Age of Titans Chapter 21

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Age of Titans! As the nobles of the Assembly continue trying to shift blame upon one another over the recent loss of faith from the people and the growing popularity of Eren Yeager, where is Rod Reiss, exactly? The true king has been noticeably absent since the rise of the Titan Soldiers and all the good that they’ve done for the Walls. But the one closest to you can often be the most dangerous. Especially when they’re only there for their own ends and goals, their ‘loyalty’ only a façade until they can get what they truly want.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 21 – Betrayal and Elimination

In the ten days since the breach of the Walls by an outside, foreign enemy, the military had enacted special military powers, released a large amount of information without going through the Assembly, and had subtly stirred up the commonfolk’s discontent with the local nobility that rules various lands and districts throughout Wall Sina and Wall Rose. The lack of pushback from the Assembly and what stationed soldiers in the capital had overhead and reported painted a picture of foolish arguments among incompetent people constantly trying to shift blame on each other instead of actually trying to do anything productive.

But there was still the matter of proving this and bringing out the true nature of the Assembly for all within the Walls to see. As the local nobles hid behind their gates in their large manors and estates doing nothing to help, the commonfolk only had their opinions of the aristocracy proven correct and their pent up resentment got to vent and make itself known, further frightening the nobles. Those of the aristocracy were fast learning that they were VASTLY outnumbered by the commonfolk and that all the soldiers that they relied on to keep the peace and protect them were commonfolk too.

In the Southern Wall Rose Garrison Headquarters, the three Commanders of the Military were in a meeting with Commander-in-Chief Zackly about the results of the search for a breach within Wall Maria or Wall Rose. That was the official topic, at least. While the four of them had gone over all reports about the search, the conclusion had already been reached days ago and information shared near instantly through the Attack Titans and their access to the ‘Paths’. The power of instant, untraceable, and unblockable communication gave the military a major advantage over the floundering ‘royalist’ faction that currently ruled over the Walls.

The current topic of the continued meeting was, in fact, that very ‘royalist’ faction…or at least the large amount of commonfolk that followed it and were unlikely to support Eren ascending the throne as the new King of the Walls.

“Space is cramped, there’s a shortage of proper jobs, and taxes only continue to rise. At the same time the current regime threw close to twenty percent of the population, all commonfolk, into the ‘operation to reclaim Wall Maria’ as a sacrifice to alleviate the food shortage caused by all of the refugees fleeing the Titans.” Pixis laid out the major failures of the current regime simply and plainly. When said like this, even the least educated of people would understand that the current regime only cared about the aristocracy and saw the commonfolk as expendable. “Yet even under these most severe circumstances, there have been no riots. That’s because the king, the bureaucrats, the aristocracy, and the commonfolk all share the same fate…they’ve all been cornered inside these walls. To cause a violent conflict within this enclosed world would mean destroying it.” Zackly, Nile, and Erwin all nodded in agreement with Pixis’s word. They were true and the reason that even with the current regime’s many failures, the commonfolk hadn’t risen up in revolt before now. “Above all, the royal bloodline, unbroken for over two-thousand years, acts as a symbol of human prosperity. The crown ruled the world even before we were chased here. That exalted line is what sustains the people’s hearts.”

Nile looked at Pixis with cool focus. “While that’s true, especially of those that follow the monarchy above all else, do you have a plan for winning them over to put Eren on the throne?”

“If we were to butcher that symbol of prosperity and start a war at the height of this unprecedented crisis, do you think the commonfolk would follow us or recognize anyone we tried to put on the throne?” Pixis shook his head once. “This must be a bloodless revolution as much as possible.”

Erwin spoke next, looking at Pixis. “That’s why we disseminated so much of the information that we’ve discovered about the truth of the world beyond the Walls. Your own plan to stir up the discontent of the commonfolk with their local ruling nobles is also to make cracks in the unshakeable believe in the current regime, is it not?”

“It is.” Pixis confirmed with a simple nod. “However, that alone won’t lead to a violent and bloody revolution, as long as there’s someone else to look towards as a potential new ruler.”

“Eren Yeager.” Nile said, a statement of fact rather than any kind of question. “But how does that get us the support of the half, at least, of the commonfolk that follow the royal bloodline as a symbol?”

It was Zackly that answered instead of Pixis. “Historia Reiss, the youngest of the true royal bloodline.” Pixis nodded to the Commander-in-Chief to confirm. “With her royal blood, the line continues to remain unbroken to those that see it as the symbol of prosperity. The fact that she and Eren Yeager are already in a relationship helps grant Eren legitimacy to ascend as king.” His sharp eyes focused on Erwin, then moved to Nile, and then rested on Pixis. “But that still leaves the issue of getting to Rod Reiss, the only other living member of the true royal bloodline and the current king. We need him to confess his status, confirm Historia’s royal blood, and then drag out the Assembly’s true nature for all to see. Without all three of those things happening, putting Eren on the throne successfully and without bloodshed will be impossible.”

