"What is going on?" Historia yawned, her blond hair tousled, her blouse hanging halfway out of her pants as she stumbled from the relative coolness of the house into the mounting heat of the day.

Levi waved her forward with an impatient huff as he held open the door. Maybe this wasn't exactly how one treated a queen but Levi didn't want the whole Eren fanclub to witness what he expected would be a painful experience for himself, so dragging her from her bed before anybody else woke up seemed justified to him.

"Is he a bit… again?" Historia whispered to Eren, making a sign that Levi didn't recognize - it looked rather rude to him though.

"Yeah, I think so," Eren whispered back with an apologetic shrug.

What impossible brats!

"No, I'm not a bit… in the least," Levi snapped at them, copying the rude gesture. "This is about some new Titan shit that Eren is trying to keep from us."

Historia frowned, throwing Eren a questioning look from the side.

"Because you have royal blood," Levi explained. "Touching you allows him to see things, apparently."

"I'm sorry, Historia," Eren said, chagrined.

Sorry about what? Being secretive? Or about the shitty future he had seen for her? Well, being sorry was appropriate. If having royal blood meant she had some kind of special powers, then yeah, her quiet life was over.

"I trust you," Historia smiled brightly at Eren. He smiled back, his morose features transformed into a hopeful boy's. No wonder Mikasa sometimes got a little jealous.

He needed to tell Hanji about the outcome of his little experiment, Levi thought, as soon as he had confirmation about what was going on. Hanji and Armin, these two would figure out what to do next. Historia was the last living person with royal blood, well, at least as far as they knew - and...

No, not the last.

Levi stopped abruptly, feeling a shiver race down his spine. Likely it didn't signify anything but he did not appreciate that the Panther, half-brother to Lord Reiss, reappeared this frequently in his thoughts of late. A superstitious person would think it a bad omen. Good that he wasn't in the least superstitious - which didn't explain the shiver though.

"Never mind," he grumbled, noticing Eren and Historia looking at him strangely. He waved them on. No use wetting one's pants over things one didn't understand. Like for example, the link between the royal bloodline and the Ackermans, something which kept bugging him of late too.

Levi pushed the questions aside and quickened his steps. He was headed for one of the empty paddocks, preferably one with not too much cow dung on the ground.

"Fuck, it's hot already," Historia complained and Levi shot her an irritated look.

"What?" she quipped. "Are you going to lecture me about appropriate language, Captain Levi? I'm the Queen, I can do whatever I want."

"Oh yeah?" he jeered. "Wanna try?"

"I'm not afraid of you," she grumbled.

"What's the maid's name Eren got close to again?" Levi asked her.

"Oh, you mean Caroline," she answered promptly, falling for the old switch-topics-to-surprise-someone trick, realizing it and looking guilty when Eren groaned miserably.

"Yes, that's it, Caroline," Levi smirked. "Lovely girl."

He vaguely remembered the woman in question from the questioning rounds. Ample tits that almost popped out of a tight bodice. Flirty. Seducer of virginal boys? Or was it perhaps just this particular boy?

"I already told you," Eren's cheek took on a vibrant color, "I did not…" he looked over at Historia and colored even more. "I… I had to ask her something last night and then I fell asleep in her room."

"That's still the lamest excuse I have ever heard," Levi shook his head.

"I swear on my mother's soul!" Eren yelled, which gave Levi pause. Really? He had fallen asleep? That was even lamer in reality than as an excuse.

"You spent the night with Caroline?" Historia pulled a face. "Ewww. She's so much older than you. I thought the one time was…"

"Just stop," Eren pleaded.

"You slept with her once?" Levi mused. "And now you wanted to talk about it?"

"No," Eren whimpered. "Seriously, this is so embarrassing."

"Did it happen the last time we were here at the orphanage?" After Eren had exhausted himself practicing the hardening ability. Levi had not paid a lot of attention to Eren and his whereabouts then because the goal of the visit here had been to make him recharge and relax. "Your first time was embarrassing? Well, I assure you, practice helps, you will get better."

"I think he doesn't want to talk about it," Historia admonished him sternly.

