, that shadow was slowly morphing into a person.
Bertholdt looked at him sternly and stoically as the time traveller slowly approached. "I was waiting for you," the Warrior said.
Azymondeus stopped in front of him and the Shifter unsheathed a beautiful silver sword from its leather scabbard. It was Ludvík's Azumabito sword, Azzy recognised it immediately and Bertholdt could tell. He swiftly sheathed the sword again and offered it to the young man, quite sternly. Az was reluctant, for he was still stunned, the last time he had seen that sword had been in that crystal dimension. The time traveller had lost it there and thought he'd never see the precious relic again. He finally reached and grabbed it from the Warrior's hand.
Bertholdt nodded and the stunned man nodded back at him, confirming that sword's final purpose. "Give my regards to your father," the Warrior asked with a sweet smile. And as Azymondeus nodded again, the ghost disappeared into a million stars.
-.-
Paradise
The giant flying goddess was venturing through the skies of the island, when the Phoenix Titan suddenly appeared on the horizon. It flew fast, straight towards Ymir, spitting its hot fire across her face and flying upwards. Pieck had identified the giant Titan's position and had gone back to call her Warrior friends. They had hatched a new plan and had been waiting to ambush her.
The goddess lost balance for a moment, but continued to hover as her eyes and nose burned. Their plan was to bring her down closer to the ground and finally trap - and hopefully kill this beast once and for all. She began to hover low and the Phoenix and the current Jaw Titan came flying in again, dropping down their ghost Jaw friends like small bombs themselves. Marcel's Titan on the giant's left wing and Porco's Titan on the giant's right wing. The two began to gnaw violently all over those wings as Falco then dropped Jean on top of the goddess' head. The soldier flew down skilfully with his ODM gear. His job was simple: to keep her blind, he used his crystal swords to slash through the already burnt face and make sure it would take longer for her to regenerate both eyes. Jean took extra impulse with his ODM gear and flew down once again, to cut her eyes even deeper, just to make sure. He then landed on top of her head, and waited.
All that happened while Falco and Pieck were swiftly flying across each of her arms, slashing and deeply gashing them with their sharp claws. The giant monster was confused and disoriented. She was being attacked on the face, arms and wings at the same time, Ymir inevitably began to hover lower and lower.
-.-
The smaller version of Ymir flew across the Reiss Fields, quite distant from all that fight. But her divided concentration had truly weakened her, she felt quite disoriented as well, but continued to fly. High above, the small combat plane flew much faster, and was about to reach the Queen's farm. Onyan and Eren didn't even see the curious flying Titan below them as they sped fast and away.
-.-
The Ackermann walked around the rubble, waiting, in that destroyed orphanage. Levi had left Hange resting on top of the scorched kitchen table and was now concentrating on the Pure Titans, and Wall Titans, that were walking around the fields. He crouched down, almost resting for a moment, the veteran knew that they were trapped there. There was no mode of transport to carry the injured Hange, the Queen and the small children away from that farm. And even if there were, where could he take them? The veteran was watching the Pure Titans carefully, waiting to see if any would change interest and sprint his way. But they were just wandering around, pacing closer to the small tree where the Queen was resting, holding her newborn. All while the Wall Titans walked, also wandering, a few kilometres away, also showing no interest in coming his way.
Levi sighed. "What a crazy day," he let out.
When suddenly there were explosions all over the field, some really close to the scorched building. Levi stood up, absolutely confused. It took a few seconds in all that fog for him to understand what had just happened. The Devil's latest trick had reached the Reiss Lands, the contaminated earth made Titans out of the fresh Eldian corpses. It was a truly grotesque sight. Those Titans just appeared out of nowhere and Levi was trying to understand where they had come from. But it only took a glimpse of Shadis' eyes staring back at his for Levi to finally understand what had happened. The Titan began to march and then sprint his way, and suddenly so were all the others. They could smell the children underneath the rubble, and they could also see how bright that Ackermann glowed inside their cursed minds. The Titans were ready to feast.
Levi prepared himself, already trying to calculate in his mind how much gas his equipment still had and how long those blades would last him. He began to fly across the monsters as he heard the strange motor high above him.
The pilot began to slow down, readying the plane to take a lap across the farm. Eren's heart sank once he saw the building completely scorched and partially destroyed. He could also see all those Titans and how much work he'd have down there. Yeager closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating his mind into that cursed dimension. 'Are you near here? Can you reach me?' he questioned through Paths, searching for help.
Eren then lifted up the plane's canopy, he quickly removed his mask and goggles, helmet and gloves. And prepared to jump.
"Good luck," Onyankopon told him sincerely.
"I'll need more than luck," Yeager replied with a slight chuckle. The two of them nodded solemnly at each other and he jumped. Eren brought his arm close to his mouth in that free-fall and took a bite: transforming midair. All while Onyankopon finished his lap and disappeared fast into the skies.
He turned on the radio and asked that aircraft for support. "I need a read. Over," he asked. "Zero, this is Quail, what do you need a read of? Over," Old Onyankopon asked back over the radio. "I can't find the O-7 craft on my radar, it's not on my range somehow," the young pilot explained.
"I'll guide you to it," the old man replied and proceeded to give him the coordinates.
-.-
The O-7 craft was actually approaching the fight with the giant goddess. Floch hovered high and in some distance, he wanted to watch the Eldian goddess slaughtering those soft idiots.
The group knew well, as Armin had pointed out during planning: Ymir would soon ignite. They knew they only had two, maybe three minutes, before she bursted into flames - like she had done so in their previous encounter. The smaller Jaw Titans and Jean did not have any armour to protect themselves from the hot flames, so they were more vulnerable. The Armoured Titan and Mikasa had crystal armour and Pieck and Armin's Titans both could set themselves on fire as well, so they were not in any danger.
As soon as the giant creature began to drop down, the ground crew prepared themselves. Pieck and Falco were still gnawing and gashing the Titan's hands and arms, and Porco and Marcel did the same to her wings. All while Jean stood there, perplexed as to why she hadn't started regenerating her eyes yet. He feared she would ignite herself again, and he only hoped Pieck or Falco would get him out of there in time. She was now close enough to the ground and Armin prepared himself. The Armoured jumped quite high from the Colossal Titan's shoulder towards his target. And climbed over her legs and up to her torso, quite fast, pulling her down with all his strength; while Maria's Titan also climbed up the goddess' body, carrying Mikasa with her. They were going straight to the nape.
The Colossal Titan had already generated enough Titan Crystal to last for a lifetime, only twelve hours before all this, but he had to generate a little more now. 'Just enough to trap you,' Armin thought. He reached up and held both of the giant's legs down, one after the other as he began to create Titan Crystal all around his Titan. The crystal grew all over the ground and pierced her first through her legs and then through her torso. The Colossal Titan was releasing way more energy than he should, he was going far beyond his limits but he had to keep fighting.
Ymir began to regenerate, she screamed quite angrily as the crystal pierced through her Titan. She prioritised regenerating her arms and soon waved them erratically. She could hear that awful motor sound, reminding her of the airplanes that had almost killed her. So, she immediately reached for that, not knowing the Yeagerist was on her side and just wanted to blast those smaller Titans out of her. Of course, Floch did not know how to work the weapons system, but he was still willing to try. He lost balance and almost tipped the plane but he regained control eventually. Floch was chased away however, as the tiny combat airplane appeared on the horizon and chased him out of that fight.
The two planes had flown off, quite fast, Onyankopon was determined to shoot him down. He had Agent O-7's death playing on his head over and over again since Floch had mercilessly shot him. 'I'm going to kill you,' he thought with extreme determination as he chased the Yeagerist across the skies.
The Armoured Titan made its way across the giant monster, aiming to sever those arms with his Titan's crystallised fingers as Armin had taken care of the legs and as Porco and Marcel were still working tirelessly on those wings. He climbed across her back as the crystals pierced through her torso. Armin was making sure she couldn't escape. Maria climbed faster and Mikasa soon jumped off her Titan's back. The Ackermann flew across the sky with her ODM gear and readied her crystal swords. She flew down with grace and speed, and sliced through the Titan's nape, and again, and again. Mikasa sliced through it four times, getting deeper and deeper each time.
Mikasa then stopped gliding and fell down straight through the sliced flesh as Maria followed behind her. The Colossal Titan made enough crystal to hold down her arms as well, she was completely trapped. Jean looked down from the Titan's head as Pieck and Falco hovered behind him. He could see her eyes finally regenerating. Ymir was suddenly quiet. 'Here we go,' Jean thought, preparing himself. He lifted up his crystal swords, ready to slice through those eyes once again.
But before he could do so and before Reiner's Titan could reach the goddess' right arm, she swung her arms around again with much strength. And the Armoured Titan firmed himself on her back with his crystal nails. She jerked her arms out of the crystal, freeing them with difficulty, using all of her strength as the Colossal Titan tried to make more crystal, to keep her trapped. But Ymir freed both her arms and immediately reached out for those pesky little Jaw Titans gnawing on her wings. She grabbed one in each hand and set her arms on fire, while holding the small creatures firm inside her closed fists. They both screamed in pain as they were completely scorched.
In less than a second, Marcel and Porco were no more. The Titan not only set her arms on fire, but her entire body, she threw away both scorched Jaw Titans quite a distance as she burst into flames. Jean immediately jumped off from her head as the fire began to ignite. He used all the impulse he could from his ODM equipment to take a good distance, but he then began to fall. And the Survey Corps soldier had nothing to latch on to, he was falling to his death.
-.-
Levi continued to fight those grotesque Titans as Eren came flying down. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan exploded in transformation, and landed swiftly in the middle of that field. He took a moment; to analyse his surroundings as he stood up and to also feel his powers better. This was only the second time Eren was transforming into his new Titan and now, he also had Armin's blood mixed with his, which made his War-Hammer abilities extremely more accessible.
Eren looked down at his Titan's arm, strongly feeling their blood flowing together through his veins. He closed and opened his fist, feeling the power flow through him, and proceeded to punch and expertly remove the nape of every Pure Titan coming his way. There were over twenty Titans for them to kill, and they were all abnormal and extremely strange. Yeager could soon tell that there was something different about those Titans, and so could Levi. Even after their napes were removed, they kept rising again. The Ackermann was beginning to feel frustrated. Levi also couldn't really tell which Shifter was helping him, he concluded it to be Eren, because of those eyes and hair, and because Eren had been missing since the day before. Regardless, the Ackermann was glad to have help.
He was trying to reach towards the scorched building again, but the Pure Titans kept rising and getting on his way. The children were protected but Hange wasn't. She was right on top of that table, unconscious and in plain view and the Titans soon noticed. Levi could see them approaching the area and he became more desperate, and after slicing yet another nape to get closer; he saw, in a glimpse, one of the Titans picking her up and eating her. Levi's heart sank.
Eren was getting tired of fighting those beasts over and over again, he positioned his foot strongly on the ground and began to produce Titan Crystal through the field. At the same time as Armin was also producing Titan Crystal to trap the goddess Ymir, as their bloods were inexplicably intertwined and synchronised. Levi was desperately flying around the Pure Titans, without knowing which one had eaten Hange, but cutting them all open as he passed through. Deeply hoping he would find Hange safe and sound, unharmed inside one of those disgusting bellies. 'I can't lose you too,' the Ackermann thought as he flew across all those monsters, slicing all that flesh. The Titan Crystal began to rise as he flew around the monsters, which made Levi slightly confused. Eren expertly impaled all those Pure Titans, one by one, high up into the air. And he used much of his strength to do so.
'And stay there,' Yeager thought, as the Pure Titans hung across that odd crystal forest he had just made. Eren also turned to create crystal around the tree, to protect Historia and he then turned to create a support structure all across the badly scorched orphanage building. Eren could feel deep pain in his arm and so could Armin as they both simultaneously used so much energy to produce even more Titan Crystal. Their cursed wounds were being deepened inside their arms and they could both feel it. The pain was excruciating but they kept making more and more crystal.
The crystal rose up all around the burnt construction, making it stable and protected again. The entire three floors left in that building were now completely coated in Titan Crystal. Yeager also made a giant arc across the area of the building, just as he had built one around the tree, to protect his love. Eren could only see and feel Ezra near Historia, so he concluded that the newborn Ymir was in the crib, inside of the building - just as he had seen once in one of his Titan Dreams. That was the reason why he was so afraid of the building collapsing. But he was wrong, the newborn Ymir was currently in a different dimension, accompanied by her cousin. And her Titan form was coming their way.
The Wall Titans began to walk towards the farm, to add yet another worry as the Pure Titans tried to free themselves from those crystals impaling them. Levi was beyond desperate, he had no idea what Titan had eaten Hange and he was running out of time. Even if she had been swollen whole, which was an 'if', the heat of those Titans was too strong, especially inside their bodies. It was hot enough to cook a human alive in only a few minutes. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan dropped down, kneeling over the ground, absolutely tired and motionless, as three cracks began to form across that field. The island was cracking open like an egg, as the Devil grew and moved inside of it. Even that far from Mitras, the earth was still shaking unstably.
Historia finally opened her eyes after faintly hearing all that noise. She looked up to see that small, flying Titan hovering over her. Ymir smiled and the Queen screamed in terror, holding her son even closer into her arms. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan immediately raised up its head again once Historia screamed, to see that flying female Titan hovering above the crystal arc and the tree. And then reaching to grab Historia.
Eren was suddenly absolutely stunned with fear.
-.-
Mikasa slashed swiftly through the giant monster's flesh until she finally found that crystal encasing and the woman inside. Ymir seemed quite peaceful and deeply unconscious. Mikasa watched her for that brief moment, the Ackermann tilted her head in curiosity. Maria swiftly jumped in and opened up her Titan's jaw, she knew Ymir well and knew they shouldn't waste a second while dealing with her. She bit upon the crystal, and the encasing immediately began to crack, still with the Ackermann on top of it. Mikasa and Ymir were face to face as the goddess suddenly opened her eyes. She looked straight into Mikasa's eyes and the aunt could almost recognise Eren's sharp green eyes staring furiously back at her. Mikasa knew those angry eyes so well, seeing them on that woman's face deeply disturbed her. And it was an image she would never forget. The Ackermann lifted up her crystal sword and began to help the Jaw Titan in destroying that cocoon.
Maria couldn't crack the crystal completely open once Ymir had opened her eyes. The goddess began to reinforce the material and counterbalance the Jaw Titan's strength. Maria now had a split second to make a decision. They were deep inside the flesh of that three hundred metre Titan and she knew exactly what Ymir was about to do. She stopped trying to break the crystal further as she felt she was unable to anyway. Maria swiftly grabbed Mikasa in her Titan's mouth as the goddess began to set herself ablaze. The Jaw Titan sprinted out of there as fast as she could, running across that hot fire as it ignited all around her.
