Summary:
A sudden death might have left the newlyweds questioning themselves but with it, a new life was delivered into the horrifying world yet with hopes of a new peaceful beginning. Although another unfortunate incident catches everyone at the lowest point they could ever be.
A/N: Before I present the next part of the Clash of Titans, I just realized that this impending confrontation would be a full Eren versus Reiner fight for the third time (if you didn't include the short one punch intermission in Liberio, that is). I'm not really great in describing action/fight scenes, so it'll be very likely the fight will happen in a flashback. Short but focuses on the pivotal parts because I can't wait for the newlyweds' story to begin in Liberio after the current arc in this story. Apart from that, no one would've known how Eren's story would end in the manga at this point. It could be anyone's guess. Thus, it would be pure AU from here onwards. Nevertheless, I really hope you would still enjoy it.
Without further ado, this chapter is inspired by Colin and Caroline's cover of Sia's Elastic Heart.
Warning: A death of a canon character will take place in this chapter.
As You Are
Chapter Six
Elastic Heart
And I will stay up through the night
And let's be clear, won't close my eyes
And I know that I can survive
I'll walk through fire to save my life
And I want it, I want my life so bad
I'm doing everything I can
Then another one bites the dust
It's hard to lose a chosen one
You did not break me
(You did not break me, no)
I'm still fighting for peace
Well, I've got thick skin and an elastic heart,
But your blade—it might be too sharp
I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard,
Yeah, I may snap and I move fast
But you won't see me fall apart
'Cause I've got an elastic heart
In the middle of the vast open plains between the forest of the giant trees and Wall Rose, a lone cart could be seen moving across the grass-covered ground heading towards the direction of Wall Maria. A single horse was pulling the wooden cart carrying the battered, broken body of the fallen Beast Titan shifter, under the scrutinizing eyes of Levi Ackerman and the hooded figure of Porco Galliard. The mount was steered to move in slower motion, but when one of the wheels ran over a stray pebble in its route, the cart jerked, prompting Levi to caution the driver.
"You haven't been on a horse for too long that your steering gets shitty, huh, brat?"
Reiner, who was holding the reins, gave a light smirk in return. "It's been a while."
Humanity's Strongest Soldier directed his gaze back at the figure on the cart's floor. "We still need this asshole alive. Another bump and all of us will explode along with this sorry piece of shit." He gritted his teeth when he saw Zeke's busted jaw trying to move.
"All of you are wrong. You have no idea what is coming to this Island. The Rumbling is the only thing that can save Eldia and I will not stop until I have carried out my mission," croaked their current prisoner.
Levi squinted his eyes in a fit of well-concealed anger. "Shut your trap. How many more people would have to die for Eldia?".
The top of Wall Maria soon began to unveil itself the closer they were to the century-old oppressive monument. The setting sun gave out a rather sinister view the moment Porco took in the massive wall with his vision. This was after all the first time he ever stepped foot in Paradis. Just by looking at the walls constructed by the orders of the selfish King Fritz XVI had been enough to make him burn with bitterness so strong that it made him rethink that the Eldians in Marley and those in this Island were not so much different after all the military propaganda that was conditioned into his brain ever since he was a young child.
They were taught to hate their own kind, who shared the same blood, the same curse running through their veins. They were both oppressed and marginalized by those with power and authority.
Those in Liberio, by the Marley government.
Those in Paradis, by their own royal ruler.
His eyes moved from the large structure of the first of three layers of constriction around the Island, Wall Maria, to his immediate superior. While Bertolt had been the one who destroyed the outer wall on the northern side, yet it was Reiner who had knocked down the inner gate of the Hizuru princess' hometown, hiking up the unnecessary death tolls in their first attack against the people in Paradis, forcing her to abandon her home and her family.
That eventually made him realized how reasonable was the Princess' anger and hatred towards her new husband. The very fact that Reiner survived their first night together without so much as a cut showed how hard Lady Ackerman had been restraining herself from killing him, all for the promise of a peaceful future.
To know that Zeke had been double-crossing both Marley and Paradis when they reached the shores of Paradis, only made it worst. From what he can deduce from their earlier conversation before they board the Hizuru transporter to the island, the Princess had to rush home to Paradis because of a recent 'unexpected development'.
"Lord Hosokawa, I prefer not to be kept in the dark of Mikasa's whereabouts. If she is in fact on the ship to Paradis as we speak, I deserved the right to know the reason why," stated the new War Chief of Marley to their host. Porco could see the agitation evident in Reiner's eyes as he tried to reason with the royal admiral.
