Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everyone knows what happened 92 years ago. 

The Titans, the rumbling, the death. 80% of the world's population is gone in a blink of an eye.

Some people say it was a myth, but what about the giant footprints that line the forest floors? Zack didn't know what he believed. His mother used to always tell the story of the thousands of Colossal Titans and the giant Titan in the middle, the Founding Titan. 

But Zack wasn't dumb. He knew that the story he was told was probably warped to fit the likings of the people. He knew not to believe everything even if he couldn't find any other situation to fit it. 

His mother brushed small strands of hair away from his forehead. "Zack, what story do you want me to read tonight?" She asked, moving away to a small shelf full of books. 

"Mommy, at school, I heard Keath talking about something called a Titan. What is that?" Zack asked. His mother turned away from the shelves. "Titans..." She said, "They were vicious creatures, but that is a story for another time, alright?" She smiled gently and turned back to the shelves and plucked a random book from the shelves. "The Interrupting Chicken," She said, "One of your favorites." Zack smiled happily and laid down snug into his bed. "Goodnight, Mommy." He chirped. His mother smiled back, "Nighty night, Zack." 

Zack burst out of the Elementary School's doors. 

"Mommy!" He cried. 

Zack's mother turned from the small group of talking mothers and saw Zack running from the doors. "Zack! How was your day?" She smiled down at him. "It was good!" Zack backed up a little bit and looked up at his mother gently. "Alright what is it?" She asked, crossing her arms. "Could you tell me the story?" Zack asked. "What story?" His mother gave him a confused look. "The story with the Titans?" His mother looked at him surprised. "Okay, I'll tell you when we get home." 

As soon as the two of them stepped through the door, Zack's backpack was slung across the room as he went to sit on the couch. "Mommy hurry!" His mom laughed from the kitchen. "Zack, why are you in such a rush?" She asked. "Don't you want some snacks?" Zack's eyes glowed at the thought, but he resisted. "Kids keep talking about it...The teachers said that they would teach about it in eighth grade, but I don't want to wait!" Zack pouted. His mother chuckled and said, "Why eighth grade? Isn't that a little far?"

Suddenly, Jamie popped out of the hallway. "No, not really. Apparently, it's a huge deal. Like they have photographs and stuff, so their waiting until the kids are older." Jamie said, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes. "I see... Jamie, are you feeling better?" She asked, bringing over a tray of cookies and pretzels. 

"Yeah, I am." 

"Want to join us for story time?" 

"Isn't that at night?"

"This is a special story, a true one." 

Jamie thought for a moment, "Sure, what story?" 

"The Story of the Titans." 

*PLEASE READ THIS SECTION. VISIT THE "END NOTES" FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. * 

"Long ago, there was a civilization known as the Eldia, Though, this wasn't your typical civilization. This civilization was built in walls. Giant walls built up to fifty meters high. These walls were built by the king, King Fritz, to protect the people from these evil, man-eating monsters known as Titans. These Titans pushed fear into the hearts of the people and kept them caged into the walls. The people lived behind three walls: Wall Sina, Wall Rose, and Wall Maria. Soon, a group was formed known as the Survey Corps. These brave soldiers left the safety of the walls and went out to fight these Titans. People died over and over again, but the Survey Corps never backed down. One day, there was a breach in Wall Maria from the Colossal and Armored Titans. This let in many other Titans to ravage the innocent people inside. Thousands in Wall Maria were killed, though, there was a small group of escapees who fled into the walls of Wall Rose. Among those was a boy, Eren Jaeger, who had watched his mother get eaten by a giant Titan. This boy swore on his life that he would kill every last one. The boy was courageous and brave and grew up to become a soldier. After many hard months of training, this boy made it into the top ten and was allowed to choose his military group. He chose the Survey Corps or as some call it now, the Scout Regiment. This boy fought and fought until suddenly, his entire team was dead, except him and one other, Armin Arlert. Armin was nearly consumed by a giant Titan when Eren threw him out and was swallowed instead. This caused the boy to lose both his arm and a leg. But he wasn't giving up. Eren used his mouth to latch on to the titan and tore through its flesh and ate it. But it was too late, the beast had swallowed Eren before he could have killed it and fell into the belly of the beast. Armin, traumatized, was saved by another group and taken to safety. After a while of fighting Titans, there was a brave soldier who came, her name was Mikasa Ackermann. She killed and killed these Titans until finally her ODM gear failed. She fell to the ground where the Titans roamed and grieved the death of her lost love, Eren Jaeger. A nearby Titan creeped closer and closer to her but she felt heavy, like she couldn’t move, and waited for death. But suddenly, a giant, roaring, aggressive Titan broke through the alleyway and attacked the other Titan, who was coming closer and closer to Mikasa. This Titan attacked any nearby Titans, killing them. After a while of using the Titan, the Titan fell to the ground. But then, a human arose from the neck of the beast. It was… Eren Jaeger who rose. Seen as a threat to humanity, Eren Jaeger was sent into prison and held there until further notice. After a long court battle, the Survey Corps finally managed to obtain “custody” or “responsibility” of Eren under the supervision of a man known as humanity’s greatest, Levi Ackermann. With this new and profound knowledge that humans could become Titans, they conducted numerous experiments using Eren and two captured Titans. But one day, those Titans mysteriously died. There was a traitor among them. After a long harsh battle, the survey corps captured a giant female Titan. But, to their dismay, it became loose and captured Eren. Levi and Mikasa Ackermann flew by and managed to retake Eren. But the Titan wasn’t done there. Armin Arlert found something interesting about this Titan. This Titan somehow looked like a woman named Annie Leonhart and according to Eren fought like her too. A battle plan was conducted successfully, but wound up with Annie locking herself away to sleep until she was released from her own cage. After many years of fighting and sacrifice, the Titans were removed from the island of Paradis. Soon, the people of Eldia made their way to the ocean, where they say that Eren Jaeger suddenly inherited the memories of the man before him, his father. Stunned by this new information, Eren began to hate the world. Taken by this madness, he harnessed the power of the Founding Titan given to him by his father’s blood and called upon the walls and began a tragedy known as the Rumbling. Nobody knows why Eren was peeled away from his goals and took refuge in the workings of evil. But, humanity was saved by the Old Marlayan government. These brave soldiers fought to the end and saved the world, even if it meant losing their power.” 

“And that’s the Story of the Titans.” Zack’s mother clapped. “Now, it was as thorough as I can recall, and maybe I missed something but that was the gist.” Zack smiled happily. 

“Mommy?” Zack looked at her and tilted his head. “Wasn’t Marley wiped out?” His mother shook his head.

 “Not all of them.” She said, “now you two go play. I’m going to cook some dinner.” 

Zack and Jamie got up off the couch and went outside. 

“I wonder what it was like.” Jamie looked at Zack confused. “What?” Zack sighed, “Like I wonder what it would’ve been like to live with all those Titans.” Zack sat down by a tree and stared at Jamie. 

“I don’t.” 

“Why not?” Zack turned his head towards Jamie. 

“Because millions of people died because of those Titans.” 

