[MANGA SPOILERS; I've made changes to a part of the plot] [Flashback in bold]

image © to owner

"Falco's being detained along with about 300 enemy soldiers who also drank the spinal fluid. I counted about 500 other enemy soldiers. But Zeke seems to be elsewhere." Pieck, in her titan form, spoke to General Magath who had just landed on Paradis Island. She rescued Gabi and grouped up with her comrades.

"We came here based on Reiner's misgivings. But is it possible the enemy might use the Founder's power?"

"I don't know. I am certain that the Founder's power is the ace up their sleeve though. If they haven't played it yet...I think that means Eren is still unable to make use of it at this time."

"Is there some sort of condition to use it?"

" 'Now we have both the Founding Titan and a titan of royal blood.' When I was in the airship that retreated from Marley, I heard Zeke say those words." Realisation hit Gabi like it hit Falco when he reunited Reiner and Eren.

"What does that mean?"

"That Zeke...is a titan of royal blood. Is that it?"

"If there is some sort of basis for his unique power, he may have been telling the truth and if Zeke's absence has something to do with why they can't use the Founding Titan, we must not allow Eren and Zeke to come into contact."

"Commander! What about Reiner?"

"It's General now. Marley's shield isn't so easily shattered. No...we're no longer a shield protecting Marley. The fate of the entire world rests on our shoulders now. We'll do more than buy time by killing the Founding Titan. We'll eat the Founder, and, here and now, put an end to a hundred years of hostility."

⇊

Eren was fighting against two shifters at once, Porco the Jaw Titan and Reiner the Armoured, but it didn't seem like he was backing down. With the Warhammer's power as well, they were finding it hard to get close to him.

Emilia and other soldiers under Yelena were on nearby roofs looking for chances to finish them off. It came when Eren's spikes impaled them both.

"Boom!" As she was about to strike the Jaw with thunder spears the sound of a cannon caught her attention. Right on the walls, there was the Cart with Anti-titan artillery, they aimed for Eren's head. Before she could react, bullets were being fired from the sky and from Marleyans encircling them. She could only hide in a house as she watched the other soldiers die.

This wasn't going according to Eren's plan at all. Most, if not all of Yelena's people were killed, Eren was fighting two titan shifters and there was a cannon with artillery aiming at him from the top of the fucking walls. This wasn't going well at all. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." She racked her brain for ideas. But what could she do? She didn't have powers, she was heavily outnumbered on land and not to mention the machine guns from the airships.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She could recognise this shout in an instant, it was Eren's. She took her chances and peered out from the window of the two-story house she was hiding in. With Reiner on top of him and one of his arms pierced by a spike, he was ripping the other shifter's face in half. This is what raw strength looked like.

What seemed like a rock made contact with Reiner's face and destroyed it. On top of the wall stood the Beast Titan. Here he was, the wonder child.

"I'm meeting you here as I promised, but maybe I'm a little late. Good job holding out on your own Eren, now just leave the rest to your big brother." As conceited as always.

Marley's fleet had to retreat as Zeke aimed his rocks at them. From the other side, General Magath and the Cart tried to get the perfect shot at the Beast's nape.

"Tch. Damn woman." Pieck was proving to be quite the nuisance even when Emilia didn't think much of her when she saw her sneaking into Gabi's cell.

The Cart withdrew as Floch led a squad towards her. Flying out of the window with her gear, she tried to make it to the roof where Yelena was as fast as possible. The Marleyans were still lurking around and a wound now was not going to be taken care of.

"I see you've made it." The tall woman sat on the edge and watched as Eren made his way to the walls. Reiner stood up and charged towards him but was put down again by Zeke's rocks. It was sad, really.

"Was I not supposed to?" Emilia narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

"Seeing that all my volunteers were killed by the Marleyan army I assumed you went down with them."

"Killed by one of your people's stupid snipers? I couldn't even if I tried."

"Now, now. There's no need to get agitated. Don't you think of all this is calming? Zeke is in his top shape, his aim is almost flawless and the Armoured can't get to Eren no matter how many times he stands up."

This woman sounded deranged, how was any of this soothing? She never did trust Yelena, she reminded her of Zeke with that fake polite smile plastered on her face. Not only was she similar to the person Emilia hated the most but she was obsessed with him as well. Such a great match, two psychos.

"Why is Zeke here?" Why was Jean here? Weren't they supposed to be locked up?

"It's you again! You traitor!" Their attention redirected to Emilia.

"It's me, so what? You wanna try to intimidate me again?" Connie grunted in embarrassment. His attempt at scaring her was undeniably lame.

"Hey. There's no way Captain Levi would ever let him go...what happened to Captain and Hanji?"

"I think we can assume this means Zeke defeated them. He has appeared here, now, just as he promised Eren." Yelena even managed to imitate his smug smile to the perfect degree.

