The Awakening

by SniperGirl0907

The gods have been gone for too long: cursed to exist as giant voiceless monsters, they have awakened to find humanity at the edge of extinction, & at the mercy of the creatures known as 'titans'. Now, with the help of a young adventurous girl, a brave courageous mother, and their equally intrepid friends and family, they must find a way to save all mankind.

13. Chpt 12: Aftermath

I don't own Attack on Titan: just my OC's and the plot.

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The Awakening

Chapter 12: Aftermath

The following morning, deep in the Marian forest:

The scent of earth and wild flowers was the first smell that greeted her nose as her mind stirred from a dreamless sleep, followed by the songs of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. She felt heavy, as if her whole body was twice its normal weight: and her muscles made her acutely aware of just how fatigued she still was, as if she'd been running all day and all night. Rolling from her front onto her back, Ariana sat up and rubbed her sore puffy eyes: she felt so tired, almost drained of every ounce of strength. As her vision began to come into focus, she looked around in confusion: she was in Angel's nest, along with Ashlyn, Hawk, Josefa, Jaye, Hazel and Clay and Carla, all of who were still fast asleep, snuggled amid the thick lining of feathers. She noticed Carla was clutching a bloodied reddish-brown jacket and pink cardigan, the one's Eren and Mikasa usually wore.

At first, Ariana didn't know what she was doing here or what was going on: until, she suddenly remembered...

The journey from Shiganshina to the titan's secret grove flew by in a timeless daze: the trees and undergrowth all smelt familiar, but she didn't remember anything after that, except for waking up here. Her mind couldn't help but go back to yesterday, and how everything changed forever in the span of one afternoon: although the shock and adrenaline were long past, the emotional reverberations still echoed throughout her being; and a feeling of emptiness came over her as she remembered aunt Bestla, Skadi and Ran were gone, along with her best friends Eren, Armin and Mikasa. She felt a hole in her heart, and it hurt: as if something had carved it out with a blunt knife.

As she sat there lamenting, the sounds of voices drifted down into the cave, grabbing her attention: climbing up out of the nest to see who it was, Ariana saw Gale, Poppy, Belle, Shyla, Fox, Lawrence, Drake, Lucy, Lucius and Bemadette and her three little brothers sleeping curled up around one another at the base of the nest; covered by furs and blankets for warmth. After carefully stepping her way around them and proceeding up and out of the root cave, Ariana looked around and spotted the grown-up's all gathered around a fire with their provisions sitting nearby; Rosemary and Lucile were holding babies Phoebe and Clemmy while Mabel was holding Marigold on her lap. Her father was off to one side with her mother, talking to Falken, Eraman and Evrard in privet by the looks of it, while everyone else was gathered around the fire, preparing some kind of a stew in the old iron cooking pot Angel kept in her 'collection'. They all looked to be knee-deep in a conversation about something serious, with Evernight and the ravens watching them from a nearby overhanging branch: stepping out of the cave, Ariana wandered over the group, still rubbing her tired eyes.

"Ariana?" Breck blinked in surprise: at the mention of her name, Tyto and Freya immediately broke away from their conversation and rushed over to her with concern laced all over their faces: "Ariana" Freya kneeled down beside her and gave her a big hug, ", Oh god sweetheart: are you okay?" Ariana shook her head, "I'm fine mum" she spoke in a tired drone voice, "What time is it?" "Around mid-morning? We thought we'd let you and the others sleep in: you were so tired by the time we reached here you were practically sleeping while walking at the same time" Tyto told her, "Huh..." she nodded, still somewhat half asleep, "Where's-"

Suddenly, the sound of soft heavy footsteps made her turn around in time to see Shadow kneeling down behind her, holding a large wooden cask in one hand: he placed it down beside the group and West gazed at the contents inside: "Ah great, the water's heated" he smiled as he dipped a finger in to test it. "The water?" Ariana gazed up at Shadow, "To wash up with" Freya clarified, "Shadow, Midnight and Boar kept watch over us all night, and they've been fetching us stuff all morning so we don't have to leave the grove"

"The Grove? ..." Ariana repeated in confusion: her mind wasn't fully awake yet, until she suddenly realized: "-THE TITANS!" she gasped as she began to panic, "Their inside wall Maria! We can't stay-

"-Darling darling it's alright!" Tyto grabbed her gently by the shoulders and tried to calm her down, "Shadow's keeping us hidden: look, let me show you..." he took her by the hand and led her out of the grove, over to where the largest roots of the giant trees dug their way into the ground. He reached his hand out, and suddenly a flat blue aura appeared and glowed at the touch of his hand, as if he were stroking a pane of glass. "He calls it a 'concealment spell': it's keeping us hidden from the titans so they don't see or hear us" Tyto smiled. Blinking up at the weird phenomenon, Ariana reached out and touched it too: it felt strange, tingly almost, but nothing like pins and needles; it was hard to describe exactly, all she knew was that it was nothing she'd ever felt before. As Shadow came up behind them, he smiled down at her as if to say: pretty good huh? Ariana couldn't help but smile back: "Should've known you'd have things covered" she wandered over to him and hanged his waiting hand, "Thanks big guy" she sighed with relief. "Are you feeling up to eating something?" her dad asked, "Kinda" she shrugged as she began to realize just how hungry she actually was.

After a much needed wash with the warm water and a bowl of the stew from the pot (which turned out to be a brace of pheasants Tyto shot earlier at dawn, along with some wild herbs, mushrooms and other edible things), Ariana felt more alert and awake; sitting up on Shadow's knee as he sat cross-legged in front of everyone, Ariana scanned her eyes over the grown-up's: and saw just how yesterday had taken its toll. Everyone looked tired and exhausted, as if they'd been up all night or at least had a restless sleep; the extent of Evrard's injuries could be more properly seen, as he now had two large scars across his face and all over his arms, including the bite mark where that titan nearly took his arm off. Bren also sported a couple of healed scars on his left arm and chest, where and when he sustained those injuries she couldn't remember (but it was clear Breck's healing elixir had done its job on both of them): yesterday was so chaotic it was hard to tell what was going on all at once, never mind trying to evade the titans and the fire.

Glancing over at her uncle's: Ariana saw how their losses had affected them; though they were carrying on as normal, they were quiet and subdued, and their eyes looked to be full of sorrow and longing. She knew when her cousins woke up it was going to be hard for all of them, having to come to terms with it all. But it wasn't just their loved ones: their home had been burnt and destroyed too, to have lost a place full of memories and leave all their worldly possessions behind? That hurt just as much too. Glancing over at the Willums, Ariana saw the look the bitter hurt look in Miriam's eyes as she gazed down at the black metal horse head that was propped up against the rock she was sitting on: she knew Miriam was a hardy resilient woman and it took a lot to shake her up, but yesterday did far more than just shake her up; as she sat alone with her thoughts, Ariana couldn't help but wonder if she'd be okay. She was the rock of her family and the one who always knew what to do: but after this? Would she still be strong enough to lead her family through this crisis? For the first time ever, Ariana was truly worried for her. Sitting on the fringes of the gathering, Pascal sat alone with his thoughts too: he wasn't the type to be easily shaken up or put off, but clearly he was in the same boat as Miriam; thrown for a loop and at a loss what to do.

It was clear this was a bad situation: with the regular titans now loose in Maria and the rest of Shiganshina's survivors having long-since fled, they were alone out here in the wilderness, with nothing but four magically-powered titans keeping them safe ('How ironic' Ariana couldn't help but think with a wince). As she tried to get her brain to think of any possibilities, she couldn't help but think aloud: "So um? What're we going to do now?"

"We were just discussing that" Tyto replied, "Actually, we've been discussing it all morning" West offered as Bryson approached her, "We've decided we're going to travel to wall Rose, and try to join the other refugees flooding into Trost"

"What?" Ariana blinked in surprise, "But-, Trost is over a day and three quarter's journey by coach or horse, and even longer on foot. The titans will have outpaced us long before then!" "Which is why we're going to go after sunset" Bryson explained, "Listen Ariana, There're a lot of people in wall Maria and it's unlikely they'll have shut the gates just yet. As long as the titans take their time getting here, there's still a chance we can reach the gate by dawn tomorrow if we're able to make it in time. Shadow and the others will be keeping us safe of course, as well as helping us to pick up the pace, and if the gate is shut we'll have to scale the wall"

"Scale the wall? How?" she frowned in confusion, "Eh, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, right now we just need to work out the quickest route from here to Trost" Gustav interjected as he studied a large folded out map, "Which suffice to say, is a lot easier said than done: considering it needs to be a route that's going to offer some cover in case the titans are quick on their feet and manage to catch up" Claude frowned down at the map, "-But not to worry, we'll have things well in hand!" he forced a smile, trying to put out a positive vibe. "I doubt that" Rowan huffed as he approached the group with Ash and Dale in tow, each carrying their bows and quivers. "Hey, you're awake" Ash smiled up at Ariana, "Where've you guys been?" she asked offhand, "Not far, just needed some air" Dale shrugged as he rubbed the side of his head, "And to try and get my head straight"

"So we're gonna try to get to Trost huh?" Rowan glanced over at Bryson skeptically: "That's gonna be one hell of a challenge" "For sure, which is why we're going to spend today planning our route, and a contingency plan for if the gate is shut" Bryson explained. Rowan was quiet for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face, before he reached down to grab a bowl, filled it up with stew, and wandered over to Angel's cave, "...Fine, whatever. Just let me know when we're setting off" he replied flatly. Freya and Tyto gazed at him in worry: that really wasn't like Rowan to not kick up a fuss like that; Ariana could see he wasn't himself either. Finishing up her bowl of stew in a few quick gulps, Ariana took after him as he climbed up the side of the tree and sat himself on a large root over the mouth of the cave: climbing up to join him, she sat down by his side. He pretended not to notice she was there for a moment as he got stuck into his breakfast, before realizing she wasn't going to go away. "...What?" he sighed in annoyance.

"I know this is a dumb question, but are you okay" she stated, "Not 'okay' okay: but-, okay enough that you're not gonna shout at me or anyone else" Rowan gazed at her impassively, seemingly unsurprised by the question. Letting out a heavy sigh, he let his gaze wander to the forest floor as he admitted: "...To be honest? I don't think I have the strength to be angry over anything right now? Of all the shitty worst case scenarios that could happen to us, having our home overrun by titans certainly wasn't one of them, and I just-, don't know what to think?"

"...I don't know either..."Ariana admitted bluntly: "All I know is, we can't go home, and-...I don't think anything's going to be the same ever again..." she sighed, trying to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes as she tried to keep her composure. Both siblings sat in quiet contemplation for several long moments, as they tried to make sense of yesterday, and where they stood now. Thinking back to yesterday's events, Ariana contemplated what happened: "...That one huge titan, the one that kicked in the gate; where do you suppose it could have come from? In the hundred years humanity has been fighting the titans no one has reported seeing anything even remotely similar" "That's true," Dale interjected as he and Ash climbed up and sat on the root next to her, "But then, when you consider titans like Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel exist, anything's possible" Dale explained, "The thing I don't get is: what was that golden lightning that struck right behind the gate where it was standing; there's no way it could've crept up on the wall, something that big you'd hear its footsteps coming from miles away. Hell, we'd have probably all felt them long before we actually heard them...It's as if, the titan itself appeared out of thin air" Dale frowned as the cogs in his mind turned over. "Wait a minute, you don't mean-" Rowan stared at him anxiously, "-That titan was like Shadow and the others? With powers of its own?" "Like I said, anything's possible: but from what I saw the titan didn't look like it had any markings on its body or face, so it's possible it could've been something totally different" Dale suggested.

"And then there was that 'armoured' titan," Ariana thought aloud, the memories of yesterday still feeling raw in the back of her mind, "... I watched Shadow fighting it from up on the roof: that titan was moving just like he was, it knew how to block his punches and where to hit him in order to do the most damage; that titan was intelligent, and it knew what to do in order to beat him, as well as Midnight and Boar" she gazed over at her brothers, "But like the giant titan, it too didn't have any markings on its body, so it was different from Shadow and the others as well...Guys, you don't suppose there's another race of titans somewhere out there do you? Ones like Shadow and the others, intelligent and with powers of their own, but not benevolent towards us humans: or else why would they have destroyed Shiganshina's gates and let all the other titans in? If not to deliberately attack us"

An uneasy silence hung in the air for moment, before Dale sighed: "That is a very worrying thought" he admitted reluctantly, "But-, if that's the case, why did they do that? What was the provocation? You don't just go kicking someone's door down unless you're looking for a fight or to stir up trouble"

"I don't know, and it's unlikely we'll ever know now" Ash sighed, "Those titans disappeared as quickly as they came, and if the armoured titan was able to beat Shadow, Midnight and Boar into submission: that doesn't bode well for the three of them if it shows up again" "... Or maybe not?" Dale suddenly realized, "Okay, so they weren't prepared for him: but now that they've faced him and Shadow's seen firsthand how he fights, that could be a major tactical advantage if they run into him again. And from what you described of the fight yesterday when we were in the basement, I think he deliberately meant to kill all three of them. He took Midnight and Boar out relying solely on his armour and momentum, and then he pummeled Shadow into submission before stomping on his head, turning him over and driving his foot down onto his nape. He wouldn't have done that unless he knew the titan's weak spot was the nape. He'd been planning to crash through the inner gate from the start, and he knew that they were the one's he'd have to beat in order to pull it off"

"But how would he have known that if he'd been on the other side of the wall the whole time? There's no way he could've gotten a clear view of anything inside with all the titans crowding in" Rowan pointed out, "Oh my god..." Ariana's eyes grew wide with realization: "Guys, the titan stomped on Shadow's nape, crushing it: but-, Shadow regenerated" "Yeah, so?" Rowan knitted his brows together in bemusement: "So," Ariana gazed at him seriously, "It didn't kill him: Shadow's weak spot isn't his nape, and Midnight and Boar's upper halves were practically obliterated when the armoured titan crashed into them, but they regenerated too, they-...Can't be killed like regular titans" she breathed in astonishment. The three brothers stared at her as the realization began to sink in.

Across the opposite side of the grove, keeping an eye out for any titans, Herne and Hecate listened in on the children's conversation discreetly: as did Javorin as he listened in what everyone was talking about; "...Well that makes sense: being cursed doesn't rid us of our immortality just like that" Herne frowned in deep thought, "We've known that for some time, but would you have been willing to test the theory by getting the back of your neck cut open? I know its shit but come on, we were all thinking it; we just didn't want to take the chance it could be true" Hecate frowned as she folded her arms. "Now that we know it's not, that's one major concern we don't have to worry about" Javorin thought aloud: "...But what Ariana said: about there being another race of titans out there. You don't supposed it could be-, you know-" Herne dithered, "-One of us?" Hecate assumed correctly, "Not a chance: those were titans through and through, their aura's confirmed as much" she stated. "Maybe not gods, but they weren't like the regular titans" Javorin frowned as he recalled the battle with the armoured titan: "When I was fighting that 'armoured' titan there was a moment when-, just for split second I punched him hard enough to 'feel' my way through to the core of his being: and it wasn't an individual entity but rather; something akin to a puppet on strings. It was a vessel being controlled by a human mind: though from where I couldn't tell, the chaos magics surrounding it made it impossible to pinpoint. But it was undoubtedly human, and there was a great sense of determination and conviction to the will of their actions"

The gods all frowned in disappointment: "...So whoever rained hell on Shiganshina yesterday, not only knew what they were doing, but fully understood what would follow when they breached the inner gate" Hecate assumed darkly, "...It would seem so..." Javorin sighed regretfully, "Good, then killing them won't burden my conscience the next time we meet" she growled, "Wait a sec guys," Herne suddenly realized, "-If whoever's controlling those two titans used them to breach wall Maria, what's there to say they won't try to breach wall Rose?" he worried, "Because the military will undoubtedly be on high alert Shorty" Midnight shot him a look, "Between the Scout's titan-slaying expertise and the Garrison's cannons: they won't have the element of surprise; even with huge height and armour between them there's no way they'll be able to storm the gate without having to fight their way through first. It would make sense to go away and lay low, wait until the heat's died off and then try again when they least expect it" Hecate rationalized: "And how long would that take? Nothing like this has ever happened to the humans of this age before; this will be remembered for years to come. They'll learn from it" Herne pointed out. "Undoubtedly: and then there's that 'unknown' presence we felt, the one coming from the north near Trost" Javorin pointed out, "You think that might have been part of the attack?" Herne gazed over at him in concern, "Why not? Like Dale said, anything's possible, and my gut's telling me it was part of it: directly or indirectly, it's just too coincidental that that 'presence' should show up the same day those two titans did" he stated, "You could be right, but then that begs the question: was it a distraction set up to lure us away so as to leave Shiganshina vulnerable, or was it an unintentional consequence of what happened, or rather, what was about to happen?" Hecate threw in. "-Like it even matters anymore!" Elysia snapped angrily: "We could go around in circles all day analyzing every little detail of what happened and why; but it won't change what happened!"

Glancing upwards into the canopy of the giant trees, the three elder gods spotted their youngest member sitting on one of the highest branches, sulking as she stared off into the greenery with a sour hurt look on her face, trying not to be easily noticed. Excusing himself from the human's gathering, Javorin walked off, turned himself into his elemental form, and gently gusted up the side of the tree to sit on the branch next to her: "...No, it's not going to change what happened: and you have to reconcile the fact that there was nothing you could've done to stop it" he gently replied, "-BULLSHIT!" Elysia snapped at him: unaware that her loud shrill angry cry had alerted the humans to where she was among the trees. "I'm a goddess for all-father's sake! I should've stopped it before it even happened!" she sobbed as a fresh wave of tears welled up in her eyes, "I felt the wind change, I felt something was wrong: I knew something was wrong and still I did nothing!" She yelled, her telepathic voice ringing through their heads with her pain and heartache: "...Eren, Mikasa, Armin: Bestla, Skadi and Ran; their all dead because I failed to act. Carla will never want to look at me again! Neither will the children, not after this!" she sobbed as she flapped her wings and took off, heading up above the canopy and flying high above the forest. Passing a regretful sigh, Javorin flew back down to the ground, where he rematerialized into his corporeal form.

"What was that all about?" Tyto called up to the titan as he rejoined the group; holding up one hand with his markings alight, he spelt out, : It's Angel, she blames herself for Bestla, Skadi and Ran's deaths, including Eren, Mikasa and Armin's: "Oh, the poor dear" Freya glanced up towards the canopy, "That's why she's been avoiding us?" she glanced up at Shadow, : She thinks she failed you. And she thinks she's failed Carla: he replied. "Actually, what did happen to Angel yesterday? Why wasn't she fighting the titans with you guys" West suddenly realized; passing a heavy sigh, Freya sat back down as she explained: "...Carla was in such a state last night that I didn't quite get it all: but from what she was able to explain I think it went something like this; she came round, found herself pinned under the rubble of her house and saw Angel in her dove form lying dead in the road"

"Which, turned out not to be the case apparently..." Pascal sighed as he stood up and folded his arms: out the corner of his eye, he saw Claude was staring into nothingness with an intense look in his eyes; the kind of look that told him his mind was on to something yet again: "...Oh boy, what's on your mind this time genius?" he sighed sarcastically. "Angel was able to regenerate even in her dove form, and despite suffering an otherwise fatal blow to the nape: Shadow, Midnight and Boar were all able to regenerate from their injuries" he thought aloud, "You realized that too huh?" Bryson frowned, "It does sort of drive home the fact Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel are not like other titans, if striking their supposed weak-points isn't fatal for them".

