Creation began on 11-11-18
Creation ended on 11-15-18
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: Revelations
A/N: We get to hear from a Marleyan what might be a grand flaw in Grausam Zanki.
Vega Howl was not someone that served in the Marleyan military's research division simply due to his heightened degree of intellect. He was involved in the study of the Titans simply due to one, disturbing factor that led to his current predicament as a prisoner of war on Paradis: Grausam Zanki, the Akuma Titan, the Titan Doctor that recreated the Titan Serum to enable the retaining of intelligence…had requested him to join the research division. Not only that, but because he was a failed candidate for the Warrior Unit due to a pre-existing health problem that rendered physically frail ever since he was five. He was considered more of a thinker than a doer, capable in the realm of theories and equations than an actual battlefield.
After almost a week in the prison cells of Trost District, he had a lot to reflect upon with the passage of time, and came to the personal conclusion that, as a prisoner of these Eldians, he had nothing left to lose to them…and nothing to gain by withholding information from them.
"When they told me that a Marleyan wanted to talk, I was actually expecting a Marleyan," he looked up and saw the infamous Captain Levi and Commander Erwin of the Survey Corps. "I wasn't expecting to see an Eldian in here."
It was Levi speaking to him, so he responded, "Marleyan on account of being born in Marley. It's a nationality thing. If an Eldian or Marleyan were born on Asian soil, their nationality would most likely be considered Asian, even if their ethnicity is still Eldian or Marleyan."
"We were told you have information regarding Grausam Zanki," went Erwin to him.
"Vega Howl, and, yes, I do have information regarding his behavior," he explained.
"What's your relationship with him?"
"I once worked with him. Well, worked with him is past tense since I'm not on Marley territory or in the presence of my superiors. Excluding Grausam, who renounces his ties to Eldia, I'm the only Eldian that was inducted into this initial invasion fleet. I'm not a fighter. I'm just an egghead."
"An egghead, as in someone gifted intellectually rather than physically?" Levi asked him.
"That's right."
"Not a Titan Shifter, are you?"
"No, sir. Even when I was handed a syringe loaded with the Jaeger Serum to inject myself, I couldn't do it. Even if there was a possibility of it curing my physical frailty, I couldn't risk the possibility that the serum would have…other side-effects beyond what it's shown to do."
"And you're willing to divulge what you know?" Erwin asked him.
"I am…but I have one request: I wish to meet with the two people that were responsible for the invasion fleet's defeat, your…harbingers of hope."
-x-
A Titan, eleven meters in height, stood solemnly as it hid behind a tree in the forest. It resembled a young woman, based off the short, dark hair and soft structure of the head and its slender build. The strangest thing about it was that it was just staring at the base that house Grausam Zanki…but made no effort, whatsoever, to approach the building or attack the Survey Corps or Garrison members present.
"How could we miss one of them for months?" Hange wondered as she and Sasha looked at the Titan.
"I don't know," Sasha, armed with an arrow equipped with a capsule of Dark Titan spinal fluid in case they needed to use it. "It must've hid here ever since the fall of the Colossal when Shinji fell from the sky. In fact, the reason it's keeping its distance from us is 'cause of the Eva."
Except the Eva was on the other side of the base, and it had a challenging time just moving through the forest without devastating the whole forest.
"So, as long as the Eva's present, it's staying put," Hange suspected. "Use the arrow, Sasha."
"Huh?"
"That Titan's still an Eldian deep down, a victim of Marley's hatred. Set them free from this nightmare as a mindless Titan."
"Yes, ma'am."
-x-
"…So, a man that once worked with Marley's Titan research division wants to see Shinji and I?" Kaede questioned Eren, Armin and Mikasa as they made an unexpected announcement at her home.
"That's right," said Armin, sounding uncertain about this.
"Is there something you're not telling me, you three?" Kaede asked, looking back towards the kitchen where her parents were, trying to make sure that her mother didn't hear anything that would cause a scene here.
