A/n: New chapter waddup! Not much to report other than my typical slowness, but also my brain is having some struggles with creativity due to some unfortunate life circumstances and I am in a state of knowing I'm not writing as well as I should or could be, but I think things will pass. As always, keep a policy going forward of not mentioning any spoiler details in reviews if you are kind enough to write a review. I think it goes without saying, but I'm gonna put that disclaimer on every chapter now just in case.

Chapter 29: A Silent Call

With sorrow and confidence in our hearts
we show the will to move on
No one shall willfully be deprived of their life

Priscilla stared down at the meal placed in front of her by Karina. A vegetable soup with a side of some sausage – it was light, and arguably common for a citizen of Marley, but Priss absolutely couldn't remember the last time she had a taste of meat; the last things she had eaten were the dull military rations that were only good for mere subsistence and not for satisfaction. Karina set down the silverware and napkins for them as well, following with cups of water for the three of them.

"I know it's not much," Karina said apologetically as she approached her seat and sat down, "But I wanted to keep the lunch light and then focus on a big dinner once Reiner came home."

Gabi eagerly chomped on the sausage first while Karina took spoonfuls of her homemade soup into her mouth. Priss just remained staring with her mouth watering – the smell of it was intoxicating to the point of leaving her stunned. Karina looked over to the unexpected guest – or rather, the new family member – and noticed she wasn't doing anything but looking down in some kind of daze at the food before her.

Karina frowned, "Is it... not something you like?" She asked.

"Huh?" Priss snapped to attention. Once she realized she was hypnotized by a small lunch plate her face went red with embarrassment, "No, no! That's not it at all... I just, I really haven't had something this good in a really long time."

"Eh?" Gabi asked, chewing with her mouth half full, "This is normal stuff we eat all the time."

"Gabi, don't talk with your mouth full," Karina instructed before returning her thoughts to the white haired girl, "You came from that Island where Reiner and his fellow Warriors were deployed to, I know. But I had no idea food could be hard enough to come by that this little lunch is enough to impress you."

Priscilla picked up the spoon and first went for the soup. There was a variety of vegetables in it, none she could identify entirely. Pieces of tomato here, some carrots and a bit of onion were ones she could definitely be sure of. The warmth and richness of the fresh ingredients were so delightful that she sighed dreamily after one spoonful of it.

"It's not that food generally was hard to come by..." Priss said, "Meat became rare when the outer wall was breached since farm land for livestock took a big hit, but I ran into some trouble where I... didn't have access to food really. Then when I joined up with Reiner and Zeke, all they had were military rations."

"I see," Karina replied, then took a sip of her water, "What was the trouble?"

Priss had been about to spoon some more soup into her mouth, but that question froze her in place. After a moment, she put it back down into the bowl and with a deep breath started to explain, "Reiner told me about his secret. It didn't change anything between us, but I quickly became a person of interest for knowing about him once he was suspected of being a shifter. So I was imprisoned and.. well, it wasn't really luxurious, you know."

"Oh," Karina replied, "I'm sorry for asking, I didn't expect..."

"Ah, it's fine," Priss assured her with a wave of her hand, "It's behind us now, and what they ended up doing to me was what lead me back to Reiner anyway. So there was a silver lining to it all."

"Hm?" Karina urged her on.

"I was convicted of a crime against humanity, but my sentence wasn't a..." Priss looked over to Gabi, who was very absorbed in her food still, but Priss still didn't want to be too detailed about this dark matter, "A 'quick end,' if you know what I mean."

Karina nodded, "I understand. What did they end up doing then?"

"I was sentenced to be cast out of society," Priss explained, finally going back to spooning the soup into her mouth, "To wander outside the Walls until I... expired, one way or another."

"Pardon?" A shocked Karina asked, "But that's Titan territory, how did you not get...?"

"Well, the Armored Titan found me first," Priss said with a smile. She totally didn't realize that she should still be keeping up the facade of being an Eldian. No way would Karina or Gabi understand Priscilla unique situation about how she could wander for days and nights without being targeted by a pure Titan to be devoured – her unusual situation that included how moonlight sustained her through those days without food or water.

I gotta be more careful with what I say about myself... She thought, I'll just keep my mouth busy with this food.

