Commander Maggath's decree put life in motion. The hustle and bustle of an upcoming mission gave Elsie purpose in the morning, a familiar sense of worth and use filling her bones. Within seven days she planned to be sailing across the sea and marching through the Walls by the evening. A crew to be assembled, a device to be completed, and a doctor to call. Elsie's to-do list grew with every step out of the Lakau training building.
"Are you put off, Elisabeth? You've been awfully quiet," Willy tried to fill the silence once they were in the car. She pressed herself against the window, watching the buildings blur into a grey blob, not seeing and only imagining what her week held in store for her.
"No, the opposite actually," She said when the silence became a notification that she'd been spoken to. Her glazed eyes focused on him across the seat. "I can't wait to visit Hizaru."
"I will immediately prepare a list of trustworthy captains that can safely take you across the ocean. Your choice of crew, of course, and seeing as you hit it off with the soldiers, I can't imagine you'll have a hard time of people offering."
"Would it be possible to take Priestess Catharina as well?" The name left her mouth before Elsie realized what she was asking. She frowned as well as Willy, both pausing to correctly hear the name.
"Catharina? I'm sorry, I thought you two didn't get along," He cocked his head to the side, perturbed and upset. His fingers dug into the knee of his slacks. "No, that is not the best idea. A Priestess is best on land in her church."
"Yes, I don't know why I asked," Elsie rubbed her eyebrow. "Perhaps I'm a little nervous to go alone."
Willy chuckled and relaxed, "The first trip I was fifteen and sent with only my father's guards. They laughed at me when I made a fool of myself in front of the Head Chief to some uncivilized clan- Yes, I think I'll tell you that story when you come back." Elsie's pale face ended his short-lived reminisce.
Sleep eluded Elsie like Commander Maggath. He became a ghost when it came time to talk about her crew. She appeared, weathered, tired, beaten by the months and year in this forsaken world, and he lacked the decency to appear for their meeting.
Nonetheless, a pissed woman accomplishes many things. Elsie wiggled her way into the training camp and greeted the soldiers like old friends. They clapped her back and eagerly showed her around, especially a blocked-off hallway where a new bathroom was being added. Although it had been blocked and buckets for catching broken fragments of wall were laid out, Elsie couldn't imagine it would be accomplished in a worthy amount of time.
She left an hour later with fifteen men agreeing to join her crew.
Fuck Maggath.
"It's two in the morning, Lady Seer."
The voice held an all-knowing attitude. Sif knows best and the fact that Sif chose to stay so late in the evening made Elsie realize that the servant might be a tad concerned for her. She looked away from the ODM gear and quirked an eyebrow, a stray piece of hair covering her tired eye.
"Yes and?" Two in the morning meant three hours until the sun rose. Once the sun kissed the sky and bathed the world in light and Holiness - whatever - that was when Elsie could finally shut her eyes.
At least for an hour or so before duty called.
"You look like a character from a horror play," Sif clarified, stepping further into Elsie's lit workshop. With over a dozen candles lit there wouldn't be a way to tell that it was dark outside. The heat from the flames did make Elsie feel woozy and sweaty, however. "You're covered in grease and have crazy eyes. I'll pour you a glass of wine if you'll lay down."
"You're starting to sound concerned again," The ODM gear gleamed in the candlelight, a wink of promise before she covered it with a cloth. Elsie pushed it further back along the wall and faced Sif, grinning. "I'll take the wine, don't get me wrong."
"Will you sit? You look like a walking skeleton," Sif gestured to the rickety stool only Mister Thatcher had used. Had it been two weeks since she'd seen the man?
Elsie glanced at the hanging clock, "I can sit for a few. I have to be somewhere in half an hour."
"Where in the world do you go at this hour?" Sif hissed, shaking her head. She disappeared for a few short moments and returned with a bottle of red and a thick scowl on her pretty lips.
"Why are you still awake?" Elsie asked once the bottle was opened. A glass was unnecessary as Elsie was the only one drinking.
