Flora yawned and leaned against her balcony railing, enjoying the power and radiance of the full moon's light. Only two weeks left until the banquet. While she enjoyed her extended vacation, an itch arose in her soul during her time in Wall Sina, spurring her to act. Act how?

It's force was vague enough she couldn't tell if it was the Compulsion or something else. Flora's eyes scanned the estate grounds. Perhaps she was going crazy, but along with an itch in her soul, she had an uneasy feeling like she was being watched. Her scanning turned up nothing. Only when the moon was at its peak did she leave her balcony perch, change into her robe, and attempt to sneak out of the house.

"Why are you in a robe?" Seamus suddenly asked.

Flora stifled a startled gasp. She hadn't seen him on the common room couch. He sat alone near the window with only the moon for light. "I'm visiting grandma."

"I figured you would be. If mom finds you naked out there, she'll shoot you."

Flora pecked her brother on his ginger bearded cheek before darting out the door. "You better hide the guns then."

"I know you're aware you have the ability to transfer your lifeforce into another living person in order to accelerate and guide the healing process."

Flora nodded. The crackling bonfire provided nice relief from the chilly night.

Her grandmother uncovered the cage she brought with her to reveal four brown rats scampering within the small confines. "What you don't know is that you can make this happen in reverse. You can tap into another person's life to heal yourself. Or draw from one person completely to heal another, using yourself only as a conduit. With practice you can do this without even touching another."

Flora gasped and stepped back. "No. Even if that is impossible, I could never. The things someone could do with that kind of power...it's criminal. I don't want to wield it."

Her grandmother lifted one rat from the cage by its bald tail. "I've gone to greater lengths than you know in order to shape your power. You can and will learn it from me."

Grandma Niamh grew eerily still. The rat, previously squirming and clawing, immediately died in her hand. She tossed the dead corpse into the fire, but not before standing up a little straighter. "When we are done here, you will understand."

"I don't want to understand. I never want to use it."

"This skill will unlock the path to impossible feats of healing. The love of your life dying in your arms from a mortal wound? Draw the needed energy from someone else-or many people. Have you noticed how I can afford to heal so many? I take from the healthy and give to the ill. In the wrong hands, yes, it could be used to kill indiscriminately-which is why I am teaching it to you. I know your kind heart will wield it in justice and safeguard this most powerful of gifts."

Flora's heart pounded. " No one should have that type of power. Not even me."

Her grandmother looked irritated. She walked over and gripped Flora by the shoulders with surprising strength. "It can and will save your life and the life of your loved ones."

"No. I won't."

Her grandmother's shoulders sagged. "I was worried you would say that. So forgive me in advance."

Her grandmother disappeared into the woods and returned with a dog, but not any dog. It belonged to Seamus. The glossy golden retriever wagged its tail happily at Flora's presence. Before Flora could process anything, with a single swipe, her grandmother brought a blade across the dog's throat and sliced it deeply.

"No!" Flora shouted, surging forward, holding the dying dog in her hands, tears rising in her eyes.

"You won't be able to heal such an injury by yourself. You'll have to use the rats."

The dog choked and sputtered. The horror was too much for Flora to bear. She used her own strength to mend it and succeeded in slowing the blood flow, but her grandmother was right—she didn't have the strength to heal such a grievous wound. Flora angrily grit her teeth together and shoved her hand into the cage of rats. Trauma was the best teacher in this case. It took Flora a minute, but she easily absorbed the life from all the rats. It replenished her depleted energy and then some. Flora trembled holding so much power and worked quickly to guide it through her hands into the dying dog. She was not only able to heal the injury, but Flora unknowingly consumed the excess energy within herself to heal any small cut, bruise, and even old scars she possessed.

Flora sunk to the ground in sobs. Wet dog kisses licked the tears off her face. Flora shielded the dog from her grandmother while she clapped. "Well done. Even better than me on your first try. You're a natural at this—I dare wonder if this is your true gift."

"My gift is healing," Flora snapped. "I could never be selfish enough to take another person's energy for my own benefit."

"You have always been selfish, love. You want what's best for yourself, regardless of the thoughts of your mother, your father, your brothers. And that's ok; I've always known life draining was your true gift, and have kept it from you until now." Grandma Niamh uncorked the lid of her canteen. "Connect with your true nature."

Flora initially resisted the drink until her grandmother shoved it down her gullet. "Drink and learn."

Flora's emotion and inhibition slowly faded away, replaced by her deeper conscious coming to the surface. It felt like a monster, a feral, primal shell of a person that Flora kept locked away in her mind. The concoction was the key to unlocking its cage.

Her robe became too sensitive against her skin and was cast on the ground. The world beyond the bonfire seemed nonexistent, her normal self watched her body act as if in a complicit trance, watching as a spectator in her own body as her grandmother's chanting entangled all her senses and invoked the beast to the surface. Flora's inner beast had no qualms about draining life; in fact it reveled in it, desired it, and gutturally roared in joy at her grandmother's new teachings.

