Souveräne Historia Jaeger und Eren Jaeger Die Usurpatoren

by XA - U

Eren and Historia together have a connection with the truth behind the world and the various paths it has taken, over time leading to the memories of different ages being unveiled to them, along with the awaiting future. Eren and Historia seek to avert their oncoming fate and something beyond their fated ending against humanity. Slow-build, canon based AU. Note on Spoilers inside.

18. Chapter 18 - Ausland

All internet providers are scumbags. But some are more scumm(bag?)ier than others.

Welp basically covers the year 852 so after Yelena and the Volunteers have arrived but before Eren contacts her properly

Also I tried to incorporate a sort of training exercise which was mainly inspired from death games and battle royale competition series… basically it came out really weird as a scene in this chapter haha, but alas nothing I'm gonna do about it lol.

Guest/unPMable Reviews:

EreHis : Heya, hope the style of the pair was to your liking lol

Losing it : It's not haha, this is a fanfic

Yup the bous : That's not going to happen I'm afraid lol, as evident with this chapter

Guest : Glad it's piqued your interest haha, basically going to be the key focus point later on in the next stage but hope it lives up to your expectations!

"speech"

'thoughts'

' "speech" ' - thinking about someone else's words

---

Chapter 18 - Ausland

Mid Spring of the Year 852 – A Chalet in the Mountains of North Paradis

"Well… it's still standing completely fine even though it definitely got covered by snow in winter," Eren nodded appreciatively, shoving off the last remains of the frozen ice that had collected on the angled rooftop.

Several months had passed since they last came here. No matter how badly they wanted to sneak off, with the fastest Eren could travel safely with Historia in hand was a whole half day, in the sense of the time from dusk till dawn.

Of course the amount of daylight changed between summer and winter, and was roughly in the middle at the times of autumn and spring. This time round they had left at sunset, after the Queen would have officially retired for the night, and arrived a little after dawn here.

Here… at a place that had pulled on their strings on a megrim and led them to a secret refuge just for them.

Half a year had passed now and it was only their 2nd visit now that they finally had time to escape once more.

And yet… the new blossom air was filled with an easy homeliness.

"It's been raining a lot too," Historia added, brushing away the last of the now dead and fading leaves aside under the foliage and brushing off the mud and damp soil from her boots, "or maybe it's just the snow around here which melted only recently."

The brunet hissed when he landed after jumping down from the roof, hearing the blonde smirk at him. "Maybe you're the one who needs help being lifted up?"

"It's not like I couldn't have dropped down if I wanted to," Eren shrugged, making long strides towards the blonde with a smirk. "I just didn't want to wait a se-!"

Whilst loosening his step into a half leap, his remaining foot on the ground slipped and his body fell downwards, his face about to make contact with the porch before he stopped in mid -ir.

"Gosh, that's what happens when you try to say a smooth line," she smiled, recalling the theatre performance they had gone to see a few weeks ago, holding him up by the collar so he could regain his balance.

Eren clenched his teeth in annoyance, not feeling too embarrassed. But he did want to say the cliched line the main character of the play had spoken. Or he did until a few seconds ago. Now he thought it really was stupid. 'Historia was right, that theatre performance was antiqued.'

She smiled and leaned in to cup his cheek and press her lips on his side, pulling backwards before Eren scooped her up with his hands around her waist and hoisting her into the air.

"Hey!" She silenced her complaint whilst her legs struggled in the air. Not missing a beat, Eren pushed open the door which they had properly fastened and took her into the kitchen, through the door into their bedroom and tossed her down.

Pulling himself over her, he pressed the blue eyed girl down, snuggling into her, attaching lips together in a heated compression, sneaking arms all behind her back and hair, falling to the side and sharing each other's breath.

Their tongues clashed in balance, striking at each others heated moisture as they released desireful sighs, pushing back against one another.

Holding in each others warmth, the two lay hugging through the afternoon, their fingers touching over one others in the comfortable clothing and messy, crumbled bedsheets.

When they returned to cleaning around the place, and brought in some of their provisions, they sat down and discussed what they would spend the next couple days doing.

Like dusting out old cobwebs, the shine and smell of the wooden construction calmed the clean air.

As time was limited just as ever, the pair knew that investigation ought to be their priority.

This had been where it all happened.

Historia may not have the Power of the Titans itself, but…

Any physical wounds that were inflicted on her person all healed up. Just like a Titan.

She had confirmed it herself after trying a few more times just in case the first time that day had just been an accident.

Each time, no matter what she used or how big of a cut was created, it would heal almost instantly. Oddly enough, in some case it would stick around for a minute or so before only then deciding to regenerate, creating steam that emitted out of the damage. Just like a Titan.

Or just like a Titan shifter in their human form… only she seemed to lack the ability to manifest a great body of flesh and bone.

Like a Titan in human form.

Regardless of anything else and slight differences which may just be a result to her own abilities, Historia had something related to the Power of the Titans and had become connected to the Titan's existence on that day right here… or was it simply the Titan power that was affiliated from something else?

Something which had manifested similar results within her yet some different kind of interconnected power of it's own?

"Let's go then," Historia got up, wiping her hands on the towel.

Eren nodded and slid his fixed chair under the table, "alright but I'm going first this time."

"Fine if you want it to be your turn to be the damsel in distress," Historia opened the door and pulled her boots up.

"Then I'll be counting on my brave princess charming to save me this time," Eren patted her head and stole the band which she had tied her ponytail with before jumping out the door.

"Hey! Get your ass back here!" She chased after him immediately catching up to him and tackling him down into the grass.

Eren grunted as he went on one knee but stood up again, slipping out of her reach and turning to check on her whilst jogging backwards.

Begrumbled and her hair flying freely, she glared at him before her eyes opened in surprise and a smirk in an instant, pointing straight at him, "STOP HIM!"

"H-!" Eren stared at her in pure confusion whilst hopping backwards and then hitting the back of his knee and falling straight on his back on the grass.

"Gow…" A large animal mumbled and pulled aside, falling on it's rear as though copying and mocking him before it raised a paw to it's snout.

"…" The Titan shifter stared up, sitting perpendicular to the black bear that swayed its head to look at him with black eyes, one paw still over it's nose as though he hurt it. "… Sorry?"

Historia smugly wandered over, snatching her band from his hand before patting the bear's head without any worry, it's ears flopping up and to the sides when she stroked over it as though praising a pet.

"Really…" Eren sighed and got up. His anxiety was largely gone now seeing as it had no harmful intention. But it was still a strange animal. He didn't know much about bears but he was sure this was a strange meet-up.

Stroking her growing blonde hair back, Historia tied the band around the middle, keeping her regular shoulder ponytail as the bear got up as well and began sniffing in the air and looking between them.

"So? You going to lead us somewhere without risking our lives this time?" Eren commented at it.

"Oh shut it, we lost her last time because you were so slow and led us into that cave," Historia leaned down affectionately and patted it's black furred back. "Come on don't mind him, let's go then."

Giving a low growl to them both, as though understanding the instruction, the small bear began setting off upwards, exiting out of the treeline and onto the rocky slope.

"…" Eren picked up their bag, this time packed with rope. To be honest, he really wished they could stick away from it.

But there was something essential at work.

A key difference that might spell out the future to him.

It was surely what brought him here, guiding within the tarn of his Titan's future sight.

Or at least his fathers or even Kruger's. He really could not tell the difference with who exactly had seen what from the Attack Titan's perception.

Mulling over it all again, he pressed on after his beloved, falling in side by side as they reached out their hands, supporting each other and pulling themselves up a bit over the steeper rocks and larger slabs and boulders.

Looking up at the sky, there were no traces of blue amongst the overcast greyness.

'Isn't… the sky supposed to be clear today?' He wondered. He wondered also why he couldn't have a better memory sometimes. 'Why is it so inconvenient...'

Was it out of a twist of fate that was deciding how he would proceed, dictating how the future would go by only showing him what was needed to corner him or… was it somehow, someone else's doing -

"Eh?" Historia winced for a second, bringing a hand to her head.

"You alright?" He made a stop instantly, turning to her and looking around. The mountain cave was almost in sight now, their navigator bear was a little ahead of them.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She nodded and silenced him before he could suggest stopping by nuzzling her nose into his cheek reassuringly, "let's get this done with and relax back in our home."

Nodding slightly, he picked her hand up as they continued up the steep route they had roughly come the last time.

To get to the cave, they would have to turn left here and continue up the zigzagging cross to get up there from where the stream flew down into the woods around their house.

The black bear instead had gone right, moving along the side of the mountain in a comfortable fashion.

"Shall we follow her…?" Historia gestured over, not really sure herself. Once more, it seemed like the bear wanted them to follow it somewhere, but they had their own issue right now to also look into.

"I guess… the cave shouldn't be going anywhere, but…" Eren stared up, just about able to see it from here. The strange texture of the cave entrance that resembled tree bark. "I guess the chances of it appearing won't change even if we come back later…"

Turning back at them, the black bear let out a low growl before panting open mouthed at them like it was telling them to hurry up.

Setting out after it, they found a thin ledge that was almost flat as they walked across the mountain ridge, Historia at the front.

His green eyes fell over her nape. It was covered by her tied hair, bobbing from side to side in the wind, the rest of her spine covered by clothes.

That was where it was residing right now.

He traced a hand over his own back, wondering if something similar existed there too… or had at least perhaps within Ymir herself.

It meant there were more.

He didn't know if they'd find another here, but… he needed to know what it would mean. 'Historia…'

There was snow around the ridge, increasing the further eastwards they followed the bear. It took about an hour but they finally began climbing down a little again before reaching a mountain pass.

"Oh…" It was hidden behind the corner by the mountain's rocky side.

Once they turned onto it, it was another thing they could tell was made by man in an instant and destroyed by humans in another.

Built a couple hours distance away from the ancient ruins of the village, the black bear had slumped down before another collapsed structure. It waited for the pair to get closer.

The centre of the mountain pass was partially blocked from the statue's fall but it wouldn't be too difficult to climb over.

On the perch where it remained was an emblem imprinted to the centre, with two seashells on either side of it, there was an indent of a sword and shield followed by further writing they could not read.

It didn't stick out unnaturally unlike… the cave entrance.

If anything, it looked like parts of the mountain had broken off and fallen into the gap between two peaks. Snow and what foliage was able to overgrow beneath the rock had caused cracks to run all along the area.

Having arrived, the two lay their bags down before approaching seeing the bear look between them and the now empty perch.

The stone feet of whoever's statue once stood were still left on the top, the rest of the body fallen backwards unusually onto the higher incline of the mountain instead of downwards. The head was broken beyond recognition and all the other pieces were scattered about the area.

Around them, there appeared to be fallen arches or other pillars which were now unrecognisable and formed almost a circular wall 1 metre high all around them aside from at the entrance they came from.

Eren touched the slab which once acted as the stand, feeling over the emblem. It reminded him of the Marley ships he had captured… although folded away, their flag had a distinct symbol. "Hey, these seashell-!"

"Ah-" Historia grabbed Eren's shoulder swiftly and pulled him away. The stone slab had fallen out and collapsed completely.