The military veteran remained calm, as the saying goes, patience did increase with time and age. He believed his own son would make the right decision when it comes to appeasing their new young Lord. "Milord, the ships docked with the supplies and soldiers that had been entrusted to assist the Marley government are ready to set sail at your command. My own son, Takeshi, is the head of the battalion and he is your right hand when it comes to the Hizuru empire. However, when it comes to the Princess, no one but you would have the authority. Not even the Lady Kiyomi could decide for her as of yesterday."
A young man, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Lord Hosokawa stepped forward and bowed down to him. A long deep breath escaped Reiner's lips in frustration yet he returned the gesture with respect.
Yet, Hosokawa continued, "However, I am to deliver you a copy of the parchment that came from the Council of the World's Allied Nations, not too long after you took the vow as the new Lord of Hizuru yestereve."
The admiral's explanation was responded with a questioning look on the faces of all the members of the Marleyan's entourage. Magath included, as he looked into the document in Reiner's hands.
"Is this even possible?", asked the young War Chief, when he looked up from the parchment.
The Jaw Titan holder chimed in "What? What's possible?"
Magath gave a long, thoughtful nod to his immediate subordinate. There was no questioning the authenticity of the wax seal on the sandy paper. He had the privilege of attending one of the council's conferences as the representative of Marley's Titan Unit before this but right now would be the first time he has ever seen a potentially impactful piece of document up close. "The Princess knew what she was doing. This could be the beginning of a new world for the Eldians."
Lord Hosokawa calmly awaited the ensuing response. "My Lord," he addressed their new young leader. "It is now your call. Your lady wife is trying to bridge the void between our nations but she would need to first provide her support in mediating the unexpected rebellion inside the Island first. She is a strong woman but we do fear for her safety."
There was a steely gaze in Reiner's eyes when he looked at his fellow Warriors before looking at Magath's direction and instructed, "Commander, you shall lead the main Hizuru transporter back to Marley with fifty of the trained soldiers and resources for emergency relief. Please bring my mother along with you. Lord Takeshi, please prep another transporter, load them up with firearms and get the remaining soldiers onboard."
His newly-mandated right hand bowed down in acknowledgment. "As you wish, my liege."
The only woman in attendance questioned, she shook her head in disbelief. "Do you really want to launch an assault on Paradis right now?"
Reiner shook his head to her question. "No, Pieck. I'm bringing reinforcements for my wife. She is trying to attempt something no one has ever done in history. It is my sworn duty to be there with her."
Unbeknownst to everyone, Lord Hosokawa gazed upon the young honorable Lord of Hizuru with a well-hidden sense of pride. 'May Izanagi ease your endeavors in leading our nations to a new beginning, young Lord.''
Meanwhile, this time around, Reiner has more reasons to return to Paradis with haste.
"Levi..." Reiner called out as he steered the reins of the horse pulling on the cart. At times like this, Pieck would have been a great help. She was their greatest transporting asset after all.
His former superior sent a bored look in response. "What is it, brat?"
"Have you met with Mikasa lately?"
There was a silence as he contemplated his answer. "Not since we return from Liberio. Why?"
"Just out of curiosity. Is Krista well?"
"Why are we catching up right now?" A small sigh escaped Levi's lips. "Regardless, Krista is now Queen Historia. You shall not address her in any other way."
'She's what? THE Queen of Paradis is her?'
Reiner remained steadfast yet the hands holding the reins began to shook.
"She was doing fine and well. Until she got herself knocked up because of this ape's brilliant idea. All because he needed his Titan to be transferred to another person with royal blood."
He held himself back from halting the moving horse but he did spare a quick glance back at his former commanding officer. He believed that he could still fulfill the promise he made to Ymir. "This rebellion...are they putting her in danger?"
Levi shrugged. His bangs billowed in the gentle breeze. "God knows what Eren is planning now that this asswipe failed to escape so they could meet. But I do know that as much as that idiot is unpredictable, after his stunt in Liberio, I am not surprised if he plans to usurp the throne now while the Queen is hiding away, waiting for the day she will give birth to the royal heir. If he ever sits on that throne, not only Paradis, but the whole world will be fucked."
Reiner's heartbeat escalated erratically in his chest upon hearing every word that came out of Levi's mouth. Every information felt like a full frontal assault to his brain.
Could he still save Krista from all of the mess happening on this Island?