Hours passed before Grandma Niamh placed a dead crow in her hands. "Bring it back."

From their spot in the woods, Erwin and Levi looked at one another with mirrored stunned expressions at the display they were witnessing. "What...the actual fuck. Is her grandmother teaching her necromancy?"

Erwin shook his head. "I was convinced June had gifts. I never imagined Flora had them too, or that she could do this..."

Neither of them could look away, and it didn't entirely have to do with Flora's naked body in front of a campfire. The rituals they performed looked thousands of years old; they even spoke in another language amongst themselves. Hours passed with the ritual growing only stranger and stranger. Flora hardly looked human; instead, she looked like an animal inhabiting a human form. Levi didn't know what to think when the old woman placed the dead bird in Flora's palms; he was even more confused when the bird flew away not even minutes later.

Levi and Erwin followed the trajectory of the bird into the trees. When Levi's eyes returned to Flora, he realized she was peering straight through the darkness directly at their location. Her naked body walked over leaves and sticks in their direction.

"We should go Levi."

"Wait. She knows we are here."

Levi suddenly stood up and faced Flora head on. He called her name.

If she recognized him, she didn't show it. Her face looked dazed, her pupils taking up her entire iris, and she cocked her head curiously and kept walking toward him. Goosebumps prickled his skin.

Erwin revealed himself as well. "Flora? Are you ok?"

She didn't react to his voice either. Flora, only an arms breadth away, and who still showed no evidence of recognizing Levi, reached out and snatched him by the hair. At soon as their skin touched, Levi collapsed to the ground. It was like she was leaching the life out of him.

"Levi!" Erwin tried to break Flora's grip but only ended up on his knees as well. Levi tried to stay awake, but the draw from his strength was too much. He collapsed into darkness with Erwin not far behind.

"Good," her grandmother praised. Flora's entire body hum with energy, sparks snapping across her skin. "We can do amazing things when we draw from others." With a snap of her hand, fire appeared in her grandmother's palm. "You can kill people with a touch. Survive without food. Manifest energy into fire." Grandma Niamh poured a second drink into Flora's mouth. "Drink again...and commit to memory."

Levi was the first to wake up. The sun was just starting to rise, but deep in the wooded grounds of the McKenzie estate, the night's chill was still strong. His fingers and face were colder than ice. Erwin lay two feet away in the fetal position. "Hey," Levi grimaced, nudging him with his foot. He didn't move even though he was clearly still alive.

Levi wracked his brain to remember what all happened. He remembered Flora touching him, then all his strength leaving him. The last thing he saw was her walked back towards the bonfire.

The bonfire.

"Flora?" Levi called. He rushed to the bonfire site ahead, seeing a flash of red hair on the ground. His heart beat faster when he kneeled next to her and brushed the hair out of her face. She was still completely nude, skin as cold and pale as ice, eyes closed. Levi unclasped his cloak with his numb fingers and draped it over her body. It was clear she wasn't going to wake up with any normal means.

He left her for a brief moment to gather any loose branches nearby and pile them back onto the bonfire. When it roared to life thanks to a handy match, he returned to Flora and picked her up, placing her closer to the flames and half into his lap. The fact that she was here, in front of him, and looked exactly the same was more than Levi could process. He cradled her limp body and hoped the fire would be enough to draw her out of whatever slumber she was in. "Flora. Please. I'm here."

Flora's entire body felt encased in ice. She was vaguely aware of her body moving, then coming to rest, and then a slow and steady warmth. The warmth invigorated her body from the outside in until she slowly started to come back to herself. Her eyes cracked open. She couldn't believe what she saw. "Levi?"

His hand gripped her own. "Flora. It's me. I'm here."

Her teeth chattered and body trembled, half from the cold, half from shock. She touched his face and hair—everything felt real, but for some reason Flora wasn't convinced. "I'm seeing ghosts."

He placed his hand over hers and pressed her palm harder into his face. "I'm no phantom."

Tears well in Flora's eyes. "I don't believe it. This is a vision."

"I made it out."

Flora's initial feeling, aside from elation, was guilt; guilt for not waiting for him, guilt for doubting him. Her intense emotion overrode rational thought-or perhaps her head was still foggy from the elixir. "I thought you died, or that you forgot me."

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Forget my sunshine? Never."

"But how? How did you get out after so long?"

"It's...complicated. But the end result was Erwin recruiting me into the survey corps. I'm a scout now."

The mention of Erwin's name brought a flood of memories into Flora's head. She suddenly remembered seeing Levi during the night, Erwin as well, along with a vague feeling that she did something terrible. "You two were in the woods last night." Her eyes widened in panic. This was no vision. "What did you see?"

"I'm not sure what exactly. I've never seen anything like it."

"Gawkers," Grandma Niamh abruptly spat, emerging out of the woods, her navy robe tied loosely at the waist. "You intruded on the ritual. In the olden days we would have plucked out your eyes and eaten them. If your brother's weren't so lazy they'd be guarding us."

