The Usurper 13

To say Eren's Titan made short work of the Cart would be the most accurate assessment. Despite his greater size, Eren still had no shortage of speed as attacked Pieck. Every attempt to outmaneuver him and go for the nape was futile, and every Yeagerist was more than ready to attack if she tried to flee or attack them.

The fight was only prolonged by her skill in efecting from her Titans and the Cart's inherent endurance allowing her to retake Titan form many times without exhaustion.

But eventually, her luck ran out.

Eren grasped the Cart Titan before it could leap away again, and a thin coating of Titan-hardening spread over and encased Peick's human body before she could escape again.

"Yeager got her!" one of the Yeagerists called out in victory.

Magath gritted his teeth and bowed his head.

Eren calmly exited his Titan and slid down the back, having left the trapped Pieck on the ground.

"Eren? Are you alright?" Mikasa asked as she and others approached him. "I thought you could stop her from transforming?"

"I can and have," Eren answered with a frown as he glanced off to the side, deciding to give a convincing lie for now. One that was also technically true. "I was distracted. Turns out directing Wall Titans where to swim is more awkward than telling them where to walk, and I had to redirect them."

"Wait, they swim?" someone asked in surprise.

"What did you think they did?" loch asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know, just walk on the bottom?"

Eren chose not to fault that. He would have assumed the same thing. It was easy to forget that Titans were very lightweight, compared to their size.

Mikasa looked unconvinced but also untroubled. Meaning she wouldn't pry. Which was good, because he really wasn't sure how to bring up his Ymir situation without distressing her. It would give Mikasa no little grief, knowing there was a problem he was facing that she couldn't help him overcome.

Or could she? Not with her physical skills, true, but Ymir had fixated on Mikasa. Perhaps there was something there Eren needed to consider

But then there was the Eldia-situation and he had no idea how to even describe that to himself.

"Yeager, I don't mean to doubt you, but you're positive she won't transform now?" one of the Yeagerists asked as they moved to restrain Pieck.

In response, Eren allowed the hardening to crumble away. Pieck instantly tried to bite her hand and transform, but only succeeded in making herself bleed. "Huh, a girl has to try, right?" she said with a tired smile before being toughly restrained by the frustrated Yeagerist, who half-expected to die from her transformation right then and there. "Yeager, are your soldiers this rough with all the women you have them chain up?" Pieck asked idly.

Eren resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose at that.

"Eren," Floch spoke up, motioning to Magath. "What should we do with him?"

Eren looked at the military man, the same who was the head of the Warriors, who sent children into his home to destroy their own people.

"It's good to know your control over that power is not so absolute, King of Devils," Magath said with a scoff. "Perhaps someone else will fair better in slaying you."

"Tch! Yeah right! You blew his head off and that didn't work!" one of the Yeagerists said proudly. "Face it! Yeager is practically invincible! With him, we can't lose!"

The Yeagerists shared cheers of agreement at that, but Magath stared intently at Eren and despaired at what he saw.

Yeager didn't believe himself invincible. Pride was a great weakness, Magath knew, but a mighty foe that was perfectly aware of their own weakness and limitations was much more dangerous. There would be no easy victory, no obvious weak point for his comrades to exploit.

"Everyone," Eren called out, silencing them. "This man is the one who commanded the Warriors to infiltrate the island and attempt to take the Founder. This is the man who sent the traitorous shifters as children to destroy the Walls."

Everyone settled into a cold, furious silence at that.

"This man is going to die no matter what," Eren promised firmly. "However, between him and the other prisoners we have, I am at an impasse. The people need a trial, even just as a way of closure. To put to bed what happened all those years ago."

The soldiers grew silent and Magath scowled. "I would sooner bite off my tongue then-ghm!?" he was cut short by a piece of cloth suddenly being tied to gag his mouth.

"My impasse is if we want him, the one who sent children into a war they barely understood, or the shifters that did the actual deed," Eren explained as he leveled his cold eyes at Magath. "Which one would it be better to bury their hate with?"

Mikasa watched this all with a troubled, uncertain expression. She felt conflicted, yet she also agreed with Eren's point. What he said would definitely help many people put some of their active grudges to rest.

"Everyone knows the story of the traitors, Eren," Floch remarked, glaring down at the marleyan. "But putting their master on trial might not be a bad idea. It may be the only form of "legal" justice they'll ever see against Marley."

Eren hummed as he looked over the Yeagerists and subtly opened his minds to theirs through the power of the Founder. He didn't actively read their thought, just "listened" for how they felt about Magath in this discussion. Some wanted to kill him now, others thought the trial would be best. Most didn't care, so long as he was executed.