Priss then jabbed her fork into the sausage, holding it up with glee before she took a bite and exclaimed, "It all tastes great, Mrs. Braun! Thank you!"

"Oh dear," Karina chuckled, "If you're the woman Reiner has chosen to be his wife, you can just call me mom."

Priss choked on her own breath at that suggestion. For years she had nothing close to a mother, and the days that she did she no longer recalled them – to have a mom was totally foreign to her, especially so suddenly.

"Um..." She murmured, "That could take me a while to get used to, I'll stick with Mrs. Braun for now. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, Priss!" Karina assured her with a kind smile, yet there was something dark lurking behind the pleasantry, "Things must be changing fast for you, so I understand your hesitation. You could also just call me Karina too, whatever you're most comfortable with."

"I'M DONE!" Gabi loudly announced with a proud smile beaming on her face.

"Well then go wash up then like a good girl," Karina said softly, "I'll take care of the dishes."

Gabi nodded, first wiping her hands and face with a napkin, and then brought her dishes over to the sink and placed them inside. The adorable kid then pumped some soap into her hands and washed them real quick at the sink while she was there, finishing it off by drying them on a towel that was hung on a cabinet door beneath the sink. Gabi turned around, flashing the other two women a huge smile as she held her hands up as if to proudly display that they definitely were clean. Priss couldn't help but grin whenever this kid did anything, Gabi was such a bundle of joy of untold proportions that she wasn't ready for at all.

It made her looking forward to her own child grow even more, which wasn't something she even thought was possible with how she was already beyond excited for him to be born.

"Aunt Karina?" Gabi spoke up, and Karina hummed in response, "Can I stay here tonight? I want to stay until Reiner comes home. And I want to stay with Prissy too."

Prissy...? The white haired girl thought. The out of nowhere nickname caught her off guard, but she liked it. If anyone else but Gabi called her it though, then it'd be the farthest thing from endearing or cute.

"Of course you're welcome to stay here any time you want," Karina assured her, "I'll have to ring up your parents and let them know."

"YAY!" Gabi cheered, jumping and thrusting her fist into the air triumphantly. She then ran over to Priss and started to tug on her arm, "Come on! I wanna show you some books!"

"Gabi," Karina took on a stern voice, "Wait until she's done with her lunch, first."

Gabi hung her head, "Ok... Sorry Aunt Karina."

"Why don't you go play and get those books ready you mentioned? She'll be along soon enough, be patient."

"Yes Aunt Karina!" Gabi nodded.

Karina watched Gabi exit the small kitchen where they dined before turning back to Priscilla, "It didn't feel right to bring this up in front of her at this time since she's not fully in the know just yet."

Priscilla's brow cocked curiously, "What's that?"

"You Eldians of Paradis Island," Karina began, that darkness hidden in her that flashed out before was now being unleashed, "Everyone knows they're nothing but devils, terrible people... Your Ancient King and ancestors fled there after making the world absolute hell long ago, leaving many of us behind on this continent to suffer due to your kind. We here on the continent live day in and day out in hopes of atoning for the sins of you and your fathers... This is what Reiner fights for, what the Warriors fight for. They are trying to right the wrongs of your kind and let us virtuous Eldians be redeemed in the eyes of the world."

Priss froze and her eyes bugged out of her head with what Karina just said to her, but once the shock wore off, her eyes narrowed and she scowled at the woman, "What exactly are you trying to say here?"

"It's difficult for me to reconcile," Karina went on quickly, not making eye contact with the girl, "You're one of the bad ones but... Reiner saw something good in you. Something so good that he trusted his secret to you and then risked God knows what to bring you here from that island of monsters. I find it hard to believe my sweet boy would drag home someone bad... So..."

"So?" Priscilla pressed, still with a sour look on her face.

"So I trust Reiner's decision about you," Karina said after a deep sigh, the dark tone of her voice lifting, as well as her face so she could look at Priss, "If he says you're worth the world to him, if you're the one carrying his child, then maybe you're not as much of a monster as the others on that island. And... I will accept you."

"Err..." Priss had no idea what to say. She couldn't reveal the truth about herself, but the pain of not even being able to escape discrimination from other Eldians wasn't something she expected to run into. Karina's words cut deep, but her ultimately deciding that she would accept Priss helped the healing process along.