Knock Knock Knock

All four men blinked at the knock on the door to the meeting room. The corridor leading to this room had multiple soldiers of the Garrison standing guard and Nile had brought four Military Police members to turn away anyone that used higher rank to get past the Garrison soldiers.

“What is it?” Zackly asked strongly to the closed door.

The door opened without a word and all four of the Military Police members entered with their hands on the back of their heads, held at gunpoint by people dressed in the black trenchcoats of the Interior Police.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Nile shot to his feet so fast his chair nearly toppled over. The only thing stopping him from ordering the Interior Police to put down their weapons and let his soldiers move freely was the knowledge that the trenchcoat-wearing soldiers wouldn’t listen to him regardless of his position and rank.

Pixis remained seated but his sharp eyes looked the Interior Police members over for any trace of blood, taking some small hope that his soldiers were still alive when he didn’t spot any on the clothes or the black trenchcoats.

Erwin looked at the Interior Police expressionlessly. He’d become a master of hiding his true thoughts and feelings about the ones that had made his father disappear for trying to teach ‘unapproved’ views of the history that the current regime had put in place. The small blade on the ring of his left hand was flicked open beneath the table, ready to cut one of his fingers so that he could transform, if necessary.

Zackly stared down the man that strolled into the meeting room in the black trenchcoat and matching black, wide-brimmed bowler hat. He’d seen the man before. The head of the Interior Police, someone put into his position by outing a ‘leak’ among the military higher-ups. The fact that he replaced that one that was identified as the ‘leak’ was something that many didn’t dare to question aloud. The man was backed by someone powerful, and Zackly was absolutely sure that someone was Rod Reiss.

The Head of the Interior Police was a very tall and slim man who appeared to be well-built, even while wearing the black trenchcoat. He had short, coarse-looking dark hair that reached to his neck and also had a thin beard along his jawline. He appeared middle-aged, with wrinkles around his eyes, both of which were small and piercing. He wore a simple white shirt with a black tie that wasn’t fully done up, and his large black trenchcoat reached past his knees. His boots made little noise on the floor until he got close to the table and his footsteps seemed to purposefully become heavier.

“Well now, this little meeting seems to be about treason, doesn’t it?” The man said as he pulled a chair from the table over to himself and sat down at the end, putting him right across from Zackly. “Commander-in-Chief, Commanders of the Military Branches, I think you know who I am, in general, right?”

“Head of the Interior Police.” Zackly said simply, not taking his eyes off the dangerous man.

“That’s right.” The man nodded, his scowl not changing in the slightest, almost as if a scowl was the natural shape of his face. “Right now, I’ve got more than enough reason, both real and whatever I could make up for justification, to kill all four of you, or cripple ya and bring you before the Assembly and let them make an example outta ya.”

Nile narrowed his eyes at the Head of the Interior Police. “Proof? Of what?” They hadn’t left a paper trail anywhere. Every meeting and plan was strictly verbal-only to ensure secrecy.

The man at the end of the table chuckled a little. “Oh, you know we don’t REALLY need proof, right?” His cold eyes stared the other four men down, a strange tension filled the air sharply, it was something that many in the military had experienced, but only those who lived long enough to grow older could name it: killing intent. The Head of the Interior Police was more than willing to kill everyone in this room without a second thought.

Zackly didn’t flinch in the slightest.

Pixis merely looked at the man, not moving, but wanting to take a sip from his flask.

Nile’s eyes narrowed at the threat, having dealt with such things by those that either wanted his position and would stab him in the back for it or those that simply wanted him out of the way because he’d started enforcing proper military discipline among the Military Police ever since the Trost breach.

Erwin stared the man down, his expression giving away nothing. Much like any longtime Survey Corp member, he had already taken in the enemy’s position, their weapons, and how best he could eliminate the threat with minimal losses.

The tension faded from the room and the head of the Interior Police took a more relaxed seat, his right leg coming up to rest his ankle on his left knee as he took his hands from his pockets to cross his arms over his chest. “I’ll make this easy for ya. The one that makes others into Titans, I want to meet him. Eren Yeager, right?”

“Is that the will of the Assembly? They wish to eliminate Eren Yeager?” Zackly asked pointblank to the other man.

“Probably, but that’s not why I want to meet him.” The Head of the Interior Police said. “This is for me and what I want.”

Pixis spoke up next, calm and collected. “And for this meeting you’re planning to look the other way about this supposed treason you accuse us of?” The tone was calm, but the subtle undertone in Pixis’s words made it clear that he didn’t believe that at all.

