It was a serene sight.
Picturesque in a way that was as beautiful as it was haunting.
The warm light, the lost cane, the small, content smile.
Eren looked happy.
""EREN!!""
Dozens of feet rushed toward the boy on the bench.
Rias Gremory was not one of them.
She stood there, rooted in place, as she looked at the boy who had died on the bench.
Even before anyone reached him to check, Rias knew the truth.
Eren was dead.
There would be no miracle. No clever trick or grand plan this time.
Eren was dead.
And he looked... happy...
Rias' heart was in her throat.
When she'd thought he'd killed Issei, she'd chosen not to use the mutated Rook to bring Eren back if he died.
When he'd seemed poised to destroy her home, threatening the lives of all her loved ones, she'd fought him with everything she had.
When he'd disappeared for months, Rias fought against the remnants of his Chaos Brigade while constantly fearing another Titan attack.
When Eren had set them up to unleash Trihexa only a few minutes ago, Rias had feared for her entire world.
And then he'd called them into that world of white sand and blue light to show them what he'd done.
Rias Gremory had stared up at that crimson wall.
She'd known, vaguely, of other worlds for most of her life, thanks to Aunty Mikasa. They'd been more relevant since the discovery that Eren was also from one, but Rias hadn't given them much consideration.
To know that they were filled with alien beings, some so powerful and hostile that her world couldn't survive their attention. To know that all it would take was the wrong extra-dimensional monster finding them by chance, and all her family would die.
To discover that she had been free to leave her world to go to another where she'd be 'Rias' instead of 'Rias Gremory' instead of having to fake it in the human world...
Rias wasn't the same girl she had been when she first fled to Earth in her little rebellion, but to discover that there had been a real option for freedom out there all along?
And to have it stolen from her?
Rias Gremory had stared up at that crimson wall and hated it.
Hated it for the fear it brought her of what could be waiting on the other side.
Hated it for the hope it gave her for what amazing things lay beyond her reach now.
Rias Gremory had stared up at that crimson wall and swore to be the one to tear it down.
To destroy it so utterly and completely that Trihexa would be nothing but a distant memory, and the Titans that built it would never be able to heal.
But...
...That was what Eren wanted, wasn't it?
Please. Take it back.
Rias had heard the words and knew he was talking to her.
Begging her to regain the freedom he had stolen from her.
He had entrusted this world's future to them.
To see Eren here again, after months, after everything she'd learned about who he truly was and what he'd done...
To know him as the man who killed thousands, people she knew and many she liked...
Rias Gremory looked at the smiling form of Eren Yeager's corpse and saw the Devil.
The man who'd killed a billion and a half people for his revenge and freedom.
The man who'd terrorized her world and destroyed her society.
The man who'd trapped them all in a cage, waiting for some passing god to come by and swat like flies.
Rias Gremory looked at the smiling Devil, and she...
Mikasa cried as she reached Eren first, holding the limp body to her chest.
"Move!" Kuroka, also crying, ordered as she tried to pull the Pawn away from the corpse.
In her hand was a chess piece, a Queen that glowed with demonic energy.
Everyone held their breath as Mikasa let herself be removed, her eyes locked on the Evil Piece.
With trembling hands, Kuroka pressed the piece against Eren's unmoving chest.
There was a beat of silence.
Then another.
"...why?" Kuroka croaked, staring at the glowing piece that remained in her hand. Her tails hung limply behind her.
Eren continued to smile.
"Damnit, Senpai," Rias heard Yuuto mutter under his breath.
"Onee-sama..." Koneko approached her sister, still holding onto the smiling body.
"Why!!" Kuroka shouted at the body, causing them all to flinch. "Why this future!? Why couldn't you have stayed with me? With us!"
"...Kuroka..."
"Anwer me, you stupid, suicidal idiot!"
Eren continued to smile down at the nekoshou.
In the silence, Kuroka's sobs were especially loud.
"Ophis!" Issei suddenly shouted, and all eyes turned to look at the boy.
Then she was there, the small girl appearing amidst the gathered group.
"Yes?"
Wordlessly, Issei pointed toward the bench.
Ophis turned and saw Eren.
"...oh..."
She was suddenly there, standing on the bench beside the body.
Kuroka looked up at the Dragon God with wet eyes filled with hope.
"Please, Ophis," she begged. "Please bring him back."
Ophis continued to stare down at the smiling Eren.
"Please," Issei begged as well. "You brought me back! Bring Senpai back as well!"
Ophis' face was completely blank, but her eyes were wide.
"...I..."
The entire clearing was quiet as the Dragon God spoke slowly.
"...I...am...weak..."
"You're stronger than everyone here," Arthur argued, though not unkindly. He wasn't crying like most of them, but his knuckles were white as they held his sword.
"...Eren...Took... Baka Red... Into... Dream..."
Ophis turned her blank eyes toward the group.
She looked small. Lost. Confused.
"I, didn't want this." Ophis declared vehemently before it petered out once more as she looked back at Eren. "I... wanted... Silence... Not... this..."
Kuroka rose slowly, scooping the diminutive girl into her arms and holding her tightly.
"I know," Kuroka whispered hoarsely. "I know. It's not your fault. Eren chose this. He chose his end. It's not your fault."
Whether she was speaking to Ophis, to anyone else, or herself was unclear.
"...Hurts..." Ophis muttered, pressing her face into Kuroka's chest.
"I know," Kuroka repeated. "It hurts. Loving him hurts."
Mikasa, her little hope now squashed, stepped forward to Eren's side again.
"We need to hide him," she muttered despondently. "A place to bury him. Everyone will be looking for him now."
It was a sobering reminder of what Eren had done only minutes ago.
Everyone in the world now knew about the supernatural, about them, and about him.