"The man that wants to speak with you two," went Eren, "once worked with the guy that we all want to see dealt with."
Kaede's left hand balled into a fist as she tried to stay calm; someone that once worked with Grausam was undoubtedly bound to be either just as bad…or just as foolish to have anything to do with the man that would condemn others to misery as he saw fit.
"Why would he want to see me?" She asked as she calmed herself.
"We don't know," Mikasa answered; they clearly didn't know as much as their superiors likely didn't.
"Where and when?"
"The Titan Forest…tomorrow afternoon."
"I'll be there."
-x-
There was some doubt that they'd ever meet in person, but Shinji could care less about meeting Grausam face-to-face as he sat outside of his Entry Plug eating his breakfast. He just wanted to make sure the man would never hurt his girlfriend or anyone else ever again. And if the man continued to stay within his Titan after a full week had passed, then there was a chance Shinji could end the Akuma Titan for good, sparing Kaede the obligation of doing so.
"Uh, we're seeing someone that's supposed to explain to us how this sicko got where he is," he reminded himself of the appointment he and Kaede had to ascertain more information about Grausam this afternoon. Whatever this guy tells us, it had better be helpful, otherwise, we're bound for difficulty later on.
-x-
"…So, even when you were given a syringe with the Jaeger Serum," went Armin to Vega as he, Eren and Mikasa escorted the prisoner to the base in the Titan Forest, "you didn't use it? You just threw it aside?"
"Just because I worked with Grausam Zanki, it didn't mean I trusted his work, even if it was revolutionary. He just saw my value for Marley in their research division. I'm physically frailer than most people due to a soft bone condition. Even if the serum was able to rectify that, I fear the corruption of my soul would be the price I would have to pay."
"You think there's a price to pay from taking this serum that turns Subjects of Ymir into Titans with intelligence?" Eren asked him.
"With a man that hates his own people and gave Marley the means to monopolize their captives with greater efficiency, I fear there's always a price to pay. The tarnishing of the soul, retribution for the rest of your days, self-inflicted injuries to your pride as both an Eldian and a human being…and the corruption you leave yourself exposed to in exchange for power."
"And are these what you wish to talk about to Paradis' harbingers of hope?" Mikasa questioned.
"Yes," he answered, and saw the Eva knelt in front of the base. "God, have mercy upon my soul."
Even though he'd seen it before, to be this close to it, Vega Howl was in awe of the behemoth's majestic aesthetics. It was both fearsome and beautiful to behold. A force unlike anything the Titans were believed to be once upon a time in an age long forgotten.
-x-
"Be careful out there, Kaede," Kaede's mother told her for the umpteenth time in her mind today as she ran across the open terrain in her Dark Titan that used the power of the Jaw Titan.
She knows, she thought in realization that her mother had to have known she was on her way to see this person that worked with Grausam. She knows and is putting on a convincing front that none of this bothers her when it probably does. She shouldn't have to deny her concerns about it when just owning up to it and telling me is better. I'll talk to her when I get back.
She didn't want to put stress on her mother like this; it wasn't good for her or the baby. The less stress she had, the easier things would be for her. The last thing Kaede wanted to do was hurt her mother.
As she reached the Titan Forest, she pondered whether or not Grausam would try to stay in his Titan past the length of time he had in it. If he did, he'd risk absorption, his Titan trying to take back the energy it gave to sustain him, fusing them together, and being reduced to a mindless behemoth in the process. He'd either have to be desperate, foolish, or up to something that they didn't know about…and Kaede was willing to put her pathetic pocket change on the last one right now.
"I barely spoke with him after my mother died and barely had anything to do with him after your mother and I got married, but don't underestimate Grausam, Kaede," Sig had told her one time. "My knowledge of him may be outdated and less-than-beneficial, but if there's one thing he's proven, it's that he's capable of anything…and incapable of remorse. I'm not even sure if he even loved my mother or not, but whatever passed for anything in him that was love or friendship… It's not there, anymore."
