Marcel sighs as he stands before Annie's crystal. Next to him Armin stares at the crystal.

"How the hell did it come to this?" Marcel says staring at Annie's crystal.

"I doubt this is something she'd like to hear." Armin says standing to his side.

"Probably, but, she can't do much but listen."

Armin nods. "Yeah."

"Three year's ago... maybe... we still might've had a chance to change something." Marcel opens a book on the cover it reads

The Book of Knowledge
Volume 4
By: Marcel Zoe

(Marcel POV)

Three years ago, maybe a bit less.. we captured a ship using Eren's attack Titan. Once they were dropped on land Hange, Levi, and Myself approached them.

Hange ran up. "Hello, Friends from Marley! Welcome to Paradis Island! I'm Hange, here to greet our guests who've come so far from across the sea! Now, step this way and join us for some tea! By the way, we're already friends with this guest that arrived before you!"

I walk up to Hange standing next to Nicolo as Levi keeps a blade aimed at his back. "Isn't that right, Nicolo?"

Nicolo glances to me before turning to the ship's captain. "Captain! Forget about me and shoot these devils!"

Hange turns to Nicolo. "What are you saying, Nicolo?!"

"He's tired of your shitty skit." Levi says annoyed.

"Understand this, you devils! Marley doesn't mingle with filthy blood! Go drink your pig piss with your filthy friends-!"

A gun fires as Marco stands atop a hill everyone looks to him as his guns barrel smokes aimed into the air. "Commander, I believe Marcel has something to say."

I hum. "A bold way to get attention, but I'll take it." I say turning to the ships captain. "You're the Captain yes?"

"Don't address me, filthy pig."

"My Name is Marcel Smith, Northern Section Commander of Paradis Islands' Scouting Regiment. By my command that Titan behind you, the Attack Titan, will destroy your ship and everyone on it. Are you sure you wish to be rude to us?"

"We'll never yield to you devil's! Say hello to-!" Another shot rings out and one of the soldiers aboard the ship killed his captain.

"What are you doing, Yelena?" The ship's second in command shouts.

"Drop your weapons." Yelena orders. Several of the soldiers then stage a coup aiming rifles and smaller hand guns at their comrades. She staged a coup. "Commander Marcel, I'd be happy to accept your invitation. Please, let us have tea."

We agreed, Yelena and her companion Onyankopon sat with Hange and I. They handed us their handgun called a pistol. Hange went to inspect it, however I quickly shut her down extracting the ammunition from it and then extracting my equipment quickly unscrewing components and dismantling the weapon to inspect how it works.

"That's standard issue in Marley. The Marley army has 20,000 soldiers per division. With 50 divisions that's one million. There's also the navy with three fleets, each comprised of 21 battleships. They've made tremendous progress in new weapons and aerial warfare as well."

I take a breath. "Aerial? Shit."

"In other words, vehicles allowing one to attack the enemy from the sky." Onyankapon explained.

"We need a way to counter that." I say annoyed.

Hange's eyes widened. "Huh?! From the sky! If Marley had such capabilities this whole time, why haven't they attacked in over a year?"

"There are two main reasons. One being the pure titans released here. Even with the latest weapons, they would hinder a land assault. They were used as a tool to confine Eldians within the walls, but in turn, they've protected Eldia from invasion. Though dawn is coming soon, and that's when titans are active. But if we're way out here, sipping on tea outside the walls, you must have killed all the titans roaming around. Is that true?" Yelena asks.

"What, you plan to report it to Marley?" I asked with sarcasm.

"No, it blows away my expectations."

"You said there were "two reasons." Whats the second?" I ask.

"Currently, Marley is at war with multiple nations. They can't be bothered with Paradis. You defeated the Warrior unit, the pride of Marley, and captured two of their main weapons, the Colossal and Female titans."

"Her names Annie Leonhart." I say moving to a glare.

