Music: theDOGS
By Hiroyuki Sawano and MPI

The outpost was situated just a few kilometers from the sea, it won't take more than twenty minutes to reach there. No one is speaking, we just hear the sound of the horses hitting the ground. The sky start to darken with black clouds, the first signs of the coming thunderstorm. I take a look at Eren. He was frowning, and obviously he is not serene. I feel bad too. This mission is way more dangerous than the previous ones.
While the first invasions, more than two years ago, lone ships were sent, as scouts. The first real fleets were just composed of a few ships. After that, we had to deal with a kind of ship way more adapted to the war: heavily armed, they were equipped with large cannons and they were able to fire submarine missiles. Fortunately, these weapons are not made to kill titans... It looks like the Marleys aren't used to fight them. They may prefer to be the bastards who send them to their victims... These weapons are more accurate than our cannons but they are also very slow to change their target, therefore Eren's titan can easily dodge them. However they are dangerous though: if ever the bombshells reach their target, the explosion could easily tear him off a member or broke him his rib cage. After crossing a hill, we finally see the sea. Then it makes me remember the first time we had this landscape in front of us.

 We were riding out of the wall Maria for a long time. We met only one titan, a medium-sized specimen, with atrophied members. Unable to walk, he tried to crawl, his face to the ground. The furrow he made behind him showed us that he moved extremely slowly, maybe during years. The soil he plowed on his way had already flourished only a few meters behind him.Eren said these few words about the titan:"It's one of our countrymen, who was sent to 'paradise'... It's close to here." I can't bear this kind of remarks. I don't blame Eren for his pessimism, but it make me see the immense sadness he has inside of himself.

 We continue our path until we arrive at the bottom of a wall which drops an imposing shadow to the ground. "Another wall" I think. According to Dr Jäger's story, this wall is the one from where the Eldians were pushed to become man-eaters, the titans. Imagining the fall gives me goosebumps, and the wall suddenly seems sinister to me.

"There's no mistake. This is the place where Eldians were transformed into titans." Eren says, as if he wants to express what we are all thinking. "And, just past there..."

 He didn't need to say anything more. We all know. We get around the wall and we advance on a prominence of the little cliff that stands behind. Then we see it. Finally. A body of water as far as the eye can see, a perfectly smooth horizon... and a vertiginous sensation of immensity. 

 We go down and approach of the shore. Regularly, the water advance a few meters towards us, and then flows back to the see. This repeated movement and the sound it makes are peculiarly soothing. We put off our boots to walk in the shallow water. Obviously Levi doesn't follow us, he's too mistrutful. When Hanji exclaims that she saw something moving, he answers not to approach. "Don't touch it." he says. "It might be poisonous." What a killjoy... Meanwhile Jean was spitting the sea water he tried to drink and Connie was throwing water on Sasha. In front of me Armin doesn't say anything but he's amazed by what he's seeing. He's holding a weird pebble, with a spiral shape. While entering the moving water, I felt really strange. By retiring, the water gives me the impression that I'm moving back whereas I'm standstill. My feet are sinking in the sand that tickles me. Surprised, I can't refrain a little high-pitched scream. Armin turns to me and, by seeing me scared by little waves, he has a sincere and amused laugh. It warms my heart to see him happy. Then he talks to Eren who's alone ahead:

"See? I told you, Eren. There are salt-water lakes so huge that merchants could never get their hands on all of it. What I said was true, right?"

"Yeah... It's so big..." he simply answers.

"Yeah... Look, Eren. Beyond the wall is the ocean. And beyond the ocean... is freedom."

"I've believed that all this time" Eren retorts without turning. "On the other side of the ocean, is our enemy. It's all exactly the same as my father's memories."

He looks at us. His face expresses a deep despair. Even worse, his eyes are filled with tears, ready to fall. I detest above all to see him crying. I feel so useless... We dreamed this moment for so long... See the ocean... It should have been the symbol of our acquired freedom, the first step towards the discovery of the world. However, it didn't make him happy. As he said it, it was just a step towards a new enemy, even more dangerous. Eren points the finger at the horizon:

"Over there... the enemy on that side... If we kill them all, then we... Will we finally become free?"

Yes, Eren. I promise you. We will overcome this opponent. We will get freedom. We will discover the world, together. And, finally we will find happiness.