Chapter 8

The nine cycles of sacrifice.

There was Levi perched on a crescent moon, a familiar scowl in place, and a cup of steaming tea floating next to him.

Strange, but not entirely surprising. Maybe this was another manifestation of their Ackerman bond. And so, because this was also Mikasa's dream world, she magically procured another crescent moon and sat on top of it. She giddily grabbed a handful of clouds and made ice cream out of it.

"Disgusting. Do you know the water that creates clouds is full of germs?"

Mikasa licked a stripe of the cloud ice cream. "Here, the water is made of crystals."

Levi rolled his eyes and drank his tea.

"What's that?"

"Oolong. Vintage."

"Fancy. Where did you get it? A magical cave in the dragon's den?" Her words felt light as if the bitterness and sadness from the real world were filtered thoroughly before entering this world.

"No. I had this in the living world too, I guess the flavor still sticks with me."

"Where are you, Levi? Dead in a ditch somewhere?"

"Is that what you're telling everyone?"

Mikasa threw him a small asteroid. It burst before reaching him. "Disappointed you didn't go out in a blaze of glory?"

"You would've burned my body and dump my ashes in the ocean you brats are so attached to."

"Well, maybe by then you can be reincarnated as a merman or something, or a salmon."

"Salmons are freshwater fish."

"But they move to saltwater when they're older."

Levi only stared at her with defeated eyes. He scoffed and jumped from his moon. Mikasa would've followed the suit, lazily floating in the air where the sky would graze her skin and tiny droplets ricocheted on the bounce of her hair. But immediately the scenery changed into a desert, completed with camels sauntering lazily and a tall tree which Mikasa couldn't name, providing them shades.

"Where is this? I'll have you know my fair skin is easily irritated—"

"Shut up. There's no sun here."

Mikasa looked up and true enough, there was only soft light illuminating the place, the Sun long gone as if it never had any role in the universe in the first place.

"Still, where is this? Why can't I pick the location?"

"There's an underground cave below here. Somewhere. Try stomping your foot around to locate a boulder of some sort."

It was stupid, but she did that anyway. "You want us to go cave-exploring?"

Levi paused and turned towards her. "Mikasa, listen."

Mikasa opened her mouth to reply, but just like the Sun, it seemed as if her voice wasn't important enough to exist in this dream. The Levi in front of her slowly shattered. His once-pristine white shirt and black slacks were now dotted with specks of grimes and purplish ichor. He sluggishly blinked one blind eye at her. Sandstorms combed through his graying hair. The left side of his body was charred, skin peeling off to dust, blood churned to charcoals.

Time seemed to slow down. Or ticked faster, Mikasa wasn't really sure. She, too, changed, eroded into another being. There were bruises around her wrists, scales forming around her round belly, and crusted blood between her thighs. A tingling sensation made her turn around, and there it was, following the bloody trails that resembled her footsteps, a mutilated fetus bundled in rags.

"She was the first. A gentle woman. Her baby was cut open out of her."

"She was tortured. Why?"

"For the same reason why this man was burnt to death. They were our ancestors, Mikasa. This man was buried alongside this cave. In fact, he was the one who caused the explosion."

Below them, the sand shifted. Levi (or was it still him?) gestured her towards him.

"I want you to hear their stories."

A few days ago…

"The Sigma Titan," Madam Li declared, her usual raspy voice clear as day.

"Come again?"

The old woman shuffled some papers and pointed out a symbol on the edge of the parchment, ink fading from age, but even then Historia could see the straight lines and sharp angles of said symbol.

"The sigma symbol, the number three flipped horizontally. Sigma meaning—"

"Cumulative, the sum of something. Isn't it?"

"Clever girl."

"But… why the sum? Is this Titan a combination of all the nine Titan powers?"

"I dare say not. It's another Titan, same structure and body, yet so different in its nature of power."

Historia leaned back on her chair, ponytail in disarray and forehead perpetually creased. She could barely tune down the sound of Gabi gobbling a pie in the kitchen. Poor girl had been up all night for days driving here. Jean was just leaving the night before, planning on driving around and left fake trails for the police chasing them. He also planned to return back to Mitras since Armin was now there. Historia didn't doubt that the two geniuses were up to something. Not that she was complaining, she did need all the plans and tricks they could get.

"Where are these papers found again?"

"Plastered behind a wallpaper."

The Madam huffed. "Of course."

"So, the cult, they are trying to resurrect this Sigma Titan? For world domination? God knows we've had enough of that."

"Paradis already has their god now. I believe they want to use the Sigma to defeat Eren Yeager's Founding Titan and reform the country. Put their own god on the pedestal."

"That's why the rebels and refugees have been supporting this cult. They all have the same goal. But Eren's Founding Titan is the most powerful of all, even Ymir herself allowed him to keep it after the Rumbling."

"Well, nobody really knew what this Titan could do, but considering its lineage and shifter's bloodline, it's safe to say it can pose a real danger to the Founding."

"No matter how much I think about it, it just doesn't make sense why this particular Titan has been locked away, or sleeping, in the Paths for centuries and the records didn't say anything about it. The other nine use their power for something big, but this one is just… silent," Historia mused.

"From what I know, this Titan power doesn't need to be passed down in thirteen years unlike their siblings."

"Because it's born after Ymir's thirteen years of life?"

"Yes. Besides, time works differently in the Paths. It is born there right after Ymir's death, so it's not bound to the rules of the living."

"How does it get passed down, then?"

"Now this is the interesting part," the Madam sighed. "We only know it can live past thirteen years, but not about how it's actually passed down."

