Reiss family

Preparations were made as the Survey Corps readied themselves for an undercover mission inside the Reiss family. As the enemy outside the walls had currently been halted, they now had the chance to root out the filth inside of the walls.

Erwin had gone off to negotiate with the few in the government he could trust, including Pixis, while Levi, Petra, Eren and Akane had gone off towards the Reiss family. The rest of Akane's crew had been left to help Erwin with his plan, as they were far better in such work than she was. Lafitte was perfect for hidden attacks, Shinobu for poisonings of corrupt officials, Soren for ambushes and Ban for finding evidence to blackmail those that were useful.

Ban had suggested the option himself, the same wide grin on his shit eating face he usually had when he was up to no good.

Akane had just laughed it off, completely sure there wasn't even anything good to be had from a pigs pen called the nobility.

So she had joined up with Levi, as they were now but a mile distance away from a village near the Reiss manor. The manor itself was not far away, close enough to be sensed with Haki. There was a surprisingly low amount of people moving inside the manor, making Akane wonder where they had wandered off to.

Spreading her observation Haki, Akane could feel the distinct lack of presence inside of the manor. To be completely honest, there was no one inside. The only people present were those she had seen, the gardeners and a few guards.

"The place is odd."

Akane shared, earning a eyeful of Levi's glare.

"That's because the place we are investigating is not the manor."

Levi countered, as they entered a small village near the Reiss manor. On the edges were but the remains of a building, one that had clearly been destroyed many years ago.

"An investigation report a few years back have led others to believe that a bandit attack was the cause of this. Erwin has voiced his disagreement on that statement after the revelation of the Reiss families background. Something is clearly off about this place."

Not refuting Levi's words, Akane once again used her haki, sensing her surroundings and soon discovered an empty space below them.

"There is a cavern beneath us."

Searching the area for an entrance, they quickly found it beneath the altar. Descending the stairway, they ended up in a cavern fully covered in the same hardened crystals as those Annie had used to harden herself. The only difference was that these crystals were giving of light, illuminating the cave.

The most surprising though was not the crystal walls, the crystal pillars or the huge platform with chains on the side. No, it was a giant crack in the very fabric of space, one that had enlarged to take up half of the cave.

The other side of the crack wasn't visible, but Akane was sure that another world was present there.

"Another damnable thing showed up..."

Levi muttered, his hands already on his swords, ready to move if anything unexpected appeared.

"Not something your people could create, I'm sure."

Akane replied, stopping just a foot away from the crack. Placing her hand outward, she could feel the energy rippling through it, as Tsukuyomi reverberated in response.

"I knew you were responsible. Though I am sure I am still not ready to know more yet."

Pulling out Tsukuyomi, she felt it tremble once more in response, seemingly agreeing with her.

Her eyes were glued to something only she could see, thin white lines extending from the crack in the void. There were only a few, spreading out in multiple directions. These lines had been invisible to her before, but now they were spread across the room, some sticking to the people present before her, while the rest disappeared through the walls.

Yet the most curious thing was the convergence happening, as most of the lines were connected to Eren. Curious indeed. It also arose some questions in her that she was happy to get some answers to. Immediately that it.

"Well, since we are here anyways, let's get to it before I deal with this big crack."

Glancing at Eren, she gestured for him to come. Looking at Levi and Petra for their response, receiving but a glance from them, Eren stopped besides Akane.

"Now then. This isn't going to hurt, so I would recommend you relax."

Akane smiled gently as she stabbed the confused Eren with Tsukuyomi in the chest.

Her blade stabbed in deep, yet the other end did not show from his back. A space blue energy void had been created around the blade, black and white sparks and stars flickering every so often. Much like the bigger one besides her.

Looking down at the handle sticking out from his chest, Eren wanted to say something, but his mouth didn't move.

"Relax. I'm back in a sec."

Akane chidded, as she let her conciousness flow into her blade. She had tried many things before with Tsukuyomi, bringing others into her own mindscape being the more prevalent thing. Yet now she did the complete opposite. She entered the mind and soul of her opponent, finding the source of Eren's titan powers, as well as the person and creature behind it.

The lines she had seen were converging ever more up till the point they faded into the background into a big, tree-like figure. In between Akane and the tree was a girl, about the same height and possibly age as Akane herself. The girl wore tattered clothes, her light blonde hair cut into short bangs as a cloth headband kept it mostly out of her face. The girl just stared silently at Akane as the latter took in the view around her.

A desert scenery filled the rest of the space around them, as the lines that had disappeared were drawn to the tree and connecting to it. Akane's first impression of the lines changed, as they appeared more like pathways than lines at the moment.

"Ha! How interesting."

Akane grinned, her eyes transfixed on the tree. If she let her attention focus on a single pathway, a person could be seen in her mind, meaning that all these paths were people, a race that was all connected to each other.

It was beautiful in a way.

Beautiful but terrifying.

If all these people were connected, then if someone had the means to alter them, then it would spell the end for all the people that were represented by these very paths.

"I guess it would be annoying if titans were spread all over the new world. Would be interesting to see them fight Big Mom though, or Kaidou."

Shrugging, Akane stepped forward as Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu had at some point appeared beside her.

"I need to keep the promise."

The girl said.

"I have no clue what promise you have to keep, but if you are dead, which you are, then you have the right to lay down your responsibilities and let everyone else carry them. The dead should get some rest."

Akane replied, as she stopped in front of the girl with her Zanpakuto in her hands.

Meanwhile Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, each holding their own blade in hand as well, were standing besides the tree of light, ready to sever its connection.

"The titans need to protect the island."

The girl stubbornly replied, her feet firmly planted in the ground.

"Tell me your name."

Akane asked, her katana not moving an inch from the girls neck.

"Ymir Fritz."

"Then, Ymir Fritz. The island is safe. Your people are safe. Close your eyes, Ymir, and enjoy your rest, as well as the reward of returning to the circle of life. You are free."

Not replying, Ymir just kept her eyes on Akane, the stubbornness slowly fading as a tiredness and peace replaced it. Nodding silently, Ymir could feel the katana move from her neck as the pommel of the katana tapped against her head. A symbol appeared as Ymir's body became transparent.

At the same time, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu had cut down the tree, the paths collapsing as they all retracted into space.

Letting her thoughts follow a few threads, Akane could see her actions weren't as reckless as she had thought they would be. The people remained the same, living as they were before.

Ymir's body slowly faded, as she cast one more glance at the white desert, as tears slowly fell.

"I'm glad."

Ymir muttered as a smile finally graced her lips as she completely disappeared.

As the world began to collapse and Akane and her Zanpakuto were returning to her own body, a Centipede-like creature was chasing after them, as it left the desert behind and invaded Akane's minds cape.