“That’s about right.” The man at the end of the table said, his scowl like a mask and his dark eyes giving away nothing.

Erwin looked directly into those dark eyes as he spoke. “What else?”

The Head of the Interior Police actually blinked, his scowl changing to the briefest look of confusion before it returned to the scowl. “What do ya mean, ‘What else?’, exactly? I’ve got your men at gunpoint, my subordinates have this place surrounded, and the one’s in charge would very much like you all either falling in line or falling dead.”

“To meet the one that you wish to see, we need more.” Erwin said plainly, Nile, Pixis, and Zackly all nodding in agreement, showing a united front against the Interior Police, even under threat of death.

“Heh…” The man chuckled under his breath. “Hehehahahaha!” The chuckle became laughter as the man threw his head back—notably not closing his eyes or letting the four men in front of him out of his sight for even a fraction of a second—before he flicked the brim of his hat up slightly with his scowl becoming a smirk. “All of you ready to die for this… Can’t say the same for the ones currently in charge.” He leaned forward a bit, his hands now on the table, showing his lack of weapons, but the subtle threat of the man hadn’t diminished in the slightest. “I guess I could play along to get what I want.” His smirk returned to his normal scowl. “What do you want?”

Zackly spoke the first thing that came to his mind and would solve one of the biggest problems facing their plans for a bloodless revolution. “Rod Reiss.”

The Head of the Interior Police lost all expression, his face a mask of nothing as he stared into Zackly’s eyes for a long moment as tension filled the air again. “You want him dead?”

“Alive and as unharmed as possible.” Zackly corrected, his expression like stone. He was certain that this man was close to Rod Reiss and would therefore have access to the true king.

“Rod and I have known each other for a while now.” The man in black said, his face not changing much as he spoke. “You’re asking a lot though.”

Nile glanced at his soldiers being held at gunpoint for a brief moment before he spoke. “Yet you seem unbothered by it.”

The Head of the Interior Police barely glanced at Nile. “I follow for my own reasons.”

The room went silent for a prolonged moment. The tension in the air was high enough that any single twitch could set off a violent reaction like a match to a powder keg. After nearly a minute of both sides staring each other down, the Head of the Interior Police spoke up.

“Where should I bring him to meet Yeager?” The man asked, his scowl giving away nothing, but his dark eyes held a hint of ‘something’ in them. The way he phrased his question also made it clear that he’d only betray Rod Reiss if he got to meet Eren Yeager at the exact moment he delivered the true king.

Erwin slowly picked up a pen on the table in front of him, he only needed a moment to think before he wrote down a location. “Bring him here. Eren Yeager will be waiting.” He folded the small piece of paper up and slid it down the table.

The man in black took the paper without unfolding it and it disappeared into one of his pockets. “You all have four more days to make your moves freely. I’ll be at the location two days from now at noon.” With that said, he turned and walked towards the door, his subordinates removing their guns from the backs of the Military Police and following after him a moment later.

There were no words for a long moment.

“Are you alright, men?” Nile asked his four soldiers.

“Yes, sir.” The four men answered promptly, all of them looking ashamed that they’d been subdued so easily by the Interior Police without being able to put up a fight or even alert the Commanders or Zackly.

Pixis looked at the four Military Police members. “Are my soldiers still alive?”

One of the men stepped forward. “Yes, sir. There were no sounds of gunfire or of any fight. That’s why the appearance of the Interior Police surprised us. There was no warning and they cleared the corridor, getting us at gunpoint, before we could react.”

“Go check to be sure.” Nile ordered two of his soldiers. “You two, return to guarding the door.”

“Yes, sir!” The four soldiers saluted before leaving the room, closing the door behind them.

Zackly let out a long, slow exhale at the head of the table. “That’s one issue that may either be resolved or used to hasten our own executions.”

Pixis agreed with a short nod, pulling his small flask from his inner jacket pocket and taking a quick drink from it. “Four days from now. Exactly the length of time before special military powers in the event of a possible breach come to an end.” That particular time limit had been imposed in the Charter for the Survival of Humanity to prevent the military from enacting special powers indefinitely and practicing martial law. “He’s only having the Interior Police look the other way while we technically hold the power within the Walls. Quite convenient for him should we fail.”

“Erwin, where did you set the meeting place?” Zackly asked, having only been able to glance at the paper for a split-second earlier.

“Ragako Village.” Erwin answered as he looked at Zackly. “As we haven’t let the villagers return yet, it’s empty of civilians and the village is far enough away from Wall Sina that should they try anything and attempt to flee, the Survey Corp will be able to intercept them.” Left unsaid was that the Survey Corp had done a thorough check around Ragako Village after the attack from Marley and now knew the layout of the entire village, giving them a tactical advantage against the Interior Police. A wide open space like a farming village was perfect for Titan combat, after all.

