A/N: It is a long one since I could not find a logical place to split this. I'm sure you will find your own spot to take an intermission and treat yourself to something nice because you deserve it for making it as far as you have. Then treat yourself again if you make it through the rest. I sure did.

Chapter XIV: Season of the Witch

Another moon is shining
Another evening come
Another hour unwinding
Till the night is done

Priscilla bitterly made her way back through the forest that would bring her back to her hometown. In her arms was a large crate with supplies to sustain her for a couple of days; Pieck informed her that Zeke told her to give her food and some water, but to be sure ration them carefully, and to drink from any natural water sources present in Hyperia if she absolutely must. It was a pitiful gesture, but at least he sent her away with something instead of nothing at all. It wasn't back breaking heavy, but still a struggle, especially since she had her own bag that was filled with the relics she had initially brought from Hyperia.

Making a pregnant girl carry all this shit... I swear... Such bullshit.

By now the sun was setting and the moon began to rise. Once Priss had reached the clearing where the city was located she paused and she looked to see a faint view of the moon and suddenly she just felt... better. Any weariness, hunger or thirst she had developed vanished and the crate was oddly less heavy than it felt before, and her satchel felt completely weightless. Her gaze then fell to the grand statue of the goddess. She only lingered here for a moment before she decided to head to her old house – it only made sense for her to set up there since it was the only thing remotely familiar to her here.

She made her way along, crossing the bridge that lead across the crystal clear river. It seemed very clean, but she knew looks could be very deceiving, but that's where she had to turn if she ran out of the potable water supplied by Pieck. It didn't take long after crossing the river to reach her old home where she noticed something peculiar... On the ground she previously tread on her last visit here she noticed white flowers sprouting – a spot of earth where nothing had previously had been growing the last time she was there. Not even grass, or a weed here and there, so the fact that tiny patches of flowers had sprung up was exceedingly strange.

"Eh, whatever..." She muttered dismissively. It wasn't something worth thinking too hard about.

She placed the crate down to open the door and when she looked inside of her old home once more a strange feeling filled her. Something that felt like the opposite of nostalgia... resentment, bitterness and even anger. This was not the place she could call home, it wasn't a place she called home for most of her life. Which begged the question, where did she consider her home to be anyway? The orphanage? The street? That man's house? Military barracks? Certainly not the Warrior's camp... however, it didn't take much thought for her to realize the clear answer to that question.

Home was wherever Reiner was.

Priscilla's foul emotions were replaced with far more pleasant ones, even if longing and loneliness were present in her mood shift as well. She felt happiness, love, hope and he certainty that she'd be reunited with him again soon. As long as she kept that in mind, she would be just fine. She pushed the crate in and once she was inside with the door closed she was hit with fatigue once more. She left the box near the door because she lost the will to move it any further than she had to. The pale girl hobbled over to the couch, removed her bag and heavily plopped down, sending a cloud of dust into the air. She coughed and choked on the flurry of particles, cursing herself for not thinking about that.

"Well," She groaned as she stared towards the ceiling, "Surprise, surprise. I'm already fucking bored."

Priss glanced down to the bag on the floor that was filled practically to the point of bursting with all the items she had in it. She had plenty to read, that was for sure, but it would be what Zeke wanted her to do and her childish bitterness deterred her from doing it for that reason alone. It was petty of her and she knew she'd end up doing it eventually, but he wanted her to give him whatever relevant information she read on her own here. Her mind wandered to whether or not she should do that, or go with the other idea that she could lie about the content – what could he do to punish her at this point anyway? Reiner proved he could beat Zeke in a fight so that threat was moot. He can't kill her, it seemed the best he could do that he has demonstrated thus far is throw her to the ground and call her a bitch. Not a harsh punishment in the slightest; it was something she could take.

"...Not now..." She murmured to herself. Her eyes began to close as she laid on her back on the musty old couch, "I just... I just need sleep."

"Hey..."

A breathy voice roused Zeke from his slumber, a sleep that was so deep that it was surprising that something so soft could wake him as easily as it did. It wasn't a whisper, but it wasn't all that much louder than one either. With his glasses off he couldn't make out who was there with him, and the fact that he was just waking up made things even blurrier. He sat up and started groping around for his glasses but they weren't where he was sure he had left them before going to sleep.

The sweet voice came again, "Let me..."

Zeke turned to the blurred figure that was becoming a bit more clear as his vision focused, as much as it could without the aid of his glasses anyway. The person raised their hands to his face slowly with an object in them. He quickly realized this person must have taken his glasses and now they – no, she – was the one putting them on him; as if the sole reason she took them was to be the one to make him see clearly. The voice alone was enough of a clue, but the idea of her being back there was not very realistic, yet he saw her there clear as crystal once she returned his sight to him.

"Ziegler? What are you doing in here?" He asked in disbelief.