Even among fellow devils, there'd be countless that Rias knew who would parade around Eren's corpse as some sort of monument.
...Less now, she guessed. Sona and Eren had killed most of them.
"...We know a place," Vali said softly, looking at the smiling boy with trembling eyes. "A valley. Our home."
"He'd like it there," Bikou tried to lighten the mood slightly, but nobody missed how his smile was forced. "We used so much Senjutsu to repair it from training that it's practically a paradise."
Akeno touched Rias' arm, and the Gremory started in surprise.
She'd been staring at Eren without blinking for minutes.
Looking at her Queen, Rias saw in Akeno's eyes her own grief mirrored, but they were also tinged by concern for Rias.
Rias wondered what she looked like for Akeno to be looking at her like that.
She didn't have time to ask because Sona, who had also been silent until now, spoke up.
"It might be for the best," the Sitri muttered, and when her aunt turned to look at her, she elaborated. "That we can't bring Eren back."
There was a harsh intake of air.
"How can you-"
"Asia," Xenovia interrupted her friend gently with an arm on her shoulder. "Kaichou has a point."
"Are you saying that because you don't like him?" Issei asked and winced at the hurt look Xenovia gave him.
"I don't like the Child of Evil," the former exorcist pushed on. "But... I don't hate him, either. He gave Ise back." The Red Dragon Emperor bit his lip and looked away. "But, his power... If he came back, what would he do with it this time? He lamed one of the greatest exorcists at nine without using supernatural abilities. At nineteen, he's done... this. If he had thousands of years of life? Would any of us be able to do anything? He'd be unmatched. An immortal, all-powerful ruler. A tyrant."
"Eren would never do that," Kuroka snapped.
"Just like he hated walls but built an indestructible one around us?"
Nobody really could argue with that. Eren had his principles and beliefs, but in the face of a future he wished for, he'd throw them all away, no matter how much he hated to.
"He'd lose his Titan powers if he became a devil," Mikasa argued in a different direction. "They're tied to his Eldian race."
"Just like he shouldn't be able to use the Founder without a Royal Bloodline?" Xenovia rejoined instantly. "No. We've made too many mistakes on how his powers work. If he comes back with his powers, we've already lost."
"Xenovia has a point," Rossweiss added but pointed at the Student Council President, who hadn't taken her eyes off Eren. "But I do not think that is what Sona was talking about."
All eyes turned back to the Sitri.
"I don't want him dead," Sona declared with a shaking voice, looking around the clearing as if daring anyone to contradict her. Her eyes landed on Mikasa. "I... Want him here with us. With me. But... he might be better off this way."
"Sona..." Mikasa started to say but trailed off as she realized what her niece was discussing.
"...We all saw him," Sona choked out the words. "He... wasn't happy. How could he be? With the Founder and the world and the futures and everything..." Sona hiccuped. "...I saw my sister die. Everyone died. My world was destroyed. I only saw it for a few minutes. He lived with that for thirteen years. Death... might be the only freedom he has. The only peace."
"That's what this bench does!" Kuroka argued. "It nullifies the Founder! He doesn't have to live like that anymore."
"Then why isn't your Piece working," Sona asked despondently. "If Eren's connection to the Founder was severed, he could be brought back. But he isn't. If it was cut, how would he have memories of this... smile?"
"Even if he came back like that," Vali sighed, leaning against a nearby tree and looking toward the sky. "He'd forever be trapped here, on the bench. Unable to leave without fear of his powers coming back and trapping him again. A prison if he stayed and a prison if he left. He'd hate that."
"Senpai..." Issei said, looking at the still-smiling boy. Issei wiped his eyes and stood up straighter. "...He looks happy."
Was he happy because he was at peace? Because he was finally free of his power? Because he'd accomplished all his goals?
Or was there another reason?
Why was Eren Yeager smiling?
"Eren would hate to be trapped," Akeno said into the silence. "He'd hate to live in this world, trapped in a wall he built. He'd hate to be dependent on the bench. He'd hate to be trapped in the Paths again. He'd hate to be under anyone's control, no matter who brought him back. But... So long as he was alive... Eren would keep going. He'd keep fighting, no matter how much he hated it until he reached where he wanted to go. No matter how much it hurt. That's the Eren Yeager I knew."
Rias Gremory looked at the smiling Devil, and she...
"But now he doesn't have to fight anymore," Sona sighed sadly. "Now, he's at peace. We should-"
"I don't care."
All eyes turned to the crimson-haired devil.
Rias was still staring at the corpse.
Eren continued to smile.
"I don't care if he's better off dead. I don't care if he's a threat. I don't care that he might end up trapped on this bench, in the paths, or with us in this cage."
"Rias-" Mikasa tried to speak, but Rias bulldozed over her.
"I don't care that the world will look for him. I don't care that he's made an enemy of everyone, killed thousands, and practically destroyed his own homeworld. I. Don't. Care!"
Rias was huffing mad, glaring at the smile that was taunting her.
"I never cared about any of that crap. And it doesn't matter. If he decides he's better off dead, that's his choice, not ours."
"What are you saying?" Kuroka asked, a spark of hope in her. "We can't bring him back. We tried. Unless you have another way?"
"I don't," Rias said simply.
She wasn't more intelligent or more knowledgeable than everyone here.
Just more stubborn.
"But Just cause we can't bring him back now doesn't mean we can't find a way in the future." The Gremory saw when it clicked with them. "If Ophis is too weak now, we need to strengthen her. Or I'll become strong enough. Or I'll ask Valerie to use the Grail on him once she's better. Or we'll find another way. I don't care if it takes a thousand or ten thousand years."
Rias saw it in them: hesitation, fear, and hope.
Eren was dead. There was no denying that.
But even death wouldn't stop a rampaging Rias Gremory from getting her family back!