"Stop here," ordered Levi. His hand adjusted his hold on the trigger of the Thunder spear wrapped around Zeke's neck. He looked at the gate, north of Wall Maria, where on the other side of the gate was Shinganshina.
Eren was waiting for them on the other side of the wall. "If he wants his dear brother, he has to come to us and take this piece of shit himself."
"What if he shifts when he knows we're heading this way?" asked Porco out loud.
Reiner answered. "Then we'll shift too. But the civilians inside the town-"
"-have been evacuated. That idiot is really adamant in triggering the Rumbling but as long as he is not able to touch someone with royal blood, there is nothing we should fear," Levi piped in.
Their ears soon picked up the sounds of hooves approaching to where they were. It was a carriage. They instantaneously stood on their guard but once Levi recognized the figure riding on the front, his rigid shoulders loosened a little bit.
It was Jean.
When the carriage stopped, it didn't take long for the rest of the carriage's passengers to step out of the vehicle. His former comrades - Jean, Armin and Connie had a stunned expression on their faces upon seeing the two people who were with their Captain.
Armin called out. "Reiner?"
"What did you say, Armin?" Jean looked at him in disbelief.
"That's Reiner?" asked Connie, his mouth opened.
Reiner could recognize how so different they were from the last time he saw them. The same group of spunky kids has grown up to be tall, grown young men. Even Connie had grown his hair.
Although obviously, the unexpected reunion would not be greeted with laughter and good reminiscence when an ominous threat was waiting for them on the other side of the gate, where everything began ten years ago.
The other group approached the pull cart on foot.
"Jean, Connie, Armin." Reiner greeted them with the names he never had the privilege to mention in Marley since the day they parted ways.
The others nod, only Jean returned the greeting. "Reiner".
"Jean, where's Hange?," asked Levi to his immediate Squad Leader.
"Hange and Mikasa are rushing to aid the Queen. She is in labor and she's dying right now…."
Levi shook his head. "What? That's not possible. She's only due to give birth in three or four more moons!"
"What should we do, Captain?"
"The only thing I could think of is right now would be the perfect opportunity to feed Zeke to the Queen. That would be the only way to save her life."
"What about Eren?"
"We still have Zeke with us, he's not going to be able to do anything without this piece of shit." Levi looked up towards the ember rays descended within the horizons. "The sun's almost set. We need to head to the orphanage and regroup with Hange. If there is no other way, Historia needs to consume Zeke as soon as she delivers her child. But these two-" Levi referred to the two enemy Titan shifters.
Jean began to protest. "We were locked up by Eren's followers but their comrade helped us escape."
It must have been Pieck...
Reiner and Porco looked at each other as they picked up the essence of the Survey Corps' conversation.
Armin agreed. "We can trust them."
"Are you really sure that he," said Levi as he pointed towards his former subordinate. "would not be betraying us the way he did before? We just attacked them two weeks ago." Not that he needed the assurance, seeing that he had his life indebted to the Armored Titan and Jaw Titan's timely rescue much earlier.
The young military strategist nodded his head. "Affirmative, Captain. I believe you have not been updated of a recent development that was unveiled earlier today with Mikasa's return from Hizuru."
"SHE WHAT? When did she ever leave?" Levi's grey irises went wide upon hearing Armin's answer.
"Ah shit…." Connie cursed under his breath. Wait till their Captain finds out about the rest of the news.
In particular, a wedding which he was not invited to nor had the knowledge of.
Jean and Connie were both beginning to get squeamish under the intense stare of their superior.
Reiner silently observed the exchange between the Survey Corps' members. From the looks of it, none of them knew the intricacies of the alliance between Marley and Hizuru, and how Paradis came in between.
Everything was too much for Reiner's brain to digest but one thing for sure, Krista needs help and he'd be damned if he couldn't help her in any way he could. He worried for Krista's safety more than anything else at that moment.
Levi took in a deep breath than usual. "Explain, brats. It's a long way to the orphanage."
Unbeknownst to all of them, even Porco, Reiner's palms began to sweat with nervousness.
He was very sure that none of them had an inkling of his current status and that Mikasa took extreme care in not divulging the identity of her husband to her comrades but at this rate, it would soon be really difficult to keep their secret in the dark for long.
But for now, Krista- no, Queen Historia needed their assistance.
