Towards Hope(1)

[A few months later]

Eren was walking down the steps inside the Reiss Chapel, as he had walked so many times before. His footsteps on the uneven steps echoed like a distant drumbeat, punctuating the stillness. Beside him was her Mikasa, who naturally stuck to him as usual - unless he ordered her to attend to other matters.

Erwin Smith had previously judged the girl to be a good bodyguard for Eren, considering her combat prowess. Given her affection towards Eren, it was more likely for titans to vanish than for Mikasa to betray the boy. While things felt safe within the walls, the Survey Corps Commander could not risk Eren dying.

Not when especially the fate of humanity more than ever laid in Eren's hands.

It had been a few months since the government was overthrown. The ruling Assembly and some of the old nobles had been removed and punished, but a large amount of the aristocracy remained; subject to the power of the new Queen - Historia Reiss. Erwin had explained that it would be unwise to make an enemy out of every noble for the time being, they wouldn't want to make them into cornered rats. They had more pressing matters to deal with.

As a result, with guarantees to their property and wealth as long as they recognized the current Queen, most nobles were content to turn a blind eye despite their displeasure. 

Research records secretly preserved by the interior brigade had also been uncovered, leading to the development of better weapons. Even the shining stones in the cavern he was about to enter had been distributed to the public, improving productivity as they seemed to be an endless source of illumination. 

Eren walked through a few more heavily guarded doors and arrived finally at the final gate that stood between him and the underground cavern. 

He surrendered his weapons and gear to the guards, who after thoroughly checking them for concealed weapons, then unlocked the doors and waved them onwards.

As Eren passed the final checkpoint, a titan - fully chained and suppressed came into view.

It was the titan Rod had transformed into.

Since it held the key to discovering how Eren could control the Titans, the security around the area was unbelievably tight. Titan slaying blades were banned in this area, as the Survey Corps could not risk the Titan being killed. The existence of this titan was also only known to a select few.

Eren climbed down the flight steps. He found the target he was looking for,

"Yo, Eren." Hange waved to him.

"Any progress?"

"None. We have already pieced together what we can from the two incidents you've shared which allowed you to control titans. The trigger might be extreme danger - the common denominator between the two cases, but I don't think we should try that. For obvious reasons …"

Mikasa was already staring daggers at Hange. 

"Now, about this Titan Rod transformed into, it's a real standout. The muscle mass and structure scream high battle capability. I'm betting that serum he injected himself with had a hand in this transformation." Hange said, her voice quivering with anticipation. "Oh, and what's your take on my Thunder Spears? I've got a feeling they'll be a real game-changer when you're duking it out with the Armoured Titan."

"The Thunder Spears you developed are excellent. But I`m confident of handling Reiner by myself. If only we could find the Reiss Vault, but we barely have any leads." Eren sighed.

The incident had left them with more questions than answers.

How were the serums created? 

Who created the titan serums?

Why was it that some titans could turn back into humans and other's can't?

With such power, why did the Royal Family not act to save Shiganshina when attacked?

Pondering over the questions, he looked on at the bound titan one last time. A mix of emotions rose up inside him. 

"I can't wait to enter the Reiss Vault once we've found it." Hange interrupted his thoughts. "Can you imagine what lies in wait there? Maybe there are also abnormals that we have never seen before. I wonder what they would look like."

"If there are, I`ll make sure to capture them alive for you." 

"Really. You're the best~ . What kind of abilities do you think they would have? Do you think they can turn back into humans at will too? Do you think they breed? If they breed, I must do an in-depth study of the process and record the details and …" 

Eren did not reply, he simply dragged a fellow researcher in the vicinity and told Hange the person was interested in learning more about the nature of titans.

With that, the poor 'victim' was left to the beginning Hange's 10-hour titan lecture while he slipped away. Every time Hange entered the 'mode', it was dangerous to hang around her. Doing so would mean losing one's sanity.

Meanwhile, Eren's thoughts had already drifted to another place.

'The Founding Titan can manipulate the memories of all Majority Races.'

This was what Erwin had shared with the inner core of the Survey Corps. After Eren was rescued, they had a debrief where they pieced together the information they had gathered. The information was given to Levi through Kenny at his dying breath. There were several conjectures as well which lent strength to this theory, so there was no reason to doubt.

The conclusion they reached was that only a Royal Blood possessing the Founding Titan would be able to manipulate and wipe memories. 

There were also other conjectures that only a Royal Blood possessing the Founding Titan could also control titans aside from memory manipulation, but this did not explain how Eren, who was not of Royal blood, and possessed the Founding Titan was able to control titans for a moment at times. It also did not explain why the Royal Family did not act to defend and save Humanity when Shiganshina was attacked. Armin had suspected it may have to do with a certain ideal that the Ackermans disagreed with the King on, which led to their persecution - but they needed more proof.

There were also guesses that there might be a loophole that allowed Eren to access the power, but the theory was shelved for now due to lack of evidence.

Eren couldn't help but wonder …

… if he was able to access the coordinate power again, would it also allow him to modify the memories of other people beyond controlling titans? Would the effect be temporary or permanent?

Eren furrowed as he felt a headache coming on, there were simply just too many things he did not know.

"Are you okay?" The ever-protective Mikasa pressed a hand to his forehead, her eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah. I`m probably just tired."

"It looks painful. You should stop pushing yourself so hard."

Eren nodded. The girl was simply too nice to him. Every time he thought about what a jerk he had been towards her as a young child, guilt would consume him.

He had promised the girl that there was something he was going to tell her, once all this was over.

They were almost there, once they took back the walls successfully, he would make his feelings known.

No more running away.