"I care about the dream Eren stole from me. I care about my friend. I care about the future I will make," Rias stared into Mikasa's, willing her to understand the lengths Rias would go to for this. "Eren entrusted this world to us, and I will fight for it. Even if I fail, I will fight again and again until I get my ending."
Wordlessly, Mikasa gave a slow, shallow nod.
As Rias looked at the smiling Devil as he was lowered into the coffin that was slightly too small for her, she turned all her grief, fear, and sadness into an angry determination.
Eren still owed her an answer, and she would get it, no matter what it took.
Eren Yeager might be determined to die like some tragic Seinen protagonist, but he forgot that Rias Gremory was a Shonen protagonist.
A greedy one at that.
Rias would never let her story end on anything less than a perfectly happy ending.
As the coffin lid closed, ending a part of their lives they would never forget, Rias spoke one last time to the smiling boy.
"See you later, Eren."
********
Three Years Later
The murmuring and clamouring grew in intensity as Sona ascended the stage.
Sona ignored the gleaming of camera lenses, the flash of lights, and the murmured insults and praises as she marched steadily toward the podium at the center of the massive amphitheatre.
She passed her Peerage, who gave her smiles of encouragement. They looked professional in their uniforms. Most were still in college and wouldn't officially take positions till they had their degrees, but they were still part of the staff, in a more clerical sense, until then.
Sona had blown through her degree as quickly as she could, unwilling to waste time. She needed to strike while the iron was hot if she wanted her school to help shape this new age.
Sona gave the tiniest of nods to her Aunt as Mikasa stood beside Georg with her back straight and arms crossed behind her back.
Mikasa looked... good, Sona decided. It was approaching the anniversary day, and she tended to get down around this time of year. Sona didn't blame her; she was the same, but it looked like she wasn't too maudlin.
Sona was glad.
Other members of the staff, professors, lecturers, custodians, instructors, and many more were also on stage with them.
They were opening with just the university division first, but there were plans to expand to younger years as the decades passed, and if this experiment succeeded.
The first institution which employed devils, fallen, angels, humans, dragons, gods, yokai, and any other race, being, or member who had something to teach.
It wasn't like they would run out of space any time soon. This basin, formed from the psychedelic material of Eren and Great Red's clash, would be large enough to house her school, no matter how much it grew, with room to spare.
And Sona owned it all, thanks to selling out her race.
Sona walked by beings that could crush her flat with a thought, by former enemies and allies. People she had fought against and beside.
She held her head high through it all until she reached the podium.
Looking out over the enormous area packed with people, Sona didn't say anything at first.
She just surveyed the beginning of her dream.
There were all sorts of people here. Of course, the first batch of students, but so many others.
Glares were aimed her way, and Sona bore them. They were hardly the only ones to dislike her for her actions during the Battle of Broken Worlds.
Some revered her, rejecting the rumours and only looking at her actions of helping lead the defence of Lilith.
Others... didn't.
To put it kindly, at least.
And it only got more complicated as the world learned more about devils.
As humanity learned of the Supernatural world, rumours were aplenty about Sona Sitri, the most devilish of devils who sold out her race for money and power.
The wealthiest woman in the world.
Sona had inherited so much wealth from the dead that she could claim to be worth more than most countries.
Other races were part of the crowd, though, not just devils. Even with the school being created in the Underworld, regular transportation between realms had already been established and maintained.
Sona passed one final gaze over the crowd as the noise started dying.
Rich and poor.
Strong and weak.
Gods and humans.
Devils and angels.
From scouts of human colleges to eager students, Sona's heart swelled at seeing them all.
A school that would teach anything to those willing to learn.
She'd dedicated everything to this moment.
And, when silence finally fell, Sona Sitri took a deep breath and spoke to the whole world.
"My name is Sona Sitri and I knew Eren Yeager."
Wide eyes.
Shocked silence.
Then the explosion of noise, yelled questions, cries of fear and disbelief.
She could even hear some of the staff behind her shuffle unconsciously, as surprised as everyone else.
Sona weathered it all unmoved.
Even when some people tried to get violent, she didn't move, trusting her security to handle it.
She'd known this would happen when she planned this speech.
She'd deliberated on not saying anything about Eren for a long time. About keeping their relationship a secret.
It wouldn't help the rumours about her after all.
But Sona couldn't claim to be dedicating herself fully to her dream if she didn't do this.
She had promised, after all.
With Mikasa's permission, Sona would push on.
It took minutes for peace to return.
Once silence had fallen again, with tension thick in the air, Sona continued.
"To me, he was not Eren Yeager the Titan. The Sage. The Wall Builder."
As expected, everyone wanted to know everything about 'Eren Yeager' after his proclamation in the Unified Dream.
His appearance on a church's steps, his time at the orphanage and his time as a mercenary had been easy to find. Eventually, the wider world learned of the Chaos Brigade and his role with them, culminating in his attack on the rest of the world.
Opinion on him was torn. Some venerated him as a hero, while others saw him as a terrorist.
Some went so far as to have him be a Christ-like figure, using his lack of attack on heaven as proof and basing religious sects around him.
His motivations, goals, and history were endlessly puzzled over by people. Either to try and understand him, to imitate him, or in fear of another like him.
"No. To me, he was simply Eren Yeager. The boy on the bench."
They were all wrong, of course.
They knew nothing of his world, of the fear of the Titans and the struggles of the people called 'Island Devils.'
Sona could feel her aunt's gaze behind her and let it bolster her.
Nobody truly knew Eren. Not even Eren.
But Sona would teach them what she knew of the boy on the bench.
So there would never be another 'Eren Yeager' in the world. Never another 'Rumbling.'
After all, Sona had promised the boy on the bench.