Her demeanor wasn't like she usually carried herself around him – here she was quite relaxed as opposed to her usual stiff and standoffish way that she expressed with him. In fact something about her disposition almost seemed... inviting. She tilted her head to the side and her hair cascaded along with it, the long strands of it falling over her face a bit.

"I wanted to see you," She whispered with a cute smile, "To talk to you privately for a bit."

Zeke's disbelief shifted quickly to suspicion, "About what exactly?"

The girl leaned in closer to him, placing one of her hands on his and giving it a light squeeze,"To talk about us of course," She clarified.

Zeke glanced down and saw that she was wearing nothing at all – he wasn't sure how that wasn't obvious immediately but now that he noticed he felt a lump in his throat. He was already in a state of shock to begin with over just the fact that she was in there with him on top of acting far different than usual... that was the only answer as to why he didn't realize her nudity right away, but now it was impossible to ignore – her breasts specifically. They were just right there on shameless display. Seeing her like this, up close and personal in his tent had him now equally as aroused as he was suspicious.

"And what's there to talk about regarding... us?" He asked after a long pause, looking back up to her face after lingering far too long than he should have on her chest. It seemed she didn't mind that his eyes had been wandering though. If she didn't want him looking she would be taking some measure to conceal herself.

"Reiner told me you're special, that you can do things the other Warriors can't..." She replied softly. She raised one of her hands to stroke his cheek, "And I'm special too, you said as much yourself... so I did some thinking about it and honestly it makes sense for you and I to work together peacefully... And..."

"And?" He urged, trying to remain as blunt in his affect as he could as to not blatantly give away his very apparent state of arousal. Zeke had a feeling she knew of it despite her not even so much as quickly glancing downward to see if he was hard.

She ignored his question for the moment to address what was on his mind as if she were able to read his thoughts,"Look, I'm well aware of the effect I have on men. I get it, it's ok to feel the way you do. A beautiful, young girl like me... You don't have to try and hide it. I know what you did when you demanded to be left alone to 'rest.' I'm not stupid, Zeke... and actually I find it very flattering, especially from an older man like you..." She murmured with a touch of tantalizing amusement to her tone, "But to answer your question... Don't you think special people should be together? There's a whole lot we could accomplish side by side."

"...What do you mean?"

"Ohhhh Zeke," She sighed as she pulled back a bit and her hand drifted to his thigh, "I know what you're after. You're seeking Heaven for the sake of making the world a better place... And I just think that's so... noble."

Priss rubbed his upper thigh, agonizingly close to his dick, which made sure his urge to have sex with her was still strong enough to diminish his suspicion. Nonetheless Zeke, ever the curious man, raised an eyebrow and questioned her further, "How could you possibly know anything about that?"

"That doesn't matter," She whispered. Priss went from rubbing his thigh to squeezing it tightly, "You need me in more ways than one, and I'm willing- no... no I'm happy to provide what it is you need – especially what I can see you need from me right now."

"Are you..."

"It's a cold and harsh world we live in Zeke. It must be tough for you," She replied as she slowly brought her face closer to his, "I know how far a little warmth can go to reinvigorate a man. I know you want this from me... and you know what? I want it too. Want it for you. Want it with you. I'm the only one who can show you the Heaven you're desperately searching for... So why don't we get started?"

Priss gave him a soft kiss on the lips which acted as the final confirmation of where he hoped this was going: that she was down to fuck. Something seemed very off about all this though – how could she be back at camp after having sent her away earlier in the evening? How did she scale the wall? And how could she possibly have any inkling about what the great grand plan he had with her brother was? There was no way anything back in her old city that would offer insight into that.

...However, in the end his dick really did not give a single shit about any of that. He had been living in intense, salacious longing to take her for his own these last few days and now it seemed like Zeke was about to slake his lusty thirst that this young woman had rapidly inspired in him. It didn't take long after their meeting for him to hit the point of wanting to fuck her, and he did whatever he could to hide that fact, but God did he want to have her – a want that grew every time he saw her.

While he was busy getting lost in thought, Priscilla started to tug at his clothes without breaking her lips away from his. The two of them rarely had a pleasant experience with one another. They could be civil at best and, as it turns out, a bit violent at worst. But now there wasn't a trace of her vitriolic feelings towards him, which lead him to wonder if she acted the way she did previously as playing an intense game of hard to get. The more he considered it... how could that not be the answer given what was unfolding before his very eyes now? She was sitting there stark naked before him, pulling at his clothes while kissing him and blatantly offering herself to him.

"What are you waiting for?" She purred alluringly as she pulled away to meet his gaze once more. Oddly enough he was fixed on her eyes rather than her naked body in that moment; something about her eyes was different than usual. It was as if they were guarding something going on in her mind; her eyes always gave away what she was thinking. But maybe there wasn't actually anything to guard since at this rate having sex with him was what clearly was on her mind and that's what her expression was really conveying: pure, unbridled lust. Zeke had to wonder if this was the sort of look she gave Reiner when she would beckon him to her or if this darkly seductive gaze was something exclusively for him.