"Thanks…" Eren said whilst the blonde shook her head before pointing to her cheek with a smile. It wouldn't have broken anything but it would have hurt. Pressing his lips on her cheek easily, Historia's eyes was already on what had fallen out from within. "Wh… no way."

Instead of a perch, it now looked more like a stone box.

Hundreds of bronze coins had scattered across the sloping ground, spreading themselves amongst the stones. The container had been about another metre tall and 5 metres long and about as wide.

The entire front slab had fallen, beyond which an immense stash of coinage, jewellery and gemstones had flushed out before their feet.

Barely glittering against the dark floor, the once gold metals had now turned brown and lost their shine with time. Pulling amongst them, there was torn parchment and decayed scrolls as well, none of which were legible any longer.

"Hey, could this be… a tomb?" Historia guessed after a while. "Or maybe some offering shrine or something."

Pulling his arm deeper inside, Eren searched and pulled out a sheath with a sword inside. It's metal hilt had rusted and a bandage loosely hang over the end. "I don't see anyone's body or coffin inside…"

The lamp could only let them see so far with how stuffed the entire beneath was with wealth and treasury. It bemused them how the valuables, even if they could have been in use today, was of little interest to them.

The money wouldn't buy them a life here nor help uncover the lost reason behind this area either. And with either being a queen or soldier, their money was supplied freely and not as regular payment.

"Still… there's not much point to us taking this," Historia smiled with a shrug, glancing to the black bear who had lowered it's head in a spot near the rock and appeared to be napping. "We'll take a few to check them out but I doubt anyone on this island could help with these…"

"Maybe the Marleyians might know," Eren suggested, not that he was able to interact with them, although that was Yelena specifically who he was kept far away from. "Could try buying them out or something."

"With this old stuff?" Historia laughed before poking her head under the top again. "! Hey, move everything away from the left side."

"Huh?" Eren ducked under again, pressing his chest uncomfortably on the rocks. "What's there?"

"On the wall, there's some writing," Historia pointed out and reached her fingers over it as they both began moving the heaps of clinking metals aside.

"I don't see anything…" the brunet frowned whilst Historia scooted in even further. "How can you see when it's that dark…?"

"Eh? It's not dark at all," her blue eyes for a moment shined when he looked into them.

The Titan shifter blinked away and rubbed his eyes whilst looking at his still blurry hands. "Maybe it's just me then…"

He thought he could at least see in the dark about as well as before.

Bringing a lantern out of their bag along with Historia's journal, he climbed under beneath her again, pushing a golden goblet and circlets out of the way.

"…" Eren watched as Historia kept copying the writing down along with symbols into the parchment whilst he gave her more space. "… There's really writing there huh?"

"Yeah, you can't see it?" She stopped in concern, cupping his cheek and brushing his chin slowly.

"No, but it's fine," Eren shrugged whilst they stopped after a few minutes to eat before continuing along.

They checked the fallen front slab over and then the back and right sides but for some reason, only the interior left side had something written on it.

"Huh… this seems different from what we found in the village," Historia pointed out.

"How so?" Eren leaned over her, watching as she flicked the pages of the journal between the symbols she had copied on an older page to the new set.

"This one is even more different from our writing," she traced her finger around the accented form, "it doesn't used phases like the writing we all use on the island, but there's a lot more curved and individual letters which are stuck together between spaces."

"… Well of course," Historia looked up to him curiously before he blinked.

"Of course… what?" She looked at him dumbly, doubting he had anything intelligent to say.

"Of course I have no idea what you're talking about," Eren nodded. As expected.

Smacking his kneecap, she raised herself and finished another roundabout of the place.

Over the pass however was a sheer cliff that dropped to the ocean. Eren had heard it vaguely before the black bear had woken up and growled at him before biting into the hem of his jacket to stop him from getting closer.

They had struggled a bit before the bear let go, leaving a bite mark in the end of his longcoat to Eren's annoyance.

The cold sea was over a thousand metres below the almost smoothly state cliff. After peering over, Eren had given in and gotten dragged back by their bear companion who didn't like sticking around the edge.

Once they returned and Historia had finished the copy and stretched her slightly sore body before they began tidying away.

"Want to keep this?" Eren suggested stashing the rest of the treasure back inside before placing a circlet with ruby red gems around it over Historia's blonde hair.

"You hate when I'm wearing the crown though," she teased whilst fitting it around her.

"You're still beautiful in jewellery, a crown just ruins it though." Historia smiled at his words before yelping when he yanked it off her again. "But you're right, you definitely look better without it."

"Hey," she pouted at him, brushing her hair back as Eren threw it back inside amongst the over coins before closing the slab quickly before she could object. Sighing softly, she hugged around him before they hammered the container shut again.

The black bear had resumed laying down under the collapsed stone, pulling out some stashed foliage and strange looking fruit which it began munching upon.

It wasn't much of a cave but it had found a burrow amongst the collapsed arches where it lay down and rested, not appearing in a hurry to go anywhere.

They had been about to leave and turn back before the bear growled at them and came hopping over with a branch held in it's mouth. There was still some fruit attached to it that the bear waited for them to pick before turning back into it's burrow and resuming it's nap.

As though returning the favour for the last meal, they ate into what appeared to be very large pears in the way back.

The fruit was sweet but also quite hard to bite through, leaving them to wonder where their bear companion had gotten them from.

They took a careful hour to get back before they stood before the entrance again.

Just as abnormal as before, the tree like texture appeared like stone but felt like hardened wood.

They proceeded inside, following the stream whilst keep their eyes on it. The water remained still before it split into two again.

To the right, they would come to a dead end. To the left, to the source of their uncertainty.

"What is it exactly you were hoping to find?" Historia teased all of a sudden, pretending she had doubts from the start.

"… I dunno, I kinda thought things would figure themselves out once we got here." He confessed. "If you thought nothing was going to happen, you should have said so."

"It's not like I was sure about that," she shrugged trying to remember something. "I… think I do remember. This cave feels familiar, and I can… recall bits from the last time."

Her memory of the last day didn't appear suddenly, and it was more that the cave gave her familiar feelings she must have had the first time.

"Well if you can remember just a bit then that's something I guess," he replied, honestly being already satisfied if Historia still had the correct memory. "Do you… remember falling yet?"

She shook her head, before stopping with her lantern down again.

There it was.

The flower which was growing out from the rock itself, in a place with no light.

From there on, they kept their lanterns out at a distance, proceeding each step cautiously together with Eren at the front. He kept trying to catch sight of something, anything in the water but it remained still and slowly seeping out of the cave.

And there at last they came to the sudden fall. It was difficult to see even with the lantern with how the stones reflected light of it's wet surface before stopping into a dark well.

There was no bottom in sight, the water almost completely reflecting their own images in the dim lamplight.

When he stopped to look at it, Eren wasn't sure what else to do. Going inside was dangerous enough but he didn't want to leave Historia alone either, partially since he knew she would follow after him anyway.

…

'… What am I doing…' The Titan shifter kept wondering. 'How the hell am I supposed to understand anything about this?'

It wasn't human.

And he was in it's territory.

If he went any deeper now… what would he find beneath the water?

…

In the end, they had turned back once the time came. The most they had done was dipping their hands into the water and trying to disturb and kick into it, in the hope if any reaction.

As though it was absent from it's home, neither felt any sensation from it as they retired back home and continued relaxing within the woods.

After Eren left her off back in the capital on the night after, Historia fell into a pleasant sleep, in the safety of the centre of the walls.

---

?

An ashland without any scent.

"Ah…" It felt soft.

Softer then any bed she ever had.

Like in the embrace of someone that was holding her dear.

The sky she opened up to was dark but absent of any stars.

Instead there was a single white light across it, splitting it into two sides from where she lay.

Breathing comfortingly, she felt a hand on her head, stroking her gently.

She remembered the feeling well.

It was just like the time she spent at her grandparent's farm with the first precious person to her.

Her elder sister's hand was gentle and comforting as she lay in her embrace free from any worries.

Historia blinked and raised her head up, tilting it up as she realised she was indeed in someone's lap.

The delicate hand was ladylike and just like how she remembered.

"… Frieda?" Her blue eyes were open and staring into identical coloured ones.

The black haired woman opened her mouth to say something but no sounds reached her ears.

A few tears dropped down on her before the dream ended, the comfort lingering all the way through her body, telling her that her first family was always watching over her.

Her hand brushed tenderly, remembering their last promise to see each other again.

---

Late Spring of the Year 852 – Central Mid-East Territory

Smoke covered the two opposing lines of trenches, their forces dug deeply within the long running encampments in a continuous stalemate.

A storm had been going on since the morning, causing the sand to sink in and the trenches to be filled all around in mud that clung to both Eldian and Marleyian's clothes.

The communications room was abuzz, switching in between and tuning across the available frequencies with ongoing requests.

"Command, do you copy? Command?" The Marleyian at the speaker kept repeating with a dry mouth along with his colleagues.

The howling wind added another voice, a low bellow that accompanied the thunderous bounds like a demon was cursing them.

"WHAT THE DEVIL IS IT NOW?!" The guard of the Marleyian pulled the slider open to look through. "NO HELLSPAWN ARE ALLOWED IN 'ERE, PUT A BULLET THROUGH YOUR SKULL ALREADY!"

"S-Sir, we beg you please. please…" The Eldians left in the trench were all pushed into a crowded shelter further along. They had still left plenty of them outside to watch over any attacks from the enemy. "It's been 2 days without food or water, we can't go o-"

"That's not my problem! You know how this works," the guard spat into his face, "there's hardly enough for us Marleyians to go around, it's not our fault the supplies haven't arrived! Now piss off!"

He thrust the barrel of the gun through the hatch, into the Eldian's eyes who fell back screaming into the mud before smashing it closed again and slinking back against the wall with a glare. His fellow guardsman snorted and looked around the building before calling. "Oh yeah, 'cept you chosen warrior. You get to eat same as us, how does it feel? Is good, right?"

Reiner knew better than to make eye contact. To quell his instincts from lashing out and try to stay as hidden as possible within the Marleyian base.

There was nothing he could do to change the situation either.

'Yes there is…'

A small, deeply buried side of him spoke in his mind.

Trying to remind him of the fact he could have at least saved that Eldian from the abuse at least, he turned away and kept ignoring that voice again.

He could have done something. But if he did, a bigger commotion would start. If that happened, the consequences in their battle line would be far worse for the treatment of all the Eldians here. But…

He was nobody's big brother.

He had never been.

He was starting to think it may have all just been a dream, the 3 years he had spent there amongst them all.

But even if it was a dream, he wasn't that person now. A personal, charismatic, senior brother that led them all. It was terrible to even imagine it when he had sat through hundreds of such incidents without complaint by now.

Those that stood out would only increase the burden and have their squads and comrades pay the price. The same went for him.

Or maybe they would take it out on him instead. Perhaps their resentment might lead to 'accidents' where they fired their own cannons upon the Armoured Titan.

He wished something like that could happen.

'Perhaps I should try it…' Reiner considered the risks but knew when it came down to it that the Marleyian military didn't possess the means to destroy his armour anyway.

