The rain was coming down hard as the dark clouds covered the sky. The air was cold enough to chill anyone down to the bone. Lana had been on the run for several months now. She had just escaped the clutches of the Nobleman and had found herself hiding from his henchman. This forced her to live on the streets among the trash and rats. At any rate she would die. The harsh reality of the world she lived in had hardened her skin. Everywhere she turned there was someone who was after her. This was her world.
She curled up in an alley trying her best to keep herself warm. In the distant she could hear the footsteps hit the wet pavement. As they got closer, Lana could make out two sets of footsteps running. Two people turned into the alley and ran right past her. She refused to make any sort of eye contact and kept her head buried in her knees.
"Come on Cecil, or Mr. McGill is going to be mad that we're late again!" a voice called out. It was a voice of a young boy.
"Go on ahead of me Clyde, I'll catch up. I promise!" the other voice called out.
The two sounded to be around Lana's age. The sound of footsteps could be heard approaching her. When the sound stopped right in front of her, she could no longer feel the rain drops falling on her head. There was something drawing her in to this person in front of her. She felt compelled to look up and see who it was. But it wasn't just her curiosity of the identity of the stranger, but there was something else that she was drawn to. She couldn't make out what it was. It was as if there was something familiar. However, when she tried to piece things together it only came out as a blur.
She finally looked up at the person. His dark brown eyes pulled her in along with his warm gentle smile. His hair was becoming drenched as a single lock of dark hair dangled along his freckled nose. Lana looked up to see that he was holding an umbrella over her head
"Take this, it will at least keep you dry."
"But you're going to get wet," she quietly replied taking the handle of the umbrella.
"Don't worry about me," he said with a smile.
"Come on Cecil!"
"Just a minute." He called out to Clyde and turned back to her.
"Everything will be ok soon Alannah, just don't lose hope and wait for me just a little longer."
Hearing her name caused her jaw to drop. She became uncertain and almost scared. Never once had she met this boy before and yet he knew her true name.
"How do you know my name?" she questioned with a horrified look on her face.
Cecil knew that he had done something wrong and immediately lost his smile. He was quick to relax and smiled once more. He placed his hand on her head and brought their foreheads together.
"I'm really sorry that I can't be there for you. I really wish things didn't have to be this way. But in all good time, we will be together again. Just never lose your hope. I'm really sorry that I have to do this, but you need to forget about me. You have to forget that you ever saw me."
A small shock came through her as everything went white.
Lana sprung up from her bed. Her head hurt at the chilling dream she had. She didn't understand what it meant or even who those people where, but it felt so real to her.
Over the last few years, she had had similar occurrences in her dreams. Her children were evidence of that. The names Isabel and Erwin were not only reminders of people who were close to Levi, but names that had been drawn to Lana for some time. Years ago, she remembered a dream she once had that had two children in it. Their names were Isabel and Erwin. She just passed it off as her subconscious, but lately things had been growing stranger by the day.
Over the last year, Lana had been trying to develop her overall strength. Since the birth of her two children she was not as athletic as she used to be. However, with continued work, she had even surpassed the level she was a while in the military. Not being able to work, and mostly being at home, had allowed her enough time to have this continuous growth. She was much stronger and toned than ever before. She was eating well and was healthy and strong.
Although she was working on developing her body, she was also working on developing her powers. Her goal was to fine tune them and have full control over them. No longer did she want her powers to be attached to her emotions. She didn't want them to act on instinct like in the past. As she worked on herself and discovered her limitations, the dreams began to grow as well. It was almost as if she was unlocking parts of her mind that was tucked away.
She got ready for the day and started to make breakfast for the three of them. The plan was to meet with Robin and Sebastian and to have a visitation with Dr. Tulp. Although there was nothing wrong with any of them, due to their unusual DNA, they were required by military law to have this regular visitations. This was an agreement that Lana had made with Hange of the Survey Corps. Keith had done the same with Nile and the Military Police Brigade.