The giant goddess was completely on fire again, all her limbs, even her wings burned a fiery hot blue. She had freed her arms and had just thrown away Marcel and Porco's scorched Titans like they were nothing. Pieck watched all that in horror, she was deeply upset to see Porco go like that. She didn't even have time to say goodbye. The Phoenix Titan was suddenly very angry.
The Armoured Titan held strong, as his armour protected him from the intense fire. Reiner could faintly see that smaller Titan rolling down, completely in flames. Falco soon came flying in and grabbed Maria's Titan out of the flaming body of the goddess, he mustered all his strength to lift her up into the air. And the fires around her Titan began to be put out by the strong and cold winds. Maria reached inside her Titan's mouth and removed Mikasa out of there. The Ackermann was stunned and struggling to breathe, but she was also very grateful. They flew across the sky, Falco holding Maria's shoulders in his arms and Maria holding a tiny Mikasa in her right claw.
Jean jumped away as soon as the giant goddess ignited. He had put a lot of impulse, but he was now free falling. The soldier soon lost all hope, he had nowhere to latch on to and he was truly falling to his death. He looked towards the ground, hoping this final crash wouldn't be too painful, when he suddenly saw that bird shadow approaching him. Jean looked up once that firm claw held him around his torso, and the Phoenix Titan looked down at him. The soldier was deeply relieved.
"Thank you," he said, sincerely. And the Phoenix threw him up into the sky. The expert Survey Corps soldier then somersaulted vigorously across the clouds and swiftly landed on the Phoenix Titan's back. "I thought you had forgotten about me," Jean joked with a small, nervous chuckle. But the Phoenix just continued to look ahead, quite serious, so he stopped smiling.
"Never again," she replied, as they had just lost Connie in that same manner. Pieck was glad she had been fast enough this time, and she was also deeply saddened after seeing those two boys she had grown up with die a second time. And die such horrible deaths.
The goddess spread out her wings again, read to take flight as her wings regenerated in that deep blue fire. Ymir was completely in flames and she began to break away from the crystal.
The Colossal Titan looked up. 'You are not going anywhere,' Armin thought, full of anger. He began to produce even more crystal, the cursed wound on his arm continued to grow and Yeager could also feel it growing in his own arm as well. Armin wanted to trap her completely, he didn't care for the severe pain he was feeling, he was not going to lose this fight.
Mikasa was doing her best to keep herself awake after all that strange experience, she opened her eyes more widely as the strong winds rushed across her face. She broke away from Maria's claw and used her ODM gear to fly up to Falco's back. The Ackermann looked intently to that goddess in flames down below.
-.-
Onyankopon was in hot pursuit, chasing the Yeagerist across the skies, and quickly gaining on him. Floch was much less experienced in this. In fact, he was not experienced at all. And his plane, although much newer, was also much slower. Onyankopon knew how dangerous it would be to shoot him down, he knew how big that explosion could be. So he was cleverly trying to lead that bigger plane towards the open ocean and finish the job there. The Yeagerist had an advantage however, he knew that island, while the foreigner didn't. He flew towards mountainous terrain and hoped to be lost among the low clouds. And he eventually successfully disappeared without a trace. Young Onyan was lost and disoriented, stunned to have lost sight of the plane and also completely baffled.
"What happened, kid?" Old Onyan asked his younger self through the radio, deeply concerned about those geranium bombs.
"I lost him!" Young Onyan exclaimed. "I can't believe I lost him!" he looked down to his panel in deep confusion. "He has completely disappeared," he further explained, utterly puzzled.
"Our equipment is of much longer range and he's not showing for us either," the old captain sighed. "He probably figured out how to turn the radar off." He concluded. Old Onyan could hear the young pilot angrily hitting over the small plane's control panel. "Calm down!" the old man urged.
"Calm down?!" Young Onyan questioned, stunned and baffled. "That idiot is going to blow up a town and get even more innocent people killed!" he exclaimed.
"We'll figure something out, we'll figure something out," the old man replied, nervously trying to think of what to do next.
-.-
The War-Hammer-Attack Titan immediately threw shards of crystal towards the small flying Titan. The father had soon realised who she was. Those sharp crystals almost pierced her, but Ymir cleverly and swiftly moved away in time, she turned her head to the skies and growled very loudly. Historia covered her ears in deep fear, the loud cry shook the crystal formation protecting that tree and also made those odd Pure Titans act even more erratically as they tried to free themselves. It also made the Wall Titans walking in the distance turn and begin to focus their attention into that farm. Levi stood on top of one of the crystal formations that pierced one of the Pure Titans, looking at all that madness surging once again. 'What even is that?' The Ackermann questioned in his mind as he saw that flying Titan.
Ymir turned her head down again and looked straight into Eren's eyes, staring him down in deep anger as she hovered over that small tree. She then flapped her wings higher and took a longer lap over the sky, gaining speed. Eren was confused and his War-Hammer-Attack Titan was still extremely fatigued, he was even having trouble moving and he had no idea of how he would fight a creature that could fly. Since his Titan was clearly earthbound. So Yeager wasn't quite sure how to react as Ymir flew across the forest of giant crystal spikes he had just made. And swiftly cut all those impaled Titans down again with the sharp edges of her own crystal feathers as her wings passed through those spikes like two sharp swords.
She continued to fly at the same high speed, straight towards Eren's Titan. Her eyes full of determination as she swiftly pinned him down and immediately pierced through his upper chest with her crystallised hand - Ymir's Titan body was completely covered in crystal. She reached inside, before he could even react. Eren was suddenly stunned as that Titan rummaged around his Titan's chest cavity looking for the human inside. When she was suddenly thrown off with much strength by the previous Attack, and Founding Titan: Grisha Yeager, who had come out from one of the cracks that had opened in that field. He, just like the others, had been reformed on the strange waters of that tree portal, underneath the centre region of Paradise. And he had raced across all those new caves that had been formed underneath the island, just to aid his son and end this madness once and for all. Grisha had followed his instincts, as a previous Founding Titan he could sense the new inheritor of that power: the small boy that had just been born.
The experienced Titan Shifter threw the smallish girl away and growled at her loudly. He then began to hold down the flying Titan's shoulders, trying to immobilise her into the ground, but Ymir wouldn't budge that easily. Eren was perplexed as his Titan's chest began to slowly regenerate again, he raised himself up to see the Pure Titans Ymir had freed rushing towards him. The tired man just let out some curses inside his mind and he sighed, trying to stand up. He then saw many large rocks and general dirt, even pieces of tree trunks being suddenly thrown towards those Titans. Hitting many of them but also failing to hit many others as they rushed over. Zeke had also arrived. The previous Beast Titan had come out from another crack that had opened near the farm, he had followed his father, and quite frankly, he just wanted to enjoy that good fight. He growled and began to play around with the Pure Titans rushing towards him, taking them down fairly easily and swiftly removing their napes. The Ackermann was flying across all the destroyed crystal as he looked up towards that ghost, absolutely perplexed. And the Beast Titan then turned and looked down towards him with a smile.
"Yes, I am on your side," Zeke told Levi. "We are fighting for the same thing," he added while pinning down a couple of Pure Titans effortlessly.
"Then you should know what you are doing is useless," the Ackermann replied.
Zeke looked around to see all those Titans rising again. "Oh," the War Chief let out.
"You can't kill what is already dead," Levi cleverly remarked, still looking for Hange. He hadn't given up. The Ackermann continued to fly across those Titans, slicing them open.
Zeke Yeager stopped, thinking. "There must be something we can do," he cogitated.
They both began to hear the stomps getting louder, and turned to see a couple of Wall Titans coming their way, getting closer to the farm. Levi looked absolutely angry and bewildered, thinking of the restless night and restless day he was having.
Eren swiftly extended his Titan's leg across the field, passing it underneath Ymir's feet, kicking her down. He then stood up as Grisha began to tear away her Titan's right wing, while he had her immobilised. Ymir growled in pain and that stung Eren's heart. He understood that his father was doing that to prevent her from flying away but he still felt deeply conflicted. And Grisha could see that as he looked up at his son. Eren was paralysed and Ymir reached towards Grisha's neck with her left arm. But Zeke soon rushed over, noticing how Eren wasn't helping, and pulled off Ymir's left arm before she could choke Grisha's Titan. The Pure Titans began to surround them, as they could feel the one Shifter physically there: Eren, so they tried to eat his Titan. Grisha reached inside Ymir's nape and Zeke held her down, all while Eren was still paralysed. He just watched, completely stunned. Grisha gashed that Titan's nape deeply with his own Titan's hand. But he found nothing. Ymir wasn't physically there. She then swiftly grabbed one of the broken crystal pillars and sliced through both Zeke's and Grisha's Titans' chests, she pushed them off and began to rush out of there. Trying to fly but unable to, as one of her wings had been torn off.
She ran across the field, quite fast and unbalanced, trying to focus on regenerating. When she was suddenly pulled down by her Titan's left foot as she tried to jump across the third crack that had opened in that field. Ymir was pulled down into the ground by yet another previous Founding Titan: Frieda Reiss. The Shifter rose up from underneath the ground and held Ymir down, she couldn't escape, but she of course tried to. Ymir tried to jerk herself free but Frieda pulled her down again and pinned both her shoulders strongly into the ground. The princess looked at her niece with much authority and growled extremely loudly over her face. 'Enough.' Frieda thought.
Out of all of the members of their cursed family now present in that farm, Frieda was the one that had spent more time with Ymir in the Titan Realm. And she was extremely tired of it all. She knew Ymir very well and was appalled by the amount of suffering her niece had caused to so many people. She growled extremely loudly once again and Ymir looked up at her absolutely stunned.
"She is angry," Zeke noted with a small chuckle.
-.-
The Ackermann was looking intently at the goddess in flames, as the Colossal Titan made even more crystal around to trap her. Armin was almost completely successful, Ymir couldn't take flight again. Mikasa looked deeply inside that nape, to the open spot where she had just been, to the flesh she had just slashed through. The Ackermann could see that the hole she had slashed open was still there, Ymir was not regenerating. To the contrary, she was actually burning her flesh away and becoming even more vulnerable. The Ackermann looked up and ahead as the Phoenix Titan approached them.
"Pieck!" Mikasa yelled. "She's in the nape! Crystallised but still exposed," the Ackermann explained. "Grab her out!" Mikasa yelled with much determination, and the Phoenix Titan nodded back at her.
Pieck looked down, hovering and preparing herself to dive, as Jean jumped over swiftly to the flying Jaw Titan, expertly landing next to Mikasa. The Phoenix took a dive, igniting herself in the process, flying among the goddess' flames. The Phoenix Titan's equally hot fire protected her from Ymir's hot flames, just as the Colossal Titan's own ignited flesh also protected him from being burnt by the goddess. Armin finally stopped producing crystal, Ymir was trapped again and Pieck was diving deep in the direction of that nape. Ymir had already burnt a lot of flesh and her attention had been divided this entire time into fighting these Shifters, and the others in the farm. She understood that she no longer had use for these particular Titan bodies. So before the Phoenix Titan could reach the nape, Ymir exploded in transformation again, leaving that Titan body behind and creating a brand-new one.
And at the exact same time, in that farm, her smaller version did the same. As Frieda's Titan pinned her down, Ymir exploded in transformation. Creating a brand-new body and absolutely scorching her aunt's Titan in the process.
-.-
Up in that cursed realm Ymir chuckled to herself, quite amused. "Who do you think you're playing with?" she questioned, full of joy, thinking of how weak her opposers were. "I'm not just a Titan. I am the Titan," she gloated to herself.
"Oh, is that so?" Azymondeus asked, standing behind her.
Ymir turned towards the sound of his voice, feeling extremely happy. She tilted her head lovingly with the sight of him. "You're here!" she let out and smiled.
-.-
Tremblay was still flying across that island with much determination. His dirigible leading the hundreds of others, and although his staff had been severely reduced, he was still confident he would win this war. The army man suddenly got a radio request from one of his ships. "Quail, what's wrong?" he asked back through the open radio. Old Onyankopon had chosen an open channel, so that others could also hear him.
"We are in search of a rogue airplane, the O-7 model, please warn me if you spot it in the sky. Please, I cannot stress enough how important this is," the old captain affirmed, to anyone that was listening.
"Are you heading to the orphanage? I already sent twelve new ships that way, I believe you would be number thirteen then," Tremblay noted, not necessarily acknowledging the old man's request.
"Yes, we are," the old man confirmed. "Please, warn me if you spot O-7 in the sky, please, I repeat. I need its location," he insisted. Old Onyan wasn't really sure if it would be wise to share with the Marlean Army the reason as to why he needed to find that airplane so urgently. And Tremblay seemed too absent minded to even question him.
"Sir," one of the Marlean soldiers called for Tremblay's attention. It was his new second in command since he had unceremoniously kicked Carlisle and the other Eldians from his aircrafts. "I believe we should retreat, Sir," the Marlean soldier boldly suggested.
"Retreat?" Tremblay asked, with one eyebrow raised.
"We are running out of fuel, Sir," another soldier pointed out. "Perhaps it's time to head back," the new second in command insisted, clearly concerned. None of those Marlean soldiers wished to die eaten by Titans in that strange island.
"We are not running out of fuel, yet," Tremblay corrected them. "And we'll retreat if or when I say so. Do you understand?" he questioned his men with deep military authority. "Yes, Sir," the two soldiers replied, defeated. "Now get back to work!" he shouted at the crew.
Back in Old Onyankopon's ship, the three girls looked through the large windows, watching the Titans and the destruction down below. Annie could see her faint reflection on the glass for a moment, and notice her Titan marks slowly fading out as she regenerated and regained her energy. The old captain turned towards the large deck and warned the crew that they would arrive in fifteen minutes. Hitch looked down, thinking.
"Perhaps you should put on my ODM gear," she offered to Annie, as Gabi continued to look intently to down below.
Annie looked down; at Hitch's equipment for a moment. "You should keep it. I have my powers, that's all you have," she replied, wisely and generously.
Hitch chuckled. "I'm not leaving this dirigible to fight down below," she told Annie with some humour. The MP had had enough excitement for the day.
"What if you have to? Better safe than sorry," Annie maintained and Hitch only shrugged her shoulders, uninterested.
Annie tilted her head, with arms crossed. The Warrior seemed puzzled by her MP friend's attitude. "Why are you here?" she questioned and Hitch looked up at her again. "Why did you come after me even when you thought I was acting mad? You knew I was gonna get you into trouble."
"You always get me into trouble, I'm used to it," Hitch replied, slightly complaining, she crossed her arms.
"Then why follow me?" Annie questioned.
"Because I'm responsible for you," Hitch explained. "I have been for the past four years."
"Well, I'm sorry about that," Annie chuckled, incredulously.
And Hitch tilted her head, visibly annoyed. "Don't be. It's my job," the MP explained. "I wasn't going to let you out of my sight, I'm your warden."