"Yes, and Bertholdt Hoover. Marley's many enemies took notice and were quick to unite and declare war."

"If you guys are secret agents who infiltrated Marley, I'm guessing you came from conquered nations? Oh, I'm right?! If you're going up against Marley, I bet you've got big backers!" Hange says.

"We're not secret agents or anything of the sort. We were powerless. Marley took our homes and forced us to be soldiers. We were close to losing hope at ever striking back. Until we met him. A Titan that people of the world feared, calling it a devil. But I saw something completely different... a god. One that gave hope to the powerless. Under Zeke Jaeger's command, we shot our superiors. We're the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers. Our goal; to free the Eldian people."

I note of what she said and mutter to myself his name. "Zeke Jaeger..."

Days later Hange and us Section Commanders, along with our right hands each stood before all of the commanders of the other regiments, Also there was Premier Zachary, and Queen Historia.

"That concludes Zeke Jaeger's requests. For the sake of all Eldians whose existence is threatened..." Hange says before being interrupted.

"Absurd! I don't even want to hear it!" The Garrison Section Commander, Garot shouts.

"He's the Beast Titan! He turned the people of Ragako into titans and incited panic! This is the same person who nearly annihilated the scouts and killed Erwin Smith!"

Zachary speaks. "His one and only goal is to retake the Founding Titan. Since he can't do it by force, he'll attempt it diplomatically."

Pyxis sits back. "He should know we'll expect that. Let's hear what else he has to say."

Finally I stand and speak. "According to Zeke, he has a secret plan to solve the Eldian issue. To carry it out, it requires the founding Titan and a Titan with Royal Blood. With both, the world can be saved. However, he will only reveal the plan when his conditions are met."

"He's insane!"

"He must think we're idiots!"

Eren stands. "He's telling the truth. I remember... the one time I was able to use the Founding Titan's Power was when I touched a Titan with Royal Blood. That Titan had to be my fathers other wife, Dina Fritz. Zeke, Dina's son, must have figured out a way to elude the vow renouncing war. The one single remaining hope for us Eldians; To wake the millions of titans sleeping in the walls and activate the rumbling."

I turn to Eren with annoyance. "Hey... why did you keep quiet about this for so long, Eren?"

"I was concerned about Historia's safety. I couldn't let her get made into a Titan based on some hunch of mine. And The others have a guarantee that no harm will come to them from both Marcel & Commander Erwin. Yes, it was careless of me."

"We'll discuss it later."

"But if it's really true, Zeke's special plan holds up."

Nile Dawk stands up outraged. "Are you nuts?! You trust them?!"

"Yeah! We can't have all those soldiers on the island!"

"We oughta hang 'em all!"

Hange sighs. "No, we can't do that. To protect the island from Marley's Scout ships, we need the volunteers. With their "wireless radio"..."

The effectiveness of their radio was on full display for us days earlier as they displayed how effective it can be at luring others into traps, not to mention the strength of Armin's Colossal Titan. It was fun... back then.

Armin and I sit staring at the crystal before us.

"Certainly, we Eldians are feared and hated by the world." Armin says looking down. "By people across the sea whose faces we don't know. But not everyone across the sea was our enemy. And we found out the world itself was complex and full of unknowns. "

"I'll never forget Sasha asked why Onyankopon's skin was as dark as it was. His response... you remember it Armin?"

"Yeah. That god he spoke of."

"A world of unknowns... foods we've never tried before. Clams, oysters, lobster & crab. Truthfully I think he sorta fell for Sasha and her stomach."

Armin turns to me. "Nicolo?"

"Yeah. He keeps inviting her to the restaurant he's working at."

Armin hums. "I never noticed."

"Yeah. We made a port, built railways... I'm still mad about having to physically build them ourselves."

Armin chuckles. "We grew stronger because of it, didn't we?"

I huff. "The new weapons work great. While you guys fantasized over railways we had a field day with making the weapons. Guns that fire hundreds of bullets at a time. Useless against titans, but against a human enemy, perfect for defense."