He wanted to believe it the look she was giving him in that moment was one just for him, something special between the two of them that she wouldn't give to anyone else.

After being lost in thought for an exceedingly long amount of time Zeke snapped back into reality and started undressing.

"What about Reiner?" He couldn't help but ask as he struggled out of his clothing until he was completely undressed.

"Just take me now!" She exclaimed as she literally threw herself at him. She grabbed him tightly by the shoulders, digging her nails into them and pulled him on top of her as she fell down onto her back with a thud. He could see that vaguely familiar beastly look in her eyes once more, but even more sinister than he had seen before – sinister, but also erotic. There was a remarkable and irresistible allure in such a dangerous woman; the excitement and lust inspired by this sort of girl would make any other pale in comparison.

The man was getting lost in staring at the femme fatale beneath him, she really was lovely. It was common in mythology for there to be a goddess of love, beauty and sex – perhaps she was it, but one who also possessed the potential to bring ruin. She was the one who seemed to detest him so much, the one who would do everything she could to dominate and put him down, and now she was submitting to him in the ultimate way. As he sat there not taking any action, Priss aggressively pulled him in and gave him another kiss – this time more passionate than the last. Zeke responded with equal enthusiasm as he kissed her back and stuffed his tongue into her mouth. She let out a muffled moan and slid her tongue along his as she wrapped her arms around him to keep him as close as she physically could.

"Come on..." She panted when she found a moment to speak, "Fuck me Zeke."

Those last three words shattered any hesitation that remained in his mind, not that there was much at all left– he needed to be inside of her and he needed it now. Their bodies awkwardly tangled together until he was between her legs. The man had no concept of foreplay or easing things along so he moved eagerly forward and plunged his cock into her, which made her whimper from the sudden penetration. He was overwhelmed with the warmth and tightness that her pussy provided him – she was spot on with her comment on how some of that can be so invigorating.

Once he was inside her, Zeke heard Priss let out a little moan. Hearing her moaning for him sent a shiver down Zeke's spine – he wanted more of that, he wanted to hear her calling out his name in ecstasy as well as hearing her whisper his name in his ear as she begged him breathlessly to fuck her. When he pushed the full length of his cock into her he got exactly that: a quiet call of his name and an urge for him to keep going. He of course obliged, he did exactly what she wanted of him. He laid over top her so he could be close and enjoy feeling her warm, soft body as much as he could, it also provided more opportunity to keep kissing her.

Their sloppy kissing continued, moaning dramatically all throughout. When the moment arose where they needed to break the kiss, Priscilla's call outs of things like 'yes' and 'oh god' came at varying levels of volume and intensity, along with her exclaiming about how amazing everything was. His thrusting was hard and fast because he just couldn't contain himself from going 0 to 100 given how much pent up sexual frustration he had with her, and now he was finally getting to release those intense feelings in the ideal way. Lashing out at her in anger only did so much and usually ended poorly for him, and just masturbating while listening to her getting fucked by Reiner was as good as it got at the time, but now he was winning on unprecedented levels.

With how hard and fast he was going it left Priscilla unable to form words anymore, all she could do at this point was moan loudly through her heavy panting – he was rocking her world that hard. Suddenly she threw her head back and cried out a desperate plea:

"Cum inside me Zeke!"

At that point the ability to hold back was out of his control. Between going at her so hard without restraint and her begging him to do it there was no way he could prolong things, as much as he honestly wanted to, but at this point the craving to bust one inside of her was stronger than continuing to fuck. Once a woman says those words, the willpower to do anything but cum tends to be obliterated – and so he did just that. He grunted loudly and unloaded his seed into her.

"God..." He panted as he pulled out and collapsed beside her once he had finished. She turned on her side and cuddled up to him.

"Did I make you feel good? I hope I did... Because you made me feel good, really good," She said with a smile, "And I want to keep making you feel good. I really do. I mean, I know there's nobody else you can enjoy doing this with, given how great of a risk it would be for you and all."

That set off such an alarm bell in his mind that he couldn't ignore it, especially now that their tryst had come to a conclusion and his thoughts were no longer completely clouded by sex, "...What do you mean...?"

"I know about you. How you're - – - – - – - - - - "

The latter part of her sentence was 'blanked' out. He saw her lips moving as if she were speaking, but no sound came from her. He was no expert at reading lips, but one word stood out clear as day, and it was something she could not have possibly known about him.

"What... How could you..." He murmured. He couldn't muster up aggressively questioning her in his post-orgasm haze despite how direly he wanted to interrogate her now.

Priss hummed and pulled him closer to her, "Don't worry about it. Just think about us. Lay here and dream with me about where our story will go. Where we will end up... I get the feeling it's going to be just like we are right now... Won't that be wonderful?"