"Or? ..." Claude began to smile, "Their blood is far more potent than we originally thought: so much so that it's able to sustain their lives, even when suffering otherwise fatal injuries" the scientist gazed up at Shadow, "Am I right ol' chap?" he asked, to which Shadow nodded, : Pretty much :. Everyone stared up at him in amazement: "Wow, that's-, something" West blinked in surprise; "But- hang on a sec," Pascal gazed up at the titan, "Regular titans are able to regenerate any body part within minutes right?, even their heads grow back after being blasted off by a cannonball: so what took you guys nigh on five hours to regenerate yesterday?"

Thinking about it a moment, Shadow then kneeled down and spelt out,: it's rather tricky to describe. But I can remember while I was regenerating, feeling very sad that I failed to save Shiganshina; and feeling bad that I failed all of you: "You were slow to heal because you were sad? How does that work?" Pascal raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, it's not as farfetched as it may sound" Breck interjected, explaining further: "Although the majority of the medical community tends to dismiss it as a crack-pot theory: there are certain doctors (like myself) who have observed how the mind, body and spirit are inextricably linked, and how one can affect the other. Case in point: when I was studying medicine at the Royal Mitras University Hospital, I had a patient who I diagnosed with a minor lung infection: she was an old woman but had a surprisingly good level of health; she had no prior complications and wasn't suffering any other illnesses, by all accounts she should've made a full recovery within a few weeks. But instead, she remained in the hospital for over three months: the infection's hold on her waned far longer than it should have done; over that same period I observed how she had become quiet and withdrawn, and she all but completely lost her appetite. When I inquired about it, the senior doctors simply dismissed it as a fluke: but my gut told me it was something more than that; so I asked her about it, and she told me that she hated hospitals and how they scared her. Both her parents and brother passed away in that same hospital, so for her, being in that place was a terrible reminder of her loss and grief. As such, I believe the mental stress had affected her body's ability to fight the infection: so, after calling in a favor I had the patient sent home to stay with her daughter and I'd perform house calls every day for the remainder of her recovery. And sure enough, less than a week later she was back on her feet and eating well again. It was remarkable to say the least, and it's something that's always stayed with me"

"...Huh, it kinda makes sense when you think about" Gustav thought aloud as he folded his arms, "When you're happy and in a good frame of mind, you feel like you can do anything... But when you've suffered, and sadness is the only thing wrapped around your mind, it feels like the whole world is just grey and there's no colour to be seen anywhere" "...Yeah..." Evrard sighed quietly, "That kinda sums it up" he nodded ruefully. Everyone was quiet for a moment, before Claude glanced up at Shadow with a reassuring smile "... Well? Don't go beating yourself up ol' boy: the circumstances were beyond anyone's control, and you did the very best you could, we all know that" "Yeah, I mean, you may be a titan but you're not a god: shit happens to the best of us buddy; don't put yourself down okay?" West offered.

Although he was careful not to let it show on his face, Javorin stilled in weirded out confusion; it felt so strange (if not slightly disturbing) hearing that...

You may be a titan but you're not a god

Were he not the god that he was: Javorin might have been hurt or even offended by that; back in the day the world wasn't short of gods and goddesses that would readily make an example out of anyone who dared to utter such a pertinent remark. But here, the humans of this era had long forgotten Javorin and his kin: and the world in which they lived no longer had room for such beliefs. It was a much harsher place, and the humans had learned long ago that preying on bended knee and giving up offerings was no longer going to save them (not that that was Javorin's way, but still, there were some egotistical gods who demanded praise from their followers). They had to adapt in order to survive, and they only had each other, and no one else. As surreal as it was Javorin couldn't help but feel somewhat dejected, as if he were an odd puzzle piece that no longer fitted into the big picture anymore: and yet, these humans, his adopted family, the people he'd come to care about so much; believed him to be the kin of their natural enemy. How strange and tragically ironic that their good friend, a 'titan', would do battle and sacrifice himself to fight regular titans. Such a notion was unthinkable to the humans of this age, now more so than ever after what had happened in Shiganshina.

But then, he wasn't blameless for letting them believe that, he choose not to tell them the truth about his godhood and he knew it: which only made him feel all the more bad. Considering how close they had become over these past five years, he knew he had no right to deny them the truth: but would they actually believe him? None of these humans believed in the concept of a god: to them, he, Hecate, Herne and Elysia were titans; big, powerful and superior to them in every way. Even if he begged and pleaded that he wasn't a titan, would they really believe him? As he pondered the dilemma of it, Javorin suddenly realized something he'd overlooked, and began to get a thought forming: the more he thought over it, the more he began to come to the conclusion: "...What if it's not about us? ..." he thought, unaware that he was thinking telepathically.

"Huh?" Herne raised an eyebrow, "What's not about us?" "The curse," Javorin turned to him, "What if the curse was not intended to harm us per se, but to serve a completely different purpose altogether?" "Wait-, you completely lost me, what are you talking about?" Hecate frowned at him. Javorin quickly spelt out, : Would you excuse me? Midnight wants a word in privet:, he then got up and led Midnight and Boar around the back of a giant tree, where he clarified and elaborated: "This curse that keeps us from assuming human forms, of all the forms that we could be trapped in why this? Why these gigantic body's in particular, and why no voices? And more importantly, why are our powers still intact? If you wanted to have your enemy at a disadvantage why let him keep the means of being able to reverse what's been done to him? You'd want to be sure he can't do anything about it, right? Even communicate to try and get help. So why go to all the trouble of laying such a curse on anyone, unless the intention wasn't to do us any real harm in the first place? What if it was merely to give the appearance of a curse?"

Herne and Hecate both glanced at one another in confusion, "What're you getting at bro?" Herne asked dubiously, wondering where Javorin was going with this; his brother obliged as he continued with his revelation: "From the moment we awoke from those tombs, our lives have been intertwined with the lives of these human family's: both I and Elysia's meeting with Ariana and Carla wasn't an accident that night. And ever since then we have grown closer together, shared our lives together: and yesterday, when humanity faced its darkest hour we fought the titans with everything we had to try and reclaim the city, for them; but to the Garrison and anyone else who witnessed it, it was three titans fighting their own kind. Titan's attacking titans, never in their history has any human heard of such a thing, and for those lucky enough to have survived and made it to wall Rose, they will tell of what they saw and they will maybe, just maybe, have hope that perhaps humanity finally has a way out of this nightmare"

As she pondered his words, Hecate suddenly realized: "... You think this is the purpose of the curse? To help the humans overcome their despair and restore their hope?"

"In a way" Javorin dithered, "This curse is not a deliberate burden on us, if it was we'd probably be in a much worse state: I think, it's meant to serve as a means to an end (whatever that 'end' might be). Whether this whole thing was in response to a prophetic vision, or a misguided sense of righteousness: our being here in this day and age wasn't coincidence, and the Semitam further proves that... The titans have been subduing humanity long enough and we've been gone far too long: whoever left us the Semitam recognized that, and knew that something had to be done sooner or later. If the power of the titans is the only power humanity recognizes now, then maybe that's what we're meant to be to them. A deviant faction, a separate species, a gang of rouges: call us whatever they will, what if we're meant to be their way out of all this? To be the ones to break the status quo of their fear, and show them that they don't have to be afraid of their natural enemy anymore"

"...So, wait a minute" Hecate tried to wrap her head around all that he just said: "You're saying essentially, that's we've outgrown our tenure as gods on this world?"

"Not outgrown," Javorin clarified, "Merely, transitioned from one definition of a powerful being to another; and after all, isn't that initially what the name 'god' was used for back in the early days? To describe a being of great power whose abilities transcended human understanding and comprehension? I don't think our roles on this world have changed: I think we're still meant to serve as humanity's overseers (albeit the parameters have drastically changed). Why else would our powers still be intact? But just as importantly: wherever that Semitam is meant to lead us, the location its hiding must play a crucial part in our new roles"

"Geez, you really know how to think outside the box Javorin," Herne couldn't help but smile: "Okay, that's one hell of a theory, and I have to confess you might just be onto something: if the fleeing citizens and Garrison troops really did see us fighting and some of them live to tell about it? Then we probably a have a chance of getting in with humanity's good graces again" he thought aloud.

"As much as that theory could be possible Javorin, there's one thing you've overlooked that still bothers me..." Hecate sighed as she folded her arms: "The gaps in our memory, how we got inside those tombs, and why we don't remember anything before then: we remember everything else about our lives except this? And one other thing; if the Semitam was left for us why wasn't the key included as well? If we were meant to find that map and use it, then it makes sense to leave the key somewhere we could find it, but after a whole year of experimenting with different charms and spells we're still nowhere even close to unlocking its power... Was that deliberate? Did whoever put us in those tombs do that for some particular reason? Or was this whole thing not for the reason you believe it to be?"

An uneasy silence hung in the air for a moment, before Herne sighed dryly: "Wow Hecate. You certainly know how to bring the mood down"

"I'm not saying I don't want to believe it!..." she snapped in annoyance, "I'm just-, merely pointing out; at the end of the day when all is said and done, we, ultimately may never figure out the real reason why we were cursed like this. And for all the good we might do in these new forms, there's always the possibility that this curse might be the result of something else, something-, we might not even want to accept as 'the truth' if that's the case..." She sighed bitterly,speaking her mind even further: "... I guess what I'm trying to say is: I don't like the idea of basing my actions on unfounded, questionable theories; no matter how optimistic or morally right they may sound. Your father always said that in order to know where you're going, you have to first understand how far you've come... Well? We have no idea what's happened to this world any more than the humans do: helping them to gain a tactical advantage over the regular titans is one thing, but both that giant and armoured titan completely redefined what they thought they knew, and even we are at a loss what to make of it...We don't know the origins of the titans or if they really were responsible for the decimation of humanity...There's still so much we don't know, and if the humans demand answers we don't have, I don't know what will happen... If what you believe is true: and the definition of 'god' really has changed for us? Then we need to seriously consider what it is we're willing to put on the line in order to help restore humanity to the world. We didn't defeat the armoured titan, because we were cocky and held back: that's on all of us, and the humans of Shiganshina and everyone else in Maria are now paying for our mistakes... Back in the day we knew no real change could ever come unless something was scarified: we saw it all the time; mothers sacrificing their lives to save their children, soldiers and warriors willing to die for their ideals, despots and dictators sacrificing their own subjects for their own misguided reasons; even simple everyday humans who were willing to give up their freedom, comforts and security to ensure those who were denied such rights may have a measure of that same freedom...So tell me, what happened to make us so afraid to take the risks that need to be taken? When did we start to believe we couldn't do this anymore?"

Javorin gazed at her for a moment, brows knitted together in contemplative thought as he pondered her reasoning: on the one hand he believed his revelation to be highly plausible; after all, why curse a god and leave their powers intact? It made no sense unless it was for a particular reason. But on the other hand, he knew she had a point...

As she and her brothers watched the three titans 'conversing' amongst each other, Ariana's attention was suddenly drawn back to the root cave as Ashlyn and Hawk emerged, rubbing their red puffy eyes and trying to stay awake. Climbing back down to the cave mouth, Ariana approached them both, noticing down in the cave that most of the others were starting to awaken too. Glancing at Ashlyn, Ariana noticed she had two healed scars on the right side of her jaw, both running up to the corner of her mouth; she figured she must have sustained those in the blast, and received some of Breck's healing elixir some time last night. "Hey you're both awake" she forced a smile, "...Where are we?" Ashlyn groaned as she rubbed her hands over her face, trying to stop herself from dozing off: "We're in the grove, Shadow and the others led us up here last night" Ariana answered, "They did?" Hawk glanced at her weirdly. "Yeah, I don't remember much of last night either: I just remember waking up in Angel's nest" she sighed. "... What's that smell?" Ashlyn sniffed the air, "its game stew, me and dad shot some pheasants earlier this morning" Ash replied as he and his brother's climbed down from the roots above the cave. "Ashlyn? Hawk?" Falken approached with worry laced all over his face, "Are you-, both alright?" he asked apprehensively: "I'm fine" Ashlyn smiled, "Where's mu-

She stopped as she suddenly remembered, and tears began to well up in her eyes as she clasped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying out: seeing her in such a state, Falken tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he rushed over to her, kneeled down and pulled her into a hug: "-It's alright my darling, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere okay?" he tried to reassure her, trying to keep his own grief from overwhelming him again: for a long moment Ashlyn cried into his shoulder before managing to collect herself, and wipe the tears from her eyes; "...I'm sorry I forgot dad," she breathed heavily as she tried to calm down, her brother rubbing her back in an attempt to try and sooth her (as well as himself), "No no sweetheart, it's okay" he smiled nervously as he kissed her on the forehead and stood back up, "Why don't you wash up and have something to eat? Come on" he led her over to the fire, and sat her down with Freya and Lucile. Running his hand over the scars on his face, Hawk shied away as Ariana and Ash approached: "...Hawk," Ash gently laid a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay you don't have to be afraid: we don't care what you look like, we're just glad you're alive" he assured him; Hawk hesitated a moment, before pulling his favorite neckerchief up over his nose and mouth: "...Thanks" he quietly replied, and tentatively wandered over to the fire to sit next to his sister, being careful to keep his face hidden from everyone else. Ariana couldn't help but worry for Hawk, clearly he was aware of how he looked, and it must be playing on his mind something terrible.

Eraman and Evrard both approached the cave as they saw their children emerge: unlike Ashlyn, they remembered yesterday's events all too well, and simply hugged their fathers, trying to get what comfort they could to alleviate the hurt in their hearts; they then joined their elders around the fire: their aunt Freya handing them out bowls of stew. As Drake climbed out and sat on one of the roots, Lawrence was next to climb out of the nest and gazed up at the four siblings with dead eyes: Ariana didn't need to ask him if he was okay, the emptiness in his gaze said it all. Scanning over the group, he made a bee-line for Phoebe, Clemmy and Marigold, who were sitting in the elder Willum sister's laps; the three sisters greeted him a good morning, but to their surprise he said nothing as he took Clemmy out of Rosemary's lap and sat down on the grass with her between his legs: the baby smiled up at him and giggled, clearly pleased to see him, and although he wasn't being receptive to the adults he was at least engaging with the three babies.

"... He was scared for them," Drake sighed as he watched Mabel and Bren go over to Lawrence, and kneel down beside him: trying to talk to him; "All the time we were trapped in that basement he worried for their safety more than his own..." he thought aloud as he gazed down at the dried bloodstains on his clothing, "...That-, thing, the one that dug us out of the basement" he pointed to Boar: "What is it? And why did it save us?" Ash and Ariana both glanced at one another uncomfortably, wondering how to explain that Boar was a titan without freaking Drake out: "His name's Boar" Gale stepped in as she climbed out of the cave, "And he's a titan: not like the ones we saw yesterday: he's totally different, and he won't hurt you or anyone okay?" she glanced down at him; Drake didn't say anything as he stared up at her, before turning his attention back to the titans"... And? What about the other two?" he pointed to the two fifteen meter class titans standing next to Boar: "That's Shadow and Midnight" Ariana smiled, "Shadow's been my best friend ever since I was about your age: we've known each other a long time: and he, Midnight and Boar tried to save Shiganshina yesterday by fighting the regular titans" she explained. "Fighting the 'regular' titans?" Drake echoed in confusion, "That's what we call them, because Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel aren't like the other titans from beyond the wall; their completely different in many ways" Belle added as she, Poppy, Fox, Shyla, Lucy and Lucius came up alongside Gale. "Different how?"Drake pressed her, "Well for one thing, they hate the taste of human flesh, and they can do things regular titans can't: like turning invisible, making trees and plants grow, and even talk to animals"

"Bullshit," Brendis frowned up at Gale, "No one can do those things" Brenden chimed in, "They look dumb" Bren threw in. "You wanna go over there and say that to their faces?" Bemadette glared down at them: "Those titans are the reason we're all alive, so you three better be damn grateful and show them some respect" "Like shit I will!" Brendis spat back, trying (unsuccessfully) to get up in her face, "Their buddies ate everyone in the city yesterday, and they let that 'armoured' titan crash through the inner gate! Why the hell should we show them any respect when they're the reason we're out here with a bunch of weirdo's camping in the woods, with no home and no family to go back to!-" But before the bratty five year old could continue, Bemadette slapped him hard across the face, making everyone around the root cave jump in surprise: "I AM SO NOT IN THE MOOD TO BE DEALING WITH THIS YOU LITTLE SHIT!" she shouted down at a very shocked Brendis as he held his hand to his sore cheek, gazing up at her defiantly as she continued: "-I don't expect you to understand why Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel are different from the regular titans, just know that they are! And they've been part of our family far longer than the three of you! We've been together a long time and I'll take their word over yours any day of the week! They nearly died fighting the titans so that everyone in the city could try to get to safety: and you can be damn sure they fought that armoured titan with everything they had! The fact that titan beat them wasn't their fault! They just- ..." She let out a frustrated sigh: "...Got beaten, okay? And as shitty as it was, that's what happened; it wasn't because they were weak, dumb or not determined enough, it was-... It just happened..." heaving another deep sigh, she glanced down at Brendis with an apologetic look, and in a calmer yet still-emotionally raw tone, continued: "...Look, sometimes in life you don't always win: try as hard as you might with every ounce of skill, determination and conviction, in the end it all boils down to luck. You can be the best of the best but it won't guarantee you'll be successful every time; Shadow, Midnight and Boar? Their damn good at what they do, but yesterday-, just-...wasn't their lucky day. And you can't blame someone for running out of luck. It's shit! And it's the most fucked up thing to fail like that, but I don't blame them for what happened: after everything we've been through together I know they didn't quit, not even once; even when the armoured titan defeated them they didn't stop. They regenerated and came back for us: so don't go spouting that shit okay? Because you don't know anything about them" she glared down at the three of them.

Brendis simply gazed up at her impassively, before frowning in anger: "I don't care..." he growled darkly, "Everyone in Shiganshina is dead because of them; including mum, we'll never see her again because of them!" he spat. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between the siblings as Bemadette's gaze turned dark: "...Mum's alive: she wasn't in Shiganshina yesterday..." she stated in an unreadable tone. The three brothers blinked in surprise as she reached into her pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. Everyone nearly gasped: it was the letter her mother had left her; and as she unfolded it, the other kids listened silently as Bemadette read the letter to her brothers...

"Bemadette...I've left Shiganshina for good, and I won't be coming back for you or your brothers. I found a new job working for a nobleman and his family in the interior of wall Rose, in a place where I'll be surrounded by wealth, comfort, and the opportunity to move up in the world. I finally have a chance to make something of myself, and I won't be squandering it by having you or the boy's burden me any more than you already have. When I decided to keep you I thought motherhood would alleviate some of the misery in my life: all the other mothers seem to get some pleasure out of it, so I thought if it worked for them surly it would work for me too? But the thing is, no one told me how hard it was going to be, how much time and energy would be spent simply making sure you didn't die. My own mother didn't think much of me before, she certainly didn't think better of me after I told her I was pregnant with you; those years were rough between us, and for that I blame you. You were not a pleasure of any kind; you were a stone around my neck: and when my mother had you sent away to be raised by her friend I was quite relieved to not have you anymore. But as I thought about it and I realized what I'd done, I tried to make things right between us: for years I tried, and I don't know why but I just couldn't seem to do anything right. Nothing was ever good enough for you or anyone else; I tried to get things right again with your brothers, but apparently that 'wasn't the point' according to your guardian. So, after all this time I thought why am I wasting my life like this? Motherhood isn't a blessing it's a curse, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a bare-faced liar. I will no longer have anything to do with it. From now on, you and your brothers are dead to me: I don't want any of you, I don't want to know any of you, and if by some chance we meet again I will deny you are my children and dismiss you all as desperate money-hungry beggars. You're on your own...signed, Mother..." she read aloud, before addressing the boys in an unreadable tone, "...She was gone long before the titans attacked: and if she's heard the news about Shiganshina, I highly doubt she's going to be shedding any tears for us..."