"I heard they finished making your invention recently."

"Anti-air canons. If aimed right they can punch a hole through those airships. And we're placing them atop the inner walls of each district. The bombs that are planted in the ground, now there's fields of those inside Wall Maria. Unfortunately... Eren happened. Nanaba died during the attack on Liberio. Sasha's in a coma. The news hit Nicolo hard. I wonder... did we make the right choice?"

Armin hums. "I can't help but think... Could there have been some other path? I thought I understood Eren better than anyone. Even Mikasa. But I don't know anymore. "

I can't help it. Earlier when I went to the graveyard where Nanaba was buried, damn him. Squad Captain Marx, he attacked Nicolo. Honestly, it's a shame. We're supposed to be showing that we're better than Marley, not the same. I infomed him of how it happened. And that Gabi did it. Then when Sasha's & Nanaba's families where there he offered both a free meal at his restaurant in Shinganshina. Levi and Petra are in charge of defending Zeke with thirty other scouts. Hange and Moblit are meeting with Pyxis & Yelena. Gabi & Falco are in a prison inside wall Rose.

"Eren would have done it alone. Whether we helped him or not, the worst would've happened anyways. In any case, we killed a lot of people. The navy, army, and civilians got dragged into it. And just like that, all were lost. But unless that port was destroyed, Marley would've retaliated and attacked the island. We killed any hope for peace, but we had no choice. Just like you guys that day. Hey, Annie...? Say something, please. Marcel would love to hear your voice again."

"I've got to go." I say softly.

Armin turns to me surprised. "Huh?"

"I have a meeting with Marco and Jean. We'll be training Marco with his Titan ability to be able to fight Eren or Zeke if necessary. Armin, I entrust this intel to you, and you alone. I'm leading an investigation on who should replace Eren as the Founding Titan in a few months. I've also been tasked to ask one of the Reiss siblings to take the Beast Titan from Zeke. By the end of summer we'll have the Founding and Beast under new controllers. Hange is to have free reign over all orders given to the new Founding, I will give orders to the new Beast Titan. "

Armin's eyes widen. "You're kidding me."

"Armin, this stunt Eren pulled has drained the last bits of trust we had in him. Nanaba died because he went against our orders and dragged us into a war we can't win. We don't have a navy nor do we have the capacity to fight in the air. We're still building our first planes. If we're lucky we can use the plans Marco & I stole from the Marley army to quicken the process. But until then, our only hope is to use the titans from around Shinganshina."

Armin looks down. "I... I understand."

"I know... don't tell anyone this. Okay?"

Armin salutes. "Sir."

"Besides, when I get moved up to Commander, you'll take my place as Northern Section Commander."

Armin chuckles. "Assuming I'm still alive by then."

"Yeah, and then there's that." The door is then opened by Marlo.

"Section Commander! Your presence has been demanded for by Commander Hange! The people found out about Eren!" Marlo shouts.

"Damnit! Who leaked?" I say walking up the stairs faster.

"We've rounded them up already. It's Floch & Sandra, Sir."

"Those two, again? Alright, I'm on my way. Armin, come on!"

2 Years Ago

Myself as well as the scouts stand before the volunteers at the newly completed port as we await someone.

"Eren, I haven't seen you since you lifted our ship a whole year ago. I'm Honored to work with you." Yelana says bowing respectfully.

"No, you won't be working together. You're lucky enough to see his face." Levi says standing in front of Eren.