“But it’s still a thought. Like maybe you don’t have to live there, but what if you can watch it?” Jamie thought for a second. “Still no.” 

“Why?” Jamie scoffed. “Because it isn’t a movie. Nothing there is staged; those people actually died.” Zack thought about her answer and nodded. “I guess that’s true.”  

"Zack, where are you going?" his mom's head peaked out from the kitchen. Zack, or Zachary Young, was a young boy, 14, who lived on a farm on Paradis Island with his mother, father and older sister. 

"The woods! I won't go too far, don't worry." he reassured. "You need to do chores, Zack!" his mother sighed, "How long are you going to put them off for?" Zack shrugged, "A while." His mother shook her head. "Go do them before you go." Zack sighed, "Fine." He huffed and solemnly walked out of the door and walked the opposite direction of the woods. He looked back, yearning to go, but he knew he couldn't. 

Zack walked into the pig pens and began cleaning the floor, removing dung. Then, he walked to the stable and fed the horses.

"When I'm older, I want to see the world. I want to check it out and look at the new sky." He grabbed an apple and tossed it to the horse who happily ate it. "Don't you? I mean life is definitely good here in a pen, but at the same time, don't you want to be free?" Zack asked the horse stroking its snout as it ate. "You don't understand, who am I kidding." 

"I understand." Zack's eyes widened. "Really?" He looked towards the entrance to the barn. "Yeah, I finished my chores, did you feed the horses?" Zack nodded. "Good. I want to show you something." Jamie, his older sister, said. "Sure? Just give me a moment." 

The two of them walked back into the house, shutting the door behind them. Suddenly, their mom walked out of the kitchen. "Jamie! And... Zack?" His mom looked confused, "I thought you were going to go explore?" Zack shook his head. "Jamie wanted to show me something." Their mom nodded and smiled. "Alright, have fun you two." She said and walked into the mudroom. 

They continued their journey and walked up to Jamie's bedroom. "Here," she said, walking over to a bookshelf and sliding a book out. "It's an old map I got from a friend today. Said she didn't want it, so she gave it to me." Jamie pulled the map up from the shelf and sat on the floor, quickly Zack followed. They rolled the large map out and spread it along the floor, putting random trinkets at the ends to keep it flat.

"This is..." Zack looked at it, "Paradis a century ago." Jamie said. Zack's eyes widened. "These are the walls!" he pointed to the rounded features drawn on the map. "Indeed, and look, Shiganshina is apparently originally a town within the walls. Zack inspected it closer. "So, this is what they mean when they talk about Wall Maria." Jamie nodded and stood up.

"Now let me show you something else. Jamie grabbed another map. "As time moved, so did Shiganshina. You see here, the original Shiganshina is now what they call, 'Old Maria'." She pointed to the place. "Thats so cool!" Zack's eyes lit up. "According to Wiki, nobody has been around there for a long time.” Zack nodded eagerly., “why are you showing me this though?” Jamie snickered, “You like this kind of stuff, don’t you? So, I thought you’d like it.” Zack’s eyes narrowed. “How would I even get there?” He asked skeptical. “Old Maria is actually not that far from here. According to maps, the drive is about twenty minutes. So, on foot only an hour.” It was longer than he wanted, but not outrageously long. “Maybe, it really does seem interesting. A place where history took a turn.” Jamie smiled at Zack. 

"Yep. If you want, you can take this map." Jamie took the trinkets off of the ends and rolled the map up. "I have too much studying and work to do. So, I can't go with you." 

“Alright.” 

The next morning Zack woke up to the birds singing loudly on the windowsill. 

“Gah! Shut up!” He threw a stuffed animal at the window. 

He rubbed his eyes and yawned before picking his feet up off the mattress and walking out into the kitchen. 

“Well goodmorning, Zack. I made breakfast.” His mother smiled down at him. “Great!” Zack went and sat at the table across from Jamie. 

“When are you going to go to Old Maria?” She asked Zack. He opened his mouth to answer, until his mom interrupted. She set down plates full of egg, bacon, and pancakes. “Old Maria? Isn’t that right by Shiganshina?” Their mother asked. 

“Yeah, apparently, Old Maria was in Wall Maria before the Rumbling.” His mother looked surprised. “How did you figure that out?” 

“My friend gave me a map of Paradis island before any of the bad stuff happened. Then, I realized Shiganshina was in the walls.”  

The family say in silence, eating their food until finally, mom spoke. 

“But on foot, Shiganshina is far away.” 

“An hour.” 

“That’s too far.”

“Mom please, I really want to see it.” 

“No, the limit is ten miles.” 

“You could come with me?” 

“Zack!” His mother set down her fork, “I said no, it’s too dangerous.”

Zack sighed and held his head in his hands. “How could I go?” His mom shook her head. “You can’t. So cut it out.” She picked her fork back up and stuffed a piece of egg into her mouth. 

Zack didn’t know what to do. Shiganshina wasn’t actually all that far. In fact, he’s gone much farther…but his mom didn’t need to know that. 

“Clean up and get your bags. Then we’ll leave.” Their mother ordered before standing up and taking her plate into the kitchen. Jamie quickly leaned over and whispered to Zack. 

“Watcha gonna do?” She asked, eyeing his bacon. 

Zack shrugged and picked up the piece of bacon and popped it into his mouth. Jamie made a strained grunt but didn’t move away. “You could sneak out.” Zack shook his head. “Nah, forget it. Mom’s gonna eye me for a while. Either way, we don’t even know if it’s actually that cool.” Jamie’s face twisted into something similar to dissatisfaction. “Y’know…I heard that there’s a rock there. Ancient as hell and super cool. After school, let’s drive over there.” 

Zack blinked. “You said you couldn’t go?” 

“Can’t hike.” 

“Ok…” Zack side-eyed Jamie. “Why do you want me to go so bad? What do you know?” 

Jamie smiled. “Secret.” Her hand snuck under his and snatched his bacon. Zack yelped and tried to take it back. But it was too late. “Mine now.” 

“You trickster!” 

Zack sighed and took his plate into the kitchen. 

“Let’s go!” Their mom yelled from the front door. “Coming!” Zack yelled back as he quickly stuffed his books into his backpack. He swiftly walked down the corridor into the main room and to the front door. “Ready?” His mom asked, staring at him. “Your hair’s a mess,” she frowned. “Whatever, I’ll fix it later.” He shrugged. 

“I’m ready.” Jamie appeared behind Zack. Zack jumped. “You scared me!” He yelled as she laughed. “Alright, that’s enough. Let’s leave.” 

Chapter Text

Zack walked into the large doors to the local middle school. He walked towards his locker and unlocked it. He peered inside it quickly before shoving his backpack inside it and sighing. 

“what are you sighing about? The day hasn’t even started.” Zack jumped and looked behind him. 

“you scared me!” He yelped to the boy behind him. “That’s what I do. So intimidating.” The other boy, Kaesten, smirked. 

“Jeez…” Zack rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. Kaeston blinked and looked over Zack’s shoulder and looked inside of it. “Dude, you got a note.” He said looking at Zack wide-eyed. “Which hot chick, hopefully, do you think it is?” Kaeston instantly reached inside. 

