"Where am I?" Eren looked around in a daze.
The wooden beams covered in cobwebs, the gray brick roof, the wooden windows with lattice frames. The scene before his eyes gradually became clearer until every detail came into view.
This was his home, the home he had shared with his parents in the Shiganshina District.
The crying baby was himself.
"Don't be afraid, Eren." Gale's voice came from behind him. Holding the hand of his ancestor Ymir, he quietly watched the scene before them.
"This is the 'past.' Let's see what happened back then."
Seeing Gale beside him immediately put Eren at ease. No matter what happened, as long as Gale was by his side, his heart could calm down.
"Why are we here? Where are Mikasa and the others?" Eren stood beside Gale, looked at Ymir, and found it incredible that he was now standing next to his ancestor from two thousand years ago.
"They're still inside the Coordinate..." Gale replied calmly. "You're only here because of the Founder's power. It'll all be over soon."
"I'll put an end to this."
Gale, Ymir, and Eren stood together as they watched two familiar figures appear once again.
"Is that... me?" Eren frowned as he looked at the long-haired man. How could he have long hair? And how could he have come to the "past" with Zeke Yeager?
Was this really the "past"?
Eren was clearly standing right in front of the long-haired Eren and Zeke, yet neither of them noticed him and simply continued their conversation.
Eren watched in confusion as the two opened the door and left. Then he heard Gale's voice, calmly unraveling everything at once.
"Let's follow them."
Eren followed Gale. Grisha Yeager led the way, followed by the long-haired Eren and Zeke, with the three of them bringing up the rear.
"Your father used the medical knowledge he brought from outside the Walls to treat the illnesses of the influential people within them," Gale said, already knowing the entire story. "You should know that, right?"
"Yes." Eren nodded repeatedly. "He did it to steal the Founding Titan, didn't he? The Owl of the Restorationists entrusted him with the Attack Titan and ordered him to seize it. That's why he went to the Reiss family's underground chapel on the day the Walls fell and devoured the Founding Titan."
"I saw it through my father's memories. I saw him kill the Reiss family."
"Then keep watching."
They continued forward. Grisha used his medical knowledge, which was years ahead of that of the people inside the Walls, to treat the illnesses of the powerful while searching for the location of the Founding Titan.
Then, on a sunny afternoon, Grisha Yeager secretly entered the Reiss estate and made his way to the small chapel.
Grisha looked quite young at the time. He opened the basement door, hesitated for a long while, and finally fled.
"What's going on?" Eren frowned. "Did Dad find the Founding Titan before the Walls fell?"
"Grisha did it for you and your mother." Gale pointed ahead.
Grisha returned to his home in Shiganshina, embracing his young son and his wife Carla, who lived within the Walls, tears streaming down his face.
"He rediscovered love within the Walls, so he gave up on 'restoring Eldia,' wanting only to spend the rest of his life as a good husband and father."
"He loved you and your mother very much."
Eren felt his head spinning. His thoughts were in complete chaos, countless questions racing through his mind.
What confused him most was the long-haired version of himself walking ahead. Was that really him? He felt as though he couldn't even recognize himself.
If this was the "past," then was he in the "present"? What exactly had happened in the "past"?
Eren walked beside Gale, those questions endlessly echoing in his mind.
At the very least, everything he was seeing matched his childhood memories perfectly. He had rescued Mikasa after she lost her parents, and she had come to live with his family.
Before the Walls were destroyed, they had lived peaceful lives.
Until that day, when Eren returned home after gathering firewood with Mikasa.
Mikasa said to Carla, "Eren wants to join the Survey Corps."
Carla flew into a rage, grabbed Eren by the ear, and scolded him. "Do you want to die?"
"I want to know what the outside world is like!" Eren shouted, his eyes burning with determination. "I don't want to spend my entire life trapped inside the Walls without knowing anything! And if no one is willing to take their place, wouldn't all those sacrifices have been for nothing?"
Grisha was deeply moved at that moment.
Eren remembered that the destruction of the Walls was already very near.
Grisha left home after promising Eren that he would show him the basement when he returned.