"Are you taking me back to prison after this?" The Warrior questioned in mockery. Annie was slightly baffled.
"Most likely," Hitch swiftly replied. "Unless you do enough to earn a pardon, so let that be an incentive for you," the policewoman offered.
"Incentive?" Annie questioned with a small smile. "Sure," she added with eyes opened wide, in deep mockery. The Warrior would never let herself be trapped by others, not again.
"Your heart is too cold," Hitch commented, shaking her head in disappointment. Annie then turned to ignore her but Hitch walked forward, she continued. "I have a list of all the people you killed, you know? In Stohess and in the Survey Corps. I used to read it to you, their names and ages, I've read it multiple times throughout these years," Hitch told her, she was adamant that those people wouldn't be forgotten, and she hoped they all haunted Annie in her dreams.
Annie sighed and turned to her. "I know. I remember every name, vividly," the Warrior complained. She angrily proceeded. "You and Arlert and your commander and that tiny, obnoxious captain would pester me for days on end!"
"We were trying to pester you out of that ice box you got yourself into!" Hitch replied, equally angry.
"Why can't you all realise I just wanted to be left alone?" Annie questioned, deeply annoyed and secretly upset.
Hitch walked closer to her and stared her down. "You don't get to be left alone, Leonhart," she gravely said. "Not after everything you've done. So you better act nicely if you want that pardon."
Annie grunted and walked away, taking some distance and Hitch turned towards the windows again, she continued to watch the destruction down below.
"What are you doing here?" The old captain asked Annie while steering his airship. He was repeating the question she had made to Hitch only moments before.
"Earning a pardon, apparently," Annie joked, walking closer to him.
The young woman was perhaps waiting to hear some words of wisdom from that old man as she herself felt too lost at that point and had deflected the deeper question with a small joke.
Old Onyankopon looked towards her for a moment and looked ahead again, focusing on the skies once more. "You don't look like you care for one very much," he noted.
"It's because I don't really," she confessed, still with some mockery. "I don't need anyone's 'pardon' to live my own life."
"You don't care what others think of you?" the old man asked.
The Warrior only gave him a look, raising her eyebrows slightly in confirmation.
He chuckled. "You remind me a lot of my wife," the old man said. "She was a tough one, but I enjoyed making her laugh," he added with a laugh of his own, but Annie didn't necessarily react. She stared at him seriously, but paying attention intently. The old captain continued. "I used to call her my ice queen, and our boy always understood what I was saying as 'ice cream' when he was little. So we would always end up taking him for some. It became a family tradition," he told her, full of joy.
Annie tilted her head, she found that detail a little strange. "I don't remember ice cream in Marley when I was little," she cleverly noted. "I remember they had it outside of the Zone but it still was quite expensive, even for the richer citizens," she commented.
"Where I come from it wasn't expensive, at least in my young age," the old time traveller explained, actually telling the truth, just being quite vague about it. "But it got expensive again once the war started. So it was a little difficult to maintain that tradition, but we marched through it," he sighed, suddenly saddened while staring at that young woman's face. Onyankopon looked into the blue skies again. "I still remember the last time the three of us went together ...before she was gone," he disclosed more brokenly.
Annie held him on the shoulder sympathetically, which surprised and stunned the old man.
"I'm sorry about your son, I truly am," she quietly noted, being sincere. Annie still felt guilty.
"Don't worry," the old man told her with a small smile. "I know life will make up for it," he said.
"How can you be so hopeful? This feels like the end of the line," she questioned, "for all of us," Annie added.
"Oh, my life is only starting," the old man joked and Annie looked down, reflective.
"You better prepare yourself, we're arriving," the captain informed and the Warrior looked up again to see that sea of Wall Titans and the Shifter scuffle in the distance.
-.-
The goddess Ymir had transformed once again. And the transformation of her giant monster was incredibly immense and extensive. It took a few minutes of continuous fire, lightning and steam rising in that field. The team was all very confused and it took a while for them to finally see this new enormous Titan being completely formed into the skies. Ymir rose up with her beautiful long wings and began to fly away. Her new Titan was now four hundred and fifty metres tall, she was absolutely beautiful, completely coated in crystal and her feathered wings were absolutely majestic. Ymir flew off, leaving those pesky Titans behind. She was tired and annoyed with their insistence in believing they could ever take her down.
Down below, the Colossal Titan was completely paralysed, Armin couldn't move. The Titan just remained motionless in the middle of his own crystal forest. He had reached beyond his limits and his brain was just absolutely lost after all that mess. The Shifter was unresponsive. Maria's Jaw Titan had been deeply scorched and so had Pieck's Beast-Cart Titan, but they were both slowly recovering. Pieck looked up for a moment, as the giant monster began to fly away. She could see the Armoured Titan holding firmly to the goddess' back. Ymir's Titan was so gigantic that she hadn't even noticed him. 'Reiner, no,' Pieck thought, before passing out.
Mikasa flew high with her ODM gear, reaching the Colossal Titan's shoulder. She yelled for Armin intently but heard no reply, it was almost as if he weren't there anymore. Falco and Jean began to hear those rushed stomps, as they watched over their passed out friends. It was clear that Pure Titans were now running towards them, and they eventually were able to spot those monsters in the distance. It was yet another challenge for the group, but the Survey Corps soldier was secretly relieved for this particular challenge to be a much simpler one; considering everything they had just gone through. Jean prepared himself and soon began to kill away those Titans approaching them. He and Falco had no trouble so far, as they protected their other friends. Although they could both feel something different about these particular Titans. There was something more macabre about them and they were also all clearly Abnormals. Jean only noticed the problem once they began to rise again. This certainly was new and it wasn't ideal as even more Pure Titans were rushing their way. But they continued to fight, removing their napes again to kill them all, hoping they would stay dead. Jean's heart sank as the next wave of Titans that was coming their way approached even closer, and Connie's lifeless eyes suddenly met his.
-.-
Historia was confused and terrified, the crystal all around that tree stopped her from seeing much of what was going on. She could see the distorted images of those Titans fighting all around her. The Queen held Ezra closer in her arms as that smaller flying Titan came rushing by. Ymir ran past that crystal arc, towards the open fields as Frieda's Titan appeared and promptly immobilised the goddess.
The family believed they had won, but they hadn't. Ymir suddenly exploded in transformation and all that energy, fire and lightning completely obliterated the Titan on top of her. In a split second, Frieda was no more. Historia couldn't completely confirm that this new Titan had been her sister, as she couldn't properly distinguish those distorted images across the crystal. Regardless, her scorched death still stung the young Queen.
Ymir rose up in the air, flying away from the conflict for a moment and enjoying her new Titan form.
The Titan Realm
"You came to see me," she noted to Azzy lovingly as he walked closer to her. Ymir raised up her hand and in doing so, the sand around him began to move and shift.
Az stopped. He looked up and all around him to see those small blue particles forming a strange alloy across the sand. And suddenly, a cage was formed around him. The time traveller looked above and below and to every side to see those strange bars blocking his way. He was trapped.
His first instinct was to jump and as he conjured his otherworldly powers he could see and feel those bars glowing and blocking him from moving in space and time. The Ackermann dropped down in much pain.
"Do you think I'm stupid? I know you want to trick me," Ymir said.
And he looked up again, his cells dissolving in sand. "You tricked me!" he countered in anger.
Ymir tilted her head, looking at him inside that cage. "Yes, I did," she confirmed, condescendingly. "But aren't we having fun?!" she asked more excitedly.
He looked around the cage, examining those strange bars again, determined to find a way out.
"What? Do you think I would leave gaps?" Ymir asked with a chuckle. "You are not getting out. You are where you belong, at least for now," she told him.
Azymondeus began to panic, fidgeting, he could not bear being trapped. He had never been trapped anywhere before. So he immediately let his instincts out and tried to build his energy to jump again. He just couldn't help himself. But those cursed bars had that strange effect over his powers, he could not activate his own energy and trying to do so just gave him extreme pain. He dropped to the ground once more, his heart racing, his cells turning into sand, his entire body shaking in pain. Azymondeus breathed heavily. "Ymir, you can't keep me here. This is killing me," he pleaded in short breaths. Trying to keep his body from dissolving away, he had spent too much time in that cursed dimension already, the man was in deep pain.
She turned away from the light tree and towards his cage for a moment. "And if you get out, you will kill me," Ymir replied. "Now that's a conundrum, isn't it?" the goddess questioned, crossing her arms, amused.
"You are already dead. Why can't you see that?" He angrily argued while holding onto the bars.
"I'm not dead. I'm as alive as ever. And I won't let you destroy my chance to come home," she argued back with determination.
"Home? What home? You're destroying everything!" he questioned, shouting at her.
"I'm just cleaning the humans away, the Earth has had enough of those parasites," the goddess argued. And she then smiled at him. "When I'm done, only what matters will remain," she tilted her head towards her love. "You and me and them, just like we planned."
Azymondeus lifted up his head. "Them?" he asked in absolute confusion.
Ymir reached down towards her stomach, contemplative and elated. "They're here," she said, "I can feel them. I'm bringing them home with me," Ymir told him in pure happiness.
The father shook his head, completely stunned. "No, they are not." He strongly affirmed.
Az looked at all those strange roots attached to Ymir's body and how they seemed to be eating her away. And he was deeply concerned by it all. "This thing is messing with your head. You need to snap out of it!" He told her firmly while holding onto the bars. "That light thing is destroying you, and everyone else!" he shouted in an admonishing tone, hoping to bring his love back into her senses. "Get out of there! Get those things out of you!"
Ymir caressed the light roots sweetly across her arm. "This is what is giving me life and what will bring my girls back to me," she countered him, completely delusional.
"Well, I don't want them back!" he admonished the mother.
"How can you say that?" she questioned, admonishing him back.
"How can you want them back into this world knowing full well it is just a place of suffering? You should know better. Haven't you lived long enough? No amount of cleansing will fix this cursed land. What you are doing is absolutely damaging, you're destroying yourself for nothing! How can you be so lost? How can you have fallen so far? You need to snap out of it!" he pleaded with her.
The Ackermann still hoped he wouldn't have to kill her, but his hope was fading away as his pain inside that cage increased.
Ymir tilted her head. "Don't be disappointing, Azymondeus. All this time I've been here, all alone, missing you. And when you finally come to visit me your only intent is to kill me? I was right to trick you, before you could trick me," Ymir argued strongly. "Because here you are, once again. And you and I both know what you came here to do."
"Then don't make me fulfil it, don't make me kill you," he told her, shaking his head, disconsolate, as he held onto those bars.
Ymir chuckled. "Well, it seems you'll die soon before you can even try," she joked back at him.
"Ymir…" he let out with difficulty, struggling inside that cursed cage. "Please…" he weakly pleaded while decomposing into that sand.
'Sacrifice,' Ymir heard the light saying, inside her head. She turned to the light tree, stunned. 'We want sacrifice,' she heard again.
The goddess turned to her love once more. "You'll have to hang on a little longer. All will be good once this is over," she promised more cheerfully while holding her stomach very motherly. "The girls will be happy to see you again. We will all be happy," Ymir smiled, "forever."
.
Paradise
Ymir flew high across the sky, as her family watched her from down below. She looked down, planning her next steps as she hovered above that farm. There were quite a few Wall Titans near the region and Pure Titans as well. Regular ones, that is, made by the newborn Founding Titan; beyond the other grotesque Pure Titans that were in the farm, the ones created by the newest devilish curse. Ymir could also see many cracks forming across the island, that was extremely visible from up above. The island was slowly sinking. But Ymir didn't care very much about that, at least not in that moment. The goddess tilted her head, she only had her father, uncle and grandfather to fight so she could get to her brother. And that seemed quite doable to her, quite frankly. She flew down, gaining speed, turning towards the villages nearby. She did a few laps around the area, growling loudly, calling some of her children and they quickly abided. The Pure Titans near that region swiftly came running her away, and so did a few Wall Titans. Ymir then rushed over towards the farm. When she suddenly heard and felt a couple explosions near her.
Ymir looked up to see those dozen war airships flying high above her and bombing the area. She rolled her eyes and flew higher, taking down the two that were bombing down below. Destroying the others which were further behind would be an extra nuisance and she could soon have her minions do that. So Ymir concentrated on that farm again, all she needed was to reach Ezra.
The tiny newborn was crying loudly in his mother's arms, all that noise was frightening him and his mother's intensive heartbeat was also unnerving to the young soul. Historia tried to calm him down, but she was extremely nervous herself, which didn't exactly help. The Queen was trapped in that crystal formation and the world seemed to be falling apart outside of it.
The four men were stunned as they watched that sea of Titans coming their way. The Beast Titan walked forward with his extra confidence, and began to throw rocks towards the new invaders. Eren and Grisha were more concerned with the two Wall Titans already so near the farm, both considering how to fight those giant things. "You should take her out of here, son," Grisha's Titan said, knowing the Queen and her baby were Ymir's targets. And the War-Hammer-Attack Titan looked down, reflective. 'To where?' Eren thought. The entire island was being wrecked away. Levi was flying across the broken crystal pillars, still dealing with a few of the undead Titans - as most of them had been pinned into the ground by the Yeager Shifters. The situation was a mess and it became worse as the goddess came back, bringing some of her children with her. She flew straight towards Eren once again as the two Wall Titans followed closer behind.
Zeke was suddenly quite interested in taking on one of those creatures, so the Beast Titan rushed ahead and climbed onto the first one that arrived; and swiftly yanked out its giant nape with his crystallised fingers. He then made sure to control the giant's fall, so it wouldn't ruin any of the construction nearby. The small monsters that Ymir was bringing with her were not of the undead kind, but they would also be an extra challenge for the group. And she was hoping to use them as a distraction, so she could reach Ezra without any of the Yeagers getting in her way. She passed by her father's Titan and her grandfather's Titan in high velocity, trying to cut their necks with her sharp wings, but she was unsuccessful as they both swiftly moved away. She was still able to pierce through Eren's Titan's arm though, as he wasn't as fast as Grisha when moving out of the way and he used his arms to defend himself.
Ymir flew high up once again, taking another lap across the farm and eyeing the small newborn. The smallish Pure Titans soon arrived and began to attack the Yeagers. Those the Ackermann could kill with ease, and he started to do so. Levi was relieved to see them disintegrate; instead of rising again like those undead ones who were all now pinned into the ground with the shards of crystal left from the pillars Eren had built. The second Wall Titan was still rushing their way when it was suddenly defeated and began to fall down. The giant creature fell near the farm and Levi looked up, stunned and incredulous. Commander Hange stood on top of the giant's nape with her ODM swords raised as the creature disintegrated.
"Those are harder to kill. Their napes are certainly much deeper," she commented with the Captain, Hange kneeled down, analysing her fallen beast. "But they are fascinating," she added, stroking the creature.