Sif watched the Lady Seer drink and said, "I don't think I like you."
"Well then, fuck you too," Elsie said with offense, leaning back in her chair and blinking.
"But for some reason, I don't want to see you turn into a mad drunk, which you have been. You haven't slept in four days, you need to rest."
"Thank you for the concern but I'm handling it. Once I'm out of Marley I should be able to sleep," Elsie rubbed her sunken cheek. Would Freyja follow her to the murky waters? Her only saving grace was believing it true. "I wouldn't exactly call myself a mad drunk, now."
"My Lady," Sif sighed, and it was the tone that made Elsie sink further into the stool. "Please, go to bed."
Elsie stared at this stranger. She trusted no one. She barely spoke to Priestess Catharina and Jonas about things and they had been her mother's confidants. Could she possibly allow herself this one moment of weakness? It would be liberating to tell someone about Freyja. Although Hange is the first person she would call if she could.
Elsie opened her mouth to spill the truth and Sif said, "Let's walk."
Sif confidently walked the manor in the pitch dark. Elsie held the bottle and a candle bra, a small dish that kept the wax from her hand, and considered which room Sif would find fitting to murder her in. It turned out to be the storage room with Florence's portrait.
"I haven't been here in days," Elsie touched the canvas of the portrait. Crates were left half-opened from New Year, letters that she'd searched for Jonas a previous week, all left and forgotten for the dust to collect once more.
"I know," Sif lit the candles along the wall and flicked a switch, allowing for the one light bulb to flicker dimly above. The room had been ignored for so long that it wasn't worthy of a remodeling. "You've been insane working on that machine. We all know it's done and you're too scared to use it," Elsie picked at papers, ignoring Sif's gaze. "Since there's nothing else to do, I'll help you go through your mother's things. It's time to clean it out."
Eighteen years later and yes, it was time to clean it out. A reopened wound hurt as badly as a fresh one, and Elsie still mourned the death of her mother. In Andere, her real world, she'd believed Florence had run off and made another family. It was the best lie she'd believed.
Elsie and Sif silently parted in the room. Florence watched amusedly from her portrait as the women pulled crates from dark corners and tossed useless letters into the trash. Near dawn the papers were gone, crates stacked, and boxes of clothes remained with Florence's few journals. Sif handed the last of the Lady Seer's belongings to Elsie and yawned, rubbing her face and declaring she was heading to bed.
Florence's crate sat on the edge of the bed while Elsie prepared to sleep. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, braided her hair and met her dark expression in the mirror. Elsie exhaled and clenched the sink, murmuring, "It's not real, it's not real."
Sleep was necessary. She needed to listen to Sif, especially if the servant was worried enough to say something. Elsie rubbed the back of her sore neck and sat beside the crate, pushing aside the fabric of scarves and gloves, and one thin gown to reveal a Chesnut box. Her heart skipped a beat, her hands shaking with cold sweat. She glanced at the window to see the sun nearly rising, and she found herself yawning. Perhaps today she would sleep more than two hours. The hair rose on her arms when she placed the chestnut box in her lap, opening it to reveal it as a jewelry holder.
Waiting for more light, Elsie sifted through the rings and necklaces her mother once wore. Diamond earrings, hoops, pearl rings, chokers with large opals in the middle. She realized there was a small nook to lift the top level and gasped when she saw the necklace hidden beneath. Goosebumps broke across her skin, the tingling sensation becoming overwhelming. Her breath hitched as she stared at the dainty gold chain holding an iridescent stone.
"Iceburst," Elsie breathed. The rare stone that only Paradis grew, a stone from titan skin, and something that reacted to her in the way Zeke's spinal fluid did.
It was Freyja. A part of her, at least, and a part of Freyja belonged to Elsie. She timidly stroked the stone, a shock running up her finger, a cold sense of ownership hitting her in the heart. She should be scared over this reaction but instead, she lifted the necklace and clasped it around her neck, letting the stone fall perfectly at her clavicle. Her chest burned as if doused in ice-cold water, energy shooting through her that she hadn't felt since she'd last slept eight hours.