XoXoX
In the secluded area hidden far within the forest, a moderate distance away from Wall Maria, there lied a cluster of wooden farm houses where it had become a well-run orphanage by the Queen herself. From one of the local farmhouses, sounds of screaming could be heard coming from the inside. Two men could be seen stationed outside the house, standing vigil and unperturbed. It was very obvious that they were from the military and were guarding someone of obvious importance inside the dwelling.
A carriage stood outside, with its horse remained loose to graze the fresh green grass out in the fields.
Not too long, a man dressed in a typical farming attire with his light hair hidden underneath a paperboy hat stepped out of the closed door. The moment he reached the wooden railing outside of the farmhouse, he broke down with his face in his hands.
Lost and desperate.
He was losing the woman that he had ever loved.
He knew he was being used from the first moment Historia came to him with her proposition seven months ago.
He initially helped out at the orphanage with the farming works to atone for his past mistakes when he was just a blubbering, idiot kid who bullied the bastard daughter of a noble for fun.
Due to that, he didn't decline her proposition and the fact that he had fallen hopelessly in love with her the moment he saw her at her old house again, the one that she turned into an orphanage for unwanted kids just like her, well, he would never say no to his Queen.
Even when he eventually realized that she was already with another man's child the day she came to him.
Historia's scream broke him out of his pondering. He was frustrated. He knew she was dying. Her labor was not progressing and it has already been almost a day since her water broke.
He was hopeful when the Commander of the Survey Corps' came to assist but even he wasn't oblivious to the forlorn look on the older woman's face.
Inside the room, even when the Queen within the walls was fighting for her life and that of her child's, even she wasn't able to push aside her responsibilities to her people.
Historia's heart broke the moment she received the news from the capital. The chaos that was taking place inside her kingdom.
But Mikasa's form of alliance with Marley will be the hope her people needs.
"Commander Hange, please promise me that you would help me deliver this child. This child is the priority," plead Historia, her thin fingers gripped against her former Commander's hand in a weak grip.
Hange nodded grimly but not without making her concerns known. "Historia, the only way for me to deliver this child would be by cutting you open. There's no way you could take that much pain and I'm not sure how long I would need to stitch you back together. The longer your body is open, the higher the risk of infection or death."
"Please...Whatever it takes," begged the young Queen.
Even then Hange knew the current condition of the room itself would bring a huge risk to the Queen's mortality rate - dirt crusted walls and unsterilized pieces of equipment. Even if the Queen miraculously survives this birth, there is no way she could live without any long-term internal injury or defect.
Mikasa protested her Queen's words persistently. "No, Historia. You would die."
"I know. But my child needs to live. The baby will be the hope of our people. It needs to survive. Before we do this, please get me a paper and a quill. In the event when I do not survive this childbirth, please treat this document as my last will."
Anka, who had been standing nearby quickly ran towards the living hall and grabbed the awaiting blank parchments on the Queen's writing table.
Historia muttered a weak thank you to her loyal lady-in-waiting and swallowed back a bitter grunt when she felt the consecutive wave of contraction - stronger and more frequent this time - from her belly.
She was running out of time.
Mikasa assisted to wipe away the flowing beads of sweat on the Queen's forehead as she struggled to share her last words.
"Commander, please help me write this down……"
All while the Queen was preparing herself for a birth that she would not survive, the carriage and the cart from the outskirts of Shinganshina could be heard approaching the farmhouse.
Armin wasted no time in jumping out of the carriage to inform his superior that there was still hope for the Queen, in the form of Zeke Jeager.
While Reiner and Porco stayed vigil on the cart, Levi requested for Jean and Connie to keep a close eye on the defeated, broken figure of the Beast Titan shifter before he stepped down from the cart and walked into the house.
They saw a young farmer who was standing on the porch, approaching their group the moment Levi passed by him at the front entrance.
"How is she doing?" asked Jean the moment the man with the light brown hair was within walking distance.
He shook his head, his eyes were red with traces of tears he might have wiped earlier. "She might not make it. Her body couldn't handle the birth."
"What did Commander Hange say?" It was Connie's turn to ask.
The young man only shook his head again, helplessly. "Nothing."
For all of them, they understood well when Hange could not offer any explanation, it would be because there was absolutely none.
It wasn't too long later when the sound of a newborn crying could be heard coming from inside the farmhouse, causing all of them to turn their heads around in alarm. Armin calmly walked out of the door, approaching the group waiting outside.
The Colossal Titan holder sighed. "The Queen is in her last moments. Now would be a good time for us to pay our respects."
The young farmer instantly rushed towards the house, repeatedly chanting the word 'No' as he did. Jean, Connie, and Onyankopon could only send similar looks of sympathy towards the young man.
