Chapter XVI: The Baneful Queen

It would be magnificent to see such a strange society that Zeke had heard about from his cohort, he had been told time and time again how perfect it was there – a mixture of advancing technology and artful antiquity with an ever present link to nature; it sounded like everything was balanced in an incomparably ideal way – so much so that it was unfathomable to Zeke for such a place to exist with what his experience had been in the world he knew.

The only world he knew was a cruel one; a world incredibly far from perfect. So the idea that this place was once, and there was no other word to describe it, a paradise... was foreign.

The Warchief kept his anticipation in check as he made his way through the surrounding forest; he knew that the place had to be merely a shell of it's former self at this point. It was abandoned for ten years now and it would be far from it's pristine peak, and to expect anything else would be foolish. However, he was still quite impressed once he finally got to the city, despite how it had degraded naturally over the years. The society's devotion to art was evident immediately upon seeing the statue of the resting goddess. Seeing the all white monument with it's long hair and a faint glint of green gemstones visible in the eyes brought to mind the girl he was there for, which was hardly surprising.

Zeke may be a curious man, but now was a time for practicality and punctuality given they needed to escape to the seaport as fast as they could so he couldn't linger or take a leisurely stroll to sight-see like he were some kind of tourist. There was one single thing to be done in Hyperia: retrieve Priscilla and get going. The only problem with that was he didn't know where she was. He looked down to the ground to see if there was any disturbed earth to indicate where she had traveled. There wasn't really anything he could specifically identify as footprints, but there was something he did find interesting: small patches of flowers growing in a pattern that it was as if they followed, or perhaps formed, some sort of path. It was a long shot, but the man chose to follow these possible breadcrumbs – as wild of an idea as it was that a path of flowers would guide him, but it's not like he had much else to go on. It was either this or wander aimlessly with the hope he'd come across her.

As he went along with the path of flowers, the trail brought him to a river; It didn't take him long to find his target, but he did not expect to find her how she was. He discovered her standing with his back to him in a sparkling river where she appeared to be working knots out of her wet hair. He stood and watched in silence, soon hearing her sigh with content after finishing the task of untangling her long hair. Her posture straightened and she raised one hand to her hair where she gripped it tightly and started to wring it out.

But before she could squeeze her way down, she froze for a moment as if she somehow sensed she was being watched. With her suspicions raised, she slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder to see who it was. Zeke could see even from a slight distance that her eyes were full of contempt right away, not a trace of shock from being unexpectedly found, and definitely not the eyes of hers he saw in his dream. The fact that she looked so pissed off was odd too – surely she would have expected Reiner, and that would have her overjoyed, but somehow she just knew the wrong person had come for her without even having to look.

"...Where's Reiner?" She asked flatly as she finally went about finishing the task of wringing out her hair.

"He was hurt in the battle," Zeke explained, trying not to fixate on her exposed backside, "He was in no condition to walk so he's recovering for now."

"Hurt?!" She replied with her tone suddenly filled with aggressive concern, "What happened?!"

She had spun around completely and everything from her hips up was in full view. Zeke averted his eyes from her like a civilized human being should before he spoke again, "It's a long story... but the short version is the operation to take back the Founding Titan failed," He explained as he removed his coat, which he then held out in her direction as he spoke his demand firmly, "Take this and cover yourself up, Ziegler."

"Why?" She sneered at his offering, which caught him off guard. He could hear her making her way through the water and he knew she was approaching him even though he kept his eyes off to the side. It wasn't unusual for her to prance around in some slight state of undress, but to be completely nude without shame wasn't something he thought he'd personally see from her, and then came the strange yet cutting words, "Does my nakedness offend you?"

Zeke could tell she was still moving closer to him, having completely left the water at this point.

"Make you uncomfortable?" He heard her add in as a sinister taunt as she kept on her slow approach, but he remained silent which lead her to her own satisfied conclusions, "Well good. That's exactly what I want."