Brendis was quiet for a moment, before suddenly exploding in a fit of rage: snatching the letter from Bemadette's hand, tearing it up and then proceeding to try and punch her in the gut over and over again; she blocked each blow of course, but she didn't say or do anything as he screamed in anger: "YOU'RE LYING! YOU'RE A FUCKING LIAR! IT'S NOT TRUE! NONE OF IT! You always hated mum but I know she didn't hate us! She didn't hate me! She's in Trost right now going outta her mind wondering if we got out alive! I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU'D NEVER BEEN BORN!-

"-Brendis..." Carla spoke as she grabbed his fist suddenly, "That's quite enough now. It's not Bemadette's fault your mother is gone"

Everyone stared at her in surprise as she let go of the boy: Carla seemed to be aware of what was going on around her, though one could've been fooled as the unemotional thousand-mile look in her eyes told an entirely different story. She looked dead, as if she were a shell of her former self, and didn't seem to be truly alive. Loosing Bestla, Skadi and Ran had been hard for Ariana's cousins, but loosing Eren and Mikasa had obviously taken a much harder toll on her, and it worried Ariana greatly.

"-Stay outta this lady!" Brendis snapped up at Carla, who didn't visibly react in any way: "This ain't got nothing to do with you!-" "-HEY!" Rowan snapped down at the boy as he approached him, and loomed over his smaller frame in a show of dominance: "Show some courtesy you rude little shit! Mrs Jaeger here lost her son and daughter yesterday; she doesn't need this from you!" "Oh really? And just what the fuck are you gonna do, huh?" Brendis folded his arms in brazen defiance, Rowan promptly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and jerked him forward with his fist raised: "For starters I'll smack that mouth of yours clean off your face!-" "-Rowan! ..." Ash laid a hand on his shoulder, "Enough, both of you! Fighting like this isn't gonna do anyone any good; Brendis shut up and go cool off, you too Rowan. The rest of you go wash up and get something to eat" he told the other kids, who promptly went to join their elders around the campfire: "You too Bemadette, take your brothers and go calm down" Bemadette regarded him with a discreet nod, as she tried to take Brenden and Bren by the hands: but they simply recoiled from her and stood by their eldest brother: "-HEY!" Brendis snapped up at Ash, "-Who the fuck put you in charge? You ain't the boss of me!" "No, I'm not, but giving me and everyone else a hard time ain't going to change anything! I don't know if you noticed? But we're deep in the Marian forest, far from any kind of help and with titans swarming the valleys. We're on our own out here and we can't afford to go losing our tempers with each other. It's a shitty situation I know, but we don't have any other choice. So I suggest you go cool down, and then try to make some effort to get along with everyone. Understand?" Ash told him sternly. The three brother's merely disregarded him, "Whatever! Just leave us alone!" they turned to leave, before Brendis stopped and pointed his finger up at Bemadette: "-And you! You stay the hell outta our way! You ain't our sister anymore! Got it?" they then took off, running to the edge of the grove and climbing into the tangle of tree roots at the entrance to one of the other root caves. Bemadette didn't say anything, and simply went to join the others around the fire.

"Think one of us should go keep an eye on them? In case they try to run?" Dale thought aloud, "Nah its fine, Shadow's probably already got an ear on them: he'll know if they've left the grove or not" "...Sorry about that" Rowan reluctantly apologized as he folded his arms: "Ah don't fret over it bro, just don't do that in front of the grown-up's okay? He's only five after all" Dale patted him on the back, "Do you think it was wise of Bemadette to read them that letter?" Ariana thought aloud in a discreet hushed tone as she gazed over at Bemadette, who was talking with Gustav and Miriam: presumably filling them in on what just happened. Ash passed a heavy sigh as he thought about it, gazing down at the pieces of the torn up letter: "...If she held onto that letter that could only mean she intended to tell them the truth sooner or later" Dale reasoned: "Better now than never I guess?" Ash shrugged, "It'll save them combing through Trost looking for their mum when we get there" "Like that's gonna stop them," Ariana huffed. Rowan stepped forward and let out a heavy sigh, "Listen, Mrs Jaeger I'm sorry for-"But as he glanced over at where Carla had been standing, he saw the woman was gone; turning his head and scanning his eyes over the group, he didn't see her among the adults; "-Hey, did you see where she went?" he frowned in concern.

Carla walked away from the grove, unknowingly stepping over the threshold of the concealment spell and out into the forest, walking in a daze: her mind was a storm of emotions trying to process themselves into something that made sense, while also being acutely aware of the fact both Eren and Mikasa were dead. The hole in her heart was as wide and gaping as it was raw and painful: she couldn't think straight at all as her mind kept replaying her son's final moments over and over again; thinking strenuously how she could have done things differently, how she could have tried to wriggle free of the rubble and lead her children to safety. She made a decision she thought was the right one to save them, but it wasn't, they died anyway, and it was all her fault. Again and again she punished herself with that harrowing memory, burning it into the forefront of her mind, until she couldn't think of anything else.

Gazing down at Eren's Jacket and Mikasa's cardigan, she held the jacket to her nose and breathed in his scent: all at once the memories of her son came flooding back, from his birth to his death she saw his whole life flash through her mind's eye; and like a kick in the gut, the realization that he died a horrible death made her drop to her knees as she succumbed to her grief, and began sobbing uncontrollably with fresh tears streaming down her face. She hitched over as she cradled the jacket, holding it like a newborn: the only thing left of Eren that was truly him; Mikasa too. When the girl first came to live with them: having learnt of her parent's tragic fate, Carla did all she could to make sure she felt safe, comfortable and loved; goodness only knew the poor child needed it. And in the year she lived with them she became like a daughter to her, and a sister to Eren: it was brief, but it had been a good time. To go through what she endured at the hands of those human traffickers, only to die a year later in the jaws of a titan? How much crueler can this world get? How it wasn't fair, that her children should die and she should live. No parent should ever have to see their child die: it wasn't natural, it wasn't right: it's not what supposed to happen.

So lost in her grief was she: that Carla failed to hear the footsteps of the approaching ten meter class titan closing in from over thirty meters away. It wasn't until she felt the vibrations of its footfalls that she snapped her head up, and gazed up at the lumbering potbellied behemoth in shock. The giant stared down at her with a wide smile and beady dead eyes, as it stopped and just stood there some several meters or so away. As she gazed up at the creature: flash-backs of yesterday's events flitting through her train of thoughts, Carla's mind was set ablaze as a deep and terrifying anger began to well up from within her. Her ire forced her to her feet as she stared the giant down: "Well? Are you satisfied? Are you happy to have brought us down like this?!" she ranted, before letting her anger get the better of her, and screaming in a blind fit of rage: "YOU MONSTERS! YOU ATE MY SON! I SWEAR I'LL SLAUGHTER EVERY ONE LAST OF YOU IF I GET HALF THE CHANCE! I'LL DRIVE YOU ALL OUT! MAKE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU PAY! THIS I PROMISE, ON MY SON'S LIFE!"

The titan simply continued to stare down at her, before bending down and lazily trying to reach for her. Suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped, Carla realized she was about to get grabbed and eaten: with no weapons and no way of escaping, she was dead for sure. Gasping in horror, she began backpedaling fast, only for the titan to suddenly put on a burst of speed and grab her in one quick move. Angry and panic-stricken, she started pounding her fists against the titan's hand while screaming every curse and obscenity she could think of: knowing she was about to die, but refusing to go down without a fight.

Just as the monster was bringing her up to its mouth, a loud crashing sound up in the canopy forced her to look up, just in time to see Angel plummeting down onto the titan: screaming and squawking in a fit of rage as she grasped the creature by the back of its neck and left shoulder with her feet, like an eagle attacking a small deer. Flapping her wings hard, she twisted sharply to force it down onto its knees: the titan dropped Carla, and as she scrambled back up onto her feet she watched in shock as the bird titan violently and savagely bit into the titans nape: holding on tightly as the behemoth thrashed about trying to get away, but Angel refused to let go as she continued her assault; her teeth pierced the skin but her jaws were not strong enough to rip the tough leathery hide off. But then, just when it seemed like the titan was about to throw her off, Angel screamed as she thrusted her mouth down into its flesh and with one hard rage-fueled bite she finally ripped the nape out, and the creature keeled over dead. As the titan began to disintegrate and turn to steam and embers, Angel spat out the nape and panted hard as she got off the corpse, slumping against the side of a giant tree with her wings drooping down by her sides as she tried to catch her breath.

Carla stood there in shock for a moment as she gazed up Angel: her Angel, the meek yet delightfully sweet bird titan who couldn't even say boo to a goose, just savagely killed a titan with her bare teeth in a fit of rage. "...Angel? ..." Carla cautiously approached her: hearing her name Angel gasped in horror, staring down at Carla as if she'd just seen something she wasn't supposed to see. But before the bird titan could react, the sound of fast pounding footsteps made them turn around in time to see a couple of seven meter titans running right at them. Carla gasped as she instinctively ran for cover behind the nearest tree, while Angel stood back up and beat her wings, ready to take off for the next round. Both of them were so focused on the titans that they didn't hear Shadow and Midnight charging straight at them, nor did they hear Bryson's ODM gear above their heads, as the former Scout circled into position to try and draw the behemoth's attention away from them. As the titans came within striking range Shadow attacked the titan on his right with a flying roundhouse kick, kicking the monster's head clean off, and as he fell he spun round to punch down hard on the nape, killing it instantly: while in the same instant Midnight used her elongated blade-like claws to slice into the remaining titan's neck right between the collar bones and out through the spine on the other side, severing the nape from the inside out. The whole attack was over in less than a second, and happened so fast that Carla and Angel were both left standing there in a confused daze.

Landing next to Carla and grabbing her by the shoulder's, Bryson shook her out of her daze and forced her to snap back to reality as he angrily shouted: "-Damn it Carla what the hell were you thinking?! Leaving the safety of the grove like that?! You could've been killed if Shadow and Midnight hadn't spotted you when they did!-" "-I-,"Carla's mind ran a thousand thoughts a second, trying to catch up to reality as she began to comprehend what just happened: "...Oh God I-, I'm sorry Bryson I didn't-, I mean I-..." Bryson wasn't sure what she was trying to say at first, until he noticed she was still clutching Eren's jacket and Mikasa's cardigan: in the short but terrifying moment she almost lost her life (again), she hadn't let go of either of the garments; the fact she was holding them so tightly that her knuckles had turned white, plus the fact she'd been crying, gave him a good idea of why she was out here. Breathing a mixed sigh of relief and worry, he let her go and looked her in the eye with an apologetic gaze: "...Listen, I'm sorry okay? You just-, when we realized you were gone we panicked and, when Shadow realized you'd left the protection of the concealment spell we-..." he sighed again as he mentally tried to get his thoughts back in line, "Look, Please just-, we've lost enough good people already, don't go looking for death just because Eren is gone: he wouldn't want you to die, not like that; he'd want you to live"

Suddenly: time slowed all around her as Carla remembered Eren's decision to join the Scouts, and the reason why he wanted to sign up in the first place...

I know it's ugly out there, there's death around every corner, but-, we can't just give up on it! Because otherwise this nightmare is never going to end!

For the first time, she truly understood what he meant by those words: being brutally reminded that they lived in fear of the titans; that there was a reason why humanity retreated behind the walls so long ago. Eren had seen the ugly truth of that reality, and he wasn't afraid to face it head on with everything he had; determined to fight it to the bitter end. As reckless and hot-headed as he might have been, for the first time ever Carla truly appreciated the courage her son had had: his determination and conviction wasn't out of some reckless need to prove a point; he genuinely wanted to do it for the sake of everyone within the walls, not just himself. And what hit her the hardest, was the knowing that if she died, all her memories of him would die with her: to think that Eren would pass into obscurity sent a horrible feeling throughout her whole being; she would never let that happen, never again. Reaching her hand up to her chest, and feeling Shadow's pendant beneath her blouse, she felt new tears welling up in her eyes as she thought: 'I'm so sorry Eren...I promise I'll carry on: I'll live for you; because if I die, my memories of you will die with me...and I won't let that happen!' she wiped the tears from her face, and heaved a deep sigh as she tried to compose herself. "...I'm sorry Bryson: I was so lost in my grief I wasn't paying attention"

Allowing a small smile of relief to cross his lips, Bryson patted her on the shoulder as he reassured her, "It's okay: if you need to be alone next time, just let us know okay?" "Okay..." Carla nodded. She glanced up to apologize to Shadow for worrying him and Midnight, but her train of thought stopped as she suddenly caught sight of the strange blue substance covering Shadow's fist and knuckles: seeing the same thing, Bryson flew up and perched on the titan's arm, carefully scooting along to his hand, and gently ran a hand over the strange substance: "...Crystal? ..." he knitted his brows together in confusion.

The substance in question was a semi-opaque vivid blue crystal, as dazzling and varying in many blue hues as Shadow's own eyes, and emitting a soft vivid electric glow: although its internal structure resembled the tiny fractures of regular crystal's, the surface of the substance was smoother than glass, so smooth and sleek in fact that Bryson's hand felt like it was slipping over 'solid silk' (if such a thing were real). Gazing up at Shadow, who was also inspecting the substance with great curiosity and concern, Bryson was about to ask him what it was, when suddenly the crystal began to recede into his hand: like ice melting in hot water, Shadow's markings around his hand and wrist glowed as the crystal disappeared into his hand, until his appendage was back to normal and the glowing gently stopped. "... What was that?" Bryson stared up at the titan in mild alarm. : I don't know? : Shadow spelt out with his 'smoke light, : It happened yesterday during my fight with the armoured titan, it seems to be as tough as his armour, because I found I could actually hit him without breaking the bones in my hand:. "How come you've never shared this with us before?" Bryson pressed him, : Bryson, I didn't know I could do this up until yesterday, and even now I'm still not sure what triggered it?: Shadow replied almost frantically.

"...Huh: another mystery Claude will have to look into some other time" Bryson blinked in surprise. Suddenly noticing the disintegrating carcass of the first titan nearby, and seeing the evaporating bloodstains on Angel's feather's, Bryson stared at the avian titan in both amazement and shock: "...Angel, did you do that?" he pointed to the carcass; Angel reluctantly nodded. "It's true!" Carla called up to Bryson and the titans, "Angel attacked that titan and managed to bite through its nape" Midnight and Shadow both glanced down at the younger titan in astonishment.

"You-...Actually killed a titan? All on your own?" Hecate stared at the younger goddess in flabbergasted amazement: of all the things she figured Elysia was capable of, she never in a million years ever thought she'd be able to do something like this. "...Y-Yeah..." Elysia nodded anxiously: still surprised if not a little alarmed by her own actions: "...When I saw Carla down below and I saw that titan grab her I-...I don't know what happened? I just felt this anger boil up inside me as I remembered how useless I was yesterday, and how I wasn't able to do anything to stop them...I just-, I don't want it to happen again; I don't want to be so weak and useless to anyone! And if that means I have fight then I'll fight no matter what! I don't want the titans to win; I don't want them within these walls! Not after what they've done! I'll never forgive them for destroying the human's lives! I won't forgive them for taking Eren and Mikasa away from Carla!-..." she ranted, before calming down and gazing up at Javorin with confusion and pain laced in her eyes; glowing pale blue tears welling up in her eyes: "...Is this-...Is this 'wanting' revenge? Is this what it means to want to seek vengeance? To hurt so much that you want to hurt back, to make it feel better? Because if it is I don't want it! I don't know how to make it go away!" she sobbed. Hecate kneeled down and gently placed her hands on her feathered shoulders: "Just don't" she stated in a serious tone, making Elysia frown at her in further confusion: "Don't? Don't what?" "Don't let yourself become consumed by it: because not only will your anger hurt those you care about, you'll end up regretting your choices for the rest of your life, and then you'll be no good to anyone; and all that will be left is for you to die..." Hecate explained as she looked her in the eye, with a gaze that told her to listen: "We may be gods, but even we cannot predict the final outcome: the uncertainly of the destiny of the world is the will of the ancient ones; I know it's fucked up, especially when you cannot predict what's going to happen next in a situation like this, but that is the price we pay for choosing to exist upon this world: and if you cannot accept that, then that's your choice. But don't lose yourself to one moment of all-consuming grief and rage: for while it might bring you satisfaction in the present, the effects of that choice will be felt for a long time to come..." Elysia stared at her in a mix of confusion and realization; she wasn't sure if she understood all of it, but she knew Hecate had a point in there somewhere: "...But-...How do I stop it hurting?" she desperately pleaded: "You can't" Hecate flatly stated as she stood back up with an unreadable gaze: "What you have endured, and are enduring even now will remain with you for the rest of your life: how you choose to deal with it is down to you. You can let it fester, let it define you and all the things you chose to do, until you become consumed by the darkness that will have entwined around your heart; until you are driven by nothing but rage, hatred and pain...Or, you can put it aside: lock it up and bury it deep down, and save it for when you need it; and in the meantime, be there for your friends and family. They're in pain, angered, and frustrated at their circumstances, the same as you: so don't think you are the only one who knows what this feels like..."

Elysia stared up at the elder goddess, unsure what to say or think: as she let her gaze drop down to the forest floor, she suddenly noticed Carla staring up at her with a look of worry in her eyes: "... Look at her, look at her aura..." Hecate impassively added; "She's lost her home and her children, and yet her heart has not become so eclipsed by her sorrow that she's stopped caring about you and everyone around her. And right now, she see's you crying and is worrying if you're okay or not? ...You really think she hates you? Do you believe you let her down by saving her life just now?"

Scrunching her face up into a look of regret as a fresh wave of tears poured from her eyes, Elysia leaned right down and let Carla hug her face: the woman began to cry too as she cooed soft sweet words of assurance to her, and gazing up into her pale ice blue eyes, she smiled: "...I forgot to thank you for saving my life yesterday: if your tears hadn't healed my injury, I'd probably be dead". Elysia stilled in realization, as she remembered how indeed: her tears had healed the wound in her shoulder and the cut over her left eye. A small shaky smile crossed her pale lilac lips as she nuzzled her face into Carla's arms: and all of a sudden, the pain in her heart that she felt only moments ago didn't seem to be so much at the forefront of her mind anymore.

Watching the happy little scene from his perch on Shadow's wrist, Bryson allowed himself to feel a wave of relief go through him: gazing up at Shadow, he discreetly commented: "I don't know what it is you say when you 'talk' to one another like that: but whatever it is, I can only assume you must have some truly profound wisdom"

With his warm smile and understanding gaze, Shadow spelt out, : Wisdom can only be learned from experience. And suffice to say, this is not the first tragedy we have had to endure: Bryson gazed up at Shadow impassively, before a curious frown knitted his brows together: "...Not the first?" he couldn't help but ask. Shadow glanced away in thought for a moment, before meeting Bryson's gaze and spelling out,: No. What happened in Shiganshina yesterday was terrible, but for us, it is not the first time we have had to endure such sorrow: The former Scout was about to ask something else, when a loud shout echoed through the trees: "GUUUYS! GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" Tyto yelled at the top of his lungs.

