"I'll see you later."
Those were the last words Eren Yeager said to Koneko.
Those were the last words he said to any of them as he walked toward his room in the Gremory vacation home.
Koneko hadn't answered verbally, just raising a hand and waiving goodbye.
Eren was a human, not a devil, on top of being unwell. It made perfect sense for him to go to bed first.
Waking last made less sense.
Eren was usually at the bench in the park well before the sun rose and school started. As if he wanted to spend as little time away from it as possible.
Still, he had been up later than usual last night, so sleeping more than normal wasn't wholly unexpected.
If he was sleeping at all.
Mikasa was late as well.
Koneko had noticed the way Rias, Sona, and Akeno would occasionally look toward the room Eren had received.
The Rook didn't know how she felt about the subject, so she focused more on the brunch Akeno had made than any sort of complicated mess like that.
When Aunty Mikasa emerged, though, everyone took note.
The Leviathan's Pawn wasn't moving fast, nor was she slow. Her strides were long and direct, filled with purpose, and she didn't spare a glance at the eating teens.
Two things stood out, though.
The first was her clothes.
It was her combat uniform, tight-fitting and enchanted. Koneko had seen it a few times recently, both during the Kuoh Treaty and when the Pawn had rushed to help them during Loki's ambush. She didn't know why Mikasa would be wearing that this morning.
The second and more disconcerting was her face.
It looked like Mikasa Ackerman was marching toward her death.
Sona tried to call out to her, but Mikasa marched toward the room with the teleportation circle and disappeared.
"What was that about?" Rias asked, worried about the older woman's strange behaviour.
"Did the Chaos Brigade attack again," Issei asked, setting down his rice. Even he had noticed the odd mood surrounding the woman.
"She went to the clubhouse," Sona said, examining the sigil. Mikasa had to use external items and circles to teleport rather than her own power, so it was easy to discover where she went.
"... Forget something?" Koneko asked.
"No..." Sona said with furrowed brows. Then her eyes shot open. "Quickly! Someone go check on Eren!"
"On it," Yuuto said in a rush.
"What's going on?" Rossweiss asked, rubbing her eyes tiredly as Yuuto rushed past her up the stairs.
"No time to explain," Sona said, powering up the circle again. "Tsubaki, you are in charge. I want everyone ready to leave in ten minutes!"
"Hai Kaicho!" Tsubaki saluted, even though she was still in pyjamas.
"Sona?" Rias asked, but the Student Council President didn't have time to answer her rival as Yuuto rushed back down the stairs.
"He's not in his room or the bathroom," Yuuto said with panic.
"Let's go," Sona said as the light of teleportation enveloped those who had approached.
Koneko, Akeno, Yuuto, Rias, Issei, and Sona appeared in the Occult Research Club, and the Sitri heiress rushed to leave the building.
"Sona!" Rias called out as she followed her friend.
"Eren's been different," Sona said quickly as they ran out of the building. "Maybe for a while, but I haven't been around much. The last few days and weeks, though, it's been obvious. Yesterday especially. During our last lesson, he said he was almost out of time. But he shouldn't be. He should still have months left."
Koneko's heart seized as she realized what Sona was talking about.
"He's been acting like he's going to..." Sona choked on her words, and Koneko could hear the panic and fear in her voice. "Like he has days, not months."
"You don't think he would... " Rias asked, her own voice tinged with horror.
"I don't get it," Issei said.
"Senpai might not have wanted to die slowly," Yuuto said grimly. "He'd want to go out on his own terms."
"Everyone was gone for the party," Akeno said hollowly. "He once told me he'd die on the bench. Alone."
"Senpai wouldn't kill himself!" Issei denied, horrified at the idea. "He wouldn't give up like that."
"He entrusted his heart to us," Sona said in a voice filled with grief. "He... might have wanted his last day to be a good one."
Koneko didn't want Eren to die.
Not Eren, who could be scary but was actually really kind. Not the boy who had already gone through so much.
She wanted him to be happy. She wanted to keep visiting him for snacks and naps and make him laugh again.
She didn't want to be left behind again.
Koneko wanted Eren to live.
So her mind searched for any way that wouldn't be so, any justification that their worries were unfounded and Eren was okay—that he would be fine.