Nile felt like something had just clicked in his mind after hearing about Ragako Village being abandoned and the surviving villagers becoming refugees in the Karanes District. “What if we used the Assembly’s true nature against them before the special military powers end?”

“Explain.” Pixis requested as he, Zackly, and Erwin all looked at Nile.

“The Assembly only cares for themselves, their interests, and the interests of the other aristocrats, mostly within Wall Sina exclusively.” Nile laid out what they all knew already. “But we just had an unprecedented breach of the Walls by a foreign enemy.” The other three nodded, prompting him to continue. “What if there was another breach? This time these foreign enemies cause a breach in one of the outer districts gates and the gate of Wall Rose as well, allowing the Titans to pour into Wall Rose just like they did Wall Maria.”

Pixis picked up the general idea easily. “And if an emergency report comes in on the last day of the special military powers being in effect when we have to meet with the Assembly to hand in our reports and relinquish our special authority back to them…with plenty of witnesses from newspapers being there…” It wasn’t even a question of if there would be journalists there. The Assembly would make sure of it to assure the commonfolk that everything was fine and the monarchy was still in control.

“They’ll act to ensure their own survival and continued power.” Zackly finished the sentence. He’d been in the military for decades now and he knew how the nobles acted; knew their true nature. It was why he hated them in secret. “We let them hang themselves and show everyone within the Walls who they really are.”

“Exactly.” Nile nodded to the other three men.

Erwin agreed with the plan, but now knew it heavily relied on the Survey Corps acquiring Rod Reiss to prove Historia’s royal bloodline and therefore legitimacy to the throne for herself and the one that would become the new king through marriage. “The Survey Corp will secure Rod Reiss during the meeting in Ragako Village.” He confirmed seriously as he stood up.

As the meeting came to an end, the four men left the room. Pixis was immediately given an update on the condition of his soldiers by one of the four Military Police members. It was with a sigh of relief that Pixis learned none of his soldiers had been harmed. All of them had deferred to the Interior Police and so had simply been passed by without harm.

-Erwin’s Command Post ~ Krolva District-

A meeting had been called for between Erwin, Squad Levi, Squad Hange, and the Eren’s close group. The setting sun coming through the window cast an orange-ish glow upon the room as Erwin began the meeting.

“We’ve had contact with the Interior Police today.” Erwin said and saw how most of the group tensed up slightly. Everyone knew at least a bit about the Interior Police, even if most of the things about them were merely rumors. “The Head of the Interior Police has agreed to bring us Rod Reiss.”

“And you believed that?” Levi asked, his expression flat as he looked at Erwin. “Why would the Interior Police agree to do anything except try and eliminate us for treason?”

Erwin looked at Levi and then at Eren. “Because the Head of the Interior Police wants to meet Eren.”

Eren looked suspicious. “Meet me? For what reason?”

Mikasa looked concerned as she glanced at Eren. Annie’s expression was stoic, but her blue eyes couldn’t hide that her mind was running through dozens of thoughts at that moment. Historia had her hands clenched on her lap and Ymir gently put her hand over top them. It was clear that Historia had nothing but the single bad memory of her father that she’d told them about. Armin looked between Eren and Erwin, his blue eyes filled with questions as he was missing too many pieces to try and understand the whole situation. Sasha, having been released from her confinement only two days ago, was clearly a bit lost as she looked at Eren and then Erwin.

“Given that he seems to believe that you are the one that solely possesses the power to turn others into Titans and that he directly stated that he’s acting for his own interests; I believe he wants to become a Shifter.” Erwin explained what he’d gleaned from the Head of the Interior Police during the conversation in the meeting room.

“The Interior Police are going to bring us the true king, just to become Shifters?” Levi clearly didn’t believe that at all.

Hange looked at Levi. “Is that so strange?” The look she got from Levi told her that it was.

“Not everyone is a freak about Titans like you.” Levi reminded Hange with a flat tone.

“We’re supposed to meet two days from now at noon in Ragako Village.” Erwin moved the briefing along. “I chose the location as we have detailed knowledge of the area, giving us a tactical advantage. As it is flat and wide open farmland, it will also facilitate Titan combat should this prove to be a ploy to eliminate us by the Interior Police.”

That got a few murmurs from the rest of the soldiers in the room, particularly Squad Levi.

“This sounds like a setup.” Gunther commented on the odd deal.

Eld couldn’t help but agree. “Even if their guess about Eren being the only one that can turn people into Shifters is wrong; asking for him specifically while agreeing to bring the true king to us…”

“There’s a lot of things don’t really add up.” Oluo said with a grimace, not liking the situation and what it could mean for the Survey Corp.