"He didn't know I was a devil or who I was. I didn't know who he was, either. Just a coincidental meeting."
Not strictly true, but not a lie either.
Sona had thought long and hard about her time with Eren over the last few years. She'd debated back and forth with herself whether the actions she had taken were really hers or the product of some unseen force that had been around since before her birth.
In the end, it had been solved with a simple question.
If given the chance, would Sona do it all again?
"He was my first student. I did not teach him magic or combat or politics or history."
She would.
Sona would not trade the memories of her time with the boy on the bench for anything.
"I taught him Japanese. A language he never used. It wasn't needed in any of the futures he saw."
The worst student she'd ever have.
He hadn't been wrong about that.
You can't top a man who kills the Dream, traps Great Red in the Path, and turns them into a Wall that imprisons all of reality.
"He knew he only had a few years left, knew the exact time and place of his death, yet he decided to spend those few precious years learning a pointless skill."
...Though Great Red still seemed to have fun. Last Sona had heard, the red dragon had grown himself a body the size of a car and was using the various shades of the Hero Faction that manned the Wall as aides in his stunts.
Ophis, when she decided she wanted silence, was very put out when they occasionally interrupted her naps. Still, she couldn't do anything bout it, even with her slowly returning powers.
"Yet, as I taught him, I also learned. I learned about my dream. I learned about my world. I learned about myself."
Now that she had the crowd hooked on mentions of Eren, now that they would salivate at the chance to attend her academy and learn about him and his history, it was time to turn the subject.
She would teach about the boy born within walls and beset by Titans and his world so that his mistakes weren't repeated, but they were only one subject she'd teach.
This was not a speech about Eren Yeager.
This was a speech about a girl's dream.
And the future they'd build.
"I always dreamed of a place where anyone with the will to learn would be welcomed. Of a school that would teach all that could be taught, irrespective of race, religion, status, or belief."
Sona's voice sobered and gained a grim undertone as she continued her speech.
"And I learned of the cost of knowledge. Of the price of every piece of wisdom."
To read about events in history books was one thing.
To talk to the survivors was another.
"We all stand atop the shoulders of titans. Everything I can teach was learned by someone who bought that information with time, pain, and lives."
Sona never forgot the emotions, hidden and tremulous as they were at the time, as Eren spoke about his world.
The boy who talked about millions of tries to find the perfect future, yet never finding one where everyone can be happy.
Of making the hard call.
"I am but the most recent peak of a mountain of corpses. I can feel them below me. They, who groped blindly in the darkness for the simplest answers, now prop me up."
And then Sona had been there. Making that call that cost hundreds of lives.
Sona's eyes flitted over her sister's banner, proclaiming her greatness to the remnants of the Underworld's nobility.
Eighteen.
That was how many of the Pillar houses remained after her actions. Only eighteen of the original seventy-two.
They were a dying breed.
And they knew it.
"They look up at me, begging me to carry their hearts and dreams. To pass them onward."
Sona would not try and deny her responsibility. To herself, at least.
She didn't know if what she had done was the right thing, the best choice.
She didn't even know if, in a future where she didn't lure hundreds to their deaths, more people might have survived Eren's attack.
"So their sacrifices weren't for nothing. So their lessons aren't forgotten to the annals of eons."
She had made more calls like that in the following years.
Assassins sent after her. Families of the deceased that tried to gain revenge. Even just the greedy and duplicitous.
These three years had been brutal and bloody as they all lived in the footprints of the Titan.
"To ignore those wishes, to ignore their mistakes and their suffering, is to topple this mountain."
Civil wars. International wars. Religious persecutions. Racial extermination. Terrorism. Public uncertainty and political upheaval.
The world was still changing, still warping into something new, and it wasn't doing so peacefully.
Eren had been right about the chaos and pain his actions would lead to.
"I am not a good woman. By devil standards or others. Most I stand astride weren't good people either."
But it could have been so much worse.
Most of the moves and changes were happening to humanity and the supernatural races' relationship with it.
"I am not a strong woman. Neither were they."
Those with power, whose every move could have destroyed a country, were locked in place by the deadlock Eren had forced with his last attack.
The three factions were probably the best off, but even they couldn't be reckless and push an advantage for another few decades. Especially with most of their war-mongering belligerents dead.
"But, like them, I wish to dedicate everything I am to the future I wish to see."
The Peace Treaty had survived and was still going strong, even if there was a little discontent on the angel's side. They had only gotten a few Brave Saint decks before the material was lost, only enough for the highest ranks of angels, and it was nowhere near the promised total.
There were even slight pushes for a restart of the Great War with the broken promise as justification. A large portion of humanity, now aware of the conflict, would side with them on racial prejudice alone and those who argued for it counted on humans to swell the ranks.
"Even should I join them one day, so long as my lessons and mistakes are not forgotten, so long as someone, somewhere, learns from them, then I will serve as another step in this path we are all paving together."
Thankfully, they were in a minority and easily suppressed by Michael and the other Seraph.
Quantity only mattered when your opposition couldn't kill millions as quickly as one kills an ant.
"We are all on this mountain. We are all grasping blindly for a sky we will never reach."
The world had become a much larger and smaller place simultaneously.
Tension and fear seemed omnipresent.
But Sona knew that this was where education would come in, where she could accomplish her dream.
"But, with every lesson learned, every moment of the past and future acknowledged, we climb just a little higher."
It wouldn't be perfect. It wouldn't solve all problems, cure hate and eradicate violence.
But it was the unknown people feared.
The unknown of tomorrow and yesterday. Of what might be lurking over that mountain or beyond that wall.
When the 'unknown' becomes the 'known,' that is when they can have peace.
"One day, our mountain will be so high there will be no Wall that can block our vision."
Sona took a deep breath, calming her racing heart, and once the cheers died down, she continued in a calmer, more welcoming tone.
