CHAPTER 25: THE EUTHANASIA PLAN
Two months remained.
Sukuna returned from the old castle with Zeke's words burning in his mind.
"The fleet arrives in two months."
"If you never decide, I'll decide for you."
He sat on the roof every night, staring at the stars.
Mikasa sat beside him. Always beside him.
"You haven't spoken since we returned."
"Nothing to say."
"That's a lie."
He looked at her.
"Zeke wants to end our race. Sterilize every Eldian. Let us die out peacefully."
"That's genocide."
"He calls it salvation."
"It's still genocide."
Sukuna nodded.
"I know."
Armin climbed up.
"I've been reading your father's books again. The parts about the euthanasia plan."
"And?"
"Zeke isn't the first to suggest it. The first king of the walls wanted the same thing. A slow, peaceful end."
"But he didn't do it."
"No. He built walls instead. He hid."
Sukuna looked at the inner wall.
"Hiding is the same as dying. Just slower."
The next morning, Shadis gathered the cadets.
"The Survey Corps has a new mission. We're going back to the old castle. The one you visited during your first expedition."
Murmurs spread.
"Why?" Jean asked.
"Intelligence suggests enemy activity in the area. We need to confirm."
Sukuna's eyes narrowed.
"Zeke's castle," he thought. "Someone tipped off the military."
He looked at Reiner. The big man's face was unreadable.
"Did you say something?" Sukuna whispered to himself.
The march to the castle took three days.
Sukuna rode in silence. Mikasa watched him. Armin studied the books.
Jean kept glancing at Reiner.
Connie made no jokes.
Sasha had no appetite.
"Everyone is scared," Sukuna thought. "Good. Fear keeps you alive."
They reached the castle at dusk.
The lights were gone. The courtyard was empty.
No Zeke. No Yelena. No volunteers.
Just dust and shadows.
"Search the building," Shadis ordered.
The soldiers spread out.
Sukuna walked to the great hall. The long table. The chairs. The fireplace.
Cold.
"They're gone," Mikasa said.
"Or hiding."
"Why would they hide?"
"Because they knew we were coming."
Armin called from upstairs.
"Eren! You need to see this!"
Sukuna ran up the stairs.
Armin stood in a small room. On the wall, a map.
A map of the world.
Marley. The Mid-East Alliance. The walls. The ocean.
And red marks. Dozens of them.
"Those are Titan locations," Armin said. "The ones Marley controls."
"How do you know?"
"Because your father marked them in his books. This map matches."
Sukuna stared at the marks.
Dozens of Titans. Waiting. Hidden.
"Zeke left this for us," Sukuna said.
"Why?"
"To show me the scale of what we're facing."
Below, a shout.
"INTRUDERS!"
Sukuna ran down the stairs.
In the courtyard, soldiers were surrounded.
Not by Titans. By humans.
Volunteers. Dozens of them. Armed. Masked.
And at their center...
Yelena.
"Eren Yeager," she said. "We meet again."
"Where's Zeke?"
"Safe. Watching. Waiting."
She stepped forward.
"He sent me to deliver a message."
"What message?"
She reached into her coat and pulled out a small vial.
The golden liquid.
"This is the cure. The one I told you about."
"For the curse of the Titans."
She placed it on the ground.
"Inject a Titan shifter. Watch them become human again. Then decide whether Zeke's plan is mercy or murder."
The soldiers raised their weapons.
Yelena raised her hands.
"We're not here to fight. We're here to help you understand."
She stepped back.
"The choice is yours, Eren."
She and the volunteers disappeared into the shadows.
Sukuna picked up the vial.
The golden liquid glowed in the candlelight.
"Don't," Mikasa said.
"Why not?"
"Because it's a trap."
"Everything is a trap."
He put the vial in his pocket.
The soldiers searched the castle.
No other signs of Zeke or his followers.
Just the map. The vial. And questions.
Shadis gathered everyone in the courtyard.
"We're returning to the walls. Now."
The march back was silent.
No one spoke. No one knew what to say.
That night, Sukuna sat alone in his room.
He held the vial.
"Zeke wants me to test this. To see if the curse can be broken."
"But if the curse can be broken... then the Titans can be defeated without genocide."
"Maybe that's what he's really showing me."
He put the vial in a drawer.
"Not yet. Not until I understand."
Mikasa stood in the doorway.
"You're not going to use it."
"Not now."
"When?"
"When I find someone worth testing it on."
She walked in and sat on his bed.
"I'm scared, Sukuna."
"Of what?"
"Of losing you. To Zeke. To this war. To yourself."
He looked at her.
"You won't lose me."
"How do you know?"
"Because I've already lost myself once. I won't do it again."
END OF CHAPTER 25