Flora wasn't sure if her grandmother was joking or not. She felt strong enough to sit up somewhat, grateful for Levi's cloak. "Where is Erwin? I saw him right next to you."

"He's still passed out. I should probably throw a blanket on him or something. I'm surprised you remembered though, your face...it didn't look like your face."

Flora looked away. "It was a spiritual thing."

"It's too late for that," her grandmother yawned, sitting down across the fire. "I fear they watched us from the very beginning."

Flora's guts twisted in knots. "It's a McKenzie thing, passed down from long before the walls were built."

The snapping of sticks announced the arrival of Erwin into the small clearing. He looked to be in the next sorriest state aside from Flora, his normally pristine hair wild and unkempt, with dirt covering him head to toe . "Alright you two," he addressed Flora and her grandmother with a disturbed look. "Mind explaining what we saw last night? What we experienced?"

Grandma Niamh stood up kicked dirt over the fire. "Why don't you boys tidy up and come to my cabin for lunch?"

As if on cue, Flora heard her name being called by her brothers. Erwin passed Flora her robe laying nearby.

"I'm here!" Flora called back, shrugging the robe on and grimacing in pain while she got to her feet. Levi was right next to her for support. Once she stood, she was surprised at how short he remained—he was at least her height, if not an inch or two shorter. Her body still felt half frozen. Every step she tried to take was pure agony.

"This is too painful to watch," Erwin frowned. Without warning he picked her up. Flora, lacking an ounce of energy to protest, could only lay her head into his chest. "Come on Levi."

If Levi wanted to say anything, he bit his tongue. The trio walked toward the house and ran into her brothers while still in the woods.

They all paused to stare at each other for a moment. Liam's keen eyes looked at Flora, then at the two men. "You watched the ritual, didn't you?"

Levi and Erwin glanced at each other uncomfortably.

Liam cursed. "Bring her inside, we have a bath drawn already."

Erwin eventually broke the terse silence. "So you guys know? About what goes on out here?" Judging by the heavy cloak in Seamus's arms, this wasn't their first time retrieving Flora from the woods.

"Yeah. It's a family thing. Sorry. Feel free to warm up in the living room while we take care of her. All she needs is some food and a warm bath and she'll be back to normal."

"Wait Liam. I recognize this one," Seamus gestured to Levi. "That's the kid from the underground. Levi, right? I remember you. You and Flora."

Erwin replied for Levi. "I personally recruited him to the survey corps. He runs with us now."

The brothers shared a look amongst themselves. Although they tried to sound casual, Erwin saw the gears churning behind their eyes. "I'm sure Flora is thrilled to see you. How long do you anticipate staying within wall Sina?"

Erwin couldn't answer for Levi quick enough—it was Levi who responded now. "Long enough."

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the estate. Erwin passed Flora's limp body to Liam who then carried her the rest of the way to the bathroom.

Flora bobbed in and out of consciousness until, with a start, she fully came back to herself in a warm bathtub. She was certain there was something pressing to think about, but at the moment she was too ravenous with hunger to think. If she knew her brothers, there would be a tray of food right about...

Her eyes locked in on a plate of goods. Water sloshed out of the tub in her desperate attempt to reach it. Like a feral animal she crammed every last bit down her throat, nearly choking once or twice. Her stomach was significantly distended when she sank back into the water. Energy rushed into her body like endorphins, finally casting out the last haze from her mind and allowing the night's memories to return like a smack in the face.

Even more water abruptly splashed on the floor. Flora flew out of the tub, stopping only to snatch a clean robe from the hook before throwing open the door. Her bare, dripping feet slapped the wooden floors as she ran. She came to a stop at the top of the stairs and looked into the living room below. Levi and Erwin sat together on a couch in front of the main fireplace, looking to be deep in conversation with Seamus and Liam. "Levi," she gasped.

Flora could scarcely breathe when he returned her gaze. She couldn't race down the stairs fast enough. He met her at the bottom and staggered back as Flora plowed into him and threw her arms around him. "I don't believe it."

His embrace half crushed her. They remained locked until Seamus cleared his throat. "I told you, a bath and some food and she'll be good as new."

Erwin's shadow was nearby. Flora released Levi for a moment to hug hug him as well. He seemed surprised at first, but wrapped his arms around her warmly, if briefly. "You still need to tell us what we saw."

Flora let go and took a step toward Levi. "I think my grandma mentioned lunch? Let me get decent."

It took all her strength to leave Levi in the living room, but while she changed, she felt intermingling confusion. She loved Levi—but Erwin...he was like a brother to her, and her best friend. And something more these days. Could she so easily abandon him? Seeing the two in the same room caused her brain to short circuit.

Flora towel dried her hair impatiently. I should cut you off. You're too much work.

Sufficiently clothed in a simple shift, Flora tossed her hair in a bun, a rarity, and sprinted back to the common room.