He wasn't saying that just because he's his son, she thought, stopping in her Titan and vacating its nape so she could walk the rest of the way to the base on her own, he said it because it's the truth. My own memories of him aren't as clouded, anymore. He said things that only a monster would say; the arrogance, the deprivation, the inhumanity of his very human wickedness. There is no way anyone like Grausam is capable of redemption. He made that clear and simple the instant he desired the power of the Titans to escape from here at the cost of everyone else…and now he wants more than just the power of the Titans. He wants power beyond the Titans, beyond Eldia and Marley…beyond the boundaries of this very world. No power comes as close to what he desires most…than that of a god's. They're almighty, without limit, unquestionable in their authority, undeniable in their decisions…and absolutely infallible in their power. Infallible in their power… He wants to be infallible himself, incapable of failure, of being subject to the same laws we're always subject to…and he won't let anyone stop him.
The door to the base opened and Connie stepped out, looking irritable.
"Kaede, you're here," he gasped, shaking his head. "Everyone else is waiting for you."
"Thank you," she praised him and walked around him to enter the building.
"Be careful around Grausam," he informed her. "He's been giving off a bad vibe all morning."
"A bad vibe, huh? I got it."
-x-
Vega looked up from where he sat and saw the two that defeated the invasion force's Titans more so than the Survey Corps and Garrison had. He was surprised that they were so…young and how one was a survivor from an extermination that began before his grandparents' time. Bowing his head to them, he greeted them kindly.
"It is nice to finally meet the two that were able to rile up Marley more so than anyone else has in years," he greeted.
"This is Vega Howl," Erwin informed Shinji and Kaede. "He worked with Grausam Zanki after a brief period in the Warrior Unit."
"You were a candidate for one of the Titans Marley had?" Shinji asked him.
"Not even close," Vega expressed. "I only did what my mother had asked of me because she wanted to get out of the detainment zone we were living in. It never occurred to her or my father that I was physically incapable of any military duties for Marley. After less than a year in the unit, I was medically evaluated…and then declared unfit because of a pre-existing medical condition that caused my bones to be softer than an infant's."
"A soft bone condition?" Shinji questioned. "You mean, your skeletal system, your entire skeleton, is malleable, bendable to a degree that isn't normal?"
"That's right."
"So, if any of us were to strike you in, say, your chest or break your arms, it wouldn't take much effort to do so, would it?" Levi asked him.
"That's right," he answered, "which is why I refrain from conflict. Grausam saw my usefulness to Marley in the science field rather than the actual battlefield. It was actually he that requested my assistance in the research of his Jaeger Serum variants."
"How closely did you work with him on the serum?" Erwin asked him.
"Closer than any other Eldian might've been if there were other Eldians he handpicked. He had me take notes on each variant to keep his equations accurate, but as I looked them over, again and again, I started questioning myself about the repercussions that could befall anyone that was injected with his variants, how much they'd be changed by the Jaeger Serum on the inside. I asked him about just once, and he told me not to worry, that even the slightest change in the subjects' mentality was an acceptable risk to please our superiors."
"He doesn't sound too concerned to me," Armin stated.
"He wasn't concerned. Half the time, he was muttering something he'd been reading about in his spare time, about how only those of superiority could understand power and how to best wield it. I don't know if this means anything to any of you, but does 'uberlegene leute' means?"
Shinji uttered, "I do, unfortunately. It's German for 'superior people'. You're saying that he was muttering that sometimes?"
