Chapter 25: Subterfuge

"So, Warchief Yeager..." The commander said, addressing him without the tone of mockery that the lower ranked soldiers before did, "Give me some answers."

Zeke's mind had worked quickly to figure out exactly what to say once his initial idea struck him – it all made sense really and it wasn't a stretch to say Reiner was the one who the blame should mostly fall on the more he had put thought into it, and for an intellectual such as Zeke Yeager, this was an easy task.

"We had four operatives who were to infiltrate the Walls. The holder of the Jaw Titan was lost, and Reiner Braun admits that it was his fault that this tragedy occurred," Zeke began. That statement wasn't false though, Reiner did mention to Zeke how he blamed himself for the loss of the Jaw Titan since it was very relevant information to disclose. He went on, "Of the three remaining Warriors who went into deep cover, only the holder of the Armored Titan, Reiner Braun, has returned. Annie Leonheart's whereabouts are unknown, all we know is she was captured by the enemy and the Colossal Titan has been taken by the enemy forces."

"To call this a failure is an insane understatement..." The commander said, looking down and raising one of his hands to rub his head, "All of those losses, and nothing to show for it."

Zeke maintained his poker face when the commander had mentioned how there was nothing gained from the catastrophic failure of his 'official' mission. The commander raised his head once more and silently prompted Zeke to go on.

"Of the three that went deep in to infiltrate the military to locate the holder of the Founding Titan, Reiner Braun was consistently failing to meet expectations. He was plagued with distractions, though he swore he never lost sight of our goal, but I could see that wasn't entirely true... He foolishly revealed himself to our enemies in a fit of hysterics which did nothing to help and only hurt our cause. Then, in our last ditch attempt to take back the Founding Titan, Reiner deviated from the original plan.

It was a trap set up to distract him and he fell for it. He went on to duel the shifter who holds the Founding Titan but he, again, failed to defeat him in combat when the enemy forces deployed their back up. From that point on Reiner was more or less incapacitated and completely useless, he was even taken by the enemy at one point and so weakened by their attacks on him with their new weaponry that they had him utterly subdued. If Pieck and I didn't save him, I have no doubt we would have lost The Armored Titan as well."

"Hm, if this is all true then Braun will be facing heavy scrutiny from the Marleyan military when we reach land," The commander commented, "And rightfully so. His actions sound beyond careless and I'd expect much better than a man who is a Warrior of Marley... They say The Armored Titan is the strongest weapon in the world, how can we continue to let someone so foolish hold it?"

The corner of Zeke's mouth slightly twitched, he could barely contain himself as he watched his plan unfold perfectly, but he managed to not crack a smile and continued on in his professional tone, "Are you saying he could be stripped of his power?"

"That's up to the courts to decide," Said the commander, "The only order I have the authority to give is that as soon as we reach Marley, he is to be immediately handed over and put into high security military custody until a trial can commence that will decide his fate."

"So... won't even let him see his family?"

The commander shook his head, "No, I know there's not likely anything that could go wrong for us if we let him have time with loved ones like that, even briefly, but this order is absolute because we can't risk anything compromising an interrogation regarding this mission. Reiner Braun will be imprisoned immediately and indefinitely with no contact from unauthorized personnel. "

"Understood," Zeke said firmly, adding in a salute to his superior.

"And that means not a word from you to him either about this, Yeager."

"Sir, of course, sir..."

"It was always going to be this way."

She was laying on the ground, pinned by a tall man who had almost identical features to her – the white hair, fair skin and green eyes. The look on his face was a sick sort of rapturous as he looked down at her.

"Who... What..."

"From the moment you were born I knew what we had to do. And it will mark the most significant moment in the history of the entire world. I bet they'll even make it a holiday world-wide..."

"I don't understand..."

"You don't need to understand, Addie. Just accept it. It'll hurt, but just remember that your big brother loves you and knows what's best. You always trusted me before, so I must ask you to do that for me just this one last time."

He leaned down uncomfortably close to her and inhaled deeply, followed by a dark chuckle as he pulled back to look down at her again, this time more adoringly like a lover.

"Ah, yes, that's what he said you smelled like... how could I forget such words? 'Like shimmering beams of moonlight.' Always thought it sounded a bit silly but he's not wrong."

She felt so helpless there at the mercy of her brother, as if her body were paralyzed by an otherworldly force that was keeping her mind in a state of numbness too; the combination of these things made it hard for her to speak and she slurred her words.