Levi flew towards her. "You're alive?!" he let out, still stunned.
Hange laughed, standing up again. She put her swords away. "I woke up cooking," the veteran joked, her hair still wet with the Titan's fluids. "So I had to cut my way out. That's one experience I will never forget."
"You hit your head, are you ok to fight?" he questioned. "You were unconscious for hours."
Hange walked closer to him, among all that disintegrating Titan flesh. She gently held the wound in his arm and he looked down. "Come with me," the Commander said. She looked towards the Shifters. "Let them deal with the Titans, we have more pressing concerns."
The Commander then flew away from the Wall Titan she had just killed and Levi followed behind. Hange landed towards the wreckage of the orphanage's kitchen and walked around while looking at her wristwatch. It was covered in Titan fluid but it still worked, it marked two in the afternoon. Hange knew that it had been a few hours since the kids were trapped underground by the bombs. And she knew they had been in that basement for even longer.
"The people down there-" she began to speak and Levi soon interjected.
"We can't get them out now, they'll just become Titan food," the Ackermann warned.
"Yes, but they need oxygen. We need to make sure they have a way to breathe down there," the Commander noted. "And we need a way to communicate with them. I'm assuming some of the orphanage staff is down there, but I also assume it's mostly children."
Hange looked around the rubble. "Help me find a pipe," she asked the Captain and Levi began to help her search.
"So, the War-Hammer-looking one, that is clearly Eren," the Commander noted as they walked around the rubble. "And the Beast Titan is Zeke. Who is the other one?" she questioned while looking towards the Shifters as they fought the mindless Titans.
Levi only shrugged while lifting up some wreckage. "Beats me," he let out.
Hange then looked up to the sky. "I thought she would be bigger," the Commander commented, about Ymir, remembering seeing the goddess flying in the sky the day before. "Why are those pinned to the ground?" she then asked while noticing the grotesque Titans trying to free themselves from the crystal spikes.
"Will this one work?" Levi asked, bringing a metal pipe to her and changing the topic.
"Let's try," Hange replied and a bomb suddenly fell near the farm.
They both turned to see the Marlean airships coming closer.
The Ackermann grunted. "More trouble," he let out.
"Let's hope they help, rather than make things worse," the Commander added and sighed.
As the Yeagers were swarmed by the Pure Titans, trying relentlessly to fight them off, Ymir took a dive towards Historia and the baby. She landed firmly on the ground and began to walk towards the small tree. One of the airships then dropped a bomb their way and Ymir quickly spread her wings widely, shielding her mother and her brother. Historia's eyes met hers for a moment and the Queen felt deeply conflicted. The mother hadn't the faintest clue of what exactly this Titan wanted with her, but she had felt a deep connection to it from the beginning. Staring into its eyes gave her a cold feeling in her entrails, an inexplicable need to take care and protect that creature, just as she was taking care and protecting her son. Ymir took the full blast of that explosion on her back, and it severely impaired her wings, but she soon began to regenerate.
Eren's Titan grunted loudly at the airships. He was deeply annoyed as the Marleans were creating yet another problem. This was a family matter after all. He then turned to see even more and more Pure Titans coming their way. 'Why are you doing this to me, my child?' he thought, upset and tired, Eren sighed.
Levi was successful into piercing that metal pipe through the ground, using his Ackermann strength, of course. It eventually hit the top wall of the basement and it broke through a couple of wooden boards, slightly scaring the children, but also bringing light at the same time. They were running out of torches after all, so a tiny spot of sunlight actually felt quite nice. Hange began to communicate with one of the nuns. The woman informed that the kids were okay, just frightened, but unharmed. And the Commander was actually quite cheerful while promising they would take them out of there soon. Levi was impressed to see Hange's hopeful nature still shining amid all that darkness.
The Commander then turned to him and informed that they needed to find at least three or four other pipes, so the kids could get enough air in there. And Levi abided, so they proceeded to search around the rubble.
Ymir was still recovering from that explosion when they all heard another blast. This time it was a Titan transformation: Annie had arrived.
The Warrior dropped down from one of the airships and transformed midair. She stood up and quickly analysed the situation, immediately identifying her target: the goddess. Annie swiftly rushed towards the winged creature and began to fight her. The incredibly experienced fighter didn't waste any time, she could tell Ymir was distracted and weakened. So it wasn't too difficult of a target. They both eventually fell to the ground, as Annie pushed her down and growled. Breaking a large portion of the crystal arc that was protecting Historia and the small baby as both Titans fell. Annie continued to growl intensely and all the Pure Titans, including the grotesque undead ones and a large portion of Wall Titans near the area - all turned to attention. And they all suddenly began to run towards her. The noise was unbearable as all those creatures began to march their way. The small baby cried intensely, the poor thing was very scared. And his mother cradled him, trying to calm him down. The Female Titan lifted her head and looked around, absolutely confused as to what she had just caused.
Ymir began to laugh, she laughed quite joyously as the Female Titan pinned her down. The goddess stood up with much strength and pushed the smaller Titan way from her. The Female Titan fell down, unbalanced, she sat on the ground and looked up as Ymir walked towards her. She had a grin on her face. "You don't know how to use your powers, do you?" the goddess questioned, mockingly. "These half-bloods are always insufferable." she added, annoyed.
The Titans began to swarm Annie, trying to eat the Female Titan's flesh, and she growled loudly in desperation. Grisha and Zeke turned their concentration to the Wall Titans coming their way, the giant creatures were running quite fast. And they both were clever enough to understand that as a bigger problem. The airships began to continuously bomb the large creatures and one of them fell closer to the kitchen rubble. Lifting up a lot of wreckage in the area and completely burying Levi and Hange underneath earth, scorched wood and loose bricks. Eren immediately became concerned about Annie, as she was clearly in a dire situation, unable to fend off so many flesh-eating creatures. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan rushed to help, quickly killing many Pure Titans in that sea of monsters.
'Ah come on, daddy,' Ymir thought. 'Stop defending her,' she complained in her mind. But then turned to Historia and the baby, they were completely unguarded now. Ymir let out a half smile. 'You know what? Please do. Keep protecting her,' the goddess thought, walking towards the small tree.
"Those things will trample us completely," the Beast Titan said with a sense of urgency, he then looked towards his father. Grisha was completely stunned, just watching that sea of Wall Titans running their way. Zeke turned ahead again. "Good thing we are already dead," he joked.
Ymir kneeled down gently in front of Historia and the Queen looked stunned towards that strange-looking monster. The creature reached out her hand slowly and Historia looked back for a moment, thinking about running but also paralysed at the same time. She could see there was nowhere she could run to. A couple of Titan fibres suddenly surged from the ground, coming out from Ymir's feet. They were made from that strange alloy again, the same as Azymondeus' cage, and also looked similar to the light roots that bound Ymir herself. The two fibres came out towards Historia like snakes and pinned one arm down after the other. The Queen was horrified, but before her newborn baby could fall to the grass, the goddess held him in her palm instead. And suddenly, everything stopped.
Historia was bound, with both hands tied to the grass by those strange chains. And she watched as her baby fell from her arms into that creature's palm. Ezra was still crying intently while all of that happened, but he just stopped once he came in contact with the goddess. Ymir held him gently in her palm, feeling that evil power surging from their contact. It gave her much joy. Her Titan eyes were suddenly blackened and so were the baby's, which frightened the mother completely. That purple energy surged all around the twins and all the Wall Titans in the area suddenly stood to attention. All waiting to receive their command.
The creatures began to walk in unison, leaving the area. They had begun the path of destruction they had been built and cursed for. Those Titans were going to destroy the entire world, and nothing could stop them. Ymir's dream was finally a reality once again. Just like it had been all those times before. "Now, let's do it right this time," she said while looking to her precious light tree, in that cursed realm. Ymir's eyes were completely blackened and the tree roots seemed like part of her body now, she was completely poisoned. The purple energy - that had been building itself across the dimension for a while at that point, was now all over her. Surrounding Ymir like strong harsh winds and it made her feel extremely powerful. Her lover watched all that madness from his cage, completely disheartened.
In the crystal dimension, the toddler finally woke up from his terrible nightmare. He looked towards the tiny tree to see the baby inside completely surrounded by that purple energy too. The newborn Ymir's eyes were completely blackened there as well, as she floated in those cursed waters. There was lightning surging all over that tiny tree and all around that strange dimension as well.
High above the shores of Paradise, the immense goddess rejoiced. She could finally feel that intense power flowing all through her and it gave her much pleasure. Ymir felt genuinely happy. The monster hovered high across the sky, looking up into the universe above, it was truly a beautiful sight. Ymir could see many galaxies, and connect with the dimension where her soul was currently trapped. The dimension where she had also trapped all the cursed humans that had ingested her being. Where she herself had cursed them into. Ymir was elated. She could feel her children being generated in her entrails once again. And it was only logical to assume that they were being formed again, just as she had been, and Azymondeus had been before her. Ymir hoped to bring her precious girls into the world again. And hoped to live in that Earth for all eternity with her children.
Ymir's logic was flawed however. The feeling was indeed inherently similar to her pregnancies, but what she had been generating inside her Titan since she had ingested those cursed waters was something much more sinister. In the moment that Ymir reached across the many dimensions of that tree portal and successfully cloned herself - while using her newborn form as bait. She also ingested the cursed waters from which she and all of the other dead Titans had been formed back into the Earth. Ymir hadn't been completely wrong to assume she had been carrying her three precious girls in her insides once again, since the Nine Titans and their two millennia curse had been created through the consumption of those three innocent bodies. But what Ymir was generating inside her Titan's entrails were the results of the curse itself. As the Devil had intended.
The immense Titan looked up to the skies with her blackened eyes, Ymir had completely lost control of her own self. A control that had slowly waned over the course of those past two days. The Titan enlarged its already gigantic mouth as it hovered high in the air. And from its gigantic mouth came flying out hundreds and more hundreds of Titans. All the past Titan Shifters. All of those who had already died and whose souls had been trapped in that cursed dimension known as the Titan Realm. These Titan husks were at their ultimate form, and they had no soul. They all had wings and bodies coated in crystal, just like their mother. All extremely powerful. There were over thirteen hundred Titans in total, all simple husks of those Shifters who had already died in these past two millennia. All except the Nine Original Titans, who themselves gave the Devil form inside the Earth.
The hideous creatures came flying out of the goddess' mouth like bats from a cave. Flying fast, ready to cause much destruction. Again, as the Devil had intended. Ymir felt lost as the very energy that she had craved so much for had now stopped her from moving on her own and had taken over her body completely. She also felt intense grief. Ymir hid her grief very deep into her mind. She always did her best not to think of the ones she loved and lost. But as she was there, paralysed into her own body as her monster form hovered in the sky, giving birth to so much destruction, all she could think about were those precious girls she had lost. Her soul was shattered. She wanted to cry. Ymir also thought of her father Signe; his death had been the first time she had ever experienced grief. And she thought of Tara, the one woman who had cared for her like a daughter and whose death she had caused. Ymir began to think of all the other deaths she had caused so far, and they were too many to count. Many were coming out from her mouth in that moment.
In the crystal dimension, Azzy could hear Ymir crying. The newborn was terrified. First she had been taken away from her mother, then she had ended up in that strange pond and those odd tree roots were hurting the poor thing. The toddler stood up from the broken crystal where he had fallen over and walked to that tiny tree again, curiously. He saw the small baby in that strange and dire situation: all trapped in tree roots, with all that odd purple energy hovering around her as she floated in those cursed waters. The toddler had the daunting feeling that he had caused all this, a feeling that would haunt him forever. Azzy really wanted to help, but he knew he couldn't reach through that force field, it had just electrocuted him and had sent him flying.
The boy then accidentally pushed down one of the small crystal pillars into the pond as he moved his leg. And it interfered with the force field, creating a gap that sparkled wildly. Azzy kneeled down, the toddler tilted his head while observing it. He was clever enough. So he looked around and found a similar small pillar. Azzy took a deeper breath, preparing himself. He stood up again and gently kicked this other pillar on the other side of the tiny tree's cave entrance. And once it fell over the pond, it also created a small gap within the force field. Azzy reached through the gap in less than a second and took the baby out swiftly. The force field still electrocuted him, but not as severely. The small boy fell backwards, but successfully with the small girl in his arms. Azzy held Ymir tightly as she cried intensely. He tried to pull out those roots from her spine and muscles but they were lodged deeply inside her skin. There was nothing the toddler could do, so he just cradled her tenderly into his arms, hoping she would stop crying.
-.-
"What are you waiting for? Blast those things!" Old Onyankopon told the others over the radio. All the Marlean soldiers were very stunned as they watched those Titans marching in unison.
Down on the ground Leonhart exploded in transformation once again. She regretted not getting that ODM gear from Hitch, it could have been useful now. The Warrior could have gotten out of that Titan undetected and have just flown out of all that trouble. But now she couldn't, so she had to think of the next best thing. The Female Titan surged again, with a new body. Her explosion obliterated some of the Pure Titans pestering her, but there were still many others to fight before she could get back to her target: Ymir.
The goddess crystallised her hand after connecting Ezra deeply within her Titan fibres. She gently began to let go of Historia, as she knew the mother wouldn't be able to take the baby away from her even if she tried. But the Devil did not agree with that assessment and the tree behind the Queen began to come alive. This area had already been poisoned long before Ymir arrived after all. The branches of the tree came alive like snakes and brought Historia closer to its trunk violently; and held not only her arms but also her neck firmly against the wood. Historia looked up at the Titan, gasping for air, her eyes pleading for help. And Ymir's eyes immediately ceased from being blackened and turned green again. The woman felt deeply conflicted to see her mother in pain.
Eren was quite stunned to see those Wall Titans walking in unison, leaving the island to destroy the world outside. This had been something he had envisioned for so long, and he had a strange sense of déjà vu while witnessing those creatures marching away. He also felt a little strange since all of that had begun. He could almost feel a small voice inside his head wishing to take over his Titan, and his mind. When he suddenly had to duck away from a punch coming his way. Eren was a little out of sorts with that surprise. Grisha's Titan had suddenly turned against him, and Zeke's Titan soon followed. They both began to fight him as their souls were no longer there. Those were now only Titan husks as well. But they still maintained the same level of skill the Yeagers had when alive, which made fighting them a little extra difficult for Eren. The two Titans eventually immobilised him and began to eat his Titan's flesh. Eren was horrified, this truly was being an experience he'd never had expected to live through. A genuinely traumatising moment.
The Female Titan rushed over and swiftly kicked the Beast Titan away, and the two of them began to fight. It took a few swings but she eventually immobilised that ghost of her War Chief into the ground and yanked its nape away with her Titan's teeth. The Beast Titan soon began to steam away as its flesh disintegrated. 'One down,' Annie thought. The Female Titan looked around as she stood up again, to see if Eren had been able to fight the other ghost Titan away.
