This is My Last War (Attack on Titan // LeviHan) - Part 3

The Founder's Dilemma, Part 1

It's the "hormones", he has learned. Commander Hange has lectured him more than once about it. Yes, he knows how babies are made (knew ten years ago, duh). No, he doesn't sleep around, only wants Mikasa to think he has other options and isn't interested in what she has to offer. When he closes his eyes, he can see her. She has breasts now, they're round and look soft and even Armin can't help but stare sometimes.

Pulling a disgusted face at himself, Eren turns his back on the mirror. Mikasa is not someone he can treat like this - they are like brother and sister, even just thinking of her that way is wrong. It fills him with relief that she doesn't seem to be affected by the hormones too. She never looks at anyone else, even the ones that dare whistle when they see her.

"Keep your head on straight," his brother Zeke laughs when he gets distracted. "This is not our time to settle down, marry, and have kids."

His brother isn't here but he needs him so much right now. He is much wiser than him and has a never ending reservoir of patience. When he tells people what to do, they do it. Together, they will work this out. Right? Right?!

Eren doesn't understand how this works, he doesn't understand any of this. He isn't sure Zeke understands either, but he keeps telling himself that he does because Zeke is very intelligent. Unfortunately, Zeke also has very radical ideas, that never changes. If Eren is the one who doesn't like people, then Zeke is the one who hates them. Their father pulled a number on him, the hurt sits so deep it's a bleeding wound that fills Zeke's heart with the burning desire to take revenge, he doesn't care who has to pay for it. Guilty? Innocent? Those categories do not exist for Zeke Yeager, they're all guilty.

"We'll get it right this time," Eren exclaims.

Tomorrow, they will reunite. Zeke will not remember the times before this, he never does. He always remembers that Eren is his brother though and that he needs him for his plans. Royal blood. It's that simple.

But that's it, isn't it: It's NOT simple. Never before was it necessary to align two fates on the Paths, two sons, two half-brothers to use this power. Never before was it possible to trick King Fritz' will. Never before has a Founder known the Word with which to control an Ackerman.

"The records are spotty," Zeke told him before about that family. "Might as well kill them, they're not on our side."

Nobody quite understands what the Ackermans are and how they can be controlled but many try to understand. Now, Eren has an ace up his sleeve: He saw "the word" in the sand, a string of numbers. Is he the first Founder to hold the key to the Ackerman's powers? Frankly, it gives him a great deal of anxiety, it feels like it could backfire spectacularly.

"They attach themselves to people and become their lap dogs," Zeke claimed, full of disdain. People that are not free... he despises them. Besides, Levi Ackerman came this close to ending his life several times and has ended it in other versions of their story - though he has no ability to see the world like the Founder, Zeke hasn't forgotten and he will not forgive.

Strangely enough, there is still nothing about the Ackermans in Eren's inherited memories, as if somebody has hidden everything of relevance away, for good. He thinks it might be connected to King Fritz' Vow, but Eren doesn't understand. They can walk on the Paths when sent there by someone who knows "the word", even without the Founder's consent. The good news: He can wipe their memories once they enter the Paths, which he cannot do as long as they remain in the physical world. The bad news: He doesn't know what else they can do once on the Paths. If Zeke is correct, they're the enemy.

And yet, Eren cannot believe Mikasa would ever hurt him. But he isn't sure what will count more in the decisive moment: Her love for him or her Ackerman heritage?

Pacing back and forth, back and forth, Eren counts the seconds until Zeke returns to Liberio and the next phase of his plan can be set in motion.

This time. They would get it right this time. Right? Right?!

**

NOTE:

In case you have forgotten/need to boost your memories/have not (yet) read it:

In Part 2 of this story ("A Devoted Heart"), we learned that there is "a word" with which the Ackermans can be controlled, but only when it is spoken by the one person the Ackerman has pledged his soul to. Strangely, the word is a string of numbers: 3735928559. We know that it sends Ackermans to the Path when they're asleep and that they're vulnerable there: the Founder can wipe their memories if they enter the Coordinate's domain (and only then).
There is more: In chapter 18 of part 2, Levi encounters an Ancestor on the Paths - they have a kind of stronghold there, a house made from a white shimmering material. The man he encounters thinks "it's time" and tells Levi hat his task as the last male Ackerman is to control the Founder if they have strayed. He has to kill him in that case.

In the last chapter of Part 2, Eren saw the numbers in the sand (Hange put them there for Levi to see so that he would stop being afraid of "the word"). That means he can control Mikasa though the extent of that control is still unclear.