"I don't know who... what are you talking about?"

"I wonder what they'll name our holiday... What kind of poetry... What kind of songs..."

"Priss!"

Reiner's loud voice brought her back to their room, laying in their bed just as they had been, but now he had a look of concern on his face and she was sweating from her head that was in agonizing pain.

"Oh, uh, what was? Going on?" She asked, still in that slightly slurred way she spoke in her dream, wincing as her head throbbed with pain.

"I thought you fell asleep, at one point you just kind of started drifting off but your eyes never really closed... and something seemed very... off about it after a while," Reiner explained, "I can't describe it, but it felt like something was wrong. I kept calling out to you, but this is the first time you responded."

"Ah..." Priss could only manage a groan as a response.

"Sorry I ended up shouting, but I was getting desperate," Said Reiner.

"It's not that big of a deal... especially if I wasn't responding otherwise..." She replied. Priss shut her eyes tight and brought one of her hands to her head; she knew full well it wouldn't do anything to help, but to rub it when it hurt was like a reflex.

"Headache?" Reiner asked, and Priss nodded. His face only grew more concerned with this knowledge, "You said you woke up with a headache the other night, and back at camp you had an experience like that too."

"It's worse this time," Priscilla admitted, her eyes opening just a sliver to look at him, "I know this won't make sense but... I'm starting to feel like there's someone trying to put things in my head."

Reiner's worried expression immediately shifted into confusion and he had no words for such a claim, so he merely looked into her pained eyes for an answer.

"The Hyperians have this strange mental connection... some are stronger than others and the higher ranked members used their superior mental strength control to suppress information from the common citizens," Priss explained, "My father had written about how my brother had a level of this power he had never seen before, and may never had been present in the history of the race. So maybe... he's trying to force a connection to show me things he wants me to see or something weird like that."

"And you think that him brute forcing his way into your mind could be hurting you?" Reiner added in, and Priss nodded, "It probably doesn't help that you're physically getting close to him day by day."

"That makes sense too..." She agreed, then sighed and let her hand drop, "I hope I can... talk to him and make him stop..."

"Maybe that's exactly what he wants," Reiner put forward, "Give you a reason to go to him, and then he'll... I don't know what, but I know you wanted to stay away from him, and honestly I don't want him near you either..."

"Urgh..." She grunted and scowled, "What a bastard he is..."

"You know I've got your back," Reiner said, "And I'll do anything to make sure you're safe from whatever he's after with you."

Despite the pain, Priss managed to smile at her lover, feeling that sweetness swell up in her and for a moment be stronger than her aching head, "Mhm, I always know I can count on you, Reiner."

"But what do we do about that headache of yours now?" He asked, "It's still broad daylight out there, you can't rely on your uh... moon magic."

Priss giggled softly at the clumsy way he chose to describe her powers, but at the same time it's not like it was an inaccurate description of how her body reacted to moonlight, "I think some water would be nice."

"Yeah? Yeah, water!" Reiner responded enthusiastically as he hopped from their bed and immediately began to dress himself, "I'll get you some water, I'll be back soon, you just stay in bed and try to relax! Don't move!"

Priss full on burst out laughing as she watched Reiner struggling to get dressed as quickly as possible. The blonde froze and looked over at her, unable to figure out what was so funny, and once she composed herself she cleared it up for him.

"Look at you... It's not like I can't walk or something," She said with a smirk.

"Well I, uh..." He started, raising his hand up and scratching his cheek, "I figure I need to get into the habit of doing more things for you for when you're... uh..."

He used both his hands to motion around his stomach area in a wide, circular motion, and as he did she sat up swiftly.

"Oh you mean when I'm FAT!" She exclaimed.

"What? No, no! Not fat, just- more pregnant than you are right now!" Reiner insisted, immediately stopping the gesturing near his abdomen once he realized what a mistake he made. With one hand on his hip, he slouched and pounded his other fist into his forehead; he couldn't contain his disappointment with himself, to the point that he even started some nervous pacing.

"Aww Reiner, come on, it was just a joke..." Priss cooed, slowly making her way off the bed and over to her distressed lover. She caught him from behind while he paced and gave him a loving embrace, "I know you didn't mean anything by it, and let's face it, a few months from now I am going to be fat so..."

Reiner pulled away from her hug just so he could turn to look at her, grabbing each of her hands and looking deeply into her eyes, "That's not the point. And even if you weren't pregnant I'd be doing anything I could for you if you weren't feeling well anyway. What kind of husband would I be otherwise?"