"That's impossible...!"

"I wish we didn't have to, but we have no choice! It's the only way for Zeke and Eren to save the world! We need to join the Jeagerists and help them put them together!" Armin hadn't learned a bit since the time of Annie's capture. He was so bad at lying.

Yelena's figure towered over him, her expression sent shivers down Emilia's spine. As he looked up to her, it immediately turned into a sweet smile, "Please help Eren and Zeke. I believe in you, Armin."

They set out.

"You're not going with your friends?" Yelena seemed to like talking to her, a little too much.

"Am I supposed to?"

"Ah, I guess they're not your friends after all."

"Are they supposed to be?"

"It's no fun if you're asking all the questions, you know." She sat cross-legged on the edge.

"No, I don't know."

"Well, now you know. I thought that after all these years you spent with them you'd feel something."

"I don't owe you any explanation."

She detested how Yelena was able to pick out all this from a small interaction, it irked her. She read people so easily it felt like Emilia was an open book just by standing there. Not that she was wrong in any way, they weren't her friends.

They were like sheep, blindly following some vague goal the Survey Corps had made up. Did "going out and killing titans'" even make sense at the time? After every expedition they only brought back corpses and it seemed like there was a 'never-ending supply' of titans. They would only be going in circles.

Emilia knew she was different, she had a personal goal. "The world will be in danger, but I know you can bring peace to it, you're my daughter after all." These words were still fresh in her mind and the image of her mother on her deathbed was forever burned into her memory. She didn't quite understand it at first and others could argue that she was following a vague goal as well but in those years, humanity's enemies were only the titans. She had been naive.

"Am I unnerving?"

"..."

"How so?"

"Your obsession with wonder boy over there is. Oh look, he's getting shot." The shot hadn't completely hit his nape but it was enough to knock him out. Yelena's head whipped towards Zeke, who laid in front of the gate Eren had previously closed with his hardening. The latter was running towards his unconscious brother.

"Why are you not helping Eren? I thought you two had a thing?" Both Reiner and Porco were trying to stop him.

"They don't need my help and it's not like I can hit anything with a rifle from here. Even if I did, it's not going to make any difference."

"So you're not denying the two of you are a thing?"

"You're being a dumbass Yelena."

Armin, Mikasa and what remained of the Survey Corps were trying to finish off the Cart Titan so the Anti-titan artillery would not disturb the two brothers anymore. The ground rumbled as the Beast Titan started moving again,

"Wait. Please wait!" It was Colt Grice, Falco's brother. "It's Falco...! He drank some of your spinal fluid! Please don't scream!! Mister Zeke, please. You know about me don't you? I'm inheriting the Beast Titan so they won't send my family to heaven! I never knew what you were thinking, even before you betrayed us. But the Zeke I knew wouldn't drag kids into this! Mister Zeke, I won't tell you to just take this lying down!! I just want you to wait until Falco is outside the range of your scream! Slaughter each other all you want after that! Marleyans, Eldians, kill as many as you'd like. Just please, don't drag my brother into this!" The poor man was shouting his lungs out. Gabi appeared next to them with a horse.

Emilia made her move as her eye began twitching again, it seemed that the little girl was going to bring more trouble.

"Colt. You care for your little brother as do I. So it is truly a shame." As soon as the roar left his mouth, the ground began rumbling again: everyone was turning into a titan, including Falco.

"Get him Falco. Get Reiner!!"

Falco's titan form lunged at Reiner under Zeke's orders and was trying to bite through his armoured nape. At the same time, the Cart appeared on the other side of the wall and aimed a shot at the Beast's nape, he laid still once again. Before they could load shot at Eren, Mikasa and Armin stopped them.

Everyone thought it was over. With Zeke dead, Eren wasn't going to be able to use the power of the Founding Titan. Reiner started to undo the armour on his neck. Just as Falco was about take a bite, Porco came out of his titan's body.

"I used up all my power...to heal my body. But, I'm not going down for nothing." Part of his head wasn't healed yet. "I saw Marcel's memories. He tricked the army into making a loser like you into a warrior all to protect me. Now you have to admit it...that to the end I've always been better than you." With these last words, he became a sacrifice.

Reiner wanted to put an end to all this and resumed to Eren. With his hardening as a disguise, the latter escaped from his titan body and ran towards Zeke's corpse.

"I'm glad you caught on. I know I'm imitating Pieck, but playing dead has worked perfectly. You're almost there Eren."

Reiner broke out from the hardening and pounced at Eren's human form. The two brothers were just meters apart.

Reiner was stopped again by Jean and Connie's thunder spears.

"Come Eren!"

Emilia's eyes landed on Gabi as she heard the sound of a gun loading. Everything seemed like a big, awful joke. Seriously, now of all times? It was the Colt's Anti-titan rifle, with one shot at the nape it was able to take out a titan. Her body was moving involuntarily.