And, perhaps unsurprisingly, she found one.
"...How'd he leave?"
Koneko's question silenced the others.
Sona, after a second, realized what the Rook was asking.
That was right. Eren shouldn't have been able to leave the island without help.
He had no magic, so he couldn't use the teleportation circle. And they had flown to the private island instead of taking a boat. There should be no way for Eren to leave unless he could swim the miles to shore or someone had taken him.
"I don't know," Sona said, but there was hope in her voice. "I just... Panicked when I saw Aunty like that. Maybe nothing happened?"
The desperation in her voice was all too raw.
"So he could just be somewhere on the island?" Issei asked with relief.
"Something is wrong," Rias said, but her voice was firm and determined rather than heartbroken. "Aunty wouldn't act like that unless something had happened."
"But it might not be related to Eren," Akeno suggested.
"...If she's not at the bench, we can ask her la-"
Sona's voice cut off as the group of young devils reached the small clearing in the park with the bench and the incomprehensible sight they found.
Mikasa was there, as they had expected, but Eren was not.
Koneko's heart seized in fear at the familiar dark-haired woman with a sword at her neck.
Then, fear was replaced with confusion at Kuroka's words.
What?
Eren?
With Chaos Brigade?
Their Eren?
Too-skinny-Eren?
The Eren who napped with Koneko?
The Eren who listened to her and spoke to her softly?
The Eren who she shared food with and who petted her ears just right?
The Eren who was dying and weak?
The Eren who, just last night, was laughing in joy as they flew through the sky together?
No.
Onee-sama was wrong.
There was no way Eren, their kind Eren, would be the leader of the terrorist organization that attacked the peace conference.
There was no way Eren, who was always trying to help them, would be allied with monsters like Loki and Diodora.
There is no way Eren would say he'd kill Issei-senpai.
Not their Eren.
Koneko didn't even hear her friend's own noises of disbelief and dissagreement, so shocked was she by the sight of her older sister and her words.
Kuroka heard them, though.
"Shironyaa?" Kuroka said in delight, waiving her hand in greeting towards the young devils' arrival.
She seemed to care little for the sword Mikasa continued to hold at her throat.
"Look! See! Onee-sama kept her promise! We're going to be together again."
The world seemed to swim before Koneko, and she tried to make sense of everything.
Why was Kuroka here? How had she gained another tail so soon? Where was Eren? Why did she have his cane? What was going on?
"What is going on here?" Sona asked, stepping forward.
She wasn't the only one.
Except for Koneko, everyone had readied themselves for a fight and spread out to give aid to Mikasa if she needed it.
"Let me deal with this, Sona," Mikasa said, not taking her eyes off the wanted criminal. Not a flicker of emotion shone through her expression. Just cold steel. "I need you to call your sister. Get Serafall here. And all of you need to leave. Now!"
"Why do you have that cane?" Rias asked, voice quivering with rage. The power of destruction filled the clearing, ready to tear the Stray Devil to shreds. "What have you done to Eren?"
"Nyaa?" Kuroka looked to the cane in her hand, then at the Gremory heiress. "This is my cane."
"It is not," Yuuto said, a copy of Purgatorio in his hand. "That is Eren's."
"It is mine," Kuroka said, frowning for the first time. "I made it."
"Leave!"
"No, you didn't," Sona denied, her own power gathering as she ignored Mikasa's order again.
It was harder this time. There had been a note of desperation in her aunt's voice that hadn't been there before.
"I did. I gave it to Eren. Now that we broke up, I'm keeping it."
Of all the things the infamous criminal could have said, perhaps no other words could have stopped the gathering hostility so completely.
Dead silence.
"...What?"
Anyone with ears and a heart could hear the heartbreak and betrayal in Sona's voice.
"It's all I have to remember the good times, so I am keeping it," Kuroka said petulantly. Then she looked over at Koneko again. "Sorry, Shirone. Onee-sama can't introduce you to your Brother-in-law. He's already run away."
"If I was with a woman like you, I'd run away too," Akeno said acidly as Holy Lightning crackled around her.
"Nyaa! I broke up with him! Not the other way around!"
"Where is Eren," Mikasa asked, pressing her blade tighter.
