Attack On Titan: Goodbyes

Year 850, Month: March

Mikasa's POV

It had been two weeks since Marleyans first set foot on Eldian territory. Officially, they were scouts, gathering intel, but in truth, they were intruders.

With their quick thinking, Eren and Erwin had managed to intercept each ship before it reached the shore. Eren would transform underwater, lurking beneath the waves, only to rise and heave each ship onto the land before its crew even knew what had hit them.

But among these Marleyans was a peculiar woman—Yelena. She was intense, with a single-minded focus that bordered on obsession.

What unsettled me most was her detailed knowledge of Eren, right down to facts only family could know. Apparently, Eren's half-brother, Zeke, had told her everything.

And without a moment's hesitation, Yelena turned on her people, lowering Marleyan ships to Paradis' shores one by one, delivering more intel than we could've hoped for.

Yelena shared secrets of Marley's military strength—over a million soldiers, she claimed. They had weapons unlike anything we'd seen: metal machines called planes that could fly high and drop bombs from the sky.

She spoke of Marley's most influential clans, like the Hizurus and the Tyburs, handing us a catalog of Marley's strengths and weaknesses.

Her information was invaluable, and she even brought samples of Marleyan weaponry as "gifts." All she asked for in return was a glimpse of Eren.

The request made my skin crawl. While part of me felt grateful for her help, her fixation on Eren—like he was an object, a curiosity to be studied—left a bitter taste.

Time and time again, people saw Eren for his power, not for the human beneath it. And the more they objectified him, the more he seemed to slip away.

Meanwhile, heated arguments broke out among the higher-ups. Some called for the Marleyan captives to be executed immediately.

Others, seeing the potential benefits, argued that they should be kept alive. With their knowledge, Paradis could have its own harbor, even build railways, if these prisoners were used to help modernize the island.

Thus the government decided to use the prisoners. And so the construction of Paradis' first harbour was started under the commands of Yelena.

Eren, uninterested, was kept far from the Marleyans' view. I was part of the constant, rotating guard assigned to protect him, a duty given to me by shorty himself.

And though I thought Eren might resist the surveillance, he was surprisingly indifferent, preferring the quiet moments he could steal. He spent his days in solitude, under his favorite tree or wandering from place to place, seeming almost...detached.

In the end, all I could do was watch over him, guarding not just his life but his humanity, hoping that somehow, he would feel he wasn't just another weapon in the eyes of the world.

Year 850, Month: July

For months, the idea of Eren not having to marry Historia was something I couldn't shake. Since the Marleyans' arrival on Paradis, I kept wondering if maybe this path could change.

Sometimes, I wanted to ask him—maybe he didn't have to go through with it after all.

But both of us understood that Erwin had set everything in motion with purpose. The presence of Marley had little to do with Eren and Historia's bond.

Erwin's plan was calculated, and there were only two other alternatives : either Zeke, Eren's half-brother, would step in to help Eldia, which seemed impossible since he was just another brainwashed kid of Marley, or Historia would have to inherit Eren's powers—a choice Eren couldn't accept.

Thus the only logical path was Eren having a child with Historia who would be the hope of Eldians.

Year 851, Month: February

It had been a full year since the Marleyans first set foot on our island. The port construction was finally complete, and today, we were to receive our first official foreign visitors—dignitaries from Hizuru, the so-called "one and only ally of Paradis," as Yelena claimed.

Their ambassador, Kiyomi Azumabito, was set to arrive, supposedly in the name of friendship.

That day, I also learned something about my own heritage. Azumabito presented me with a symbol: three swords encircled to form an A.

It was the same sign my mother had entrusted to me before she passed, a symbol I was to pass down to my own children. She explained that my family belonged to a noble Asian tribe, a heritage I had never fully understood.

Azumabito went on to reveal that our family was once closely allied with the Fritz family. Before the Great Titan War, our ancestors from the shogun's line visited Paradis often, and together with the Eldians, they prospered.

But when the Eldians were defeated, the Hizuru and Eldian alliances fell, leaving the few remaining of our family stranded on the island. Now, as their descendant, Azumabito called me Hizuru's Hope.

Her revelation was a shock to many, including Eren, but I couldn't let it unsettle me. Soon, though, her true intentions became obvious when she proposed trade relations.

What had appeared as an offer of goodwill turned out to be little more than a bid for Paradis' natural resources—especially the glow stones we relied on to power the omnidirectional mobility gear.

She talked about "helping Paradis establish peace" but only if it served her nation's interests.

Erwin held his silence, watching, as did most of the others, but Eren's fury was unmistakable. Without hesitation, he insulted Azumabito in front of everyone and stormed out.

However, despite Eren's reaction, Azumabito wasn't quite done. She offered to bring a peace proposal to the Tyburs—the Eldian family renowned as Marley's most loyal supporters and instrumental in Marley's victory in the Great Titan War.

While the Hizuru dignitaries left without a trade deal, the mere offer of this potential alliance sparked further debates among the Eldians. Some felt that Eren was justified, while others saw Hizuru's influence as a necessary step toward modernization and protection.