Sure, he had a little bit of Knull's power currently maybe more he will have in the future but he wasn't Knull. Wasn't some brooding nerd god trying to drown the world in darkness.
Black out the sun? Sit on a throne and talk to symbiotes all day?
No thanks.
He rolled his neck, cracking the stiffness out of it.
It'd be nice to have company. Real company.
Not void-stuff.
People.
Like Annie. and maybe more.
The moon had dipped low, barely a sliver behind thinning clouds. Night was on its last breath.
He slowed his steps, the wind heavier now, sweeping his cloak behind him.
He sat down on the edge, one knee drawn up, arms resting lazily across it.
And from here, he could see it all.
Castle Utgard.
A ruin barely standing in the middle of open fields, hemmed in by what looked like dozens of Titans. Some prowled on all fours, others stood like grotesque statues waiting for signal or prey.
circling the castle, cutting off escape.
The sky above them was turning a faint grey-blue — the first signs of morning crawling in.
But it was still dark enough that the flames inside the castle glowed with clarity.
There were people in there. Fighting. Flaring torches, flashes of blades, the sound of distant steel clashing against flesh carried faintly through the wind.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Reiner. Bertholdt. Just about time, isn't it?"
"They'll reveal themselves today," Meeyn muttered.
The castle, barely standing, shuddered as a titan slammed into its side. Debris scattered into the field. The defenders were running low.
He saw her — Ymir — burst out from the castle window, reckless and snarling. A flash of transformation, before she crashed down into the horde below.
Meeyn didn't move.
His eyes flicked to the Titans — still crawling, pacing, looming. All active. At night.
"Beast Titan's playing field commander behind the trees, testing responses, pushing the tempo."
He tilted his head, watching the chaos unfold like a stage play.
"And these poor bastards down there think they're just unlucky."
The flames flared brighter for a moment. Another Titan took a piece of the castle wall with it.
He sat in silence, then shook his head slowly.
"People," he muttered. "Living their little lives. Laughing. Farming. Sleeping. Then one day, poof — some royal bloodline coughs in the wrong direction and you're chewing your neighbor's throat out in the moonlight."
He ran a hand through his hair, the wind knotting it further.
The castle tower collapsed to ruin, finally gave in. Stone gave way with a groan and a roar, a half-century of architecture collapsing into the field in a sudden plume of dust and debris.
Out spilled Titans — hidden under rubble, obscured by chaos — crawling forward like scavengers from the dirt.
They descended upon Ymir's limp Titan form.
"Good," he muttered.
He exhaled, and slowly closed his eyes.
"Let's give her choice."
Historia.
A flicker.
You care about her. Don't you?
A sudden jolt — not physical, but something like it. A spiritual spasm in the air.
Down below, Historia had dropped to her knees amidst dust and falling ash, watching helplessly as Titans clawed at Ymir's battered form.
Her eyes wide, lost.
That was when his voice slipped into her mind.
"Move. Now."
She froze.
"Don't speak. Don't think. Just obey."
Her chest rose, breath caught. She looked around, wild, seeing no one.
"You want to save her? Then do exactly as I say."
She didn't know where the voice came from.
"Take a step forward."
She did.
Her legs moved on their own.
"Now say this: 'Let her go.' Loud."
Historia blinked. Her throat tightened. But she obeyed.
"LET HER GO!"
The Titans froze.
Time itself seemed to shudder.
From atop Wall Rose, Meeyn stood still, eyes cold.
The Titans didn't move. They didn't breathe.
They simply… stopped.
Seconds passed — just enough.
Then the sky broke with the arrival of the Survey Corps. Blades flashed. One by one, the Titans fell, heads severed, limbs torn apart in bursts of steam.
Meeyn watched without emotion.
He shook his head slightly.
"Scout Regiment. Always arriving at the last possible moment," he muttered.
Below, Ymir's Titan collapsed. Steam hissed as her true body emerged from the nape, bloody and gasping — alive.
...
Forest Clearing Near Karanes, Inside Wall Maria
The rain had begun to fall, a soft drizzle that pattered against the makeshift roof of the hut. Annie sat inside, knees drawn up.
The fire Meeyn had told her to keep going crackled faintly in the center of the dirt floor, its warmth barely holding back the damp chill coming through the gaps in the woven branches.
She stared at the flames, her mind adrift. Meeyn had been gone for hours now—maybe a day.
He'd said he'd be back. She believed him. Not because she trusted him—not entirely—but because he'd given her no reason to doubt his word.
Still, the silence was heavy. It left too much room for questions.
What was he doing out there? Scouting, he'd said. But for what? And why leave her here, unguarded, unchained, free to run if she wanted?
In Years, she wasn't thinking about her mission, or of her father's expectations.