Without hesitation, Midnight scooped up Carla and ran off with her back to the grove with Shadow, Angel and Bryson in hot pursuit. As they approached, they saw Boar, Tyto, Evrard and Falken at the edge of the concealment spell, all looking frantic with worry: "-Guys! Its Brendis, Brenden and Bren! We can't find them anywhere, and Bemadette left the threshold to go look for them!" Evrard shouted up to the titans: "Don't worry I got their scent, they're about five hundred yards over the other side of the northern rise!" Herne told them, pointing to the north side of the grove: "Okay stay put and keep the concealment spell up; we just had a narrow escape!" Javorin stated as he took Carla out of Midnight's hands and placed her down next to Tyto, "You stay here too Elysia, help Herne keep an eye on the others!" he quickly added before taking off with Midnight and Bryson around the edge of the grove towards the north. "Should we go after them dad?" Rowan asked as he readied his bow and quiver: "No! If Shadow says we stay in the grove, we stay in the grove!" his father told him firmly. "But, dad" Ariana began to panic, "-I can smell more of them approaching!"

Locating Bemadette and her brother's wasn't hard at all, the two fifteen meter titan-gods only had to hone in on the shouting, yelling and string of insults coming from over the other side of the rise: as they crested the incline, they spotted the four siblings down in a shallow hollow; so engrossed in their argument that they didn't hear the thundering footsteps of the three eight meter class titans fast approaching, until said titans crested the opposite side of the hollow and made a beeline for them.

The children screamed in terror as the titans dumbly jumped head-first at them with their mouths agape, like swallows trying to catch flies. Right at the same instance, both Javorin and Hecate put on a burst of speed and dived for them: while Bryson swung up into the trees above them waiting for an opening to present itself. Midnight slammed her fist into the first titan, pounding it into the ground face-first while Javorin scooped the children up out of the way, but not before the second and third titan tried to grab them by clambering over him to his outstretched arms. Lying on the ground in such a vulnerable position, Javorin quickly curled up into the fetal position, keeping the children in the center of his curved torso: providing a bulky wall of flesh between them and the monsters. Hecate was quick to dispatch the first titan with a swift slash to the nape with her claws, but as she tried to kill the remaining two, the third titan lunged at her neck and tried to bite down into her flesh while she held the second titan by the throat. The black and white titan-goddess roared in surprise, utterly angered by the creature's audacity: with a hard shove of her one free hand she pushed it back off of her, and lunged forward to bite down into its neck: her sharp upper canines easily sliced into the hot flesh and left a couple of good-sized puncture wounds. As she ripped the second titan's head off with one strong pull, she got the third titan far enough away that she was able to bring her foot up and round-house kick it off her: sending it flying out of the hollow. Turning her attention back to the second titan, the flesh in and around its neck was already regenerating, and so with another slash of her claws, she destroyed the nape entirely.

"All clear?" Javorin asked offhand, keeping his body curled up around the children, as they sat panicking in his cupped hands: "Nearly, just got one left" Hecate replied as she got back on her feet, just in time to see Bryson fly down out of the canopy and disappear beyond the northern side of the rise: right where the titan landed. Worried for the unarmed Scout, Hecate took off with her claws elongated and at the ready, but as she crested the top of the hollow, the scene before her made her stop...

A large bolder the size of a small house and shaped crudely like an anvil protruded out of the forest floor at the base of a giant tree: there, the titan had landed on the giant rock at an odd angle, for its head and arms were crumpled up on the ground while the rest of its body lay across the top of the bolder, like a dead fish about to be gutted. Bryson was standing within several meters of the monster, well out of the reach of its disproportionately small skinny arms, but the titan itself hardly looked like it was going to put up much of a fight. The creature's right leg had sustained a couple of bad compound fractures with both its Tibia and Fibula protruding out of the flesh, it's left arm was bend up and over the back of its head in such way that it was clearly dislocated from the shoulder joint, and it had suffered a good sizable laceration to the chest: with blood on the end of the rock confirming where it had landed. From what he remembered of his time fighting titans with the Scouts, Bryson knew that these types of injuries were hardly a hindrance to a titan, despite being crippled the creature should be sitting upright and trying to swipe at him by now; but instead, something was very different, and very wrong with this scene.

The titan's flesh had turned from a mix of healthy peaches, tan, cream, pinks and other human-like skin tones, to a sickly dull, pasty pale grey, with blood vessels beneath the surface of its skin turning dark until they almost looked black: dark patches appeared under its eye's as they seemed to glaze over and stare up into nothingness, and its breathing was becoming more labored and shallow, as if it were struggling to draw breath. But more noticeably the injuries were not healing, no vast quantity of steam was being released from the exposed tissues and the blood was slowly oozing out of the wounds and hardly evaporating at all. Realizing the titan no longer posed a threat: Hecate turned her claws back into fingers and approached the languishing beast, Bryson merely stared at the creature in bemusement, as he scanned his eyes over the drastic changes in its physiology: "I don't understand? What's happening to it?" he thought aloud: "... Midnight, what did you do?" he glanced up at her.

For a moment Hecate wasn't quite sure herself: did she do this? And if so, what did she do exactly? Looking the titan over again, Bryson saw how the flesh around the puncture holes was turning black with necrosis: its body rotting from the inside out: and yet, there was no nauseating stench of decay that was usually present with this kind of necrosis, it just smelt like regular disintegrating titan flesh always did, like burnt meat and blood. Cautiously approaching for a closer look, he noticed there was residue of a vivid green liquid in and around the puncture holes: picking a twig up off the ground, poking it into the wounds and wiping some of the residue onto it, he brought it closer to his face for a sniff. The smell was not at all what he expected, a strange mix of cucumbers and sweet vinegar; fresh yet biting the inside of his nose as he breathed it in. Glancing up at Midnight, Bryson noticed the tip of her fangs poking out slightly from behind her lilac lips, and as he glanced back at the puncture marks, an idea suddenly began to take shape: "...Did your bite did this?" he cocked an eyebrow: Midnight merely shrugged as she spelt out, : I guess? But I don't know how? :

A loud guttural groan from the titan suddenly pulled their attention back to its predicament: sensing the danger was over Shadow had gotten back up and had crested the edge of the hollow with Bemadette and her brother's still in hand: "HEY! What's taking so long?!" Bemadette called down to Bryson: "Something's happened!" Bryson shouted back, "Listen, when you get back to the grove tell Claude there's something he needs to see, right now!" "What's going on?" Javorin asked offhand as he studied the titan in confusion, "A development I think?" Hecate replied dubiously, "He's right, go fetch Claude; I think we're going to need his expertise on this"

Without hesitation Javorin left for the grove, and half a minute later returned with Claude in his cupped hands: "Shadow say's you found something interesting!" Claude glanced down at Bryson, noticing the titan in a mix of surprise and alarm as Javorin bent down so he could disembark: "Holy Sina! What on earth happened to that titan?" he exclaimed; "Midnight, apparently?" Bryson replied: turning to Claude as he tentatively approached. "Claude, you're our top scientist and biologist, what do you make of this?" Bryson gestured to the monster: "Midnight bit the titan in self-defense and now the wound looks like its becoming infected: the titan isn't able to regenerate from its injuries either; can you shed any light on this?" he added. Glancing over at the titan, Claude blinked in surprise at the creature's deteriorating condition: "Well I have to say, for my first ever regular titan he's certainly not the fittest specimen..." he thought aloud, daring to take a few steps closer, "And it's no surprise, that black colouration looks distinctly like some form of necrosis..." he noticed the puncture marks, and the strange green substance in the wound. "... How strange, there appears to be some kind of liquid residue embedded in the tissues" he thought aloud.

"Already got a sample" Bryson handed Claude the stick with said residue on it: looking down at the strange green droplets he sniffed it out of curiosity; "Hmm ...-Remarkable!" he exclaimed with a smile. Bryson blinked in surprise: "You know what it is?" he gasped, half expecting him to be stumped. "Indeed-, well? Sort of: but just to confirm my suspicion," the scientist smiled up at Hecate, "Oh Midnight? Would you be a dear and come on down so I can take a closer look at those pretty pearly's of yours, please?" he beckoned her. Hecate laid herself down on her front, rested her chin on her folded arms and opened her mouth wide. Then, unexpectedly, Claude climbed up onto her hands, and standing with his back to her leaned in over backwards into her maw, inspecting the area right behind her upper teeth; much to her and Shadow's bemusement.

"Any clue as to where he's going with this?" Javorin asked offhand, "No idea" Hecate mentally shrugged. Seeing a human in the mouth of a titan never failed to send a cold shiver of dread up Bryson's spine, as flashbacks of his time in the Scouts flittered through the front of his mind: memories of witnessing his comrades being eaten alive haunted him like restless ghosts; and seeing so many of Shiganshina's citizens meeting the same fate only confounded the trauma of it all. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself Midnight is nothing like the titans that overran Shiganshina: after all this time, he knew she, Shadow, Boar and Angel were nothing like them: "Oh good grief! How on earth could I have missed this?!" Claude exclaimed in excitement, much to everyone's surprise: "What is it?" Bryson demanded, "Take a look at this! It's utterly remarkable!" Claude beckoned him inside Midnight's mouth: "Uh-, I'm good, really: just describe to me what you see" the former Scout hesitated, shaking his head in mental exasperation; some habits just refuse to go away. "Midnight has a set of venom glands!" Claude exclaimed, "Venom glands?!" Bryson frowned in surprise "What?" Hecate raised an eyebrow in equal surprise. "Indeed!-" Claude replied as he gazed up at said glands, which were two large noticeable pillow-sized bumps on the roof of her mouth, right behind her long fang-like upper canines: "I've seen similar glands in several species of venomous snakes, there is a difference in the size and morphology of course, but they're in the same general location of the mouth where a snake's venom glands would be located. I wonder if..." he raised his hand and gently pressed up against the left-side gland: Midnight flinched a little as she felt him pressing on said gland, sending a bolt of dread up Bryson's spine yet again, but the flinch was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction and her mouth remained open. The former scout watched in amazement as the vivid green venom oozed out of the tip of her left fang, and dripped in large droplets onto the forest floor, forming a small puddle, "Ohohoh quickly! Grab something to scoop it up in! We must get a sample!" Claude panicked. Patting himself down for anything that might be in his pockets and glancing down around the forest floor, Bryson noticed a small stone with an indentation near the boulder: rushing over to pick it up, the titan tried to turn its head to bite him, but it hardly had any strength left as it feebly closed its jaw. As Claude continued to massage the venom gland, Bryson was careful to catch several droplets as they fell into the stone's indentation: "Okay, I got some" he patted Claude on the side, who then carefully stood upright, being careful not to snag the top of his head on the rest of Midnight's teeth.

Gazing down at the droplets in the stone, Claude smiled up at Midnight: "My dear, once again you continue to be full of surprises!" "Uh huh?" she regarded him with a weird look, "Well? You do: venomous fangs? When did that happen?" Javorin noted: "I could say the same for you Mr Crystal knuckledusters" she shot him a look: "Touché" Javorin admitted flatly. "This day seems to be full of surprises..." Bryson frowned; glancing over at the titan, the former Scout couldn't help but wonder aloud: "Do you think there's a chance the titan could recover from the venom's effects?" "Oh, it's hard to say ol' boy," Claude adjusted his pince-nez with one hand as he took the stone in the other, "From what we know of the titan's regenerative ability, they can recover fast from any physical injury bar a direct strike to the nape (obviously): but this is a poisoning, an assault against the body's chemistry and compromising it on a number of levels; it's entirely different altogether. From what I understand of snake venom, it can either make one rather sick or kill a human outright, it depends on factors like age, body mass and blood volume, possible allergic reactions and whether the immune system is already compromised: and of course the species of snake in question. But it's a titan that made the bite, and one that's far from your average abnormal: with fangs and venom glands that large, it appears Midnight delivered a dosage that adequately compromised the titan's regenerative ability" he hypothesized. "And yet the titan isn't dead yet," Bryson observed as the titan's skin continued to turn black as the necrosis spread throughout its body: "Which can only mean that its body must be fighting the venom" he concluded. "Or, contrary to its appearance the venom has yet to reach the critical bodily systems that sustain its vitals: the brain, the heart and so on: without performing a proper detailed examination we can't say for sure" Claude offered. Thinking about it for a moment: the two humans suddenly froze as they heard the distant sound of titan footfalls echoing through the trees; "We've lingered out here too long" Bryson sighed with an annoyed frown, "Okay, let's not take the chance this thing might recover: Midnight?"

Getting back up on her feet, Midnight grabbed the titan by one arm and flipped it over: its body was totally limp with no strength remaining, and with a firm slash to the nape she killed it instantly. But as she let it fall back down to the ground, the body didn't disintegrate rapidly as it would normally do, instead, it simply continued to turn black all over, and began gently fizzing as large wisps of steam and embers drifted off its skin a little at a time. "How strange, even when dead the body doesn't break down and evaporate" Bryson thought aloud as he climbed up into Midnight's waiting hands with Claude, being careful not to spill a drop of the venom in the stone. "Come on, let's go" Bryson patted Midnight on the hand, and together she and Shadow treaded quietly back towards the grove. "You do know you've got nothing to contain that in, right?" Bryson pointed to the stone: "Eh, sadly yes: but not to worry, I can write down some brief notes in my journal to make sure I get round to studying it another time... Goodness only knows, I-, won't be able to indulge in my scientific curiosity for a good long while yet" Claude sighed ruefully.

Upon returning to the grove, everyone greeted the two best friends in a mix of worry and relief: "Finally! What the hell was keeping you guys?!" Gustav exclaimed, "You had us worried sick! What were you four doing back there?!" Freya exclaimed as well. "Well? ..." Claude nervously smiled as he carefully stepped down from Midnight's hand, being mindful not to spill a drop of the venom: "Um? We made a bit of an interesting discovery..." he showed them the stone.

While Claude and Bryson explained what happened, Shadow turned his attention to Ariana, who approached him with a relieved smile; holding his hand out, she climbed up into his palm and hugged his thumb. She knew he could handle himself, but after yesterday she was (understandably) being doubly concerned for him: "You okay big guy?" she asked; he nodded with that ever warm smile of his, and brought her up to his face so she could hug his cheek. Glancing up at him, Ariana pulled away from his face as she realized he was gazing at something else: following his eyes over to where he was looking at, she saw Bemadette sitting on a large root by Angel's root cave; surrounded by Belle, Shyla and Fox, and looking rather sullen. "...Oh yeah" Ariana sighed, "Miriam and Gustav just gave her and the boys a real chewing out". Reading her aura, Shadow could see Bemadette was raw: her emotions wrung and her energies spread thin, never mind the realization that they just had a close brush with death; her mind wasn't in a good place, and it wasn't just because of what happened yesterday. Ever compelled by his instinct to help however he could, he treaded over to the cave and sat himself down on the grass where the roots disappeared under the ground. As Ariana jumped down out of his palm and onto the grass, Shadow noticed Brendis, Brenden and Bren hiding amid the roots near their big sister.

Feeling the titan's gaze on them, the three brothers retreated further into the tangle of roots, while their sister (knowing Shadow wasn't likely to do anything) merely gazed up at Shadow with an apologetic look; taking a moment to regain her composure as Ariana, Belle, Shyla and Fox came closer. "You okay? I know Miriam's lectures aren't the easiest things to survive, especially when she gets riled up like that" Fox offered: "You scared all of us, running off like that" Shyla glanced down at the three brothers, and up at Bemadette. "I know, and I have no excuses: what happened was stupid and reckless, and it never should have happened to begin with..." she glanced behind her, shooting her brothers a scathing reprimanding glare: it was their fault they nearly got eaten, and they didn't seem to know it. "I'm sorry Shadow, I didn't mean to scare you guys like that" she glanced up at the titan, who simply nodded in understanding. "You gonna chew us out too?" Bren asked hesitantly, Bemadette simply huffed in exasperation and stared down at the grass beyond the roots: "Given what just happened? I don't think another chewing out is necessary"

An uneasy silence hung in the air between the four siblings, before Brendis sat down in his hidey-hole, and sighed with a frown: "...This doesn't change anything you know?" he glared up at her "Mum's waiting for us in Trost, and once we get there, we're gonna find her with or without you..." he stated sternly. Bemadette sighed in bitter disappointment; "-Besides, why do you even care about us?" Brendis challenged her: "We know you hated mum and we know you hate us too: you're only keeping us around because you're our big sister, that it's your job to look after us whether you want to or not!" "-THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Bemadette snapped spinning round to face him, "Who the hell said I hated you?! Did I ever say that even once? NO! I damn-well didn't!" she shot back, "... Look, I know we haven't gotten along very well even at the best of times: but given the situation you guys were growing up in and what mum did for a living, can you honestly say it wasn't surprising? I didn't like it anymore than the three of you, and I hated the fact that-, she had a way out: all that time she could've come to work for Miriam at the Black Stallion, she didn't have to be a woman of the night...She could've done so much more with her life, but instead she spent it wallowing in her own self-pity, and blaming everyone else but herself for all the shit in her life. And don't you dare tell me I don't know shit! I've known her way longer than you! So don't go claiming you knew her better than me! Not when you don't even know half of what happened between us!" Bemadette bitterly spat out with tears welling up in her eyes.

The boys were quiet for a moment: but still not satisfied, Brendis continued to stir the pot; "...Maybe she let you down, but at least she was always there for us: she cared about us" "...She cared about you? ..." Bemadette gazed down at him as she wiped the tears from her eyes: with an impassive gaze, she challenged him in a bitter tone: "...Tell me: do you remember that time she brought that John home, and he was so drunk and angry that he beat her up and forced you guys to watch him do it? Do you remember that time she was gone for three days and left you guys alone in the house with nothing but a bucket of dirty water and a loaf of stale moldy bread? She never told us she was gone, nor had the sense of mind to drop you all off at the Inn. And do you remember that time when that man calling by the house asking to 'buy' you three off her? And she accepted? If Miriam and Pops hadn't shown up when they did I don't even want to imagine what might have happened to the three of you. And of course I don't have to remind you about that 'dispute' she had with the landlord's old lady that resulted in you guys ending up homeless on the streets for nearly a week, before Miriam found out and had words with her: again, she didn't tell us. And let's not forget the day before last: she locked you in the house and didn't bother to drop you off with me; she didn't even tell you where she was going... So tell me, how does any of that: plus all the other times she brought drunken and violent Johns back to her place, forced you to sleep in the basement with the rats and cockroaches, and deprive you guys of food and water when she had plenty of money to feed herself; make her a good mother?..."

Another silence stretched out between them: Brendis simply sat there, his face scrunching up as tears ran down his cheeks, unwilling to amid the truth; he didn't want to believe any of it. Their mother was waiting for them in Trost, she was sick with worry, and she would scoop them up in her arms the moment she saw them: he wanted so desperately for that to be true; but he wouldn't give his sister the satisfaction, no way, he was right and she was wrong: "...You're lying..." he sobbed angrily, "...She's our mum, she didn't mean to do those things, she just-..."