"Standing here, in front of you all, at the dawn of a new age, I fondly look back at those lessons with the boy on the bench."
She dreamed of a future where an angel could sit beside a devil in a classroom and learn about why they fought and how similar they were.
Because that was the one truth she had learned in her short life.
A human could be more of a devil than even Lucifer.
A dragon could be slain by a boy with a plan.
And everyone, without exception, had something to learn.
"Not just because of nostalgia for a simpler, easier time. Not just for the peaceful days with friends and family before we all learned so much."
As she drew her speech to a close, Sona turned her gaze toward the front of the crowd.
"I look back on those days and smile because, when times are hardest, when the world seems to end, and I feel the Walls close around me, those precocious memories push me forward. I put one foot in front of the other."
A bit to the side, Bikou and Arthur were chuckling at Vali's sake as he rubbed his ear. His mother had lectured the White Dragon Emperor about something, and he was grouching.
Sona took a good look at the woman for the first time. She hadn't seen her in person since Vali had found her. Supposedly, Eren had put the two right next together when he brought them to the Path, and the young Lucifer had been able to track her down in Italy only a few weeks later.
"Because, even after all the pain, the betrayal, the loss, and the heartbreak, I know that if I keep moving forward, keep learning, I will one day reach another bench. "
She did appreciate that Valerie had managed to get Gasper to attend without his cardboard box, though Sona didn't think a paper bag was appropriate headwear.
"Another student that will teach me more than I will teach them. And when I meet them on that bench, I will smile once more."
Yuuto gave Akeno a wry smile as the half fallen's eyes were alight with mischief.
Sona didn't want to know what Rias' Queen was up to now.
She hoped Akeno wouldn't be trying to set Yuuto up with a harem like Issei. He and Tosca were cute together and didn't want that disgusting wholesomeness ruined by a woman addicted to matchmaking.
"For those who wish to move forward, to find your own path... "
Rias was here with her Peerage, which Sona appreciated. She knew her one-time rival was incredibly busy between her own education and organizing the 'The Scouts,' the team she was putting together of freedom seekers looking for ways of tearing down the Eren's Wall and exploring the other worlds beyond.
Everything Sona had heard told her that Rias was swamped with applicants from all races.
"For those who desperately yearn for freedom, a better future..."
Not too far away, Kuroka and Shirone Toujou sat side by side. Leviathan's Bishop was feeding a banana to Ophis, who was on her lap, while something she had whispered to her sister had the younger girl blushing.
Sona... still felt conflicted over the former stray. Their relationship was further complicated by her and Mikasa's part rivalry, part friendship, with Kuroka.
Serafall's pieces were just too different, yet too similar to truly be friends, to say nothing of the contentious topic of 'Eren.'
Yet, they had an odd closeness.
Sona didn't know how to act around the nekoshou and hadn't had the time to lay out their relationship, so she moved on.
"For those willing to face the world's cruelty and push through..."
At the very front, Issei sat between Asia and a heavily pregnant Xenovia while the rest of his harem filled the surrounding seats.
Eren Hyoudou bounced on his father's lap in an Oppai Dragon shirt, green eyes lighting up at the sight of Sona, and the toddler waved chubby arms at his aunt in excitement.
"For those who are dedicating your hearts to your beautiful dreams..."
For just a moment, Sona would swear she saw a boy look up at her from a seat, one hand over his heart.
That boy was smiling.
"I welcome you all to Atlas Academy."
********
"Senior!" Oppai Dragon cried in a panic.
The Breast Dragon Emperor dove at full speed to catch the figure that fell from the grotesque monster's neck.
As befitting the protagonist, Ise Gremory caught the man before he crashed into the ground.
The young devil quickly carried his charge toward his girlfriend, the saintly Asia Hyoudou.
Yet, no matter how Oppai Dragon powered up the Saint with his mysterious Oppai Dragon Energy, she could not fully heal the thin, emaciated figure in his arms.
Their allies surrounded them as the battle was won, yet the mood was sombre as they looked at what victory had cost.
The frail man in Oppai Dragon's arms weakly opened his eyes, seeing the crying faces around him.
"...Why are you crying?..." He sighed out tiredly. "...You won... Evil... Lost..."
"Because you gave us the chance, senior," Hellcat-chan muttered despondently.
"If you hadn't taken my curse..." Darkness Knight Fang cried regretfully, his fists tightening on his giant sword.
"...Don't... fall... back...to... darkness..." the older man chastised through raspy breath. "...Revenge...It's not... worth it..."
"But-!"
"Are you going to ignore your teacher's final lesson?" Mistress Night said scathingly, but the heat was lost by how her hands wringing her whip in worry.
"...Don't... be... sad... I... was... a... villain..."
"No!" The Butt Dragon Emperor wailed as he landed, his sidekick Monkey not far behind. "Senior!"
"Hold on!" Oppai Dragon ignored his rival to plead with the man, his arms as his eyes drooped. "Miracle Girl Levi-tan is almost here! So are Mi-tan and Ku-chan! I can sense their Oppai! Don't you want to see them again!?!"
"They... deserve... better..."
"...Please..." Oppai Dragon cried. "Please, senior. What... what are we going to do without you?"
"...Be free... Be happy...Be the hero I know you can be..."
Shakily, the weak man held an arm toward the crimson-armoured figure.
"...Be Oppai Dragon..."
"I promise. So trust me."
One last time, Ise Gremory bumped fists with the older boy.
"I am the Oppai Dragon Emperor!"
The leitmotif swelled as the credits started to roll.
Miracle Girl Levi-tan landed amongst the group with her two comrades as the first names danced across the sky.
No words were spoken, though lips moved as the sounds of the world were drowned out by the sombre music.