"Yes. At first, I thought it was referring to the would-be superiority of the Marleyans, but it wasn't until a year after I started working with Grausam did I realize what he was really going on about. I caught him talking in his sleep once, and he muttered that there's no such thing as a superior race of people. They couldn't be found; they had to be unleashed from the people that already exist today to obtain an untold power that was all around us. I thought he was buying into these fairy tales that Marley had over the centuries, but they weren't fantasies to him. At least, not in the way he was thinking about them. He believes there's a power that exists around us, but can only be seized by a person superior to those around them. Anyone with the Jaeger Serum, original, refined or modified, would become somewhat superior because they could become Titans and retain their intelligence and memories, but to him, it wasn't enough…and then I saw what he was doing one day with some samples of his revised serum. It's common knowledge that when you inject a person with a Titan Serum, one injection is all that's needed, but Grausam… He injects himself with his serum every once in a while, as though his initial injection was insufficient. He must become superior to everyone around him, even if that means taking risks that aren't safe to himself. That's when I started to suspect this stemmed from his initial injection he took while he was here on Paradis."
"What do you mean by that?" Kaede asked him. "We all know the injection made him a Titan Shifter and he's already uneasy to be around. I mean, what, did it make a little stronger than usual?"
"Yes, but I'm referring to how his serum affected him up here (Vega points to his own forehead) and anyone else that was injected. I looked over the notes and serum variants…and discovered something he might not even consider a problem."
"Which is?" Levi asked.
"The Jaeger Serum's only actual flaw when turning a person into a Titan Shifter…is within the person themselves. The positive and negative mental qualities of a person are affected to a degree more severe than someone injected with the original Titan Serum. In short, it amplifies, augments, or unleashes everything that's already present within the person it's used on. All it depends is on the personality of the subject. It's their very personality that defines what type of Titan they become in the end."
"I was his first subject to be injected with his original serum," Kaede revealed to him. "I feel the same, just more capable of helping people."
"That would make sense regarding yourself, ma'am," Vega expressed. "A good person injected with his serum can become a great person…"
"And a bad person injected with his serum simply becomes worse than ever," Shinji uttered in realization. "So Grausam was already bad news before he turned himself into a Titan Shifter…and has been getting progressively worse over five years."
"Wait a minute," Hange spoke up, "you said that he'd been injecting himself with more of his serum variants, even though he didn't need to?"
"That's right. Every once in a while, I'd see him stick himself in his wrists with the syringes."
"Did he ever give you any indication that this was something he was going to keep doing?"
Vega nodded that it did seem like Grausam would keep injecting himself.
"He wants power beyond the Titans, but he's become seduced by the power he has as a Titan," Hange realized. "If he does this so much, he's become an addict to his own achievement."
"What's an addict?" Eren and Mikasa questioned, confused.
"Someone that likes doing something to the point where they can't stop doing it," Kaede answered, "except that's often seen as drug addiction."
"If we viewed the serums that turn people into Titans as drugs, then it counts as the same thing for Grausam," suggested Sasha, "and he can't stop. But…he's been in our custody ever since we caught him; he hasn't had an injection of his serum for over five days."
"And if he's truly an addict to his own serum, then he's gonna want more soon, and real soon," Eren added, "and he might not have the patience to wait for any."
"Unless he found a way to bring some with him to Paradis," Armin suggested a theory. "Eren, Kaede, when you two were in your Titans, was it ever hot in them?"
"Actually, for me, it's only hot coming out of mine," Kaede revealed. "Beyond that, it's like I'm in a warm room."
"Yeah," Eren added his personal experiences from whenever he was in his Titan, "it was the same with me, as well."
"And as you transformed, you never felt like you were burning up?"
"Nope, it was more of a breeze, really."
"It felt more like hurricane for me."
It was pretty interesting for Kaede and Eren to describe their feelings within their Titans, how it seemed subtle for the girl and not-so-subtle for the boy, most likely due to their personalities; Kaede Sogen being a sensitive girl that had to wall herself off from the world out of fear of what she had become before coming to terms with it and gaining control and acceptance of it…while Eren Yeager was more harsh and brutal in his acceptance of the power he once had after discovering he had it.
"Then, do you suppose it's possible to take things you could use later on while within a Titan body?" Armin suggested.
"Like vials of Titan Serum or even explosives," went Erwin.