Eren was still struggling, his Titan had many chunks of its flesh eaten away, which made it difficult for him to stand up and fight. The ghost Titan was reaching for the Shifter inside that nape and Eren had to be a little more creative while thinking of a way out. So he disconnected himself from those Titan's fibres and exploded in transformation again, completely obliterating the ghost of his father's Titan in the process.
The War-Hammer-Attack Titan stood up once again, its body still steaming out in transformation and its eyes still glowing a bright green. He joined the Female Titan and they both stared at their target: the goddess kneeling in front of that tree. Ymir looked up at them, with those bright and sparkly purple Founding Titan eyes. The girl seemed lost.
-.-
Much further away from the Queen's farm, Kirstein was fighting almost on his own. Jean climbed up through all that crystal structure with his ODM gear and looked at all those Titans down below. He was tired of fighting them over and over again, he had killed Connie's cursed Titan form three times over and it had stung each time. He climbed up towards Falco, to know why he had stopped helping him in the fight, but Falco was unresponsive. The boy seemed very lost inside that Titan. Jean then flew over towards Mikasa, who herself was also trying to wake up Armin, who had been unresponsive for a while now. The soldier then looked down again, the Pure Titans were reaching Maria's Titan and Pieck's Titan. And that immediately worried Jean. But both Titan Shifters seemed to wake up before being eaten by the Pure Titans swarming them and they immediately began to fight back. They fought back very erratically and violently which surprised Jean. It seemed like they had lost themselves. The two Shifters looked angry.
Mikasa had had enough, she took out her swords. The Ackermann had decided: she was going to take Armin out of there. But before she could cut through that flesh, the Colossal Titan began to move again. Mikasa lost balance and began to fall through that sea of Titans. She regained control of her fall with her ODM gear and landed close to Maria's Jaw Titan. The Titan immediately growled at her and began to attack her mindlessly. The Ackermann was surprised, completely stunned to see that sudden change after the two of them had worked together so well. The Titan continued to attack her as Mikasa moved away again and again. The Ackermann had no choice. She flew over with her ODM gear and cut through the Titan's nape, cutting off its head completely. And the creature stopped moving. Mikasa then landed on Maria's Jaw Titan's severed head. The Ackermann was deeply saddened, she looked down at her crystal blades. Mikasa sighed in regret.
And she looked up to see the unexpected: the Colossal Titan was walking away. Just walking on its own, without saying anything to them, it wasn't even acknowledging the others. At that point, the Phoenix Titan had flown off and had taken a few laps across the sky. Pieck was feeling sickly and out of control, she really wanted to level her head. The Titan then landed on that broken crystal structure. She growled loudly at Falco's Titan. "Wake up!" The Phoenix Titan yelled.
"Pieck, what is going on?" Jean asked, landing with his ODM gear closer to her.
"I don't know, but I'm having trouble controlling my powers," the Titan tried to explain as Mikasa also landed closer to them. Pieck then turned to Falco as the Jaw Titan shook his head, trying to keep himself awake. "You can't let this thing win," Pieck told him.
"Reiner left with the giant Titan," the boy noted.
"Yes, I saw that too," Pieck replied. "And we need to follow," she added.
"We need to attack her again, and this time, we have to succeed," Jean told the group.
Mikasa's eyes were still lost as the others were talking. She then left with her ODM gear, the Ackermann expertly flew through the crystal formation; and then through the Wall Titans walking in unison - eyeing the actual Colossal Titan.
"Mikasa!" Jean shouted, but she was too far gone to even hear him. The Ackermann was inhumanly fast.
"Just let her be," the Phoenix Titan said. "We have a Titan to kill," she reminded him and took flight, the Phoenix flew high up into the skies. And Kirstein then jumped in the Jaw Titan's back.
As Falco took flight as well, to follow the Phoenix, Jean looked down below. He could still see Connie's undead Titan looking up towards him, just like the other Pure Titans were. 'I just wish you could rest,' Jean thought, deeply saddened. He then turned to concentrate into the skies.
-.-
Down in the harbour, all the scientists and the arrested soldiers could already hear the stomps getting louder and louder. The noise reverberated all around the walls of that building.
"Hey! Is there someone still up there?" Yelena questioned from her basement cell, yelling louder and louder. "Hey!"
Lady Azumabito eventually came down with one of the Hizurian engineers.
"Oh good, I thought you were going to leave without us," Yelena noted in relief.
"We will," Kiyomi replied. "We are just organising whatever rations we can find to leave it to all of you down here," the old woman explained, callously. "And water, we are not heartless," she added.
"What?!" Yelena questioned, angrily holding onto the bars. "You can't just leave us here to die!" she exclaimed passionately.
The old Lady then walked closer to Yelena's cell.
"You are a problem for the Eldian government to deal with, and I won't meddle in that," Kiyomi explained.
The engineer then brought her to the side. "Ma'am, I was under the impression we were going to take them with us. That ship is too big and most of us scientists and engineers are injured. We need more people to properly sail that vessel," the man explained, nervously.
"Well, that's good to know," Yelena noted, crossing her arms and they both looked towards her. "I can still hear everything," the prisoner noted. She truly could hear the whispers, even through all that tremendous noise outside.
"I can't just take Eldian prisoners out of their country, if we take them we will be just bringing a problem with us," Kiyomi countered strongly.
"What country?" Yelena questioned from her cell. "Can't you hear those Titans marching our way? They probably already ate all the meat available on the island and are now looking for food elsewhere," she supposed. "I would be surprised if there's anyone still alive in there," the woman added.
They both looked towards her quite stunned. It was a terrifying and macabre thought. But they both knew she was probably right as they had been cogitating the very same thing. Hearing her saying it out loud however, made the situation all the more haunting.
Yelena then put her head through the bars.
"I suggest we all leave, and soon," she proposed, "and sail to the ends of the Earth." Yelena then looked at them intensely. "And let us hope those monsters won't chase us there," she added menacingly.
Kiyomi looked at her and at the other Yeagerists' cells across that corridor, considering it all.
The old woman then turned to the engineer. "Get them out," Kiyomi ordered and climbed up the stairs again.
Yelena looked to the engineer with a smile. "Survival of the fittest, am I right?" She joked as he searched for the keys to unlock her cell door.
The harbour survivors all worked together to sail that vessel out of those docks. And they worked quickly. For they could see those Titans marching and getting closer and closer, which just made the group progressively more nervous. "Let's sail north," Kiyomi said. "Those monsters are probably heading towards the main continent first," she deduced.
As the ship was already far into the waves they could see the first Wall Titans finally arriving at the harbour. And one of the giants nonchalantly stepped over the Research Facility - completely destroying the building. Yelena turned to Kiyomi, but said nothing. The old woman understood Yelena's meaning by only the expression in her eyes. If the Hizurians had left those prisoners behind, they would have all been dead now.
-.-
The Armoured Titan had hitched a ride over that giant goddess. After she had exploded in transformation again the Shifter had quickly, and swiftly, jumped over her back and had been surfing into those skies as she climbed higher and higher up. Reiner had used his Titan's crystallised fingernails to attach himself firmly to that thing. That giant creature had grown far too big to even notice him, so she didn't set herself on fire or tried to remove him in any other way. Ymir just kept flying up.
She also had been concentrating on many other things, she was doing her best to finally meet with her brother again and when she finally did, their powers were completely activated. As the stardust creature had warned them in the Titan Realm, the Coordinator powers were now at their utmost potential and the goddess could control all of the Titans - including the Shifters.
Reiner felt numb. He was lost inside his own mind and he couldn't move neither his human nor his Titan's body. It was like a strange and long dream from which he was having trouble waking up from. The Warrior was eventually forced into awaking once the shrieks of those new flying Titans became louder and louder.
Some of the creatures immediately sighted him as they came out of the goddess' mouth and soon turned to attack the Titan Shifter.
The Armoured Titan was lifted from the goddess' back by the force of all those flying Titans and that rush of adrenaline caused by being midair, unattached to anything solid, made him come out of his dreaming state. Reiner soon began to fight those monsters and firmed himself among Ymir's feathers once again. The Warrior was clever and resourceful and he soon had the idea of using those feathers themselves. The intricate crystal formations made for good daggers and he began to stab those ghastly ghostly creatures with much ferocity. The plucking of those feathers and the scuffle happening on her back was also slowly waking Ymir from her own sad slumber.
Reiner accidentally looked down, something he was actively avoiding doing, and his heart raced much faster. He was so high up into the clouds and suddenly fully aware of the danger. The Warrior then firmed himself even further and made sure to keep his balance. He was determined not to fall.
-.-
Ymir looked up at those two Titan Shifters while kneeling down in front of her grandmother's favourite tree. The Original Titan had the small newborn baby in the palm of her hand, literally. She knew the Female Titan and the recently reformed War-Hammer Attack Titan would soon attack her. So Ymir cleverly built up a crystal dome around her and that tree, to make sure they couldn't come closer. And the grotesque undead Titans suddenly exploded in transformation again. Ymir was making sure to have an army to distance those Shifters even further away from her. The undead Titans had been pinned to the ground by the Yeager Shifters, but since they had exploded again in transformation they were no longer trapped. And that wave of abnormal Titans immediately came rushing towards the Shifters. Commandant Shadis' undead Titan led the way and all the others followed: an army of undead Titan soldiers rushing their way. The Titans stopped. And positioned themselves firmly in between the two Shifters and the new crystal dome, sending a clear message: they were not welcomed.
The Female Titan looked down, Annie was thinking. She soon raised her head again and screamed extremely loudly. A shrieking horrifying growl. The grotesque creatures immediately fitted their eyes on the Female Titan and began to speed up towards her. Annie then turned to Eren and his Titan looked up at her. She gave him a quick look and the message was clear: 'you better get this done, and soon,' Annie thought as she quickly sped up away, for those minions to follow. The grotesque creatures followed the Female Titan like a herd chasing its mother.
-.-
Mikasa finally reached the Colossal Titan as he walked in a herd himself. The Wall Titans were slowly walking towards shore and Armin was accompanying that mindless group, something the Ackermann could not understand, at least not completely. Mikasa had seen Maria's strange fit of rage and how Falco and Pieck had also lost control briefly after the Rumbling was activated. But the two Shifters quickly regained control over their Titan bodies. The fact that this hadn't happened to Armin yet and the fact that he had been unresponsive even before the Rumbling started was making the Ackermann reach a very painful but logical conclusion: Armin was dead.
She did not want to believe it, but it made perfect sense. Maria was the only one unable to regain control over her Titan body, while the Titan Shifters who were still alive eventually came back to their senses. Mikasa called Armin's name over and over again, just as she was doing before but, just as before, she had no response. The Colossal Titan only ignored the tiny Ackermann and kept marching ahead. Mikasa flew down to its left eye and then to its right eye, they both looked completely lifeless. But Mikasa couldn't accept it, she would not give up on him. She had never been a fan of logic after all. So the Ackermann stopped right in the middle of the giant's forehead, in between those two lifeless eyes. She secured herself properly with her ODM equipment and raised both of her crystal swords, holding them together. Mikasa held those handles firmly with both hands, intertwining her fingers. The Ackermann's eyes were no longer their normal black colour, but completely white, as she was about to exert much of her inhuman strength.
She stabbed the Colossal Titan in between the eyes and the giant creature fell backwards, making an enormous crater as it fell to the ground. Dust rose all around the air and it took a couple of minutes for Mikasa to properly see her surroundings again. The young soldier was curious, and apprehensive, to see if she had been successful.
Those giant blue eyes were still the same, but they looked at her more intently now, as if trying to understand what had just happened. Mikasa was standing on its upper nose and she looked down to see a smile forming on the Titan's mouth.
'Did you just stab me?' Armin thought, still very confused and out of sorts. Mikasa was relieved, she swiftly took out the crystal swords again and put them aside. The sharp pain on his head chiming again made Armin wake up completely. The Colossal Titan slowly stood up as he looked more seriously at that immense herd marching all around him. Arlert finally put the pieces together and understood what was happening. The world's destruction was on its way and it seemed unavoidable now. Something he had been fearing for the past couple of years, ever since Yeager had put on his mind that this would not only be the best solution, but the only solution to their cursed island's survival. Something Arlert disagreed with fervently.
Armin was stunned as he watched the Wall Titans marching towards shore. The feeling in his heart was cold and hopeless with the thought of the amount of destruction that those creatures were about to cause. The world could be completely destroyed if they didn't find a way to stop those things.
ϟ "We can't let those Titans leave the island," ϟ the Colossal Titan said, and the Ackermann nodded.
Mikasa then secured herself properly on the Colossal Titan's head and the giant creature began to speed up, running fast across the marching Titans and even pushing and dropping quite a few down and out of his way. Armin would soon arrive on shore.
-.-
The swarm of new ghost Titans was flying high and with much speed all across the island. They seemed like strange, over-evolved versions of those past Shifters. The Titans of centuries past were flying all over Paradise Island, wreaking havoc everywhere they arrived. Floch was surprised to see those creatures passing by his plane. And so were Tremblay and Old Onyankopon, and all the others who were flying across the island as well.
Some of them were attacking Reiner, still on the back of their Titan mother, others were flying above shore and had sighted the other Warriors in the distance. The Phoenix Titan and the Jaw Titan were both flying towards Ymir again, but were intercepted by the creatures. They attacked them ferociously and the two Warriors soon realised that their Jaw companions were among the group attacking them. The ghosts of Marcel and Porco had joined the other husks in attacking them mercilessly. Kirstein was riding on the Jaw Titan's back and he soon took out his crystal swords to defend the young Warrior. He jumped across multiple flying Titans coming his way and removed their napes expertly. Jean was beyond fearless at this point. After everything he had lived through in those past two days nothing could scare him anymore, not even looking down and realising how high up they were.
The Phoenix Titan had set herself on fire and was gnawing and scratching those pesky creatures, she held them close and scorched them until there was nothing left. She joined Kirstein in defending Falco, for the boy had begun to panic as the ghosts of Marcel and Porco were gnawing on his wings. They wanted to remove them and make sure he would fall from the sky. So the Phoenix plucked their wings away instead and made sure to burn them before watching those ghost Titans plummet from high above to the ocean far down below. The sight was horrifying, but Pieck's heart had already been hardened by all this war. And although it was difficult to hear their painful shrieks, the Warrior knew well that those weren't her friends. They were just husks.
She swiftly grabbed the Jaw Titan's arm, as Falco had lost the ability to fly. But the Titan boy looked up at her and let go, to Pieck's quick desperation. The Jaw Titan was free-falling but it was swiftly abandoned by the boy who then transformed again midair. He then emerged as a renewed, but similar Titan form. And to Pieck and Jean's relief, his Titan had wings again. Falco flew up in the direction of the fight as Jean jumped out from a Titan husk he had just killed and landed on the Phoenix's back, looking down at her for a moment to confirm he was there; so the Phoenix wouldn't set herself on fire and accidentally burn him as well in the process. The Jaw Titan joined them again and they all continued to fight.