And at the same time, it all rang so familiar with how her own race looked at Eldians as a whole. Monsters. Devils. Subhuman filth. She was caught up in a dizzying cycle of hatred coming at her from all sides. Hyperians hate all Eldians, Marleyans hate all Eldians, the world hates Eldians, mainland Eldians hate Paradis Eldians – the loathsome nature of it all left Priscilla's stomach churning.

"I may have been too harsh with how I tried to get my point across..." Karina admitted, "Forgive me. All I meant to say is you're welcome in the family."

"Right," Priss whispered. She then pushed what remained of her lunch away from her, "I'm sorry but I lost my appetite. I feel sick all of a sudden. I think... ah, the baby is giving me nausea, yeah."

A little lie to throw the heat of the heavy subject was no big deal, and Karina had no reason to doubt it, "I'll put it away for leftovers then, don't stress too much."

Karina rose to her feet and grabbed Priscilla's half-eaten lunch and started to put it away to preserve it, then moving on to washing the dishes. Something Karina said still lingered in the young woman's mind though, something she couldn't ignore.

"Mrs. Braun?" Priss piped up. Karina looked over her shoulder while she still managed to blindly clean, "What do you mean Gabi isn't fully 'in the know' yet?"

"She hasn't been taught the entire history of how things went ages ago yet," Karina explained, "But in a few days she'll be officially inducted as a Warrior Cadet and begin her training to become a candidate to inherit a shifter's powers when the time comes. During this time she'll be fully educated on the truth of the world."

The truth of the world, huh? Priss thought.

There were few left who knew the history of the Hyperians and Eldians now, which meant that the entire truth of the world as they knew it was largely lost – and of course it was always possible that propaganda could be flying about, but the fact was that Priss and a small few others were the only ones who knew of the eons old secrets that would disrupt civilization as they knew it should they come to light.

"I'll be so happy if Gabi inherits the Armored Titan," Karina mused with a longing sigh. She turned back to face her dish duty, but Priss could practically hear the smile on her face from the tone of her voice, "Then maybe one day your little boy can become a Warrior too and we'll have a third member of the Braun family carry the honor of the Armor. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Priss abruptly stood up with tears ready to spill from her eyes. Karina had no way of knowing the sensitive issue she just got into, to be a Warrior was an honor and a path of redemption, but to Priss it was only a death sentence to those she loved. Reiner would die, then Karina hopes Gabi follows the same path, and then the woman had the gall to take delight in Priscilla's son be taken from her as well. Priscilla's jaw tightened and her fists clenched with anger that she fought to keep within her and not explode in a rage at Karina – she had to pretend that she was someone who believed the same things these 'virtuous' Eldians did, as much as it killed her to do so.

Then, there was the question, of whether her son could even become a Titan. Would his Hyperian genetics override the Eldian ones that were present within him? It was uncharted territory that never had been explored in the entire history of the world before, but it was something Priss never wanted to find out.

"I think I'll go catch up with Gabi," Priss strained to say through her gritted teeth, "Thank you for the lunch."

Before Karina even had a chance to turn around, Priss had rushed away to go find someplace private to deal with her emotions. The home was unfamiliar to her, so she made for the stairs that lead to the second floor to see where they would take her. It was another hall lined with a few more doors, likely bedrooms and a bathroom, but Priss didn't make it far before she just sank to her knees against a wall into a sad lump on the floor. The tears that had welled up finally broke through now that she was alone and they rolled down her cheeks, dropping down onto the wooden floor and leaving small wet marks.

"It's all so terrible..." She whispered despairingly, huddling up in a ball and holding her head, "I don't understand anything... I wish Reiner was here... I-I don't know what to do..."

She sniffled loudly and let out a yelp of a weep, trying to contain herself from all out sobs so Karina didn't hear her and come investigating what was wrong, but the running water from her cleaning up after lunch surely masked any noise Priss was making.

She gripped hard and her fingers tightened in her hair while she wept on the floor, "What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" she repeated frantically to herself through her tears, "I'm just the same as ever... Useless... I can't do anything, I can never do anything without someone to help me. I'm worthless and weak... I want Reiner, but he deserves someone who's strong like him... someone better than me."