"Emilia!!!"

She had taken the shot for Eren. Maybe her death was just a small cost to succeed. For the first time in a while, a genuine smile took over her features.

⇊

"Where am I?"

"The coordinate where all paths converge..." Zeke was chained to the sandy ground. "I think. This must be where members of the royal family who inherited the Founder came when they made use of its power."

"Brother..." Eren was in the World of Paths.

"I've been waiting for so long Eren. For you to recover and awaken. It's like I've been sitting here for years." Zeke's hair was almost as long as his brother's.

"Have years passed?"

"...I'm not sure. What takes place here passes in a flash out there. Gabi almost blew your head off but we were able to make contact thanks to Emilia. We succeeded. We gained the power of the Founder."

Eren noticed a presence behind him. A little girl was approaching them from the Paths.

"Someone's here?"

"Don't worry. That is Ymir, the Founder."

"Ymir, the Founder? How do you know?"

"Who else would be wandering this place but her? It was her who rebuilt half of my body with this soil and brought me back to life. I think that she has always been here moulding titans from this clay every time we sought their power."

"All this time time alone..." His voice was nothing but a whisper.

"Eren, you must command our Founder. The time has come for out dream to be made real."

"What are those chains?" The look in his eyes didn't hold the same amount of relief as Zeke's had.

"You just now noticed them? Well, thank you for your concern. These are what keep me from acting freely here. In other words, the Vow to Renounce War. As I thought, you're the only one able to move freely here. That makes you the only one who can command our Founder. My dream, Mister Ksaver's dream and your dream. Please. You must save the world."

He remained silent.

"Eren? Tell our Founder! Tell her to give every Eldian a body that will never again be capable of creating a child! Crushing the Allied Forces by rumbling the land can wait!"

Turning his back to Zeke, he spoke, his voice cold as ice. "You want me to euthanise every Eldian. There is no way I could ever go along with a plan that messed up. Sorry brother. I was just playing along so I could get here."

The relief in Zeke's eyes turned into despair as he watched Eren walk towards Ymir. He moaned in desperation, "So long as there are Eldians, this hell will never end! If you don't do this now, this bloodshed will never stop. What we've repeated so many times will only continue for eternity. Why Eren? Tell me."

"Because I was born into this world. Ymir, our Founder. Give me your strength." The little girl walked past him and kneeled in front of Zeke.

"I should have known Eren. I wanted to believe that at leas you would understand. Is this thanks to our father's brainwashing, too?"

"What do you mean...?"

"In the long span it took for you to wake up, I learned many things. The Founder can create anything, even these earthen chains. So long as I, with my royal blood will it." Eren had been naive. "Unlike the kings of the walls throughout history, I arrived here without being tainted by the first king's ideology. And during the long and oh-so-dragged-out time I spent with our Founder, I learned how to nullify the Vow to Renounce War. Though she holds immense power, in reality, she is merely a slave with no will of her own. She submits to any with royal blood, believing them to be her master. So I have gained, the power of the Founder." He thought he was always a step ahead of everyone, even his little brother.

"...No..."

"You were nothing but the key Eren." Suddenly, Eren's wrists were chained. Ymir stood behind him with a bucket. "I'm glad I wanted to hear how you truly felt, clearly...you have been brainwashed by that father of ours. It isn't your fault that we were born to that disgusting monster of a man. We are but pitiful victims. However, I had another father. One who rescued me. You needed someone to rescue you as well. I swear I will not abandon you. I will use the power of the Founder to fix you."

"Stop it. There's no point."

"When I save the world...it'll be with you."

As their foreheads touched, images of Eren, Carla and Grisha appeared in front of them.

"These are dad's memories..."

"He looks pretty happy for someone who pushed his first family and friends into hell and left them there."

"What are you trying to do?"

"I'll show you until you understand just how Grisha Jeager brainwashed his son and planted those seeds of nationalism in you. For as long as it takes. Let's go."

They exited the door and arrived to the next memory.

"Next. Look, Eren. This is the true Grisha. He used his position as doctor to get close to those with power inside the walls. All to pin down their king and steal the Founding Titan. Of course, any slip-up would put his wife and son at risk. But he doesn't seem to care. Do you understand why?"

"Because my shitty old man was a piece of shit who'd simply throw his family into a pile of shit to restore Eldia. I see now. I was wrong. I never should have been born. I'm no longer brainwashed." Eren scorned him.

"We have all the time in the world. No need to rush."

"I can't believe he found it so quickly."

"What is this place?"

"The King of the Walls' base."

"Impossible...but Grisha stole the Founder the day the walls were destroyed. That's years from now on."

They watched as their father returned home and held baby Eren in his arms.