Zeke chose to look at her straight on again, still holding his coat out, and what he saw was perplexing. What he noticed was that her stance was proud and powerful, not like any other person who was stripped bare would be. Nakedness tended to leave a person vulnerable, but there was no trace of that here; the way she was carrying herself was an imposing one, as if she were intent on making the heavens themselves tremble before her if she so desired. Her dark expression and strong stance was such a stark contrast to what her response to him seeing her being intimate with Reiner was. She was exuding confidence and power, as if she was trying to assert her dominance over him by just merely being there nude.

Zeke couldn't figure out what the hell was going on, so whatever she was doing was working if her intent was as she said it was: to cause him discomfort. Her nakedness was bothering him because it was rousing feelings of indecency within him and making him feel weak and perplexed. It was just the two of them with nobody to interfere, there was no escaping whatever it was that inspired the inappropriate longing within him – aside from the obvious. Suddenly she charged him, closing the gap between them and tackling him down to the ground where she pinned him... And there it was again: the flash of danger in her eyes that indicated her own inner monstrous nature.

"I still really can't believe you did what you did..." She growled with her wild eyes locked on his, "Threatening to kill Reiner... Then giving him the 'choice' of either death or letting you have me instead.. What kind of depraved sicko does that? I'm willing to believe you want to have sex with me for your own curious experimentation that you mentioned, whatever the hell that even means, but I don't buy that it's the only reason. I highly doubt once you finished up whatever "testing" you want to put my body through that you'd just stop wanting to fuck me. Would you just admit it at that point or come up with some new bullshit excuse?"

The man was faced with the paradox of not being tolerant of disobedient or difficult behavior from those he deemed beneath him, yet falling victim to the dark provocations from the unearthly beauty of Priscilla Ziegler. Has that been it all along? Was it her defiant and challenging nature that drew him to her? Because nobody else who he considered lesser than him would dare to do so – especially such a lovely specimen of a woman at that, and one who made sure to remind him that she was very much not beneath him no matter what he told himself or anyone else. It didn't make sense, yet at the same time it was the only thing that did. The beautiful fury and strength of her defiance, no matter how hard he tried to dominate her was undeniably attractive; chasing what he couldn't have and to tame the beast she herself was – he lusted to be the one to be the one to succeed in this against all odds conquest.

"Listen, I get it. I'm used to old, dirty men and how they leer at me with their despicable thoughts. You wouldn't be the first. Hell, I'd be surprised if you weren't just dying to have a go with me... but let me ask you this," She cocked her head to the side as she looked down at him., "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

The Warchief laid there in silence for a moment, looking up at the mysterious being who had him pinned. Her eyes demanded an answer though, and those eyes were so powerful that it kept him from looking at her body, so Zeke went on to carefully choose his words,"...What I did wasn't right," Zeke admitted, as much as it killed him to openly give into this girl, "It was petty of me."

"Well, well, well! He said it!" She laughed, tossing her head back and sending droplets of water from her wet hair raining down on Zeke before she returned her gaze to his face below her, "And what about the rest? Will you own up to that too?"

Zeke furrowed his brows, "Eh?" in response her amused expression fell once more.

"Acting stupid on purpose isn't like you. I know you want me, and that's fine," She spoke in a deep and calm voice. She lowered her face down where it hovered just above his in a further attempt to intimidate him, "but I will never want you. I will never want anyone but Reiner."

"...You're not wrong, no, not at all..." Zeke conceded, still making his best attempt with his choice of words, "In the short time I've known you I've developed a... strong attraction to you, it's true. You're a beautiful girl, but the way you're so wild and free plays a part in it too... like Reiner, I can never be either of those things either."

"Oh come on," She groaned as she sat back again, scowling down at him now, "All that waxing poetic bullshit, just spit it all out! You can't exactly hide the fact that you're sweating and have a hardon right now!"

"Do you blame me?!" He finally exploded, "You're on top of me and taunting me with your body, reminding me I can't have what you're shoving in my face right now! And you've flagrantly done similar in the past that leads me to wonder different things... Certain thoughts, sights and sounds won't leave my head... and I can't help myself. Especially when I hear you and Reiner shamelessly having sex just feet away from me with only some thin fabric between us."

"So I'm your dirty little fantasy then, Zeke? With these so called 'certain thoughts,' huh?" Priscilla grinned and chuckled darkly, "Ohh I can picture it perfectly. You furiously jacking off while thinking about you being in that tent with me, listening to my moans and just wishing it was you who was fucking me, wanting so badly to be inside me when I'm cumming from being fucked so good. I bet you cum real hard thinking about all that, don't you?"