If she was angry at the revelation, or claim at least, that Eren had been romantically involved with Kuroka, she did not show it.
Blood beaded from Kuroka's neck.
"Who knows," Kuroka shrugged. "We fought. I lost. When I woke up, he was gone."
"That's impossible," Mikasa said with a scowl.
"Yeah!" Issei agreed, already clad in his Scale Mail and Boosting. "Senpai's cool, but he's human."
"Nyahahahaha," Kuroka laughed. "You don't know your Senpai very well then."
"I know what Eren is capable of," Mikasa denied. "More than you ever could. And I know he can't defeat you."
It hit Koneko at that moment.
"... Senjutsu," Koneko whispered in horror. When all eyes looked at her, the Rook spoke up. "He knows how to use his Ki. He knows Senjutsu, right?"
"Shironyaa is always the smartest on top of being the cutest," Kuroka said with pride. "I taught Eren everything I could. After a year, I could no longer defeat him. Even with seven tails, I still can't beat him."
Mikasa's eyes narrowed even further.
"What is Senjustu?" Mikasa asked, not taking her eyes off Kuroka.
"It's using your Ki or life force. It's like Sairaorg's Touki," Rias said, voice filled with disbelief. "It makes him stronger. Faster. But that's just Touki. Senjutsu is even more difficult to learn and comes with other powers. He can sense others. And hide himself. And other powers. There are very few sages alive, even among the supernatural races, and only a handful of humans have ever become sages. Eren is way too young to have learned something like that!"
"He's the best," Kuroka said proudly. "The greatest sage I've ever heard of!"
"Anything else," Mikasa asked grimly.
"...What?" Rias asked.
"I am asking what else it can do," Mikasa said. She didn't seem fazed by the declaration that Eren was a sage. Just resolute. "Eren wouldn't be able to lead Chaos Brigade with just that."
"You can't seriously believe her," Sona demanded, aghast. "She's obviously lying."
"Answer the question," Mikasa demanded.
"It... is mainly the physical benefits," Akeno said slowly. "There are a few techniques, usually manipulating plant or animal Ki, but it's not magic. A sage can use the world's Ki to supplement their own, meaning they won't run out. It is usually used in conjunction with other powers, like spells or racial abilities."
"I use it to power my Youjutsu," Kuroka said 'helpfully' as a clone appeared beside her for an instant before disappearing again. "Eren can't do anything like that, though. It's all physical with him."
"Still," Akeno bit out as Kuroka waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Anyone with Senjutsu is a high-class threat by default. Nobody is, though. They are all Ultimate class because it is a threat multiplier."
Despite the explanation, Mikasa's expression did not fluctuate in the least.
As if Eren's power was still acceptable.
"You all are missing the important parts~" Kuroka singsonged playfully as she stared into Mikasa's eyes.
As if she was taunting her.
Challenging her.
"What is it?"
"Senjutsu makes us stronger," Kuroka raised an arm in a flexing motion. "The stronger our body's base stats, the better." Mikasa didn't even blink. "It makes our skin tougher. Harder to hurt." Mikasa's eyes twitched, but she didn't say anything. "And it enhances our regeneration. A sage can heal quickly from just about anything." Mikasa's facade cracked for an instant, and Kuroka giggled. "There's one more though."
"She's wasting our time," Sona realized. "Delaying us. Where is Eren?"
"Long gone~ And are you sure you don't want to know," Kuroka asked with a giggle as she looked at Mikasa. "This one knows what's important."
"That final power," Mikasa asked. "What is it?"
With a grin that was as once proud as it was malicious, like a cat toying with a mouse, Kuroka answered.
"Sages can extend their Ki at a distance."
Mikasa frowned, not understanding.
"What does that do?" Issei asked.
"They can use physical attacks at a distance," Akeno said simply, not seeing the big deal. "Touki extends your Ki into armour and weapons, but most physical fighters are limited to close range. Not sages. They can turn the world's Ki into their own depending on their power and skill. Use racial abilities at a distance that usually aren't possible."
"I could summon my blades around me or in the air instead of just in my hand, for example," Yuuto explained, not taking his eyes off the Stray Devil in their midst.
"Most don't bother," Akeno continued. "If someone is close enough for that, it takes less effort to just run and punch them. Even the best sage would still fight better with their body directly."