"-Just what?" Bemadette frowned down at him, "Just what exactly? What, she didn't mean to be so uncaring? About not giving a shit about us or our safety? About not caring what would happen if someone got their hands on us?!-" she fumed as she stood up, grabbed her shirt and threw it off: the three brothers stared at her in shock, as did Shadow, Ariana, Belle, Shyla and Fox as they gazed at the deep ugly scars across her chest and abdomen: obviously burn marks that took their time to heal. "-You see this?! This is what she did to me! This is what I got for refusing to give myself to a perv, just so she could earn some extra coin!" She fumed. Sitting upright, Brendis wiped the tears from his eyes as she straightened out the sleeves on her shirt and sat back down. Knowing what they were all thinking, Bemadette took a deep breath, and obliged as she explained: "...When I just turned six: mum brought this one John home so she could 'entertain' him. I went to my room as always and stayed out of the way. Later, when they were done, the guy said he was willing to pay double if he could 'spend some quality time' with me too: and mum, to my complete shock and horror, accepted without question. Realizing what he had in mind I knew I was in trouble, and the second he opened my door I kicked him in the loins and told him I wasn't for sale. Luckily he didn't want to push his luck and got the hell outta there: I shouted and screamed at mum, demanding to know why she did that. But she was more pissed off at the fact I just drove away a customer, and so she punished me by grabbing the pan of boiling oil off the fire and throwing it over me: the pain was unlike anything I'd ever felt, and I ran outta there screaming in agony: I ran all the way up to the Black Stallion and Miriam took me to see Breck immediately. After he took care of my wounds and bandaged me up, Pops called the MP's on mum and I told them what happened. Of course nothing came of it: the MP's ruled it as a 'family dispute' and didn't do anything further except issue her a warning...Mum asked me to forgive her; but the second I saw her, and I saw that look in her eyes I knew I could never trust her ever again. And neither could Miriam: she let me move into the Inn that same day: and I'd been there ever since..." she sighed as she put her shirt back on.

"...I knew you had issues with your mum, but geez. Why didn't you say anything Bem'?" Belle pleaded. "...I don't know?" Bemadette admitted, "I just-, didn't want to talk about it..."

Another long silence hung in the air as Bemadette gazed up pleadingly at Shadow, as if asking for strength: through her aura Shadow could see she was struggling, but she was strong, and way too stubborn to back down as she pressed on. Taking a deep breath, the kids listened as she continued in a more measured tone: "...None of us asked for this: you, me, Brenden, Bren? None of us asked to be born into poverty, violence and having to fight every day of our lives, just to survive long enough to see the next day; beyond that? It was hard to say? Hope was a fragile luxury: it still is, now more than ever..." she gazed down at her brothers: "...I'm sorry if I ever gave you the impression that I don't care: even living with the Willums I never felt truly free of mum, and I used to get so angry at times, knowing what she did, knowing what she was willing to do; I just can't help but think 'why would she do that?' ...For so long I wanted to believe that it was one big misunderstanding, that somehow I was the one that got it all wrong. But as the years went by and she kept coming to visit me, I could see it was all a front: she was simply paying lip service to stay on Miriam's good side, when in reality she just wanted to have her own way, regardless of me or my welfare. And when she had you guys I realized she was about to let history repeat itself all over again... I had hoped that-, by inviting you guys to the Inn that she'd realize she had an alternative, that she didn't have to repeat her mistakes; Miriam confronted her about it several times, but she refused. Her pride wouldn't allow her to see Miriam get the satisfaction of knowing she was right, and that she was wrong. In the end she couldn't be asked to keep the facade up any longer, so she left... I guess what I'm trying to say is; it's not my fault mum was who she was, and it's not yours either: she may have said that we made her life miserable and were a burden to her? But honestly? I think she was a miserable person long before she ever had us; the fact she had neither the strength courage nor smarts to improve her own circumstances wasn't our fault. She just couldn't learn to accept her own failures, and admit when she was wrong...It was always easier to blame us..."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Fox sat himself down beside her and stared down at the grass: "...You know? You're not the first to be let down by the one person you thought would be there for you, no matter what" "No..." Bemadette suddenly realized, glancing up at him, "I'm not ...Sorry Fox I didn't mean to forget- "-Hey, it's okay?" he laid a hand on her shoulder, "Besides, things could have turned out a lot worse...I should know..." he sighed ruefully, "We both do" Shyla added as she approached her, "And if you still feel raw about it? And you want to talk, we'll listen okay?" she patted her on her other shoulder, "You three too..." she glanced down at the brothers. As they stared up at her with unreadable expressions, Shyla crouched down in front of their hiding places, and told them: "...I've been let down by my mum too: so don't think you're alone"

Brendis stared up at her for a moment, unsure what to think or say: but then quiet unexpectedly, Bren climbed out of his hole, and hugged his big sister by the waist: "Sorry sissy" he mumbled quietly. Surprised but relieved: Bemadette hugged him back and ruffled his hair. Brendis and Brenden glanced at one another, and simply sat there: neither accepting nor denying the truth of the matter; it was all too much to mentally digest at once. Sensing this, Shadow raised a hand, and spelt out, : Perhaps it would be a good idea to talk about it sometime? When you're ready:, "...Yeah, I think your right" Bemadette nodded as she thought about it. "Whoa, how'd he do that?" Brendis blinked in surprise as he got up and leaned out of his hole, "Magic" Ariana smiled, "Stick with us and he might show you some other tricks"

"So we take it you guys are back on talking terms again?" Lucy smiled as she and Lucius climbed down from where they'd been listening in atop the roots over Angel's cave. "...I don't know? Are we on talking terms again?" Bemadette asked her brothers with a weak smile: "We can talk!" Bren beamed; Brendis and Brenden glanced at one another and shrugged, "Meh, I guess?" Brendis replied as he and Brenden climbed out and sat next to her: "But I still ain't taking orders from the old witch" he frowned, gesturing over to Miriam: "Oh, I don't think that's advisable" Bemadette smiled slyly. She was about to say something else when she saw the rest of the kids (bar Lawrence and Drake) approaching: "Hey" she greeted wearily.

"So? You guys finally resolved your family issues?" Jaye asked offhand as he idly stroked the two healed scars he now sported on his left cheek, "Eh, I think it's as good as it's gonna get. There's time I guess? ..." Bemadette shrugged. Seeing the tired and worn looks on Hazel, Clay, Ashlyn, Hawk and the Raven twin's faces, Bemadette couldn't help but ask: "...So? I know this goes without saying; but how're you guys holding up?" Glancing at one another, they didn't show much expression: "Like you said: as good as it's gonna get I guess? We'll be okay to make the journey to Trost" Hazel sighed with a forced smile, "Dad say's we'll have time to morn mum once we're safe; and he's right, we gotta get there if we're to stand any chance of survival" Clay added.

"By the way, speaking of 'family issues': there's something I've been meaning to ask you two..." Ash glanced over at Lucy and Lucius with an unreadable expression. The twins grew uneasy, as they could guess what it was he was going to ask. Everyone simply listened as Ash sighed in a worried tone; there was no easy way to ask this, and so he tentatively dithered: "...I heard my dad talking with Miriam earlier" he glazed at them both: "He said he found you guys locked in the basement of your home?" Everyone blinked in astonishment as they snapped their heads towards the twins: "Wha-, is that true?!" Belle exclaimed. The twins glanced at one another and nodded: there was no point in lying about it; together they lifted back their sleeves to reveal the red marks and bruises where the handcuffs had dug into their skin: "Holy shit, what?" Jaye stared at the marks in surprise: "What the hell happened to you guys?" Hazel exclaimed in alarm.

Both Lucy and Lucius were quiet for a moment, as if unsure what to say at first, before Lucius explained in an unreadable tone: "...It was something Muller had been doing for a while now: mother and father didn't approve of us hanging out with you guys so they tried to keep us locked up in our rooms, or get Gilda to chaperone us whenever we went out; of course that wasn't a problem once we learned how to unpick door locks and give Gilda the slip by using that 'Celtic stealth' of yours. But, recently the whole thing was starting to get on Muller's nerve, so she had that chain put in the basement. Where she got the cuffs from I don't know, but a few weeks back she started drugging us and locking us up down there whenever mother and father were away on business in the interior... Of course, after some careful observations and sneaking around the house in the dead of night we soon located where Muller hid the key, snuck it out, and took it to your forge to have a copy made" he glanced over at Bemadette, who stared at him in surprise "Huh, I wondered why you were being so secretive about that key?" she thought aloud. "Well anyway," Lucy continued, "Now that we had our own key we could sneak out of the basement window whenever Muller locked us up: she never figured it out of course, she didn't bother to check on us until nightfall long after we got back"

"So? What happened yesterday? If you had a spare key why didn't you try to get out?" Josefa interjected. A look of anger overcame the twins as they stared down at the bruises on their wrists: "...Muller found the key under my bed while we were with you guys up on the roof" Lucius stated bitterly, "When we got back she grabbed us both and marched us down there, and told us we wouldn't be let out until next Friday, when we were supposed to join our parents in Stohess..." "After she locked us up we heard her talking with Gilda," Lucy continued without skipping a beat, "She not only planned to leave us down there, she would starve us as further punishment" "When we heard the first explosion, we realized very quickly that something bad was coming: Muller realized it too because she didn't waste any time packing up her things and getting outta there. They were probably already leaving the inner gate by the time the giant titan had kicked in the wall,...Gilda didn't even beg for her to turn back and let us out; Muller had her so scared that she was more afraid of her than the titans!" Lucius bitterly spat out as tears welled up in his eyes: Lucy put her arm around him and almost right away he felt at ease.

"Holy shit guy's why didn't you say anything?!" Bemadette exclaimed in disbelief, making her brother's jump "-That's just-, fucked up!" "Yeah, I mean if you were afraid or anything we'd have listened to you, we'd have tried to help out somehow? To hell with Muller's bullshit over whose fit to 'associate' with you guys: we were never afraid of her!" Poppy stated vehemently. "...Lucy? Lucius? ..." Ash placed a hand on Lucius's shoulder as he gazed at them earnestly: "Did your parents know anything about this? ..." Both the twin fell silent as their hurt frowns morphed into bitter scowls: it wasn't any secret that the twin's relationship with their parents had been a strained one, and not just over the issue of who the twins chose to be friends with. It wasn't obvious and it didn't show in any outstanding ways: but being friends with them for so long, the kids just knew that something had always been 'off' when it came to family matters. And it was in the details where the cracks could be seen; even then, the twins were reluctant to share anything about the subject. "...Like they would have believed us anyway" Lucius stated darkly, "Just like when we told them we nearly drowned in the flood four years ago" Lucy added without skipping a beat.

"Huh?" Clay blinked in surprise: an uneasy silence fell over the group, before Lucy explained: "...The day after the flood, when we got back to Shiganshina your parents took us home and explained everything that happened the day before (leaving out one or two 'titanic' details of course). Although we'd been sent to our room, we overheard everything; your mum lost her shit with our parents, telling father how he was a selfish bastard for not wanting to come and help her and the others with the search, to not want to look for his own children, who damn-near almost drowned and nearly got kidnapped by human traffickers..." "You know? I honestly thought that would shock them into coming to their senses: to at least give enough of a shit to care about our well-being. But they just- ..." Lucius bitterly growled as he began to cry, remembering his father's words from that day, not long after Tyto and Freya had left the house...

How the hell can you two be so reckless as to go running off and doing such a stupid irresponsible thing! Getting caught out in a storm, nearly drowned in a flood, and nearly getting kidnapped?! How can you do that to us?! TO ME?! After all that I've invested in you two: good care, good tutors, good food and a good home, and this is what you do to repay me?! Never in my life have I been treated with such insolence and contempt! You two are the most selfish pathetic attention-seekers I've ever known! Better those human traffickers had taken you both, at least then your mother could birth a couple of obedient and grateful replacements! Or better yet, I could adopt a couple of pigs to be better offspring than you!

"-Hey I just remembered," Belle suddenly realized, "Your parents took the barge up to Trost the day before yesterday: so? Unless they've already heard the news about Shiganshina and the titans, they should still be somewhere in Trost, right?" "And your point is Belle?" Ash raised an eyebrow: "Well? We're going to Trost tonight aren't we?"

The twins glanced at her impassively before casting their gaze away: with a heavy sigh, Lucius explained: "...About that, when your grandmother told us about the plan to go to Trost tonight, we talked about it between ourselves," he glanced at his sister impassively, who returned the same look with a reaffirming nod, "And we've come to a decision" "We're not going to look for our parents" Lucy stated flatly. The others all stared at them, slightly taken aback: but no one questioned or contested them; knowing they were all expecting some kind of further elaboration, Lucius reluctantly explained: "...I know you all must be wondering why we didn't tell you, about our parents treating us the way they did? Well? To be honest we're not entirely sure ourselves..." he admitted as he sat down on a large root, his sister sitting down next to him: "...For the longest time we both believed that-, things were not always that bad, sure Muller gave us a hard time, but by and large we just accepted it as the norm: that that's what all parents allowed their housekeepers to do to their kids... And then, we met you guys" he glanced up at Shadow, "And from that day on everything changed for us...Having you and your 'cousins', Mrs Jaeger, and everyone else put a lot of things in perspective: and little by little we began to realize what Muller was doing was wrong. What mother and father were knowingly allowing her to do was wrong"

"There's a lot about our parents we didn't talk about, for good reason: mother is a self-centered narcissist who hated growing old so much she couldn't even stand to look at us, she's that jealous of our youth (if you can believe that). And father has a silver tongue and knows how to talk his way around anyone; hell, the guy could commit murder right in front of a packed courtroom, and he'd be able to talk his way out of a long drop and short stop" Lucy explained, "If anyone had a complaint against him, he was usually able convince everyone that they were lying and he was the injured party...Everyone except, your folks" Lucius gazed up at everyone. "Tyto was the only guy who could see right through him, and he knew it: that's why he used to give your dad's such a hard time" Lucy added ruefully: "And for that I'm so sorry"

"Guys, did you really think we wouldn't believe you?" Jaye blinked in surprise, "-That your old man would try to trick us into thinking you were lying?" Josefa asked without skipping a beat: "No of course not!-" Lucius snapped, before instantly regretting his sharp tone: "...We know you'd never think such a thing of us, and we'd never think the same of any of you!" "...It's just-..." Lucy hesitated as she gazed up at Shadow: "Over the years we spent time with you, the things you showed us and the lessons you taught us: we realized there were so many things wrong in our family, things that our parents took for granted and treated with so little respect and consideration. Like us..." Gazing over at Bemadette, Lucius sighed as he thought aloud: "...You know? I realized it's kinda the same for us as it was between you and your mother... Up until the day of the storm, I actually believed there may be something we could salvage from the relationship with our parents: some common thread we had yet to discover, or something that would bring them to their senses and force them to realize the truth of their actions. Something, anything..." Lucius glanced up at Shadow with a sheepish smile: "I confess I even contemplated introducing them to you: and asking if you could teach them some genuine wisdom about family, about caring for one another, and loving each other unconditionally; as all parents are supposed to love their children..." He let his gaze wander back down to the grass as his face turned unreadable yet again: "... The day we were caught out in the flood, we were stuck on that giant tree and I realized we might just die, I wondered if they were worried about us? Being caught out in that weather, unable to get home; I hoped beyond hope that that was true...But when Mrs Grayson, Miss Willum and the others showed up to rescue us, and they weren't on the cart: part of me still held out hope that they weren't able to come out for some good reason, that they were helping out with the evacuation in the city or something like that..." Lucius's expression turned darker, "...But the next day, when we got home: instead of scooping us up in their arms and crying their eyes out with heart-felt relief: father reprimanded us for our 'selfishness and attention-seeking' and told us we weren't worth his time or effort...We knew right there and then, he was no father. Parents don't punish their children for nearly dying; parents don't treat their children as part of their estate, as if they were another trinket to place on the mantelshelf and display at their own convenience. Mrs Grayson told them we were in trouble, that we might die if they didn't come and help: she begged, pleaded and even ordered them to come help her. And do you know what they said? ..." he glared daggers at the ground as tears rolled down his cheeks, "... Do you know what my father told her?!"

"Just let me know when you find them so I can make the necessary arrangements: coffins aren't cheap you know, even if their made to fit a child" Lucy bitterly quoted.

Another uncomfortable silence hung in the air, before Lucius continued in a sombre, self-loathing tone: "...I can't believe it took us this long to realize we'd been kidding ourselves this whole time" he sighed as he wiped the tears from his eyes: "...All these years, and it never occurred to us to question what was going on within our own home; and even then, part of me still didn't want to believe our own parents would be that heartless. To think of us as disposable: less than garbage... But then, they're our parents; what's a child supposed to think? Is it too much to ask, for a little consideration at the very least? ... If our parents can't even be asked to come and save us, then neither of us want anything to do with them anymore"

Everyone stared at them in shock: the sound of soft footfalls snapped them out of their daze, and made them turn around in time to see Freya and Carla steadily walking over to them with their arms linked and Angel following them close behind; it was clear from the looks on their faces that they'd overheard everything, and Angel was looking a little stressed out about it too. "...Mum, is this true? Did Lucy and Lucius's father really say that?!" Ariana exclaimed, "...I'm afraid so darling" Freya sighed regretfully; "That's why he had that black eye when we got back, I'm afraid I-, lost my composure" she admitted sheepishly, "That's putting it mildly," Carla couldn't help by smirk, "From what you told me you completely went insane on him" "Yes well? It's not like the MP's were in a position to arrest me at the time anyway. Besides, he had it coming..." Freya frowned before unlinking her arm from Carla's and approaching the twins with a more motherly expression. "...Lucy? Lucius? Listen to me: we're all well aware of what your father was like; everyone in our street knew he was a snake and a condescending bastard, and I'm so sorry that you had to put up with him and your mother for so long..." she apologized, before letting her gaze drop to the ground in thought "Being who I am, ever the optimist: some part of me always held out some small slither of hope that maybe, being a father would force him to reconsider what he thought he knew. But as time went by I realized that wasn't the case; and, though I knew fatherhood was not a role he was qualified to commit to, I never imagined for a moment he could be that heartless; until that day," "Neither did we" Lucy offered: "But what he was and what he was like? That wasn't your fault Mrs Grayson" "Thank you," she smiled, "And in lieu of your decision to not want to find your parents, we took it upon ourselves to act in your stead, and came to a decision about you and your well-being"

"When we get to Trost, one of us will 'adopt' you both" Carla smiled.

The twins nearly gawked at her as they exchanged surprised looks, as did the other kids, "Seriously?" Lucius stood up and stepped in front of her, "I mean-really? But who?" "We haven't figured that out yet: either Tyto and I and the rest of our family, the Willums or the Fitzsimmons; either way, you're not going to be left to fend for yourselves in a place you're not familiar with. With no roof, bed or food to keep you going: none of us will have it" Freya stated. The twins didn't know what to say, as a pair of genuine smiles tugged at the corners of their mouths, and tears pricked their eyes yet again: "...I-, I don't know what say?" Lucius nearly choked: "You don't have to say anything Lucius" Carla assured him as she lay a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Whatever happens, no matter how dangerous or unpredictable things get, we're not giving up on each other: no one gets left behind, and that includes you two". Overcome with joy, the twins hugged both Carla and Freya, while the rest of the children sounded their delight.