“But on the off chance that this is genuine…it’s a huge chance.” Petra mentioned to her squadmates, glancing briefly at Eren and then Levi. “If we can get the true king to admit to what the monarchy has done to the people over the last century, no one would want to follow them anymore when there’s a better option.”

Armin looked at Eren for a moment, the thoughts going through his mind showing in his eyes.

“Soldier Arlert, do you have something to add?” Erwin asked Armin upon seeing the look in the young man’s eyes.

“Uh, I was just thinking, sir.” Armin said, but as Erwin continued to look at him and more eyes turned to him, Armin realized that he was being prompted to continue. “It’s just… If any of the rumors of the Interior Police are accurate, I don’t think we can trust them. Making any of them Lesser Shifters runs the risk of giving the current regime a Shifter to use against us.” He looked at Eren for a second and then back to Erwin. “If Eren could wipe the memories of Eldians, then it wouldn’t be as much of a dangerous prospect since we could fully control the narrative of the meeting.”

Eren grimaced at that before he spoke. “I’ve only just managed to be able to reliably find a person’s memories within the ‘Paths’ in the last couple of days. Only one person at a time and I have to at least know their names to even do that much.” He straightened up in his seat a bit more as he looked at Armin. “I don’t want to be like the former King Fritz that stole the memories of the people from them to trap them all within these walls. That’s one ability that I never want to use. Taking away someone’s memories is like stealing a part of their life and that’s against what I want to do, not just as a king, but as a person.”

Everyone in the room felt the sincerity and strength behind Eren’s words. All of them couldn’t help but respect him a bit more for his resolve to remain a person, even when the Prime Founding Titan’s power practically made him a God to the Subjects of Ymir with what he could do to them with it. Strength of character was something that none of them had ever seen in the aristocracy that currently ruled the Walls.

“Sorry, Eren.” Armin apologized to his best friend, even bowing his head slightly. “I spoke carelessly without thinking about how you’d see that ability.”

“It’s alright, Armin.” Eren assured his best friend with a small grin.

Armin returned the small grin before a thought came to him. “Wait, you said that you can find specific memories in the ‘Paths’ now, right?” When Eren nodded, Armin asked a question that no one had considered yet. “How long does it take you to view a memory?”

Eren opened his mouth, but then closed it and thought about it. “Not long… I don’t usually watch any memory for too long to begin with while I’ve been practicing. I don’t think it’s ever been more than a second or two?”

“Can you show those memories to others?” Armin asked, knowing that the Prime Founding Titan could do many things when it came to the people of Eldia.

“Maybe?” Eren considered what he’d have to do to show someone memories within the ‘Paths’. “I’d probably have to make physical contact with a person to show them.”

Erwin looked at Armin again, seeing him thinking hard again. “What are you thinking, Arlert?”

Armin looked at Erwin and took a second to consider his words. “If Eren can show someone else the ‘Paths’ and the memories within them, that would mean we can find out the truth about the past for ourselves.” He looked thoughtful for a moment before looking at Eren again. “We’d need to practice, but the memories within the Paths could be absolutely invaluable to proving that what Eren says is the truth.”

That got more murmuring from everyone in the room as they discussed the possibility of using the vast amount of information stored with the ‘Paths’ from all of the Eldians connected to them. Eren needing to know the person’s name was a limiting factor though. Searching blindly through millions of people’s recorded memories would take far too long to be of any use.

Eren looked towards Mikasa, the two having a short, silent conversation between them. Turning his green eyes to Annie, he looked into her blue eyes and they nodded to each other a moment later. No one said anything as Eren looked at each of his lovers and had these silent conversations. “I’ll try it. There’s a chance that it might be useful for this meeting if I can show someone else the memories in the ‘Paths’. Even if it’s not useful here though, it’s simply too much information to not try and make use of it.”

“I have a few ideas!” Hange declared as she stood up quickly, looking at Eren with a big smile, her breathing noticeably picking up.

Levi let out a short sigh. “Calm down, Hange.” Now was NOT the time for the weirdo to freak out about something Titan related.

“Then we’ll begin with preparation for the meeting in Ragako Village in two days.” Erwin said a bit louder, making sure to get everyone focused back on the matter at hand. “We’ll want Eren inside one of the intact buildings to prevent any chance of a long-range assassination. Squad Hange, Squad Levi, we’ll have you positioned within the village and another four squads will surround the village at a distance, keeping away from the sole road leading into the village itself to not give ourselves away.”

As the planning for the meeting began, Eren knew that he had a lot of work to do with further harnessing the Prime Founding Titan’s powers. While it could do nearly anything to the Subjects of Ymir, there were many such things that Eren refused to do, simply because he believed them to infringe on the freedom of his people in ways far beyond anything that could be physically done to them by others.