Elsie placed the box on her dresser and tidied her mother's clothes in her wardrobe. She crawled into her humongous bed, glanced at her right side, before curling into a tight ball. She tried to relax but the reaction to the Iceburst still ran rampant in her blood and the bed felt so cold and long.
She'd never fallen asleep so fast.
Elsie covered her ears as a loud bang echoed in her room. Heavy footsteps thudded across the floorboards, gaining proximity to curled Elsie, and when she sensed the intruder near her side of the bed, she had no choice but to open her thick eyes.
"Lady Seer," Willy greeted without his usual warmth, pinched expression. "What exactly did you say to the soldiers in Lakua?"
She yawned and sat up, satin sheets falling from her frail shoulders, "Only nice things."
"A riot broke out this morning," Her eyebrows rose in her hairline, gasping in shock. "The soldiers seem to believe they deserve a more humanatiaran treatment."
"Is that so bad?" She asked.
Willy frowned, "Yes! Soldiers are- Oh, nevermind. Dress yourself and hurry to the dining room. Commander Maggath and General Gross are on their way."
"Joy," She muttered, rubbing her forehead. Willy's heels clicked annoying out of the room, leaving the door wide open for Elsie to angrily shut so she could dress.
She wore a comforting red gown that reminded her of carriage rides and being told she was the farthest thing from a Lady. Her heels thundered against the steps on her way to doom. Surely Willy had said that the Commander and General were on their way but their voices shrilled through the white mansion. She was the last to enter the dining hall.
"Just what the hell are you playing at?" Commander Maggath bellowed, thumping his meaty fist on the fine table. Willy hurriedly held his cup as the furniture shook. "What the fuck did you tell my men?"
"Absolutely nothing to incite such a reaction," Elsie promptly replied, not the least bit intimidated by the elder. She's seen worse, she reminded herself. She'd faced Erwin alone, dealt with Levi punching her in the middle of the night, and witnessed Hange salivate over a titan. "Did you finish the bathroom you promised them?"
"You know damn well this has nothing to do with the bathroom! What a load of shit!" He rounded the table to seemingly grab Elsie.
She walked the opposite way, swiping a goblet to hold out to a servant standing along the opposite wall. Just where was Sif?
"It's a compliment that you think I could cause such a disruption among your people but I assure you, Commander," She used his title as an insult, drawling the 'r' and clicking the toes of her heels together to meet him in the eye. "The riot has nothing to do with me."
The brute opened his mouth to debate, to hackle, to prove that he was the smartest of the smart. Yet nothing escaped. His lips parted and his tongue rolled only for his lips to clamp tightly shut. He nodded his head as if against his will.
"Yes, well, if you say that you did nothing then I can't fight you on that," He grumbled, scratching his chin and appearing as confused as the others at his easy submitting.
Her eyebrow rose in question and Elsie turned to meet Willy's puzzled gaze. Major Gross hastily stood, roaring, "We know damn well that you promised them something, Elisabeth! For God's sake, Maggath, pull your head together."
Elsie flinched, her knuckles turning white against the gold goblet. White fury burned her veins. She saw red, her heart thumping against her chest. Willy started, "You may be upset but you still have to address her by title-"
"For God's sake?" She laughed, holding her palm out to still Willy. He glanced between Major Gross and the Lady Seer, not knowing which one was more intimidating. "God doesn't exist. You pray to Freyja, you swear to Freyja, not this God. No wonder the soldiers refuse to follow you weak-minded leaders."
"E-Enough!" Willy became the last to stand in the tense dining room. "That is quite enough from all three of you! I thought we were civilized individuals yet here we are bickering like children. To get us back on track," He tried to become bigger than the attitudes in the room. His shoulders hunched at the venomous glares and Elsie thought he was no one she would want leading her nation. "The riot in Lakua is over the radical difference between opinions on spreading Marley borders. Half of the men believe that Marley is one of the top nations and should take all we can while the others don't want a senseless war. We need to rally the troops- Lady Seer! Wait, where are you going?"