Watching the happy little scene from where he sat with Clemmy, Marigold and Phoebe on the grass by the fire, Lawrence glanced up as Mable and Bren came over to sit with him and the girls: "Are you gonna adopt them?" he asked impassively, "Maybe? Who knows?" Mabel shrugged, "We've got to get to Trost first, and it's going to be a very long and very dangerous journey, what with all those titans about: I don't know what's going to happen, and I'm sorry to say I can't make any promises Lawrence. But I can tell you, no matter what happens I'll take care of you, okay?" she smiled down at him. "And speaking of caring: we got something we wanna ask you buddy" Bren placed his hand on Lawrence's shoulder: "Me and Bren have been talking with Miss Willum and the other grown-ups, and we decided since you, me, Bren and the girls have got off to such a good start: we thought, you might want to come and live with us once we're inside wall Rose; the six of us together" Mabel smiled, "Would you like that? You can be Marigold, Phoebe and Clemmy's big brother? You seem to be doing such a good job of it already, it just seems a shame to break you guys up" Bren joked. Lawrence stared up at Mabel and her husband, before suddenly standing up and hugged them both around the neck. "Uh-, I'll take that as a yes then!" Bren laughed as he and Mabel hugged Lawrence back.

"Well? I take it you guys are fine with that little arrangement?" Gustav smirked as Carla and Freya rejoined the campfire with the children at their side, while Shadow repositioned himself by the fire: "Given the chaos Trost is going to be in, there's no way we're letting you kids go off by yourselves" Miriam stated. "But-, what if the Cooper's are in Trost and we run into them? What'll we do then?" Bemadette realized; Lucy and Lucius glanced at one another, before Lucius impassively stated: "We tell them we're not going with them, and that the subject is not up for debate" "I think it's highly unlikely they'll try to kick up a fuss; if they really cared about us to begin with, then they wouldn't have allowed Muller to lock us down in the basement of our home" Lucy added without skipping a beat. "Yeah but, what if they get the MP's involved, saying we kidnapped you guys or something?" Ashlyn pointed out worryingly: "Then they're gonna have to speak to me about it" Miriam stated darkly as she cracked her knuckles, "There ain't a 'dispute' with the MP's I ain't walked away from yet: and I doubt those lazy pampered good-for-nothing swine's in the interior have met the likes of me" she stated with a sly smirk. "Oh for Maria's sake Miriam this isn't the Shiganshina branch of the MP's we're talking about! The MP's in the interior are far better trained then those way out in the countryside! They'll have you in handcuffs in less than three moves flat!" Freya exclaimed.

"Uh actually? She's more likely to have them on their backs in two moves or less?" Derek sheepishly pointed out as he scratched the back of his neck: "Yeah, I wouldn't hold a candle to the MP's of the interior either: Shiganshina's district branch was riddled with slackers and bent MP's left and right: but those in the interior? Particular in wall Sina? They ain't much better, and in some places are actually worse" "Not to mention the fact they only do their jobs if you bribe them well enough" Pascal added as he and West rejoined the group, carrying a small chest between them. "Where the hell did you two disappear off to?" Miriam shot them both a look: "We went to go take out one of our 'long term deposits'" Pascal stated as they placed the chest down on the ground: and with a small key in hand he unlocked and opened the chest to reveal a whole stash of gold coins and paper notes: "We're gonna need some serious coin if we're to stand any chance of getting a better deal than everyone else" he stated as he scanned his eyes over the money, making sure it was all there: "Or? We could use it to by food? Clothing? A new house or two maybe? There's gotta be enough in there for each of us to receive an equal cut, surely?" Tyto surmised as he gazed down at the loot.

"Uh-, yeah! An equal cut! That's what we were thinking! Because, you know, we're practically family, and families share everything right?" West smiled nervously: hoping to avoid the worst of Miriam's skeptical gaze; "There's only enough in here to pay for a week's bed and board in Trost" Pascal stated flatly as he picked up wad of notes and counted out a certain amount: "But fortunately, this ain't the only 'long term deposit' we got stashed away" "What?! You mean there're more of these you got buried elsewhere?!" Belle exclaimed in amazement. "Well duh?" West smirked as he rolled his eyes, "Back in the day: when we first made up our minds to run away to wall Maria, we came up with a plan so that if for whatever reason we had to run with only the clothes on our backs, we'd have money for provisions and wouldn't get caught short" Pascal explained as he continued to count out the money, "I got the idea from watching a fox raid a hen house: one by one he'd snatch a bird, slip out from under the fence, and once he was back near his den he'd bury it, so come lean times he'd have food readily available" he smirked: "We made sure we had stashes in all three walls, so that wherever we go, we'd have a 'bird' to keep us going through 'lean times'" West smiled. "Here..." Pascal handed Carla the sum of money, "This should be enough to get you a permit to enter Rose: in addition to any traveling expenses, food, accommodations? It'll be enough for two weeks at least" he stated.

"Huh? Why does she need it more than us?!" Brendis demanded, to which Bemadette smacked him upside the head. "Because she needs to go and find her husband; he left Shiganshina long before the titans attacked, and I doubt the coach would've turned back once they heard the news of the breach. With any luck, he'll be waiting for her somewhere in or near Trost" Pascal stated as he closed the chest and locked it.

"Holy shit Grisha!" Gustav gasped in realization: "-How did we forget him?!" Rosemary exclaimed as she pressed her hand to her head: "I have to confess, in all the-, stress of all this, Grisha completely slipped my mind" Carla admitted, feeling rather ashamed for nearly all but forgetting her husband, "...Oh god..." she suddenly began to panic, "...what do I-,...How am I going to tell him Eren and Mikasa are dead?!" she realized as fresh tears rolled down her face: "-Oh darling please don't stress yourself out again" Lucile gently took her by the hands, "Listen, I'm sure once we get to Trost and we find Grisha, we'll try to explain things as best we can" she assured her. "What? The guy just lost his son and daughter! There ain't no easy way to explain it no matter how much you sugar-coat it!" Gustav exclaimed, before huffing a deep sigh: "Besides, with all the refugees flooding into Trost by now: its unlikely Grisha will be in the city: they'll have moved everyone with a permit to the towns and villages on the outskirts of the district; he'll probably be there waiting for news or something?"

"That's why she needs the money, so she can bribe the MP's into issuing her a permit, right?" Drake threw in: "But then? Why can't we have any of that money to by our own permits?" Rowan frowned: "Listen kid, there's a whole slew of reasons why it wouldn't be practical to take that kinda cash with us: so to keep things simple I'm just gonna explain the big three obvious. One: all of us carrying money in a crowded city full of refugees and Sina knows who else is an open invitation for trouble, if someone notices we're all loaded, we could get our throats slashed and robbed in the dead of night. Two, all of us carrying cash is one thing, but all of us bribing for permits all at once? That's gonna look shady as hell, even to those crooked MP bastards: and three, we're gonna need to keep a low profile: being Celts and hiding magical titans aside, we're gonna have enough on our plates just trying to deal the fact that we'll be refugees. If there's a food shortage or something, no amount of money is gonna make a difference besides drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves" Pascal glanced down at the chest: "The best way to get into wall Rose would be with discreetness and smarts, being patient and waiting for the right opportunity" he smirked.

"Why not just fly up over the wall whilst invisible? Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel won't have any trouble pulling that off" Rowan shrugged: "Why bother going through the gate in the first place if we're just going to be lumbered together with all the other refugees?" "Because..." Dale glanced sideways at him dryly: "A whole bunch of people from Maria, suddenly showing up out of nowhere in the middle of wall Rose is going to look more than a bit suspect" "He's right Rowan," Bryson sighed, "First thing they'll probably do when we arrive is take our names, addresses and other details: they'll want a record of how many people have entered Rose, so as to figure out things like food rationing, accommodation allotment etc; if we just allow Shadow and his cousins to spirit us away into wall Rose in the dead of night, and someone catches us without any permits: it's going to cause more than a bit of trouble" "Like how we all scaled a fifty meter wall?" Miriam stated dryly, "I don't know about you, but it's been decades since I even climbed a tree, never mind try to scale any of the three walls" she regarded her sisters with a weary smile.

"Hang on a sec-" Dale suddenly realized: "If taking money into Trost is gonna be a bad idea, why'd you dig that up?" he pointed to the chest, "Because Carla needs the money more than any of us right now, and stopping off at any of the other of the 'long term deposits' on the way to Trost won't be an option" Pascal stated as he and West picked the chest up and carried it off back to its hiding place inside the nearest root cave: "Grisha's already inside wall Rose, so her permit's more likely to get issued if she's got a spouse or relative with an already pre-existing permit!" West called out from deep in the cave. "Oh yeah that's right" Gale suddenly remembered, "People like doctors, traders, merchants and military personnel are allowed to keep a three-gate permit that allows entrance to all three walls" "Exactly!-" Pascal smiled as he and West jogged back to the group, "And if we play our cards right, we could pass ourselves off as the rest of the 'extended' Jaeger clan, and get in under an all-family permit!"

"Uh..." Carla blinked in surprise: glancing down at the money he'd given her, she couldn't help but sigh: "Listen, thank you Pascal: but-, can we just concentrate on getting to Trost first? The journey ahead of us is going to be dangerous enough as it is: we don't need to be worrying about things like that just yet," she handed him back the money, which he took with a shrug "Eh I guess you're right: but I'm telling you, I could pass for a 'cousin' Pascal three times removed?" he grinned in an attempt to be charming, to which she couldn't help but smile, "Oh no, you're the black sheep of the family" "What about me? Grisha's long-lost nephew?" West smiled, "Nephews and nieces?" Ariana gestured to herself and the rest of the kids, "And me? His mother in law?" Miriam smirked: "Oh god Miriam that'd be too perfect!" Carla burst out laughing, "And what about me? Can I be the 'dotty ol' uncle' who never shuts up about anything?" Claude laughed from where he sat half-way inside Midnight's mouth.

As Midnight lay on her front, her maw was wide open as he leaned right in with his journal and drawing stick in hand, sketching her venom glands while Drake sat next to the titaness on the grass, flicking through one of the other journals with great interest: ", Might be quite fun to pass ourselves off as one big family, right Drake?" Claude concurred: "Yep!" the boy nodded: "Will you get out of Midnight's mouth already?!" Bryson snapped nervously, "Just the sight of you in there is giving me the cringes!" "Oh stop your worrying! I'm nearly done anyway!" Claude waved off as he continued to sketch, leaning on Midnight's lower lip and incisors as he remained seated on her hand. "So? You've got venom glands?" Rowan regarded in favorite titaness with a skeptical look, "When the hell did that happen?"

: Don't know: she spelt out with her one free hand, frowning down at him in annoyance, : Give me a break, I only just found out! :

"I wouldn't worry Rowan, she's not the only one" Bryson replied, "Shadow just found out he can create some sort of crystal from out of his hands" he thumbed over to the titan, as he reclined on his side; sitting upright as he realized he was now the center of attention, he watched as Ariana ran up and jumped onto his folded knee, desperately scrambling to climb up onto his leg; giving her a push with his finger, she stood up and gawked: "You got a new power?! Show me!" she beamed in excitement. Glancing down at his hands, Shadow shook his head in helplessness,: I'm sorry, but I don't know how I did it? : He spelt out with one hand. Realizing he really didn't know, Ariana sighed in disappointment; "Well? I'm sure you'll figure it out big guy, you usually do" she smiled up at him, patting him on the hand reassuringly. Shadow frowned down at his hands, racking his brain for any inkling as to how he did it. "A titan with venom that can cripple regular titans, and a titan that can create crystals from outta his hands?" Pascal raised an eyebrow, "Geez, and I thought you guys couldn't get any weirder..." he glanced up at Boar and Angel, "And I suppose you two have got some fancy tricks hidden up your proverbial sleeves?" he asked dryly, to which the both shrugged and shook their heads.

"A venom that can cripple a titan?" Breck studied the bright green venom, as he held the stone it was contained in: "What the Scouts wouldn't give to get their hands on something like this" he thought aloud, "Still, if it can induce necrosis within a titan, I don't even want to think what this could do to a human" he swallowed hard, being careful not to drop the stone. "Speaking of which..." Bryson knitted his brows together as he gazed up into the giant trees. Without warning he flew up on his ODM gear into the canopy, perching himself high enough where he could see over the northern rise, just beyond the grove. There, right where it had fallen, the dead titan was still steaming away, completely turned black and still largely intact; "Remarkable" he blinked in surprise. "Bryson?! What's wrong?!" he heard his brother shout up from the ground: "Nothing!" Bryson called back as he flew down to the campfire and landed where he'd taken off: "-It's the titan Midnight bit, it's still there; I had to check to see if it was still evaporating, and it is" "What?" Claude poked his head out from Midnight's mouth, "It's still evaporating?!" "Normally, a titan of that size: the bones should be just about gone by now, but instead; the soft tissues are all completely black and are still in one piece: it's hardly evaporated at all" he explained, "Huh, Drake, make a note: we'll look into that some other time" Claude turned to the boy, who picked up a spare drawing stick from Claude's pack, and scribbled the note into the spare journal he had in his lap.

"Speaking of titans" Ash thought aloud in a serious tone, "Even if we evade them under the cover of darkness, what're we gonna do when we reach the plains? Our ODM gear will be useless out in the open, and once we run out of arrows that'll be it, we won't have anything to blind them with" the other kids glanced at one another in alarm as Bryson approached and told him frankly: "I'm sorry Ash, but you and everyone else will have to leave you're gears behind: once we're out on the plains they'll slow you down, plus if you run out of gas you'll be in serious trouble;" Hang on, what about me?!" Ariana jumped off Shadow's knee and ran over to the former Scout, "You've been training me to know how to fight these things! I can take one easily!" she stated boldly, "With what? You don't have any pairing blades, and my last pair got broken yesterday" Bryson pointed out grimly, "Besides, a whole gang of kids plus two former thieves walking into Trost wearing ODM gear? That's not going to go unnoticed" "Not if we hide the gears somewhere before entering Trost" Ariana suggested, "Besides, we got four magical titans to cover our asses! I'm pretty sure between me, you and them we can take any regular titan that comes our way!"

"Bold and tenacious as always" Bryson smiled wearily, before letting his smile drop in all seriousness: "...We'll think about it, we've got until tonight to get a plan together; until then, I want you all to help out with the prep-work as best you can" he told Ariana and the other kids. "Listen, there's a lot of that stuff Midnight's got stashed away in her tomb: why don't you help us pick out what we'll need and help get everything else in order?" Tyto suggested, "And then after lunch, back to bed and get some shut eye: we got a long night ahead of us and we'll need everyone at their best" Evrard stated.

As everyone semi-dispersed and got back to work, most of the kids split up and went off to wherever someone needed a spare pair of hands. Returning to her giant best friend, Ariana climbed back up into Shadow's hand and flopped down in a mix of annoyance and helplessness: "This sucks" she huffed as she ran her hands over her face, "No ODM gear with titan's around? That's not gonna work, is it?" she gazed up at Shadow, who merely shrugged as he spelt out, : It's not a good position either way, and our powers are not a guarantee we'll be able to get all of you to Trost safely:

Ariana gazed up into the sky through the canopy, as the idea of losing someone else began to tie knots in her stomach; trying not to think about it, she sat upright, and gazing up into Shadow's dazzling blue eyes, she couldn't help but think aloud: "...You know, as horrible and fucked up as this situation is? (Or, any fucked up situation for that matter) I'm glad you're able to be honest with me; I think, at this point, being promised everything will be okay when in fact it's not, would feel just as bad as loosing someone" Smiling in appreciation of her maturity, Shadow spelt out : Thank you. We'd all like to reach Trost together, but the way things are? Unless something happens that'll enable us to gain an edge over the titans? I'm afraid we have to be realistic:

Flopping back down in his palm, Ariana stared up at the blue sky, as she contemplated the possibility of maybe not making it to Trost alive; it was a horrible feeling, but after everything she saw yesterday, how much worse could it possibly get? At least if she was on her ODM gear, she could distract the titans long enough to allow everyone else to get away, maybe even trip them up with her cables if it ever came to that. But there was just no way to know, what was going to happen.

"I don't like this any more than you do you know?" Herne sighed ruefully as he curled up by the fire like a dog in his master's hearth: "Even if we do make it to Trost without losing anyone, there's always the possibility that the gate might have already been closed" "And sneaking them into wall Rose is going to present a whole load of problems: and not just for the obvious reasons" Hecate threw in as Claude finally got out of her mouth, and she could sit up again: though not before Ash Rowan and Dale decided to check out her venomous incisors for themselves, climbing up onto her shoulder's and lifting up her lip to get a look; annoyed, she jolted her shoulder, making them fall forward and caught them in her cupped hands. "I don't intend to let any of them down" Javorin stated confidently: "Despite the odds we have to at least try" "Oh I know that, if any one god has the determination for a suicide mission like this, it is the Overseer of Mankind" Hecate smirked, before turning serious: "...Listen, given that 'needs must' under these circumstances: you don't think it might be a good idea to introduce them to the more 'advanced magics' in our 'divine arsenals?' you know? The one's we swore we wouldn't reveal unless absolutely necessary?"

"I was afraid you'd say that..." Javorin sighed wearily as he gazed over at her: "Okay. What did you have in mind?" "Nothing too big or too fancy," Hecate idly thought aloud, "Something along the lines of the Umbra-Via? As a goddess of the night that wouldn't be too hard for me to pull off, and since I know Trost's location I could get us there virtually in less than several minutes" she smirked.

"The shadow-path?" Herne blinked in surprise, as did Javorin, "...Huh...That might actually work" he nodded as he thought about it. "What's the 'shadow path'?" Elysia asked offhand, "Okay, you know Hecate's one of the Night Roamers, and as such, one of her main powers is the manipulation of shadows and darkness?" Herne explained, "Yeah?" the avian titan raised an eyebrow, wondering where this was going: "Well, part of being able to manipulate darkness includes the Umbra-Via, a spell to open a portal through the darkness, that can transport you from location to another, in hardly any time at all" he smiled; "The speed of darkness is twice as fast as the speed of light, ergo, we Night Roamers are able to travel vast distances, sometimes from dusk to dawn: literally from one side of a hemisphere to another in one night if need be; the whole dark side of the planet is our domain" Hecate smiled smugly: "Whoa, you can really do that?!" Elysia gazed at her wide-eyed: "Anything and anyone who can manipulate shadows can brat: we night gods invented it, and some managed to acquire that particular trick for themselves... Though, it's not to be attempted lightly; unless you know what you're doing, and know exactly where you want to go, you could be trapped in the shadow realm with no way out" the black and white titan-goddess warned.

"I've heard of the shadow realm" Elysia remembered: "Isn't that like, the border between the mortal and the spirit realms? Where the two kinda meld into one another?"

"Not quite, you're thinking of the astral plane" Javorin corrected, "You're correct in as much it is where the two realms meet, and humans and spirits are separated by the thin veil of life and death; both can cross over into either realm, and safely travel back again under the right circumstances...The shadow realm however, is a much darker and foreboding place: nothing but absolute pitch black, and filled with the souls of those who lost their way in life now eternally wandering the darkness, trying to reclaim what they no longer possess"

"What they no longer possess?" Elysia gulped nervously. "Life" Hecate clarified, "They do whatever they can to try and possess a body, any body, regardless of whether their still alive and are already imbued with a soul; anything to try and be alive again, even if it's for a few short seconds. That's why we Night Roamers roam the night, it's not just our job to banish demons and consume creatures derived of evil magics; part of our divine duty means ensuring the living are able to sleep without the threat of being possessed by those who dwell in the darkness" "And, we'd be traveling through that same darkness? With all those dead human souls haunting it?!" Elysia exclaimed in a mild panic, "Like I said" Hecate drolled dryly, "Unless you know what you're doing you could be trapped: and having done this a billion times over, I'd say I know a thing or two about traversing the shadow realm safely. So quit worrying about it okay? I got this" the goddess waved off nonchalantly.