The visitations were solely for research purposes as well as regular check-ups. Lately the monitoring was done mostly on the children's growth and development. Since the three of them were half-blooded titans, their make-up was extremely interesting. Lana herself was also to be examined as she was pushing herself to be better than before.
As they walked down the street, Robin and Lana chatted with one another like they normally do. It seemed to be like a normal day. However, the dream kept eating away at Lana. It was enough to make Robin notice.
"Lana, is everything ok? You seem to be a little off today?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a strange dream, is all."
"Is that so?" Robin questioned trying to pry more information out of her.
"It's fine really. Nothing to worry about at all," Lana said with a small smile.
Robin knew right away that she was not going to get any further information out of her and left it at that.
"Did you hear that a leader from another nation will be within the capital?" Robin asked referring to the paper that she had read earlier that morning.
"Yeah I saw the article. It explains the increase in soldiers around here lately. It's incredible how more involved with the outside Paradis has become. You would think that they would all be monitoring the train development."
"It's still a strange concept, a train, a different nation's leader. Newest information on Marley and the changes in technology. The advancement to Marley. Say you don't think…" Robin paused.
"Stop it right there, I know what you're thinking. I'm sure that wherever Keith and Lucas are right now they are safe. They are most likely working with the progress of the train. The development was a secret for a while after all."
As they continued on down the main street it was filled with various people going about their daily business. There were many people within the streets. Something felt strange to Lana. It was almost as if she had seen this before. Although she had walked the streets many times before, it was this scene that she recognized specifically. It wasn't just the buildings or signs, it was down to even the people in the street standing in the same places that she could swear that she had seen before. She stopped dead in her tracks.
It was this very moment that she remembered. She remembered Robin walking on the left side of her with Isabel in her arms. Erwin was holding onto her right hand with Sebastian right next to him on the other side. A group of business men were by the bakery dressed in sharp clothing while women with flowers in baskets walked by. Everything around her was exactly as she recalled it.
"The bullet," she remembered to herself as a horrified look came on her face.
The second she remembered the scene she had seen before, she let go of Erwin's hand gently shoving him into Sebastian and stepped in front of Robin. She quickly turned her back and focused on herself all within seconds. She could feel a sharp pain hit her shoulder as the force of the impact had caused her to lurch forward into Robin.
The stunned Robin remained still holding onto Lana at the realization of what just happened. Thugs from the Underground had caused trouble on the surface which resulted in them stealing weapons from the local shop. In the process, a stray bullet from one of the armed M.P's had missed and was heading straight for Robin. Lana knew what was going to happen and put herself in the way of the stray bullet to protect her friend as well as her daughter. Her skin thickened and crystalized to create an armor. It was strong enough to not penetrate through to her skin, but not strong enough to deflect it fully. It dented the armor severely and fell to the ground.
Robin, with her jaw dropped, came to her senses and gave Isabel to Sebastian as the thugs and the M.P's ran past them. Robin, out of instinct, grabbed a thug passing by and proceeded to pin them down to the ground. One of the soldiers took note of what happened and approached taking over for Robin as another was not far behind
"Are you alright?" a soldier asked.
"I'm fine," Lana grimaced rotating her shoulder. "Robin are you ok?" Lana asked.
"How…How did you know?" Robin mustered the words as she dusted the dirt off of herself.
"I don't know. It was almost as if I've seen this happen before. Like a dream."
Robin didn't ask much more of it, but it bothered her for this was not the first time that she witnessed something like this from Lana before. There have been several instances where Lana knew of something before it had happened.
After regrouping themselves the five of them walked into the home of Doctor Isaac Tulp and were greeted by his daughter Dr. Anna Tulp. Her long blonde hair dangled past her shoulders as her rounded glasses glistened in the light.
"It's good to see you all again. I presume you are all well?" she asked grabbing a nearby clipboard.
One by one Anna had examined each individually. Lana was the last to be checked out as she was brought into a secluded room. The purpose for most of her visits was to support the research that was being conducted in regards to Titan abilities and the limitations. Anna and her father Isaac where currently conducting research on their DNA fabrication and the contents of various cellular structures. As they would take samples they conducted a regular physical examination, much like they had conducted when Lana was a part of the Survey Corps.
