Chapter Text
[year 842]
Ksaver wheezes loudly, coughing. It startles me for a minute, and I don't know what to do, so I look at him in the eyes while he hacks and coughs, trying to find his bearings, and he clears his throat. "The day is approaching when you will inherit my Titan; my term is almost over," Ksaver's voice echoes in my head. I stare at him with the baseball in my hands, shaking.
“You know the founder can alter the bodies of any subjects of Ymir. Around 100 years ago there was a plague; it was very lethal and killed many, many Eldians, but King Fritz altered their bodies to be immune, and they stopped getting it. It’s amazing, right?”
I throw the baseball over to him, and he catches it. “Think about it. Can someone with the founder alter the bodies of Eldians so they can’t have children anymore?” I ask.
Ksaver's eyes go wide, and his hands fall to his side and weaken, causing the baseball to drop out of his hand onto the dusty red clay ground with a thud and a few small bounces, causing it to roll away. Ksaver's hands shake, and he falls to his knees, looking at me in disdain and back at the ground.
“Yes. Yes, they can.”
My eyes widen as well, and my lip quivers. “What’s wrong, Ksaver??”
Ksaver's eyes go glossy, and he looks back at me with his lips quivering as well; his chest heaves out a few times with a hic sound.
“When I was young, I married a Marleyan woman, and we had a son together. Oh, it was such a beautiful family, but I had to hide my identity. I loved them so much and so dearly, but my wife ended up finding out about my heritage, and... she slit the throat of my son, and then she killed herself in the process, abandoning me and leaving me by myself. I wanted to kill myself in the grandest way possible, but I wanted it to be worth something, so I became a warrior and dedicated my life to research on Titan shifting, playing catch with you, the Eldians, war, and the Founder. everything.”
I stare in shock; I hear my pulse pounding in my body, and my ears ring.
“I saw my dead son in you always… Thank you, Zeke. Thank you for making my term worth living and helping me die in the best way possible.” Ksaver looks up at me after he finishes talking to me with tears of joy in his eyes.
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
The day of the inheritance ceremony arrives, and Ksaver is chained to the ground on a pedestal; the room is cold. There are Marleyan soldiers surrounding us on the sidelines, eager to watch.
I'm holding a syringe filled with spinal fluid that will turn me into a pure Titan. I know what comes next; I'll eat him and gain his power.
"Eat me," he says. And so, with tears in my eyes, I do. I shove the needle into my skin.
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
I wake up to applause from the Marleyan soldiers and cheers from them. I have sore joints and muscles, and I have a bitter taste on my tongue. I'm lying on my side, and I see Ksaver's glasses on the ground. I reach out for them weakly, and I unfold the temples of the glasses, looking at the gleam of the lenses, and my throat goes dry. I put the glasses on, causing them to immediately fog up from my heavy breathing and raised body temperature.
I hiccup a few times and cough, holding my stomach with both hands, and I roll over onto my stomach with glossy eyes.
I've lost everyone I've ever held dear to me. I don't remember anything after I injected myself, but the last thing I saw was tears of joy in Ksaver's eyes before I ate him. Soon I'll be whisked away to paradise. My duty is to fulfill the wish I and Ksaver had made when we were younger, to peacefully euthanize the Eldians by hindering their ability to reproduce through Ymir Fritz and making peace with the entire world.
─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───
Liberio is in an uproar; whispers of me inheriting Ksavers Titan spread like wildfire throughout the city and will be reaching the global alliance soon. People line the streets, cheering and chanting my name. They throw confetti at me while I'm riding in a carriage led by horseback. I'm seen as a person for once. I'm honored but guilty, almost horrified.
We reach a stage in the middle of Liberio, and I get helped out of the carriage and led up the stairs by an officer, and there is a crowd of Marleyans waiting in front of the stage. More are arriving at this moment, and world leaders sit on the sidelines eagerly watching me step up, including the king.
I freeze for a moment.
The king means the earl is here. Eugene is here. I immediately start scanning the crowd and sidelines here for him. I stand on the podium; the warm sun beats down onto my face, causing my glasses to leave a glare. I look out at the crowd again. I clear my throat, causing a small amount of feedback into the microphone, and the chatter immediately dies down.
"Thank you," I murmur into the microphone. The crowd is expecting a grand speech, but all I can manage to do is a weak smile and choke out a few words.
"I sincerely thank every single person for all of the time it took for me to get to this moment," I force myself to say. "Now, we will work towards a better future for all Marleyans. We will fight. We will take back Paradis and eradicate every single one of those island devils for the greater good of us, the world, and every single human being." I lie; I'm only saying what the crowd and Magath want to hear.
The crowd erupts into cheers again.
I thankfully don't remember tasting Ksaver's flesh in my mouth, but I can't shake the feeling of his bones crunching between my teeth. My newfound power is a prison, but at least he is a part of me, and I have his memories. I have to be strong for the future we both dreamt of.
With a deep breath, I lift my head and look out into the crowd.
"Let's start with making a plan to invade paradise." I announce, The crowd cheers again, and for a moment, I feel hope. Maybe this is the first step towards redemption. the ability to create world peace.