As she continued to laze about in Shadow's palm, Ariana saw something on the side of one of the giant tree's that made her sit up and take notice: standing up as she inspected it more carefully, a smile crossed her lips as she finally recognized what it was: "Chicken of the wood!" she beamed, "-My favorite!". Snapping back to reality, Shadow glanced up above him: and sure enough, hugging the side of the giant tree he was sitting under, beneath a large branch was a large bracket of chicken of the wood; freshly sprouted too, as the shelves were still rather small. "Oh I'm putting that in the stew!" Ariana smiled as she climbed down out of Shadow's palm: "-Hold on big guy I'll be right back!" Ariana smiled as she ran over to where her family and the other grown-ups had placed their packs and bags; "Where's my knife?" Ariana huffed as she rummaged through the different packs: digging deep into her father's bag, she felt a familiar piece of large rolled up leather. Pulling it out, she saw it was the Semitam: unrolling it just to make sure it wasn't something else, she gazed upon the intricate pattern and smiled in relief; at least her father had the sense to want to save it. Placing it down flat on the ground behind her, she continued to rummage through the packs for her hunting knife, even checking her uncles and cousins to make sure one of them didn't pick it up by mistake. Finally, having had no luck, she gazed down at her father's hunting knife: even in her hands it was quite large for her to hold, but it was a good blade that had served her family well for countless generations, and she knew her father wouldn't mind her using it to collect some good fungi.

Running back over to Shadow, Ariana hopped back into his waiting hand, and he lifted her up over his head so she was standing alongside the fungi, "Thanks Shadow" she smiled. As she held the knife in one hand, she was about to cut into the underside of the bracket when her foot missed the side of his palm and she fell; in one quick move Shadow dropped both hands and caught her gently, but the knife slipped from her grasp and fell onto his leg, penetrating all the way into his flesh right up to the hilt. Ariana gasped in horror, looking back up at Shadow in abject shock: "Oh my god! Shadow I'm so sorry!-" she panicked as she jumped out of his hands and down onto his leg, inspecting the blade and seeing how far it had gone in: "Oh hell! I'm so so sorry! I don't mean to drop it!" she glanced up at him, : It's okay, really, it doesn't even hurt: he assured her. Indeed the blade being embedded in his thick hide wasn't painful per se, more like a sharp irritation: more of a nuisance than an injury; hearing Ariana's panicked voice, Tyto was at Shadow's side in no time. "Ariana? What's wrong darling?" he asked worryingly.

"Dad! I accidentally stabbed Shadow with your knife!" she panicked, pointing to the blade: blinking in confusion, Tyto looked at the blade and saw it embedded deep in the titan's flesh. Shadow shook his head with an exasperated sigh, and spelt out, : I'm fine, really, it'll heal the second its pulled out. Just go ahead and remove it, it won't hurt me I promise: he gazed down at her reassuringly. Ariana hesitated a moment, before swallowing hard: "Well? Okay, just try not to flinch and throw me off alright?" she kneeled down, and grasping the handle tightly in both hands, began to pull hard: straining her back and shoulders, she pulled with everything she had, but the knife wouldn't budge, "Do you want me to try sweetheart?" Tyto asked as he climbed up onto Shadow's leg. Looking more closely at the wound, Ariana saw the flesh around the blade had already healed, essentially sealing the knife into the titan's leg: "It's no good, his skin has already healed, the knife's now stuck" Ariana huffed as she stood back up. "Oh dear," Tyto sighed as he grabbed the knife in both hands, "You might brace yourself Shadow, this could hurt a little" he warned as he started to pull hard. As he fought against the flesh, the tissue started to rip and bleed, causing Shadow to wince in discomfort, but he didn't dare let his leg jerk, least Ariana and her father might end up getting injured from being thrown into the roots of the giant tree. Finally, as Tyto gave it one last almighty pull, the knife suddenly slipped out of the titan's leg, and Shadow yelped in pain: however, forcing the knife out while still pulling hard caused Tyto to fall over backwards, practically doing a back flip, "Dad!" Ariana tried to grab him but missed; Shadow caught him no problem, but he lost his grip on the blade and the knife went flying up into the air, arching high over the encampment. "CAREFUL! FLYING KNIFE!" Ariana called out as she watched the knife sail through the air, landing next to the packs and bags while everyone else ducked down. "Ah, well at least it's out Thanks Shadow" Tyto sighed with relief as he climbed down out of Shadow's hand and stood up, "Oh hell! It didn't hit anyone did it?" he worried, "Nah, it landed by the bags" Ariana pointed to said bags and packs. "Oh good, go and clean it off then" he told her.

Ariana climbed down and ran over to where she saw it land, but as she approached the bags, she saw there was a strange glow coming from behind them: as she approached closer, she spotted the knife sitting in the middle of the Semitam, and something that made her gasp in amazement. The symbol on the blade, covered in Shadow's eerie glowing blue blood was glowing pure white, as was the Semitam's intricate design: every symbol and pattern all glowing white, radiating up into the canopy like pure starlight and moonlight. "DAD! SHADOW! GET OVER HERE!" Ariana shouted frantically. Hearing her near-panicked voice, everyone looked up and paused as they too saw the white beams of light radiating upwards, lighting up the underside of the canopy. In no time at all they were all crowded around the Semitam, and completely taken aback as the sight before them. "What the hell?!-" Bryson exclaimed, "What's this?!" Miriam gawked, "Shadow, What is this?!" Ariana snapped her head up at the titan, who was equally as surprised as everyone else, "What's going on?!"

"Please tell me that isn't what I think it is!" Hecate gawked at the blade in utter surprise: "It is!" Herne beamed, "It really is!" "What! What is it?!" Elysia demanded. Raising one hand, Shadow spelt out, : It's the key to the Semitam: he smiled, "WHAT?!" Pascal, Bryson, Gustav and Breck shouted in unison, "What?! How's that possible?!" Evrard gawked: "But-, I don't understand" Tyto glanced over at Freya, who was equally at a loss what to think: "This is the key?! Are you sure?" he glanced up at Shadow. The titan kneeled down, and gently as possible, gripped the glowing blade between his finger and thumb: looking it carefully over, he blinked in surprise, handing Tyto the blade, he spelt out, : It's the symbol, and our blood: a wave of astonishment swept through the humans as they glanced down at the knife, : They are the key to opening the Semitam:

Hecate was at a loss what to think as she was suddenly haunted by her own words:

If the Semitam was left for us why wasn't the key included as well?

"...They did leave us the key... It was waiting for us right here, this whole time..." Shadow breathed in astonishment, his voice full of a newfound surety: through his divine power he glimpsed back into the past, and finally saw how the long line of chance and serendipity finally pieced together. At last, it all made sense: his first encounter with Ariana, being led to the cellar of the Black Stallion and overhearing that meeting, Tyto and his extended family being able to read and decipher the hand of the ancients; none of it had been an accident. And now, the final piece of the puzzle had availed itself: was this the reason why he and these humans were meant to be together? Was this the ancient one's doing? Was this part of their great scheme of things? Either way, this was not coincidence: and Hecate knew it. "Remember what I said earlier? I take it all back" she admitted flatly: "Unbelievable" Herne couldn't help but smile: "The kay was the blade this whole time?"

"-Oh sweet Sina I don't believe it!" Claude gasped as he suddenly realized, "-The symbol on your knife is the key! This is the map your grandfather told you about! This is the map to the hidden land!" he beamed, grinning from ear to ear like an idiot, "WHAT?!" everyone stared at the scientist like he'd lost his mind, even the titans were taken aback by his claim: "What do you mean 'this is the map to the hidden land?'" Eraman gawked. "Remember that story you told us five years ago? About how your grandfather and his fellow Celts stumbled upon a hidden land deep within the forests of Maria: the one where the 'city of humanity's lost memories' lays hidden in the heart of a mountain? This is the map to that vary place! What else could it be?! You were told the symbol on your knife was part of the map to find it, well, here it is! The Semitam and your grandfather's map, THEY'RE THE SAME THING!" he bounced up and down ecstatically: "-Oh good lord! Why didn't I see it before?! This is incredible! This is unbelievable this is-" "-WAIT!" Bryson clamped a hand on Claude's shoulder, instantly making him stop and shut up, "...You said, our blood" he gazed up at Shadow, his head still spinning with amazement: "Does that mean, the key only works if all four of you place a drop of your blood on the symbol?"

Glancing at one another in realization, the other three titans immediately offered Tyto their hands (and wing): one by one Tyto nervously sliced into their finger's (Angel's wing), drawing their glowing blood and making sure it trickled onto the symbol: "Uh, you're sure that's a map that's gonna pop outta that drawing? Right?" Pascal fretted, "Only one way to find out!" Claude practically bounced on his heels as he watched Tyto hold the blade, the symbol now glowing brighter than ever as all four blood samples seem to meld into the light. "Oh this is exciting!" Lucile grinned like a schoolgirl. "Shadow, what's going to happen?" Ariana asked worryingly, : I think we'll be alright: he spelt out. "YOU THINK?!" Pascal gawked, but before he had a chance to say anything else, Tyto kneeled down and stared at the Semitam dumbly, "Uh? What do I do now?" he nervously glanced up at Shadow, : just draw the symbol on the blade into the center of the pattern: the titan assured him. Trying to keep his hand steady, Tyto carefully drew the symbol as instructed, and the second the blade left the leather, the whole design exploded in a blaze of blinding white light. More intense than the sun, it lit up the entire forest forcing everyone to cover their eyes and stagger backwards, nearly tripping over their packs and bumping into the titans and each other.

With a few seconds, the intense burst of light died down, and everyone unshielded their eyes to see a spectacular sight. The entire pattern had somehow come alive: the symbols floated up off the leather and danced around in the air like snowflakes and autumn leaves: glowing blue, violet, gold and white as they circled above the leather. "...Holy shit..." West breathed in amazement, unable to take his eyes off the incredible phenomenon "That's some genuinely weird magic shit right there" Pascal concurred. "Whoa, that's pretty!" Drake gasped, "Yeah, you said it kid" Rowan nodded in equal astonishment. "What's going on?" Breck breathed as he watched the symbols twist and turn through the air, falling back down onto the leather into a completely different configuration. When the design was completely in place, the glowing died down until the hide was back to normal: Tyto looked at his knife in time to see the symbol lose its glow to, until it too was back to normal and the titan's blood was completely gone. Gazing down at the map, everyone gasped in amazement. "No way!" Belle grinned, "Is that, the map?" Ash stared down at it dumbfounded: "Looks like it to me" Ariana smiled as her father gently stroked his hand over the new-unveiled map.

The image was completely different now: instead of a circular pattern of interlocking symbols and rune-symbols, now, the image depicted a detailed illustration of the heart of the south-eastern Marian forest. In its center there was a land surrounded on all sides by mountains, except for the very far south-east where wall Maria ran alongside it. Situated in the center was a vast lake with a large island in the middle: on its south side there was a queen seated on her thrown with a two fish either side of her and on the northern side of the island was a great tree reaching skywards and shadowing the island, with another queen seated upon the center-most branch, reaching for a star with one hand. To the east there was the biggest of the mountains, with a king seated upon his throne looking towards the island with a raised fist; between his feet there was a tiny door which was connected to a path, that led to an image of the inside of the mountain, and there, surrounded by what looked like giant crystals, was a city vast and tall with a great white tree overshadowing it, and in the middle of the tree a white queen stood with a long staff and outstretched hand, as if guarding over the city itself. While all around the edges of the map was a complex pattern of rune-symbols and other illustrations, including one of a green mountain, and what looked like a set of standing stones each arranged in a circle and bound together through more of the patterning. Tyto stared at the illustration in a mix of amazement and shock: it was more or less as his father and grandfather described it, almost down to the last detail; all at once he was suddenly overcome by emotion as tears welled up in his eyes and he just about managed to stop himself from chocking out a sob.

Glancing up at his wife, Evrard, Falken and Eraman, he could see they were thinking the exact same thing as they helped him back up onto his feet: "Freya, my brothers-" he nearly sobbed, pointing to the map, "-I know darling, I know!" Freya smiled as she rubbed his hand, "It's-...It's just as my grandfather said it was" he tried to regain his composure, "I-, can't believe this!"

"Neither can I," Gustav sighed in dismay as he mopped the sweat from his brow, "Holy shit, that symbol really was part of a map: the map!" "All this time and the key was right under our noses?!" Derek gasped as he ran his fingers through his hair, "This is-, that was incredible!" Mabel gazed down at the map, as did Lawrence as he stared up at the titans in astonishment. "Did you really do that?" he gawked up at Shadow, : No :, Shadow smiled, :Tyto did, and he's just performed the first magic cast by a human for over an age: "Whoa seriously?!" West gawked, "So, does that mean he's a wizard or something?!" : No, it just means he unlocked the Semitam, nothing more: Shadow clarified. "...Whoa..." Bren couldn't help but smile "You weren't kidding when you said it was possible for anyone to bring magic to life!" "So? Where is this 'hidden land' exactly? Only, I can't see any roads or paths leading to it" Miriam gazed down at the map.

"Wherever it is, it's in the south-east and right alongside wall Maria!" Gale pointed to the wall on the map, "It's practically within reach!" "Yeah, but how much within reach?" Lucy thought aloud as she studied the illustration. Picking up the map and reading over the text carefully, Tyto nearly let out a gasp in shock: after managing to suppress his excitement, he explained: "According to this map, the path-, the 'starting point' where we pick up the trail, is about six miles south of where we are now"

"Whoa seriously?!" West blinked in surprise, "And how far from there?"

"It doesn't mention specific mileage, it just say's to go to the first stone circle and the trail will be unveiled through the door stone" Tyto knitted his brows together as he studied the map more closely, unsure whether he translated it correctly or not. "The stone circle?" Ariana remembered, before suddenly realizing: "Wait a sec, there're more than one?!" "Apparently?" her father shrugged. "So? This 'hidden land' is about a day's journey from here?" Breck surmised, "Probably even less than that if I'm reading this correctly" Tyto replied. "An entirely new stretch of land completely unknown within the walls of Maria!" Claude grinned giddily with excitement, "-Oh we simply must go there! If the journey is less than a day's travel we can easily-

"-Wait! Hang on a minute! ..." Miriam interrupted: Claude paused in his elation, and everyone gazed at the former landlady as she pointed out: "I thought the plan was for us to go to wall Rose, remember?"

The excitement and astonishment amid the group defeated fast, as everyone snapped back to reality: "Look..." Miriam sighed: knowing she couldn't lie about being equally amazed by this revelation, offered:"I want to go and see it as much as all of you, I really do; but right now we've only got what we could pack in a hurry and we've only got enough food to last us three days: let's get to wall Rose, settle in and find somewhere to live first, and when we're ready we'll properly plan an expedition and take off over the wall to go find it: sound good?". The kids and Claude glanced at one another, and sighed in reluctance: "...Yeah I guess you're right Auntie" Belle admitted reluctantly. "It makes sense," Tyto nodded, "The longer we spend out here the more likely we are to being attacked. Let's get to wall Rose and get ourselves sorted out first, and then we can go looking for the Hidden Land" : That's a good idea: Shadow spelt out; glancing up at the fifteen meter titan, Ariana suddenly noticed how his gaze was full of sadness, : But I am very sad to say, we will have to part ways once we reach wall Rose:

"WHAT?!-" Ariana exclaimed in shock, "What'd you mean 'part ways'?! What're you talking about Shadow?!" she demanded. Everyone gazed up at Shadow in astonishment as he, Midnight and Boar each exchanged regretful looks; Elysia was starting to get worried as she suddenly realized where this was going, before Shadow elaborated, : We'll help you get to wall Rose safely and help you find a place to settle down; but after that we must go to find the Hidden Land. The map and its key was left for us for a reason, our being here was meant to serve a purpose; and whatever that purpose is, part of the mystery is waiting for us in the Hidden land: he paused a moment as he gazed down at Ariana, his heart weighing heaving inside his rib-cage as he watched her eyes fill with tears...

Seeing that look in her eyes, and in the eyes of all the other children, he knew what was coming next; then, an idea suddenly occurred to him, : ... Of course, you can join us on our journey if you wish? We would be very glad to have you all with us. But I'm afraid I don't know what we'll find, nor can I promise it will be good; either way, you are my family and I would feel terrible leaving you all behind: he spelt out. Touched by his words, many of the humans couldn't help but smile: "You really mean it Shadow? We can come with you?" Ariana smiled as she wiped her tears away. : Yes, but the choice must be unanimous. If some of you are not comfortable joining us that's okay, we'll take you to Trost and make sure you're safe; but we have to do this. We have to know why we are here, and we've waited too long for a chance like this; it may never come again for all we know? :

A pause hung in the air for a moment, before Ash tentatively asked: "...Will we ever see you guys again?" Shadow hesitated before spelling out, : I don't know Ash; I like to think we can come back, but I don't know what's waiting for us there. Or even, if our journey might take us far out beyond the walls? :

"...After everything we've been through, after what we survived yesterday: I'm not leaving you Shadow" Ariana stated flatly: her tone making it clear to her parents the issue wasn't up for debate, and they knew it (much to her mother's annoyance). "I agree. After everything we've done and endured together these past five years I don't intent to chicken out now" Fox stated, "Neither do I" Shyla stated impassively; "I confess I have to agree. After all the research, experimenting and translation work we've done, how can we just 'postpone' it all now? Right when we've just been shown the way to what might be the greatest discovery in all of human history?" Derek threw in. "And more importantly, if the city of 'humanity's lost memories' is real? This could be what mankind has been waiting for! The way to rediscover all that was lost to the titans a hundred years ago; maybe even shed light on the origin of the titans themselves?" Claude pointed out. "As much as I agree with Miriam, as a former Scout I have to concur with you on this Claude" Bryson admitted: "If there's even the slightest chance the city of 'humanity's lost memories' might hold a clue some kind as to how the titans came into existence? I have to make sure of it myself" "...Our great-grandfather spoke of this place," Rowan frowned as he pointed to the map "He and the other Celts went there, saw it with their own eyes, and he said one day our people would return; maybe that day is today, maybe this is why Shadow and his cousins are here?" "Well? Come hell or high water I'm with you too" Claude stated as he glanced up at the titan's confidently, "An opportunity for adventure and discovery doesn't come along very often, and I won't miss it for anything".