Several days later, he returned to the Reiss estate and forcibly entered the Reiss family's underground chapel.
Massive crystal pillars supported the enormous underground dome. Aside from Historia, the Reiss family consisted of seven people kneeling underground in prayer.
"I am an Eldian from beyond the Walls, a Subject of Ymir just like all of you!" Grisha Yeager shouted at the Reiss family. "King of the Walls! Kill the Titans attacking the Walls immediately, or my wife, my children, and everyone living inside them will be devoured!"
Frieda Reiss, the inheritor of the Founding Titan, the royal woman with long black hair, hesitated.
But the moment she opened her eyes again, her emotions vanished. The desire to use the Founding Titan's power to save her people surfaced, only for the Vow Renouncing War to immediately take effect, consuming her consciousness.
"We cannot escape our sins," Frieda said calmly. "The day has come for us, the Subjects of Ymir, to receive our punishment."
"Before such overwhelming power, humanity is simply too weak. I learned this from the tragedy of the Titan Wars. Someone must safeguard the power of the Titans so that it does not fall into the wrong hands."
"If the power of the Founding Titan falls once more into the hands of the 'weak,' the world will become a living hell again."
"To protect the world, we must accept our punishment... our destruction."
Grisha shouted desperately, "My home is near the Walls that are about to fall! That's where I lived with my wife and children!"
"The people inside the Walls know nothing about the crimes committed by our ancestors because their memories were stolen from them!"
"To be devoured by Titans without even knowing why? Is that your idea of atoning for your sins?"
"No. No matter how deeply we reflect upon them, the lives the Eldians have taken can never be restored," Frieda replied calmly. "However, the lives we took from the people beyond the Walls could have been prevented."
"Your words are meaningless. Even if you take the Founding Titan from me, you still won't accomplish anything..."
"I know!" Grisha took a deep breath and said painfully, "I can't use the Founding Titan's power. Each of the Nine Titans possesses its own unique characteristics, and the Attack Titan within me is no exception."
"From ancient times until today, the Attack Titan has never obeyed anyone. I know why. It has always fought against the selfish King. Yes, guided by memories, every inheritor has reached this very moment. The Attack Titan can even glimpse the memories of its future successor, meaning it has the potential to know the future."
"The Attack Titan's ability... Such a thing..." Frieda Reiss, the inheritor of the Founding Titan, looked utterly stunned.
"I know you don't know this..." Grisha stared directly at Frieda. "Even as a member of the royal family, you'll still be bound by the Vow Renouncing War and will never be able to freely use the Founding Titan's power."
"I will devour the Founding Titan here, severing the royal bloodline. This is the predetermined future!"
Grisha drew a dagger, but his hand trembled.
"Run!" Frieda shouted to her family.
The Reiss family scattered in every direction while Frieda raised her right hand as if she were about to tear open the skin on it.
But Grisha's dagger slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor.
He could no longer hold it.
Grisha collapsed to his knees.
"I can't do it... I'm a doctor. I heal people... I save lives..."
Terror appeared on Eren's face.
He remembered the memories he had seen. During that period, he and Mikasa had lived peacefully in the capital, to the point that he had almost forgotten.
In the year 846, seven years ago, while returning from the Battle of Wall Maria, they encountered the Titan that Dina had become.
At that time, he, Hange, and Gale had found that Titan together.
He couldn't activate the Founding Titan's power back then. He was merely a Titan shifter who transformed in that abandoned village. Then, the instant he came into contact with Dina's Titan, a torrent of chaotic and complex memories flooded into his mind.
Because so much time had passed, because he had lived so comfortably during that period, he had forgotten that long-buried memory.
The one who made his father kneel to the ground... the one who convinced him to stand back up... was none other than his own future self.
Eren swallowed hard, trembling from head to toe.
Yes... history had to return to its proper course.
He had to convince his father to devour the Founding Titan. He had to kill everyone except Lord Reiss. Otherwise, this world would never exist.
He had to make his father devour the Founding Titan, and afterward he would devour his own father.
Only then could history be set right.
However, Gale placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
"I told you, Eren. This is the 'past.' We don't need to do anything, because I already did the work for all of us."