"Still, that sounds useful," Issei said, looking at his gauntlet-clad fist in thought.
"Nyahahahahaha."
All eyes returned to Kuroka, who suddenly started giggling madly.
It didn't take more than a moment to realize why.
Mikasa Ackerman, who had just met a woman claiming to be Eren's lover and not even twitched.
Mikasa, who had borne the news that her childhood friend and love was the leader of a terrorist organization without doubt.
Mikasa, who heard he was a sage and possibly an Ultimate Class threat, didn't so much as blink.
That same Mikasa was looking at Kuroka with horror.
"What have you done?" She asked quietly.
Kuroka laughed harder.
"Answer me!" Mikasa snarled, kicking Kuroka in the stomach and sending her stumbling back into a tree. Two swords locked her in place, ready to cut her head off at the slightest chance. "Can he use the Warhammer at a distance?"
"Warhammer?" Sona asked, confused.
"Nyahahaha," Kuroka continued to laugh, but she did answer. "I don't know what the Warhammer is, but are you asking if he can use his power without being connected to it? Yes. Yes, he can."
"What powers?" Sona asked, desperately trying to keep up with this conversation but missing crucial details.
Her question went unanswered.
"You..." Mikasa snarled, looking at once furious and terrified. "You have no idea what you have done."
"I created the strongest sage in history," Kuroka said proudly, completely without shame.
"You recreated the Devil," Mikasa snapped. "He doesn't need the Walls anymore. He doesn't need anyone. He can recreate the Rumbling by himself."
"He mentioned something like that, nyaa," Kuroka ceased her laughter to ask with narrowed eyes. "What is the Rumbling?"
Mikasa's rage seemed to leave her at the question, and pity replaced it.
"You don't even know what you've done," she repeated, more in realization than in question. "Eren used you. Completely."
Any anger was gone, leaving only resigned sadness.
"We used each other," Kuroka shrugged, but it wasn't hard to tell there was some uncertainty in the gesture.
The Nekoshou was clearly in a less good mood now that it was clear she was missing something that the other woman knew.
"Why did you fight Eren," Mikasa asked softly.
"We always planned on destroying our enemies," Kuroka said. "But he disappeared before the plan was complete. I found him here. I confronted him. Turns out his plan would risk Shirone, which went against our deal. I tried to get him to change the plan. He wouldn't. So I tried to stop him. I lost. So here I am. I can't beat him, so I need help."
"Why are you here?" Koneko hissed. "Why not run away?"
"Don't be like that, Shironyaa," Kuroka pouted playfully. "I promised we'd be together, so I'm here to keep my promise."
"You are a Stray Devil," Rias said, stepping in front of her small Rook protectively. "You are caught. You'll tell us everything about Eren, the Chaos Brigade, and then you will be imprisoned for your crimes. You won't hurt anyone again."
"I am not caught. I am negotiating a surrender, compromise, and cooperation. Not only do I want to be pardoned for all my 'crimes,' I want to live with Shirone. I have a few other requests. I'm sure your bosses will be happy to give them to me. A seven-tailed Yokai can be pretty helpful in a fight, too."
"You are insane if you think we are going to trust you in the slightest," Sona spat.
"In exchange," Kuroka grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "I will not only provide proof of my innocence for when I first went Stray, but I will also provide all the information I have on the Chaos Brigade willingly. Not only their leader but their factions. Who, how strong, what sacred gears, and their goals. I was not only the vice leader. I helped create the Brigade. I know who it is secretly working them."
It terrified Koneko when she realized Onee-sama would get her way.
A god had just died at a mortal's hands.
Sure, it had been one of the Brigade's own, but the fact that a god could die at all was terrifying for most factions.
Chaos Brigade, which had been worrisome because of Ophis' name alone but generally unsuccessful, was now a genuine threat to every faction out there.
Yet they knew practically nothing about it. Not who belonged to it, which pantheons had traitors, or if there were other Evil Gods like Loki.
Just the ability for the devils to know who worked with the Old Satan Faction was already invaluable.
Diodora Asteroth was a mook among mooks, but he had almost killed not only the Red Dragon Emperor but Lucifer's sister because he took them by surprise.