"...God damn it..." Zeke uttered and looked away from her, barely able to believe he said what he had and grappling with how every word she spoke in response was completely true.

She won. She broke him. And now he heard her laughing because she knew she had done those things and left him thoroughly embarrassed... Yet no matter how much she degraded him like this, nothing deterred him from lusting after her. However, she was falling victim to hubris due to knowing she just won their little war here, and her tongue started to slip in the worst way possible.

With a tone of cocky amusement she went on, "And you so often call me childish or immature... those other disgusting men, they always made it a point to call me a 'young woman.' I think it helped them deal with what they were doing to me. That they were ruining an innocent little girl. But if you just repeatedly call me a child yet have the same interests as them, then what does that make you?"

Suddenly everything came screeching to a halt with what she just spoke. That was a topic she never wanted to bring up to him, or anyone else in the world except Reiner... but in her arrogance that had built up in her, she let herself get careless in how she insulted him, and now it ultimately lead to a devastating revelation about her – and the fact that she regretted divulging that last bit of information was written all over her face. Zeke's eyes traveled back to her and he smirked when he saw the look in her eyes that expressed what a mistake she just made.

"...Have I ever mentioned how much I like... no, not just like, but actually love your eyes, Ziegler?" Zeke asked with that smarmy grin still on his face, "Not the color or shape or how big they are... but the fact that they give away your every thought. It's like I'm seeing things not meant for me, it's like I'm taking advantage of you by seeing every single emotion going through your mind... and I love it because it's such an appealing trait to a man like me – to so easily read someone, I mean. And you just effortlessly told me without a word that you shouldn't have said what you just did."

Priscilla's chest went tight as anxiety hit her – he was the last person that she wanted to know about this, "No... No I... don't want..."

"I really wondered how you had so much experience if Reiner was your first boyfriend. You said it's only been a few months, but you come across as a master of the art of temptation and sexuality all things considered... and that observation paired with what you just told me..." Zeke said, and Priscilla's heart began to race and her expression dropped into despair as he realized what he was about to say, "Reiner was not even close to your first, was he?"

Priss started to breath at a frantic pace matching her hard and fast beating heart. Zeke again found the answer to his question exposed by her expression and it pleased him greatly. Having her be so easy to read filled him with a sick satisfaction, because in his mind this war wasn't over just yet; he was making a comeback. Eventually her internal frenzy and panic settled into anger that she kept restrained as best she could. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.

"...It wasn't my choice," She said in a low voice, just barely audible. But her eyes shot back open when she heard a sound, one that was so infuriating that it stunned her: he was laughing.

"Not your choice?!" He repeated in disbelief. He was so used to this girl being such a domineering force that he couldn't imagine that she would fall victim to such a thing... and that is what sent her over the edge – what let her give into fury, even if just for a moment.

"I was thirteen, you bastard!" She screamed in his face. After her initial yell, her tone drifted into something darkly detached, but with that anger still burning within her, "That man tricked me... he coerced me... threatened me... and then sold me out to others. I was trained to be exactly what any given customer requested. If I refused, it was death or back to the streets for me."

"Well... Couldn't you just have avoided it to begin with?"

The utter stupidity of this question didn't occur to Zeke Yeager on his own at all, but again, Priscilla's eyes told him the story that he himself couldn't figure out. She was doing all she could to keep the rage within her from erupting and getting violent with him – but would that even matter if he could regenerate? Still, he thought it was a fair enough question, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

"...Do you know what it's like to be homeless?" She asked with her voice shaking from holding back her tumultuous emotions, "To be desperate for food and a warm bed... to be just a dumb kid who doesn't understand what a strange man's intentions were when he says he'll help you as long as you work? What stupid little girl who was in dire need would question that? I had nobody to teach me any better... I don't think you can empathize with another person at all, so I don't even know why I'm bothering trying to make you understand... So I'm just wasting my breath, aren't I?"