"Any luck?" A Marleyian officer loomed over to the communications squad.

"Nothing sir," the man removed the headgear, "the supply team's probably lost in this weather and there's no response. We can't contact Lakua either, the storm's seems to messing the connection up."

"Keep trying," the man ordered, sitting up and pacing across the room again, the noises of the radio continuously working.

The Marleyian comprised group had half turned in for the night but a good portion were gambling over dice in the corner of the room.

"Oi, Eldian," a gang of five where munching on their midnight meal that itself was sparse. "What happens when you don't go without food? Do you start cutting up and eating each other when you get too hungry?"

"Nah mate, they not like that," his friend rocked between them with booze in his lap which he only just started, "they like 'em alive, whether they're Titan or not, they don't bother once 'em dead."

"Yeah, they only like each other still warm and tender to flesh."

"I bet we'll see that in a couple days."

"Nah, I bet tomorrow they'll start."

"They seem hungry already, I'mma bet they'll be at each other by dawn-"

"Enough," the officer wandered by again, silencing them. Most of the Marleyians in the room had heard the talk, most of them pointing stares at the sole Eldian that shared the room at them, but also noticeably worried if the Eldian troops outside actually began feasting on each other. "If those devils start cannibalising each other, we'll march them out into the enemy lines this very moment."

Though it did little to improve morale, the officer tapping the gun on the floor did reassure the Marleyians of their own safety as he took a hard look at the Titan shifter.

Lightening sparked through the sealed windows, causing much of the room to jump in fright. Of course no Titan had appeared, it was all just regular lightening this time.

They had been mounting successive attacks in the night with Reiner at the forecentre. Although the Mid-East Alliance was now slowly becoming used to it, they had managed to get some slow ground into the enemies lines.

About maybe 1 and a half kilometres at most. Apparently it was still worth keeping him for that to gain another quarter a mile bit by bit.

Tonight however was unsuitable with the amount of downpour and strong winds that swung against their advancing direction, sweeping dirt all over their trench line. The Alliance would no doubt be on constant alert however, each lightning bolt bringing terror of the possibility of his appearance as the next.

On one hand it might be an ideal to make an appearance and spread fear of multiple Titans appearing however the enemy commander had survived the Marleyian sneak attacks and prepared plenty of mines and bombardments prepared specifically for the Armoured Titan.

For now the Marleyians had decided to whittle their enemies observance this night and await for tomorrow.

Reiner closed his eyes for a while.

The lightning strikes sounding in an irregular pattern like clockwork bells indicating the passage of time.

His stomach happened to growl a little too loudly as another hour passed.

"Pssst… why do Eldians eat each other anyway?" The Marleyian from the gang whispered over at him with a snort.

"Who knows…" Reiner spoke his only 2 words for the past few days. His heavy mouth reminded him just how long it had been since he last had any conversation.

He sensed the group of Marleyians and the guards too listening to his reply with no luck whilst Reiner continued leaning on the back of the wood wall with his eyes closed.

The blond counted maybe 200 rumbles of thunder but only around 30 flashes of lightning.

'1 every 10?' He mused dryly.

Time.

It seemed like something he wanted to be rid of the most but still kept receiving an abundance of.

'No, that's not it…'

It wasn't that he was receiving it. His life was running out.

' "You're lucky you get to eat the same stuff as us." ' The Marleyian had tossed him some rationed food when he had ordered inside.

He was lucky apparently.

That had been the only reason for his treatment.

' "You're lucky to not have the Armoured Titan taken away from you" '

He had been lucky for the circumstances.

That had been the only reason for his continued tenure.

' "Reiner, you're very lucky to have -" '

Maybe he was.

Perhaps it was really only down to the draw of fortune that had forced him to continue, grasping to anything to hold on to.

But he felt –

"Sir, we have a situation at the beach!" The communications specialist pulled off his headgear and called for his officer.

"What?" The Marleyian turned in his slow pacing to approach the man. "Enemy ships in this storm?"

"No sir…" The soldier hesitated before sitting down and confirming the situation again. "There's a report…"

Reiner opened his eyes just as a powerful bolt of lightning that struck nearby shook the building.

"… They're saying a monster has washed up on the beach."

…

The room all fell silent. Everyone's eyes turned to the new centre of attention after Reiner had gone ignored.

"A monster… you're saying a Titan's appeared?" The officer questioned steadily.

"Y-Yes sir…" the specialist turned to him after tapping the audio equipment again, "they are saying it's too dark to see but it's massive, it's the shape of a submarine but then it started moving, i-it's still struggling but can't get up from the beach. But… it doesn't look like a Titan either, but some sort of sea monster…"

"…" The officer turned to the blond Titan shifter. "Eldian, go find out what… it is. Where is this frequency from?"

"The long beach sir, next to… the Red Outpost!" He checked the map to confirm.

Without waiting for any more words, the guards opened the door and let Reiner out. He heard the officer calling after him. "Bring back whatever the hell you find – some Mid-East weapon or some captured Titan leftover, this may be crucial. Marley has to know! You have permission to you use your cursed devil power."

The sound of the storm's downpour deafened his voice as Reiner strutted out. His dry clothes were now instantly filled with rainwater, all sinking through in seconds.

Other Eldians, hugging the muddy ditch looked at him, noticing him as their chosen warrior from his red armband.

He felt a few nodded to him but no-one was in any spirits to speak to him in the shivering, poorly lit muck. Most of them looked at him uncertainly.

Whilst they starved out in the artificial swamp of a trench, he was an honourary Marleyian. It wouldn't have been strange to have pushed him out in living with his fellow Eldian conscripts however the Marleyian officers in charge were tasked in concealing the location of their Titan shifter to secrecy and had this forced him inside.

The winds bellowed and tried to push him back down into the overflowing trench as he pulled himself up the ladder in two steps.

Every few seconds just as he counted the rumbling of the thunder going off, accompanying light followed about a tenth of the time.

After getting up and putting some distance behind the Marleyian line, he pulled out the knife and triggered his transformation. The coast was a few kilometres away to the east but he could barely see much past a couple hundred metres even in his Titan form.

All the howls of the singing winds turned into a single deep, low whisper as he became submerged within the nape of flesh, the sound of rainwater bashing against the armoured plates converging into a single beat.

His eyes glowed a little to see in the dark as he leaped off on his march, a distance away from the road that he followed.

A few times, he thought he heard the discharge of shells and bombardments, perhaps after being spotted by the Mid-East Alliance far over no-man's land.

Or it may have simply been more thunder and accompanying light which could not reach him. The chances of him being spotted should have been naught but he pulled himself away from the road once more just in case.

He knew the area of the coast here fairly well from the number of fleets which he had been prepared to intercept, largely unsuccessfully.

The outposts which were coded by selected colours were in sight, the small tower built like a lighthouse had received the transmission and was flashing on and off thrice every couple minutes.

As common practise, he could sense the Marleyians yelling at him for taking his time whilst pointing their light towards the beach. Passing over the trenchwire in a step, his whole mind came into focus on the feeling of wet sand that sunk his heavy body into the beach.

It was wide and sparse, completely deserted along the shoreline which usually presented a clean beach when the tide receded.

The Marleyian encampments lined beyond the reeds, giving them a clear view of the number of ships that had been passing recently around the area.

"Here, here!" He heard men calling over to him. "Over here you monster, come deal with this devil too!"

It was a little stretch away from the outpost but he calmly walked over, upturning sand over his feet as the Marleyian soldiers pulled away clear and retreated, shining a light over to the so-called monster.

It certainly was massive. Certainly nowhere near the size of… the Colossal Titans, or the… walls… or of the… one friend he had abandoned.

But for an animal, it was truly long, perhaps twice the length of the height at which his own Titan stood.

'…' But it was no monster, 'that's… a whale?'

Lowering over it, he stepped out of the whale of the directed light source from the outpost. The whale raised it's mouth, the top of it far bulkier than the lower jaw as it whined a low wail and tried to turn away from the shining light in it's eye.

It's skin was dark grey, difficult to sight from the angle of the tower and likely from the ground from which it's great maw would be seen first.

Waves splashed weakly against it, unable to pull the behemoth's weight back into it's ocean home.

In fact, it only seemed to push it further onto the sand bank, sentencing the great animal to it's death.

Stepping around it, he covered the whale's bulky, shaped just like a submarine, body, it's fins raising up in the air helplessly before falling on the ground.

It had barnacles over it that suggested long life as sea but what was most peculiar was simply it's flatness.

The animal was long and wide. It was alone the largest natural being he had ever seen. But it's height seemed miniscule or rather compressed. Like it was being crushed by it's own weight, unable to sustain itself as it surrendered to it's fate.

Or perhaps all whales were like this. He had never seen one outside of the book once, a study of the surviving animals of the age.

The Eldian empire had hunted the great ocean-dwellers to near extinction centuries ago, taking their meat, skin and blubber until they became such a rare sight that the trade was practically dissolved shortly before the fall of the empire.

The amount of meat it had would surely save the Eldian soldiers from their starvation within the trenches for a few days.

In the past century which followed in Marley's disputed control, whales were spoken off as mere myths at times and often as one of the many extinct species as a result of the Eldian empire. Sightings were often declared as unconfirmed rumours with insufficient spottings to conclude that whales still swam the oceans anymore.

A large wave splashed over the top of the great mammal that hummed in complaint as it failed to pull it away again.

'Ah… it's singing.' Reiner realised. He could still hear thunder continue through the storm around them but it had become distinct from the low hum he had heard ever since he first entered his Titan form. It wasn't the storm, it was the cry of an animal. 'Don't tell me… it's calling for help?'

The great whale exhaled steam from it's top, opening it's mouth slightly with a low hum, calling out in all directions.

'Shh… don't do that.' His mind thought over what he should do. The Armoured Titan's hand reached to press on the whale's head, causing it to relax and fall silent a little. It's comparatively small eye slid to stare at him, the low voice silencing for a moment.

Reiner closed his eyes and breathed in. The low voice transversing through his Titan body had stopped for a moment. But as he listened closely, he could still hear it. The distant singing of it's own kind. 'Not good. There's no time.'

He didn't have time to think of how such a large whale had ended up being stranded here but he remembered the story well.

It had been one of the first Bertholdt had told him.

Of how sea animals like the vanished whales would sing to each other. How they always would come to each other's help and some would come to other animals' aid too.

Even if that meant suffering the same fate.

He pulled his armoured hand underneath the sand, reaching deeply as he went on one knee, turning his hand under the belly of the gargantuan whale.

Lifting it up, he felt the weight of the animal that had lived and swam as naturally as it's ancestors, uninfluenced by any unnatural power. It was a Titan of the natural world.

It was a so-called monster that ruled the seas.

The Marleyians that had stuck about where calling to him, the storm only getting worse. By chance a lightening bolt thrust it's way into the beach nearby, causing them all to flee in a sudden.

The lighthouse continued to shine upon him in the battering rain, watching him in difficulty as he kept to a low level whilst sliding his hands carefully over the whale's skin.

The blond shed the armour around his hands, sliding the great sleek belly across the sand, moving it around towards the ocean. The whale hummed in uncertainty, feeling itself being moved towards the water that splashed along it.