"I see. It seems he did love his second son. Enough to put his mission for the Restorationists aside. How utterly different we were. It seems he's learned from his past failure, then. But now you do exactly as he wanted. You've lost your true self. You'll see soon enough."

"Zeke...I'm sorry..." Grisha was muttering in his sleep. "Zeke? Zeke, is that you? Heh, don't be ridiculous. How could that bearded old man be Zeke? It's just a dream..."

"What...?"

"Next memory, Zeke."

⇊

"You're almost nine now. Grisha has loved you and raised you freely." A younger Armin and Eren said their goodbyes to Grisha. "So our father never brainwashed you?"

"That's why I said this was pointless. We never had to wander his memories for years."

"But then, why did you betray me? He passed his titan down to you without telling you a thing, yet you keep fighting, just as he wished. Eren...why do you refuse to end this conflict? What do you plan on doing with the Founder's power?"

"I...I am just me. I always have been. I guess you thought the two of us were the same. But you're wrong. If someone tries to steal my freedom away, I won't hesitate to take theirs. Our father didn't make me that way, I have been like this since birth. Besides, I still have to get to her."

"Since birth?"

"You won't find the pathetic little brother you wanted in me. Or someone who conveniently shares your emotional scars, either. What I see here is a man who can only define himself through the continued denial of Grisha Jeager's wish to restore Eldia. A pathetic man still haunted by his dead father."

"If so this man is grateful to that father. For his acts opened his son's eyes, ultimately saving the world from the danger Eldia poses. You could say it was that father who saved the world. Ironic, isn't it? Listen, Eren. I hold the power of the Founder in my hands, I can carry out the euthanization plan at any moment. But I promise I will not abandon you. Just as Mister Ksaver saved me, I want to save you. Before I save the entire world."

⇊

"From long ago, the inheritor of the Attack titan never obeyed others and I know why. It's all been to resist the self-righteousness of the king. Yes, for this one moment. It's why we've been led to this memory. The Attack Titan is capable of seeing into the memories of its future inheritors. In other words, it is capable of knowing the future." Grisha Jeager stood in front of Frieda Reiss as he tried to reason.

"The Attack Titan's what—I've never heard."

"I also knew that you would be unaware of this because even if you are part of the royal family, the Vow to Renounce War keeps you from using the Founder's full power as well. I will eat the Founder here and end the royal bloodline. That is the future already set out for us." He raised the knife in his hands.

The clatter of the knife hitting the ground echoed throughout the cave.

"I can't...I could never kill children. I am a doctor. I save lives."

Eren was now looking down at his father.

"Impossible. But Grisha did take the Founder. He massacred this family, didn't he? It's not as if the past could have changed, right?" It was a day of revelations for Zeke.

"What are you doing? Stand, father. Did you forget why you came here? Isn't it to get revenge for your little sister who was eaten by dogs? For your fellow restorationists. For Dina. For Kruger. You advance to avenge them. Even if you die. Even after you die. Dad, you started this story. Didn't you?" Eren's stern voice seemed to get through Grisha. He transformed.

⇊

"I killed them...even those children. I pulverised them with my hands. I felt it. EREN!! I killed the Reiss family! All but their father, are you happy now?! Is this what you wanted?!" Grisha kneeled on the grass outside the church. "Was this really what I needed to do to save Eldia?! Why won't you show me everything? The walls being destroyed, the day it happens, if Carla is safe. Was this really the only way? You are there aren't you? Zeke. From here on...you won't get what you want, it will all be going Eren's way."

"What? What are you saying?"

"Zeke?! Is that you?! Oh, you've grown!" He stood up and embraced his son. "I'm sorry, I was a terrible father. I put you through so much suffering. Zeke, I love you. If only I had spent more time playing with you."

"...Dad."

"Zeke. Please stop Eren."

⇊

He never had much contact with females apart from Mikasa. She was always so hellbent on protecting him that she reminded him of his mother.

That's why now that Emilia's body was pressed against his and her head buried in his chest, he didn't know what to do. Where was he supposed to put his hands? He tried to remember how his father interacted with his mother. His hands would usually rest on— a sob tore from her throat.

"You scared me..." Her sentence ended with a hiccup. His hands found their way to her waist, it was a natural fit.

"I didn't mean to." He could feel his shirt wetting from her tears but he didn't mind. It was his first time seeing her so vulnerable and most importantly, in his arms. More sobs wracked her body. "Don't cry, m'kay? It breaks my heart." He thanked god she couldn't see the redness that overtook his face.

"Mmm." With a last sniffle, she wiped her tears with the sleeves of her shirt. "Please don't leave me too."

As she stood there teary-eyed, her fists clenching his shirt and his jacket draped over her shoulder, he suddenly thought he had become a sadist. He didn't exactly mind seeing her like this more often.