Yet, Connie pointed out. "Wasn't the original plan was to feed Zeke to Historia?"
"She insisted that she would not want to be injected with the serum and she demanded that her body is to be burnt instead of buried."
Jean asked, "What about the baby?"
Armin sighed. "It's a princess. She named her Ymir."
Porco squinted his eyes towards Reiner. "Isn't that the name of the girl who was the previous holder of my Titan?"
Reiner, who had been a silent observer, nodded weakly upon hearing his friend's question.
He was too late. Why did it happen this way? Why can't he ever get anything right?
He cleared his throat, swallowing the bitterness within. "Armin, could we pay our last respect to her?"
"Go ahead." Armin nodded. Despite being enemies, Reiner used to be their comrade. He cared about Krista at one point in time. There was nothing left to lose. Who was he to stop him from saying his goodbye?
XoXoX
"Mikasa…."
The raven-haired royal heir from Hizuru only responded with tears flowing down her face as she gave her longtime friend - who was on the verge of last breath - the emptiest stare as her response.
The dying Queen of Paradis looked deathly pale, her golden hair lost its shine and her cheeks appeared much gaunter than before. The white blanket covering her open belly was now tainted with dark red blood. Hange looked dejected, feeling so disappointed in herself for not being able to try harder in closing up the wound in an impossible environment and given circumstances. The newborn was cradled gently in Anka's arms, as she too couldn't hold back the tears from her eyes when she looked at the unfortunate baby.
"Please forgive me for the hurt I've caused you…."
"Stop it, Historia."
"I took him from you."
Several drops of tears trickled down Mikasa's flushed cheeks. "He was never mine to start with."
"You left because of us."
"I left because I want to help you both."
"I don't deserve to ask anything from you right now but please keep our daughter away from her father. Never let Eren touch our baby. I want her to live a long, peaceful life. Promise me, on my last breath, please."
"I promise." There was never any remorse in her heart towards her dear friend. Even when said friend managed to achieve the happiness she had been yearning for since a very long time ago.
"Mikasa, you are the purest person I've ever known. I pray that you have the happy ending that you deserved."
She had lost Sasha. Now she was losing the only good female friend she still has and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
She couldn't fight a mother's will for her child to live.
Historia for her baby.
Like Carla did with Eren.
Like Mama did with her.
She averted her gaze away from Historia. Regardless of what happened between her and Eren, it would never change the fact that Historia will always be like a sister to her and she couldn't bear to see the life slowly leaving her fragile body.
The Captain of the Survey Corps' who had been in silence the whole time stomped both of his feet down on the wooden floor. "Historia, stop this nonsense! We can inject you with the serum and Zeke is ready outside for you-"
"LEVI!" Hange sternly reminded her comrade.
He stubbornly ignored his best friend's words. "Live, brat! Your child needs you! Don't make me force you to survive the way I did before!" His raised voice agitated his own broken ribs, causing him to cradle his torso in both pain and frustration.
Mikasa held him back with her words. "Captain, please!"
Historia pleaded to her loyal guardian's compassion. "As your Queen, I demand that you stand down, Captain….please honor my last wish. I wish to die in my own terms."
There was a hopeful gaze in her dying eyes. "Captain Levi, I entrust my daughter's safety to you and the Azumabito family. Please execute all of the words I have instructed in my will."
"I can't do this…." Levi stood up and left the room in a limp due to the excruciating pain inside his chest. He just couldn't see another mother abandoning her own child behind. On his way out through the bedroom door, he passed by his two saviors from earlier.
Unbeknownst to everyone inside that room, Porco and Reiner had been standing silent from the outside. They were able to witness and hear all the words exchanged inside that room very clearly.
Historia's head slowly turned towards the doorway. Her eyes squinted in a struggle to see the shadow standing there. "Henrik? Henrik, I'm sorry."
The other ladies directed their gazes in the Queen's line of vision. Anka softly replied, "No, my Queen, it's not your consort. He stepped out earlier because he couldn't bear to see you in so much pain."
Mikasa was taken by surprise upon recognizing the newcomers. She didn't expect him to be there nor to be reunited with him so soon. "Reiner…"
He nodded, his eyes moved to his younger wife. "Mikasa…".
The interchange between the reunited husband and wife was as formal and awkward as it could possibly be between two former friends in the unknowing public eyes.
