Shifting Fate

The dust had barely settled before the weight of everything crashed down on them.

I exhaled sharply, rolling my shoulders as I surveyed the aftermath. The Colossal Titan was down, its massive body steaming into nothingness. Bertholdt lay unconscious, a pathetic shell of the monster that had once towered over us. For the first time since this nightmare began, we had come out on top. And for once, no one from our side had died.

Eren stood a few feet away, fists clenched at his sides, his chest rising and falling as if he couldn't believe it. His eyes were locked on Bertholdt, filled with something unreadable—relief, anger, disbelief? Maybe all of it at once.

I walked over, nudging his shoulder. "You still breathing?"

His head snapped toward me, and for a second, I thought he'd lash out. But then his shoulders sagged, and he let out a sharp breath. "We won."

"Took you long enough to notice." I smirked, trying to lighten the mood. "Thought you were about to pass out on your feet."

Eren ignored the jab, eyes scanning the battlefield. The others were still here. Jean was grumbling about how insane that fight had been, Connie was laughing through his exhaustion, and Sasha—of course—was already stuffing food into her mouth. Historia was checking on the wounded, her expression determined. Everyone was alive.

Eren's hands loosened. "This… this isn't how things go. We don't win like this."

"Maybe you've just been losing too much." I crossed my arms, meeting his gaze. "Fate isn't some set-in-stone bullshit. We make our own outcomes. Today, we won because we were better. Because you fought smarter, not just harder."

His jaw tightened, but he didn't argue. Maybe, just maybe, he was starting to get it.

But I knew better than to celebrate. This wasn't the end. This wasn't even close to the end.

My mind was already running a hundred miles an hour, skipping ahead to what came next. The Beast Titan had escaped. Zeke was still out there, and the war wasn't going to wait for us to catch our breath. If this timeline was still even remotely close to the one I knew, then Marley wasn't just sitting on their hands. They'd come. They'd go hard, and the people here weren't ready for it.

Not to mention, Eren… Eren was still Eren. I'd read the entire manga. I knew how this story played out. His hatred, his desperation, his determination—it would drive him to do things even he couldn't imagine right now. Could I stop that? Should I stop that? If I pushed too hard, would I just make things worse?

My ADHD-fueled thoughts were darting in every direction, running through a hundred different possibilities at once. What if I killed Zeke before he could influence Eren? What if I told Historia the truth about the Rumbling? What if I helped Hange and the Scouts prepare for the Marleyan invasion? Was I changing things for the better, or was I just delaying the inevitable?

It was almost funny—people always complained about Eren's choices in the manga, but standing here, living it, I understood. When you're up against fate, when every path leads to blood, how do you decide which one to take?

I sighed, rubbing my temple. One thing at a time. First, we deal with the aftermath of this fight. Then, I start laying the groundwork for what comes next.

I glanced back at Eren. He was still staring at Bertholdt, something unreadable in his eyes. The gears in his head were turning. I could see it. Maybe he wasn't at the breaking point yet. Maybe I could keep him from getting there.

"Besides," I continued, glancing at the horizon, "we're not done. The Beast Titan's still out there."

Eren's grip on his hands tightened again, but this time, it wasn't in frustration—it was in anticipation. "Then we take him down next."

Now that was more like it.

I smirked. "Damn right."

For the first time in a long time, Eren looked like someone who still had something to fight for. And I'd be damned if I let him lose that.