The Colossal Titan and the Ackermann watched all from down below, on the shores of Paradise. The harbour had been completely destroyed and the monsters continued to march out, getting into the ocean and heading to the great continent. Arlert was appalled, but he was just one and he certainly couldn't fight them all. So he concentrated on the only way to end that battle and hopefully stop all those Wall Titans once and for all: killing Ymir.
He looked up at their friends struggling up above, then looked down, searching for rocks to throw at those ghost Titans. But Armin could only find sand in that vast and overturned beach. He looked at the destroyed harbour for a moment and considered throwing pieces of those fallen buildings, but he then had a better idea. The Colossal Titan began to pull close some of the Wall Titans walking past him and began to remove their heads and other limbs, to set them on fire and then throw them high up - in the direction of the ghost Titans attacking their friends, but also in the direction of Ymir. Unfortunately, the goddess was too high up so Arlert decided to concentrate on hitting only the flying monsters who were attacking his friends.
All those chunks of burning flesh being thrown up above were calling the attention of the flying ghost Titans; so many of them began to dive down towards the Colossal Titan now. The Ackermann was standing on top of his head. And she looked at that swarm in confusion as she noticed and soon recognised the new flying version of Maria's Jaw Titan, it was rushing straight towards her. Mikasa flew around with her ODM gear in between the Colossal Titan's head and shoulders, expertly killing many of those flying creatures. She avoided Maria however, hoping she should still save her somehow, but also wondering if the previous Jaw Titan had targeted the Ackermann on purpose in that fight; considering Mikasa had just killed her previous form.
The Colossal Titan removed away as many of those pesky Titans as he could, stripping their napes with its bare hands. But there were too many of them to fight off and they were much faster than his slower and bigger Titan form. He and the Ackermann were fighting those creatures down below, in the beaches. While the Phoenix and the Jaw and Kirstein were fighting them up above. And even higher was Reiner, who fought those creatures with much audacity while holding himself on the goddess' back.
-.-
The creature screamed extremely loudly from the island's insides. And with its devilish scream every alive and conscious Eldian in Paradise immediately turned into a Pure Titan. All while the freshly dead Eldians were also gradually turning into grotesque Pure Titans as the curse spread across the soil. The giants rose all around the island while the even larger Wall Titans marched towards shore. Paradise was now full of giants, heavy giants. And its soil was completely corrupted by that cancer coming from this different dimension. The Devil currently stood on its portal, trapped between its grave dimension and Earth, getting larger and larger and taking over the undergrounds of Paradise. The creature continued screaming and growling, warning the Earth of its arrival. It grew so large that it became completely stuck. Its three giant horns almost piercing through the soil, but still failing to break out to surface. The Devil continued to scream, to wake its Titans, and those screams and its body trying to move inside the earth made the island shake even more. New tremors began to become more violent, just like in the day before.
Although it was clearly stuck, the creature continued to struggle while trying to move and break itself free. Those movements were not only causing stronger tremors, but also waking up the Earth itself. The immense weight of all those millions and millions of Titans walking up above, the tremors caused by the creature trying to move, the soil weakening with all that cancer. It all contributed for three ancient fissures opening up again. Those three millions of years old fissures had themselves been responsible for the creation of that island and were now cracking up again. The three largest mountains in Paradise had once been large volcanoes. They had once spilled much lava that had cooled down throughout millennia after millennia and slowly formed the island all those millions of years before. Now the mountains were waking up again.
The tremors were getting harsher in the Reiss Lands. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan was preparing himself to fight the goddess once again, when Eren looked up, stunned. He had just heard a thunderous noise, much louder than all the stomps of Wall Titans walking around them. Yeager looked up at the horizon to see the large mountain burst into flames. 'What is that?' Eren thought, confused. No one on that island had ever seen a volcano before. The Paradisians had no idea of what lava was; not that any of that mattered at that point, as they had all, or for the most part, been turned into Titans. Only the current Titan Shifters, non-Eldians, or other Eldians away from the Devil's range could consciously appreciate the beauty of that flaming mountain.
-.-
The flying minions continued to cruise fast across the island. Those ghost Titans finally sighted their final target: the hundreds of war airships floating across the Paradisian sky. The Titans soon began to attack the Marlean battalion. Tremblay was advised by his subordinates to turn back and fly away but he decided to soldier on. The old army man knew they were the last line between that cursed island and the rest of the world. He needed to find a way to stop those monsters right then and there. He was also warned that they would soon lose all their power and those ships would be grounded in Paradisian soil. Those Marlean soldiers really didn't want to die eaten by grotesque Titans, but they still respected their leader's decisions.
Floch was flying high across the island, still unsure of what to do next. He was joyous to see the Rumbling begin, finally. And he had the best view of the whole spectacle, being so high up in the air. He began to notice the unnatural amount of Pure Titans walking across the island as well, wandering aimlessly in between the Wall Titans. There were hundreds and hundreds, thousands of Pure Titans of all shapes and sizes everywhere he flew across. The soil and the vegetation of the island was also different. It looked similar to the mutation he had seen when he travelled down to that crater only a few hours before. The Yeagerist was a little lost and confused. He was suddenly quite saddened to see what had become of his precious island, the whole place was falling apart. This had been the land where he had been born; the young soldier felt conflicted.
-.-
Yeager decided to soldier on, despite the suddenness of that exploding mountain. He rushed towards the crystal dome his daughter had created while the Female Titan ran fast the other way; allowing for the abnormal Titans to follow her. Annie also turned back with the loud explosion of that mountain in the distance, she turned to see that dormant volcano now spewing lava way high into the sky. Leonhart had received a more advanced education while growing up in Marley, so the Warrior knew well what a volcano was, and she just hoped that burning hot lava wouldn't find its way into the region where the farm was.
Annie had prior concerns in that moment however, so she kept running. She ran across the Wall Titans as the smaller and crazier Pure Titans chased her like she was their mother. She intended to create a good distance between them and where Yeager was fighting Ymir, but Leonhart hadn't thought of a plan beyond that. She was now deep in a sea of Titans, on her own, knowing full well that as soon as she stopped running they would catch up with her; and she was too tired to fight twenty Titans at once. She was also too fatigued to transform again. The Warrior had no cards left under her sleeve, Annie was thinking fast, she needed to find a way out of that situation.
She was too tired now, she had run a great distance and had no energy left. So the Warrior just stopped. Annie then turned and waited for the Pure Titans to catch up with her.
The War-Hammer-Titan rushed towards the crystal dome and growled at Ymir, who had trapped herself inside, together with her mother and her newborn brother. The Titan Shifter then expertly used his War-Hammer abilities and began to create crystal spikes across the dome. They grew out from the earth and into the dome like veins bulging on flesh or lightning tearing through the sky. Eren's veiny spikes were slowly breathing Ymir's fortress apart and revealing the goddess inside again, with her lowered wings and tired expression. They finally locked eyes again as the crystal dome finally shattered completely. Falling apart into many pieces of pure glass. The father was angry, but he soon noticed how his young daughter only looked confused. Ymir was trapped. She was completely paralysed.
Before he could walk forward, two flying Titans arrived. They flew fast across the sky and held Yeager's Titan's shoulders up, trying to fly away with him. But he quickly used his War-Hammer crystals to sever their hands and dropped down to the grass again. Eren looked up to see new versions of his brother's Beast Titan and his father's Founding-Attack Titan flying across the sky. They took a lap and returned to fight him once more. Eren was stunned, he hadn't seen those flying ghost Titans yet. He turned to the other direction after hearing a new howling shriek. He then saw Frieda Reiss' Founding Titan also flying down towards him. They were all ready for a rematch. Well not them of course, but the Devil using those husks was actually the one ready for a rematch with Eren Yeager.
The father turned to Ymir again, locking eyes with her once more in pure sadness. 'What have you done, my child?' he asked in his mind and the goddess heard him in her cursed dimension. The girl looked back at him with her glimmering purplish eyes fitted on his green ones. Ymir pleaded for help in her tearful stare.
Yeager turned away from her, to face all three flying Titans coming his way. He was ready for a fight. He concentrated on the ground and made a forest of Titan Crystals emerge around him while creating a giant crystal spear, to aid in his fight.
-.-
Leonhart was struggling while fighting many Pure Titans at once, and those were the undead Titans, which meant they regenerated even after she removed their napes. Something the Warrior only learned after a few minutes into that fight and it just depressed her even more. She suddenly heard a familiar motor noise followed by a strange, almost electric sound; and then saw one of the large Wall Titans falling down quite near her. It trampled over at least five of the grotesque Titans that were pestering her. She looked up to see that tiny plane and she soon recognised the pilot. Annie let out a small human smile inside her own Titan. Onyankopon then proceeded to shoot down another Wall Titan, the beast fell down on top of another three of the Pure Titans. The young pilot was using the airplane's iceburst rays. He continued to fight, taking down Wall Titans left and right. Obviously knowing he wasn't making a dent on that Rumbling, but the pilot was just angry and he needed to blow off some of that steam. At least he was helping one of his newfound friends.
Suddenly the pilot heard a new frequency coming out from his radio and after the static, a voice he really didn't want to hear. It really made Onyankopon mad.
"I have an idea," Floch said. "Is there anyone listening?"
Old Onyankopon quickly jumped into the radio, as the Yeagerist was transmitting to the whole battalion. "My boy, we have been looking for you," Quail exclaimed. "We have found the O-7 aircraft. I repeat: we have found the O-7 aircraft," he informed the rest of the battalion. "What is your request?" Old Onyankopon asked Floch.
"Well, we know I'm carrying enough Geranium to blow up a whole city," Floch reminded the old man over the radio.
"Excuse me?" Tremblay interjected from his lead ship. "Is Geranium a new explosive material I'm unfamiliar with?" the old army man soon concluded.
"Yes," Quail confirmed. "It is newly discovered and quite powerful."
Tremblay let out a small grunt. "Now I understand why you were searching for this small craft so desperately, Quail," he replied cleverly and with some humour.
"Let us just hear the soldier," Quail requested.
"What are your intentions, soldier?" Tremblay asked through the radio in pure military fashion. Thinking of course that this was one of his soldiers, not an "island devil" enemy.
"I'm going to blow it up," Floch suggested, with some slight trepidation in his voice.
"Blow what up?" Young Onyankopon interjected, asking angrily and in between his teeth. He was tired of Floch's shenanigans and he desperately wanted revenge for Danso.
"The nest. I-I know where all these Titans are coming from, I've seen it," Floch further explained. The young soldier then gently touched the blue lever. "I remember your talk with the Marlean Pilot, I know how to overwhelm the iceburst stones," Floch told Onyankopon.
The young man was reflective for a brief moment, his anger had left him. "If you do this, you know there's no way back," he solemnly replied to Floch.
"I know," Floch concurred.
"The Marlean Pilot?" Tremblay interjected. "Aren't you the Marlean Pilot?" he questioned the voice over his radio.
"No, I'm a Survey Corps soldier, sir," Floch swiftly replied. "Proudly an Eldian, born in Paradise."
"Quail..!" Tremblay called him up sternly.
"Let me handle him," the old man replied. "Where are you now, son? You need to turn on your radar," Old Onyankopon gently asked of the Survey Corps soldier.
"I need you to guide me to the giant crater near Shiganshina, that's the entrance. Have you seen it? I can't seem to find my way back there," Floch said.
"We've all seen that, it's disgusting," Tremblay interjected.
"This entire island is disgusting," one of his subordinates added, and it was clearly heard over the radio.
"Let me handle this, Tremblay," Quail firmly repeated, hoping those comments wouldn't anger the fervent Yeagerist.
The old army man and all his lead ship crew remained quiet after that. But Tremblay remained on the radio, listening intently while Quail gave the young and inexperienced pilot all the necessary instructions about the O-7 craft. Tremblay was vigilant after learning they were dealing with an enemy soldier who was carrying such powerful eruptive devices.
-.-
Down on the beach, the Colossal Titan was surprised to meet much larger ghost Titans as the Devil had now summoned the husks of the past Colossal Titans to fight him. They all had wings and crystal coated bodies. Arlert wasn't expecting to see such large Titan husks with the same abilities as the small ones they were taking down with much ease before. But it was only logical since those were clearly ghosts of all the previous Titan Shifters. He was trying to formulate a combat plan to deal with those creatures while three past Colossal Titans landed on the beach and began to walk towards him, passing across the Wall Titan march with eyes set on him.
The Ackermann still flew across the area, still using Arlert as support as she dealt with those smaller flying Titans. Much higher up in the sky, Reiner finally lost balance. The Armoured Titan began to free-fall fast across the blue sky. The Warrior was desperate and lost. It took quite a few seconds of free-falling for the Phoenix to finally swoop in, she reached and grabbed both of his shoulders with her claws, pulling him up again. Pieck had promised to catch him from falling after all. She flew up with him while Falco followed, carrying Jean on his back. They reached the immense goddess in the high atmosphere and the ghost Titans continued to fight them there.
-.-
Eren Yeager was doing his best while fighting those three familiar Titans at once. He was struggling a little but he knew he only needed to reach and remove their napes in order to stop their existence for good. So he was focusing on that while fighting the creatures. He heard the airplane's motor and saw that iceburst ray reaching towards their fight. Young Onyan had come to help him, and Yeager could also see Leonhart running back towards him as well. The pilot was actually focusing on shooting Ymir. He knew she and the thing in her hand, which he couldn't detect properly from up above, and all that devilish purple energy around them were causing all this mess. So he hoped to kill the goddess. And his iceburst ray attacks soon called a swarm of flying husks towards his plane. So the pilot was chased away from the fight. And the new and pompous swarm not only attacked him, but also the airships in that region, and those ghosty Titans attacked them with much violence since they were much slower and couldn't evade the flying creatures as fast as Young Onyan could with his plane.
The pilot was stunned as he watched that particular airship being hit and crumbling fast towards the ground. It was the ship that had rescued them before. He felt very saddened for that old man, O-7's father, who had even given him this smaller plane so they could continue the mission. Onyankopon watched all those airships fell miserably to the ground as the creatures attacked them. And he also hoped that Hitch and the small Gabi had escaped somehow.
The two girls flew down across the sky as the airship they were in and the others near it all fell crumbling and on fire, spinning fast towards the ground. Hitch was glad she hadn't given her ODM gear to Annie. Leonhart had been right after all, the MP ended up desperately needing them. She fell across the Wall Titans and surfed around them while Gabi held herself close to the MP. The little girl hugged Hitch but also her screwdriver close, as it was the only weapon she had. And she closed her eyes very tight, so as not to see how high up they were. While Hitch did her best to concentrate, remembering back to all those ODM flying lessons she had had all those years before. She had never expected to be in such a situation, but her own adrenaline helped her navigate in that sea of madness.