She then stood up, finally allowing him to move once again, and went and picked up his coat which she finally covered herself with. She had to admit, just to herself of course, that it was rather comfortable once she put it on, even if it was a bit big on her. Zeke sat up with his eyes fixed on her... there was one last question lingering in his mind that he thought was benign enough to ask.

"How did you get out of it then?"

"There was a deal of sorts in place," She began, "I got to live comfortably as long as I 'needed' it at the cost of being a working girl. And one day I didn't need to be taken care of by a degenerate pimp anymore."

"And what was it that made you realize you didn't need it anymore?" Zeke pressed.

"It was Reiner," She answered without hesitation, "When the man allowed me out on the town with him, I saw Reiner across the crowd after not seeing him for so long. We met as kids but lost touch a bit before I was... recruited. I remembered. That there was something to fight for. That there was hope, and that my hope was him. Not much later on I declared I did not need that man's help anymore and that I was going to survive on my own and join the military. I fulfilled my end of the bargain for as long as I felt I needed to, so I was free to go."

Zeke rose to his feet too, "So Reiner's your prince then?" He said with a very subtle sarcasm.

"Ahh Absolutely..." She responded sincerely, not picking up on Zeke's mockery at all since she had found comfort in thoughts of her Reiner, "Time and time again over the years he has saved me, defended me and devoted himself to me... he can do so much for me. I'm not strong or skilled in combat so I can't protect or fight alongside him. I'm not level headed and will fall to pieces that he has to pick up, and I'm not very smart either, but there's one thing in this world that I am good at... and that's loving Reiner. So that's what I'll keep doing. I will love him always, because that is the best thing I can do for him. I'm too weak to be the hero of any story, but I can be the one who stands by and supports the true hero of it all until the end of time with my undying love and devotion. That's why... I'm here... my purpose in life is to love him and give him the strength to be the hero who saves not just me... but the entire world."

"...That's all you want to do with your life?" Zeke asked doubtfully, but then he saw a soft smile on her face. Not even his judgmental attitude would dampen her spirits when she got into thinking and talking about Reiner.

"If you loved somebody... you'd understand," She replied quietly but with an unbreakable conviction, "Don't you have someone back home in Marley or something? Or is your life just totally loveless?"

Zeke was puzzled as to why she'd even bring that up, "What does that matter to you, Ziegler?"

"Just asking. I find it hard to believe a big shot like the oh so great Warchief wouldn't have the ladies throwing themselves at you... but then again you are an unbridled dickhead with barely any sense of decency. Not very charming."

She snickered as she went on with her relentless trashing of him. It astounded him that she could effortlessly jump from a grand romantic monologue about her one true love back to her foul mouthed ways.

Silence lingered as the two stared each other down before he spoke again, "I have my reasons for remaining chaste."

"Like what?" she scoffed, "sounds like a poor cover for having zero attractive qualities."

"I'll have you know it's against my chosen ideology to wastefully ejaculate!"

"Oh god did you have to use that specific ter-" Priss stopped after the ick factor of the word 'ejaculate' wore off and she thought about the implication of what he had said, "...Wait, what even is considered wastefully doing that?"

Her eyes narrowed at him as he nervously scratched at his opposite ear as he was one to do before answering bluntly, "Abstinence unless the sex is for procreation, which I can't risk doing, and no... masturbation."

"Oh hold on!" She threw her arms up and latched onto the masturbation part instead of questioning the 'risk' he mentioned, "So you admitted that you betrayed your ideology just moments ago, didn't you?! You said just before that I was your little fantasy for your jerk off sessions! Ohh man, GREAT conviction you have there, Mr. Mighty Warchief."

Things were settling so nicely once she had started spewing her romantic proclamations, but here they were yet again doing battle with their words. She just couldn't go out without being aggressively victorious if she could achieve it – and now he felt he had to defend his actions now that he had been so called out.

"I'm not without my weaknesses, I'm only human... I didn't have time in my life for romantic or sexual pursuits, and how I kept my focus on what I wanted to achieve with my life kept my mind where it needed to be... I was also never faced with temptation like I have been since you showed up."

"That whole wasteful thing sounds a lot like what you said about the sexual stance of Hyperians... Is that something you picked up from my brother?"