With it's strength seemingly drained, it's back fin raised weakly, barely a metre off the ground as it was pulled into the ocean along with the Titan that stepped into it, engulfing them in the water together.

A powerful, gentle giant that regained it's strength at the sensations of going home. Reiner relaxed as he felt it's tone become lighter, more gentle and calmer.

The whale splashed itself, pushing itself further in, across the underwater sands. It's flippers pushed through the waves, arching over them as it propelled itself further in.

Ten metres deep and it managed to lift itself up again, the weakness from becoming stranded disappearing as life reworked itself around it's whole body.

Submerging himself further, Reiner kept holding it's belly forward, helping the whale fight against the strong currents and wind as the water too swallowed him beneath the surface.

He didn't have to continue long before the whale's tail swiped strongly and the animal set off with it's own strength, the water now considerably deeper.

It was impossible to see in the dark underwater anymore once the grey behemoth swam forth. The Armoured Titan kicked the ocean floor, pushing himself backwards, up to the surface and continuing further to the land.

He could still hear the whale song even once he laid back down, the sand cushioning his armoured form, the waves pressing over his feet.

Within the dark of the storm, Reiner caught one last sight of the tail fin dipping out of the water and falling back underneath the surface like it was waving one last goodbye.

Like bidding farewell to an old friend, his mind settled that he had perhaps done something right for once.

He didn't exit from his form for a while even as the soldiers approached and yelled at him over the storm. The song of the whale kept humming through the nerves of his Titan body, the frequency of it's sound heard differently through his Titan ears and through the vibrations which followed into him.

The whale song replaced the whispers of the wind, singing a peaceful song rather than a wailing call.

Less lonelier, less painful, less sad.

Becoming one with other distant hums of it's family, the whale song calmed his whole body as it became quieter. As quiet as the ocean beneath the surface.

Only it felt just a bit less agonizing now.

He pulled himself up as the distant hums became too quiet to hear anymore in the far off ocean. He gave in his report to the officer, giving his account of a still existing whale population, however small it may be yet consistent enough to grow into such lengths.

Claiming that the storm and the whale itself had struggled away and managed to escape his grasp when he tried to pull it up, he was met with the scrutiny of what the lighthouse soldiers claimed to have seen. Even so, he had confirmed the existence of the animals believed to have been hunted out which had little impact on the war effort.

Before it could slide however, he was instructed to follow the officers back to the beach at dawn on the day after once the storm had subsided.

The news spread across all of Marley quickly, the most actively discussed topic that didn't involve the ongoing war.

On the morning when the storm had stopped at last, Reiner had gazed upon the long beach in disbelief, the whole sand banks had practically been covered up.

Between the reeds and the tide, the entire beach was squeezed and packed with over 500 smaller whales and sealife that had been stranded onto the land, all perished under the waterless fate that had been driven to.

---

Early Summer of the Year 852 – Capital Mithras

Closing the doors at last, she waited for a few moments as the footsteps grew silent before breathing out in relief.

"I thought they were never going to leav-Gow!" The Queen folded her legs on top beneath her desk and pressed down whilst continuing writing with her quill again.

"S-Shh…" Historia shivered, bringing a hand under the table to brush through his long dark brown hair.

A double knock came on the door as she called out. "En… Enter."

The bespectacled messenger whose name escaped her quickly bowed with silent steps as ever, carrying a small pile and a couple letters on top. "From the Council your Majesty."

The Queen nodded gently as the man quickly turned and left, not making any footsteps.

Eren's muffled voice spread vibrations across her legs, causing the blonde's head to fall against the desk as muffled gasps escaped her blushing change of facade.

Her right hand dropped the wet quill aside whilst clasping a hand over herself, her other hand only encouraging Eren's head further in until he stopped altogether.

"Ah…" Collecting a few sharp breaths she peaked curiously underneath her desk again, the pleasure all spread throughout her body.

Eren scoffed at her, free from the blonde's grip. "Satisfied?"

"I didn't even finish yet…" Historia confirmed before grinning, "don't be a sore loser. This is what you agreed to after losing in that ball game."

Eren sweated a little when Historia's foot suggestively brushed over his groin, visibly hard and painful against his restrictive clothing.

"Maybe I let you win…" He pointed out, remembering just how dangerously close they came to skinship contact whilst the kids had been cheering on them.

"In that case you must have wanted this very badly," her blue eyes glittered in excitement as she gestured Eren to continue whilst parting her legs a little more for him. "Get to it."

The brunet nodded with a mix of unenthusiasm and pleasure, her clean undergarments still looped in his hand whilst he hesitantly stretched out his tongue and pressed against her most sensual area once more.

They had agreed for one favour from the other, implicitly indecent like this.

But he hadn't dreamt that Historia would tell him to drop down and do it right here.

She was still in a semi-grounded stage although that only meant sitting through a further lecture and having a temporarily restriction on personal visitors.

Which just meant Eren.

In that case, so long as she wasn't seen with him, then there was no problem.

'Win-win…?' Eren thought was the expression he had heard being used somewhere, his face buried in her heat before he felt himself pulled more by her juices and the only thing on his mind was pleasing Historia as fast as possible.

Historia stretched herself out in the dress and military coat she wore. The windows were open but the temperature in her room made her want to take it off however she knew more of the workers would be coming around over the next couple hours.

Her hand shrugged whilst biting her lip, her whole body convulsing delightfully whilst she indulged further into Eren's care.

Looking back in hindsight, he should have suggested to set a bit more rules on what was not allowed.

Then again… he could just have her return the favour next time.

'Actually this isn't so bad…' Eren began thinking, pressing his mouth deeper into her sensitive spots whilst Historia kept his face securely inside and refused to let him go until he finished the job,

Their hearts jumped out when a knock came on the doors, the footsteps only vaguely registered in their minds.

"… Enter," Historia composed herself whilst Eren tucked himself under the table again.

"Pardon the intrusion your Highness," one of her twin maids popped her head through followed by her sister as they both bowed, carrying folded clothes in their hands.

The blonde Queen resettled herself to appear as confident and unsuspicious as possible, which was difficult when she was partly exposed under the short skirt beneath the table.

Her two maids efficiently completed the chores whilst Historia pretended to be writing before the younger and more calmer of the pair approached towards her. "Your Highness?"

"Yes…" Holding her breath and Eren's head between her thighs to control the tension within her, hoping that she wasn't about to be asked about her complexion. Historia looked up at the open box in the maid's hand that showed a number of beautifully detailed and well crafted hair ornaments. "… Oh."

"These are the best selection from amongst the collections reserved for your Highness's family," the maid laid them down on the table in front of her, looking visibly excited and pumped up. "Please try one of your choosing!"

"E-Eh, right now?" Historia's stomach gloomed down whilst being responded with a visibly excited nod. The shier maid, Eloise had brought the mirror closer to her, showing her flushed face reflected in it whilst both of her servants were very keen on it.

She began to worry if they may suggest changing attire and trying them alongside her small range of dresses.

"Then, might I suggest blue your Highness?" The younger maid happily pulled one out in the shape of a flower before moving to the Queen's side who froze whilst her hair was rearranged and clipped back with the light metal. "Ah, it's the same colour as your Highness's eyes, what do you think?"

"Y-Yes, I think it looks good," Historia guessed causing the maidservants to shake their heads and then trying another.

"How about green, the same as Mr Jaeger's eyes then-?" The Queen coughed from the mention, feeling the Titan shifter hit his head. "? Is something the matter your Highness?"

"No, really, it's nothing," she gulped taking the emerald bird like pin and trying it to the side.

"A-Ah, I think a ponytail might suit y-your Highness better…" Eloise suggested to her maid sister who quickly stepped behind the chair without noticing anything and smoothly brushed her blonde hair back before retying it with the clip.

She breathed slowly and tried to focus in front of her instead of down there, noticing the reflecting bird hairpin calming her a bit more than the blue flower which was just crafted with just as much detail.

Noticing the maid's smirk, Historia realised she had been eyeing a crimson red sun and moon ornament that was a little like a diadem.

For a moment, she recalled the ruby stone circlet they had found amongst the stashed treasure, now suddenly wishing she had at least taken that piece along.

"I'll try this one…" Historia picked it out herself seeing both maids happy she was getting into it now, "it's like the sunset I get to see from a special place…"

"Then, where did Mr Jaeger take you this time?" Emilia gracefully took the jewellery from her hands and brushed the Queen's hair back into plaits.

"I… didn't say anything about him taking me anywhere…" Historia said carefully, shifting nervously whilst looking down.

The maids looked at her in doubt and uncertainty respectively before the younger nodded along, "right right, of course you did not spend any time with Mr Yeager during the three days you were unaccounted for, just like it was around three days last time you went properly missing 6 months ago."

"…" Historia fidgeted, pressing her legs down deeper together onto the culprit.

"But… your Highness's advisor was rather troubled before…" Emilia informed her in warning, "not that I wish to worry your Highness, but the lady seemed mad again that you did not heed the prior warning once more…"

"It is understandable… at first I could be excused given my upbringing but it has been more than a year now…" the Queen accepted the fact she would likely be reprimanded properly this time. Likely with proper security this time. Then again, proper security was hard to come by still. "I guess there is nothing I can do, and I am fine just staying friends with Eren-"

"Your Highness must not give up!" Eloise suddenly blurted with a defiant face, "I'm certain Mr Jaeger w-would not want that! A-And above all, your Highness and Mr Jaeger always look so happy together… it's just meant to be!"

"R-Right… Yes, you are right," Historia felt like jumping on her seat whilst being encouraged by the very maidenly sight of the sweet girl who was making them sound like a fantasy love couple. Even if it wasn't the case, she realised how pleasant the feeling was. "Hm, yes you definitely are right!"

Caught in a moment of surprise, the maidservants relaxed around their Queen whilst trying one after the other in fashion. And just when she thought they were finally through, they began trying several in combination.

Listening in whilst feeling his head spin, Eren breathed out quietly, trying not to tickle Historia's thighs anymore for the longest half hour of his life so far.

Once every possible style that Historia had every imagined was tried out, the two young maids bid her well and had finally left.

"…"

"…"

Pushing the chair back, Historia tried to play calm when Eren finally pulled himself out from under the table, his face wet whilst holding a troubled glare. "So… what happened to keeping things a secret."

"Gah, I've told you already!" The blonde pouted, "it was just an accident, nobody knows we're actually together just that I clearly love y-"

Silencing her little outburst with a wet kiss, he pressed her mouth open and slithered inside. Historia shook back in her chair before relaxing in delight, her half turned eyes piercing him in irritation as she began tasting back into the kiss.

Moaning back, she felt liquid enter through her mouth that only made her entire body heat up, fixing her legs together with her undergarments still clutched in Eren's hand. It took her a moment to realise it was her own juices she was tasting through Eren.

Sucking the mixture between each other, the two gasped out, checking to see how late it was again.

"Damn, can't you do that time change decree so that every hour is counted twice as slow in the capital," Eren complained, straightening down his military jacket after brushing down Historia completely, bothered that they could not continue further.