Historia pursed her lips. This Titan was dangerous, not because of its mystery, but because of who they could be inherited from.

"What do you think the cult will do now?"

"They will try to find the last inheritor, wherever they are, and have them eaten."

"Does the book have any records on the last inheritor?"

"The last one was hunted down by the government, years ago, but it's still a mystery. My guess is that the cult will be searching for them, alive or dead. Maybe they already did."

Historia's face darkened. If there was one word to describe Bodi Anton, it was cunning. Far more cunning than anyone she knew.

"The girl. Does she know about this yet?"

The Madam's voice had a tinge of somberness to it. They both knew the gravity of this new information.

Lying would be easy, but Historia had long desired for the truth, and she promised the others she would protect it. "No. She partially knows about the cult, but she only assumes they want her because of her connection to Eren. Armin doesn't want to worry her."

"You need to tell her soon, queen. You said the other one is missing. The only Ackerman left that can inherit the Sigma is her. The bloodline must continue."

"I will warn Armin. Gabi will deliver this information to him," Historia said, resigned. "And the other one… he's coming back."

After sending Gabi to inform Armin in Mitras, the Madam bid her goodbye and left Historia alone, thoughts running unhindered.

Mikasa was already in danger ever since Eren brought her to the palace. Perhaps, he knew. Perhaps, that is his way of protecting her from the cult, or rather, protecting her from turning against him as the Sigma inheritor.

She'd only hope Levi would return soon. His letters, ever so elegantly written in secret poems, had indicated that. They didn't know why he left in the first place, maybe to grieve, or maybe to hide.

Historia sighed, and stood up. Then—

There was a clap of a bomb going off in the distance. A flash, a smoke, then nothing.

Armin was having a fairly peaceful discussion about the expansion of housing areas over breakfast with Eren and several other officers. He'd been settling on his job quite well, knowing that he could finally used his intelligence to help his people, but Armin was… feeling pretty bored.

Without the usual life and death situations, fear of being eaten twenty-four seven, and definitely without the familiar presence of Annie next to him, he was hoping for some kind of surprises or challenges or something. Commander Erwin used to mention his brain would shrivel a bit without constantly on the verge of anxiety.

But for the first time in his life, Armin cursed his lack of better judgement about wanting something out of the ordinary to happen.

There was a faint shouting of the maids following Mikasa as she knocked down the door to the dining room. Armin hadn't seen her face yet, but he immediately knew something was wrong. As she got closer, he saw her eyes had a silver sheen to it, frantically searching the room before settling her peculiar gaze on the person next to him.

Eren.

Armin moved to a defensive position, fearing that Mikasa finally lost her mind and decided to attack Eren. But, his mouth was left hanging as—

Mikasa climbed over Eren's lap and straddled him, thighs locked in position over the chair, dress bunched up. She didn't seem to recognize the other inhabitants of that room, mouth wide open as well, and focused her eyes on the man in front of him.

"I saw your face in my dreams, Eren Yeager. Are you my husband?" She asked, gentle tone gone.

Armin tried to diffuse this horribly weird situation, but Eren beat him to it.

Eren grabbed Mikasa's hips to stabilize her erratic movement, the tips of his ears burning red but still managed to maintain a leveled stare. "Mikasa—"

"Is that her name? That's beautiful. She's beautiful. But that doesn't matter." Mikasa began to comb her fingers on Eren's hair and peppered his face with small kisses.

Armin wanted to die. But at the same time, intrigued. And worried. Mikasa looked… possessed.

Eren thought the same too, and he clasped her hands to stop her from unbuttoning his shirt. "You're not Mikasa, are you?"

The woman—Armin was now sure she'd been bewitched by something—laughed, "We're the same, Eren Yeager. If you love her, you should help us."

Eren glared, "What did you do to her?"

"You must help me, Eren, help us. Make love to me. Please, father my children. I know you want to, you've been dreaming about this woman for years."

"What do you want with Mikasa?" Armin jumped in.

"I want to become a mother again. They carved my baby out of my womb and killed him. They took my baby from me, and I want him back. Please, Eren, this woman means a lot to you, don't you want to fulfill her wish?"

She tilted her face to kiss him, but suddenly an invisible force jerked her backward. The fake Mikasa fell to the floor and lurched vigorously, as if her body was split into two different directions, each trying to pull the other apart.

Eren seized an opportunity and captured her in his arms, her wriggling elbows repeatedly stabbed him, but the man kept his hold.

Mikasa screamed and grabbed a fallen knife. "Get out of me! Get out or I'll cut open my wound and you can never have children with my body!"

The fake Mikasa shouted back. "They kill my baby, they take my world from me! You must understand! You're the only one who can give me my baby back! Please, please, Mikasa, I was so lost before you give me the hope—"

Eren snatched away the knife and threw it away. Armin joined him in restraining Mikasa.

"Levi, help me...! Break the connection! Return me back! LEVI!"

The shouting and movement ultimately stopped. There was only silence that remained.

Mikasa reclined in Eren's lap and Armin's shoulder, body limp and streaks of tears adorning her cheeks. Her arms instinctively wrapped around her abdomen.

It was Armin who found the courage to call her out. "Miki…?"

Her glassy and dazed eyes switched between both men. She shuddered, "W-where am I?"

Eren and Armin answered in unison, "Home."

Note:

So sorry for the delay! I usually update in ao3 and sometimes I forgot fanfiction exists lol please go to my ao3 acc (same name) to read more stories!