They finally landed somewhere near the farm, further away from where the Wall Titans were, and began to run in the opposite direction as to where they were marching towards. The Wall Titans were marching to leave Paradise, and Hitch and Gabi were running in the direction of the now crystallised Orphanage building. They could see the Titan Shifters' scuffle in the distance, and it was the same place to where the Female Titan was also running towards, so they felt safe and confident to follow her. Gabi turned her back for a moment, and watched all those airships catching fire on the grassy ground, and some of them even being trampled by Wall Titans, the unfortunate ones that had fallen in their paths. She couldn't imagine the countless lives just lost in those crashes, the thought saddened her deeply. The small girl clutched the screwdriver in her hand while turning ahead once more, and continued to run, following Hitch.
The pilot landed near Quail's crashed airship. Young Onyankopon was determined to save the crew who had just saved his own life only a few hours before, and who had helped this cause so fervently. So he walked inside the crashed vehicle, protecting himself from the flames and looking for survivors.
-.-
Yeager finally pinned down Frieda Reiss' Founding Titan, after he had taken care of his father's and his brother's Titan husks. He reached through the Titan's neck and pulled away the nape completely and her Titan began to disintegrate. Eren sat down on the flaming grass for a moment, with a sigh of relief. He stood up once again in all his might and began to walk towards Ymir, as the young goddess only stared down. Perhaps avoiding her father's eyes, or perhaps already completely out of herself. The father could not tell and he was now surprised with a kick to his Titan's spine, so he completely lost his focus, and balance. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan then fell to the ground, surprised by that hit. He looked up to see the Female Titan staring down at him. Her eyes completely whitened. Annie had lost control.
The Female Titan positioned herself, ready to fight. 'Are you kidding me?' Eren thought. He had no time to process any of that however, as the Female Titan soon began to attack him. And she attacked him mercilessly, with unexpected kicks and punches. He did his best to evade and lunge out of the way while he still recuperated himself from the previous fights. His Titan's body was still regenerating in some places and his human muscles had rigidified due to the crystal curse he and Arlert had placed upon themselves. He was slowly losing movement on his right arm due to his crystal mark only widening across his veins and muscles every time he activated that crystal power. Something his best friend had to deal with as well. But Arlert had no use for crystal anymore, and had put a stop to that. While Yeager couldn't help himself, he had become the War-Hammer Titan and producing crystal was ingrained to his nature. He did his best to evade the Warrior and began to think of a better way to take her down. This was difficult however, for Leonhart herself was the one who had taught him all the cleverer moves he knew.
-.-
"Quail, are you there? Quail, do you copy?" Tremblay asked. He was worried after the transmission from Quail's ship had stopped short.
"Sir?" Floch also asked, confused.
"We believe that airship was taken down, Sir," another Marlean Commander joined the call, informing them. "And there are many of those odd flying Titans attacking us as well. We are doing our best to avoid and shoot them down, Sir, but there's too many of them," yet another Marlean Commander informed Tremblay, trying his best to keep calm and collected.
"Alright, Forster, let's pick up where we left off, shall we?" Tremblay addressed the Survey Corps soldier.
"Were you listening before?" The young soldier questioned back, trepidatious.
"Of course," he promptly replied, and continued. "I'm charting a faster course, keep following northwest and you will soon sight all of our battalion in the distant skies, in about three minutes. Don't forget to prepare the right distance and angle Quail calculated before making your entrance to the cave. You need to be at maximum speed once you reach this giant tree you spoke of," the old army man reminded him.
"No," Floch replied, dryly.
"No?" Tremblay asked, confused and fearful. It was clear Onyankopon had a much better time dealing with him.
"Not this way," Floch continued. "I won't die and let my people in your hands. I want to save them. If I'm doing this you need to promise-"
"Promise what?" Tremblay promptly asked.
"That you'll leave us alone." Floch told him. "All Eldians. You Marleans and all those other nations who hate us and harm us and hunt us so much. You need to promise me this ends now. Never again will an Eldian be locked up behind walls, marked or used in warfare for others' gains. No more Pure Titans, no more awful experiments, no more slavery. I can't stand my people living trapped and in fear. And this evil excuse of us having to pay for our ancestors' sins. We have done nothing to deserve your punishment," the Survey Corps soldier declared to him with all his might. "I'm only doing this if you can promise you'll leave my people to live their lives in peace."
"This is hardly the right time to be having this kind of conversation, young man," Tremblay told him.
"This is exactly the right time to be having this conversation, old man," Floch passionately replied.
Tremblay looked back at his crew as they all stared at him, he also knew this channel was open to all the other aircrafts. Tremblay sighed. "I'm only one Marlean, Forster, I can't make promises for all my people or for all other world leaders, I'm not a world leader myself. I'm my own leaders' subordinate," the old man began to justify himself, trying to get out of it.
"Won't people want to know what happened here today? The day we fought the Devil itself? What are you going to tell them?" Floch questioned him.
"I still don't know if I'll survive this," Tremblay replied, with a small and nervous chuckle.
"Then you better survive this," Floch firmly told him.
The old man looked at that old and rusted radio, thinking for a moment.
"I give you my word," Tremblay said solemnly. "The Eldian Persecution ends today. I'll make sure all your demands are met. And you should also be aware of my eight thousand Marlean soldiers who had just heard my pledge to you. They are all witnesses, so let us hope this moment will stand in History and that this pledge will remain true over the centuries."
There was a long moment of absolute silence as Floch was reflecting on those words and in what he was about to do.
"Guide me to the crater," the Survey Corps soldier asked Tremblay.
The O-7 aircraft was finally sighted by the Marlean Battalion, as all the soldiers heard Tremblay giving the last instructions to the Eldian soldier. The plane turned the angle perfectly and began to gain speed in the direction of the crater.
"Now, go kill this Devil," Tremblay said and Floch let out a small smile. He entered the crater at the fullest speed of that supersonic aircraft. "I'll see you on the other side," the young soldier jokingly replied.
He flew fast across that heavily mutated underground land. Tremblay and the others had lost radio contact with him, so Floch was now completely on his own. He made sure to keep a straight line, following the route the goddess had taken when she herself emerged from that tree portal, the day before. Floch was in deep silence for the next twenty minutes as he flew extremely fast towards the centre of Paradise. He knew there was no going back now, he only hoped Tremblay would keep his promise. Floch suddenly felt an overwhelming fear as he realised his death was so near upon him.
He finally saw that overgrown monster in the distance, he couldn't even distinguish what it was, for the whole giant mess was on fire. Floch had been looking for that tree, but something on his insides told him this was his real target. He looked down at that blue lever and pulled all the way through. The airplane motor was being overcharged and all the Geranium petals were becoming overwhelmed. "I'm sorry, mother," Floch said, thinking back to his home and the life on Earth he was leaving behind.
The plane soon crashed into the large creature, causing an extreme, immeasurable explosion. The massive blast expanded through the island's insides and was quickly overtaken by the lava of the now three completely exploded volcanoes.
The Earth was fighting back. The beautiful ancient planet was finally aware of the disease that had grown inside of it over the past trillions of years and was now taking some measures to cure itself.
The immense crystal structure Yeager and Arlert had created the day before held together as the lava passed through. And it was the only thing standing, for all the mutated land was being washed away by the intense fire. The river of lava was coming out from within the Earth's core and it came up high above with its intense pressure; finding its way to the surface through the three volcanoes' mouths. But also flowing freely through the island's recently opened insides, burning away all of the anomaly the disturbance had caused. Washing away all that the Devil's dimension had modified and killing all of its grotesque and overgrown creatures. As the Devil's consciousness had finally left the Earth's dimension. For the moment that is, it was now dormant again, waiting for its next prey.
All the Titan husks were immediately unmade. All the flying Titans that were attacking the Marlean Battalion suddenly vanished, as vapours in the air; which signalled to Tremblay that Forster had kept his end of the bargain. 'Now I have to keep mine,' the Marlean thought.
All the grotesque undead Titans also soon vanished, leaving behind the hundreds of thousands of Eldian corpses the Devil had possessed. Connie, Shadis, Louise and many others could now rest in peace.
The husks also disappeared suddenly while fighting the Warriors and the Colossal Titan down on the beach. The ones up above couldn't really tell why but Arlert and the Ackermann soon connected it to the large tremors they could feel and the large explosions they could hear in the distance. Armin could finally stop to breathe and to properly think as those monsters disappeared into vapours. He took a moment to assess the situation, when yet another large explosion happened; and he turned to see those three large streams of fire shooting high up into the air, and the mountainous land all fiery red all around them. Those streams of fire were in three different points of the island and the land seemed to still shake all around them. Armin, just like Eren, had never seen a volcano before. He had seen drawings of them in his old and precious book. But those black and white illustrations didn't really match all the redness he was witnessing, so he didn't identify them as such.
The Ackermann landed on the Colossal Titan's shoulder and joined him in watching those strange eruptions. Armin didn't know what those fiery explosive things were, but it was clear that their island was completely doomed. The area where those fiery streams were looked like giant bleeding wounds. And the land continued to shake tremendously. Armin was suddenly reminded of Eren's constant dreams, about the island sinking. Plummeting into the ocean. And he was then completely overwhelmed with fear.
High up above, the Warriors no longer had weird ghost Titans standing in their way again. So they proceeded with their mission: it was finally time to kill Ymir.
The Phoenix Titan ignited her wings and began to fly across Ymir's wings, burning holes in them with her hot fire. While the Armoured Titan climbed his way to her nape. Ymir was slowly waking up again, after she had lost control of her enormous titan form. Up in her cursed dimension, the witch began to laugh joyously, and in secret relief. She was finally in power again. That interdimensional creature was no more.
"Do you know your role?" Jean asked Falco while looking down into his Titan's eyes. Falco looked up.
"Yes," he replied. "Reiner takes the witch out of the nape and I crack the crystal," the Jaw Titan said.
"Then drop me up over her head first," Kirstein asked.
Jean then landed on Ymir's head as the Jaw Titan flew off, and as Reiner continued to climb up through the immense creature. The Survey Corps soldier looked down, he had noticed her eyes had been opened, but so far she hadn't shown any reaction while they had been fighting the ghost Titans. It was clear the goddess was in some sort of a trance of some kind. Regardless, Kirstein's job was to blind her, so he readied his ODM gear as he had done before, and made his jump: to begin cutting through her eyes. However, Ymir's eyes became alive again and she followed him with care. The goddess then lifted her arm, something Jean hadn't expected.
-.-
Yeager finally pinned Leonhart down; he used multiple crystal spikes to hold the Female Titan down into the ground. Four on her legs, four on her arms and three on her torso. She began to lift her head again so The War-Hammer-Attack Titan made yet another crystal spike and pierced through her head, piercing her Titan's brain. That didn't matter, however. For what was controlling the Female Titan's body was the Devil. Annie herself was dormant and so was her Titan's mind. So the Titan continued to struggle intently, trying to break free again. Eren looked down to the Female Titan's crystallised chest, thinking of a way to get Annie out of there, so the Titan would disintegrate. But he soon heard the intense, thunderous explosion. Floch had reached his target and the Devil lost its control over all earthly creatures. The Female Titan's eyes ceased to be whitened and she closed them, Leonhart was exhausted. Her Titan stopped moving.
-.-
The Phoenix rushed to gnaw on the giant goddess' arm, before she could attack Jean. And now that all the Warriors had noticed that the goddess was awake, they knew it was only a matter of time before she set herself on fire once again. They needed to end her beforehand. Jean whistled to Pieck and she flew towards him. The Survey Corps soldier then landed on her back, in between her long black hairs, and they flew away. The giant goddess then began to follow. She stopped her long-standing hovering and began to fly forward with her immense crystal wings - those which Pieck had already burnt large holes into. Holes which impaired her flight.
She flew clumsily forward, trying to grab the small Phoenix Titan; while the Jaw Titan also flew quietly behind her and the Armoured Titan hid between her wings.
Jean had a new plan, he put his two crystallised blades back into his back-holster and took out his remaining two, old and reliable metal ODM swords again. He dropped to the Phoenix Titan's face and looked into her eyes. "Can I put my swords in your mouth?" Jean asked, then made a gesture with his two swords, in between his arms and his shoulders.
"Oh, that's clever," the Phoenix noted with a nice smile.
The soldier put the two swords in the Titan's mouth and the Phoenix Titan began to heat the metal with her own fiery breath. All while turning back to face the goddess. Flying fast. Jean jumped to the Phoenix Titan's back and swiftly held up his two flaming metal swords.
He used his ODM gear and flew around Ymir's right arm, melting her crystal coat on its weak spots and severing the arm from the shoulder. Followed by the Phoenix then helping out on popping the rest of the inside flesh out. They were quite fast, and Ymir had no time to react with her left hand. The Survey Corps soldier landed on the Phoenix Titan again as the enormous arm fell off from the sky. Jean was almost surfing on her back as the Phoenix flew fast across Ymir's chest, while reheating the swords on her fiery mouth again. And Jean soon arrived at the witch's left arm, and once again, they severed it. He flew around the flesh with his ODM gear, cutting through it with the Phoenix's help. It was almost like cutting a very large tree trunk, something Jean had done a few times during his military training. Of course, the Phoenix helped greatly, gnawing the flesh away while Jean cut the edges through. All as Falco had begun to distract the witch, hovering and gnawing all over her face.
After they were done Ymir was left without arms to reach for them. But the goddess was more concerned with the Armoured Titan, who was now using one of her own large crystal feathers as a spear, to reap through her nape. Ymir turned her head to one side and then to the other side, over and over again, trying to find him. She had no upper limbs to reach for the smallish Titan.
"Let's go for the knees now," Pieck suggested and flew down, while Jean prepared himself on her back. They then proceeded to cut her lower legs away as well. After the Phoenix had reheated the Survey Corps soldier's swords. Jean was burning his hands throughout all this, but he knew it was worth it.
Reiner finally took out the crystallised woman from that nape and Falco soon flew down. They were both impressed, they had been expecting to see a two-thousand-year-old mummy, not a very beautiful young woman. Reiner even recognised his teenage crush as he saw that porcelain skin and long and straight blond hairs falling down through her shoulders and chest. He recognised even more once he focused on her angelic face. The Warrior couldn't wait to finally meet the Eldian Queen again after all this, and present himself as the hero he always deserved to be. He already had this joke on hand to break the ice with Christa, about how he could see the family resemblance between Her Majesty and her ancient ancestor: the monster he had just slayed.