And then there was Eren.
Eren, their friend.
Eren, who Mikasa seemed to suddenly be terrified of.
Eren, who Kuroka had trained.
Eren, who had Senjutsu.
No, the Satans would take the deal.
But all that was drowned out by something else.
Innocent?
Onee-sama... innocent?
"You said Koneko was at risk," Rias narrowed her eyes. "Why? And why is he after Issei? Eren won't hurt them. I know it."
Both Sona and Mikasa flinched, but nobody noticed because of Kuroka's words.
"He's not after Shirone, but she's in danger," Kuroka said, losing her playful demeanour in favour of a more dire tone. "Eren hates devil society. He doesn't just want to kill the New Satans, like the Old Satan faction. He's just using those idiots. He wants to destroy the Underworld. Completely."
********
Eren had spent the day wandering the small island.
It wasn't hard to hide his presence with Senjutsu. He couldn't go invisible like Kuroka, as he lacked her Youjutsu techniques, but going unnoticed by a group of young devils was not difficult when they didn't know to look for him.
Even the Gremory servants who arrived after everyone had left and cleaned the mansion had not noticed him, though he spent that time away from the mansion.
That had been hours ago, though.
Now, he was the only one on the island.
Eren was alone.
Once Eren had felt everyone leave, he had returned to wander the halls of the small mansion.
He had been in no rush.
Eren had lost himself in memories as he walked, a small, melancholic smile on his face.
Memories of a world away.
Memories of a bench.
Memories of a group of young devils.
A year and a half.
Such a short yet long time.
Eren had run away, searching for an answer.
He had his answer now.
Now, it was time to move forward again.
Unbidden, he had arrived outside the room he had slept in last night.
Eren did not enter.
He wanted his last memory of that place to be of Mikasa sleeping peacefully, a content smile on her face as the morning sun streamed through the window.
Tears threatened, and Eren turned to leave.
He did not deserve to weep.
Not with what he would do to this world.
Not when he would hurt them all.
Eren Yeager's feet carried him back to the sea.
The devil servants had cleaned the beach. Not even footprints remained of the party the night before. The sea wind had blown them away.
Eren's feet left deep imprints in the wet sand as they carried him into the surf.
Out there, beyond the blue water, beyond the horizon, was a bench.
But Eren could not see it.
It would not be long now.
As the surf washed away his prints, Eren Yeager watched the sun fall.
With it went his smile.
Once more, Eren walked the Path.
"Boss!"
"Georg," Eren greeted without turning around, gaze still on the horizon.
"It's good to see you," Georg said with a smile as he floated over the water on a platform, not wanting to get his robes wet. "Have you been here the whole time? It's nice. A vacation spot right under the devils' noses. You should have invited us."
Eren didn't answer.
Georg didn't take it personally. Eren wasn't one to share information that wasn't needed for the plan.
Whatever he had disappeared to do must have been important, and Georg's knowledge of it would have impeded Eren's desired future, or he would have been told about it.
That was how the Titan worked, after all.
Still, Georg couldn't see the future. He just followed instructions.
"Boss," Georg hesitated. "About Kuroka-"
"I know," Eren interrupted. "Her use has come to an end. I no longer need her."
Georg hesitated for a moment but decided to try and push a little.
Kuroka had been Eren's partner for years, well before they had recruited the Hero Faction.
Eren might be a cold and emotionless man, but a betrayal like that should still hurt.
Even if Eren had seen it coming.
"I know this is part of the plan," Georg said. "But when my role is done, I can-"
"No," Eren cut off, his voice dead and empty. "We used each other. That is it. I shall never see her again. It doesn't matter what she does. She cannot stop me from moving forward."
"...If you're sure."
"I am," Eren said, turning to look at the shorter mage.
No emotion shone from those cold grey eyes.
Georg fought a shiver that had nothing to do with the ocean breeze.
After a year and a half, he had forgotten how off-putting Eren could be.
"Take me back," Eren ordered.
Georg knew Eren wasn't one for idle talk, so he obeyed.
Eren did not hesitate in the slightest to step into the mist of Dimension Lost.
It only heightened Georg's respect for the man's willpower.
They didn't have much time left, and Eren looked way worse than before, but he stepped forward without hesitation.