Lana sat down on the table and awaited for samples to be taken. As blood was being drawn, Anna broke the awkward silence.
"It's quite convenient that your blood type is similar to that of Captain Aberdeen."
"Keith? Huh, I mean it kind of makes sense I guess. Given the fact that our lineage is what it is."
"It's not even just that. In comparison to the samples that we had received from others, it follows a similar type pattern of a few people. Father is classifying this group as a specific blood type. For example the blood type from Robin shares similarities to that of myself. Your son Erwin shares the same blood type as you and the Captain and even little Sebastian, but Isabel doesn't."
"That's…fascinating I guess," Lana proclaimed as Anna finished taking the needed sample.
"With that being said, I have been informed that you saved a certain someone this morning," Anna stated as she examined the sample in the tube.
"It was nothing. I knew what was going to happen and I did what I could."
Anna peered over the top of her glasses and they had slid down her nose.
"Spoken like a true hero." She paused and continued to examine the contents of the sample. "Robin tells me that this wasn't the first time that something like this has happened."
"What do you mean? First of all why is Robin telling you?"
Anna put the test tube down in a holder and turned to face Lana. "Lana I need you to be very clear with me. Has something like this happened before?"
She adjusted herself on the table and hesitated to answer the question. Deep down inside she knew that the event that took place that morning was not a normal occasion. She knew exactly what to do and when to do it before anything could even fully take place. However, she knew that this was in fact not the first time. It was almost as if her dreams were coming into fruition.
She looked up into Anna's curious eyes, "No, this had not been the first time that this has happened."
Lana could see a glisten in her eye much like the same glisten she would see within Hange when a discovery was made.
"Can you tell me in great detail everything that you can recall?" Anna leaned forward.
Lana continued to explain that two days prior, she had had a dream. It was the exact same scene that had played out that morning. However, in the dream the outcome was different. She had dreamt that she hadn't acted and the bullet had struck Robin in the chest. The bullet instantly killed her as she fell to the ground with Isabel in her arms. All she could remember was the screaming of Sebastian as he cried for the loss of his mother, and her own two children crying. Two days later the very same event took place in reality, but Lana was able to act and prevent the outcome that had occurred in her dream.
She informed Anna that she had had a dream years ago. The dream was of her returning to a home where Levi sat in a chair and two young children were by his side. She called out their names which had become the names of the two children she and Levi currently love and adore.
Lana explained instance after instance to the point where Anna began jotting down pages of notes. Eventually she took of her glasses and put the notebook down in her lap.
"Lana do you like to read?" she asked.
"Very much so, it's a pastime of mine," she proclaimed.
"Have you ever heard of the ability known as premonition?"
Lana didn't say anything and only shook her head never hearing the term before.
"Premonition is the ability to see things before they even occur. Thought only to be a thing of fairy tales. However, it seems that this ability isn't exactly a thing of fiction anymore."
"Premonition? Wait I have heard of something like this before." Lana thought back, "There was a page in one of my history books from Rhea that stated that the Royal blood line of the Weismann family contained the ability of premonitions."
The word fascinating was the only thing that came out of Anna's mouth.
With that, the examination resumed as normal as Lana thought hard on the supposed ability.
As night began to fall, Lana began to dream once more.
It appeared to be early fall before the snow had fallen. It was cold enough to see her breath as the rain came down on their face. Lana tried to keep herself warm as she and Keith had wandered the streets of the main city. Keith wore a cloak that concealed most of his face. He said that he didn't like getting recognized by the fans of the circus. Lana did the same not knowing Keith's true intention. They walked around in search of a potential victim for pick pocketing.
Keith caught sight of someone tailing behind them. He quickly grabbed Lana by the arm and ran as fast as they could.
"Keith, what the hell!" Lana yelled.
"Shut up and run, we're being followed."