"Carrying an explosive with him in his Titan would seem a bit extreme, even for this Grausam," said Shinji; this was only because he didn't think the lunatic would keep an explosive on him while inside a Titan, unless he was intending to commit a murder-suicide, which seemed impossible.
"The Dark Titan," Vega spoke, getting Kaede's attention. "You might be the only person Grausam will truly regret bestowing Titan power to."
"And what makes you say that?" She asked him.
"Because he should be afraid of what he did to you in order to benefit himself. All of Marley should be afraid of you and what you can do. I'm afraid of you, but I'm humble in my honesty. You and the purple behemoth put the fear of God in me, made my life flash before my eyes. If Grausam Zanki is the Devil incarnate, then that must make you his opposing enemy in this strange equation. This must make you God, and the only one that he fears most."
"I'm many things right now, but God isn't one of them. I'm not even qualified to be considered a god, let alone God. I can't…do what people believe God is capable of doing if God wanted to. I can't end this war between two nations with a mere thought or the snap of my fingers, turn lead into water or end the suffering of others. I'm just…well…many things that exclude what you think."
"You shouldn't sell yourself short. I heard you stepped on Grausam once here and fought him in Liberio over a month ago. And, just from looking at you, you don't look like you live in the world of conflict like most of everyone else does, yet you assist them, all the same."
"I wouldn't be much help to my people if I stood back and did nothing to help them."
"The only thing he'd ever say about you after realizing you were still alive was how you caught him off his guard that night you were in Liberio, how you made him feel vulnerable and everything. I think he hated you more for trying to kill him than he does for still breathing."
"And what do you think of her, Mr. Howl?" Shinji asked him.
"I think…her gray hair makes her stand out just as much as you stand out because you're Asian, sir."
"Thank you."
Kaede then turned to leave because she wanted to make sure Grausam hadn't tried to escape from his confinement, but turned back to face Vega; of the Eldians she had seen and conversed with through the power of the Founding Titan, he wasn't one of them, so she had to wonder if he had truly become humbled after his brush with her Titan and Shinji's Eva…or if he was up to something else.
"When you said Grausam should be afraid of me, did you mean that?" She asked him in front of everyone.
"I did," he responded.
"Why?"
"Because that man, who grasped a taste of power years ago…thinks himself superior to those around him. He's someone that has power only few could dream of possessing…and has no respect for both it or the people around him. He'd do anything to avoid feeling powerless again…but you, someone that has never known power, even when it's bestowed upon you in a way that's unforgivable, you understand its true value, its true worth to yourself and those around you, people you protect. Only someone that truly knows compassion would understand such."
The power of wanting to protect others must come through compassion, she thought, sighing. "Power is only a drug in and of itself when desired for the wrong or selfish reasons…but is a means to an end when used for selfless or nobler reasons."
Then she left the room they were using.
"I better go make sure we're still in control," Shinji expressed as he left the room later.
-x-
It was much too quiet to Grausam's liking right now. Even in the vat of water, the silence was most taxing for him. The negative effects of his Titan were starting to manifest themselves as it became a bit hard for him to move his upper body. He didn't have much of a plan for this degree of incarceration, but he prided himself on being adaptable; all he had to do was play his cards right and he'd be able to find his way out of any situation he was in.
Suddenly, the lid to the vat was moved to allow his Titan head some space as he looked up and saw someone looking down at him. It was none other than his step-granddaughter, who seemed just as irritable as he was right now.
"Oh, how you must think it's amazing to see me like this," he uttered, though his voice sounded raspier than the last time he spoke; it was though he were sick with a sore throat or the flu. "Damn."
"You must be starting to feel the effects of the absorption process," she responded, sitting down on the platform. "Your Titan has been trying to sustain you and now is trying harder by taking back the energy it gave you to keep you alive longer. Unless you vacate that body, you'll fuse with it and most likely become like the mindless Titans that once roamed the land outside the Walls: Dumb savages."