"You think?" Levi lifted his eyebrows. "But we are going to talk about it. You guys realize that whatever you two do can have huge consequences for a million innocent people behind the Walls?"

They looked taken aback at the reminder. They were just kids, really, when one thought about it. Barely more than babies. Well, he had already had his first gang at fifteen of course, but Above Grounders took longer to come of age, everybody knew that.

"What did you want to talk about with that woman, Eren?" Levi asked, trying to sound marginally friendlier. "And were you really tired or do you think she put something in your drink?"

Eren blanched.

"I am going to interrogate her anyway once we're back," Levi decided. "So spill it, I need to know how bad it is."

"I…," Eren cleared his throat nervously. "I remembered something she said… previously. And I… I thought it was a little strange. So I wanted to ask her about it because of what happened to Historia in Mitras."

"And you think to tell me this only now!?" Levi yelled. Eren ducked instinctively.

"Hey!" Historia glowered at Levi. "He hasn't done anything wrong!"

Had he given the impression he was going to hit Eren? Levi showed them his open palms to appease them. No, he wasn't going to hit Eren. Even though he felt like it all the time.

"She said she had a brother who really wanted to meet Historia and asked whether I could arrange that," Eren balled his hands into fists. "I told her we were all leaving pretty soon so I couldn't and she was really disappointed."

Levi swore. They had not checked all the family members of people working at the farm. Apparently, they had to.

"What did she say when you came to talk to her?"

Eren made a choked sound in his throat and turned utterly red again. Well. An embarrassing sexual encounter with an older woman? Good for Eren that Levi could relate to that.

"Does this woman know what you are?"

"No!"

Or maybe she did. They had been under the impression that all the people here at the orphanage were completely oblivious about what was happening beyond their patch of land. None of them had ever been near a Wall. The Outside did not exist as a concept. But maybe they had deceived them. Nobody in the Survey Corps except for Levi had a thorough enough experience with human scum.

"Be more careful in the future," Levi said. "Sounds like she's a sly one. I bet that "brother" of hers is long gone now and the trail is cold."

"I'm very sorry, Captain Levi," Eren gulped. "I really didn't know… I… she was all over me and…"

"I bet it won't happen to you again," Levi appeased him. "Because you're not that dumb. But as a general rule? Don't visit ladies at night if you just want to talk."

"I didn't want Mikasa to see me with her," Eren murmured. "You know how she is."

"The other general rule is to be honest with people, Eren," Levi admonished him. "Especially the ones you care for."

Before he could add more life wisdom, they reached the paddock Levi had picked. The sun was beating down hard but he didn't want any trees nearby for risk of hitting his head again. He turned around his own axis once, finding the prospect of this much open space dizzying, even after all this time of living above ground.

"Subconsciously, I keep checking for approaching Titans," Eren admitted, as if he had guessed Levi's thoughts, "I wonder how long it will take to lose that impulse?"

Levi shrugged. Forever? "It doesn't hurt to pay attention to one's surroundings. Titans are not the only thing that threaten us anymore."

"So… what did you want us to do?" Historia asked, stifling a yawn. "I have things to do today."

"Hold hands," Levi replied.

"What?!"

"I just need to touch you, Historia," Eren explained. "You can just stand there. You won't notice a thing, I swear."

Eren took a step in her direction and reached out his hand. Looking surprised, Historia lifted hers to meet him halfway. Eren's face froze when their skin came into contact, his eyes growing wide, his mouth tightening instantly. The sizzle was faint in the harsh summer light but Levi knew what he was looking for.

He took a step towards the two teenagers but suddenly felt apprehensive. Coward. It wasn't like anything bad would happen… right? And even if… Resolutely, Levi put his hands on Historia and Eren at the same time.

The bolt of energy shot through him, threw him into the air and… Levi landed on his feet, a few meters away from where the two stood. He blinked. Nothing.

Eren let go of Historia with a sob and turned away, furiously rubbing his hand.

"No," Levi frowned. "It didn't work. We have to do it again."

"What is this?" Historia looked down at her own hand, frowning. "It stung."

"I have no clue what we're doing," Levi shook his head. "But it was different."