Zack’s eyes widened and snatched the note away from Kaeston. “Dude, let me open it.” 

“Let’s hope it’s not from a teacher. What the hell did you do?” Zack rolled his eyes as Kaeston. “I didn’t do anything!” Zack barked. “sure…” 

Zack slapped Kaeston on the shoulder and tore the top of the envelope. Kaeston twisted his head at and awkward angle to try and read the note. “Dude who is it from?” 

Zack’s face twisted into confusion at the note. 

“Brother,” Zack forced the note into Kaeston’s chest. 

“Who the hell is Armin Arlert?” 

Chapter Text

Armin Arlert was a specific man.

He knew what he wanted, and whether it was wishful thinking or if it was truly worth trying.

He knew what he wanted.

He knew what he couldn’t want.

But he didn’t know how to not want.

Armin lived. Armin lived long. Just as one wished for him.

Armin, saw it.

He saw what one saw many years ago.

The sky.

Armin opened his eyes. Up, he saw the sky. Down, he saw the depths of the ocean.

“Sea,” Armin said, splashing his fingers in the water. “I remember you…” he said, dropping the liquid in his mouth. It was salty.

Tangy, saccharine…metallic?

Armin’s eyes shot open as he suddenly sat up.

In front of him bodies upon bodies stacked mountains high above him. It towered over him. Haunted him. Armin looked at it with horror. “Why…are they here?” Armin walked closer to the pile and looked straight ahead.

Amidst the pile was a child. Her eyes were scared, bloodshot, and dead. Her mouth hung open and a doll hung from a knot in her hair.

Armin clenched his jaw and sighed. His hand swiped over the girl’s eyes, closing them. “I’m sorry. I know you can never forgive me, but I’m sorry you had to die.” Armin began to cry. Harder and harder until he broke into a sob. Chanting the same sentence over and over again like a mantra.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry. 

It was hell. To live in a world where the anger of the dead weighed so heavily on his shoulders. 

Armin’s breath shook as he stepped away from the pile. He looked around at the rest of their faces until he recognized one.

“Eren?” Armin’s breath hitched.

“Eren!” Armin ran over to Eren and grabbed his face. “Eren! I-I didn’t- it wasn’t me!” Armin fell to the ground with Eren’s head.

“Please, it wasn’t me! I didn’t kill you!” 

“was it?” Armin stopped and questioned himself….did he kill Eren? “Dammit! Eren! Don’t you see what you have done to me?” He began to cry again.

“Was it me?” Armin looked back at the head in hands. Suddenly, the head began to decay. Armin panicked.
“Eren!” He tried to grab the specks of dust but it kept disappearing. 

“Please don’t leave again…!” Armin threw off his shirt and tried to trap the dust. “Why…why isn’t it working?” Armin shrieked. He held his shirt out until Eren’s head was almost all the way gone. 

“hey, Eren,” Armin threw his shirt to the side after realizing it was pointless.

“why do you still haunt me? It’s been decades.” Armin closed his eyes. He couldn’t stand the sight of the death anymore. 

“Do you hate me?”

Armin opened his eyes again to see…the Paths?

Armin’s eyes widened. He thought this place was destroyed. It should’ve been gone. Just like every other Titan.

Why was it here?

Why was it back.

What was going on?

Armin looked into the distance.
Eren…

Armin jumped up and started running; panting and screaming Eren’s name, he ran. 

More and more.

“Eren…please, come back. We can talk about this.” The Eren out near the paths began to walk forwards.

“Eren!” Armin yelled and continued to run until the paths disappeared. 

As he took his next step, 

Everything was sky. 

the ground, the walls, the sky.

It was all a beautiful, flush blue specked with dots of cloud. 

The wind blew over Armin, incasing his limbs. 

“Where…” Armin said, until he felt himself fall. His back bounced against the invisible floor and let him lay. 

“Is this what you saw?” 

He asked, 

“Is this where you were?” 

“Yeah,” a second voice responded. 
“This, this is true freedom.” 

Armin’s eyes widened in surprise as he sat up abruptly. 

“Eren?” Armin looked to the side. 

“You’re old.” Eren looked to the side. 

“Of course I am.” Armin rolled his eyes. 

“How…how are you here?” Armin asked, beginning to twist his fingers. 

“Your dead.” Eren responded. “I’m dead. Now, we’re both dead.”

”Wait, so that means that I…” Armin pointed to himself in shock. 

“Died? Yeah.” Eren whispered something else under his breath too quiet for Armin to hear. 

“Where is everyone else?” Armin asked, his eyes looking around the sky. 

“Dunno.” Eren replied. “Dead somewhere else I guess.” He smiled to himself. 

“This is the sky.” Eren said, picking up a bit of cloud. “This is the place in between the stars and the sky. The Real Freedom.” 

Armin couldn’t wrap his head around it. 

“Are you still chasing freedom?” 

“No, I have already obtained it.” 

“This is freedom?” Armin felt disappointment seep into his heart. 

“No,” Eren replied. 

“this is freedom.” He poked Armin’s chest. 

“I wish I had realized that many years ago.” Eren said, looking down at his lap. 

Armin was touched, yet angry. “All those people, they died for nothing?” 

Eren shook his head. “Without the Rumbling, other countries would have killed off Paradis. I saw it.” 

“Can you… tell me about an alternate world?” Armin asked, “I’m curious.” 

Eren thought. “Nah, there’s no point.” Eren scoffed. “Either it’s the Rumbling or my death and everything happens all over again, but with someone else in slightly different circumstances.” 

“Ok then…” Armin sighed. Armin had hoped Eren, for once, would actually tell him something. 

“So, is this it then?” Armin asked Eren, who looked over at him curiously. 

“No, I brought you here.” Eren shook his head.  Armin nodded, “I know.” 

“You said I was freedom, right?” Armin closed his eyes and smiled. 

“Armin, how are you not worried?” Eren looked over at him. “About what?” Armin sat upright again and paused. 

“The Paths still exist.” Eren said. 
“I…only recently realized that it was still here. That it wasn’t destroyed.” 

Armin froze. The blood drained from his face.  “That…that wasn’t a memory, a dream or anything? I was actually there?” 

Eren nodded. “We need to destroy it before everything happens all over again.” 

Armin looked at his hands and began to cry. “Your death, everyone’s death, my sacrifices, Mikasa’s love, everything was for nothing?” Eren nodded as tears welled up in his eyes. 

“All for nothing, Armin.” 

Armin was speechless. He didn’t know what to do. “Dammit!” 

“So, Armin, do you remember how I said you are freedom?” Eren’s eyes held something unreadable. Something determined yet weak. 

“Yeah..?” Armin didn’t like where this was going. 

“I died young. So now I am giving the rest of my life to you. You should have a spare 100-ish years now.” Armin was in shock. “No, no, I’m done. I don’t want to live anymore.” 

Eren shook his head, “Too late.” 

Armin found himself becoming slightly confused. “No.” 

