37"I'm an Eldian who came from outside the walls! A Subject of Ymir, just like you!"
He almost forgot to breathe when he heard his father's voice.
Which was understandable, because it had been five years since he had heard the low baritones of his fathers voice, and besides hearing a dead man speak, what he'd just borne witness too was something that would make weaker men withdraw their dinners from their stomachs. As it was, Eren would have thrown up himself had he eaten anything earlier. As it was, it sill took everything he had not to dry-heave.
This is-
"King of the Walls, please! Kill the Titans assaulting the Walls! Before my wife, my children… Please, stop them! Before the people of the Walls are devoured!"
Eldians dead by his hands, enemy forces on Paradis, That Scenery… it took all his willpower not to move from his spot, for he knew if he did he would turn tail and flee as fast as his legs would take him. Where would he flee? He wasn't sure.
"We must not run from our sins. For us, the Subjects of Ymir, Judgement Day has come."
Just away from that horrible future.
"When faced with enormous powers, humans are far too weak. That is what I came to realize during the tragedy that was the Great Titan War."
The hand he was absently holding squeezed his tightly, abruptly, and Eren dared to look up, almost fearing what he would see. In a way, his fears were justified in the image of a horror-struck queen.
Historia hadn't moved from when his lips had met her hand, and her eyes bore the same, haunted, terrified look his did, and their stares met.
"Someone must protect the power of the Titans from the hands of humanity." the memory rang, and Historia flinched at the sound of her dead sister's voice, and it's lack of empathy.
It immediately became clear to Eren that she had seen everything that he had, and Eren felt what little amount of air he had in his lungs fall away with a quiet gasp. Neither dared move, despite the mumbling from the audience and their comrades growing louder. If they didn't move, they could fool themselves that nothing had happened, that the future was bright and well, that the ocean held the freedom that they had yearned for-
"If the Founder's power falls into the hands of a weakling once again, the world will turn to Hell once more."
Their resolves hardened, and in unison they cast away that small veil of ignorance they had so desperately wished to remain intact.
Now was no time for ignorance.
Eren was slave to nothing, and no one. Not even his own future memories. So what if 'he' had arranged it for those memories to show themselves to him? That future, whatever it was, would not, and could not, happen, at least, not if he had a say in it. If it meant going up against the world, he would do so without hesitation.
"In order to save the world… we must accept our sins."
Historia was done living her life entirely for others, and she had destroyed the last piece of Krista when her father's corpse burned. But she was Queen of Paradis now, ruler of the Walls, and what she wanted most was to keep the people, her people safe, just as she had when she was a soldier. Was that selfish of her, at the expense of the outside world?
Maybe, but she found she didn't quite care.
"There is nothing we can do except perish."
"Do you trust me?" Eren asked her, whispering it so none but her could hear.
"I do," came the Queen's reply. "Do you trust me?"
Eren nodded. "I do."
I do. Two words, spoken from the each of them, changed the fabric of history. The tragedies that would befall Eldia and the Children of Ymir the coming years, the meaningless sacrifices that amounted for nothing in the end,
All of it disappeared.
In an instant, Eren and Historia made a choice that would dictate the future for generations to come, and future rulers of Eldia- nay, not just Eldians of Paradis, but the Children of Ymir of the entire world would give thanks for the Covenant of the Founder, for it would bring forth an era of peace not seen for Eldia since the days before the Great Titan War, and would liberate them from the hands of their oppressors.
Historia and Eren did not know this however, but any doubts, any fears, any reluctance to carry through with the new plan were blown away by one last memory of the future.
"You are free."
The blood of the Fritz and the power of the Founder made contact, and both soldier and queen were enveloped by lightning.
Near the edge of the room, Armin flinched as he felt the powers of the Founder unleashed for the first time.
Thousands of miles away in her family estate, the holder of the Warhammer Titan dropped her glass of tea as she felt the awakening of a memory long forgotten.
Recuperating from the Paradis Island Operation, Reiner's blood froze as an unknown feeling of dread crept up on him.
In the vast sands of the Pathway, Ymir moved of her own free will for the first time as she made to greet the two who had entered her realm.
In Marley, waiting for her inevitable death, her namesake smiled.
And both Founder and Frtiz Blood spoke in unison.
"I reject your reality, and substitute it with my own."
The memories began to shift.
And Eldia's future was bright.