At this point, what did anything matter? He got what he had been immediately wanting from her, as well as knowing she was willing to go along with what was to come in the future – and not even merely willing to, but happy to. On top of all that she was being so loving towards him, which was the strangest thing about this; it was like she was seeing Reiner instead of him. The way she was holding him close and humming softly afterward was certainly something a lover would be doing too; someone who cares for and wants to comfort someone – not the behavior of some soulless one night stand type affair at all.

There was no other way to describe it other than she was treating him the way she would Reiner. From the very beginning of their encounter that night she was sweet to him: touching his hand, stroking his face and giving him a tender kiss before anything got explicitly sexual. Now he had more insight into Reiner's words; now he kind of 'got it' – and 'it' felt rather nice. The sex on it's own was all he cared about, not anything emotional, but the fact that he received more than what he wanted and expected ended up elevating the experience. She began to run her fingers through his messy hair and her humming dwindled into silence. Zeke hadn't felt so at ease in a long time that it was foreign to him; maybe what she said about going to Heaven was literal... and that this really was it.

"I'll make you happy Ezekiel Yeager," She said and then kissed him again, "I always will. I promise."

Priscilla opened her eyes to almost complete darkness. Since there was no functioning lighting in the dead city anymore it was evident that night had arrived in full, but how deep into the night it was she had no idea. She didn't mean to sleep for longer than just a little nap, but her fatigue was evidently worse than she thought it was. The girl sat up and groaned, reaching her arms above her head to crack her weary bones and stretch some stiff muscles. The old couch wasn't exactly comfortable to snooze on for an extended period of time.

She carefully made her way to he nearest window and took a look outside – as she thought, it was the dead of night. She did notice that the moon was especially bright out there, not enough to illuminate the inside of any buildings completely, but if she were to go out into the open then she would have some light to work with. The only reason she could really use light right now was to... read. Even in the day time the indoor lighting wouldn't be great, unless she had all the shades open of course and sat near the windows, but she'd rather sit beneath soothing the moon than the harsh sun. Feeling more pepped up after her extended nap, she decided to indulge in more literature – and if the last things she read were any indication, it would be just as disturbing to her to delve more into "her" history, but while ignorance was bliss, it would do more harm than good to stay in the dark.

She didn't like to think of it as her history though. Just like she couldn't think of this place as her home, but her feelings of resentment for it didn't change the fact that all this was in her blood. Priss had no connection to this place or anything in those books, but still... she very well could have remained with her people if not for her father's choice to leave her behind, and that fact is what stirred that visceral disgust in her when she discovered the dark secrets of her race.

Despite the horrors she suffered within the walls, she still feels like she dodged a bullet if only for one thing: she got to meet Reiner there, and he's what made it all ok.

A thought crossed her mind as she thought about light sources. While she had no idea how the lamps worked she reasoned that maybe some candles and matches were lying around, but in the state of darkness within her house now it wouldn't do any good to attempt to find them, so she decided she would seek them out when the daylight came around once more. This way she could look around for more items that could offer insight, even if she wasn't all that excited about the information, the aid it would provide is undeniable. For now though she just grabbed her bag and went outside so she could see what she was doing under the bright moon.

Priss wasn't sure where to start that time. There was already so much to go through that she hadn't scratched the surface of all there was to discover, at least that's what she suspected. Not only was there the personal writings of her father, which she was certain there was more of that covered things in their family life before she was born, but all the texts about their society in general. Chronicling the history of an entire race in no way could be concise and likely spread across many more texts than what she had gathered. Once outside she chose to sit next to the small trail of flowers she had observed before on her way in; they weren't like any she was familiar with but in fairness she was never interested in flowers or plants so she dismissed them as common wild growths.

She just decided to go with the first thing she pulled from her bag which turned out to be writings of her father. Priss wasn't sure if this was better or worse than the other options but she told herself she'd go with whatever she pulled out first, so that was it. It was her aim to skip over what she'd already read in there;what she really wanted to get into was information about her brother since it turned out, according to Zeke anyway, that he's alive and well in Marley. After some flipping and scanning she managed to find an entry about him.

Given his status as the high born son, Anteros is the best candidate to receive a place on our elite council. We've been in the phase of trialing him for longer than we have any other past candidate. He is... concerning. He has shown to be operating on a level powerful enough to be a member, which is no surprise at all, but there is something more to it than any of the rest of us. I've noticed there are times where he "cuts out" of the connection we all have. There's not ever been one of our people who has possessed such an ability. We're all connected, nobody can just turn it off and on at will... except him. I suspect that he can even brute force his way past the mental block I and the other council members can exert over the rest of the population as we need, and if that's true that means he knows the truth already. The truth we only entrust to members of our council, but there's no way for me to know. Just a gut feeling.