-Reiss Family Land-

Rod Reiss, the true King of the Walls, was a rather short man. He was also slightly overweight with a round face, short black hair and a thin black mustache. When he interacted with others in his role as Lord Reiss, a simple rural aristocrat, he often wore the clothes of a wealthy man that fit such a position, featuring a white button-up shirt with a black pullover vest, loose black pants and black dress shoes. Currently, he was at racking his mind for solutions to the problems that he found himself in.

‘Not here either…’ Rod lamented in his mind, tossing another book aside. For weeks now he’d been tearing through the entire library that had been passed down for generations of the Fritz Family, looking for an explanation as to how there were more than the Nine Titans that had been passed down throughout the generations of the nine most noble families among the Subjects of Ymir. Unfortunately, he’d found nothing to answer his question and he was increasingly coming to the conclusion that a large part of the information had been left on the mainland when the 145th King Fritz had retreated to Paradis Island over a century ago. He’d barely interacted with the Assembly in that time, only passing along a few messages and receiving some reports from them.

What Rod didn’t know was that for all that things seemed bad in the reports, the Assembly, not wanting to admit how badly they’d screwed up and let things break from their control, had held back just how bad things within the Walls actually were for the monarchy. As many of the commonfolk were now asking questions and being given information about a world beyond the Walls, the report from the Assembly merely stated that the peasants were showing discontent, which was something that none of the current aristocracy cared about, and so it was mostly ignored. The century of absolute control that the monarchy had enjoyed had disappeared years ago on the night that the Reiss Family had nearly been wiped out and the Founding Titan power was stolen. But a century of easy rule and the ability to silence any discontent had led to incompetence in the current generation of nobles to the point that none of them were willing to admit fault and so they wasted time trying to place blame on one another.

Knock Knock

The knocking on his door broke Rod from his search of another book. He hesitated to move towards the door at first, knowing that he wasn’t properly dressed and groomed to be receiving visitors. But as he peeked out of the small window in the library, he saw the carriage that he knew the Interior Police used when they came to see him.

“What could Kenny want?” Rod asked himself softly as he moved towards the door. Opening the door, he saw the Head of the Interior Police, just as he’d expected. “Has something happened?”

He couldn’t have known that his question had only further solidified Kenny’s decision to do what he was about to.

“You truly are a failure of a king, aren’t you, Rod?” Kenny asked before his hand blurred forward and grabbed the hidden king by the front of his shirt. Faster than Rod could react to his shirt being grabbed, a knife was placed to his neck, shutting him up instantly. “Now, you’re gonna keep quiet and come with me. It’s long past time that I get what I want.”

Rod couldn’t stop a question from slipping out. “What about Uri?” He asked, using his dead brother’s name and the connection that he knew Kenny had to his late brother.

Kenny looked into Rod’s eyes and the king nearly soiled himself in terror at the coldness he saw in the dark, icy gaze. “You’re not Uri.” Being careful not to slit Rod’s throat with the knife he held to it; Kenny forced the man towards the carriage and his subordinates within that would tie the failure of a king up and gag him.

Less than five minutes after the carriage of the Interior Police had arrived in the night, it left, taking Rod Reiss with it, and no one was the wiser since the Reiss Family had practically dropped from any social aspects since the night they’d almost been wiped out.

There was simply no one that would come around to check on them with any regularity.

-Ragako Village ~ Two Days Later-

The black carriage of the Interior Police rolled down the dirt road into the abandoned farming village. The coachman saw the four Survey Corps members standing before one of the intact houses and directed the horse towards them. Once the carriage came even with the house, the coachmen had the horse stop as he looked at the four soldiers closely. None of them appeared to have any weapons on hand beyond their ODM Gear, which in a village like this with mostly single-story buildings wouldn’t be optimal.

The door of the carriage opened and one pf the Interior Police members stepped out first. Scanning the area, especially the four soldiers in front of them, they determined if it was safe after a moment. A person with a burlap sack over their head and their hands tied behind their back was pulled out of the carriage while more Interior Police exited from the opposite side of the carriage to form a perimeter. That was on top of the members that had stopped their carriages almost a mile away and had moved under cover to station themselves around the abandoned village in secret.

“One Rod Reiss, as promised.” Kenny said as he stepped out of the carriage. His sharp eyes missed nothing, including the way the four soldiers in front of him were ready to act at the smallest sign of hostility. But for now, at the very least, violence was not what Kenny wanted. “Is Yeager in there?” He asked the four soldiers.