"I feel I have to agree with Rowan: all this time we were brought up to believe Tyto's blade was the piece of a map pointing to the Hidden Land, and sure enough it is (albeit not quite in the way we were expecting). And the fact that the titan's markings made up said map, and their blood was the power needed to 'awaken' the key's magic? I'm sorry, but all that just seems way too coincidental to simply be brushed off as a random fluke" Falken thought aloud, "Crazy as it sounds I agree with you Falken" Bryson sighed, "If I hadn't just seen it with my own eyes I don't think I'd have believed it" he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I think we can all agree with you on that one" Miriam sighed reluctantly: "Okay, I'll admit you all make a good point, but we still ain't in any position to suddenly change course and just take off to somewhere we don't know about: hell for all we know the titans might have already found the place and swarmed it; just getting there alone is going to be dangerous. And I ain't prepared to put my life on the line unless I know the pay-off is gonna be worth the risk"

"What do you think Rose'? Lucile?" Gustav glanced over at his other two sisters, who were all a little overwhelmed: "I think it sounds like it could be exciting!" Lucile grinned. "Oh, I don't know? This is a big first for me" Rosemary admitted sheepishly: "I agree there could be much to learn from seeing if this city is real, and indeed of it really does contain all of humanity's lost memories: but like Miriam rightly pointed out, we just don't know what to expect?". "Actually, if it's the regular titan's you're worried about the most, we may not necessarily be in danger when we get there" Dale pointed to the map: "See that island? We could use that for a base camp: even if the regular titans have already swarmed the place, they can't swim, so we'd be perfectly protected there; and besides, between us and our bows and arrows and Shadow's ability to grow an entire orchard of food, plus plenty of water from the lake, we won't have to worry about going hungry"

"True, but if these guys don't know what's there how can we be sure we'll be any better or worse off?" Pascal thumbed over to Shadow, "Sorry for being the party-wrecker, but it sounds like it could be too much of a risk for us" "Listen..." Tyto grabbed everyone's attention: "We can debate this back and forth all day, but in the end it'll just be moot: there's only one person here that can decide whether we go with the titans or not, and that's Carla"

"Me?" the raven-haired woman blinked in surprise: "Think about it, none of us here have anyone waiting for us in Trost... No one, who will be relieved to see us at least..." he glanced sympathetically over at Bemadette, Lucy and Lucius, each of whom didn't hesitate nor show any regret in their choices: "Except you: Grisha is waiting for you in wall Rose, and I've no doubt that with every hour that passes he must be thinking the worst case scenario" "But-" Carla hesitated, "My choice shouldn't have to dictate your choice! Shadow, Midnight, Boar and Angel are all practically family to us, I couldn't bear to leave them either!" she glanced up at Angel worryingly, before thinking back to her husband: "-But I-...You're right Tyto, I can't leave Grisha worrying himself to death over me" she sighed ruefully.

As the cogs turned in his head, Bryson suddenly got an idea: "Carla? How about this" she listened as he explained: "We go with Shadow and his cousins to the Hidden Land, and set up a base camp on the island like Dale suggested," he gazed up at Shadow: "We let you guys go off to do-, whatever it is you need to do there, and if whatever happens the demands of your journey mean you'll have to leave the walls, and it might be too dangerous for us to tag along? Then that's when we'll turn back and go to wall Rose; we'll make the journey and scale the wall, before letting you embark on the rest of your quest. Does that sound okay to you?"

Shadow, Midnight and Boar glanced at one another skeptically for a moment, and before unanimously nodding in agreement, : It's fine with us; what about you Carla?: Shadow asked. Carla stared off into space as she contemplated the idea, before agreeing: "Okay: but we can't be gone too long: how long would you consider to be 'too long' do you think?" "I'd have thought over a week?" West threw in offhand: "Five day's at the most?" Pascal suggested. "Yeah but we don't know how long its gonna take for them to find-, whatever it is they need to find" Poppy pointed out, "What about two weeks? If anyone asks how we survived for so long we can always say we hid from the titans during the day and only traveled at night?" "I don't know if that'll fly with the Garrison or not, but it's the best 'explanation' we'll be able to offer if we reach wall Rose" Bryson thought aloud dubiously. "Or how about, instead of trying the scale the wall we wait for the Scouts to 'discover' us? We can remain here until their next expedition comes along, and when the opportunity's right we approach them and tell them we simply weren't able to evacuate with everyone else in time, and that we've been hiding from the titans in a cave somewhere?" Poppy suggested. "Cute trick but that's only gonna raise questions with the Scouts" Pascal pointed out flatly, "And while we can easily hunt some game out here to keep us going: hunting while having to keep an eye out for regular titans isn't a safe proposition" Eraman stated. "Not to mention the fact those root caves are most uncomfortable to sleep in" Lucile threw in.

While everyone continued to debate the subject: Carla glanced up at Angel and saw she wasn't happy about this; like a toddler about to throw a tantrum, she sourly glared down at the grass, really wishing this wasn't so. Carla could give a good guess as to what it was on her mind, and what she wanted to do about it. Discreetly slipping away from everyone, she caught the avian titan's attention, and gestured for her to follow her behind one of the giant trees for a privet chat. Leaning right down with one wing unfurled, Angel listened as Carla sighed in frustration: "Listen, I think I can guess what you're thinking, and believe me when I tell you, I don't like this anymore than you do" she stated in a hushed voice. Angel nodded in agreement as she continued: "You and Grisha? You're both my family, and I love you more than you can imagine..." she hesitated as she tried to think straight, feeling the dove pendant beneath her blouse: "...I've already lost Eren and Mikasa; I don't want to have to lose another member of my family"

: Whatever it is that's waiting for Shadow and the others in the Hidden Land? I don't care about that, I care about you! You're my family too Carla and I have no intention of leaving you: Angel spelt out with a wave of her wing. Thinking back on the last five years, and everything that happened yesterday, Carla couldn't help but think aloud: "But, what about Shadow, Midnight and Boar? They won't want you to leave: and I don't want you to stay with me, not when they need you more" she stated, much to Angel's shock, "Listen to me Angel," Carla clarified before she had a chance to protest: "I love you very much, these last five years have been incredible, and nothing is ever going to change that: but Shadow, Midnight and Boar? They're your family too; they're going to need you for what lies ahead, and I know you'll be able to have their backs and look out for them"

Angel paused a long moment, before a look of sadness flickered in her pale ice blue eyes, : They won't need me: she spelt out sombrely, : I'm not brave or smart or wise. I don't have anything of any real value to offer, whatever this 'quest' is, I won't be able to do much except get in the way: "Hey, That's not true!" Carla firmly stated in a motherly tone, grabbing the bird titan's attention by surprise: "-You are every bit as valued as the next person here: and don't you dare put yourself down! Not after what's happened! You took on a titan all by yourself and killed it, you healed me right when I was on the brink of death: and because of you I've learnt so much these past five years; about the titans, about the world in which I live, and what it means to have one of the best friends anyone could ever ask for..." she paused as she felt her heart sink, "...What happened to Eren and Mikasa-... that wasn't your fault okay?" she swallowed hard, "Don't ever tell yourself they died because of you; the situation was what it was, and there was nothing either of us could have done..." she took a deep shaky breath; forcing those words out was so hard, having to face the reality was like trying to push a mountain to one side. But as much it was daunting and painful, she knew it was a truth she'd have to accept, bitterly if need be: "...I-,...I have to come to terms with that, and I, know, I did what I could at the time, with only what I had..." she gazed back up at the worried Angel; mentally trying like crazy to keep her train of thought straight as the grief threatened to resurface again: "...I guess? What I'm trying to say is: please don't put me before your own family, before your duty; if there really is a reason for you, Shadow, Midnight and Boar being here? Then you must seek out the truth, even if it means we must say good bye; for all we know it could mean something important, point the way to something important. All I know is, after everything we've been through together, everything that's happened; nothing has been a coincidence. And even if I'm not the reason you're meant to be here? I'm still so thankful for the time we've had together, and I know you are too" she smiled softly.

With a heavy shaky sigh, Angel let her tears roll down her cheeks as she tried to mentally bargain her way out of this: to hell with fate, providence and the secret workings of the Ancient ones, why shouldn't she be able to choose what she wanted to do with her life? If the choice really was her's to make, then why couldn't it be spent with the one person she had truly come to care about? Even if Carla was mortal and her time upon this world would be brief, it would still be a life well spent. Javorin, Hecate and Herne? They cared about their humans too, so what could possibly be so important that they'd leave them to go off to find this 'Hidden Land'? What could be worth abandoning them, and maybe never seeing them again? Families are supposed to stick together; they're never supposed to leave anyone behind. Elysia didn't understand their reasoning for it, none of it: if families are supposed to stay as one then why this? It made no sense to her: all she cared about was Carla; and she wasn't going to abandon her, not after everything she'd been through.

Wiping her tears away, Angel replied impassively, : If you want to be with Grisha I'll take you to him. I'll turn back into a dove and I'll watch over you both wherever you go; I won't abandon you. Shadow, Midnight and Boar will be fine without me; they know how to take care of themselves. But you're my family, and I'm taking care of you now okay? :

Carla couldn't help but sigh as she knew she wouldn't be able to talk her out of it, and at the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder if this was really the right choice she was making? If she'd thought this through well enough; knowing Angel? Probably not, but then no one is perfect, not even magical weather-summoning bird titans. Folding her arms, Carla gazed up at the bird titan and nodded: "...Okay... But are you sure this is what you want? If there's a chance you might never see Shadow Midnight or Boar again, are you going to be okay with that decision?" she asked in all seriousness. Angel didn't hesitate to nod in reply; she was sure this was the right thing to do: with a deep sigh, Carla then got back to the subject at hand: "... Alright, but we still need to decide how long we're going to stay in the Hidden land. What do you think?"

Angel thought about it a moment, and smiled, : Ten days? That should plenty of time to find our 'mystery answer', right? : "Ten days?" Carla nodded as she thought about it, "Okay then, ten day's it is then" she gestured for her to follow her as she rejoined the families and friend. Some of the group were still deep in discussion about what to do, while the rest noticed her absence and had waited for her to return. "Ah, I take you two have agreed on something?" Gustav raised an eyebrow. "You could say that," Carla addressed the group: "How about ten days? Ten days for us to camp out on the island and let the titans 'do their thing' (whatever it is), at the end of which we'll turn back and head for wall Rose. Does that sound okay with everyone?"

"Sounds good to me!" Ariana smiled from where she was perched up on Shadow's shoulder: "Sounds like ample to time to properly explore the place, I concur!" Claude nodded in approval; "Ten days isn't too long or too short? I'm good" Pascal shrugged, "I'm fine with it" Tyto smiled, "brothers? What do you think?" "I'm alright with it" Evrard nodded, "Me too" Falken added, "I'm good" Eraman threw in. "Looks like we're set for an extended camping trip" Miriam sighed; "We're still traveling at night right?" she glanced up at Shadow. "Yeah, but if the first leg of our journey is only six miles from here, then we don't have to worry about walking an all-nighter, right?" Clay thought aloud. "We'll stick to our original plan: get some shut eye this afternoon and this evening, and then leave the grove during the early hours before dawn; that way we can be at the stone circle by the time the sun comes up and we should reach the island later that day, depending on how far we have to walk"

"Sweet! So we leave first thing in the morning?" Jaye smiled, "First thing in the morning" Tyto nodded with a pleaded grin, "But we still have to get the provisions in order before then: so come on kids, back to work" With a renewed sense of excitement and adventure, the kids and grown-up's got back to work with a kick in their step, especially Claude and Bryson as a feeling of fervour began to well up inside them. "You're really okay with this Carla?" Mable asked offhand, placing a concerning hand on her shoulder, "As much I'm excited to go see the Hidden land, I'm worried for you as well: are you sure Grisha can wait that long?" Freya worried; Carla thought about it a moment, before forcing a weak smile: "As much I miss him and I want to be with him again: at least he's safe behind the wall, that's all that matters to me right now. Besides, I know we'll see each other again, no matter how long it takes"

As the women continued to talk and help out the others, Elysia breathed a sigh of relief, feeling safe in the knowledge that she and Carla won't be parting ways: she allowed a small smile to tug at the corner of her mouth, before she felt a familiar gaze at her back.

"You know? I can't remember how many times I must've come to that same conclusion" Javorin spoke as he approached her, kneeling down to let Ariana off his shoulder and place her back down on the ground: before standing back up and gazing down at her with a frank yet understanding look: "Figuring that, if indeed I really have the power to shape my own destiny, that the choices I make are supposed to mine regardless of everything and everyone else, right?" Knowing he'd been telepathically eavesdropping (what was the point of trying to be secretive around him anyway?), Elysia huffed as she ruffled her feathers in frustration, refusing to meet his gaze: "Are you going to try and talk me out of staying behind wall Rose with her?" she cut straight to the point. "No, it's your choice and I'm not going to take it away from you; neither is Hecate or Herne"

Elysia turned and stared at him, slightly taken aback: "Their not? But I thought you guys would be mad at me for leaving you" "Mad? No, upset? After five years together I thought maybe we were doing pretty well?" Javorin thought aloud, "Yeah well, unlike you guys I know my priorities: families are supposed to stick together, they don't break up for anything, right?" she shot him a look.

"...Ah..." Javorin realized: "So that's what this is about..." he gestured for her to follow him behind one of the giant trees: once out of sight of the humans, he folded his arms, and spoke in a more frank tone: "...Listen Elysia: I'm not going to lecture you on whether your decision to stay with Carla is good or bad: all-father knows I've been in this exact same position many times before, and every time I was certain my choice was the right one too. sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn't: one thing I've learnt is that it's not necessarily about making a choice that carries no regrets at all, but rather, making the choice you'll come to regret the least. And in your case, that still remains to be seen"

"What do you mean?" she frowned.

"Elysia: I know you care for Carla, we all do, and you feel you must be there for her, now more than ever; your heart, your dedication and loyalty is unquestionable: and if you were human I've no doubt that is where your life will be; with her as part of her family. But you are a goddess, one of many who choose to remain upon this world to oversee its care and protection: your duty is not just to Carla, but to the whole world, and the question of whether you can become mortal to avoid that responsibility is not an option. You are what you are, just like the rest of us and every living being upon this world. I'm not saying this to dissuade you, I'm merely pointing out that every action triggers a reaction, good or bad: and if this is the choice you are willing to stick by? Then you must be prepared to deal with the consequences if it turns out wrong" he explained.

"You think I care about that?" Elysia frowned, "You think I care about what the Ancient One's want us to do? If they want the world fixed so badly why don't they come down here and do it themselves?! Letting humanity become cruel and uncaring? That's as much on them as it is on whoever created the titans and forced humanity to the brink of extinction!" she fumed. Javorin sighed: "You don't understand: if it were that easy they would never have left to begin with; but the way this world-, this entire universe functions? It's not that simple: and being a god does not come without terms and conditions, you know that" "So what if there're things we're not allowed to do, or can't do? That doesn't mean we don't get a say in everything else?" she exclaimed angrily.

"No, we don't, but just because you can bend the rules to suit your own needs doesn't necessarily mean you should..." Javorin stated as he took a step closer, gazing down at her with an air of authority. "...You know? Back in the early days of civilization, the humans used to believe that we created them in our image, when in fact it was the other way around. Over the millenniums we spent alongside them, there were many things that imbued our powers with different strength and qualities: things like love, generosity, courage and even sorrow; all the different things that made humanity what it was, in turn (to a greater or lesser degree), governed how we existed as gods: right down to our very corporeal forms. It was dynamic, ever-changing, and nothing ever stayed the same for long; it made them so notoriously difficult to anticipate. But over time we learnt the hard way that the only thing predictable about humans was their unpredictability: when knowledge is in reach humans attain it and apply it to their lives in one form or another, and it was always their choices that proved to be the X-factors in the vast unfathomable equation that was their existence...Choice can be a powerful thing Elysia: whole destinies can be shaped by a single moment of decision, and even the lives of those we've never met can be affected drastically by one's choice. That one realization alone holds as much power as the very ocean of creation itself: and it was something we, as gods, had to be careful about. Humans alone could shape an entire era based on their collective choices, but for us gods it was an entirely different story, and one not so different from the humans as the Ancient Ones liked to think..." he turned to gaze out into the forest beyond the edge of the grove: "...I know I'm a hypocrite in saying that, being a god demands that I put aside my own personal feelings and wants aside, and do what is required of my divine duty: when I purposely go out of my way to use my powers to help improve the lives of my human families and friends. Is it selfishness? Some might think it is, is it ethically wrong? Possibly? But at the end of the day it was my choice to do what I did: were there regrets? Sure, here and there, but that's to be expected: and just because you're a god doesn't mean you can't indulge in having human friends, and having a life with them; all that is required of any of us, is that when something happens and we are given signs that point to trouble, we have to be there to heed the call, and to address it accordingly..."

Elysia was quiet for a long moment as she contemplated his pearls of wisdom, before meeting his gaze with an impassive expression: "...So? You're okay with me going to live with Carla?"

Javorin smiled as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Elysia; as your kin, when the time comes for us to part ways I will pray that you and Carla receive all the best luck the Ancient Ones can give. But as one god to another, I ask that if and when trouble arises and we summon you to aid us in our endeavors, please don't ignore us, alright?"

"...Okay" she nodded, "But-, for what it's worth: I've kinda enjoyed our time together; the four of us I mean" "Kinda?" he raised an eyebrow with a sly smirk: "Okay, maybe it's been kinda cool to hang out with the 'top dogs' so to speak" she sheepishly smiled, "The top dogs?" he couldn't help by chuckle, "Well I'm flattered: but don't let Hecate hear that though, or you'll never hear the end of it"

"Eh, I suppose not" Elysia sighed in exasperation, as the thought of the Night Roamer making fun of her over that one played over in her mind. She was about to change the subject, before something suddenly occurred to her: "...Wait-...Seriously, human's shaped us in their image?" she frowned in confusion. Javorin let out a hearty laugh that echoed around the grove, making everyone jump as he led the goddess back into the middle of the grove: "Well? It wasn't quite as simple as you think: give me a hand sorting the provisions out and I'll explain" he chuckled as they rejoined the group.

---

Meanwhile, elsewhere:

"... Ah good you're back, what do your sisters report?"

"It would appear the first of the Semitam's has been unveiled brother"

"About time: who's was it may I ask?"

"Javorin, Hecate, Herne and Elysia's"

"Huh, no doubt they had some help from their little friends: all-father only knows my little brother never quite got the knack for translating cryptic texts: even those laid out in the easiest of formats"

"Easy for you maybe. Not all of us can be the god of the scared word and understand every tongue that ever existed"

"True, but then not all of us can be one of the Night Roamers: able to creep out beyond the confines of the Veil through shadow and darkness to spy on the outside world"

"Touché...So: they'll be on their on their way here presently, and no doubt with their 'little friends' in tow. What should we do?"

"We do exactly as we promised; go inform the others and make the necessary preparations. Oh, and do be sure to mention the others will be joining us in due course; it's going to be getting a bit cramped around here"

"Very well: will you receive them in person or shall I take care of the welcoming party?"

"I trust you to not scare the humans off: it's your sister I'm quite amazed by; off all the Night Roamers I never expected her to warm up to humans"

"Neither did I: but then, so much has changed in the time we have been gone"

"Indeed, and we've got much to make up for...Go now, I'll join you when I can; I've got some things to tie up here"

"Alright, I'll see you later"

---

ADVENTURE TIME! Oh, and in case you were wondering about Drake, don't worry, he'll get adopted out to one of the gang somewhere in the near future: Bemadette and the Cooper twins were the human focus for this chapter, as well as Carla of course; by and large, plot progression chapters like these usually require a lot of chiseling and sanding down. It took nigh-on forever to get the dialogue just right, and even longer to aim for the right tone that would end the chapter on a good note, because goodness only knows the next chapter is going to be a mind-blowing experience for our survivors :) Hope you can all join us next time, as we set off for the Hidden land! :D

Oh, and don't forget to R&R before clicking off, cheers! :)