"What-"
"Wait!" Sirzechs Lucifer held out his hand to stop any talking. "This is the best part."
As the music continued to play, the scene shifted forward in time.
Tears were shed, goodbyes were said, and the city began to rebuild.
The music started to shift, the low notes of melancholy giving way to a more hopeful and upbeat tune.
Finally, the credits finished scrolling, and the music paused.
All the screen showed was Oppai Dragon standing before a small grave.
"See you later, Senpai."
On crimson wings, Oppai Dragon took flight toward the distant horizon.
Leaving the tree on the hill, bathing in the warm sun as a familiar tune started to play once more.
ZOOM ZOOM IYAAN!
"Gah!" Serafall wailed, blowing her nose in a handkerchief as she cried. "Gets me every time! Season 4 was the best!"
"First supernatural show to win a human award," Sirzechs said, puffing his chest proudly. "Three, actually. I personally accepted the 'Best Theme Song' Award. A dream come true. I had always wanted to be a musician way before I became Lucifer. I think we can aim higher, though."
"We can get an Emmy," Serafall said seriously, still drying her eyes. "I'm sure of it."
"I already have the lyrics for the next season ready," Azazel said distractedly, examining his findings.
"Wonderful," Sirzechs beamed. "Can you send them over? I'm considering a more 'Rock and Roll' beat this time. The kids are getting older, and I want the music to grow with them."
"No, no, no!" Serafall argued fiercely, jumping from her seat with all the ferocity of a dog that smells the mailman. "A children's show should always remain timeless! Season twenty needs to evoke the same feelings as season one! Only then can it remain truly pure!"
"I do believe that he just wishes to change the music for his amusement," Michael sighed in exasperation, putting down his cup of tea. "'The Devil's Music' and such."
"I resent the accusation," Sirzechs Lucifer said with a truly awful attempt at a show of wounded pride. "I would never lead a child into temptation."
"Last week, you tried to get Eren to say your name in exchange for a stuffed animal," Adjuka deadpanned at his friend, looking up from his own tablet.
"...'Eren?'..."
"Issei and Asia's son," Serafall cheered, hurrying to pull up a picture of a chubby baby on her phone. "He's soooo cute! Has his father's hair and his mother's eyes."
The explanation given, Sirzechs went back to defending his wounded honor.
"All I'm saying is good music is not a sin," the devil spoke with a forked tongue. "It's not like I want to play a fiddle."
"...Why am I alive?"
The room went silent momentarily, except for the continued noises of Azazel and Adjuka working with the lab's machinery.
And Falbium's snores from the corner of the room.
"To answer that question," Sirzechs said, far more severe than he'd been for the last half hour. "Let me ask you the same. You could have killed us. Had Cao Cao slay us with Truth Idea or done it yourself. Nobody in this room could have stopped you. You've made no secret how much you dislike our society, and you have no way of knowing if Adjuka will create another version of the Evil Pieces."
All eyes had moved from the television against the wall to lock onto him.
"So, Eren Yeager. Why are we alive?"
Eren, still sitting up in the open coffin, looked at the gathered leaders with blank eyes.
"...In every future where I do not force another Great War or kill you, almost everyone here will sacrifice themselves to seal Trihexa with them. Potentially forever. I wanted insurance if it broke out of the Wall after I was gone."
"Don't lie!" Serafall accused, standing before the young man and pointing a finger imperiously at Eren's nose. "You just didn't want to hurt Ria-tan, So-tan, and Mi-tan!"
Eren uncrossed his eyes on the finger before his nose to look at the Magical Girl.
"I do not hate you. Any of you. You've never hurt me. " His eyes bore into hers. "You were simply another step in my Path. Everyone was just a tool I used along the way."
"Don't try the 'cool' look with me, mister! Miracle Girl Levi-tan is immune to all 'Dere' tropes! Even Kuudere! You shall not seduce me!"
Eren's eyebrow twitched, and his fist clenched.
"Our answer is the same as yours," Sirzechs said smoothly, bringing them back on track. "Why wouldn't we use every tool we have for our goals? What would you do if you knew someone was out there with information on hundreds, possibly thousands of extra-dimensional threats? Who knew of possible futures? Wouldn't you do everything in your power to get that information?"
"Don't lie," Azazel said with a mischievous smile, repeating Serafall's earlier line. "You just don't want to see Mi-tan, So-tan, and Ria-tan sad anymore."
Sirzechs threw his teacup at the fallen without looking, and the former Governor General dodged out of the way with a laugh.
"I can't help you," Eren said simply. "Whatever you did to bring me back has cut me off from the Path. Without it, I can't see anything and can't turn into a Titan. I am just a human... If I am still human."
"Still the greatest Sage to ever live with your memories of the futures you saw before," Adjuka pointed out. "Hardly weak or useless."
"...So I am a devil now?" Eren asked, his voice carefully neutral. "Which one of you is my 'King?'"
Anyone who heard the question would have to be an idiot to miss the implications.
Just because Eren had spared their lives before and didn't hate their race on principle didn't mean he'd accept someone as his 'owner.'
Even if he couldn't beat them without the Path and all his other powers, it didn't mean Eren still wouldn't fight to the death until he was free.
Thankfully, for everyone involved, that didn't need to happen.
"No. You're not a devil. And you don't have a King," Michael said, putting his tea aside. He leaned forward and held Eren's eyes. "My Father. That's how you came to be in our world, right? He brought you here?"
All the devils looked serious at the mention of the White God, and Azazel tried to act like he didn't care.
He failed.
"...Why do you say that?"
