(15) Revelation

Eren took a shaky breath as he observed his surroundings. He was now facing trial in Military Court, and surrounding him were both familiar faces and unfimiliar faces.

Soldiers from all three factions stood around him, a few from the crowd he recognised were Commander Pixis, Commander Erwin, Captain Levi, and also Strauss, Mikasa and Armin.

Aside from the soldiers, there was a designated spot for civilians and he recognised the church attire that some of them wore.

"Well then, let us begin" Eren turned to face the judge as he spoke and couldn't help but swallow nervously.

"Eren Jaeger, yes? You're a soldier sworn to sacrifice your life for the good of humanity, correct?",

"Yes sir!", Eren hurriedly nodded in agreement.

"This tribunal is a special occasion. It is held under military law, not civilian. Therefore the decision is all up to me. Your fate will be decided here. Any objections?"

"No sir."

"Good, then what will be decided here is which military regiment shall gain custody of you. With that said, I'd like the military police to offer their proposal."

Hearing the judge, a man stepped forward from where the military police officers were positioned.

"Yes sir! I, Nile Dawk, Commander of the military police would like to propose that Eren Jaeger be executed immediately. While he has used his power to help humanity, not only has he proven to not have complete control of this power, it is almost certain that he's an accomplice to the three traitors who also have a similar power to him! Pushing all of those factors aside, even if he were not an accomplice, or if he were to somehow learn to gain control of his power, his very existence threatens to spark civil war within humanity!".

"I agree, he's deceived us and must be put to death immediately!", Everyone turned to see a Priest shout from Nile's side.

Eren's heart ran a beat faster at the thought of his impending doom. He didn't mind dying for humanity, but this wasn't dying for humanity. He was going to die because people feared him. He was going to die before he could even do anything.

"Order!", the judge responded and the priest simply clenched his teeth and remained silent. He turned to the side where the survey corps members stood and spoke to them next. "Let's hear the proposal of the survey corps."

Erwin stepped forward and proposed his offer.

"I, 13th Commander of the survey corps, propose that we welcome Eren as a member of our armed forces and use his powers to retake Wall Maria. I do not believe Eren to be an enemy of humanity. If he were that would mean cadets Strauss and Mikasa Ackerman would know something, as they've lived with Eren since their early childhood. Further more, Strauss Ackerman was one of the cadets who actually reported the traitors."

Multiple voices erupted from the crowd as soldiers and civilians alike argued amongst themselves. It wasn't until the judge smacked his hands repeatedly on the table did everyone stop talking. The judge read the paper in his hand for a few seconds before speaking once again.

"It says in this report that initially, Eren Jeager was not in control of his titan form, and attacked his friend, Strauss Ackerman, resulting in an injury. Is Strauss Ackerman present to confirm this?"

A look of horror flashed on Eren's face as he heard the statement. He didn't remember any such event. 'I... did that to Strauss?'

Hearing his cue, Strauss stepped forward, gathering everyone's attention as every person looked at him with curiosity. He was the other recent headline, a human who had surpassed his limits and could defeat titans with his bare hands. While Eren Jeager, brought about strife, Strauss Ackerman brought about hope.

"Yes sir. That is in fact true. However, if I may speak, I'd like to address some things that I believe are note-worthy.", the judge nodded at Strauss, approving his request to add his own information.

"First off, the mission to seal the hole was not Eren's first transformation. He transformed into a titan before hand and his transformation was the very reason that quite a few lives were saved. If he had not been there then a lot more casualties would have ensued.", Strauss stopped for a second, taking a breath before he continued.

"Second, I'm sure you're all aware that I have awakened powers of my own. With my bare hands I am now able to kill titan's like it's child's play. Should Eren ever go berserk, I'm more than confident that I'll be able to stop him."

Murmurs spread through the crowd as Strauss took one final deep breath and prepared for the chaos he was about to ensue.

"With that said, I think I've been polite enough..."

He turned to the soldiers and civilians opposing him and so did they, except they looked at him in confusion.

"Every last one of you bastards disgust me! We're closer than we ever have been to freedom, yet at the same time we're closer than we ever have been to total destruction, and you tell me you'd rather sit inside these cramped walls and wait for the titans to come knocking and eat us all for dinner than fight!? Your cowardice is a greater betrayal to humanity than anything Eren's ever done! You're the one's who should be put to death!"

Outrage erupted in crowd as the Priesr from before stepped forwards.

"What nonsense! Clearly you must be a traitor too, you want to destroy the walls, God's gift!"

A fierce white flame erupted around Strauss as he ascended into the air slightly, people gasped as they watched him in awe.

"A gift from God my fucking ass. You know damn well what those walls are and what's inside them. How about I let everyone else know?"

