The capital of Mitras gleamed above like a painting—pristine, polished, and false.
Beneath its surface, under stone-paved streets and golden statues, lay another Mitras. One not shown on maps. One where truth was buried with bones, and whispers never died.
Arata moved silently through the ancient catacombs beneath the capital, map in hand, flanked by Annie on his right and Eren on his left.
They had slipped out under the cover of darkness, leaving behind confused cadets and sleeping guards.
Eren grumbled under his breath. "If we're caught down here, we're dead."
"You're already dead if you don't know the truth," Arata muttered.
Annie, torch in hand, said nothing. Her eyes were focused, cold, unreadable.
They descended deeper. The air grew heavier. The stone walls were covered in markings—most too worn to read, others painted over in crimson spirals and eye symbols that pulsed with unease.
At the bottom, they found it.
A massive stone door carved with three symbols:
The Sharingan
A Titan's Eye
And the Whirlpool bound in chains
Annie reached out, touching the third one with a trembling hand.
"I saw this when I was five," she whispered. "In a vision. Before my father trained me. I didn't understand it then. I don't think I want to now."
Arata stepped forward. The Mangekyō in his eyes spun gently.
The door responded.
Stone groaned. Dust fell. The seal unraveled like ancient breath.
The door opened.
---
Inside the Temple
The room beyond was circular, vast, and dark—lit only by the faint glow of ghostly blue torches that lit themselves as the trio stepped in.
At the center: a pool of water as black as night.
Floating above it—no support, no wires—was a monolith. A jagged piece of obsidian that pulsed with three eyes, one on each face.
Arata stepped closer, feeling a weight settle on his chest.
A voice echoed—not aloud, but inside their minds.
> "One of chakra. One of flesh. One of curse. You awaken the broken trinity."
> "You were not meant to meet. Yet here you are."
Eren staggered. "What… is this thing?"
Annie fell to one knee, clutching her head. "It's inside me—it's speaking."
Arata stood still, eyes narrowed.
> "Madara. Ymir. The Child of the Spiral. They built this cage to hold back fate. But now the seal is broken."
The obsidian spun once. A tendril of light extended from it—three beams—one touching each of them.
In that moment, Arata saw a vision.
---
The Vision: Long Ago
A battlefield.
Madara Uchiha, eyes blazing, facing down a towering beast unlike any Titan. A creature of spiral-shaped chains and endless mouths.
Behind him: Ymir Fritz, wearing a bone mask of a Titan, kneeling as she sealed something into the earth.
Beside them: a shadowy third figure, face obscured, whispering in a language no one knew.
They bound it. This thing. Not a Titan. Not a god.
A curse.
The curse of convergence.
The power to pull together fates that should never intertwine.
Back in the present, Arata's eyes widened.
> "This is why I'm here…"
The voice spoke one final time:
> "Three vessels. One fate. Choose who will survive."
The obsidian cracked.
The ground shook.
From the black pool, something began to rise.
---
Outside – Surface, Mitras
Levi stood across from Mikasa in a stone courtyard lit by moonlight.
"I know you're protecting him," Levi said. "But that boy isn't normal."
Mikasa's face was unreadable. "Neither are we."
"He's tied to something bigger than the Titans. And that makes him a threat."
"I've seen threats," she said softly. "He isn't one."
Levi's eyes narrowed. "You'd fight me for him?"
Silence.
Then, with no warning, Mikasa lunged.
Steel clashed. Sparks flew. Two Ackermans—blades drawn, instincts blazing—moved faster than the eye could follow.
And far below, the creature in the Eye Temple opened its eyes.