"Mm..." Priss hummed and tilted her head to the side, "You're just so wonderful, you know that, right?"

"I have to be," He answered, which struck Priscilla as an odd response, but he went on to fill in the blanks, "If I weren't good to you, I wouldn't deserve to be standing here with you like this right now. And I don't know how not to be good to you, that's how it's always been."

Words from her 'dream' shot back to her and pierced through her mind, striking a sudden fear in her, and she asked shakily, "And... it's always gonna be that way, right?"

Reiner gave her a puzzled look, that was the last answer he expected to hear from her.

"Of course it is..." He replied slowly. He noticed a growing anxiety in her eyes so he gave her hands a comforting squeeze, "Why would you think otherwise?"

"That dream, or whatever we're gonna call those, he said something about it 'always being this way' and it reminded me of that..." She went on, as if falling into a trace with every word, "I have no idea what it meant... but it was frightening. Everything he said was frightening."

She nervously looked off to the side and Reiner felt her body shake just from holding her hands. He moved his strong ones up to her shoulders instead, firmly but not too hard, just enough to be comforting and make her feel more secure.

"Just like I said before, I've got your back. Nothing bad is gonna happen."

Priss sighed dreamily as she laid back down, caught up in just how lucky she felt to have a man like Reiner in her life. The real miracle of it all was just how coincidental it was that they met, it made her wonder if fate somehow had a hand in leading them to each other with all things considered. He had to be the one chosen to be a Warrior to come to Paradis, her father had to choose to leave her behind on Paradis, she just happened to lurk her way onto the farm he was living on... a pair of people who weren't even supposed to be together, but still found each other.

Where would I be if we didn't...

She lightly shook her head to banish the thought, because there was no way it'd lead to anything good.

"Still awake?"

While she was daydreaming Reiner had quietly returned; in one hand he held a glass of water while his other fist was closed. Priscilla smiled weakly and sat back up while Reiner made his way over to her and sat next to her, offering her the water.

"Thank you, Reiner..." She said, carefully taking the glass and taking a sip.

"Try this too," He said, showing her what he had hidden in his other hand: a small white tablet, "It's medicine for headaches. I know yours don't seem to be typical ones, but it won't hurt to try, right?"

"Oh..." She marveled at the little pill, "How did you get it?"

"I happened to catch a member of the medical staff who was sympathetic when I said I was trying to help my pregnant wife who was feeling sick and hurting," Reiner explained, "He was standoffish at first, but not all Marleyans are as intolerant as others, at least in a circumstance like this... A pregnant woman in pain is hard to look away from if you have even the smallest bit of sympathy in you. It's still pretty rare you'd find a Marleyan willing to help us out like that, we got really lucky. Once he gave it to me he bitterly told me to get the hell out and not come back for any more free handouts for a 'dirty Eldian.'"

"I see," Was all Priss could muster as she plucked the pill from Reiner's open palm. Her mind was caught on on part of what Reiner had said...

Not all Marleyans are as intolerant as others

"Not everyone..." She whispered, "is..."

"Huh? Did you say something?"

Priss blinked and shook her head before smiling pleasantly over at Reiner, "No, nothing at all. Just a little hazy still is all."

With that thought in the back of her mind now, she took the pill and tossed it into her mouth and chased it with a gulp of water. It wasn't a large tablet, so it went down easily. The two sat in silence as she gradually drank up until the glass was empty. Priss stared down at the empty glass and idly tapped her fingers against it, the only sound that filled the room until she heard Reiner chuckle beside her. She turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I just think it's funny that in all the time you've been sitting here, you still haven't gotten dressed," He explained.

"Ah, oh..." She murmured as she looked down at her still-bare self, "I guess it wasn't thinking about that..."

"Trust me, I have no problem with it since we're in here by ourselves," Reiner assured her, to which she nodded in agreement, "I know it hasn't been all that long, but how are you feeling now?"

"It's slow going but things are getting better," She replied in an unusually grim tone, and the reason for it was made clear when she continued, "But the more I think about it, I'm starting to get scared of going to sleep since that's when it mostly happens..."

"It's just not fair," Reiner said under his breath, but with a hardly-concealed tinge of anger, "That lunatic can force his way into your head, hurt you like that even, but I can't do anything since I can't make you dream of me to fight off anything evil that haunts you..."

Priss flashed a brief but still weak smile, "I remember when you said something like that a long time ago. Back when nightmares were just normal nightmares."