Elsie flicked her hand over her shoulder, wine in tote as she strode out of the dining room, "I have more important matters to handle. Send a servant when you get your dicks out of your ass."
"I heard you put Commander Maggath in place,"
Elsie opened one eye. Her obscure patch of soft grass had been disturbed by Sif. The very person that for a second was all Elsie wanted to see. Now she was a pesky fly blocking the sun.
"Yes, I did," Elsie held out her goblet. "Refill, please."
The slosh of thick, red wine made her smile while Sif asked, "How did you do it? That man is a mountain of stubbornness and self-pride."
"Can I tell you a secret?" Perhaps it was the wine (only her third glass) or the loneliness that made Elsie want to talk. "I don't know. I simply said I didn't do it and he believed me."
Her pointer finger raised to tenderly rub the side of her mother's Iceburst necklace. Freyja's aura constantly hovered Elsie, a cloud of power that she could feel the mist of but couldn't quite figure out how to touch. It sunk around her skin, almost as if she was caught on a hot humid day near the beach. Was this the secret to Florence's gift?
"That's boring," Sif picked at her black dress. "Lord Tybur requested you in the sitting room."
"He must think a change of scenery will calm things down," Elsie prepared herself for the Commander's yelling and Willy's disappointed stare. None of it mattered. She was leaving in a couple weeks. This would all be a faint memory in the past once she was enveloped in Levi's arms again. "Oh."
She sat back down. Levi. When was the last time she thought about him? Truly thought of how he smelled, the way his fingers curled around her forearm in the night, of how he never smiled, and when he did she thought the world caught on fire.
"What?" Sif cocked her head. "Are you too drunk to walk?"
"No, I just miss someone terribly bad. It makes my heart stop beating and my legs go numb like I can't function anymore," Elsie admitted in a moment of honesty.
The servant who's followed Elsie for months met her in the eyes. Perhaps for the first time, there was no malice or annoyance and pity. Sif looked at Elsie like any other woman on the street and nodded. Her nod gave much - she understood what she was saying, that she knew it was tough.
"They feel the same way," Sif consoled in a second of comradery. She didn't completely despise Elsie. And just like that, the kindness left her eyes and she scoffed, looking through the thin treeline to stare at Tybur Manor. "Although I'm not sure. You're a tough pill to swallow."
The backhanded compliment reminded Elsie of Levi. His calloused fingers dragging along her chin to pluck at her lips and say how well they kissed for someone who only said shit. The memory came and she frowned, wiping at her chin and shaking her shoulders.
"Let's get this over with."
Elsie pushed herself up and with dread heavy in her feet, she headed towards the white manor. Sif was a welcomed shadow that followed Elsie through the foyer and back into the dining room. In the early afternoon light, Major Gross smoked half a cigar near the window while Commander Maggath stroked his growing mustache near Willy's chair. The Ambassador stood with his back to the door, turning when he heard the clack of Elsie's heels.
"Lady Seer, it seems that we have come to the conclusion that only a gathering can bring harmony within the army," Willy said, voice tired as if he'd talked the nation off the edge of suicide. "A celebration of like-mindedness, if you will."
Sounds like a disaster, "Of course, drinks and music always brighten those troubled with murder." Elsie said. She stayed in the doorway, refusing to grab the bottle of wine that was twinkling in her peripheral.
"I liked it better when you said nothing," Commander Maggath grumbled. "What happened to the little girl who sat and nodded like a dog?"
"She adapted," Elsie pinched her palm and focused on the sun glinting in his greying hair. "But very well. You've decided to have a party, so let's do it. When will it be?"