In the end, it was more or less up to Eren.

Meanwhile

"...Annie?" Reiner said in surprise as he saw her led by his cell. He instantly ran to the bars. "Wait, what?! You're alive?!"

"No, it's another nightmare. Or dream. Just go back to sleep," Annie called as he let the Yeagerists put her in a cell.

"Ohh, Annie, I was wondering about you," Zeke said, cocking his head at her. "Is it the bad light down here or have you not aged a day in four years?"

"I encased myself to prevent Eren from eating me," Annie remarked as the cell was locked. "Is he your brother?"

"Half, but yes," Zeke said with an empty smile. "We tried working together, but we differed on what we believed was best for the world."

"Keep in mind," Levi spoke up as he took a seat on the stairs leading out of the dungeon. "His hairy ass thought neutering our entire race would be best."

Annie paused and nodded. "I can see Zeke having an idea like that."

"I should probably take that as an insult," Zeke murmured. "And Levi! I was surprised you hadn't tried to visit earlier. I was positive I would find you trying to give me a very sharp gift to my neck."

"Eren wants to see if your ass will live past your expiration date, and I'm willing to wait a bit longer. It's been four years, I can wait a few more months," Levi remarked.

"Wait, why would Zeke live past the thirteen-year mark?" Annie asked in bewilderment.

"Eren Yeager took the Beast Titan from him with the power of the Founder, without eating him." Yelena's voice answered. "Amazing, eh? Now they're not sure if the curse still applies"

"It can do that? The Founder?" Annie asked in shock. If that was true, then that meant there was always a loophole around the curse or...?

"It can in Eren's hand," Zeke answered with a sigh. "That brother of mine. I'm not sure how, maybe I never will be. But he managed to take the Founder itself from the very spirit of Ymir Fritz."

"....What exactly have you been smoking in those cigarettes, Zeke?" Annie asked skeptically.

"It's true," Falco spoke up softly. "I've seen her."

Annie grew silent at that. So had everyone.

"Huh. I take it you all didn't know about that," Levi murmured, narrowing his eyes at the boy.

"F-falco, what do you mean? You saw Ymir Fritz? What does that even mean?" Gabi asked as she felt around clumsily for his arm.

"When I was asleep, I saw her. Or something using her name at least. Mr Yeager and Mr Zeke know more about her than I do, I think," Falco remarked. "I was in this place of sand with a tree made of green light. She was there and...I think she was trying to take my titan."

"That was Ymir Friz. The Spirit or memory of her at least," Zeke confirmed. "I take it that was what you were really trying to talk to Eren about, Falco?"

"Mr Zeke? I know you and Mr. Yeager don't agree, but I don't think you want....her to get back in control of things," Falco informed grimly.

"How much worse could they be....?" Gabi asked with a frown.

"Very," Zeke said with a scowl. He didn't say it, but he agreed with Falco. His brother had been prepared to unleash the full rumbling and destroy the world until he took the power from Ymir Fritz. He implied that he had....seen a future he could not change. It stands to reason that the only variable that had changed was who held the True Power of the Founder.

Did Ymir Fritz herself desire the Rumbling? Was it some kind of vengeance upon the world? For Eldia? For herself? Her motive didn't really matter.

It was ironic, Zeke realized. A full Rumbling would be a sickening twist on his belief of it being better for those like him to have never been born at all. His plan was to spare the world more horrors of the Titans by removing Eldians. The Rumbling would have removed anyone to suffer, save Eldians themselves.

His goal was worth many things to Zeke, but he never believed he had been that close to seeing the world destroyed. Even with Eren, he didn't think his half-brother would ever have gone that far until Eren all but said he had intended to do just that before the Source of the Power of the Titans took Eren as a new host.

"What's wrong with her?" Levi asked idly as he watched Gabi bump into the small bed in their cell.

"Oh? Something the captain doesn't know?" Yelena asked in mild surprise.

"Eren....took Gabi's sight away, with the Founder," Reiner informed quietly, his hands trembling a bit.

Levi just stared for a moment, his eyes slowly widening as he understood what they meant.

"I suppose it was that same power that restored you, Levi?" Zeke asked rhetorically. "I know Ackermans are basically human-sized titans, but I don't think regeneration like that was something you possessed on your own."

Levi said nothing as he stared at the milky eyes of the child before glancing down at himself. It was true, his body had been a wreck. He would have been crippled for the rest of his life in all likelihood. The Founder made him good as new and made this child soldier unable to fight by removing one of her senses. Like blowing out a candle.