She turned around to see two hooded figures running after them. Keith turned down into an alley way but met a dead end. The two of them turned around as Keith pulled out a knife and readied himself for a fight. Lana reluctantly held up fists and prepared herself to be a part of the brawl.
Both of the figures were not of grown adults. They appeared to be close to the same age as Lana and Keith. One of them stepped forward and held out his hand.
"Put your weapon down," he proclaimed.
A strange feeling came over Lana, it sent a shock up her spine. Her mind was fuzzy but she was quick to pull back. She turned to Keith who remained as still as ever. His eyes were fierce as lips began to pull back in a snarl.
The hooded figure pulled his hand back and looked at it. He turned back to his friend and turned back to them.
"I command you to put your weapon down!" he shouted as the same feeling shot up again.
Keith remained still once more.
"Cecil what's going on? Why isn't he doing it," the friend shouted.
"I…I don't know, this hasn't happened before," Cecil proclaimed shaking.
Cecil's hood dropped as he lurched forward with his palm slamming onto Keith's head. The force was enough to push Keith back up against the wall.
"DROP DOWN AND DON'T MOVE!" Cecil shouted, his voice booming between the two walls of the alleyway.
The sound was like an electrifying shock to Lana as it even caused her to drop to her knees. Lana was able to bear the feeling but Keith received the full blunt force of it. He collapsed to the ground wide eyed. He was frozen and silent. It was enough to scare Lana as she shot back and held her fists up again. It was during her fall that her own hood had fallen off.
Cecil stood still as he stared at Lana. Their eyes were locked on one another.
"Cecil!" the other boy shouted for him.
"Not now Clyde!" Cecil shouted back angrily and turned back to Lana in awe.
Lana stared into the boy's dark brown eyes. He began to chuckle.
"Why is it always raining whenever we meet?"
"I don't understand, I've never seen you before."
"Of course you wouldn't remember me. You really shouldn't. It's for your own good really. My little sister please forget everything."
He leapt forward and grabbed her wrists and forced her up against the wall. Her hands touched the cold stone as his overwhelming strength prevented her from moving. She turned to see the bare muscle of his arms and the light amount of steam coming off of them. She became wide eyed at the sight, she didn't know what to believe. He gently caressed her face as the confused Lana remained silent.
"It's been a few years since the last time we met. I hope that we get the chance to meet again. But we just need a little bit more time. I'm sorry Alannah, I don't want to do this. But you can't come home yet."
"I don't understand. What are you talking about!?" she shouted in confusion trying to get out of the hold.
"Just a little more time. Forget everything," he said as he gently pressed his forehead up against hers.
Everything went white as Lana jutted forward out of bed. It was early in the morning as the birds were whistling outside. She could feel a headache come over her as she rubbed her dreary eyes. It was just another strange dream to her. Although this was the second time she had encountered a dream involving Cecil. The dream felt too real.
After speaking with Anna the previous day, Lana began to contemplate the dreams that she was having. She understood that some of her dreams were premonitions, events that had yet come to pass. However, some of her dreams were moments of her childhood. They were moments she had with Keith but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't fully remember what was going on. She would receive bits and pieces in her dreams that filled in the gaps. Each of these dreams revolved the same two people. Cecil and the mysterious Clyde.
She began to suspect that these dreams were no longer just dreams, but suppressed memories. Moments in time that were forgotten about. Each memory resulted in the same. Cecil pressing his head on hers and saying the word forget. Each encounter resulted in that very moment. Something didn't feel right with her.
It frustrated her the more she thought about it. She slammed the mug she held in her hands down on the counter breaking it into several pieces. She cut herself in the process as the cries of Isabel could be heard in the other room. It broke her clouded mind as she wiped the blood to let the wound heal cleanly.
The strange Cecil was almost haunting her thoughts and mind. It was preventing her from thinking about anything else. Her focus was drawn to finding out who he really was to her. He was a shifter just like her who had a similar ability to her. It was as if he was the same as her but stronger and more adept. Cecil was a unique person of interest for her but that wasn't going to stop her from accomplishing her main goal.