"We need a week for preparations, ordering food and cutlery, and we've decided to host it in the main street of Liberio to allow the soldiers a time away from the barracks," Willy grinned without light and met Major Gross' furrowed eyebrows. "Should be enough to soothe them before telling them we will be beginning our war with the Mid-East by autumn."
"Then what is the point of me visiting Hikaru?" Elsie asked.
Major Gross snorted, "To give the barbarians a chance to see reason."
Elsie said nothing else. Her willpower gave out, spluttering to a smokey end, and she walked to where the bottle of wine waited for her fingers.
"Have you packed for your trip yet?" Priestess Catharina placed a warm cup of tea before Elsie.
She turned the handle and said, "Bit by bit. Sif is a great help."
"You shouldn't depend so much on her," The Priestess sat in the rickety chair across from Elsie, smoothing her lilac dress before grabbing a biscuit from the tray Jonas supplied. Her husband promptly disappeared into the backroom once Elsie arrived.
"I don't. If anything the girl follows me like a lap dog,"
"Don't speak of her like that. She cares greatly for you," Priestess Catharina rubbed a slim eyebrow. "Although she has been talking nonstop about the unity celebration."
"What a farce," Elsie would rather drown herself before joining the celebration. It would confirm her support to Willy's plan and she felt anything but comfort over the upcoming war. What was the point of sending Elsie to the Mid-East when this entire time they've been planning to bomb them? "Don't tell me that you're going."
"The other priestesses wish to bless the soldiers. A few have family in the military, it would seem cruel to deny them of it. Jonas will be joining us. It seems you're the only one insistent on staying home."
"I leave the next day and you've been telling me to quit drinking so might as well start," Elsie made a point sipping her dark tea.
Priestess Catharina growled and angrily munched on a piece of cheddar, "Perhaps it's best you take a trip from Liberio."
"Aw, won't you miss me, Cat?" Elsie teased.
The elder's eyebrows nearly met her hairline in surprise at the nickname and said, "I will miss you terribly so."
The day before Elsie's solo expedition Willy pulled her aside. She'd spent the morning shining her finished ODM gear and adjusting it around her tight black pants until the metal felt snug against her skin. Clothes had been tailored to her picking, ones that left Sif speechless and Elsie grinning maniacally in the mirror. She'd chosen to wear her new skinny jeans and dark green blouse, long strands of hair curled by Sif resting at her hips. Elsie never felt so twenty-first century until this day.
"Everything's been prepared, the ship stocked with food and weapons, your soldiers stationed in the guest house, all is well. You should take a night off and come to the unity celebration," Willy presented the idea with flaring hand gestures and a wide smile. He'd slicked his hair back and wore his most expensive velvet white suit, prepared to lie to all his subjects.
Elsie shrugged daintily, "I need to rest but thank you for the offer."
"I greatly encourage your attendance, Lady Seer," Willy's tone shifted, dry and full of demand. A child angry that he'd been turned down.
She eyed him, seizing her potential consequence against leaving before dawn. She'd deal with him once she returned but was it worth a fight when she planned on doing most of her business in Hizaru?
"Then I will change," She forced through clenched teeth. Elsie spun out of her own workshop, her heels clacking angrily against the stone. The mansion never felt so empty before, the lack of staff due to them preparing for the ball.
It seemed everyone would be attending. Willy saw her act of defiance as it was. She didn't support him. They were at odds since the meeting, one that left tense breakfasts and Major Gross smoking one too many cigars. Commander Maggath, a sudden entity at their table, filled the silence with his ideals for the beasts on Paradis. He learned quickly it was a subject no one really talked about, something that annoyed him since his own students were the ones sent as spies.
She'd met Commander Maggath's eyes as she sipped her favorite wine. She'd killed one of his students and he sat across from her unbeknownst. He hated her for her personality and presence alone, what would he do once he discovered the truth? Zeke and Granfer had left months ago and it would only be weeks before they returned. Zeke would get to the bottom of things. He'd meet with Bierthodlt or free Annie and he'd hear how a girl named Elsie killed him in the woods. She imagined Zeke skipping gleefully to Willy to tell all the dirty truth.