"Plenty Enough for me. Today will be a joyous day. The port is complete and we're welcoming our first outside visitor. From Paradis Island's sole friendly nation, Hizuru. Special envoy, Kiyomi Azumabito. "

The Azumabito's formerly a royal family that was linked closely with the Fritz's one of their descendants was trapped on the island and that descendant led to the Ackerman clan. The remaining members currently known after, Levi, Marco & I did a deep dive into records & searching are Levi Ackerman himself, and Mikasa Ackerman. Meaning both Mikasa & Levi are royalty. When negotiations were in order the C.O's of each Regiment their right hands as well as the Section Commanders were all present, as well as Eren, Mikasa, Premier Zachary, and Historia. They came due to an arrangement made through Zeke. They came to use our resources in exchange be our lifeline into the outside worlds politics. His goal is a test run of the rumbling. A small sample of its power, release all of the titans from one of the cities, most obvious would be up in the north and show the world its devastation. Then the next operation Hizuru's cooperation. Strengthening our military until the use of the rumbling isn't necessary. Lastly, the founding Titan and a Titan with Royal Blood must be passed down. That's the third point. Eren was enraged, not wishing to endanger Historia, and without knowledge of the other three the only possible candidate, Zeke or the Azumabito's could have in mind is her. Zeke's plan was to pass on the beast to someone of Royal Blood. Until their 13 year term ends, they must bear as many kids as possible. Even if weaponry advances, the rumbling itself is powerful. Unless we get rid of it, inheriting titans will continue for generations to come. We can't push our problems onto the next generation. It's what led to Zeke turning in Grisha in the first place.

"Very well. I will inherit the beast Titan. As long as the rumbling is tied to our survival."

"After year's of getting trampled on, now we've gotta breed like livestock." Eren mutters. "If that's the price of getting to live, Zeke Jaeger can take his damn plan and shove it!" Eren says in annoyance. "It's too dangerous to gamble on having the rumbling. We need to spend our time on exploring what other options are available to us."

"I propose a trade. Some of our iceburst stone in exchange for engineers, weapons, and training. We'll mine the stone in the north and exchange it to you exclusively. In exchange we need engineers to teach ours how to make modern weapons, weapons from you and any allies you may have until we can make our own, and people to train our troops how to fight off an invading army."

Hange hums. "That's not unreasonable."

"Gaining access to the Iceburst stone should be worth quite the profit. And if it's as rare as Zeke says it is, then it'll go for a price to anyone who wishes to buy it."

Modern Day

Marcel sighs as he and Hange stand outside the door leading to Eren's cell. "He put his hands on you didn't he?"

"Yeah... you know... I still don't know why you went to Marley with Marco." Hange says.

"Premier Zachary said he had a mission for me. To infiltrate the Marleyan Military, and find out if we could make them form a coup alongside us. If I had misstepped even once, I'm sure I'd be dead by now." Marcel says honestly. "But, Zeke still had supporters in the military. Was able to get me assigned to the Panzer unit. Making connections there was far easier. As of now, the Military is filled with anti-Marleyan's. If we played our cards right we could've done over there what we did here with the coup. But I don't think Eren knew that plan. When I found out what he and Zeke had planned to do in Liberio, I sent envoys to my connections." Hange and I both start walking away from Eren's cell. "If we're lucky it'll be a year before Marley is able to return fire at us. But, now that I'm a known spy, I'm sure they'll be weary of those who I was in leagues with. All that damn work, and it's down the drain now."

"Eren said he ate the Warhammer Titan, is that true?" Hange asks.

"No, Marco did. Maybe Eren got some of its spinal fluid, but I know for a fact Marco was fed the War Hammer Titan. He's currently sorting through memories of the previous titans to find a way out of this mess. I was gonna do tests with him, but it seems we have a Floch problem."

Hange nods. "Yeah."

"Has a decision been made?" I ask.

"Dirk will receive Zeke's beast in a month. We have three candidates for Eren's."

"Who?" I ask.

"A boy named Dorian, Section Commander Miche, or your little fly on the wall." Hange says.

"Him? Why is he on the table?" I ask.

"He's proven valuable at learning plans from Yelena and Floch's groups."

"Well, it's Eren's fault Nanaba's dead. We have options now. Come on, we can trust Petra and Levi to kill Zeke if it comes down to it. I'm not opposed to feeding Eren to anyone we trust at this point."