“Armin, you are freedom. You, and only you, have the ability to finally free the world from the Titans.” Armin didn’t want to. He wanted to sit here and wait for Mikasa, and then the three of them could be here, in the place where everything is sky together. 

“…” 

“…Armin, you have to.” 

“I know.” 

Chapter Text

Dear Zachary Young,

Hello, Zachary. It is a pleasure to meet you. I understand that it might seem odd to receive a letter from someone whose face is unknown. I apologize, but without this letter, you may not have heard me to the end. I know many things and have many secrets. But I also know that you seem to have a curiosity for the past. I am older now, slowly withering away and have yet to reach an objective that was assigned to me. I need new legs. I need new eyes. I need new arms. I need new ears. I need new curiosity and courage. You have now caught my eye. If you wish to not participate, that is quite alright. But I would like that you continue to read this for the sake of everything.

I have chosen you to carry out a mission given to me by a very sacred someone. One who's name shall not be said. No matter how long I may have to live, my body does not properly function any longer. Therefore, I am asking you to take my place and in return, a threat that has long terrified the name of humans shall be eradicated. Though, I cannot guarantee your safety whilst the process of this mission. I cannot give the details of this mission on paper due to the secrecy and the fragile nature of it all. But if you would like to at least know the details, please meet with me at the cafe down the street from your school at 1900. Though I may warn you, should you know the details of this mission and decide to not participate, you shall be silenced. I am willing to bargain if I must, but please give this some thought throughout your school day.

Thank you, 

Armin Arlert. 

Chapter Text

Zack stared at a folded piece of paper like it was the most interesting thing in the world. 

"Zack?" Kaeston waved a carrot in front of his eyes. 

Zack blinked and his eyes focused on the blurry orange racing across his face. "Sorry," Zack wiped his face, "I zoned out." 

"You can't seriously be thinking about that letter." Kaeston huffed. "It's so obviously fake! I mean, who the hell is even alive from that time? And if anyone even is, they're old geezer who probably can't even speak!" 

Zack elbowed Kaeston. "Shut it you, block head." Zack scowled deeply. "People are staring." Kaeston sighed and relaxed. "Look, that is clearly a prank. I mean, if it was actually real, how in the world could he even get it in your locker, huh?" 

He was right. How could someone, nearly one hundred years old, manage to sneak a letter into his locker? And, on top of that, how did he even know which locker to put it in? But something still nagged at Zack. 

"His name," Zack said, "I recognize it." 

"What was his name?" Kaeston asked. "I don't remember it being very...memorable." 

Zack threw Kaeston a harsh look. "Of course you don't. You're extremely uneducated." 

Kaeston's head instantly twisted to the side to look at Zack. "We literally go to the exact same school! If I'm uneducated, so are you." 

"Nuh-uh."

"What do you mean, 'nuh-uh'?!" 

"Nuh-uh," Zack repeated. "Maybe, we are both uneducated. But, I am less uneducated as you." 

"Why you-!" Kaeston got up to grab Zack when the school bell suddenly rang, throwing both him and Zack out of their skin. 

"Holy shi-" Kaeston looked around to see a teacher eyeing them. "-toki fried mushrooms are absolutely delicious! Don't fight me on that!

In the end, the only thing that could've been correctly, and finally deduced from that long lunch conversation, is that Kaeston and Zack have never tried a shitoki fried mushroom. 

The dismissal bell rang loudly and the entire classroom stood up. Zack stayed in his seat, quietly finishing a worksheet about human anatomy. The worksheet was complex and full of words Zack vaguely remembered. Zack swore loudly in his head. 

Zack had spent many long nights looking into anatomy...of insects and small dead animals. Zack loved nature, so he thought it might be interesting if he learned not only the inside of the forest, but the inside of the insiders. 

"Zack?" The biology teacher walked up to him and patted his shoulder. "Why are you still here?" she asked, "The bell rang, sweetie." Zack shook his head. "I know, I heard it. I just don't remember." He raggedly pointed to the blank areas of the worksheet.

“It’s alright. The due date isn’t until Wednesday, you have two days to refresh and work hard.” 

Zack stared down at the worksheet and sighed loudly. “Alright, could I come in tomorrow for some extra help?” Zack asked.

“Of course sweetie. Now go home.” She smiled sweetly at him and Zack smiled back.

Quickly, Zack gathered his belongings and rushed out the door, yelling a quick ‘thank you’ as he went. 

The hallways were now emptier than they usually are, since most children have exited the school. Zack walked through the white school hallways and reached into his pocket, pulling out a slightly disheveled looking paper. 

Zack unfolded it and skimmed over the ornate words stroked caringly onto the letter.

Suddenly, Zack thought of something. 

Usually, the older you get, the more unsteady your body becomes. Being that when you reach the ripe age of 70, your hands also start to shake and quiver. Which means that your handwriting also becomes increasingly worse. 

Zack’s face contorted into confusion. 

If the person who sent this letter is somewhere around the age of one hundred, how could their handwriting be so steady and precise? 

This was odd. 

Zack thought for a moment, standing in front of his locker before finally coming to one, singular conclusion. Somebody was attempting to lure Zack to the cafe. 

He wasn’t buying it, and he wouldn’t risk it all because he got just a little too curious. Zack took in a deep breath and let it out, rushing out of the school. 

There were just too many factors screaming at Zack that this was fake.  

Zack bit his lip. Did someone have it out for him? Could someone just be playing a prank on him? Zack didn’t know. And he’d rather not find out. 

Once Zack burst through the school doors, he turned away from the usual direction of his house. Although this area wasn’t particularly ideal for this circumstance, being longer and even less crowded than before, he wasn’t going to take his usual path home. 

Zack wandered through the sidewalk for a couple of minutes, constantly jumping or eyeing anyone who passed. 

Zack passed building after building, sighing in relief when nothing happened. 

“They must have been the other direction then…” Zack mumbled to himself, picking his head up looking straight. He stood at the edge of a crosswalk, staring ahead at a man who very slowly began making his way across. 

But something was wrong. The light was still green. 

Zack gasped and suddenly his legs began to move. Zack swiftly ran over to the man and grabbed his elbow. 

“Sir, the light is still green, and there are cars ahead almost to the light. Please hurry across.” Zack quickly tugged on the older man and brought him across the street. 

Just as they made it to the crosswalk, there was a hefty breeze that swirled along his back. Looking around, Zack saw a car driving down the road. Zack sighed in relief. 

“Thank you, Young Man.” The old man smiled at him in gratitude. 

Zack smiled back and shook his head. “It was nothing, I’m just glad we didn’t get squashed.” 

The old man chuckled. “What’s your name, boy?” Zack turned more of his attention on the man. 

“Zachary Young, but call me Zack.” The old man nodded, clearly amused. “I see,” He turned around and looked at a shop behind him. “Would you like to join me for some food? I will pay as a form of gratitude.” Zack stopped for a moment.

Food? Cafe

“Sure! I would be glad.” 

Older man? From the age of Titans

“Lovely, it’s this one right in front of us.” 

Zack followed the old man into the shop, as they opened the door, a quiet bell rang notifying staff of their arrival. 