A true hero.
They emerged in the headquarters of the Hero Faction, bypassing the wards on both ends easily.
The mist left them in a vast dining hall filled with dozens of people talking, eating, and laughing merrily.
It all stopped when their arrival was met with an ear-piercing scream of pain and terror.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Following the instructions he had received ahead of time, Georg swept the blonde woman up in another swirl of mist, and she disappeared from the hall.
Still, her scream had ceased all merriment as everyone looked at the new arrivals.
Everyone was familiar with Georg, as he was the most active of the executives, but for some, this was the first time they had seen Eren, and they wondered who this man with the strange eye markings was.
Many had already drawn their weapons, conjured their Sacred Gear, or manifested their magic, believing they were under attack.
"Boss!" Herc shouted, waiving excitedly at the new arrival.
"Eren," a young woman skipped to greet him with a smile. "It's good to see you."
Eren greeted the pair with a simple nod, then looked at Georg. The command went unsaid but understood.
"I'm going," the magician sighed, disappearing into the mist again.
Of course he was working while everyone was partying.
Still, it needed to be done and it was the price he paid for having one of the most useful Sacred Gears in the world.
"What was that about," Siegfried asked with a nod toward where the woman had disappeared.
Eren didn't answer.
"Our newest recruit can see the dead," Cao Cao explained. "She must have seen something frightening with our leader. She didn't even react like that when she saw Hades."
Despite his easygoing tone, it was clear that the holder of the True Longinus was curious.
He wasn't the only one.
"What'd you kill to freak out the vamp?" Herc asked eagerly. "Is that why you left? Tell me about the fight."
Eren, as ever, didn't explain.
"It doesn't matter," Eren said simply. "I just needed to send a message and she was the best tool to do it."
"You are right," Cao Cao nodded toward the room of curious onlookers. "You need to be introduced to the new recruits. We can talk later."
Cao Cao led Eren toward the head table under the new recruits' curious gaze and the veterans' grins and smiles.
While the executives of the Hero Faction retook their seats, Cao Cao and Eren stood.
Eren picked up the golden goblet placed in front of the seat of honour.
It was an exact match to the one Cao Cao held aloft to the rest of the room.
"Heroes!"
They roared.
"The Titan is back!"
They cheered.
"Drink! Eat! Laugh!"
They laughed.
"Today, we live as humans!"
They raised their cups.
"Tomorrow, we die as heroes!"
They drank.
Some sombrely. Some joyfully.
But they all drank.
Eren was no exception.
He drank deep and long.
He was not stirred by Cao Cao's words. He heard them every second of every day.
Power flowed into him from the physical manifestation of the Longinus in his hand.
It strengthened him. Reinforcing him. Preparing him for the end.
If Eren could, he might have thought back to a meeting on the bench and wondered: Would Michael be more appalled that he and Cao Cao were drinking out of the Sephiroth Grail or would the fact that the Chaos Brigade had both Holy Relics be more horrific to the Seraph?
If he could, Eren might have wondered what Xenovia's reaction would be to his blatant sacrilege, or he might have felt a twinge of guilt at the idea of Asia's sad eyes.
But Eren could not have such idle thoughts.
His memories were still there, but he was connected to the Path once more.
Everything that had happened and would happen was drowning those memories out.
His vision swam between this hall and so many other scenes.
The blood and bodies he crawled over were still warm and fresh. Some were no older than he had been when he first regained his memories.
Their sightless eyes looked up at him, judging him, demanding to know why he, the Devil, lived while they died.
They were a small step on his road paved with corpses.
The warmth of the bodies mixed with the heat of Kuroka's ardour she pressed against him and the inferno of burning buildings and searing flesh.
He could feel it all.
Eren could not hear the cheers, jeers, and laughter of those celebrating their life, as fleeting as it was.
All he heard were screams.
All of it, past, present, future, and a million 'what if' timelines played out for Eren every moment he lived.
All but the one he wanted to see.
Eren could not see the bench.
In a world of blue light and towering sand dunes, a young boy continued to weep as he built titanic bodies, tens of meters tall, one pail of sand at a time.
So Eren simply drank as grey eyes stared out impassively at a room full of living corpses.