“He is.” Petra nodded to the haggard-looking man. Squad Levi were stationed at the front door due to their experience and the fact that all of them were ready and willing to fight and kill the Interior Police if they tried anything. In proof of that, all of them were already bleeding from small cuts on the backs of their necks, hidden from view by hair or the collars of their jackets, ready to transform in a split-second.

Oluo kept a narrow gaze on the other Interior Police. “Only you two.” He said to Kenny and the man with the burlap sack covering his head.

“We need to see his face first.” Gunther pointed at the bound man.

Kenny pulled the burlap sack off of Rod’s head, revealing the face of the true king, bags under his eyes from not sleeping all night after his abduction.

Eld looked at the face and mentally compared it to the sketch that they had of Rod Reiss that he’d memorized over the last two days. “It’s him.” With that confirmed, Gunther opened the door and let Kenny push Rod forward into the house.

Kenny’s scowl almost left his face as he saw who was waiting for him in the house. “Well now, you’ve certainly grown up an bit, Levi!”

“Kenny!” Levi nearly went for his swords if not for Erwin’s hand grabbing his shoulder. Narrowing his eyes at the man that had taught him how to survive in the harsh underground after his mother had died, Levi looked Kenny over. “How did you become part of the Interior Police after killing a hundred MPs?”

“Don’t worry about that, ya brat.” Kenny had no interest in talking to his unknowing nephew right now. Not when he was so close to finally getting what he wanted. “Eren Yeager.” He greeted the other man in the room. Not that he hadn’t noticed the two three women in the room, two in the corners along the same wall as the front door and the third—Hange—standing behind Eren.

Mikasa and Annie both watched Kenny like hawks, looking for even the tiniest hint that he was about to do anything violent. With the space of the cleared out room, they could be on the man in a second flat.

Eren nodded to Kenny once. “Hand over Rod Reiss.” It wasn’t quite an order, but the tone in Eren’s voice made it obvious that what he’d said would happen.

“Sure.” Kenny said, not worried about it as he knew his subordinates were already in their stations around the village with their Anti-Personel ODM Gear, ready to act on even the slightest sound of violence from the house. He wasn’t so foolish as to believe that the Survey Corp didn’t have other soldiers stationed around the village, after all. “Here.” He pushed Rod Reiss forward and Erwin took hold of the true king and moved him over to Hange, who then pushed him into a room and closed the door behind the man. “Now, it’s time you gave me what I want.”

“What do you want?” Eren asked Kenny simply. They weren’t absolutely sure that what Kenny wanted was to become a Shifter.

Kenny stepped forward, putting him just outside of arm’s reach from Eren. “I want the power that Uri possessed. That God-like power…the one that made him become such a good person that wanted to make a perfect world.”

Eren looked into Kenny’s eyes, seeing the truth of the man’s desires. “Uri Reiss?” He guessed at the last name, given that before his father and then the Warriors from Marley had arrived, only the Prime Founding Titan had been on Paradis and it had always been in the possession of the Reiss Family.

“Yeah.” Kenny confirmed and watched Eren go still for a second. ‘Hm? Did he just zone out?’ For about two seconds Eren’s green eyes had been looking into the middle distance before he blinked and his eyes were focused again.

“What you saw was not a Uri becoming a ‘good person’, but a man having his free will supplanted by another’s.” Eren said after having witnessed Uri Reiss’s memories and seen what had become of the man that had held the Prime Founding Titan in the past. Eren held out his hand to Kenny, as if offering him a handshake. “That’s not what you want.”

Kenny grabbed Eren’s hand, prepared to jerk the younger man forward and tell him that he was wrong while demanding that he be given the power he wanted. Only as soon as he touched Eren’s hand, he got a feeling like a static shock and then he was somewhere else.

The world was like night, and he stood upon white sand. A massive glowing tree illuminated the dark world, its branches too numerous to count as they seeming spread far and wide without end. Eren stood across from him, still holding his hand, though his green eyes now almost seemed to have a crystal-like pattern to them, as if the green iris had frozen over in ice.

“What is this?” Kenny tried to pull back his hand, but Eren’s grip was like iron.

“The truth.” Eren answered as his body seemed to connect to the immense tree of light by a thin strand of light.

Before Kenny could formulate a word or a thought, he was suddenly seeing an entirely different scene. Two boys, both no more than ten, begging and pleading with their father in a study somewhere, asking the older man to use the Founding Titan’s power to wipe out the Pure Titans. It was easy for Kenny to tell that the boys were his old friend Uri and the other was Rod. Without being able to do anything, Kenny watched as years passed, saw the repeated arguments the two boys had with their father, and watched as Uri was chosen to inherit that goldy power next. Seeing Uri promise Rod that he wouldn’t fall to the promise their ancestor had made and that he’d take care of the Titans after he got the power. Only for Kenny to watch as Uri’s eyes changed and become the same resigned gaze that their father had before him as soon as he was pulled out of the steaming Titan flesh right after devouring his own father, his will changed to the will of the King Fritz that had renounced war, regardless of what he’d wanted before.