"Because you can't be a devil," Adjuka answered instead of the angel. "We tried everything to bring you back, but even when we used a splinter from the bench to mutate one of Sirzechs pieces, the strongest devil ever born, you wouldn't turn. Evil Pieces worked on Mikasa, so it wasn't because you were from another world or your Eldian bloodline. You aren't divine. Just strong. So, once the bench nullifies your powers, any sufficiently strong devil should be able to bring you back. It baffled me for years. It didn't help that you destroyed my lab."
"Agreas was too perfect a target. You shouldn't have had it out in the open for anyone to destroy."
"Be that as it may," Adjuka continued, his own brow twitching while Michael tried to conceal a smile behind his cup.
Azazel didn't bother, and his smirk was out in full force.
"I had a breakthrough once I realized the metal of the bench nullified your power, not the wood. Its similarities to the coffin had me going in the wrong direction. After I inserted a few needles of it in your upper spine, you should only be a stronger than usual human."
Eren hesitantly raised a hand to the back of his neck. It didn't feel any different than usual, though he probably wouldn't be able to use human airports to sneak around the world anymore.
"But we still couldn't bring you back!" Adjuka exclaimed. He didn't sound angry. In fact, he sounded thrilled, as if the puzzle had been the most fun he'd had in years. His eyes were wild as they roamed over Eren. "I was forced to confront the truth that it wasn't your power preventing you from being reincarnated. Over and over, I thought about it. Only two races cannot be brought back by the Evil Pieces. Gods and Angels. Yet, you weren't one of either. So what were you!?"
"Easy there, Adjuka-chan," Serafall laughed nervously as the Beelzebub pressed close enough to Eren that he had to lean away.
"Erm," Adjuka coughed awkwardly, stepping away.
It didn't escape anyone's notice that Eren raised his hand closer to his mouth.
He might have sat still to get answers, but he was like a wild animal. Ready to fight or flee at the slightest provocation.
Nobody wanted that.
Particularly Adjuka. He hadn't yet finished setting up this lab to his desired specifications.
If he had to start all over again, he'd be pissed.
"I actually found the answer," Azazel said smugly. "When I heard of the curious properties of the bench, I wanted to see if I could create an Artificial Sacred Gear with it. And it..." The fallen trailed off with a rueful chuckle and a head shake. "To think the Holy Cross was so close to me for so long, and I couldn't tell. He always was a tricky bastard."
"I would ask you not to insult Father in front of me," Micheal said, but his words lacked heat. Then he focused back on Eren, and his voice gained a tone of... longing? Desperation? "Did He ask you to do everything? Did He leave you a message? Is He still alive?"
Everyone went very quiet and still.
Eren hesitated for a moment before explaining.
"He's dead," the shifter said plainly, and he could see how hope had fled from the angel. Still, the truth needed to be said. "He left a memory fragment in the wood of the bench to talk to me."
"...What did he say?"
"He didn't give me a message. I don't think he expected me to return," Eren admitted. "The bench interfered with both our powers. He mentioned something about helping you have children, but I don't know what that is."
"Probably the bench itself," Azazel muttered. "If it nullified His powers, we could repurpose parts of it to allow His restrictions on His angels to lessen slightly within a certain range. A 'sex room' perhaps?"
Eren gave the fallen a blank look, then turned back to the angel.
"He didn't want you all to be dependent on him. From here on, you're on your own."
"...I see," Michael said, gently rubbing his closed eyes. "That does sound like Him. He works in mysterious ways that I never could understand."
Maybe he did it as a favour for the dead God who reunited him with Mikasa and gave him a second chance.
Perhaps it was thanks given to a man who had sat with him on the bench and offered absolution to a regular human who neither wanted nor deserved it.
Maybe Eren just wished a father's feelings would be conveyed to his son.
Either way, Eren continued.
"...He loved you. We only talked for a short time, but that was clear. He loved his children dearly. He was very proud of who you've become and what you've done."
"...Thank you..." Michael gave Eren a smile that was mournful, loving, and grateful. "I would have traded my entire deck to hear those words, let alone my Queen."
Feeling uncomfortable with the situation, Eren looked around at the others who were studiously looking away.
Azazel's lips were set into a line while Serafall pretended to whistle.
Falbium was still asleep.
"So... What now? I'm an angel?"
"No," Azazel said, bouncing back eagerly. "You are the first devil-made angel to fall. Pretty much as soon as you were reincarnated. Do you feel any different? Any existential loss of the meaning of your existence? Any weakness? Any desire to tear down heaven and all His works and fornicate in the rubble?"
"...No?" Eren said. "Should I?"
"Possibly because he never experienced His presence?" Adjuka hypothesized. "Or were you an angel for too short a time for it to matter?"
"It could be that Brave Saint angels don't fall the regular way," Azazel added, scribbling furiously. At Eren's look, he grimaced. "When we Fall... It's traumatic. The worst experience you can imagine. Like all good in the world is torn from you."
"I don't really feel any different," Eren shrugged. "Weak, compared to the end, but also more... stable? My body isn't tearing itself apart anymore."
"Hmm," Adjuka hummed in thought, evaluating some graphs on a tablet. "We'll want to keep an eye on you for any possible side effects. Normally, a new devil needs to stay near their King for a year to stabilize their transformation, but you fell right away, and we'll want to make sure your body doesn't start to warp like a Stray. The Brave Saints are more optimized than the Evil Pieces, but we'll want to be sure."
"So, I need to stay near you?" Eren asked suspiciously.
"Hm? No. We'll need you to spend about thirty minutes with Michael every week for the next few months. You can do that when we debrief you on possible threats you saw in the various futures. You're free to go."
Eren stared at the Beelzebub with disbelief.
His gaze panned around the room, looking at everyone else. Searching for the trap.
"That's it? 'I'm free to go?'"