“Sit where you want!” They heard from the kitchen. 

The old man and Zack sat on old wooden chairs near a window. The cafe was a relatively decent size, yet had low light, dark wood, and a cozy feeling to it. It wasn’t very crowded, in fact, there may have been a total of four other customers here other than Zack and the old man. 

Zack twisted his view from the inside of the cafe, to the windows outside. Nobody was on the sidewalks, and the buildings across the street were tall enough to obstruct any further view. But if you looked closely, you’d see dark clouds in the distance. Warning him for a shower of sorts. 

“What would you like to eat?” The old man asked. Zack blinked back into reality. “Oh, uh…” the man chuckled for what might have been the 1,000th time, “I’ll give you some more time, dreamer boy.” 

Zack slightly narrowed his eyes at the nickname but said nothing as he looked down to study the menu. 

After a couple of moments, Zack picked what he wanted. Not wanting to run the poor man dry, he chose the cheapest, yet appetizing things on the menu. 

“So,” The old man began to speak, straightening his back in the process. “Zack, how has life been to you?” Zack didn’t really know how to answer that. “Decent, I would say.” 

The old man nodded, “I see.” The man looked down at his finger tips. “I’ve been alive a long time. And yet something about you, and only you, seems to intrigue me.”

Zack didn’t understand what he meant. “What do you mean?” 

“You have the note, don’t you?” 

Zack’s blood ran cold. 

“W-What note?” Zack’s pupils dilated and he breathed in heavily. 

How did this man find him? He went the other way, the cafe that the letter mentioned was on his usual route. 

“Zack.” The old man sighed. “This letter is not a joke.” 

Zack wanted to get up and leave. But he couldn’t do anything at this moment. His legs were frozen stiff.

The old man shifted and Zack flinched. He took in a deep breath and let his head fall. 

“How did you find me? The letter said to meet at the cafe down the other direction.” 

The old man smiled sweetly. 

“Zack, look at me for a second.” Zack raised his head and looked straight into Zack’s eyes. The old man’s eyes were soft. “I need your help.” His eyes turned from soft to desperate in a heartbeat. 

“Just answer me this,” Zack sat straight in his chair. “How did you find me?” 

“By what means?” 

“All.” 

Armin sighed and sucked in a breath. 

“I had an old friend who died long ago. He was strong, openminded, and kind. I grew up with this boy within the walls and watched his story play out. He wanted to be a brave soldier and kill every last Titan there ever was…that was after his entire family, and most of his town was victim to Titans. He applied to be a soldier, he made it into the top ranks, and fought for his people, dead and alive. He was admirable.” Armin stopped talking for a moment and simply stared into his own memory. Zack watched him closely, ready to jump at any given moment. 

“Was his name Eren?” 

Armin’s eyes widened in surprise, “Yes, yes it was.” 

Zack looked down, “mm…But, I’m still curious, why me? How is it me?” 

“I see him in you,” Armin said, “I really do.”

Zack didn’t know what to do. The man before him looked solemn. 

What kind of mood swings does this guy have? Zack thought.

There were a couple moments of silence until a waiter interrupted them. 

“Hello, what would you like to order?” The waiter smiled brightly. “Coffee for me.” Armin responded. “Could I just have some tea and toast?” 

The waiter shook her head enthusiastically. “Of course! It will be out shortly.” 

There it was again. The silence. 

Zack thought for a while. 

How did Armin even find him? He should have been at the other cafe. Why was he here-

Zack gasped. “Oh no!” He cried. 

Armin looked visibly startled. “What is it?” 

“M-My sister! She was going to take me to Shiganshina today!” 

Armin settled down slightly. “Alright then, we should hurry up then.” 

Zack paused. Did he really want to do this?

“Are you willing to do this, Zachary Young?” Armin’s voice was serious, laced with stone.

“...” 

“Ok.” 

YOU IDIOT! WHY?!

Something about this entire situation seemed to really intrigue Zack. His wonder and thought about it all was always something that he went back to. 

“I’ll do it, but I have a question.”

Armin nodded. “I thought we were supposed to meet at the other cafe, why are we here?”

Armin laughed. “Even a toddler isn’t stupid enough to believe that letter completely.” 

“What are you saying?” Zack’s brows knitted together. Was this man just playing with him this whole time?

“Obviously, the contents of the letter are real, but they are so real, don’t they appear fake?” 

“In order for you to meet with me, I needed you to not go to the other cafe. I made sure that it would almost seem dangerous to go there. As if somebody wanted to kidnap you.”

“What if I had gone?”

“Then you would’ve been too stupid for the job.” 

Was that a compliment?

Chapter Text

Zack left the coffee shop conflicted.
There was no going back now. It was a done deal. Why did he always have to go and shoot off his mouth and say things he doesn’t mean?

Zack groaned and stopped by the edge of a building to grab his phone out of his backpack. Reached his arm inside the bag, curling his finger tips around the edges of his phone.
Zack yanked his arm through all the crumpled papers, wrappers, crumbs, and pencils shoved into the base of the backpack.

Zack opened his phone up and was blinded by the wall of notifications that bombarded his screen.
Feeling slightly indifferent at the moment, Zack bitterly ran through them, mainly angry messages from his sister yelling at him to come home.

Zack didn’t text his sister back, but his eyes landed on a familiar contact.
Kaeston.

Zack’s finger moved towards the contact name before coming to a halt. Zack didn’t know if he should tell Kaeston about this. It could possibly rope Kaeston into the whole thing without him wanting to.

Zack sighed and tossed his broken phone into his pocket before continuing on his way home.
The storm was creeping closer and closer. Clouds over head darkened the world and gave it a cold, melancholy, feeling that seemed to make its way into his bones.
“Damn it,” Zack cursed as rain droplets gently landed on his shoulders. “It’s gonna rain before I get home!”

Zack picked up his pace, but unfortunately, so did the rain.
By the time Zack was home, he was completely drenched. He looked as if he had just dived into a pool with his clothes on.

“Zack? Why are you so late?” He heard his mom call from the kitchen. “Got distracted with some friends.” That’s if you call Armin a “friend".
“It’s raining so hard out there,” Zack listened to the sound of a utensil of some sort hitting the marble counter. She was coming over to him.

“Zack!” She cried running over to him and crouching slightly. “You’re gonna get sick! Get out of this and go take a shower immediately! What happened to ‘I always have my umbrella’?” She clicked her tongue.

“You need to start being more responsible and prepared. This is the second time!” She smacked his head and pushed him towards the hallway. “Go!”

Zack walked into the bathroom, leaving a trail of rainwater behind him.

Zack looked into the mirror. “Yikes, I look like I just got out of war.” His features curled looking at his own reflection.

Zack’s short, black, hair clung to his forehead, while his chocolate eyes were reddened from the wind.
In conclusion, he was a mess.

Zack sighed and peeled his dirty, wet, clothes off of his body and climbed into the hot shower.

He felt the water run down his features and onto the floor.
Suddenly, everything went black.

Zack pushed his eyelids up. His head was spinning. He blinked a couple of times before looking around. Where was he?