"Yes," Zeke said, and then added cryptically, "You might say it was the first step..."

"First step to wha-" But then she went back, "Wait, you wanted to avoid the risk of procreation... and you would have no risk of that with me... so you could just claim you were testing a theory to attempt to procreate as a loophole in your 'ideology' – so I'm just an awfully convenient tool for you to break your noble oath with zero risk. Is fucking for science technically wasteful? Or at this point have you thrown your conviction about this out the window?"

"I've made mistakes, I'll admit that. I can resist though, and be bette-"

"Oh can you?" Priss mocked as she opened up the coat of his she was wearing as she walked backwards away from him and towards where her clothes hung, giving him some full frontal nudity to mockingly tempt him with again, "Good fucking luck with that, Zeke, you're gonna need it."

At least with all her taunting he didn't let slip his royal status, which was what the risk involved with sexual relations was for him. He couldn't willfully risk accidentally spreading his genetic material and having an unknown child of royal blood running around in the world somewhere just for the sake of casually getting laid here and there and to lose his virginity. To him that didn't matter. But the relief of that was short lived as the guilt of him failing in part of his duty lingered in his mind. He had spent all these years able to deny himself, but now it seemed the key to his happiness was also the one to test him – and he was failing so far. If Anteros didn't know about the recent goings on in his mind and body when he was alone then he could at least try to move past it.

Once she had plucked her still wet clothes off the branches they were drip-drying on, the two of them started back towards the outside world. Priss was sure this would be the last time she'd ever have to see this god forsaken place, and she was thrilled to say good riddance to it. If she could, she would have let her small blaze from earlier grow into a fire that burned the city to ash, but to leave it behind without looking back and never return was good enough – and that was an effortless task for her now. She smiled as she remembered burning those dreadful books and the old toy, the simple act of destroying those few things was more liberating than she expected it to be.

When the two emerged from the forest and Priss saw the state Reiner was in, her heart dropped and her eyes started to glisten with tears immediately. For as triumphant as she felt coming out of the encounter alone with Zeke, seeing Reiner so terribly wounded completely ruined any feeling of 'victory' she gained at the end of their confrontation in Hyperia.

"...Give him to me!" She suddenly cried as she lunged forward and ran towards the Cart Titan's mouth. She grabbed Reiner tightly and pulled him out of the Titan's loosened hold on him. He was slick with saliva, it didn't bother Priss but in her frenzy she fell backwards onto the ground from the force of how hard she pulled him away.

Zeke sighed and took a step toward the pair, "Let me help yo-"

"Get away from us!" She screamed at him viciously as she got herself upright once more, not letting go of Reiner's limp, damp body for even a second, "I-I don't need your help!"

Zeke watched as the girl clumsily dragged her lover's body to the side of the Titan and made a pathetic attempt to haul herself and Reiner up into the cart. He didn't want to incur her wrath and listen to her screeching any further that day, so he chose to try to abide by her request to back off, but it was painful witnessing her struggling while she tried to suppress her tears. On top of that, he couldn't afford to stand around waiting for Priscilla to get her shit together and get in the cart which spurred Zeke to act. He swiftly moved forward, tore Reiner away from her and threw him into the cart without any semblance of grace or carefulness.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" She snapped and turned to him with hate blazing in her eyes. It was the exact response he predicted from her, "I told you I didn't need your stupid help!"

"Clearly you did," Zeke responded in a tone that he tried to keep flat, but his underlying frustration couldn't be fully concealed; He was beyond fed up with her tantrums at this point, "Your attempt to try and do it on your own was just pathetic. I can't stand around and waste time just so you can make a sad effort to prove that you're capable of doing something yourself – and for what? Some shallow sense of satisfaction?"

"What is your problem?!" Priscilla wailed in a visceral mixture of disdain and disgust at the man, still fighting back her crying.

"What? You needed help, so I did what had to be done," He argued, "I don't see what the issue is."

Priscilla turned her back on him and started climbing up into the cart herself, which was a manageable task when she didn't have to drag along Reiner's body with her. Under her breath Zeke could hear her muttering 'why didn't he help him' and 'it's all his fault' between her weeps. She so desperately didn't want to cry in front of that despicable man; she had miraculously managed to contain herself when she had gotten into her past just before, but looking at Reiner's mangled body left her wanting to bawl her eyes out.