He's always been an outsider given how far in age he is from the rest of us. Whether that has to do with his unique ability (that I don't know the extent of) is something I do not know. He's a wild card who shows disdain for anyone he thinks is treating him unfairly, which nobody ever has, he just perceives benign things as slights against him sometimes. The only person he never shows an ounce of negative emotion towards is his sister. They're attached at the hip, but to the point that he tries to keep her separated from others as much as he can. He sincerely loves her but in a way that I think is very obsessive. He's the closest person in age to her... but I worry for her... Since I can't always tell what he is thinking, could he do something to corrupt her? I fear the possibilities of what he can do if he already knows our truth... and what he can do to her mind. She's still so young and malleable, plus he's the one she loves and trusts the most. If he tells her anything she will believe it without question.

I don't know what to do about him. I can't shake the paranoia that he could do something reckless with the information he likely has and I'm frightened of what could happen if he decides to reveal it, either to the public at large or even just Adrestia... I suppose if I deny him a place among the council it'd spur him to use the information he has against us. It's the only thing we block from public knowledge so him using it as a weapon could cause chaos in our already fragile society. So the safest course of action would be to assume he is in the know and to grant him a place, but I don't feel good about it at all... I will do what I can to delay it though. But who knows what kind of things he'll be able to do once he is accepted among our governing group of elite. This makes it all the harder to figure out what to do...

I can hear him and Adrestia playing in the next room. He brings her such joy, but the fact that he could be dangerous has solidified even further in my mind that she needs to be left behind on this island. I haven't informed the population yet about the decision to migrate, but I am sure it won't be much longer until I have to. Separating them when that time comes, I believe, will ultimately be best for her. Even without fully being able to read him, I sense something sinister in him. Just seeing his eyes... that alone gives me enough insight to see how hateful he has the potential to be.

Priss grimaced down at the pages she just read through. She was suddenly brought back to the memory that had come to her in her dream: where her brother had brought her to see Titans and went on about how their ultimate purpose in the universe is to exterminate Eldians.

"Was that..." She spoke softly, "Was that the truth that was hidden? That we exist to kill Eldians?"

Her posture hunched and she let the book flop onto her lap. As she recalled the dream more, she remembered that he did use the word 'secret' before he told her. She wracked her brain over why only a select few would get to have that knowledge for several minutes, finding it difficult to come to a rational conclusion. The memory returned piece by piece and lead her down one possible path; to her it seemed unbelievable, but it was the only answer that made sense. The words she herself spoke in the memory...

We're not supposed to leave the city!

"...Nobody knew about the Titans..." She realized, "If we couldn't leave the city, and the knowledge about Eldians was kept hidden... nobody but those few people like my father... would even know Titans or Eldians existed."

One of the universal truths of this world that had been seared into her mind since youth was the horror of the Titans; to think there was a period of her life where she was completely unaware of them was disturbingly foreign. She couldn't imagine the full grown adults who had been living in blissful ignorance all their lives having to face the eldritch truth of what was outside of their enclosed world and how traumatizing it must have been. Suddenly it seemed like a blessing for Titans to have been normalized for her.

Priss had to wonder about those other books: the science and history texts. Surely things from those tomes would be accessible to the public, but after some thought she considered the fact that they were books in her father's personal study that was locked – and if he was some sort of leader, which was clearly the case by now, then it wouldn't be a stretch to believe those books weren't meant for eyes other than his own or his trusted cohorts.

"...This is fucked up," She uttered as she raised her hands to rub her temples, "I don't want to deal with this. I just want..."

The girl shut her eyes tightly in an attempt to seek out something happy, and it wasn't hard to find. It was all she wanted for years more than anything: to live happily with Reiner – and she desired that peaceful dream life more than ever right now. She had her points of wanting to come home and find out what happened to her family, but that was far less of a priority compared to just being with Reiner and being normal... normal in comparison to the recent revelations laid before her. She envisioned a pleasant scene to get lost in for comfort: a quaint, practical house with a modest porch just big enough to comfortably fit a loveseat on. The sun was setting and the moon was rising while three figures crammed together on the small outdoor couch sat watching the celestial bodies share the sky together.

Two of the figures were clear as day, herself and Reiner of course, but between them sat someone a little bit blurry. It was a child, a boy no older than about four, who was kicking his feet. The more she imagined the more she could make out of him and a tiny smile appeared on her face.

"He's got my eyes," She laughed quietly, "But Reiner's eyelashes... brows are more like his than mine for sure."

Trying to piece together what this little boy of theirs could possibly look like was more soothing than she expected it to be. Priss wasn't sure why she pictured a boy instead of a girl, it was just what naturally came to her as she got lost in her fantasy. She hadn't even considered which she'd prefer, it was just that a boy is where her mind brought her and now the feeling of just knowing it would be a boy was burned into her mind. This whole pregnancy was still such a recent development and with all the other things going on, she didn't have a chance to think about these sorts of things. After just a brief moment of bliss, the cruel reality crept back up: that this would only ever be a short lived life together at best. Her smile dropped immediately and her eyes shot open, not even her happy thoughts were hers to hold onto for very long; they were tragically stolen away from her the same as everything else.