"Then I'd have to wait twice as long without you," Historia pointed out with a smile, "besides that's just something new to account for changes to the daylight in winter."

The brunet shrugged without seeing the problem whilst sighing to the evening chime.

"So…?" Historia smirked with her arms folded whilst Eren stood silently.

"I think the red suited you best?" He guessed, not that he had been able to see.

"Yes yes," she stood up on her tip toes, the height difference between them only having increased in the past few months. "Go on, or you'll be late. Well, I'll be treating you next time."

Eren nodded solemnly before feeling heated up when Historia's thigh pressed into him. "That's just torture…"

Stealing her lips again, he pressed intensely back before roaming his hands over her back.

Leaving through the hallways of the palace a few minutes later, he chose the quickest and most emptiest route down to the ground floor first.

Over the last few months, the number of whispers had increased regarding the Queen's relationship with the hero of the walls.

Eren himself vaguely seemed to notice the public talking about him and a number of individuals holding him in… uncomfortably high esteem but like Historia, they both avoided the public's eye and coming forward in any way.

Within the palace under the military rule, the rumours were kept in check a little more and the primary political talk was now on the higher military officials who had gained their own influence and following.

"Hey, that's him…" A few servants who were gathered around whispered when he passed. "Is he leaving from the Queen's room again?"

The guards also glared at him in greeting and made every attempt to avoid him where they could.

"I hear the Queen has unrequited interest to him."

That was the closest statement he had heard, although there people certainly might talk of them behind close doors, it wouldn't matter so long as there was no evidence to it.

Although it may be time to try misdirecting the rumours in a different way. He was already sneaking in through the back half the time but even seeing the Queen once a week was more than any other visitor she had.

Eren stroked his shoulder length hair down thoughtfully. '… Maybe I could pretend to be a girl?'

---

Mid Summer of the Year 840 - Liberio

Even before they were part of the remaining 6 warrior cadets, along with Zeke from the past generation, he had collected enough courage to speak to him after Marcel prodded him to it.

The tallest boy amongst them in their own generation, the only person that really treated him well aside from Marcel.

"… What're you doing?" Reiner asked at least in their break period after nervously walking towards him then turning around and trying again, all as quietly as possible. "Shouldn't we do extra training like we've been told?"

Truthfully, it was only Reiner who had been told that. With how much everyone else excelled him, they only had breaks since he was meant to take extra classes.

This time however, instructor Magath had been called away and he told Reiner to go find one of the others to teach some miniscule amount of competence into him.

His first choice had been Marcel of course but he was beginning to realise how out of depth he was. 'Marcel's always the highest ranked out of all of us… I can't be seen with him.'

Porco would no doubt speak to their parents and tell them how much of an embarrassment he was.

'I''ll show you bastard…' He would prove him wrong. He absolutely would. 'One day… I'll stand shoulder to shoulder with him'

Pieck was always friendly and would strike up a conversation if he found her but would always start talking about things he couldn't understand and sometimes… just scary.

Annie was a definite no-go. He had an inkling that she didn't like him, even though she treated almost everyone with the same level of dismissal apart from her fellow female warrior trainee.

He was always curious about where their senior would always go… a few times he had seen Zeke playing catch with some elder man he sometimes saw in the premises. 'Perhaps his father is a soldier here?'

A father… who would come to see him.

Shaking his head slowly, he came to the only choice left to him.

Folding the paper smoothly, Bertholdt completed another paper boat and set it along the puddle.

It was drizzling steadily but not too heavily anymore, the occasional sound of the storm now passed.

"Hey…" Reiner tried quietly after his third attempt. It was the first time speaking to the tall boy.

"…" Bertholdt didn't reply, humming a silent song to himself as his fingers carefully worked around another sheet of paper, folding it into triangles at the top and a flatter bottom in expert precision.

"H-Hey…" Reiner called a little more loudly, splashing into a puddle a bit too hard which caused some to splatter on the plain sheets of paper Bertholdt had brought.

"! H-Hey?!" The tall brunet jumped up, not seeing him approach and hiding the folded paper behind his back.

In his panic, he stepped over one of the boats he had previously made, reducing the total down to 8 again. He gasped and paused, looking down sadly for a moment.

"S-Sorry…" Reiner hesitated, seeing he had caused trouble again.

"It's alright…" Bertholdt leaned down, taking his foot off, trying to pick the soaked paper up. It crumbled in his hands and fell splat on the wet ground. "It's my fault, I was too distracted to notice."

"That's not true…" Reiner leaned over and picked one of the damp pieces of paper up for himself. "I'll make one to replace it… like… thi- no wait… like… this…"

He stared at the scrambled and flimsy shape of a hat. It didn't even connect around properly.

"Ah… you don't curve it around, you have to pop it out like this…" Approaching the blond trainee, the taller boy showed him the piece of paper. "Fold both the long side horizontally first, then back and doing it vertically to join the shorter ends. Turn it around and then bring the joined ends into triangles together…"

Nodding along after a pause, he took another sheet of paper, copying the boy as instructed. Long ends then short ends, then triangles.

"Ah not that far," Bertholdt advised, seeing Reiner pull the corners into a triangle all the way to the bottom. "Just until the midpoint, along the crease. Leave just a little bit of space between them."

Unfolding and refolding again as instructed, the blond pressed his fingers strongly along the ends to repeat the fold.

The bottom came after, splitting the ends on either side before pressing their ends around the other side too. When it came to opening them up from beneath, he ended up tearing the paper in frustration and redid it again from the start.

Bertholdt's work was meticulous, delicate and focused.

If he didn't have to be a warrior, he could have become a skilled designer of some sort.

Just like his aim, he was always accurate and never missed the target.

So long as he wasn't distracted that was.

A few times, Bertholdt himself made mistakes when having to watch and correct over Reiner.

…

- 'From the start… I was always just getting in his way.'

Bertholdt had never been confident when someone applied pressure onto him. Even so… he wondered how much was due to his own influence.

Reiner stared blankly at the square he now pointed into the sky to stare at. It was all folded down, now into a much smaller square than any before it. "How… does this turn into a paper boat?"

"… Just go like this."Bertholdt gave a smile for the first time, putting his fingers in between all four sides, he carefully pulled it out and then creased over the bottom of it.

Following after him, Reiner completed the same thing with a bit more uncertainty. There was a clear difference in quality between Bertholdt's perfect shaped and Reiner's wonky, lop-sided boats.

Not getting discouraged, he delicately placed the paper on the puddle which acted as a bay for now 10 boats.

"Wow… it actually floats," Reiner stared in surprise, watching his boat beginning to spin around slowly from the cool wind and ongoing rain. "Huh, no-!"

And then it sunk.

Taking on just a bit more rainwater, it's bottom became too damp and tipped to the side just a bit more until it fell sidewards and sunk in the shallow puddle.

"Ah…" Bertholdt watched sadly as his own recently constructed paper boat was quickly suffering from the water. "It's the paper that gotten too damp. There's nothing else you can do… I ran out of card just a little while ago."

The remaining 8 ships, all made from card paper, were struggling themselves, blowing into each other as they took on rain, no matter how Bertholdt tried to cover them with his body and coat.

"Hey… what were you going to do with these?" Reiner asked at last.

…

He hadn't really given it much fault before he joined Bertholdt in his little hobby. He had just caused him to flatten one of his own boats to begin with.

"I… don't know," Bertholdt looked away, reaching out and fiddling with the centre bit of the card. "I…"

Extending out his long hand, the boy pushed the remaining fleet of paper boats across the puddle which dribbled into the drainage.

With just a single push from him, the boats began gliding one after each other, leaving the puddle and setting sail along the street drainage system.

Watching as they suddenly went off, Bertholdt stood up again in surprise, following along as the boats departed. A couple got stuck on the side as Reiner reached out to push them along.

"I… guess I wanted to see where they will go… I guess."

"…" Reiner followed along, the two young boys fell into a comfortable silence. "They're going to go down the sewer at this rate…"

Bertholdt followed where Reiner was pointing. Towards the end of the compound, there was a drain which leaked down through the internment zone of Liberio and washed out to the sea.

An old iron bar on the side of the road. One by one, the cardboard boats fell in. A few slide sidewards along the bars, before getting spun around and falling down as well along with the water.

In a few seconds, there was only one left now.

Refusing to fall just yet, the paper boat spun and rocked around between 2 streams of water that hit it from either side, spinning it about as it took on water.

And then it finally aligned itself with the centre of the bars leading to the sewage and –

Reiner lifted it in the air before it fell.

"… Eh?" Bertholdt blinked at the boy.

The short haired blond turned the paper boat upside down, gently shaking the water out of it.

"It'd be a waste if it fell just like that…" Reiner suggested on the way home a few hours later.

They stopped by the edge of the internment zone before they went home.

On the edge of the Eldian portion of the city, there was a single river that exited out in the ocean.

Placing the paper boat down into it, it escaped out of the bars successfully and headed out straight into the open sea.

"Someday, we're going to go on a boat across the sea too… we'll crush the devils that abandoned us to run away on Paradis island…" Reiner repeated his vow.

"… Yeah. I guess… that is where our boat will be heading." Bertholdt nodded solemnly.

A boat made out of paper card wouldn't last long out there.

There was no way it could reach Paradis island from here.

But unlike the boat they boarded on that day… the paper boat left into the sea freely.

Sailing wherever it wanted to go in it's short life.

"I've always wanted to…" Bertholdt had struck up a conversation the next day, marking a start to their friendship. "Maybe when this is all over… I'd like to go on a ship across the deep ocean… one that would take me wherever it wanted to go."

Somewhere far away where they would never be bound as the Eldian devils whose blood ran in their veins.

"Yeah… I'd like to go on one too."

Reiner had agreed, offering to go along on Bertholdt's dream ship.

Across a great ocean yet to be explored, it was the only place still –

…

"Ah…" Reiner blinked, his ears still ringing from a sad great whale's song.

---

Mid Summer of the Year 852 – Paradis Harbour

Was this the moment which spur him into action?

Looking across the ocean on the oncoming ship, he felt that the time had come.

While the ship was in his direct line of sight, he wasn't looking at it so much. It just happened to be where Historia was standing today.

Her hair was done up into a bun as per her regal image but he was glad she didn't wear the crown on her head. Historia had argued herself that it was best to present herself as an equal to the wealthy business family instead of us a monarch.

They wished to approach the negotiations carefully, as a military strong nation instead of one bound to the Fritz and Reiss Kings of the past in their lordship.

Darius Zachary was absent due to urgent matters and had entrusted Hanji to lead the discussions with the Queen in attendance as their representative. Pixis, now having re-distributed his Garrison forces all over the southern region beyond Wall Maria, had also organised the security.

Levi and Mikasa had moved away from him, cautioning themselves and putting distance between him and Yelena with whom the captain was harshly whispering a warning to.

"Hanji," he spoke to the commander who awaited alongside him.

"… What is it?" The one eyed commander glanced at him curiously.

"… Will you let Yelena lead the introductions?" Eren watched over the tall woman who had tried shaking his hand just before.

He had yet to converse with her despite the months which had gone by. He didn't know what he would make of whatever she wished to share with him but she didn't seem in any hurry for the moment.