The Jaw Titan soon opened its mouth and began to break the crystal encasing apart. And as soon as it began to crack, Ymir began to set her entire Titan body on fire again. The young Warrior tried to endure through the heat, but he couldn't find strength to crack the crystal further. He was burning up and the Armoured Titan growled for the Jaw to leave. He insisted on staying and Reiner then grabbed the smaller Titan by the shoulders and threw him off from the flames. Falco flapped his wings above the goddess' Titan, looking down below, looking for his Warrior friend, extremely worried about Reiner.
The Phoenix finished severing the goddess' left knee - after they had already severed the right one - while Jean protected himself in between her hairs, for the heat of the witch's fire was too strong, even further away. Ymir's lower left leg then fell through the skies. They had been successful in severing her four limbs, which made Ymir look more like a butterfly now, as she flapped her absolutely enormous wings. For all the humans who could see her down below, she only looked like a giant butterfly in the sky now. Some people in the islands around and in some areas of the great continent just thought she was a vision. Or some trick of celestial lights. The Phoenix then rose up in the air, almost as the same height as Falco was and her and Jean could notice how he looked intently and fearfully to down below. It was clear: Reiner was still down there, in that pure hell of fire as Ymir set herself ablaze with much anger. Her eyes glimmered its purplish Founder light, shining in all their might.
The Warrior was still grabbing the crystallised witch. He had tried to sever her from the Titan but she was still attached to it by nine powerful crystal cords and he couldn't cut her out of them. She swiftly regenerated much titan flesh around her crystallised human self, recreating her nape. The Armoured Titan's arm got stuck inside of all that flesh as he had refused to let go of her crystal encasing. Ymir then crystallised the entire nape further, which made the Warrior now permanently stuck there. Reiner was doing his best to endure all that heat, but he felt like he was already losing his mind. His Titan was melting, even his own brain felt like it was melting too in all that intense heat. The goddess continued to set herself ablaze, hoping to pulverise the pestilent small Titan still on her back. And the Warrior began to sever his own Titan hand with the crystal spear he had fashioned out of Ymir's own crystal feather.
Reiner was finally successful, he was free. He looked up above while still keeping his balance by thrusting the feather deeper into the goddess' flesh and using it as a support cane. He began to wave with his yet-to-regenerate wrist. The flames the goddess was emitting were extremely high, it truly looked like hell down there. The Phoenix and the Jaw looked down intently, trying to find the Armoured down there.
-.-
Hitch and Gabi ran fast across the burning fields, they made a longer lap, to avoid the fight between the War-Hammer-Attack Titan and the Female Titan. Hitch was still trying to understand while they were fighting in the first place but she decided to avoid it all and keep going nonetheless. Her target was that clearly well-secured building. The MP knew she would be safe there and her survival instincts were screaming in her head. She just wanted to protect her own life.
"Look!" Gabi exclaimed and stopped. Hitch reluctantly stopped and followed with her eyes to where the small girl was pointing. They could both see Christa pinned to that odd tree. Her old regiment comrade was in quite a peril. Hitch sighed, she looked towards the safe building then looked towards the Queen once again. "Come on," she told Gabi and they both went over to help.
As they arrived closer they could see the Female Titan struggling while the War-Hammer-Attack Titan slowly pinned her down with its crystal while fighting her with determination, to keep her pinned down.
Gabi soon began to use the little screwdriver Onyankopon had given her to try to break away the odd wood that was holding Historia by the neck and arms. The Queen clearly was having trouble breathing. "It's no use," she whispered with difficulty as Gabi intently tried to carve away that mutated wood.
Hitch had quickly noted the rifle on the grass and she held it up. This was a weapon the Military Police soldier was much more familiar with. She reached for the bayonet that was loose further over the grass and then gave it to Gabi, who then began to use that blade to try to break through the wood. But it was also of no avail. Hitch was examining the rifle, making sure it still had usable ammunition, when she noticed how Historia's eyes were fitted somewhere. So she naturally followed the Queen's eyes and became completely stunned to see that tiny newborn baby trapped, embedded in all titan flesh and crystal. "That's right," Hitch whispered, thinking of the rumours about the Queen being pregnant.
Her Majesty had tried to hide It, but there were rumours everywhere about it, especially in Military Police circles. The MP also noticed how blooded the Queen's nightgown was, so it was easy to put all the pieces together. This royal baby was clearly triggering all this somehow. Or helping trigger it. She could also see how extremely miserable and fearful Historia was, she had been crying that entire time. Hitch looked closer to the newborn baby and she saw those blackened eyes. She walked forward, with the intent to help the baby but that evil purple energy threw her backwards and the MP fell hard on the green grass. She began to stand up again and her eyes locked with Historia's and the Queen then looked towards the baby again. Hitch understood the mother wanted her help and she also felt horrible seeing such a tiny and frail human in that frightful situation. So the MP grabbed the rifle, ready to shoot that Titan's wrist off, hoping this would save the boy.
Gabi was still trying to free Historia with the bayonet but it was of no use. Eren had finished pinning down Leonhart's Titan, when the extremely large explosion happened. When Floch reached with his plane onto the extremely large interdimensional creature. After it lost its control over the earthly creatures, that tree holding Historia just became normal again, and she dropped forward, kneeling over the grass. Gabi helped her, holding her up, the mother was clearly extremely weak.
Eren could see Annie was finally out, so he turned his attention to Ymir. The goddess was no longer paralysed as the Devil had lost its absolute control over her. She turned her head, for she could see Hitch aiming the rifle at her left hand. So she reached with her right hand, to attack the small MP. And her father soon grabbed that right arm. He held it all the way down to the other side, effectively pinning her down, since her left arm was crystallised. Hitch aimed at the wrist and took a first shot, then a second. But the rifle shots didn't do much damage to the Founder Titan's skin. Eren stared her down extremely sternly and she looked up at him with her pleading, lost-child eyes. Hoping that would trick him and melt his heart. But Yeager cut down her wrist without hesitation. He could only cut the titan flesh however, for the connection remained through a large crystal cord that went all the way to her Titan's nape.
She soon began to kick him, as she would eventually begin to do in a few years, whenever she would misbehave. Something Ymir had already experienced and had strong memories of, since it was all in her past. But Eren would still have the pleasure to go through all those tantrums in two or three years' time. The War-Hammer-Attack Titan stood up slightly, still holding her right arm down, and pinned both of her legs underneath his Titan's right foot, while kneeling down. He made sure to keep balance. He held her right arm with his left one and as she was completely pinned down he produced yet another spear with his War-Hammer ability. The last spear. They locked eyes as Ymir growled and shrieked, and he kept his grip firm on her, holding down her two legs underneath his foot and her right arm with his left arm, while her right arm was already crystallised into the ground - and held the newborn baby inside. Ymir screamed at him, but he didn't let go. She cried in her angry tantrum in the same harmony as the newborn crying in Azzy's arms, in the crystal dimension. The toddler looked down to her back to see that crystal cord pulsing and glowing, it went all the way inside the tree pond. And it pulsed and glowed in the same rhythm as the crystal cord that attached her Titan to her newborn twin brother.
Hitch better positioned herself for her third and final shot. Since that rifle was about to lose its last ammunition. She aimed at the pulsing illuminated crystal, hoping to free the boy.
"Kill him," Historia said, and Hitch stopped. The MP looked at her, absolutely terrified and confused to hear the mother saying that.
"The-the baby?" she asked back, extremely hesitant as she held up that rifle. Historia was crying, the mother was in clear pain but she knew there was no other way. The MP looked at the small, fragile thing. The newborn's eyes were completely blackened and his entire body emitted that strange purple light.
"It's the only way," Historia insisted, with her head in the grass, completely defeated.
"I'm sure you don't mean that," Gabi calmly whispered to the mother.
But Historia only shook her head as Gabi held her shoulders affectionately, trying to keep her calm. "Just kill him. Otherwise this will never end." Historia maintained.
Hitch then turned and began to aim at Ezra's tiny heart. She couldn't stop shaking with the realisation of what she was about to do.
The War-Hammer-Attack Titan held up its crystal spear as Ymir shrieked at the top of her Titan lungs. Eren thought back to his conversation with Maria and his hesitation to kill his own daughter. The thought of what he was about to do deeply saddened him. But Ymir had already lived her life. Be it in a completely different time and land, but she had already lived it. And she had already died there.
There was no turning back time. The past was the past and there was no changing it. The father knew Ymir would eventually vanish from his life. He didn't know when or what would trigger it. His Attack Titan powers didn't show him that far. He only knew she had her destiny to fulfil and that it would trigger all of this. It all needed to happen.
He had to let go of her. He had to let History take its course. Ymir had lived in the past and died in the past. She couldn't exist now in their present, she couldn't come back from the dead.
Eren held back his tears. And he cut that Titan's throat with all his might. Severing Ymir's Titan's head from its body, and hopefully destroying the nape.
The Titan stopped struggling, it stopped moving completely. So Eren then stood up, letting go of the spear. He turned towards the Titan's crystallised hand as Hitch aimed the rifle towards the baby boy. Eren could see that all that purple energy was still there, and how the crystal cord was still glowing and pulsing. Yeager tilted his head, trying to understand why. The father was so lost and tired that he didn't even notice how Ymir's Titan hadn't started to disintegrate, as it was supposed to, if he had indeed killed it.
But he clearly hadn't.
Once again, another Eldian from the future had failed to realise he was dealing with the Original Titan herself, and her father, nonetheless. The goddess was disappointed.
This had been a wrong move, a deep miscalculation on Yeager's part.
As Eren looked down analysing that headless Titan, Ymir's right hand swiftly moved up. Her crystallised nails rapidly pierced through her father's chest. She reached right into where Eren's human form resided inside his Titan. And began to crush the Titan Shifter inside his own titan form. Eren reached with both of his Titan's hands, grabbing Ymir's arm, trying to defend himself. But she only crushed his human form even further. Eren was doing his best to keep connected to his Titan's fibres as Ymir crushed his entire human body with only her Titan's hand. She had her thumb and index's nails both slowly piercing his neck while she held him; as she cogitated killing him the same way as he had just so coldly killed her Titan's body. She was cogitating severing her father's human head from his human body. Ymir was angry.
-.-
The Titan Realm
Azymondeus had been very quiet for a while. Ymir was extremely concentrated on her glorious world destruction. And her attention had been divided into controlling two Titans at once, so she almost forgot about him. Well, not necessarily. But she trusted she had made a cage he could never escape from.
The whole magical entrapment seemed to have been made just for him, and it kept him clearly bound.
Az was already completely falling apart, since he had already spent way too much time in that cursed dimension; and the time traveller's molecules were becoming one with that strange environment.
He could no longer endure the pain, so Azymondeus finally gave in. He completely disintegrated into sand - leaving the cage empty.
Ymir could sense that he was no longer there so she soon turned and saw that the cage was suddenly empty. The goddess then looked around the dimension - searching - her eyes like ones of a naive child. "Azzy?" she asked, still searching. Desperate and deeply fearful.
"Azzy?!" Ymir shouted again and it was followed by deep silence.
Her precious light roots became a little less lively and her eyes turned green again as Ymir continued to scan the area. Clearly concerned. She looked at the cage again, now completely empty. She couldn't really believe he wasn't there.
'Where did you go?' Ymir questioned in her mind.
"Azzy!?" she shouted again, but there was nothing but silence in the Titan Realm.
She looked down, saddened.
When suddenly the Ackermann reformed himself into sand right behind her. He rose between Ymir and her precious evil light tree. She immediately turned towards him in complete surprise. Azymondeus had disintegrated his own self into billions and billions of sand grains, which made him free from the cage. Now, his body was reformed, as the billions and billions of sand grains formed him in the exact way as he previously was.
He then lunged and swiftly jumped on top of her, pouncing like an animal; with his precious sword at hand. To Ymir's immediate surprise, she couldn't even process it. He forced her down as they fell on the sand. Ymir looked at him absolutely petrified as he lunged with that sword over her neck. The Ackermann was ready to sever her head, this was his favourite move after all. The blade had already pierced through the surface of her skin when he stopped. Azymondeus hesitated when Ymir looked at him with those naive green eyes.
He loved her deeply.
His hesitation didn't last even a second, but that was more than enough. Ymir could control those tree roots with her own mind, like her own personal snakes. She instinctively ordered them to take him away and they obeyed.
'Sacrifice,' Ymir heard again, inside her head.
Those roots pulled Azymondeus into the light itself, and there was nothing Ymir could do. She looked at his eyes one last time, he looked absolutely confused and saddened as his body was pushed over to that otherworldly energy. Ymir immediately regretted it, lunging forward to reach him, but there was nothing she could do. So she stopped. She just remained there, paralysed, on her knees as she watched her lover's doom.
That pure energy quickly consumed all his body, destroying it completely. She could see he was in immense pain as all his limbs were eaten away by that light. His skin and muscles were completely gone in less than a second. She could see his internal organs dissolving away and his eyes exploding while looking intently into hers. That image deeply scarred Ymir. And she would never forget it. His bones also dissolved away and his nervous system seemed to linger a little longer, but soon was completely dissipated into pure light.
Azymondeus had been right: his powers did not come from Titans, and he was also right, for although he had spent all his life not knowing where his powers had come from, he always had the sense that he would one day find it all out. And that day had finally arrived.
This very moment would forever change the very fabric of his existence. Everywhere, in any point in time, the boy who had just been born normal, to normal parents in a perfectly normal world would now never be normal at all.
His fate had been decided long before he was born.
"That was… unusual," Armin said. After watching his newborn baby's eyes glowing intently with that otherworldly blue light, as the baby boy smiled at him joyously.
The curse that had been given on the moment of his death would follow him through every moment of his life. To every place he would ever go, to every decision he would ever make.
'You let me drown,' were Azymondeus' last thoughts as that atemporal energy deeply consumed him, changing every fibre of his being. He deeply regretted not saving Ymir from her own death and that was all he could think about now, during his own death.
Ymir was stunned, paralysed. She had just realised how in killing him, she had doomed him into that cursed power that had haunted him throughout his life. The guilt was overwhelming. And she could not believe it: she had in fact just killed him.
Ymir could not bear it.
The light roots fell away from her spine. She no longer wanted any power.
Ymir was in shock.
"NO!" Ymir realised. "No, no, no. I killed him," she repeated over and over again while shaking her head.
"No, I killed you, no!" she persisted.
"No, it can't be," Ymir whispered in her cry.
"I can't lose you." she let out, brokenly. "I love you."
His body completely dissolved away and the light went out.
And Ymir continued to cry in pure darkness.
-.-
High up in the skies, up above the shores of Paradise, the Titan goddess began to free-fall. Ymir had lost the will to live so she stopped moving her beautiful wings and just allowed herself to fall.
-.-
Like a fallen angel
Swept away by the winds of time
Falling down into the starry night
Like a goddess
Embrace me for all eternity
As we fly into heaven
.
End of Chapter Twenty: "Fight!"