There was still a shred of happiness to be found in this dream though: the legacy of her and Reiner would live on. Reiner would be unfairly lost sooner than he deserved, but there would still be someone she could look at and be reminded of the man she loved more than anything, the man who changed her life and saved her – part of him, in a way, would always be with her. Not only did this boy represent their legacy and their love for each other, but freedom as well.

And nothing would be able to steal that from her.

"Reeeeeeeinerrr..."

Priscilla had her head buried in her lover's chest, staining his shirt with her tears. Between her sobs and sniffling she kept calling his name softly and desperately. Reiner held her close and stroked her silky hair, just letting her cry as much as she needed. The thing is, he didn't know what exactly she was crying about, but soon enough she made it abundantly clear – and it was something he really should have figured out right away.

"Reiner, he's terrible..." She whined as she looked up to him, her beautiful green eyes were wet and reddened, "He sickens me, you've seen how he treats me. How he speaks to me. You just know what he's thinking of me too."

"Who?" Reiner asked, despite having a pretty good idea of who she meant.

"Zeke," She wept, "I hate him. I hate him so much. He's rude, he's violent and inconsiderate, cruel even... He's seen us... us in our most intimate of moments... "

"I know, I know..." He said comfortingly, "I don't like what he's been doing either. He's never been so... so..."

"Disgusting?" She finished for him, sniffling loudly.

"Yeah, that'd be the perfect word for how he's been acting," Reiner immediately agreed, "I never knew him well enough to know if he always had this sort of side to him... Nobody ever really knows what he's thinking. Nobody ever questions him..."

"So... could it be my fault?" Priss asked with her lips quivering. He could see she was about to break out into another full sob just thinking about it, "That everything's been going so wrong? That he's acting the way it is? Am I doing something?"

Reiner was at a loss. It was very true that trouble only began brewing once she came into the picture at camp, but given he didn't know Zeke well enough maybe he would have acted the way he had been if any lovely lady strolled into the picture or if his fixation was unique to Priscilla. Zeke was his boss, not his buddy, so there was no way to know for sure how he operated in terms of women. He could be certain of one thing: a man like Zeke should not be behaving the way he has been since Priss got there. He's their exalted military leader, a man of high intelligence and integrity... at least, that's what he thought until recently.

"He is responsible for his own behavior and should be able to have more self control," Reiner firmly believed these words he spoke, "It's not your fault he's being such a... such a..."

"A piece of shit?" Priss suggested.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Don't you think we should... teach him a lesson..." Priss' tone suddenly grew dark, "You beat him up pretty bad in that fight of yours. If you just... completely obliterated his body like you were about to do, would he still regenerate? Could he survive being smashed into nothingness?"

Reiner looked at her in shock, "W-What?"

"Hmm... Oh! You could shift into your Titan and eat him! That would definitely work!" Priss went on excitedly, all traces of her woe disappearing and replaced with unsettling enthusiasm "If you can't kill him any other way, you can just eat him!"

"Uhh..." Reiner drawled, "I don't... think that's a good idea..."

"Why not?" Priss pressed. She clung hard to his shirt and stared wildly into his eyes.

"He's my boss... if I were to do that, things wouldn't end well for me..."

"If there was nobody around to witness it we could just make up anything we want for why you had to eat him, that it had to be done," Priss went on, "You would make such a better leader than him, my love. You're strong, brave... but more importantly you have a good heart... not like him."

She ran her hand across his chest where she could feel his heart pounding beneath her palm. Priss looked down to watch her hand move along the contours of his muscular body that she could still feel even through his shirt.

"I think this is a bit extreme, Priss..." Reiner replied honestly, "He doesn't deserve to die."

Priscilla froze once those words hit her. After a moment of silence she looked back up to him and again her expression had changed. She looked a mixture of hollow and confused, then soon the hollowness disappeared and the confusion melted into despair once more. She bit her lower lip hard as she tried to hold back the intense emotions brewing inside her. She glanced away, unable to keep looking him in the eye after reflecting on everything she had just said.

"...Am I bad for wanting him to die?" She whispered shamefully as her body began to shiver, "I've always been like this... wanting those who have wronged me to just die. That man from all those years ago. Now Zeke. It's not right to be like this, is it? I... I just can't help myself."

Reiner could tell she had started to cry again despite her still having her face turned away from him – her sniffling and shaking was evidence enough of that.

"I don't think you're bad for wanting that," Reiner assured her, "The things or people we hate, it's not strange to feel that way about them."

"That's why you're here on this island, isn't it?" She murmured, "You hate the devils here, so you want to kill them all, but you seem to have some... higher purpose to it all. But me... I'm just a hateful little girl. I am a monster."

Reiner brought a hand to her face and turned her to look at him once more, "No, you're not, you're nothing close to that Priss!"

"You seem to be the only one who thinks that..." She wept, "Witch, evil bitch... not a goddess like you say. What kind of goddess would want to kill people?"