Silence fell again between them; Reiner was dwelling on the hatred for her brother that was growing day by day, and he hadn't even met the guy yet. Priss was still recovering, but was optimistic she'd be feeling well again soon enough, her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of that strangely kind – even if it was the bare minimum definition of the word – doctor that gave Reiner the headache medicine for her. Up until now she saw the world as almost all black and white, you were either good or bad – and Marleyans would always see them as bad with no questions asked. This one act of decency had her questioning what she had experienced all her life with the people of this cold and harsh world. Once more she was filled with euphoria and relief over the fact that she was broken off from her race, if she had stayed with them then she'd be full of loathing that couldn't be questioned or altered by anyone. She had been freed of the eons long shackles of hatred by her abandonment on Paradis, which lead her to find the force that was stronger than hate: love; The thing that she knew would see them through to the end.

"All the details you've provided about the Paradis Island Operation have been documented, Warchief Yeager. I thank you for your compliance," The commander said, "You're dismissed."

Zeke gave his commanding officer a final salute before turning on his heel and striding away, very proud of what he'd done with not a hint of remorse.

"If this works out," He began once he was out of the commander's earshot, "Anteros will be very pleased that I was able to get rid of Reiner without much effort... I know he doesn't like to get his hands dirty, so this would be perfect..."

"Why not? One last time before we reach Marley?" Priss snickered, pawing at Reiner's chest as they laid in bed opposite one another again.

"You sure you feel up to it?" The still concerned Reiner asked.

"I do," She answered.

A decent amount of time had gone by since she had her water and medicine; whether either of those things had to do with her gradually feeling better was unknown, but the point was that she was back to her usual self at this point. The pair had shifted to laying down and were enjoying the quiet moments they had alone. Zeke was nowhere to be found, which itself was a blessing, and the pair hoped he'd remain missing in action for the duration of the voyage. They both inched in closer to each other until their lips softly touched. After just a quick peck, Priscilla's lips curled into a smile and she whispered to Reiner in a sultry voice.

"See, there was a good reason I didn't get dressed again after all... But now we gotta get you out of your clothes again."

"That's never been a tough thing for you do get done," Reiner replied, "Just say the word."

Wild excitement filled Priscilla's eyes and she exclaimed, although in a quiet voice, "Off with 'em!"

With that, Reiner sat up and got himself undressed. He didn't swiftly rush through the task, but maybe it was just the anticipation making the moments crawl by as Priss watched his shirt get tossed to the side, followed by his pants... and so on... as he went on with his tantalizingly slow task, Priss watched his back muscles move in a way that was almost hypnotic before he turned his head to look back over at his lovely goddess with a content smile. He stared at her for just a brief moment before shuffling back to laying next to her, face to face, once more. Their faces were mere inches apart with their eyes locked on the other while Priscilla's elegant fingers ran from down his collarbone, between his pecs, down his defined abs until she stopped to play with his pubic hair a bit – a tease before she went for the end goal.

Feeling her sensual touch on his body and how painfully close she was to touching his dick already had him getting hard. Priscilla's mouth curled into a smile as she would lightly scratch at and twirl her fingers around his hair, taking great joy in this idle playing before she got down to anything explicitly sexual. Her face was cast downwards to watch her fingers work, but she could feel the heat radiating off of Reiner's face that was so close to hers; their foreheads were actually touching at this point since she had tilted her head down to such an extent. Reiner, however, kept his eyes on her face. He enjoyed watching her expression of sexiness and amusement in that moment. She looked so cute, as if she were playing a game – and in a way she sort of was, a devious game of how long she could go without just giving in and grabbing that monster dick.

Despite him enjoying her bit of tantalization, his hardened cock was getting more and more eager by the second to feel her hand stroke it. Thick beads of sweat started to form on his forehead and roll down his face while he waited in anticipation – he couldn't see what she was doing down there, so he couldn't take peek and see when she was gonna go for it. The longer she teased him by keeping her hand just inches away from his cock, that was fully erect and able to nudge against the back of her hand while she played with his hair.

He heard her giggle softly, "It's like you're tapping my hand telling me to get on with it.."

Reiner chuckled, a bit awkwardly, but Priss couldn't help but find it so cute. Even though she wasn't looking at him, she could sense his cheeks were red and hot, and she felt that sweat on his forehead as she still had hers pressed against it.