"… We don't have much choice when this has all been arranged through Zeke and his volunteers. First however, Historia will greet them as you can see…" She glanced over to him once more. "But, we will be leading the negotiations from then. Do you think that is a problem?"

"No, you're probably right…" He shrugged. Their hands were tied.

Hanji then coughed and sighed a little too loudly. "If you're worried about Histo-"

"That's not it," the Titan shifter quickly denied, "I am suspicious why they insisted her Majesty had to be present but she had a strong character. This won't be any problem for her."

"Yeah alright…" the commander shook her head, before easily asking, "do you like her?"

Eren sighed internally, picking out a number of his practised lines. It wasn't the first time she had tried gauging his reaction. Usually she was more subtle about it or uncertain and he would cut her off and change the topic. "Who?"

"Oh I wonder…" Hanji waved over to Pixis to prepare as the ship came closer along the pier. "Queen Historia has always been close to you since her ascension, it's been a while so anything changed between you since then? She's also at that same as you, so do you know anything about her relation interests?"

"Nope." Eren playfully swayed his head, causing his almost shoulder length hair to sway in the sea breeze. "As her big sister, I won't allow anyone to take her."

"Huh?" Hanji breathed out with an exaggeratedly confused face. Some of the other military officials nearby were also giving them questioning looks now. "What are you talking about… oh well, when they see you, they might just think you're a girl if you were just a little cuter."

"… Thank you?" Eren blinked, giving Hanji a look to tell her that he was just making a joke. The commander appeared to be taking him seriously.

"Is that why you're going with that whole look? Is this another part of-"

He ended up having to play along with Hanji for the sake of it. She had of course issues after she let him go for a week freely but somehow if he played along with her conversations, she was happy enough to let it slide.

Apparently to her, being focused and on good behaviour meant agreeing with her and making serious talk out of silly things sometimes. But it did also depend on him being cooperative and talking business when often needed.

Whilst watching between Historia and the head of the Azumabito clan greet each other, he glanced over to Mikasa, noticing a physical resemblance between them. His eyes narrowed as he noticed Yelena lean over and begin speaking to Mikasa.

One by one, they all greeted the ambassadors, introducing himself as the Titan shifter before they all were escorted inside the new military building at the dock.

Armin was stationed nearby and lookout for any other ships. They had arranged for the visitors of Hizuru to arrive at a time where Marley's ships would be concentrated elsewhere according to the reports from the other Anti-Marleyian Volunteers hidden within the Marleyian military.

But there was no certainty if they may have been followed. They had taken every care beforehand to ensure a safe route from the continent but it would spell trouble if the ship from Hizuru was confirmed.

…

A circle around three swords – a 'katana' as Kiyomi Azumabito had identified, their ends to each other's crossguards at an angle that formed a rough 'A' symbol.

"This mark has been passed down by my dead mother's family." Mikasa had taken off the bandage she had worn up to now once he had prodded her. "I was told to give it to my own child as well."

He had not known much about it besides that. Now, it seemed strange that he never thought of it aside from the one time he noticed the strange mark… as though he had forgotten about it completely.

"What… a noble act…" The ambassador brought her arms to his childhood friend's arms, almost genuinely. 'Almost.'

Before the fall of the Eldian empire, Hizuru had been the sole ally. It had been from the relationship between the royal family and the shogunate that Hizuru had been contacted for this day to happen.

"You… are the descendant of our nation's lost lord." The elderly woman provided all the information she had on the matter, briefly telling them of the country's history. "You are Hizuru's hope."

Glancing over to the half-oriental girl, Eren could easily sense Mikasa's discomfort.

The usually stoic solder was clearly far out of her usual scope.

…

The volunteers had been left inside to keep their visitors company whilst Hanji had excused them all to privately discuss the meaning to Mikasa's heritage.

He wasn't sure if it would play a part in the future but… within his memories, only a few belonged to Mikasa.

Eren glanced her way, surrounded by all the military officials busy discussing the concept of a nation, consulting Yelena about Hizuru and their general distrust. Mikasa was standing tensely, her back against the wall with questions about her from all around her.

There was little… no, nothing he could remember that indicated what Mikasa would do in the future. But she wasn't completely absent from them either.

There was just a brief moment… but he thought he could see her looking happy, so happy that he doubted it might have even been Mikasa.

But she held a loose red scarf, frailly in her fingers… like a great weight had been lifted of her.

Eren breathed in sharply, seeing the doors open with the conversation silencing again.

"In this world connected by the seas, we are but a little, tottering child," was how Pixis put it.

It may have been premature to decide but he didn't have a particularly high prospect for what Hizuru's demands might be. An ally was still essential for now… so long as they could come to fair terms.

His head winced for a second, driven by a sudden burst of anger that quelled in an instant after.

"Hey, why'd you only show Eren that mark?" The centre of his attention had tugged her hand on Mikasa's jacket. "I mean, you never showed that bandage around your wrist to anyone."

"Uh…" Mikasa pulled her hand away and cast a glance to the brunet, feeling suddenly uncomfortable as she tried to pull away from the smaller blonde. "That's… um."

He wrestled back a smirk, deciding to help Mikasa out a little. And since he always became elated when Historia looked so bright. "You seem very happy."

"Of course I am!" the blue eyed girl smiled at him passionately like he had found her a new friend, "the both of us have been made to carry a heavy weight because of our family right? I couldn't have a more reliable company!"

Eren smiled softly at her whilst Mikasa averted her eyes and Historia clung onto her jacket a little more. Sliding in subtly, Eren gently elbowed Mikasa's side, causing her to give him a strange look.

"… Sure," the black haired girl resigned after Eren have an insistent nod before slipping out of Historia's reach.

Leaving the two of them next to each other with her back to them, Eren slide in and squeezed Historia's hand gently who nudged him in the side.

It might take time but he hoped Mikasa could befriend Historia as well now that she might have some common ground to talk over. His adopted sister had always been a hard shell to crack through but he hoped they would get along… and avoid any potential problems down the line.

At least if Mikasa was a little more fond of Historia, he would be more inclined to confess his relationship with Historia to her at some point.

He felt he ought to reveal such things to both Armin and her before everyone else found out… whenever that day would come.

His… family ought to be the first to know before anyone else.

They gave each other quick, reassuring smiles before separating and heading back inside to their respective seats.

/.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../

Eren swallowed the blood within his mouth, concealing any signs of how deeply he had dug his fingers into the torn fabric until he was drawing silent blood.

Subtlety doing his best to remain as quiet and controlled as possible, his blinking mind registered the need to quickly seal up his flesh wounds with minimal steam.

Dragging his nails out of the side of his leg, the tear of his skin quickly disappeared, his tongue quickly following whilst trying to not cough from the steam in his mouth.

The room was waiting for someone to break the silence.

"In other words, the ability to be able to rumble the world must be able to protect this island for 50 years. One with the Founding Titan…. And one possessing a Titan with royal blood mus be continuously maintained. This is the third process. Zeke will pass down the Beast Titan to one with royal blood.

It was the last thing he remembered before he needed to close his mind off completely.

It had been a long time since he felt such rage… even greater than his revenge led years.

It was different.

All his anger… had been his own. His own suffering, anguish and torment.

Whilst it wasn't just about himself, it was certainly a desire that stemmed on from his own agonies.

Like two fallen leaves drifting in an open lake when their stems become entangled from a chance collision.

It may not be the first time he got angry on someone else's behalf either, however… it had never been like this.

It was an affront to everything she – they, stood for.

Kiyomi kept eyes downturned to the table, awaiting a response. Everyone else had drawn their own thoughts and had all focused their attention to the Queen.

He pressed himself to not bite down into his lip anymore lest he attract further attention. 'Stop looking at her.'

With the pressure of everyone's stares on her, the Titan shifter was fully aware to the conclusion which she had made.

A few times he noticed how she tried to look to him for affirmation, wanting reassurance for what she what about to say.

His mind thumped.

'… So this was it.'

He had seen the warning from his future self.

It had been for this moment. And for everything which would come after and what they had already done.

Ignoring the aching from his clenched teeth, he cursed as to why there hadn't been anything else he could have seen to warn him of this.

'…'

In the seconds which Historia finally began to raise her head and open her mouth, he understood.

Nothing would have changed even if he had some forewarning to what he ought to say.

He had already decided that he would interrupt her – it didn't matter what, he wasn't going to let Historia say such words, however pretenced they might be.

"Alright." Hanji along with Pixis and a number of the other high ranking officials all looked uncomfortable and distressed at the situation that had been resulted.

The only one who could answer was the Queen.

The only person they could leave it to was her.

The only choice they had.

'No, it's not…' Eren remembered how he always thought of such people. Cowards. No matter how things changed, it all seemed to remain the same. 'No… all of you, are just -"

The blue eyed girl cast deeply over Eren first before turning to Kiyomi again.

"… So long as the rumbling is necessary to our continued existence, I will ag-"

"… Historia." Eren rose from his seat, one leg springing before the other as though he was about to enter a combat stance before remembering this was meant to be a negotiation. Bumping his chair back, he forced himself to choose gentler words and not turn everything around. "If our survival means to live like this, even after having the walls and land destroyed, our children bred and killed like livestock, I will absolutely not accept Zeke Jaeger's plan."

Mikasa tried to reach out to him but stopped midway whilst he felt Hanji's ever scrutinizing look on him.

"It is too dangerous to entrance our fate to the maintenance of the rumbling. In the short time we have left, wouldn't it be better to explore all other options we may have?" He knew he wasn't able to control his gaze and so kept his eyes to the table directly before the ambassador's hands.

The elderly woman seemed to accept his words. "Yes… it is not time to rush into a decision yet. We will continue to help mediate between you and Zeke Jaeger."

The topic had diverted as Kiyomi began to speak more at length over the information she had brought them. His eyes deadpanned out his glare when he felt Hanji staring at him continuously, expecting him to turn to Historia.

However badly he wanted to, he kept himself in attention.

He could easily imagine Historia's face right now.

And what they would have to talk over.

---

5 ᛈᚨᛏᚺ ?

1058 Years Before Modern Eldian Calender

Spatting out the blood into the basin, the ancient Marleyian clay was eternally marked in red. The marble could be washed but the stain would always be remembered within the highest chambers of the empire.

The first of the last blood the great king would shed.

"Scheming traitors-" the ageing man spat out on the carpet, storming out of the royal chambers through the palace. "They want the death of me, I bet they are all hoping to be the next King."

They wanted to replace the 6th generation King Fritz – now the first Emperor.

In less than a century, the petty Eldian tribe had massacred the Marleyians, taken over their cities as their own and installed the great bloodline of Ymir into their temples.

He had been the one that turned the growing Eldian kingdom into an empire. Rivalling the extent of territory that the fallen Marleyian empire had covered, now reduced to a fleeing kingdom.

Biting back a laugh, he coughed again and spat out blood. "Dirt crawling dogs think they can take over this empire of mine. Their insolence blinds them to this power of mine that brought them here. They are acting as though everything I've done for them never happened. After everything..."