"Does it matter what anyone else says?!" He exclaimed in a desperate attempt to get her thinking straight, "Nobody knows you like I do. I've seen more of you than anyone else ever has. You're full of so much love and care and loyalty, things I don't think I deserve from you honestly... Bertolt and Zeke have no right doing or saying the things about you that they have... because they don't know you."

Her eyes wen wide and sparkled, "Reiner..."

"They'll never know you like I do, and I'll protect you from them or anyone else who mistreats you. They don't understand you and how wonderful you really are."

"And they don't deserve to," She added softly. The tears started to disappear from her eyes and she raised both her hands to hold his face, "You are... the only one. I will give you my everything, I'll never stop giving you every ounce of love I have to offer. I know you may not feel like you should get all that from me but... I swear that you do. You deserve it all and more. I'll give you my everything until my last days... and even after that. We'll meet again in Heaven and I'll keep making you happy there... Wherever it is that we meet again when our lives end, it's Heaven as long I'm with you."

Reiner's lacking self worth was at odds with his love for her and wanting more than anything to accept it from her, but he was in an unending struggle with his own mind. He didn't know if he could ever let go of all he had done that lead to her being hurt. This is what made her such a goddess and not a monster, her forgiveness for the pain he had caused her and love for him was without bounds. For her sake, and his as well, he needed to work harder to put aside his negative feelings about himself... if that one person who cared so deeply for him and him alone wouldn't abandon him for all he'd done, who took the good with the bad without wavering in her dedication to him... then he should take that to heart and never question it. It wouldn't be easy for him to overcome his own issues with self esteem, but as long as he had her then he could conquer anything.

Her eyes started to water again, so he brought his hands to hold her face just as she did so he could thumb away the tears that slowly spilled out. They weren't tears of sorrow anymore, the strong bond between them had her overwhelmed and she couldn't help but hold those tears of love flow.

"I love you," He whispered. Reiner leaned forward and kissed her forehead, "I love you so much."

Priss looked into his stunning gold eyes once he pulled back from his sweet little kiss, unable to hold back more tears of happiness as she struggled to choke out her words, "I-I love you too Reiner, more than anything."

The two threw themselves at one another and held each other in a strong embrace. More tears of hers stained his shirt, but he didn't mind one bit, and he went back to stroking her shiny and smooth hair once more. As they held one another they both could feel their hearts beating hard in time with one another. Her slender white fingers made their way to the buttons on his shirt where she delicately started to undo them.

"I want to feel your skin on mine again," He heard her whisper as she made her way from button to button until his shirt was completely open, allowing her to push the fabric back and let it slide off his shoulders. Curiously, she was already fully undressed – something he hadn't noticed at all until she mentioned feeling each other skin to skin.

Reiner laid back and she followed, laying on top of him in a way so that their hearts were as close to touching as they could possibly be. The skin, bone and muscle that made up their bodies felt nonexistent with how in time with each other and intensely their hearts were beating. In that moment it was clear that they were not two separate hearts, but the same heart shared between two people that were born to find one another.

Once she had coped with with overwhelming emotions that sprang from reading what her father had written about her brother, Priscilla idly began flipping through another musty old book, a physiology one again. She of course chose to steer clear of anything close to how reproduction worked, she'd had more than enough of that.

"Hm?"

The very first section was one about 'Inherent Lunar Abilities' that existed withing all Hyperians, described as 'one of the gifts bestowed upon them by the Goddess.' Priscilla's brow furrowed over what the hell this could be about. Some nonsense about gaining strength from the moon sounded like a bunch of religious mumbo jumbo that would be expected from a society worshiping deities as heavily as hers seemed to, but the fact that something like it was mentioned in what was a text documenting something medical had her intrigued. So instead of dismissing it, she read on...

Our people being all connected with Goddess Priska has allowed her grace to always watch over us in the form of moonlight. Should a Hyperian fall ill, merely a few hours of lunar exposure will lead them to a full recovery.

A few rudimentary illustrations were included to go along with the text, such as a person laying beneath the moon with beams emanating from it to demonstrate the lunar light shining on them.

"I don't know about this," Priss muttered doubtfully. She skipped around on the subject a bit until something caught her eye.

Should a Hyperian find themselves without food or water for an extended period of time, all that they need to keep them alive is moonlight. A full night of it will allow them to subsist through an entire day. They will not be in peak condition, but it will keep them alive. Moonlight can increase a Hyperian's strength and abilities in general.

Priscilla's mind went back to the time she spent wandering outside the wall. She had gone without any food or water, something that should have killed her. But she had moonlight exposure on the long trek before she was found by the Armored Titan. Flashbacks of other instances flooded back to her: being able to carry Reiner when he was injured, how she awakened and bit Zeke's fingers off, how she found being under it's light to be so effective at shifting her mood from negative to positive in some way. Just before when she went from having little to no exposure to full exposure, how she felt changed dramatically. She found herself carrying the heavy crate just fine when she was under the light of the moon in the clearing, but once she entered her home it was as painfully heavy as it was when she was trudging through the forested area.