The pale nymph quickly retracted her hand and for what felt like an eternity she just let it linger above his erection, just shy of touching it. Reiner swallowed hard and his sweating intensified until she finally put him at ease by softly wrapping her hand around it and giving it a loving squeeze. Reiner shuddered when he finally felt the pleasure of her touch, but the fun was only just beginning. Her grip from the tighter squeeze loosened up and she started to gently stroke it up and down lightly – another tease to build up to something more. He looked to what he could see of her face and saw that look of heavenly contentment with a peaceful smile and he swore... he heard her humming. Another one of those tunes with no recognizable melody, just an 'impromptu composition' of her own making as she stroked his cock. It wasn't the first time she'd done such a thing.

The stimulation she was giving him was light, but it was still enough to get him moaning softly. His head fell further forward and pressed harder against hers than before. While she very gently worked him up to where they would go next, his available hand made it's way to her body; his strong fingers brushed along her waist and traveled down and then up over the curvature of her wide hips. Just like her, his touch was very light and like teasing. He continued this motion, but in reverse now starting from her hip and making his way back up to her waist with his soft fingers. Again and again he repeated the motion, taking in the wondrous feeling of her skin under his fingers. All the while he was doing this, Priss's stroking started to get a bit harder, hard to the point that she had to take her hand and bring it up to her mouth to spit on it before returning to jerking him.

The return of her hand, now wet with her saliva, made him shiver again as she held him harder and started to pump on him ever so slightly faster. With Priss moving things along more and more now, Reiner's excitement started to build further. His hand, rather clumsily, flew to her breast and squeeze it causing her to let out a little moan of her own, but it didn't distract her from her task. Her up and down movements were firm, she'd start slowly from the base of his dick and pulled up faster as she approached the tip, then slowly dragged back down again. She went about this until she just settled into an even motion of the same pace up and down, changing up the firmness of her grasp at random instead. Reiner in turn massaged her breast tenderly, he wasn't sure if they might be sore or anything all things considered, but he knew if it were a problem she'd say something.

"Oh..." He heard her murmur breathlessly, "I love it when you touch me. Especially there. It's like your hands fit perfectly on them."

He gave her ample bosom another tender squeeze, doing it in such a way her nipple protruded between two of his fingers and got a good squeeze as well. He felt her squirm slightly, but she wasn't opposed to it, just surprised. Reiner went on to play just with her nipple, grazing it with his thumb; it was his turn to do some of his own teasing. He had such a lust to just launch his face into those tits and suck on one of them shamelessly, but he held back – for now, he would just use his fingers for the nipple play. Each time he did something, anything to her hard nipple, it made her lose her composure on stroking him for just a second, but she was a determined lady when it came to pleasing Reiner so she got right back to it.

Reiner suddenly removed his hand from her breast to reach down between her legs to get an idea of how things were going down there; similarly to his swiftly hardening cock, her pussy was wet and ready for whatever he wanted to do it it, but for now he was just enjoying playing with her ample tits while she stroked steadily, sometimes randomly picking up the pace to throw him off as 'revenge' for how he would make her lose composure with what he did to her body. The two of them glanced at each other and snickered, knowing they were both playing something of a game with each other. Who would break first? Who would be unable to resist going further? Neither of them wanted to relent, but sooner or later someone would have to...

With no warning, Reiner rushed forward and gave her a hard and fast kiss on the lips, forcing his hand to smoosh her tit even further. The sudden impact knocked Priscilla's hand off his dick and instead she used that arm to wrap around his broad shoulders as they kissed passionately. Their bodies lay flush against each other, with Reiner's large cock pressing up against her pubic region and stomach. When their lips would part for brief moments, they'd both inhale deeply so they could get right back to sucking on each other's faces like their lives depended on it.

Between the over the top making out, Reiner managed to get a few words in, "How...you... want do? Mmmph..."

Priss threw her head back, "Just like this," She stated, "Laying here face to face. Seeing eye to eye. Heart to heart."

She lifted her upper leg and over Reiner's hips so that he could get inside her. Reiner curiously and quickly moved his hand down to her entrance and stroked it with two fingers to feel just how wet it was down there again... and oh, she was wet. He brought his hand back up to his face and licked her residual wetness off his fingers, which made Priss tingle with arousal when she saw him do that, turning her cheeks bright red. Reiner noticed her heavy blush and grinned at her, removing his fingers from his mouth and then wrapping his arm around her to make it easier to penetrate her. It was similar to the 'spooning' position they had done in the tent that felt so long ago at this point, but this way... was much more intimate beyond words.