The area around him was complete sand. Or was it dirt? He couldn’t really tell, as his vision was too foggy.
In the middle, stood a large beacon filled with color, and light cascading from the edges.

“Where am I?” He muttered.

Zack rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. He blinked and started moving around more.

Zack stood up from the cold sand and began to walk.

“Hello?” He called, his voice searching and weary.

Zack walked closer and closer to the beacon, until he saw a figure walking from amidst it.

Zack halted and tensed. “Who are you?” He asked the walking figure.
It was getting closer and closer.

Zack began to back up warily. The figure stopped walking and stood close enough to see minimal features, yet far enough to conceal their identity.

“Zachary Young,” The figure called out. “I deem it as you are the one?”

Zack’s eyes widened. How did they know his name? “W-What do you want?” His voice wavered more than he’d like.

The figure began to walk again. This time, the gentle walking seemed much faster.

The figure got closer and closer until Zack could finally see their face.

Zack studied the figure for a moment. They had long, brown hair that fell down evenly towards the shoulders. They, or he, had bright blue eyes that were devoid of any type of emotion.
“You are Zachary Young, yes?” The tall man, or the figure, stood in front of Zack now.

Zack nodded, wishing he were anywhere but here. The man blinked slowly. “You know Armin, right?”

Zack’s eyes swished over to the man’s. “I do.”

“Then you know why you are here.”

“What?” Zack was confused because Zack had absolutely no idea why he was here.

“The Titans?” The man seemed slightly off taken.

“Oh!”

“Yeah.”

“Okay…”

“This is the place of the Titans.” The man spoke softly, yet with a lingering sense of tenseness. “This was supposed to be destroyed ninety years ago.”

Zack’s eyes widened and he gulped. “Supposed? What do you mean.” Worry began to fill Zack’s stomach.

“The Titans still exist. We killed them all off, destroyed their maker, killed the Nine, and yet somehow, the place where all Titans are formed still exists.” The man looked down at the sand, “I could create a Titan right here, right now, with this sand, and it could go off to eat the world until it’s killed.”

Zack sucked a harsh breath in through his nose and looked down at the sand. “You’re kidding…”
“Nope. Since I was the one who held the founder and was killed with it, it seems that I am now stuck in this hell hole until they’re gone.”

Zack paused for a moment and looked at the man. “You…You’re dead? Then how are you here?” Zack looked the man up and down and looked for any imperfections. Could this be a dream? Maybe an illusion with all that has happened today?

Zack wouldn’t be surprised if he passed out from being sick by the rain and is now dreaming…

“I am.”

Zack looked the man straight in the eye. “...Am I dreaming?” He asked, suddenly drowsy and confused.

“No.”

Zack put his head in his hands. “You’re kidding.”

“No.”

“Dammit.” Zack looked up at the man. “Wait,” realization claimed his features. “If you had the founder, then doesn’t that mean your name…” Zack stopped his sentence and looked at the man closer.

“Eren Jaeger.” The man nodded. “That is my name.”

Chapter Text

Eren stared at Zack’s exasperated expression. “Who else would I be?” 

Zack stuttered and garbled incoherent words. Eren blinked in confusion. “What? What’s wrong with you?” Zack stopped attempting to talk and sucked in a deep breath. 

“You’re Eren Jaeger…The one who almost destroyed the world’s population entirely?” Zack timidly looked up to meet Eren’s. “One and only.” 

Zack felt like he was gonna faint. 

“Zachary Young, you have decided to help with this situation, haven’t you?” Eren asked, crossing his arms. Zack nodded eagerly. 

“Then you shall listen to what I am saying. Clear?” Zack nodded again. 

Eren lifted his chin and gave a content stare. “Then this concludes it all.” 

Zack’s eyes blinked open once more as he looked around. He was still in the shower. 

What had happened? It felt like so long yet only a couple of seconds that he had talked with Eren. 

…

Eren! Zack gasped and his eyes widened. He had talked with Eren, Eren Jaeger! Wasn’t he dead? How could this have happened…

Zack thought about what Eren had said. They had killed the Titans, and yet somehow, their womb still existed. It was a scary thought. He remembered that Eren had said that if he wanted to make a Titan, to form a Titan to roam the earth once more, he could have. 

That alone sent Zack spiraling. Zack hoped that Eren Jaeger no longer wanted complete world domination, they had suffered enough already, hadn’t they? 

Zack sighed, taking in the gentle streams of warm water as he stared at the floor. 

Was this too much? Was this even worth it? … he’d just talk to Armin tomorrow. 

The next day during school, Zack was a ghost. He was there, present, yet absent minded and didn’t respond well. Kaeston nudged his side as they walked through the hall to the cafeteria. “Dude, what is up with you? Are you alright? You seem so…” Kaeston stretched his head to look at Zack. 

“Sorry, Kaeston, things are just…” Zack didn't know what to say to Kaeston, the reality of it all was just too much. “Things are just getting complicated.” Zack sent Kaeston a reassuring smile, but it seemed too forced. “Y’know you can talk to me about it, right?” Kaeston put his hand on Zack’s shoulder. 

The truth was, that Zack actually couldn’t utter a word to Kaeston about any of this. The last thing Zack wanted was to drag Kaeston into this. 

“Yeah, thanks man.” 

The lie felt bitter on his tongue.

After school, Zack walked to the cafe, hoping Armin would be there. Now that he thinks about it, Zack doesn’t have any way to communicate with anyone. Not Eren nor Armin. Well, maybe if he calls “Eren!” a lot in his head that would work..?

Yeah- no. He’s not trying- 

The world went blank again. As Zack dizzily opened his eyes, the world was blurry. 

“You called?” The deep, all too familiar voice rang out and Zack’s eyes cleared. 

“Ah- what?” Zack blinked at Eren. Eren crossed his arms, “You called my name rather loudly.”

Zack’s whole face heated up. How is his head so loud? He clapped the sides of his cheeks in punishment. 

“What’s wrong?” Eren seemed slightly surprised. Zack’s face cooled slightly as he looked up to meet Eren. “I was thinking about how I don’t have any means of communication with you or Armin. But you’re …like here? And have access to some part of my consciousness- so I thought about yelling ‘Eren!’ in my head, and I guess I did so here I am.” Zack gave a sheepish smile. 

Eren looked completely unamused. “So… you’re dumber than a rock?” 

“What!”

“You heard me.”

“I am smart- thank you!”

“That’s exactly what a dumb person would say.”

“Huh-”

Suddenly, another figure approached the two of them. “Well, glad to see you getting along.” 

The figure was…Armin? He looked incredibly young, the wrinkles and the old man-ness was completely gone from his features. 

“You look surprised, Zack.” Armin smiled. Zack quickly gathered his thoughts and looked away. 

“You’re different.”

Armin chuckled, “Thankfully, I can alter my appearance here. So I am no longer the old man you know me to be.”

Armin crouched down to Zack who was on the floor, “See?” He patted his cheeks, “So young, right? Look! Look! They don’t bunch up anymore!”

Zack nodded, slightly weirded out. Zack gave Armin a strained smile as he spoke. “Definitely different.” Armin smiled happily. “Don’t you think that being younger suits me better?”