"Oh, you mean from the cave?" Historia's large eyes grew even larger. "Yeah, I guess I wished you to the devil, maybe that's why?"

"I blacked out and saw things," Levi frowned. "Because it was much stronger. You think you did that?"

"You hit your head very hard," Historia observed. "Anyone would have blacked out."

"Do you want me to hit you over the head?" Eren asked, sounding much too hopeful.

"I'll try hanging on longer this time," Levi decided. "Again."

Nothing happened during several more attempts. Everyone's frustration grew in stride with the temperature. The breakthrough finally occurred when Levi held onto their arms separately, then had them join hands. Someone like Hanji would have realized right away, he had time to think as the energy rushed through him like a flood after a storm, he had to reroute the power that was generated when the two touched like this. Founder and Royal were a unity. The Ackerman was a disturbance. A thief of power not his own. Fitting.

There.

The door was there, in front of him. Gigantic white double doors that shimmered, standing in a nebulous nowhereland.

He approached it carefully, looking to the right and left, but it was completely empty like only places in dreams could be empty. He walked around the door once to look at it from the other side - it was exactly the same there. Concentrating hard, he willed himself to reach the door handles above his head because yes, he was small, but he wasn't that small.

"No, Levi," a voice called out.

Tears shot into his eyes. He turned around, seeing his mother take form in the mist. Her face was just as he remembered, pale and luminous, framed by dark, wavy hair, her eyes always full of love for him - but right behind the love was acute pain, because she knew she had died too early and he had to fend for himself too early, a boy not ready for the harsh world out there.

"Mom, I have to pass through this door," he told her, his voice quivering despite his determination, "I am sorry, but I really have to."

"No, Levi," her eyes were swimming in tears, "please don't."

"I already lived a full life," he told her, "whatever happens on the other side of this, I'm ready for it."

"You must live. You must hide. Or Levi, they will come after you too."

"Why?"

His mother did not answer. Maybe she didn't know? Her image seemed to fade a little and he made a hasty step in her direction.

"Don't go," he urged her. Silly. She was dead, this place changed nothing about it. But he craved her touch. He wanted to feel her hand in his hair, he wanted to bury his face against her neck and breathe in the scent of motherly love. His heart aching, he looked at the specter before him.

"Mother, they already know who I am, hiding is no longer possible."

Memories of a cave. Erwin who had found him in the Underground. Erwin who had lured him into the light. It was where he belonged, outside, whatever the danger. No people should be forced to live like rats in the dark.

"Mom, you told me to forget, didn't you? I remember that now. But I fear I can no longer forget: There are memories that are coming to the surface, in my dreams."

She looked at him with all the sadness of the world in her eyes.

"Let me through, mother. Thank you for protecting me for so long. But now, let me through."

Like smoke that was blown apart by the wind, his mother disappeared, taking a part of his heart with her. Tears stung his eyes as he turned around to open the door.

There was a strange light on the other side. Shielding his eyes against the glare, he stepped through.

… White sand covers the ground, twinkling like a gazillion tiny stars. It is warm and pleasant underneath his bare feet. The vastness of what he beholds is stunning, the sky is painted with trails of wavering light and he who never knew fear feels humbling awe as he stares and stares and cannot avert his eyes even when they feel like they are melting out of his head.

"I'll be damned," Levi says with an effort, the sound of his voice muffled and swallowed up by the sand. It is appropriate, he decides, no untoward noise should linger in a place like this. Clamping his mouth shut, he listens to his blood sing in his veins instead, a feeling of homecoming lacing through him. So he has been here before?

Yes.

No.

This place feels familiar and yet alien, he feels a fleeting awareness of many who have come before him and many who come after him, all of them connected through a string of memories that are…

The thought is gone before it manifests. Feeling confused, he walks around the dunes until he is thoroughly lost, the sky pointing the way to a destination he should reach but he does not know how to read the map. There are footsteps in the sand that he identifies as his own after bending down to examine them and he is suddenly not sure how long he has been here already. A lifetime? What was it he came for? It's almost like he has forgotten his purpose, a nagging feeling of being robbed of all direction, a sudden panic that he is running out of time when there is no such thing here like time.

