𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮 || 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐀.

~.* Chapter Fifty: Torn Souls *.~

     "Now, where did I leave off?"

     Finding myself distracted, I backtracked to the topic we were originally discussing while noticing my body being older than before. Maybe just around the time we joined the cadets. "Well... You explained the Power of the Titans still exists due to the Founder Ymir obeying King Fritz for 2,000 years straight."

     "Oh. Right," he remembered before we both looked at the scene before our eyes. "He burned her home, killed her parents, and ripped her tongue out. Even after obtaining that power, she remained compliant with him."

     "But why?" I asked.

     Eren looked at his palm. "I felt something when I made contact with her in the Paths. It was... surprising. The Founder Ymir loved King Fritz."

     What..?

     "That's what kept Ymir bound after 2,000 years."

     We both turned around, heading towards the door that would lead to another precious memory of the two of us. I found myself facing one of my most precious memories that took place in the beautiful orange evening sky, with no walls blocking the horizon.

     "You know, I can't understand the deepest depths of the Founder Ymir's heart," he said, now with the grown-out hair he used to have. We continued to walk through the trees as I listened contently. "It was clear that she'd been suffering for the entire 2,000 years. She kept searching for someone to release her, and finally, they appeared."

     I realized that this scene was when Armin and I had confessed to each other with the orange light making our blushes evident. Was this memory important to Eren too if he was showing it to me?

     "It was you and Mikasa."

     "Huh? Did you say me and Mikasa?"

     "Hm. So you weren't listening, dumb lil' sis."

     "You were born just seconds before me-- Whatever... But I was listening!"

     Uncrossing my hands, I looked over from Eren to the scene of me saying something. I was pouring my heart out to Armin flusteredly, although, I couldn't hear anything. "But why Mikasa and I? What was so important about us?"

     Eren could only look up at the orange sky. "Well... Only the Founder Ymir knows that. In your case, it may be your connection to the paths. Mikasa... I don't know what she did. What I knew for certain is that the outcome Mikasa brought about is what I kept moving forward to reach."

     I looked over at my brother as he looked down. "I slaughtered humanity and caused Eldians to kill each other on Paradis. I dragged my friends... my sister... into combat... without even a hint to know if they'd survive."

     "'Min told me about something at the Medel ceremony, and-- Eren?"

     I paused, noticing his anxious face. Maybe it was what people believed to be a 'twin connection,' but I could feel his emotions slowly break him from the inside.

     "Sis... My head has become such a chaotic mess. The Founding Titan's effect is that there's no past or future. Everything that happens exists simultaneously. I... I didn't have a choice. That one day, in that one singular moment, Bertholdt had to stay alive.