She was rendered speechless for a few minutes as her brain raced around thinking of every single time something within her changed when she'd be hit by the moon when something very interesting occurred to her.

"Titans get their power from the sun," She said quietly, "They don't need food or water... but they can't move at night at all."

The latter was mostly true, except for those 'special cases' Reiner had mentioned that involved Zeke specifically transforming them. This new discovery added further support to the ideal that she, a child of the moon, was a being who was designed to oppose the Titans and by extension the Eldians themselves.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Bertolt froze as he stood behind Priscilla. Her tone was one of disgust and for no conceivable reason either, like all that she was pissed off about was him just existing. Literally all he had been doing was standing there while she had her back to him. Her posture was rigid, as if poised to attack if she so desired.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." A meek Bertolt responded.

"Don't play stupid, you're ogling my ass," She spat as she turned around, "I can't say I blame you, I know it's nice, but I'd respect you a little bit if you were straightforward about it."

"What?!" He exclaimed, floored by her unapologetic arrogance, "You are just a terrible person... that's all you are, an evil witch... you made Reiner lose sight of our mission and now you've gone and cursed Warchief Zeke too! ...I hate you... You're more of a devil than those on this island!"

"Aw, your words are so hurtful..." She sarcastically said with a pout. She started slowly moving towards him, eventually getting uncomfortably close, "Are you jealous?"

"Why would I be jealous?!" He shouted back at her, but his raised voice didn't rattle her at all,

"I'm the pretty girl stealing all the attention..." She giggled, "Although somehow I doubt you were ever the center of attention. You're not very memorable, you don't stand out at all. So would you really care if I stole something that was never yours to begin with? Poor quiet Bertolt, always in the background, never getting the spotlight for anything... being jealous he's not getting the attention? You're content to blend in, keep your head down and do what you're told. You don't care about being seen."

Bertolt remained as firm and calm as he could in an attempt to control the wrath building in him, "You're nothing to me but an annoyance, a problem that needs to be taken care of..."

Priss scoffed and crossed her arms, "That's exactly what Zeke says too and... well, just look at the sad state of him..."

Without a word Bertolt grabbed her tightly by the neck and squeezed hard. He wanted to crush her windpipe and finally kill her like he'd so wanted to, but not just kill her, he wanted to make her suffer first so he had to restrain himself from breaking her neck immediately. As he choked her, feeling her struggle to breath under his hands, he looked down and saw flames in the campfire still blazing. Bertolt threw her onto the ground and before she had any sort of chance to get away, he forced her down on her stomach and grabbed her by the hair.

"This is what a witch like you deserves! To burn!" He screamed as he pulled her head up and then smashed it into the fire. He heard her start to scream in agony while she writhed beneath him. He held her down, pushing her head as hard as he could into the flames, "You... Are worse than just a witch... You're the devil itself... You've ruined us all... I can't let you live because who knows what else you'll ruin for us..."

She kept on crying out in pain and thrashing about, but his size and the positional advantage he had over her was too much for her to fight. Soon enough, her cries quieted and she went motionless. The blood thirsty Bertolt pulled her from the embers and looked upon her destroyed face with pride – no longer was he a passive observer, he had enough of that, so he took it upon himself to remove the problem that nobody else wanted to touch. Just to really get all his rage out, he snapped her neck and let her body drop to the ground with a thud. Totally lifeless.

Finally. Finally free of her evil aura. Finally able to move forward smoothly. Bertolt turned away to go back to his tent when he heard a disturbing noise behind him.

"Urgh...haa...haha..."

He whipped back around and saw the body of Priscilla rising once more. Her neck was clearly broken as her head lolled off to the side limply and her face... to say it was a mess was an understatement. The burning destroyed it beyond recognition, the worst part of it being that her eyes were totally obliterated leaving nothing but empty, disgusting sockets that blood dripped out of. Bertolt gawked at the gruesome sight before him.

"You think you can get rid of me that easily?" She growled like an animal, "I'm not going anywhere."

Morning had just barely come. The sun hadn't even risen but Zeke Yeager was awake – he needed to be so that preparations for the coming battle could be made. Nobody was in the tent with him and his glasses were exactly where he left them. The man should have known better than to think what happened was anything more than a dream, but it felt so real that it seemed more plausible that it did really occur. Although if he spent his night truly engaging with Priscilla he wouldn't have an unfortunate mess in his trousers, that would have ended up elsewhere – thankfully Pieck had brought with her fresh clothing for all the Warriors when she last came so he at least could change into something else before facing the world.

Outside he saw Reiner and Bertolt emerge at the same time as he did. Bertolt had an uneasy look about him and his pallor was sickly while Reiner's expression was harder to read – it was made even more difficult due to the fact that he wouldn't look directly at Zeke. There was some strange sense of knowing that flowed between the three men there. It was a long shot, but something in his gut told the Warchief that he wasn't the only one who had a familiar visitor in his dreams...