"Yeah. Let's go."

We both walk away from the cells and meet up with Mina & Moblit standing outside the door where Floch is being held. When the door opens Marlowe, Marco, and several other scouts stand around Floch and his group of four leaks.

"You're the ones who leaked the info about Jaeger? Holger, Wim, Louise... you three recruits, and Floch. Why'd you do it?" I ask.

"Because Eren should be freed. He hasn't done anything wrong." Floch says with defiance.

"He killed hundreds of civilians, started a war that we as of right now can not win, and put all of his comrades lives in danger." I say sitting in front of Floch. "Technically speaking he should be executed for high treason, Floch."

"And why were you in Marley?" Floch says making everyone turn to me.

"A top secret mission directly from the Premier. Now that it's over, I am free to share details with the section commanders and those under me. I was to infiltrate the army and contact Zeke. And using him, create an anti-Marley coup in the military. Using this, we'd slowly overthrow the Marley government and replace it with one willing to work with us." Many of them gasp realizing what this would have meant. "The rumbling wasn't our only path... or it wasn't until Eren attacked Liberio and forced us into attacking as well. As a matter of fact, your squad's actions in the city were well reported by Section Commander, Miche & Squad Captain Jean, as well as squad Captains, Connie Springer, and Dirtz. They suggest that you disobeyed orders repeatedly and targeted civilians fleeing the battlefield."

"Eren saved the lives of everyone in the New Eldian Empire." Floch shouts.

"There's no gurantee that the rumbling works as planned and can save us. As of now, it's no more than a myth."

"Only because you're keeping Eren locked up. Do we really have the luxury of wasting time? At this rate, victory will be squandered."

"Because Eren, choose to make us the targets of the world." I speak truthfully.

"Eren Jaeger will lead our country. Please, release him at once." Floch demands.
"Eren Jaeger will destroy our country. He must be detained." I say simultaneously.

We stare each other down. Floch's determination only matched my own. We both keep stoic to the others but our battle has only just begun.  "You will be tried for leaking information about Eren. Have them confined. Floch, you haven't changed."

Floch glares at me. "Nor have you."

"Eren is the exact same as my father. To others who don't understand them, they're devils. The difference is this. Erwin fought for us to beat the titans and reclaim what we lost. Eren fights to defeat those he hates. You are the same coward you were back at Shinganshina. And truth be told, I still wish you were killed by Zeke four years ago." I say which earns gasps from everyone around us. "But, I'll put my personal feelings aside, and speak to you as one soldier to another. The rumbling isn't our only hope. But, it's the only one short-sighted people can see. Think on everything I've said." I say respectfully.

"Then while you'll treat me without emotions, let me say my emotions. You are a traitor. You're feelings are skewed due to that girl. And until she's dead, you'll never be better than me."

"Maybe." I say holding back my anger. "But, I didn't cry when I didn't get to speak to Eren before the raid. Take him." Jean, Connie, Miche, Mikasa, and Moblit take them leaving Marco, Mina, and I alone in the room as everyone else leaves.

"There's more I need to investigate." Hange says.

"Mina, go with Hange." I order.

Hange shakes her head. "No, I'll go alone."

"Fine." I say. She leaves while the three of us sit together. I look to see the pair of Marco & Mina hugging. "Well then. We have our own work to do. Gather your horses, Marco, we need to train your Titan. We'll be headed to the mountains in the north. Location 22." The four of us quickly file out of the room and to our horses where we quickly ride out of a Shinganshina and to the north.

(No POV)

Marcel has Marco transform once they arrive. Marco's Training mainly consists of endurance. Creating weapons, protecting himself, as well as how his crystal reacts to thunder spears and where to target in case Eren comes for Marco. The next few days are spent here by the four having Mina send for Jean, and Connie for resupply on food and water. While here they would be cut off from the goings on in Trost & Shinganshina...

Chapter End.