"Yes?" Serafall asked with a tilt of her head. Then, she put a fist in her palm in realization. "Ah! Right! You might want to keep your survival on the hush-hush. You're a... controversial topic these days. Thankfully, you looked like a shota in that Dream and didn't have those cool markers on your eyes. You should be able to live pretty normally if you don't give your full name."
"What's to stop me from ripping out the metal in my spine and regrowing it? Once I do that, nobody will be able to stop me."
"Nothing," Sirzechs shrugged. "But, if we killed everyone because of the threat they could pose, nobody would be alive."
"Although," Azazel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It might be interesting to see if you can even use your Titan powers now that you are no longer human. I might be able to create an Artificial Sacred Gear that would allow you to turn it on and off. Doing that for the first Reincarnated Fallen wouldn't be seen as too biased."
"I killed so many of your people," Eren stressed.
He wasn't trying to be locked up or anything, but he couldn't understand their point of view. Until he did, he couldn't be sure whatever he did wasn't some sort of trap.
"I locked you in a cage with no key! I revealed your existence to the whole world! There's probably been wars or genocide because of what I've done!"
"We've managed to keep things largely peaceful. Though that might be because humanity is still trying to find its feet in this new world," Adjuka said casually. "A few organizations and groups have opposed the peace but aren't strong enough to do anything too consequential. Because you eliminated all the real threats with the Chaos Brigade."
"As for the dead," Sirzechs sighed. "You do realize that everyone in this room has killed more than you, right?"
When Eren frowned, the devil elaborated.
"Oh, I'm not counting your time in your world. In this world alone, I have killed more devils than you have killed people at all." The Lucifer tilted his head in thought, then snorted out a laugh. "Hells, I've killed more relatives of mine than you have. We all have."
"If we can work with one another for a greater peace, why would we not work with you for the same?" Michael asked rhetorically. "Everyone here has slain those I love. Brothers and sisters that I shall never see again. I shall never forgive them for that."
There were grim faces all around, and Eren realized that it wasn't that he was being 'forgiven.'
Just as he couldn't forgive those who hurt him.
"But I will live with those feelings," Michael declared. "I will do what I must to ensure that those I protect have the peace and safety I can provide. Reviving you, even without the knowledge you gave me of my Father, was simply another way I could protect them."
More than anything that reassured Eren that this was not a trap.
If they had claimed no resentment for what he had done, he'd have broken free of them as soon as possible.
But swallowing bitter feelings for a future you wished for?
He understood that feeling all too well.
"If you had killed us or wiped out devils like you claimed to want to," Sirzechs Lucifer said, standing and holding out a hand for the boy still sitting in the coffin. "Or if you had used your power to allow the Chaos Brigade to win, we wouldn't be here. But you didn't. You killed people, yes. There will be people who won't forgive you for that. But you also saved our world from threats we had no idea were out there."
Eren stared at the hand for a long second.
"With ultimate power in your hand, you chose to use it for this world," Micheal prompted gently. "Words and desires don't matter. Only actions. And your actions have given us enough confidence in you that we wished to bring you back."
Eren took the hand, and the devil pulled the boy from the coffin.
Eren took a second to stand on unsteady feet.
Without his powers killing him, he felt... good.
Sturdy in a way he hadn't in years.
"Damnit!" Serafall cursed as she looked at the boy, biting her thumb.
"What?" Eren asked in confusion at the sudden curse.
"Nothing," Serafall bit out with a pout and crossed her arm.
Under her breath, she muttered petulantly.
"Stupid abs. How am I going to protect So-tan from them? Should I freeze him? Then Mi-chan and Ku-chan will be mad. Grrrrr."
Everyone there could hear her, and Eren looked at the others for an explanation... or help.
Azazel looked like his favourite show had just announced a new season, while Michael's face was one of awkward exasperation.
Sirzechs though...
"Stay away from Ria-tan!"
...Was also glaring at Eren.
The shift from serious to silly was disconcerting to the new fallen, and he desperately wanted to be somewhere else than in this lab with the six leaders of the Three Factions.
Thankfully(?) Serafall seemed to know his thoughts.
"Just go," she pouted, waving her hand and a magic circle formed under his feet. "They're waiting for you."
Eren didn't have time to ask what the Magical Girl Leviathan was talking about before he was teleported away.
Eren appeared in the sky and immediately started falling from the sky.
Serafall wasn't above playing a few pranks on the boy who had caused her such a headache.
For a moment, Eren panicked at the sudden displacement and fall.
The wind rushed past him, as did the clouds, and the ground was approaching quickly.
He wouldn't be hurt, even without his Titan powers. He was still a sage, after all. A very good sage.
But the surprise threw him for a loop.
Only for an instant, though.
Instincts took over as he remembered a warm autumn day that seemed like a dream from a different world.
Eren stopped falling.
And finally saw where he was.
Below him, in a clearing with a bench and various amenities, a group of young devils were gathered.
They were looking up at him with wide, wet eyes and smiles.
Seven black tails swished in excitement.
A hand clutched a red scarf.
Hands waved in welcome, and voices rose into the air.
...There was still so much to say and do.
Apologies to give.
Conversations to have.
Brutal, hard truths to confront.
...Relationships that would be made or broken...
There would be no undoing what Eren had done. Blood would forever stain his feet and would never be washed off.
They were still trapped in a wall that would never end, a cage where they needed to suffer the fear and shame of being prey.
There would be no escaping responsibility with death this time.
Through violence and blood, Eren had built this beautiful world, and now he needed to learn to live in its cruelty.
...But nothing lasted forever.
His Path had ended, and now he faced an uncertain and scary future.
There was no guarantee of a happy end.
But so long as you are alive...
So long as you hold tightly to that one singular birthright we all hold...
You can always fight for that future.
So long as you live, there is always hope to reach that shore beyond the sea.
Black feathered wings carried a smiling Eren toward the bench in that park.