Once Zeke heard the thunk of her body plopping into the wooden cart, he assumed his position on top of the Cart Titan's head once more. He looked over his shoulder and saw Priscilla pull Reiner closer to her and hold him tightly in the far corner of the cart.

"He just needs time now," Zeke spoke, almost irritated for some reason.

"No!" She fired back venomously, "He needs me!"

The Warchief shook his head and looked forward again as he gave his command for Pieck to get moving. With the manner in which the Cart Titan moved it made the ride in the cart itself rather bumpy, but Priss kept Reiner clutched close to her and refused to let go. She was distraught and at a total loss – she knew there wasn't really anything she realistically could do to speed up his physical recovery, that was all on his own body's ability to regenerate. At this point his limbs were most of the way there and his hair and facial features only had a short ways yet to go before they were fully back.

As she clung tightly to Reiner she heard small noises from him, which she didn't expect in the state he was in now.

"A... Pr...rr..."

"Reiner?!" She exclaimed after hearing him just barely choke out those sounds, "Save your strength, just... come here...!"

She opened the coat she wore a bit and brought his head to her chest where she laid him right over her heart so he'd be able to hear it. As she held his body close with one hand, she took the other to support his head and stroke what minimal amount of his hair had grown back.

"Don't strain yourself, don't try to speak... just listen," She instructed softly as the tears that had been threatening to fall from her eyes finally started to spill out in full force. Her heart was beating hard and fast from all that had just happened, so he could easily feel it as well as hear it, "Let my heart guide you back."

Reiner did as she said and didn't speak or move, not that he could really do either of those things, he just kept still and listened to her strong heart that was beating for him. It could have just been wildly convenient timing, but he started to feel his body strengthen faster. His clarity of mind was making a quicker recovery too... whatever the reasoning was he didn't really care, because to him it was indeed her heart bringing him back from the brink of death right now. His skin against hers, and her heart sharing it's power with him to make sure he made it back to her.

Zeke listened in on what was going on behind him. He didn't really have to steer the Cart Titan since she was, as shifters are, intelligent and knew where to go from here. For some reason he had thought back to Tom Ksaver again and how he had promised him he would use his ability as the Beast Titan to ensure that the Founding Titan was retaken... and the fact that he had left that idea behind in favor of a volatile young woman's hidden power pulled at his heartstrings in the worst way – he was betraying his father figure that he had spent so many years together with. The end result would mostly be the same, but how Anteros offered to get Zeke there was indescribably more alluring.

In the new world my sister births... you will never be alone, Yeager. I've seen how you've been neglected and starved for love. Eternal companionship and so much more awaits you as long as you go along with my plan. So, what do you say? Is the idea hatched with the other Beast better than what I can bring you?

...No, it isn't.

As I thought. It's a deal then. No need to tell him about it, what Tom doesn't know won't hurt him, so proceed as you usually would with him. Now, first we have to get our hands a bit dirty.

What do you mean?

There are people who would stand against us, Yeager, these people are just worthless. I don't like keeping around things without a purpose. They're a waste. You sold out your parents at Tom's suggestion, so this should be easy for you.

Y-Yeah...

And you want to make Tom happy right? I think you and I together will be able to do that. And you'll be happy too, Yeager. So trust me. Tom promoted a slow suicide, isn't existing in everlasting bliss far greater than that? No more despair, no more filth. She will guide us there, so I must ask you to find her. She's more important than you could ever fathom, Yeager. Now, one last thing... on the subject of wasteful things.

Guilt hit him because it wasn't exactly a noble cause he was now working towards, but Ksaver's guidance wasn't geared towards a heroic ending either, yet what he pursued now was more self serving. He wanted that happiness he had been denied all his life and to be free of his shackles that bound him to his beasthood... And now he secured the key to that. The one who would give him what he lacked and yearned for – he wasn't one to believe in fate, but to have obtained Priscilla so easily made him think that destiny must have had a part to play.

It'd be pointless to think more about that though, what he needed to worry about next is how exactly he'd be able to get her on the ship to Marley without opposition or question.