"Hanji," he whispers, "what is this place?"

There is an answer shuddering through the air, he whips around to catch it but it's gone just like that.

"Trespasser!" someone accuses him loudly. "Go away!"

He turns around but nobody is there.

"Your kind cannot be here!"

A girl appears before him, pointing a shaking finger at him. Another brat, only that this is by far the creepiest one he has ever encountered. She wears tattered clothing with a cloth headband, a sash belt, and leather sandals laced above her ankles. She looks half starved, like the children in the underground that live in the most desolate of ruins. Something about her frightens him, but he will not let her realize that because is it not ridiculous? She is tiny, her eyes underneath her bangs shadowed. Does she even have eyes? She's like a ghost, her presence presses in on Levi, a power that means to crush him and make him disappear.

No. He is mistaken. This is no child.

"Who the fuck are you?" he grinds out, it sounds like someone is choking him.

When he hears his voice he realizes she hasn't spoken, it's all in his head.

"You are not one of mine," she speaks/not-speaks and the pressure in his head increases. "Go away."

Why is she so afraid of him? He searches his memories and his heart but finds nothing there.

"I mean you no harm," he assures her, taking a step in her direction with upturned hands.

"You are banned from this place," she sobs, retreating hastily backwards, "all of you, banned! You mean to kill him!"

Kill… whom? Levi turns his head from side to side but there is nobody here but him and this child.

"Help me understand," he urges her. "Is this about being an Ackerman? Who made us and why?"

"He made you because he was afraid of me," she challenges him with a flick of her chin. "But you all need to die, you are too dangerous, nobody can control you!"

"Who is 'he'?" Levi asks, getting a little annoyed. Why can't she talk in ways he can understand? "Are you talking about the King? The first one? Apparently, I was made to forget everything," he explains to her, "I don't know what being an Ackerman means. I should know, shouldn't I? There's knowledge here, I can feel it, but I cannot reach it. Can you help me?"

"You're a bad boy!" she yells. "Go away!"

The girl picks up a handful of sand and flings it at his face. He closes his eyes, feeling it pelt against his skin like needle pricks.

When he opens them again someone else is beside her, his hands protectively on her shoulders. It takes Levi a few seconds to recognize the young man.

"Eren?" he gasps.

Eren is much taller, and his hair has grown down to shoulder length. His eyes still burn with great intensity, but this is no longer a frightened, confused boy. He is a man who is ready for everything.

Levi takes a step backwards.

"Captain Levi," Eren mocks him quietly. "Did Ymir not tell you to get lost? What are you still doing here?"

Ymir? The girl who isn't a girl. Ymir is their goddess. Levi almost falls to his knees when he recognizes their All Mother for who she is, but something is not right about this scene before him.

"No," Levi presses out. "What is going on, Eren?"

"Annoying prick," Eren murmurs, "Zeke warned me several times but I didn't want to believe him. So you've found your way in? Now what? Have you come to stop me?"

It feels to Levi like everything is slipping through his fingers, time, reason, understanding. He shouldn't be here. He has made a mistake.

"What are you going to do, Eren?" he asks, feeling a horrible foreboding.

"Don't worry," Eren says to Ymir and gently strokes her cheek when she turns her face up to him, "he will not harm you. Now that he's here, I can make sure he won't remember."

"You little shit," Levi presses out. "What are you planning to do?"

"Now?" Eren smiles with his lips but no joy reaches his eyes. "I will wipe your mind, Captain Levi."

"But I'm an Ackerman. I'm immune to your powers!"

The smile dies. "You're mistaken," Eren whispers darkly. "Here I am God. Don't try to go against me, Captain Levi. You cannot win."

I should have listened to my mother, Levi thinks angrily, feeling the pressure in his head increase, feeling fingers reaching into it, plucking things out, out, out.

"Here we go," Eren sounds satisfied. "There. Fixed it."

And he pushes him. Falling backwards, Levi is plunged into fathomless darkness...

… the impact when he landed on his back again took his breath away, pain shooting up his spine and into his skull.

"Captain Levi, are you alright?" Historia came running, Eren right behind her. "Wow, this time you were thrown really far."