"And what makes you think I'm feeling the negatives of my power? I could be faking this, for all you know, and you wouldn't know until it was too late to do anything about it."
"Vega Howl."
"What?"
"Does the name ring any bells to you?"
"No."
"Are you feeling like you need a little something to get you up right now, maybe another injection of your precious Jaeger Serum, perhaps?"
"I don't know what you're talking about?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought that you'd be in the mood for something that had more of a boost to your preferences or standards or something. You know, I'm sure if we had some orange juice around, you'd feel a little re-invigorated and ready to take on the world."
Unbeknownst to Grausam, Eren, Armin, Mikasa, Levi and the members of the Garrison were surrounding the vat where he couldn't see them, listening to the conversation.
"Is she trying to bait him into saying or doing something?" Eren asked Armin.
"It sounds like she is," he responded, "but it doesn't sound like he's buying it."
"But if she were able to get him out of his Titan, it would make him more manageable to restrain," said a male member of the Garrison to them.
"I'm well aware that you're nothing more than a power-hungry egomaniac with a god complex," Kaede told Grausam. "You think yourself better than everyone around you when you're just sick. So sick that you have no idea just how sick you are."
"I'm sick?"
"Yes, you're sick. What you have…is something I can't even fathom just yet, but the knowledge everyone here has restored to them, it helps to comprehend your symptoms. As much as I should be pained to say this to you, and I don't, really, you, Grausam Zanki…are an addict."
"What did you just call me, girl?!" They heard Grausam's raised voice; he had clearly been enraged by Kaede calling him out on this truth.
Levi, for the time in a long time, actually cracked a smile for Kaede; it seemed clear that Grausam had absolutely no idea (or refused to admit it, even to himself) that he had a problem regarding his status as a Titan Shifter.
"Maybe I've said enough and should leave you to your own solitude," Kaede told him as she got up from the platform. "I really should learn to keep my mouth shut in front of who I know to be the enemy…and when you exclude a nation of people that hate us for past atrocities we had no knowledge of, which means you're the only enemy I see here."
"Girl, you better pray that I don't come after you," Grausam yelled at her, "'cause if I do, I will kill all that you hold dear, all that you love. I'll kill your friends, your parents and everyone else! Do you hear me? I'll kill them all!"
She imagined him making good on his threat to harm her friends and family, but Kaede kept her personal feelings in check and walked away towards a rope and climbed down to the ground.
"It doesn't matter what you do!" He continued to yell. "I'm the one thing you can't ever stop! I will haunt you for the rest of your life, and there is nothing you can do about it!"
"My parents frighten me more than you ever could right now," she retorted lightly. "All you're able to do is talk nonsense and make empty threats. And you're called the Akuma Titan? You're not really much of a threat to anyone here right now. I really need to get home right now before it gets dark. A girl's gotta eat, you know."
"I'll kill you. I'll kill you, Kaede. You can't escape from me. Heh-heh-heh! You can't escape from me."
Setting her feet on the ground, the girl walked around the vat and saw the Survey Corps and Garrison members hanging and gave a hand gesture with her right hand to indicate that her step-grandfather was a nutter as she sighed.
-x-
"…Better safe than sorry," went Eren as he, Mikasa and Armin rode on their horses to the orphanage village to inform Historia of the possibility that Grausam was still a potential threat to her life if he got loose.
Even if the chances of him ever coming to the village were slim, the fact that they didn't know what else he was capable of was what currently made him all the more dangerous.
As they reached the village, Mikasa noticed how several of the orphans were outside in the evening and Ymir was among the few adults present trying to keep them calm and in control.
"Hey!" Eren shouted to get their attention. "What's going on here?!"
Ymir looked their way and responded, "It's Historia! She just collapsed on the ground and started shaking! Over here!"
They got off their horses and saw Historia on the ground beside Ymir as she tried to hold her down.
"Aaaurgh! Uurgh! Aah!" She groaned, drenched in sweat.