Reiner was often the one who wallowed in his lack of worth, but in her current hysterics she couldn't fathom how he could love such a pitiful, helpless creature such as herself. Her mind was too clouded by the agony this world brought onto her to see what she ever succeeded in. The more she learned, the worse she felt. To go back to being ignorant of knowledge that was driving her to the brink of insanity was more appealing day by day – and God only knows what more was yet to come between life in Marley and the machinations of her brother's mind, for all she knew he had even more horrifying eldritch knowledge she hadn't come across in her own research that he was waiting on to reveal.

Priss closed her eyes tightly and envisioned her lover, surrounded by light and giving her that classic heroic smile as she lifted one hand from her head and reached out in a futile attempt to touch the vision, "I need you..."

"Prissy?"

Priscilla's heart jumped and her eyes shot wide open; Gabi had poked her head out from the nearby door, obviously having heard the commotion the girl was causing. Priss stuttered and frantically wiped her face with her sleeves as she clumsily stood up, doing her best to pull herself together – but Gabi wasn't stupid.

"Why are you crying?" Gabi asked.

"I just really miss Reiner, Gabi, that's all!" She exclaimed awkwardly with a painfully forced smile. Gabi pouted and tilted her head to the side.

"It's ok to cry," Gabi said, "You don't have to stop if you don't wanna."

Priss didn't anticipate the rather mature words to come out of the mouth of a child, she fully expected the kid to just accept what she was told, "Ah well... you're right Gabi," Priss agreed with her smile becoming sincere now, "I think I've had enough of it for now though."

Gabi grinned back at her and Priss allowed herself one last final sniffle to seal off her crying fit that her new friend pulled her out of. Priss felt Gabi's tiny hand grab for hers – the kid was straightforward if nothing else – to guide her into the room she was in before she discovered Priss. She pushed the door all the way open and saw a room with a bed and a sad excuse for a nightstand next to it, just a crate with a lantern on it. It was a contrast to even the downstairs kitchen area that, while not quite as modern as the Tyburs, was more furnished than this. Besides those furnishings, there was also a small bookshelf and chest nearby the bed, and that's where Gabi started to lead Priss.

"This was Reiner's bedroom when he was a kid," Gabi explained, "But this is where I stay when I visit Aunt Karina, so I have some toys and books and stuff here now."

"I doubt he'd mind," Priss laughed, then she looked towards the bed that was clearly suited for a growing boy, "I can tell you one thing though, your big cousin definitely wouldn't fit in that bed anymore."

"Huuuuuuh?" Gabi asked, looking over her shoulder after scampering towards the bookshelf, "Is he tall?"

"Oh, very tall! He's a big guy with big, strooooong muscles!" Priss exclaimed, playfully flexing her arms as she did so.

"Woooah..." Gabi marveled at the thought of Reiner having grown so much. It had been a very long time since she'd seen him in person, so her memory of him wasn't perfectly clear, but there were still childhood photos of him at various young ages around that she had seen over the years, "Are you as big as him?"

The question caught Priss off guard, "Huh?"

"I didn't know girls could get as big as you," Gabi said bluntly as she plopped down onto the floor to browse the book shelf, "This is why you gotta be an elf or something. They're all tall and pretty like you."

"Well I'm not quite as tall as Reiner, but close..." Priss said. She took a moment to mentally calculate before offering a more definitive answer, "He's two inches taller than me." And for added effect she raised her hand roughly to the height Reiner would be in comparison to her.

Gabi, still seated, swung her body around with her mouth agape, "Your baby is gonna be huge too!"

"Oh... jeez, I didn't even think about that..." Priss admitted.

"When is the baby coming?" Gabi asked.

"Um... Definitely not soon," Priss answered, "So we gotta be patient, ok?"

"Yeah!" Gabi replied with a big smile, then twisted back around to grab some books, "We can sit on the bed! I'll be right there! I gotta find just the right ones..."

Priscilla's smile almost never left her face while she spoke with Gabi, "Yes ma'am," She said as she beamed and headed for Reiner's old bed. Looking at it, Priss was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to fit in it either without her feet hanging off the edge uncomfortably. If this is where she had to end up staying, she would make the best she could of it and just curl up. She plopped down, causing the bed to creak a bit, and the mattress was on the hard side but it was the best they had there.