'The shit obsessed fools don't even know the importance of royal blood. If you try to take this power, you will doom the entire empire. That is why it was given to me! I was the one that was chosen. '

Although there was no way to prove the futility of it without costing his entire legacy, he would settle it with brandishing his authority down upon then.

"Hah, I'll put those mongrels in their place," the 6th Founding Titan was livid from just remembering. "Starting with that accursed Titan of the vanguard, he'll pay for disgracing me and ignoring my summons."

The current holder of the 'Attack Titan'. He hated the look in that warrior's eyes. As though looking down upon him, an emperor king, as though he knew something far greater than the Founding Titan.

Up until recently he could put up with that man so long as he continued being loyal.

Now the way he regarded the Emperor had changed, like he was holding the secret to what he craved for so long.

"I'll make an example of your family, general," the emperor cackled in glee, "as if I'll tolerate you. I'll outlast your petty self. That's right. Of course I will… It won't come for me, the curse of Ymir won't stop me. My time will never come. It will never come for me…"

Death.

– 'I am the Emperor of Eldia, the first true – God. Superior than Ymir. I'll bargain with the devil and escape your curse. I'm the first that will have surpassed her, I will -'

It had terrified him from so long ago. He was the first born son of the royal family and was always destined to become the King someday.

Destined to rule over the most powerful nation to rule the earth. Destined to engrave his name and memory into the history of the world.

The fate he was born with from birth could not be any less suited to his liking.

However he had been born at the peak of the war with Marley at the time of the 4th Fritz King.

There had been many attempts at his life, some that left marks on him for life but that hadn't been what left the worst impression on him.

It was the day his mother tossed him into the fire. Screaming and burning in agony as a child, whilst she looked at him in contempt and run off along with his younger sister whom their mother had always favoured.

He had lived all his life in the Eternal City.

The Marleyian empire's once capitol who in their tongue, they referred to as Caput Mundi – The Centre of the World.

It was the centuries old city from which the Marleyians had ruled the greater seas and land, all of which were taken by the 4th Fritz King.

It was a city whose homes were of brick and stone and it's great palace and wealthy estates were made of marble, designed to last forever.

Dancing, play-fighting and rushing through the streets every day, he could understand how many past Marleyian rulers had inscribed their name into the buildings and statues, all of which were slowly being taken down and replaced by the Eldians.

The fake gods they believed in and their legacies would all be forgotten.

Standing on top of the decapitated head of the Marleyian's own

first emperor statue, he imagined the day he could forge his image into the Eternal City.

It would be his name that would be remembered in their place.

In the head of the world at the border between sea, land and heaven, his influence would go on for eternity.

That had been the immortality promised to him.

Until that day, he kept on thinking about it.

On that day, the Eternal City was set aflame.

The great fire had broken out in the capital, the safest place in the world.

Beneath fire, the city fell into ruins, it's ancient buildings wiped out and forgotten.

With such a convenient chance, his mother had taken him and cast him into the flames of the palace.

She wanted to make his little sister into the Queen. He had just been in the way.

His mother had fed him stories of it someday.

When he, the first born would rule over the great kingdom of Eldia that his father and uncle had continued.

That he didn't need to be scared of pain, betrayal or old age.

He would be the strongest, the most beloved, the ageless King.

Death would never come to him.

His life was destined to be divine, rising far above the Marleyian Gods they had desecrated.

Death.

It kept whispering to him night after night as a child.

He loathed the very thought of it.

He had seen so much of it within the palace, beyond the city walls and amongst his own family.

His mother had broken into his room one day when the calls became dire, the fire continuing to expand despite the water that was being brought over the palace.

His father was out on the campaign which left his mother the Queen as regent.

She dragged him by the hair when he had not listened, the fact that the palace hill was surrounded did not affect him. They were the royal family and the servants would die before letting them perish.

Pushing him into a room, his mother pointed to a barrel, telling him to cover himself with water. He had not understood what was going on or why his mother only told him to do it, before the Queen forced his head down into, telling him it would protect him against the flames that had surrounded the hill they stood on.

He blinked from the oily feeling, unlike water the made him rub his eyes and exclaim at his mother. He had turned to look again one more time, demanding an explanation.

Instead she just looked upon him in disgust before resolving herself and grabbing his hand.

The last sight he saw was his younger sister's face.

Her eyes tearful whilst pulling against the tunic of their mother before she was slapped away.

Struggling against their mother, his vision blacked out as he was kicked and beaten before being tossed into the flaming door which he had not even noticed.

She threw him with enough strength to cause them to fly open as his body was flung inside a blazing room.

He couldn't remember anything else of what happened but he understood. His face had been dunked into oil if by any chance his tunic had not got on fire and killed him.

He was meant to die here.

And nobody was supposed to know any better of it.

The heat of it, searing out his flesh and jaws, his hand clawing at his face as his skin parted inwards as he ended up pulling his tongue out of his mouth, his eyes melting in his sockets.

Just a part of the burning capitol, all such legacies of an ancient past were slowly being lost.

He woke up the next day.

Like it had all been a dream, his face had been renewed, all his features in place.

At his bedside, his father looked down coldly before sighing in relief besides his younger sister. The King had returned quickly, after a riot of Marleyians had tried to storm the palace, claiming that they had been the culprits of the great fire.

He had put them down quickly and send soldiers in search of his heir.

When the guard rushed into the hallway, his body all charred up and on the verge of death upon the floor, the story he was told was unbelievable to him.

Barely further down the stairway, his mother had been found, her head split often by falling debris or from the fall down the stone stairs.

His younger sister coughing in tears had ordered the men to save him quickly and call for their father.

Once the 5th Fritz King had arrived only a few minutes later, he passed over his wife's corpse and reached out to his son. He had called upon the power of Ymir and had her heal him, a lifeline possible only to his heirs connected by their royal blood.

His younger sister had wept over him all night after the truth had come to light.

Leaving him without a word, his father had departed again quickly resuming his campaign that had driven to a halt.

Whilst recovering on that death bed, it occurred to him. The fact that his father had come too quickly when he was meant to be on the distant war with Marley.

Even after he could stand again, the sensations of death by flames never left him. The pain and betrayal of that moment could never be forgotten, digging into him for the rest of his life.

His father began taking him into the warfront to keep his only heir by his side and teach him the nature of battle. He grew up quickly, his feats commendable but not astonishing.

Whenever he looked upon it, he remembered.

The end of the battlefield, the slaughtered corpses they would decapitate and throw to their enemies.

The Eldians had overrun Marley lands, taking their grand halls, markets and homes for their own. Their structures were far superior to their inland tribes, the seafront culture all fascinated him deeply.

Their entire culture and stories did.

And everything about the Eternal City that had once stood.

The work of the Marleyians had been too advanced for them to imitate properly and no matter how much time passed, the Eternal City could never be restored with the techniques lost after their people had been slaughtered by the Eldians.

Just like it's mark had been burnt out of it's destined immortality, he knew that no legacy of structured works would make his memory live forever.

Whether it would be another millennia or ten thousand, eventually the day would come when it was all buried under ash.

He was not going to let himself disappear just like the Eternal City.

He would outlast all works of creation and prove his own immortality by his own hands.

He would not allow anyone to change his desired fate -

On the day he became the King of Titans at last, his suspicions had been confirmed.

With the power of the Founder, he confirmed that the former King had been responsible for the fire that day.

Perhaps he never intended for it to breach the palace, but he knew how much his father hated the Marleyians of the city and had wished to make an example out of them.

But he would never forgive the pain of that day.

He would become far greater than his father and outshine everything he had ever done.

And just as he declared, he buried his father's accomplishments under his own. And instead of a King, he had become an emperor.

He sailed the conquered coasts all the way down the further mainland that the future generations would some day govern.

The land which he had sworn to continue as their ruler for all eternity.

By the time had had become so absorbed in reigning over the other houses of the Titan holders, over a decade had passed.

Stumbling around he cursed and barked at the guards, swearing that he would behead them if they spoke of this and ordered them away.

He intended to start culling the guard little by little and start replacing them one by one.

He wouldn't allow anyone to witness him bleeding.

Of course he was going to execute them in any event.

'Yes, that's it. If I… execute everyone… that's the safest way to prevent any traitors.'

But then there would be nobody to protect him.

'That's absurd, I don't need protection. I am the immortal emperor of all earth, nobody can ever stop me.'

The 6th generation of the Fritz line smashed his fist into the pillar.

From the strength of the most powerful human in existence, the Marleyian structure barely shuddered.

'… Just what is it that I have to do, damn you?!'

No matter what, the Founder had never spoken to him.

The child girl would obey his commands in almost everything he ever said…

Aside from granting him eternity.

'Why?! Damn you why…'

Did she not understand what it was he wanted?

Or -

"… Emperor Germanicus…?"

The ruler turned to look over the shoulder, still leaning on the pillar. He had ordered everyone to clear out so nobody would see him.

"… How dare you address me like that, know your place you lowly slave." The emperor burst into response before fulling looking at the woman who stood before him in curiosity.

She was easily one of the most attractive woman he had ever seen with the mixture of diamond eyes and blonde hair that was almost white in shine.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry… please forgive me, Great Emperor over the Earth, Germanicus Fritz," the young woman quickly bowed her head but…

What was it?

'… Not frightened, not apologetic, not… caring at all.'

"… Raise your head," the emperor commanded, stepping forwards to her.

The Marleyian princess raised her head slowly, keeping herself bowed down slightly.

She was a captive prisoner of war, captured to negotiate with the Marleyian King when the time came that he could destroy that kingdom along with this girl.

As things turned out, the rule of Marley had been succeeded by another prominent family. It's original leaders had all been wiped out in an instant by the great Behemoth Titan.

She was nothing but a useless hostage now, kept around for the palace for any use of her. Despite that, she was still a noble girl for now, around 20 years of age.

Her blonde hair swayed gently over her pure white toga, her blue eyes unusual of the Marleyians despite their home region of the sea.

"Great Emperor Germanicus Fritz…" her expression lacked something. A great deal of 'something', but contained her own secrets. "Could it be that… you seek escape from your suffering and death?"

Not heeding his warning at all, the words were spoken gently and nonchalantly.

"What do you know of that woman?" He snapped, raising his hand against her. The girl winced back, closing her eyes but not turning away. And for some reason he wasn't able to bring his hand down at the enemy prisoner.

"I apologise if I disrespected your eminence my Emperor," the blue eyed girl opened to gaze at him before following up with a short bow, "I was wandering this halls because of the tumult I heard a little while ago… it was not my intention to intrude upon your divine's privacy."

It wouldn't be unusual to sentence even an accidental intruder to death. He had done so many times to silence his movements and prospective assassins. Had he not, he would never had made it this far.

And on his orders, thousands of Marleyians had been slaughtered for similar reasons and tens of thousands enslaved into the new empire.

Without slaves, the empire could not hope to prosper.

The captive woman was just like that, simply treated far better than any others would otherwise be.

He looked down upon her as she awaited his judgement silently.

"… Raise your head," he ordered. The Marleyian woman did so and looked in his eyes.

There it was again. Like the calm sea that not even he in his power could move. His dominion ended at the borders of the oceans on either end in the centre of the continent.