"Historia!" Armin gasped, taking out his canister of water for her.
But before he could administer it to her, her left arm grabbed Eren by his collar and pulled him down to her face.
"Historia, what is wrong?" He asked her.
"He will break out tonight," she uttered, her voice sounding like several other people, men and women, all at once, were speaking through her. "He will break out into the night!"
"What are you talking about?" Ymir asked her, afraid for her.
"He, the man that abandoned his people to the wrath of the outsiders, whose very heart rots with betrayal, will shatter his bonds and grasp his freedom at the cost of his captors!" She revealed, cryptic. "He will shed innocent blood onto the soils…and make way for the hammer of war! You must stop him before he escapes!"
Then she passed out.
"Quickly, get her inside!" Eren yelled.
-x-
Kaede returned to her apartment and sat on the sofa.
"Aah," she sighed, trying to relax.
"Need a drink?" She looked up and saw Sig, walking down the hallway and with a mug.
"Yes, please," she answered him, and he walked over to the kitchen and picked up another mug and poured a dark beverage from a metal kettle on the stove.
"You know, you don't have to lie to me, but your mother and I know you've been speaking to Grausam at that base he's being held at until he can be dealt with," Sig told her.
"I don't want Mother to worry because she's in a delicate state right now," she explained.
"Your mother's a lot stronger than she seems. Just be honest about something: How messed up is he from what he did back all those years ago?"
"He's very messed up. We just learned today that he's addicted to that serum he used to turn the both of us into Titan Shifters, only he might've injected himself with more of it after he got to Marley."
"He's a drug addict?"
"Yes, but to his own serum…and he wouldn't admit it when I called him out on it. Also…as much as I want to believe it's just an empty threat, he threatened to escape from custody and hurt a lot of people."
Gasp! Sig went, getting Kaede's attention.
"What is it?" She asked him.
"An hour ago," he responded, concerned, "your mother started talking in her sleep about something like that. She said, 'He will break out tonight. He who embraces the status of a grand demon will devastate the innocent. The cries of sorrow will be heard and the hammer of war will be swung at dawn at our borders'. I don't know if she was just dreaming or if she saw something she was trying to send a message out to me about, but I think it's something you need to be concerned about."
"I think you're right (then she drank her beverage, revealed to be hot chocolate). I should head back to where Grausam's being detained. If he's planning on escaping, I need to help make sure he can't hurt anyone he gets near."
"Be careful. Whatever Grausam's got planned, it's not worth you getting killed over."
"Nothing he does is worth anyone getting killed over."
"You sound like your father when you say that."
"I do? And what else would he say at a time like this?"
"That the Military Police were a disgrace, the Garrison represented a position of haven while the Survey Corps represented going out into the unknown, and that his one guilty pleasure was thinking about you growing up to see a future where you'd no longer have to live behind the Walls."
"Tell me, how much like my father am I?"
"Besides the unique hair color and excluding the fact of you being a girl, you and Hagan are like…the only two in the world that could see life worth living."
"Thank you, Sig."
Kaede then left out the apartment. Whatever happened tonight, she would have to do her part to protect the people from the consequences of her step-grandfather's self-loathing hatred towards them.
Daddy, I don't know if you're watching me right now, but I hope you're looking after Mother where you are, she thought, running out of the building and onto the sidewalk. Just keep her safe from harm.
To be continued…
A/N: The scene where I had Historia warn them of what will happen came from the warning Professor Trelawney gave Harry from the film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I figured that, even though she's not entirely involved in the serious matters right now regarding the power of the Titans, she still have some connection to the Titans that would, even if it was only once, allow her to warn her allies. Then, having Kaede's stepfather inform Kaede of her mother's unconscious warning of the same thing, would indicate some measure of a possible connection between her and the two women, either through the Dark Titan or the Founding Titan. Also, just a possibility, but how many of you think Eren might be a little tempted by the Jaeger Serum and regaining the power of the Titans through that means?