"Ok these ones are books for little kids that we never got rid of, but they have the most pictures for me to show you..." Gabi explained as she headed towards the bed with a few picture books in hand. She hopped onto the bed next to Priss and looked through the small collection, humming curiously as she worked out where to start, "...This one!"

Gabi picked up the book, which had clear signs of age with the quality of the edges of the cover and pages. When she opened up to the first page, the illustrations were somewhat fading and there was a small rip to be seen at the top.

Priss leaned in closer to Gabi, "What's this one called?"

"Princess Dusk and The Unicorn!" Gabi happily exclaimed.

Priscilla's eyes lit up, "Unicorn?" and Gabi confirmed with an enthusiastic nod, "I remember unicorns from my childhood, actually! Not like the fairy or elf things you mentioned... I don't really remember stories about them if I ever even read them."

Gabi's eyes lit up the same as Priscilla's and a broad grin spread across her sweet face, "Maybe that's it then," Gabi said as if she just cracked the code, "You could be a unicorn who became a human! Why else would you specifically remember them?!"

"Where's my horn then?" Priss smirked.

"You're hiding it with magic, obviously, just like if you were a fairy you'd use magic to hide your wings. Duh," Gabi stated with certainty, "If you can turn yourself human then of COURSE you can hide your horn too. And why would you have a horn as a human anyway?"

Gabi flipped through the pages of the picture book until she came across the first illustration of the titular unicorn: she was completely white, mane and all, glowing with a divine elegance. Her hooves were cloven unlike what you'd see on a normal horse and with more slender legs while extra tufts of slightly longer hair grew around her ankles. Then of course, was the magnificent horn on her head was the ultimate factor in what made her different from any simple mare.

"They say that unicorns can only be seen or befriended by those who have pure hearts," Gabi explained, "Unicorns don't trust anyone unless they are truly good people."

"Oh, is that so?" Priss asked, happy to engage Gabi.

The girl then looked up to Priss with her glittering brown eyes, "Just like Reiner. He's good. His heart is pure, you would know, right?"

Priscilla's own heart ached at Gabi's reasoning there, but in a good way, "Yes, of course Reiner has a pure heart... he was the only one I could ever trust. He's a true hero, you know."

"IT ALL MAKES PERFECT SENSE!" Gabi exclaimed victoriously, "an Elf or Fairy were waaaaaaay too obvious now that I think about it."

"Heh..." Priss giggled and was unable to stop herself from encouraging Gabi's fantasy, "Well, you got me. Secret's out, but I know you won't tell."

Gabi shook her head, "No no, never! I know those boring grown ups wouldn't believe it or see it anyway..." She took a moment to take a breath before excitedly continuing, "Will you show me one day, Prissy?!"

"...Huh?"

"Show me you! As a unicorn!"

Oh shit now I've done it. Uh...

"Oh, I'm sorry Gabi but I can't," Priss said, but she didn't have an excuse lined up yet, much to Gabi's disappointment that was obviously visible on her face. But after a moment, she thought of something, "See, now that I'm human, I can't turn back. I gave it up when I first laid eyes on Reiner. I was in love right away, and for a unicorn to love someone, they must give up their magic and stay a human forever."

"W-What?" Gabi asked, a hint of devastation in her voice, "Is that true? I've never heard that before..."

"I would know better than anyone else, wouldn't I?" Priss said with a wink.

"Do you miss it?" Gabi pressed.

Priss shook her head, "Not one bit. Finding that special person to love is more powerful than any magic a unicorn could ever dream of having."

Gabi flopped backwards onto the bed, arms spread out as she stared at the ceiling in utter amazement. Under her breath, she let out a quiet, but drawn out, "Wow."

"That's how great your big cousin is!" Said Priss, laying on her back too next to Gabi, careful not to lay herself over one of the kid's arms, so that they both were looking to the ceiling, "A life without the power of love is a sad and lonely one, you know."

"Something on your mind, Tybur?"

The pensive Willy's eyes darted over to Anteros, followed by a heavy sigh, "The report on the recent testings at Fort Salta are taking longer than anticipated to reach me," Willy explained, "And given the top secret nature of the project it's risky to go asking about it unless I had very good reason to. Some tardiness on updates isn't a huge issue, the reports have to first go through Lakua anyway so of course it isn't a quick process, but it gets me on edge all the same."