“I think it suits everyone better.” 

“Fair point!” 

Finally, Eren sighed and interjected the conversation. “You two are seriously something…Anyway, now that you're here, Zack actually needed something from you.” Armin looked interested now, “Oh? What do you need from me, Zack?”

“I have no way of contacting you in the real world.” 

Armin’s eyes widened slightly, “Well, you don’t need to use the real world. Just come here.” 

Zack seemed slightly caught off guard. “But wouldn’t it just be simpler to have your number?”

Eren narrowed his eyes slightly, and sighed. “Having a phone would leave physical proof of our plans. Armin is our planner here, so I have no idea if the things we are doing are going to be less than legal.” 

“Less than legal? What are you trying to make me do?” 

“Break into places. Dunno.” Armin chirped and Zack nearly choked, “unless you don’t have the balls to do it?” Eren said. “No-No, no. I’ll…I think I can do it.” Zack replied quickly, of course he had the balls!

Armin’s hands came up to touch his face again. “Thank goodness you won’t have to see me as a geezer all the time! Hey, Eren, maybe this place isn’t so bad. I look like I did back then!” 

Eren’s eyes narrowed, “You’re going to make the world record for oldest person to live if this place isn’t gone. I’m not sure if that’s the record you want to achieve judging by how you seem to love your youth.” 

Armin clicked his tongue, clearly understanding what Eren meant. “Tch, taking away all that fun. May I remind you who punched me and now owes me for that?” 

“That was almost 100 years ago.”

“Said the one who is still not over his crush.”

“Watch it!” Eren snapped at Armin, but it didn’t seem truly harsh. Armin smirked, “Oh Mikasa! I want you to be my one and only forever! I want you to-” 

“Hush up!” 

Zack laughed in the background, “Have you always been like this?” He asked. Both of them were quiet for a moment, clearly going over their past together.

“No,” Eren said, “I have no idea what happened, but this guy used to be a timid little rat. Now he acts like a big guy with no worries. Truly an old man.”

“You may look younger, Eren, but you are not.” Armin deadpanned.

Eren ignored Armin’s snarky remark, “Armin was not like this 100 years ago. He was one of those nerds who got scared of flies when they buzzed too loud.” 

Zack nodded, realizing the significance of change. He realized how much time can truly change a person, and how much it can impact the people around them.

Chapter Text

Finding out how to handle the current situation is going to be extremely difficult. Zack still needs to go to Shiganshina and him beginning to get sick is not helping. Definitely should've just waited out the rain. As the day pushed on, Zack began to feel extremely sluggish, and his nose decided to run a marathon.

"Dammit!" Zack muttered, "Don't get sick, cmon..." He sighed in defeat. There were only so many things he could do, maybe could Eren or Armin do something about it in the Paths? No- not very smart. What if he turns into a titan? Then what?! 

"Zack, you good?" Zack's friend, Evalyn, appeared behind him, tapping him on the shoulder. "Ah-" He was slightly surprised; having been in Lala Land for a good ten minutes, it's safe to say he isn't going to be getting any schoolwork or titan work done today. "Yeah, I'm fine. I got caught in the rain- so I'm probably developing some sort of cold." He smiled meekly at her. 

Evalyn sighed, "I have some medicine in my locker-" She said, moving back to her desk (which was just diagonal from his), "Come see me after class if you're interested." Zack nodded and thanked her, "It would be handy." 

It was only the second period, yet Zack felt like he had just been through war. A wet cough began to develop in his throat, and he's already sniffed one too many times that it's probably annoying for his classmates. He tried to focus solely on the assignment in front of him, but it seemed like the sickness had taken his energy and gave him some sort of dyslexia because Zack physically cannot read the question properly even if his life depended on it. 

The words began to blur together, and his eyes felt extremely heavy. So, he just scooched his distorted looking paper over and laid his head down. Math can wait- Zack cannot. 

"Mr. Zack, why might you be sleeping during my lecture?" Zack's head popped up swiftly to see his teacher, Mrs. Browns, staring down at him unamused, "What?" He asked, his voice raspy. "I wasn't sleeping."  Mrs. Browns looked down at him, narrowing her eyes. From what he knew, Zack was a very influential figure in his class. Meaning that each of his actions changed the course of class. Zack also knew that Mrs. Browns had a knack for very much disliking people like him. 

"Well, Mr. Young, since you seem to like playing in the rain and going to bed late more than being diligent and awake, why don't the whole class learn from this poor display of responsibility?" Her voice dripped with condescension and Zack hated it. "Since for some reason students have decided sleeping and slacking off in my class is fully acceptable," Mrs. Browns walked to the front of the room, grabbed an Expo marker and wrote something on the board. "Pop Quiz!" 

The entire class groaned and looked at Zack. He gave them a sheepish smile of apology. 

Zack utterly failed that 'pop quiz'. With the high score of 67%, Zack is doomed. 

"Morning Sleeping Beauty," Zack looked beside him to find Evalyn walking beside him. "It seems like you've had it rough today. Especially with Mrs. Browns. She's not the nicest." Evalyn laughed and Zack scoffed. "You're not mad?" He asked. "Nah-" Evalyn said, "you need medicine." 

"Yeah, no kidding." Zack laughed, but it sounded hollow. Even Evalyn, who was normally cheery, seemed to have lost her smile. "Alright, then, let's get you some medicine. Maybe you should also go to the nurse's office. Mr. John might be able to buy you some sleep and exemptions." Evalyn smiled. 

Evalyn suddenly stopped, swiftly opening her locker and shifting through it. It was incredibly organized, small shelves lined with school textbooks and fiction at the top, and neat stacks of supplies and paper on the shelf below. And at the bottom of her locker, her school bag sat neatly to the side while a small box of different make-up and product sat next to it. In addition to it all, there were lights, photos, sticky notes, and cleaning supplies on the side. 

The locker was incredibly neat… unlike Zack’s mess where he just threw everything in and hoped for the best. 

Zack,’s attention turned to Evalyn when he heard her grunt. “I’m sorry Zack, I don’t think I have any medication.” Her eyes were down- she clearly felt bad. “It’s cool. If I’m lucky, there’s not gonna be some stupid ‘no medicine’ policy here.” Zack flicked his hand to let her know he’s fine. 

“...If you say so. Let’s take you to the nurse’s office.” 

At the nurse’s office, Zack sat on a chair listening to the quiet hum of the air conditioner. “Alrighty, Zachary, Evalyn, what seems to be the issue?” The school nurse, Mr. John, sat in his rolly chair and smiled- adjusting his glasses slightly. 

“I think I have a cold- so some congestion medicine would help me power through this final day.” Zack said, subconsciously sniffling. Mr. John looked at Zack carefully, then turned to Evalyn. “Is there an issue with you too, Ms. Evalyn?” Evalyn’s face heated up slightly and she put her hands up. “Oh-! No, I was just accompanying Zack.” 