A fearful look etched itself onto the Priests face as sweat poured down his face, he immediately burst forward and shouted at Strauss.

"No! No one must know!"

"Silence!", a loud roar erupted from the judge as he smacked down his hand forcefully. The judge turned to Strauss with an angered look. "Cadet, you realise this is insubordination, and that you will be punished for this?"

Everyone looked towards Strauss as if he was insane and out of his mind.

Strauss didn't seem to care for the man's warning one bit as he simply turned back to the crowd and resumed his speech.

"This "church" has been spouting bullshit about the "Gift of God" for far too long. What those walls really consist of are titans! The same titan's that have been eating us for years just for simple pleasure!"

Once again the crowd erupted as even the Commander's and captains in the room widened their eyes in shock. Everyone assualted the priest in a barrage of questions, but the man's response simply confirmed Strauss' accusations.

The priest grabbed the musket of the military policeman which was loaded and ready to fire. It's intended use was to execute Eren right then and there on the spot when it was announced they could do so. The priest aimed the musket at Strauss who remained up in the air and shot it, as a loud bang fired out acrossed the room.

"Strauss!", Mikasa, Eren and Armin all shouted out in worry. The look in their eyes turned from one of worry to one of amazement as they saw him holding the buckshot in his palm, with only a small bruise where it landed.

The priest fell on his bottom as he watched Strauss descend in fear. The cold gaze coming that stared into his very soul terrified him.

He landed on the middle platform, where Eren was handcuffed to a pole. Strauss grabbed his handcuffs and ripped them right of freeing Eren as he looked up at Strauss in bewilderment.

"The church lied to you but that's not it! The newspapers you read are a lie! The truth of the titans that you know are a lie! The very histroy that you have been taught, is a lie!"

Strauss reached inside his jacket, and took out two books as he handed them to the judge.

"It is to my awareness that you hold complete control over all three Military Factions. These two books are the testimonies of Grisha Jaeger, Eren's father. He was a man who was from beyond these walls. A man who knew the truth. I'd like for you to share the contents of these two books with everyone else here."

The highest ranking commander nodded a bit nervously as he reached for the books. The cadets speach had managed to get even his heart racing in anticipation.

-------

The once rowsy court room all lay dead silent with their jaws wide as the judge had finally stopped reading. Here, before their very eyes the truth about this world was revealed and quite frankly it was almost too disturbing to believe.

Strauss looked at the reactions of various figures. He predicted that people would struggle to digest the truth so he got ready for one final push.

"And now you know the truth, tell me what you will do? Will you continue acting like sheep, just obediently being ordered around or will you start acting like humans for once and fight for control over your fate!? I know your insignificant brains can't think too hard so I'll dumb it down even more, will you die for a false king, and a royal family who doesn't care one bit about your well being, or will you stand beside me as I lead humanity to freedom and glory!?"

Almost instantly after Strauss finished his final word, the voice of Pixis sounded out.

"I've always valued the good of humanity more than my life. Yet as I watch you, a mere cadet, you've accomplished more for humanity than I ever have in my lifetime. Thus I can only come to one conclusion, and that is that I must stand beside you and aid you!".

Hearing Pixis' declaration, many more voices followed suit, announcing their alleigance. But Erwin simply looked on with an empty gaze.

'The answers to all my dreams. They're right here. I've found everything out. I should be happy. Overjoyed even. But... what was it all for? The countless soldiers that died for this cause. If I knew that one day the answers would just drop themselves in front of me... maybe they...'

He looked down as he felt an elbow nudge him in the side. He saw Levi with a similar expression.

"Oi, Erwin. I know what you're feeling cause I'm feeling it too. What did they all die for right? Goddamn, this is a shitty feeling. There's nothing we can do though. What's done is done, so unless you really want to waste their sacrifices, then announce that you'll stand next to that damn kid in his endeavour."

A look of realisation flashed across Erwin as he listened to Levi. For a man with such a crude mouth, he had somehow always found the right words to say.

"I, Commander Erwin Smith, will support Strauss Ackerman in any way, shape or form in his endeavour!"

The court room erupted in roars as one by one, each person chose to side with Strauss. Even the reporter who had been fabricating the newspapers for the corrupt government this whole time.

Strauss then looked at Eren, and stretched his hand out, offering to help him out. The latter simply shook his head and sighed as he took the outstretched hand.

"You're not alright in the head, you know that right?"

Strauss simply smiled as he helped his friend out.

"I don't think you're one to talk."

Suddenly the glass ceiling shattered as a tall man dropped in, he had brown hair and looked to be decently aged from the wrinkles on his face. He wore a hat and had two guns in each hand. A crazy smile found itself on his face.

"Sorry, but the king has ordered for the execution of everyone in this room"