"Oh, you worry too much about that Atlas Project nonsense," Anteros waved his hand dismissively, "A tertiary plan isn't necessary. The initial back up plan isn't even needed either, I have Yeager's unquestionable loyalty and my plan will not fail."

"See that's the thing," Willy said, "I see the way you treat Zeke, and that doesn't exactly inspire faith in him to carry anything out as planned. It doesn't hurt to have another fail safe prepared."

"Your idea is even less effective for what I'm aiming to achieve," Anteros countered, however still in his calm tone, "It's circumstantial and doesn't eradicate the entire Eldian race and will have a messy aftermath from what I've learned about it in my spare time."

"Should Paradis threaten the world, it'll be a helpful tool to at least suppress them in case what you offer isn't ready," Willy countered, "It's of general use to the military, they were the ones who started the research of their own volition after all. I just happened to think it could be useful and chose to quietly back the research, hopefully my financial contribution will expedite the progression of it."

"Fair point on it being multi-purpose, I won't argue with that... having the nation of Marley lose it's status as the greatest military power in the world would be such a tragedy, and with nations developing anti-Titan weaponry, Marley's Titans only grow weaker with each passing day."

Willy let out yet another sigh, but one of distress this time, "The product of The Atlas Project isn't something to be taken lightly," He began, "It would only be the absolute last resort in war. We don't even know much about it ourselves yet, it's completely uncharted territory in terms of weapon's development. The world... is woefully unprepared for the use of nuclear power in this way."

"As far as I know, people who aren't members of specific academia or high political standings don't even know what nuclear power is," Anteros chortled, "Or at least, it's a safe bet that they don't. It's been thoroughly kept hidden from the general population."

"And for good reaso-"

Willy was cut off by a knock on his door before his sister, Helen, peered in to speak with him, "I have a private correspondence for you, Willy. From a 'Mr. Heinlein' and he says it's urgent."

"Speak of the devil..." Anteros snickered.

Upon stepping back into the kitchen, Priscilla's nose was hit with the delightful smell of what was unmistakably that tea. She saw Karina standing at the counter top, stirring the hot steamy beverage in a tea cup that sat on a small saucer to carry it on.

"I really can't express how sorry I am for how I said things after we ate," Karina spoke totally unprompted. She took the spoon from the tea cup and placed it in the sink, before picking it up and bringing it over to Priss, "And I doubt a small gesture like making some tea for you will help things, but I felt like doing it anyway."

"Oh," Priss said, blinking with mild surprise. She reached out and took the saucer and teacup carefully, "Thank you."

"And admittedly I was curious about what it must be like..." Karina laughed, "But none for me, the smell alone gives me enough of an idea. It's very nice."

"You should make yourself some too," Priss suggested; she kept in mind their strained encounter and instead of dwelling in pettiness, she chose to make their relationship work. To cause needless drama with Reiner's mother wouldn't get Priss anywhere, even if Karina 'started it,' so taking the high road was what she knew she had to do.

"Oh, I couldn't! Warchief Zeke bought something expensive as a gift specifically for you, it wouldn't be right for me to take any," Karina explained, "He must be fond of you to be spending money on you."

"Yeah, Zeke is real fond of m-" Priss began sarcastically, but she stopped once she processed what Karina's real point was, "Wait, what makes you say it was all that expensive?"

"Warchief Zeke said it himself that he had to pay a lot for it, and the packaging... definitely not something mass produced, it was home made with care just like the mixture of tea leaves and other herbs. Something with so much dedication put into it couldn't be cheap, even if Warchief Zeke didn't get charged extra for being an Eldian."

Priss raised the cup to her lips, taking in that same floral aroma she recalled from drinking it before, "I guess you have a point..." She murmured before she finally took a sip, "But really, have some if you want. It's not my problem how that dumb monkey spends his money."

Karina's hands flew to her mouth in shock, "I've never heard someone talk about our heroic Warchief in such a flippant way... Not a fellow Eldian anyway..."

Oh there's so much I wish I could say to that, Priss thought but she remained quiet and sipped on her tea, If only she knew where that bruise came from. I wonder if Reiner said in the letter not to ask about it...

