Chapter 108: Playthrough Two! The Long Dream Under the Tree!
Shiganshina District, outside the Walls.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, warm upon his face. A gentle breeze carried the scent of grass.
Eren's eyelids fluttered. He slowly opened his eyes. The familiar canopy of leaves, the patch of blue sky visible between the branches.
"Eren?" A young, familiar voice sounded beside him.
Eren turned his head. Black hair, calm eyes, and that red scarf. It was Mikasa, sitting quietly beside him, watching him.
Eren felt a bit dazed. "Mikasa…" he began, his voice raspy from sleep, "your hair… why is it so long?"
Mikasa looked confused. She reached up and touched her long hair. "Eren? Are you still half-asleep?"
Half-asleep? Eren frowned. "No…" he mumbled, his eyes blank. "I just… feel like I had a really long… long dream…" He tried to recall the dream, but his mind was a fog. The fragments of memory were shrouded, impossible to grasp. "What did I dream about?" he asked himself, and perhaps Mikasa too. "I can't remember…"
"Eren—" Mikasa's voice came again, tinged with a subtle worry. "Why… are you crying?"
Crying? Eren started to raise a hand to his cheek, but felt a faint, strange sensation in his right palm, as if he were holding something. He opened his hand. An emerald-green gem lay there quietly, emitting a soft glow, as if alive. But… deep within the pure green, a tiny speck of darkness was coalesced.
"What is this?" Eren looked at the gem, puzzled. He had never seen it before.
The moment the thought formed—VMM!!!
The emerald gem suddenly flared! The light wasn't blinding, but it carried an irresistible force that instantly pierced his consciousness!
"NnghAAAAAHHH—!!!"
Excruciating pain flooded his mind. Countless images, sounds, and emotions poured in like a deluge! Magical Girls! Witchification! The confrontation with Zeke! The euthanasia plan! All the memories hidden by the fog were now crystal clear. The end point of Soul Gem corruption wasn't death, but an even deeper despair. Armin's theory about Witchification, the suffocating possibility… the inescapable fate of becoming a Witch that awaited almost everyone he cared about!
"Huff— haah— haah—" Eren shot upright, gasping for breath, cold sweat soaking his back. He looked down at the green gem in his hand. That faint speck of corruption seemed alive, prickling at his nerves.
It wasn't a dream. None of it was a dream. He had really lived through hell. That past filled with despair and tragedy.
But he was back. Back to… before everything started.
Kyubey… the creature that brought hope, and with it, despair… hadn't appeared yet in this timeline. At least, it hadn't found them yet.
The loop had quietly begun. And he, Eren Jaeger, this time, would absolutely… before Kyubey arrived, before it could sow its seeds of hope and despair… change everything. End everything.
"Eren! What's wrong?!" Mikasa's voice was filled with anxiety as she reached out to steady him.
Eren snapped back to reality, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the turmoil within him. He couldn't worry her. Not now. He clenched the gem tightly, hiding it in his pocket.
"It's nothing—" Eren forced a smile. "Just had a nightmare… it scared me a little." He stood up, brushing grass off his clothes. "Let's go, Mikasa. Let's go home."
…
Carrying bundles of firewood, they walked back towards town. Eren was uncharacteristically silent, his mind far from calm. The massive influx of memories assaulted his brain, causing waves of dizziness. More unsettlingly, when he tried to access his former magical powers, there was no response. Transform? No. Energy beams? No. Magic hardening? No. It was as if that power, along with the Soul Gem, had fallen dormant.
Why? Was too much energy consumed activating the rewind? Or does the power need Kyubey to reappear, or some specific condition to be met, before it can be used again? A time lock? Various theories flashed through Eren's mind, but he couldn't be sure. His analytical skills were limited to begin with, let alone in such a complex situation. He desperately wanted to understand everything, but there was no one he could tell.
Tell Mikasa? Armin? He couldn't even explain the power of a Magical Girl himself. Tell his future comrades? Right now, they were just kids.
This loneliness, this burden of carrying the world's fate and its cruel future alone… it wasn't the first time. And he had to bear it, just like before. Just like always.
"Eren," Mikasa's voice broke his thoughts. "You're… acting really strange today." She had keenly noticed his unusual behavior. Normally, Eren would be talking about his dream of joining the Survey Corps or bickering with her. It was rare for him to be so quiet and lost in thought since waking up.
Eren turned his head and saw the undisguised worry in Mikasa's eyes. Warmth spread through his chest, followed by a sharp pang of pain. This time, I absolutely cannot let them go through that suffering again.
"It's nothing," Eren shook his head, trying to sound more casual. "Maybe I really just didn't wake up properly." He didn't want to explain further and quickened his pace. He had to get home quickly. He had to do something before that time arrived.
…
Evening. The Jaeger home. The atmosphere at the dinner table was somewhat subdued. His parents had just finished their routine "lecture" about his unrealistic desire to join the Survey Corps. Then, his father, claiming he had a house call, left hurriedly. Before leaving, he repeated the words Eren remembered: "Eren, when I get back, I'll show you the secret I've been keeping in the basement." The key hanging around his neck swung, catching Eren's eye, making his heart clench.
The basement… The truth of the world. The existence of humanity outside the Walls. The secret of the Titan powers. The tragic fate of the Eldians. He already knew it all.
Grisha left. A brief silence fell over the house. Carla was preparing something in the kitchen. Mikasa sat quietly nearby. Usually, at this point, Eren might be sulking over his father's words or dragging Mikasa and Armin outside to play. But today, he didn't. He just sat silently in a corner chair, hands clenched tightly, knuckles white. His face was pale, his eyes distant, as if his soul had left his body.
The memories gnawed at him. The terror of the Colossal Titan breaking the gate. The roar of the Armored Titan smashing the inner wall. Countless Pure Titans flooding in, turning their home into hell. And… Mom… Mom being eaten by that eerily smiling Titan… Dina, his father's first wife. He absolutely could not let that happen again!
Noticing Eren's stillness, Carla's voice, tinged with confusion, came from the kitchen. "Eren? Is something wrong?"