Vengeance Of A Human

Rumbling: Eldian and Marleyan

The night prior to the escape…

"Glad you could join us, Jean," Hange says as she, Mikasa, and Jean join us inside a building near the fort. "Joshua and Mikasa were just filing me in on the situation. I'm sorry I couldn't have been here on the ground. You've done a great job in this grueling situation."

Jean spots me. "You're back. Did you…"

I nod. "Connie and Falco are safe. I don't know if Armin filled you in, but his hypothesis is true. When the hardening on the walls came undone, so did the hardening around Annie. She's in a safe location for now, along with the kids, Connie, Sasha and Historia. I was hoping to find you, but I ran into Hange and Mikasa."

"As for Levi," Hange starts as she sits at the table across from me, "he's not fine, but he's alive. He won't be able to fight...for a while, though. Also, we've joined forces with the remaining Marley forces, including the Cart Titan. This is to stop Eren. We shouldn't be slaughtering one another."

"How do you plan to stop Eren," Mikasa asks.

"First, we gather everyone. They'll be the ones determining what we can do. But we're powerless without help from you or the Nine Titans. The military structures we've known have been wiped out. I'm not your superior any longer. I ask this knowing that, but-"

"I'll do it," Mikasa states. "I don't want Eren facing any more indiscriminate attacks… Even if they're meant to protect me...or this island. I want to stop Eren."

"You know I'm in," I say. "It's partially my fault that led to Eren doing this. If I had judged the situation better, we could have prevented this. So, if it's to correct my lack of leadership...and to stop my friend, I will do whatever it takes."

"Even if," Jean says, "we really are able to stop Eren… Then what? Even if Eren is able to maintain the Power of the Founder, he only has four years left to live. What will happen to this island after that? The wor;d's hatred for us won't disappear overnight. We'll have to keep facing it for decades… To stop Eren would be to destroy the island."

"I think...that Marley would look at the situation and assume the rumbling would activate the moment they try to attack the island. At the very least, I can't see them laying a hand on this place for a good while."

"They'll think the world could end at any moment unless they wipe this island off the map. It'll do more to incite them all than Willy Tybur's speech!"

"You may be right, but we have time in this hypothetical situation of yours. We should be able to buy ourselves a few years of time, even if they do come to destroy the island."

"But...the last time we looked for a possible solution like that, we ran out of time and we're empty handed! That's why Eren decided to wipe out the rest of the world-"

Hange slams her fist down. "I'm not accepting genocide! You're not getting me to agree with any reason to support it!" She takes a few deep breaths before calming down. "Sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. You're right, Jean. It was my cowardly idealism that made Eren turn to this. And...while I might be screaming, I was the one trying to run away...to throw it all away...to forget it all and just survive. But… I'm still the 14th Commander of the Scouting Corps! I devoted my heart to the freedom of mankind. It feels like… I can see all my comrades. The vast majority of them died without ever knowing that humanity existed outside of the walls. Erwin died barely knowing it himself, if he heard it… 'Just bringing freedom to this island is enough for me.' Do you think a single one of them would be so narrow-minded as to say that? We have only one chance to stop this slaughter...and it's now."