"Well, that's certainly something," he mused. "If it was any other brat, I might think that was too far. But from what I hear, you took Eren's head off. Literally."

Despite the lack of malice in Levi's voice, Gabi flinched and cringed inwardly at her own weakness.

"Wear it with pride, runt. You were so dangerous they had to kill you or cripple you," Levi remarked wryly.

Gabi chose to take that as an insult and glared in his general direction.

Meanwhile

Eren stared blankly at the ceiling of the train compartment. Now that everything had been settled and done with, they had properly boarded the train and were returning to Shinganshina. Floch had remained with several others to board the Flying Boat and witness the rumbling from the skies. The Azumabito engineers had given him an estimate on how long, at most, it would take for the air vehicle to be ready and how long it would take to reach Marley.

He'd give Floch the signal for when they should begin and set out when he felt the Wall Titans were at the right distance. It'd be soon.

His mind glanced over the Yeagerists, all over them from every part of the island. Just like with any group, there were bad apples. People who were just using their position for power, as a way to oppress and be cruel to others. He'd have to keep the worst of them- the rapists and the murderers and the extortionists- in check or dealt with until he could weed them out properly.

He had to let some crimes go for now. Not out of a sense need for support or stability, just the sheer fact that keeping track of everything was almost impossible, more so while controlling the Wall Titans. He'd deal with that when they could properly organize this mess into something long-term.

"Are you okay?"

He glanced at Mikasa and nodded to her concerned inquiry.

"Floch thought you'd be the first to join the Yeagerists if offered," Eren remarked out of nowhere.

"I 'm sure most would think that," Mikasa remarked idly as she scanned over the others in the compartment. They gave the pair a wide birth out of respect. "And I might have. I thought Floch was just using you."

Eren hummed in acknowledgment. 'You still won't."

"I still don't think you want me to," Mikasa observed. "Eren? I'm loyal to you. Not to their idea of you."

Eren raised an eyebrow at her pointedly.

Mikasa sighed. "I just....got lost in my own idea of you."

Eren almost smiled at that. "I did the same with you sometimes."

A peaceful silence came over them.

"Armin and I are going to have one last talk about this all," Eren remarked.

Mikasa looked at him in concern. "Is that the Future ability talking, or...?"

Eren shook his head. "I don't have any new visions, of anything. But we'll have enough time for one last talk before the Titans reach Marley."

Now it was Mikasa's turn to look thoughtful. She wondered, what would the future look like now, for her and her friends? Death and extinction had been warned off, for now. Would Eren and Armin grow too far apart over this to mend the rift in their friendship?

And the rest of their friends, what would they do? Connie would probably retire to take care of his mother. Jean? Who could guess? Maybe he'd take up his old dream of retiring to the interior. Hange and Levi? She couldn't imagine them retiring, what would they even do with their free time? Levi might clean all day, but Hange seemed like she might be lost with titans to research.

As for herself?

Retirement was obviously not an option for Eren, so it wasn't an option for herself. He might be the most powerful being in the world now, but Mikasa had no intention of leaving him surrounded by only the Yeagerists. She couldn't exactly put in words why, but that sounded like it would be... lonely for Eren. Not to mention all the potential assassination attacks that would doubtlessly come.

That was fine.

She hummed as she felt a headache come on, but it was much lighter than normal.

From where he sat, Eren allowed himself to enter the Paths and glared at the Fallen Founder.

"Give it up, she'll never become what you want her to be now," Eren said pointedly.

Ymir wordlessly ignored him as she impotently tried to reach out to Mikasa.

Eren let his eyes take upon the punishment he and Eldia had placed upon Ymir Fritz.

As if taking a line from some ancient myth, Eldia had stolen the tendons of Ymir. She could no longer walk, her hands couldn't grasp or sculpt anything.

It was a symbolic wound that represented how much of her freedom and power had been taken. She could now do so very little.

And the more she tried, the more she lost.

Eren didn't need to look to know that Edlai had appeared, curled around his side with an inquisitive hint to its body language.

"Leave her be for now," Eren said with a sigh. Perhaps it was misplaced, but he had no desire to be more cruel to Ymir than she forced him to be. She just forced him a great deal this time.

The Fallen Founder ignored them both now, while Edlia accepted Eren's decision, choosing to only observe the two for now.

"Mikasa isn't you, Ymir," Eren said flatly. "She never was."

Ymir quivered with rage and bowed her head, refusing to look at him.

Eren hummed. Maybe she needed to hear that from someone else.