With some careful but blind navigation, the pair of lovers expertly angled their bodies so they didn't need to use their hands to get the head of his dick right in that sweet spot of her slit that was eager to feel him within her again. When the first contact was made, they both shook slightly and felt it vividly since they were pressed right against each other.

Priss suddenly leaned her face in closer to Reiner's each, "Go for it..." she whispered, "I'm ready for you. Just like always."

Reiner couldn't see her face, but he could sense she was smiling as she said those words. With that said, he used what leverage they had and began to slowly push into her – a moment that always pulled a strong moan from her as she felt his swollen head pierce her heavens. She held Reiner tighter as the sensation of his large cock entering her tight pussy engulfed her from head to toe; he could even feel her nails digging into him a bit, even though he was going very slow about it. He considered that maybe the longer, drawn out push was having that affect on her – it certainly was producing a similar feeling in him. With each centimeter he felt his ecstasy build more and more as her tight, hot and wet cunt consumed him – it was something that would surely make a lesser man lose his sanity.

But, since these two were meant for each other, no silly ill effect like that could ever occur. Two bodies built for one another that defied all odds to find each other from across the world. Some would say luck brought them together, but the truth could only be that love lead them to where they are now.

While reveling in the slow and steady penetration, Priss lazily drew her head back to look Reiner in the eyes. She looked as love struck as ever, while he tried to hide that insecurity of possibly hurting her behind his brave gaze; but seeing her like that, despite the wincing and grunting of having his fat cock shoved into her, put him at ease. She was never shy about speaking her mind when they were intimate, and just by looking into her eyes, Reiner could tell she was on cloud nine – as was he.

After what seemed like an eon of 'preparation', he was completely inside her and Priss let out a deep and shuddering sigh as she felt his length completely fill up her tight pussy. Reiner's body shivered and he let out a loud moan as he felt her all consuming him in all the glory that was her warmth and wetness, and he definitely felt her muscles down there give him a squeeze one he was all the way in which just made it all the better. After the initial tension that came with the insertion, their bodies started to melt into each other as she rocked her hips to aid with Reiner's slightly more limited ability to thrust in this position – but, as in sync as they always were, it wasn't about going hard or fast this time. Something in their minds told them that this is how it should be, gentle love making with unbroken eye contact as they held each other like they planned on never letting go.

"Priss?" Reiner whispered, not missing a beat with his thrusting. The girl raised an eyebrow at him in confusion, "You look like you have tears in your eyes..."

"Oh... it's just..." She said dreamily, "That this is just so wonderful, isn't it? I... can't contain myself and how just happy I am to be here with you."

This damn near got Reiner teary eyed too, but he was more thankful that she wasn't crying because she was in pain. Their bodies were one and rocked in unison with each other, going on for so long that they lost track of the time – but a trivial matter such as that didn't matter to them. Priscilla's free hand rested on his chiseled face, while his hand kept a firm hold on her waist. There was no grandiose kissing or teasing the other parts of they body, it was just a slow love making session as they looked into each other's eyes lovingly until the moment finally came. First, for her. Her pussy muscles clenched tightly as she came, with Reiner following by filling her up with his cum from his ever-intense orgasms that were coaxed out of him by her.

There was no need for them to move from that position they were in now, this was all they needed and by the gods they would relish in what they needed and deserved for as long as they wanted... for the shores of Marley couldn't be too far off at this point.

"Let's just stay like this until we absolutely have to get dressed and get going," Reiner suggested in a tired voice, "Why bother getting up now? What are we gonna do besides sit around anyway?"

Priscilla giggled, "You're absolutely right."

Their lazy laying around felt all too fleeting, as Zeke eventually returned to announce that they had reached the continent. The air between them all was tense, so the Warchief just passed on the word and then left to allow the lovers to ready themselves to depart.

This is it... Priss thought as she and Reiner headed up to the deck once they were dressed and otherwise prepared to go.

Her mind went blank and her body felt like it was moving on it's own as Reiner lead her off the ship and into a world that was incomprehensible for her, like her mind couldn't process it. Military officers, ones from the ship and others at the port to intercept them, were hovering around. Priscilla's eyes that were usually so expressive were utterly blank and she couldn't hear anything but white noise.

...Until a single sentence from one of the military officers pierced her trance of wonder over finally reaching Marley:

"Reiner Braun, you are being charged with the failure of the Paradis Island Operation. You must accompany us immediately for questioning and private holding in military custody until further notice."