While Kenny was watching Uri’s life, Eren was watching Kenny’s through their physical connection. What he saw was the truth of the Ackermann Clan and their persecution and near extinction by the Fritz family after the Walls had been made. Learning that they were immune to the memory manipulation ability of the Prime Founding Titan was a surprise, but Eren was then nearly overwhelmed by all of the violence and death that Kenny caused, most of it ‘for fun’ as the man’s memory claimed to his own dying grandfather on the elderly man’s deathbed.

In only about three seconds to those watching, Eren and Kenny both came out of what seemed to be a trance.

“You…” Kenny’s eyes were wide as he looked at Eren. “How did you get this power? Who did you eat? When?” He questioned, his voice steadily rising. When Eren didn’t answer, only looked at Kenny as if he saw the man as a monster, the Head of the Interior Police squeezed Eren’s hand as tightly as he could. “Answer me. My subordinates…”

“Are stationed around the village, I know.” Eren cut Kenny off and the man actually looked stunned for a second. “But this meeting was only for us to get Rod Reiss into our possession. The Eldia that I will build doesn’t need serial killers.”

KRAKBOOM

The sound of lightning and thunder shook Ragako Village almost like a minor earthquake.

The sounds of screams and gunfire filled the air next as the front of the house crumbled from the transformations of Squad Levi outside.

Kenny glanced back in shock, only for Mikasa, Annie, and Levi’s swords to stab through him at the same time. Levi’s sword had gone straight through his heart, Mikasa’s blade was through his lower spine, and Annie’s had pierced his right lung. Blood filled Kenny’s throat and he dribble down his chin as he looked into Levi’s cold eyes. “Guess that’s…about right…for our family…” He said as his body went numb below the waist from his severed spine. “You…still barely…look like my…sister…” He collapsed to the floor as Annie and Mikasa pulled their blades from his body, Levi’s still stuck in his chest.

“You bastard.” Levi glared down at Kenny, only now knowing the man was his uncle. “You never did tell anyone the important things.” He pulled his sword out of the dead man’s chest, grimacing at the blood on it. Unlike Titan blood that steamed away into nothing, this blood would remain, making the blade filthy until he cleaned it or ditched it.

BOOM

The loud crash of a carriage falling back to the ground made everyone look outside through the destroyed front of the house, seeing Oluo’s Cart Titan briefly scattering the wreckage to check for survivors, and not finding any, he ran off to engage the remaining enemies.

“Eren, pass the order on: Eliminate the Interior Police and then clean up the bodies and wreckage.” Erwin ordered as he saw a few of his soldiers in their Titan forms, through the gaping hole in the front of the house, fighting a modified type of ODM Gear that featured large caliber, single-shot guns. Before his very eyes he saw the lack od effectiveness of the weapons against Titans, not to mention the lack of training to target a Titan’s nape, and easily came to the conclusion that this ODM Gear was made to kill humans specifically.

“Yes, Commander.” Eren closed his eyes, tapping into the ‘Paths’ to relay the orders to the everyone that was transformed, something that only the Prime Attack Titan could do and the Lesser Shifters of the Attack Type could not.

The fighting intensified as the Survey Corps Shifters received their orders and in a short time the Interior Police would be eliminated.

“We’ve secured Rod Reiss. Our part of the operation is a success.” Hange said to Erwin as she let the Commander into the room that she’d put the true king inside, one that didn’t have any windows.

Eren watched as Levi grabbed Kenny’s body and began to drag it outside, a trail of blood following. Mikasa and Annie moved to his sides, offering emotional support for Eren having to basically order an execution for the first time.

Ragako Village’s cemetery would be getting several new unmarked graves today, and one that had a simple wooden plank listing it as the grave of ‘Kenny’.

-End Chapter-

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Kenny the Ripper wanted power, specifically the god-like power of the Prime Founding Titan. And he only followed Rod to get the chance to steal it for himself. Betrayal comes easy to those that have little to no empathy for others, especially if it’ll get them what they want.

Unfortunately, for Kenny, he didn’t understand the Power of Titans enough to realize that nothing in his usual playbook would work in a situation with dozens of Titan Shifters in play. When his own life was seen, including his plans to eliminate the Survey Corps after getting the power he wanted, that was game over.

With Rod Reiss in the hands of the ‘Yeager for King’ faction, and the Interior Police wiped out, the current regime has basically lost any chance of remaining in power.

Will Eren and Historia’s ascension to King and Queen of the Walls happen soon enough for a New Eldia to build itself up before Marley can mount another attack upon Paradis?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!