"Suffering and…? Who are you to assume anything of one such as me?" The inheritor of the Founder demanded.

"Someone as lowly as me would never dare make conclusions of your Greatness…" she breathed in calmly and straightened, "I simply… could not help but think of the story of the son of Iovis."

The great king of gods of the Marleyians had many sons in the old stories, half mortal and half gods, all possessing signs of godly power whilst few crossing the boundary of immortality.

With the new rule, the legends of Marleyian heroes were forbidden and it was illegal to speak their names just as the woman had avoided. Worshipping their Gods was also prohibited but they had chosen to not ban then yet, taking a page out of the Marleyian empire's history as they began replacing the old temples with their Eldian ancestors in their place in the Marleyian stories.

"… Hoh, then it would be that pitiful story of your hero of the twelve trials," the emperor assumed, familiar with that story. The woman nodded in surprise. "You would compare me to some half-mortal of your race?"

"Of course not my emperor, you stand far superior than any old story of mortal men in your eminence, above any old god of Marley," she closed her lips after a little, choosing not to continue. As though she intended to follow up with a statement… that he wasn't at the height of eternity either.

Though he was Eldian, he always hated the way that Marley's legacy was being ruined without ever learning of it.

A legacy which he would overwrite… but not one he wanted to eradicate without learning of first.

Brushing a hand over his white cloth, he readjusted the toga around his shoulder. "You…"

The woman was skilled with her intentions, careful of the mood and knowledgeable of the old stories as he demanded her to tell him more.

There was a position open as a cup-bearer that he needed to fill.

It had been a long time since he felt such comfort, long before the palace he grew up in was burnt down.

"What is your name?"

---

The Next Morning – Paradis Island Scouts Headquarters

The building was left vacant with everyone else at the harbour seeing off their first visitors and completing their first offers.

In another hour, the carriage would arrive to take the Queen back to the capital, leaving only a few minutes to themselves before they would not see each other again for a few more days.

"… So, where shall we start?" She asked in the room meant for her.

"We can start by talking," Eren stated blankly.

Historia sighed, "maybe a hug then?"

The brunet didn't answer but leaned backwards a little. His smaller partner reached out and pulled him down to her, hugging around his chest whilst resting him back against her chest.

From the time she had known him, this was easily the worst mood Eren had ever been in.

Turning around to face her again, the Titan shifter pulled his lover up into his lap sidewards, embracing her closer.

"… I guess we're both in a shitty mood at least," he stroked her back.

"Name one good thing that happened since the ambassador arrived," Historia suggested, her eyes red from a lack of sleep. Of course there had been many things which positively favoured them greatly but neither could spare thought to them after the main topic. "But staying in a shitty mood isn't going to help us."

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, still feeling annoyed. "… were you really just going to play along with that lie if you had said it?"

"It would be nothing more than a lie either way," she stated.

The silence went on for a while.

"Historia…" Eren began again. "Do you want to forfeit the future of yourself and our…"

"Go on, you can say 'our'," she pointed out with a roll of her eyes, "not like it'd be anyone else."

"…." He opened his mouth for a moment. "We can't. Not yet. I… if… I want a future where you can live freely and with nobody to harm you or if we have children…"

"You told me about it already, right?" She appeared resolute on the surface, but her inner thoughts were as clear as always. "We have to do something. If we wait too long… then the enemy will attack again."

"Rushing along with whatever Zeke or Hizuru now intends is far too…" He wondered if he could really call it reckless. They had easily been just as reckless even if they put some effort into avoiding trouble.

"We didn't make anything definitive, and I knew you would step in to make that clear," Historia stated, standing up and wandering around the room to the window which she peaked out from. The ship had not left yet but the final preparations were completing with Hanji at the lead bidding farewell to the ambassador. "For now, we are at a disadvantage right? We have to seem cooperative and open to their help, otherwise we might lose hope for the future or even make another enemy."

"I know that," the Titan shifter snapped, standing up and kicking the table, "that doesn't mean I like it."

He understood her reasoning.

And he understood her true feelings.

"But still…" The green eyed man struggled to say anything, feeling them both getting a little angry.

It's just that they shared different views on some things.

They could often tease each other over personal interests and peculiar tastes.

But it was the first time they sensed their opinions clashing dangerously close.

"I don't expect you to like it… but you have to keep acting…" She pressed back.

"I have to?" He bit his lip and turned his back to her.

"Yes… just like we've been doing so far, you have to pretend to accept this… otherwise-"

"I won't."

…

"…" Historia frowned intensely at his back. "You won't?"

"No, I won't." Eren stated defiantly. "I can pretend and hide our relationship just fine, but I won't stand by and let you even pretend to give up your future for anyone."

"… Is it that hard for you to stand?" She eyed him dangerously.

"Obviously," he turned around, staring at the floor. His eyes were glaring all the intense feelings he had been holding back since the meeting.

But he would never want to bare them towards Historia.

"Then what are you going to do?" She pressed on. "Find another way right?"

"Yeah, something that isn't nearly that ludicrous, with the power of the Found-"

"How do you intend do that if you can't even hide your fury?"

"… Huh?" Eren struggled to not bring himself to look up at her.

Even though he tried, he still did so.

And it hurt him to no end.

To feel himself glaring at the one he cherished when he didn't wish to.

And to see her glaring back at him in the same way, questioning his own ability.

"What the hell does that got to do with anything," Eren smashed his fist against the wall, "all of this can be avoided once we find some other way, I…"

"And for that, there's no other way to use the Founding Titan right?" The blonde declared, "in which case you need to do a better job if you're going to fool them."

"…" The Titan shifter breathed in slowly, reining back his fury. "I…"

He had thought he had gained control of his anger, sparing it back and finding the balance between it in battle.

Battle. How long had it been since he last had a fight which put it on the line?

"… I can't do that." Eren claimed.

"… If you can't, then you should cool your head and remember how you got this far," Historia looked out from the window, seeing the ship weigh anchor and begin to leave at last. They would come searching for her soon now.

She looked over at him again, waiting for him to reply.

He had gone back to looking away from her, his eyes still shaking in contempt.

Slowly, she began walking past him without a word.

Seeing her go, he grabbed her hand roughly. "… What?"

"…" He loosened his grip but didn't reply.

Historia waited for a few moments before pulling her hand away whilst facing him fully again. "…"

"Nothing," Eren turned away and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Don't you need to leave?"

She bit her tongue and glared at him, feeling she herself needed to calm down a little. "Yeah, thanks for noticing, I am so looking forward to going back alone."

The door was slammed behind him as he felt her leave.

He cursed and slumped down against the door. He could have gone after her and tried getting the carriage back with her.

He felt she was right.

But right now, he simply felt furious.

This was not what he was expecting.

Eren rubbed his green eyes whilst thinking for a moment. 'Raising a child like this… isn't this what happened to you, you son of a bitch…'

The thought caught in his mind.

He may not know anything about Zeke in the end… but it did feel strange.

From his father's memories, this had been the very reason his first son had turned against him.

"Ah…" He pressed the wrist of his hand into his head.

For all accounts, it was strange. There was details missing out of this whole plan. He had been caught up in his anger after the affront that he hadn't stopped to consider how much of it might be a farce.

Just like Historia had intended to play it.

There was still so much more they didn't know which was why for now, they needed to play along.

She was right.

But…

It had felt like a dagger had cut through him.

The silence engulfed him.

His whole body kept throbbing in a storm.

All of the leftover anger was directed upon himself whilst he kept playing back the way he had glared at her.

---

Southern Marleyian Continent

The beach was cleared up, completely empty except for the waves of the rising tide.

The Titan shifter was resting at the camp designated to the Eldians, many of whom were injured, starving or already dead.

He listened to the sound of the sea.

Just as mellow as always once the storm had passed.

A wandering Eldian happened to stumble near him, appearing sleepy and semi-conscious as he slumped down on the dirt besides him. "You… gonna eat d'at?"

Glancing to the full bowl which he hadn't touched, he picked it out and gave it to the fellow Eldian. The man didn't notice for a second, focused on rubbing his head as though he might have a concussion.

Placing the seafood before him, the Eldian suddenly grabbed it and run off before looking at him once more and yelling. "Storm's coming… storm's coming!"

Watching in concern, the man repeated the gesture before some of the other Eldians took him to the medics before the Marleyian guards noticed.

Setting the gun cartridges aside, he finished off cleaning the jacket. It had been a while since he last bathed in the sea and the Marleyians had ordered him out to clean. After they had splashed him with dirty water whilst saying they were doing him a favour.

Under the summer sun, his jacket dried quickly, completely clean again. He wondered why he bothered with keeping up appearances if the comments would come his way in any event.

But it might also just incite more agitation to the other Eldian soldiery. Frankly, he just didn't want to bother with any of it.

Slumping his coat on top of his sweatshirt, Reiner began returning to the main camp. He was halfways there when he stopped again.

There was a few rocks nearby strutting out into the beach which he decided to lean on. Soldiers, both Marleyian and Eldians passed him to and fro the encampment, giving him various responses on recognition of his red armband.

He didn't exactly have the same sort of place amongst the Eldians and he obviously wasn't a part of the Marleyians either.

So he decided to watch the sea a little longer before he would be summoned back again.

'...'

The Armoured Titan was not bothered in any case.

No… he just didn't want to be bothered.

Just like this, between the desert and the sea, along with his empty stomach and sleep depraved eyes, his mind just couldn't deal with anything more.

The baking temperature was rising to troublesome extremes, making his dizzy eyes awaken after he had collapsed again.

In the spray of bullets and explosions, the storm had returned with greater ferocity, smashing against his dreamy mind whilst he crashed through the enemy trench, covered his allies from the missiles and flattened the voices that kept screaming in an intangible argument.

---

Probably the most bothersome part was writing the ch107 talk lol… in the end when I came to overviewing this for days, it annoyed me to no end so much that I didn't like it at all haha so yeap, I cut out many bits from the sectioning which is why it's very short in what would have otherwise been meant to be the central part of the chapter but oh well. How it should have ended:

Historia: "Alright. I will a-"

Eren *picks up mic* : "Screw you, Paradis, screw you, Marley, and you, – you're good. Screw you, we're out."

Historia: "Finally, let's go get married."

* Historia picks up Eren bridal style andleaves room with everyone staring after them *

The End

Also followed by lots of behind the scenes noises, but then the end. Anyways, with that, things turned into their first argument and here we are, I did want to write some drama but don't have the incline for it right now but alas.

---

It had been the first proper argument they had.

Or maybe just a clash of opinions with his own anger getting the better of him.

Maybe it had been from bottling it up for a couple years or just some new found rage like someone was stepping on the bond between them.

'… But she was right,' he concluded whilst resting on the bench.

Just like she had told him, he had played along.

He had contained his anger just like he needed to.

Or rather, he came clean with it, and found the balance again and the strength to put it aside for the sake of the answer to the future.

If he hadn't, they wouldn't have gotten this far.

But…

Even now…

He couldn't stop thinking his feelings had been justified…

Even if he directed it wrongly, he never once thought it had been wrong.