Enough of this.

"Were you able to use the power?" Eren sounded hopeful.

"No," Levi groaned, trying to sit up. "I just saw my mother."

"Awww," Historia cooed.

"I got scolded for being a bad boy," gingerly, Levi moved his arms, his legs, and rolled his shoulders. Nothing broken. "It's just a pointless dream. Sorry to say, Eren - Your idea to try and pass Titan power to me was a good one but it doesn't work."

"Does that mean we can go back to the house now?" Historia sounded relieved, "I'm hungry."

Levi nodded and staggered to his feet. Dusting himself off, he caught Eren looking at him strangely.

"What?" he snapped.

Eren shrugged. "I was just thinking how you always seem to know exactly what needs to be done in every situation. How do you do that?"

Levi's turn to shrug. "Not thinking helps," he scowled. "And I don't know what needs to be done, I just do it."

"But what if people die?" Eren insisted. "What if careful planning could have prevented it?"

"You have to move forward," Levi answered, looking at the incredibly blue sky above him with a frown. "You cannot live in the past with your regrets. There's no point."

"Do you believe in God, Captain Levi?" Eren's eyes held such a strange expression that Levi felt a little worried. The boy probably needed a day off.

"No," Levi snapped. "I don't want to believe in a God who allows his people to be turned into mindless monsters."

"But what if…," Eren took a deep breath and something like a smile curled his lips. "What if God killed everyone who is bad and only let the good ones live? Would you believe in him then?"

Definitely, one or two days off were needed. Levi would tell Mikasa and the others to go camping with Eren in the forest, grill sausages over the open fire, chat the day away leisurely. The boy was going to snap otherwise.

Realizing Eren was waiting for an answer, Levi sighed. "Good? Bad? I'm afraid there is no such thing. All of us are good and bad, depending on the day and the circumstances and the lives we get to live. If your God used good and bad as his criteria, he'd probably have to kill every single human in the world."

Strange how uneasy Levi suddenly felt after saying this. Maybe it had something to do with the engrossed look on Eren's face when he contemplated his words. Or maybe it was the strange shimmering trail of light Levi had thought he saw when he had turned his face up to the sky. It was like the strangest kind of reminder of something important - only that he didn't know what for.

Of course he didn't know. There were no lights in the sky of course. There was not even a cloud.

With a shrug, Levi put his hands into his pocket and trotted back to the farmhouse with Eren and Historia in tow. Quite likely he needed to grill sausages over the open fire too.

###

It was weird. Zoë was almost asleep despite the hundreds of tiny needles embedded in her flesh when she heard Levi's voice in her ear, loud and clear.

"Hanji, what is this place?"

He sounded absolutely and very unusually flabbergasted. With a frown, Zoë lifted her head to look around the dimly lit room that smelled like a spice shop. Was she hallucinating?

"Shh, don't move," Doctor Grütter admonished her. "It cannot be that hard to lie still for ten minutes."

"I thought I heard someone," Zoë said and put her head back down. She tried to relax again but there were needles in her face and she could see them quiver precariously when she looked down her nose. Very unnerving.

"Just relax," the doctor said sternly.

After doing some swivel tests with her to check her balance, he had concluded that she might have a chronic ear infection. He was clearly puzzled by the episodic manner of her piercing headaches though and the only sporadic humming in her ears. Zoë saw from the corner of her eye that he was looking through several very large leather-bound volumes while she was lying on her back, his frown deepening with every page he turned.

Frowning doctors did not help one relax. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that was akin to fear.

Her eye was getting worse too - but no, she had not used the drops as prescribed. Yes, she would take care to do so in the future, everything else was just stupid, right? Doctor Grütter had given her a proper eyepatch to protect it from sunlight but had told her to wash the eye with a mild soap every evening and remove the patch at night to 'let it breathe'.

"How do you know Levi?" she asked.

"I don't really know Mr. Levi," the doctor murmured and flicked a page. "I have just heard of him a lot."

Zoë guessed that Mr. Grütter was not much older than them. He had jetblack hair, very smooth skin and slightly almond-shaped eyes. A bit like Mikasa, actually.