Her enemies stacked up against her over time. Elsie rubbed the back of her neck when she entered her room and picked the first gown she saw in the wardrobe. Her hair remained curled and sprayed from Sif's morning treatment and the setting sun allowed her blonde to shine in the window. Elsie finished tying the front of her gown and exhaled, smoothing the blue material before heading for the staircase.
Willy waited at the bottom, arm held out and smiling pleasantly.
Elsie strolled through the packed main street of Liberio. She laced her hands behind her back, taking in the beautiful flags strung through fishing wire to make the streets appear to be roofed in a pastel rainbow. Children raced through the paved street, whistling and hitting each other with sticks to incite a little more excitement. Mud kicked onto the hem of Elsie's dress and Sif tutted, bending to rub at the stain.
"Let it go," Elsie sighed in exasperation, pulling the material from the maid's hand. "Why are you still with me? Go find Porco."
"I don't know where he is," Sif stood on her toes to peer over the heads surrounding them. Elsie continued forward, secretly hoping Sif would find her own path. "Eventually you'll find someone and they'll probably know."
"Smart, hang onto the socialite," Elsie stopped at a drink stand to ask if they had alcohol of any content. She pleasantly walked away with a spiked lemonade. "Look, there's a band, go dance or something."
She'd ask them to play the Soldier's Song if they weren't in Marley and no one knew of Levi. Her pace picked up to distance herself from the music.
"Aren't you supposed to be at Lord Tybur's side? Why aren't you with the rest?"
"I am rebelling."
"You sure are," Sif raised a fist. "Go, Lady Elisabeth."
Within an hour Elsie and Sif visited every food stall and spoke to multiple soldiers that Elsie recognized from Lakua. There were more than usual, more than the small building Commander Maggath ran could hold, and they swarmed to meet the elusive Lady Seer. Unknowingly she'd become a mystery for the soldiers to gossip about and most approached shyly. Some walked bravely to her face, holding out their hands and stating their full name to gain notoriety.
Elsie found she enjoyed the constant attention. Her isolation between Willy and Priestess Catharina slowly chipped at her and working at the orphanage had been the best. Since Willy kept her from assisting the Eldian children, Elsie found she had absolutely nothing to do but wait for her trip.
"There she is!" Willy appeared from within the crowd, holding a man of boring appearance by the elbow. "This is the infamous Lady Seer you've heard so much about-"
An explosion erupted from the left of Elsie. Smoke and debris flew from the crash. Elsie blocked her face and fell to her knees. It did nothing to save her from the broken pieces of wood nicking her dress and drawing blood. She fell when something large and hefty knocked her over the head. Through the smoke and her watery eyes she could see Willy holding to the floor, perfect white outfit destroyed.
A moment of silence echoed throughout the street. The whole world came to a stop, not a breath or a child crying. And then feet pounding as people righted themselves. More than a majority of the attendees had a military background and instantly began to shout directions to lower ranks. Willy crawled to Elsie's side and helped her stand, although it was more for his benefit. He couldn't hide his shaking hands from her.
"Let's get out of here!" Sif screamed over the family members scurrying out of harms way. Elsie ignored her hand on her, stepping closer to the smoke. Was that a figure moving? "Come on!"
"We must get a move on, Elisabeth," Willy encouraged with fear in his voice. He grabbed her hand and tugged. "This is nothing for... us..."
A titan of enormous height appeared through the clearing smoke. A strand of hair kissed Elsie's cheek when the wind shifted. The titan's stark black hair covered his eyes but there was no denying the titan she helped train. Eren Yeager looked up, sharp yellow pupils taking in the ants trying to defend themselves below.
She stepped back just as Eren dug the pads of his feet into the street, screaming. Windows broke from the upper levels of buildings, glass free falling. Elsie covered her ears in pain, her moment of flinching allowing her to miss Eren streaking towards them.