"How are we supposed to get married?"

Several days had passed since Priss last spoke with Zeke, who paid her a special visit now that he had some free time to pass on his idea to her.

"Just on paper," Zeke plainly stated, "Not a ceremony or anything. You can save that for when Reiner gets out of this mess."

Priss exhaled sharply, "Alright, well how are we gonna do that?"

"Paperwork... signatures of the bride and groom..." Zeke flatly prattled, "Along with a judge..."

"So you'll help?" She interjected, "I can't go see him, so you'd have to be the one to get his signature on... whatever the papers are."

"Uhh... Well, I could try..." Zeke cleared his throat awkwardly, "It's a heavily guarded place, I won't so easily be able to-"

"You smuggled out his handwritten note!" She shouted, "I don't think it's too wild to believe you'd get shit for some official government documents or whatever."

Zeke looked away, breaking the eye contact he previously held with her. He noticed the box of tea he had gifted her was down to just a couple of tea bags at this point. Zeke wanted to admonish her for doing exactly the opposite as he requested – she hadn't paced herself at all, but to scold her would be pointless. She was the queen of not being able to control herself, it'd be a fool's errand to even address it.

"Like I said..." Zeke spoke, darting his eyes to her without turning his head back, "I'll try."

"You better get it done," Priss hissed, "You can't just dangle a good idea in front of me like that and not follow through... when you're the only one who can even get to him."

Silence fell between them. Gabi was in the house, but Priss instructed her to stay upstairs while she spoke about 'grown up things' with Zeke, and if one listened closely enough you could hear the pitter patter of her feet above. Priss was staring down Zeke with her wide green eyes, staying ominously connected to his dull and hooded ones. As the quiet moment lingered, the girl's facial expression started to soften until her hard exterior broke down and she uttered what she could only hope was the magic word:

"Please help."

Zeke didn't know what to say, since realistically all he could do was make his best effort – there was no guarantee he could successfully get these two married by being their little messenger boy. However, just reiterating that wouldn't be a satisfying answer. Zeke slowly nodded at her, seeing the desperation in her eyes at it's peak, but still said nothing. The white haired girl let out a tiny sigh of relief, but the sadness in her eyes hadn't fully dispelled yet. Zeke straightened out his posture and had been prepared to leave now that they had come to some sort of agreement.

"Thank you..." She whispered, "So just keep me upda-"

Her whole body flinched and she winced, a stark shift from her gratitude with lingering despair to what was unmistakably physical pain. With this sudden development, Zeke thought it best to wait before walking out. Even from a few feet away he could see more indication that she was unwell, specifically that she suddenly was covered in sweat and her breathing became heavy.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

Zeke took a few steps towards her, and as he did Priscilla's knees weakened and she fell forward clumsily onto him. Zeke managed to stay on his feet, but she sank down to the floor gripping at his pant leg with on hand, while her other had drifted to her stomach.

"Something... it hurts..." She panted, then looked up to Zeke from the floor with tears already spilling out of her eyes, "Oh god... Oh god..."

Zeke started to panic and Priscilla's panting erupted into an agonized scream and giving way to full on sobs. Never had she felt a pain like this before, for all she knew she could be dying. With her loud shriek and continued crying and panting, Gabi easily heard the commotion and run downstairs.

"Prissy?" She asked, voice cracking upon seeing the girl who had spent almost all her time bonding with her on the ground in pain, "W-What's wrong?!"

"Gabi, go back upstairs..." Zeke commanded sternly, finally kneeling down and picking up Priss, "I have to take 'Prissy' to the doctor, she's sick. But she'll be just fine, I promise."

Before Gabi could say anything, be it an objection or an obedient nod, Zeke had departed swiftly. The urgency of the situation had his adrenaline pumping, making the weight of her like a feather more than an exceedingly tall girl. Her heavy breathing echoed in his ear as he ran through the town to get to the hospital, along with the haunting question that he knew the answer to, but couldn't bring himself to be the one to say it:

"What's happening to me, Zeke?"

When she wasn't uttering frantic, confused questions or letting out moans of pain, one thing remained unchanged: her eyes were calling for his help, silently, but they never stopped begging for it.