Mr. John nodded and looked at Zack carefully. “Let’s take your temperature and we'll see." Mr. John grabbed the thermometer- it was one of those fancy ones that you don't have to stick inside the patient's mouth- and skimmed it over his forehead. Zack stiffened, you know that weird feeling of your body sensing something is extremely close to your face, but nothing ever touches it- so it decides to make its own feeling and its super-crazy tingly and weird? Well, that was exactly what he felt right now. 

Mr. John moved the thermometer to look at Zack's temperature, allowing that fuzzy feeling to fade. "Well, good news: you're not burning up," Mr. John smiled, but it quickly faded, "Bad news: I am under strict rules that medication cannot be given to students unless there's a permission slip in the system, doctor's note, or if the medication was brought in personally." Zack deflated and held his head in his hands, "Dang it," Zack cursed, "they really did have that medicine rule." 

Evalyn sighed, "I can't stay here any longer, classes have started and unlike yours, my tardy won't be excused." Evalyn made a worried face. Zack nodded, "You shouldn't have even came with me- what if I got you sick? Don't you have an event coming up?" Zack asked, sniffling. Evalyn waved her hand, "I'd rather get physically sick than go see my mentally sick family." Zack frowned, "Whatever you say."

In the end, Zack was able to spend the class hour in the nurse's office. 

It was quiet and calm, but Zack felt uncomfortable for whatever reason. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was this long nagging in the back of his mind. Zack closed his eyes, hoping that it would go away with a bit of sleep. 

He opened his eyes, fluttering them slightly, Paths... 

Zack's eyes widened when he realized where he was. He was in the Paths. The weird dimensional thing where Eren and Armin brought Zack. He looked around and his eyes widened, there were more people here. 

"Eren! Please, talk to us!" A black-haired girl frantically looked around, her eyes wide with fear and faint hint of rejection. 

Zack looked at her closely, she was unfamiliar, yet somehow it seems as if he'd seen her before. Zack walked further, trying to get closer to the group when suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder. 

"Zack," The voice- it was Eren! "I want to show you something." Zack whipped around and looked at Eren who just stood there staring longingly at the group. He led Zack closer to them, inspecting their desperate faces. 

"Eren, what did you want to show me?" Zack asked, slightly confused. Eren seemed to know them, based on the way they called his name, and based on the way he looked at them. It was as if they were some sort of fleeting dream, a cursed reality that never wanted to be revealed. Eren knew this- Zack could tell just by the way he stood in front of them, listening to their calls. 

"The truth."

Chapter Text

Gold was the color of the sky when it was nearing evening. 

Gold was the only color that Zack could see on his way home from school. 

The truth wasn't what he thought it would be. It was different from the "truth", or the story, he had known forever. It was conflicting and odd how much a story could be twisted; it made Zack sick. It was difficult to fully comprehend the true story, and at first, Zack wondered what was so horrible about being able to time travel. What it means to see your next steps long before you make it there. If anything, it seemed really useful. You could change it to your will and have the future you want. 

But that was such a naive thing to think now that he understood the truth. The ability to mess with time, for it to be in the palm of your hand, was not a blessing- no, it was a horrible curse. He realized that when he looked into Eren's eyes after he talked about that; it made Zack wonder how many times Eren had been forced to watch everyone die- to watch himself die. It seemed like if he could've avoided this fiasco, if time traveling could even do anything, it wouldn't have happened. 

Zack honestly isn't too sure whether Eren was different back then, but the sadness in his eyes made it clear that something bad happened, really bad, and had forced Eren into a corner. Whether it was a mental block or physical, it seemed truly horrible. 

Zack had been shown the entire Story of the Titans in the way it actually happened while he laid on the nurse's bed, unconscious. But it seemed that he was only asleep for a moment before needing to leave school- dazed. People had asked him if he was alright, but everything felt blurry and muffled. Like the whole world was just completely tuned out of his mind. 

Zack continued to think, blinking slowly and watching as the ground moved dizzyingly before he suddenly ran into something. Zack looked up and saw a familiar figure standing in front of him, looking down. 

"Oh, hello Zack," Armin smiled down at him. "How was your day?" He asked slowly. Zack blinked a couple of times before muttering a reply, "I'm fine." was all he said. Armin gave him a confused look, "Something is bothering you, what is on your mind?" He asked gingerly. 

Zack shook his head, "It's- it's nothing, really. Just a conversation had me thinking and a little depressed for them, but it's fine." Zack mustered the most reassuring smile possible, but he wasn't sure if it looked nice or made Armin even more worried because his expression didn't shift in the slightest. 

Armin sighed and chuckled, "Don't pity Eren." He shook his head, "Eren is gone now, at least for everyone else, and with that, I know that he has accepted his sorrows and wrong doings as a part of history. And" Armin smiled kindly, putting an arm on Zack's shoulder, "the past is in the past. There's no reason to continue to dwell over what you can no longer change. The only thing you can do now is to move forward and not dwell on it for him or with him." 

Zack's eyes widened. How did he know? Was he watching? "Got it," he said, slightly feeling as reassured as he was disturbed. 

"It's late, you should go home. I won't keep you any longer." Armin said, moving to the side. "I bid you farewell. I'll see you soon." Armin walked past before Zack could return the goodbye, so Zack just lifted his hand and walked away, continuing to walk down the street mixed in with his thoughts. 

The daylight was really beginning to fade when Zack arrived home. He had made a couple pitstops before running into Armin and had waited at the school until they kicked him out. 

“Zack?” His mother peaked out of the kitchen, “why are you so late? You should’ve been here an hour ago! It’s nearly five and it's cold outside. What have you been doing?” His mother interrogated. 

Zack shook his head, “Sorry, I got caught up with my friends.” He lied through his teeth, but it was okay. “Today’s Friday, right? So are we having steak for dinner? And is Dad coming?” 

His mother sighed, “I’m not sure. Your dad’s been super busy in the city. He said there’s paperwork after paperwork coming in like a river and he might get caught up. But, he said he’ll try.” His mother said sheepishly. 

Zack knew that this was going to be the answer, it was the same one every time. He rolled his eyes, “Okay,” he said. “Are we at least having steak?” Zack asked hopefully. His mother sighed but gave a small smile. “Of course.” 

That night, Zack was mentally disturbed. He couldn’t fall asleep. Tomorrow was Saturday, and that was likely when he’d finally go to Shiganshina with Jamie. 

Zack felt like something was tugging at his gut. Like something is going to happen. It felt strong and mighty, pulling and hurting each muscle in his body. It gnawed at his skin and suddenly his bed felt extremely uncomfortable. 

He had been sick and lightheaded this entire day, was he going to throw up? 

No, it wasn’t a cramping feeling. 

It felt like it was more in his chest. 

Yeah, he was having trouble breathing. It was as if his own lungs were collapsing in on themselves. It didn’t feel that great. Was he going to pass out? It felt like it. 

It was as if someone placed thousands of pounds on his body and mind, and he felt weak to it. It was difficult to breathe, and his mind raced with a thousand thoughts.

It was painful, and gross. But it also felt relieving and free. Was this death? 

Zack saw his entire world fall into endless sparks of yellow and black polka dotting everything in the room.