"Was your mother from the Oriental clan?" Zoë asked, suddenly curious. "And it's not Mr. Levi. His name is Ackerman."

The doctor closed the book with a loud thud.

"Ackerman?" He stood up and took a few hasty steps towards where she was lying.

"You know about the Ackermans?"

They stared at each other. His face was very still, but there was an emotion in his eyes Zoë couldn't quite place. Excitement? Fear?

"Of course," he said quietly. "There were many tales told about them in my family. I just didn't know any Ackerman survived."

"I'd like to hear those tales!" Zoë scrambled into a sitting position, her heart thudding heavily in her chest.

"Lie down!" Mr. Grütter pushed against her shoulders, forcing her back down. Frowning, he checked on the position of the needles, wiggling a few of them around.

"Ouch," Zoë complained.

"I will tell you what I know the next time," Mr. Grütter looked down at her sternly. "I have no time today. If you'd just do what I tell you, we'd be done already."

"Alright," she murmured, "I get it. Uhm… you said you wanted to give me herbal teas to drink last time?"

"If you promise to actually brew and drink them regularly, I will," he went back to his desk but he no longer flicked pages.

"How are herbal teas supposed to help against mechanical things that are wrong with the body? Such as infertility? I'm curious about the… science behind it."

He came back to stand next to her, frowning again. "You are infertile?"

"I happen to be, yes," she answered. "But that's not why I'm asking."

"Your name. Hange. Are you from one of the noble families?"

"Er… yes? Does that matter?"

He nodded. "Yes. It's a well-known fact among the doctors in the inner districts that all the noble families have problems procreating."

"Huh?" Zoë stared up at him.

"Do you have brothers? Sisters?" he asked.

"Yes - a load of brothers."

"Do they have children?"

In fact… "No," she breathed, feeling utterly confused. "Fuck. What are you suggesting?"

"Nothing," he went back to his desk with a sigh. "There are no explanations. Just that all the noble families have the same problem."

Zoë lay still after that, contemplating reasons but nothing made sense. Well, apart from the fact that they lived in a fucked up world in which the power of the Titans that their race had been blessed with was a never ending curse.

"Alright," Doctor Grütter interrupted her thoughts after a while. "This session is done. I'd like to see you at least five times, maybe more. Can you come again in three days?"

He began to remove the needles, throwing them into a tin container with precision.

"Sure," Zoë said. "Thank you."

He had not given her any tea, she realized once she stepped out of the building and onto the street. Oh well. She wasn't quite sure she'd really have managed to drink it as frequently as she should anyway.

The needle treatment made her feel lighter than usual, lighter and full of energy. There was no humming in her ear and no feeling of vertigo at all, even if she turned her head really fast from left to right… she stopped walking.

There was a man watching her from across the street. He pushed himself off the wall when he realized she had caught him staring and sauntered towards her. He was wearing an expensive suit from the looks of it, a tie and gold-rimmed glasses underneath a brown hat. His blond beard was neatly trimmed and his lips curled into a smile as he approached.

"Miss Hange?" The man sketched a small bow. "Or should I address you as Commander of the Survey Corps."

"The latter," she said, letting her eyes sweep over his immaculate get-up. He righted himself. His light grey eyes held an unnerving intensity. It reminded her of a cat who had set sight on a bird.

"What do you want?" she felt the unease in her stomach again.

"I am sorry to accost you like this on the street," the man said smoothly. "But you are a very busy woman, hard to get a hold of."

"Yes?"

"I'm a lawyer," the man's gloved hand went into his breast pocket and came out holding a name card.

She took it from his hand. Appius Tybur. Lawyer. The golden lettering on the pristine white card looked expensive. There was an address on the back.

"I understand a complaint has been filed against one of your senior officers," Mr. Tybur said. "By House Hange."

Her head snapped up. "How do you know that?"

The man smiled. "In my line of work, knowing things is paramount."

"We don't need a lawyer," Zoë said and handed the card back.

He didn't take it.

"Oh," his smile grew a little wider, his eyes a little hungrier. "But you do, Miss Hange. Believe me. You do."