His amber eyes darted to the dying blonde-haired young woman on the bed. The bubbly young girl he'd dreamed that he'd married one day.
Who would've thought he'd marry the other girl who he wouldn't even dare himself to dream of instead?
"Krista." He greeted her with obvious pain in his voice. He didn't expect that the only time they would meet again, would also be the last time they do.
Historia struggled to draw in a breath upon hearing their former comrade's name from Mikasa's lips. However, it was the moment her sky blue eyes landed on the auburn-haired young man standing next to Reiner that she gasped in astonishment. "Ymir…."
Porco himself was taken aback when the Queen of Paradis called out for the name of the girl who was his Titan's previous holder. Nevertheless, he dared himself to move forward and knelt next to the bed where the Queen was lying on. It was the only respectful action to do at someone's deathbed.
"Ymir….you came back."
It was not possible for her to be able to tell that he was the one who consumed her best friend and former lover, yet he couldn't deny a dying woman's last wish.
His hand shot up to caress her face in a gentle, precise manner.
The moment his hand touched her pale skin which was getting colder by the minute, Porco could feel it in his heart that the other woman loved this Queen a lot in her previous life.
"I miss you…"
Porco couldn't help but return her words with the same endearment. "How could I ever forget about you, my beautiful Krista."
There was a smile on the young Queen's face right before the light disappeared from her blue eyes and she remained cold, immobile the moment the hands of Death ripped her soul away from her body.
"N-n….no….." Mikasa whimpered helplessly the way she cried for Sasha on that blimp. Hange held her just like the way she did the day Armin died.
But this time no one was coming back to life.
The room was shrouded with instant looming darkness, gone was the Queen within the walls of Paradis. Only the helpless cries from her newborn and her dear friend filled the silence in the world she left behind.
XoXoX
Only a handful of the Queen's loyal followers stood in front of the burning pyre. In the still of the amber skies, with only several lanterns and the ray of the setting sun to light the immediate procession, the small group gathered to bid their final farewell to the deceased ruler of Paradis. They made haste in ensuring that the Queen's lifeless body was burnt as soon as she drew her last breath.
Levi, Mikasa, Armin, Anka and Henrik, Historia's childhood friend stood in the first row, followed by the rest at the back. The newborn nestled peacefully against Anka's chest. Hange faced the others, with her back to the flames and began to give her last send off to the Queen.
"Here lies the last resting place of Queen Historia Reiss, the truthful ruler of Wall Maria, Rose and Sina of Paradis. The truest, most selfless leader with a heart dedicated only for humanity. As one of the four remaining military Commanders who had been entrusted with our dearly departed Queen's last will, it is my sole responsibility to execute her last words."
Hange moved forward in reading the contents of the document out loud. "This document will be notarized by Commander Zoe Hange of the Survey Corps and in the presence of Princess Mikasa Ackerman of House Azumabito from Hizuru as the sole witness. I hereby list down my consents. In the event when I do not survive this childbirth, please treat this document as my last will."
"I wished to retain my human form and forbid anyone to desecrate my will by forcing the serum on me, living or dead. I entrust my child into the protection of the Azumabito family of the royal Hizuru empire in the East Sea with Captain Levi Ackerman as her primary guardian. She will be the ward of the royal family until she has reached sixteen years of age and ready to ascend the throne left by my passing. As of today, Paradis will be under the sole governance of the Supreme General, who will be elected through a council in the presence of the representatives of the World's Allied Nations."
Both remaining survivors of the Ackerman clan nodded, Levi with a cold expression on his face while Mikasa with tears running down her own.
All while the will was read out by Hange, Reiner's eyes had never moved from settling on the back of his younger wife's head.
"I declare Eren Jeager, the father of my child, as an extremist and must be stopped at all cost to preserve peace. I too, consent to the peace treaty between Paradis and the Marley government with the Hizuru empire as the mediator."
Reiner grasped his hands tightly with constrained anger upon hearing the last paragraph from the Queen's last will. It finally explained a lot on the mysterious reasons why Mikasa left Paradis to return to Hizuru and willingly resigned herself to an arranged marriage with an enemy from Marley so soon after the assault on Liberio.
She was doing it to ensure Historia's safety and her child's future. And that child happened to be the daughter of the only man she had loved since they were younger.
Was he angry that Eren took advantage of Historia? Maybe they did truly fall in love with each other. What he wasn't able to comprehend was how much it must've broken Mikasa's heart.
Reiner sent an apologetic look towards his new bride who was standing right in front of him, with her back to his and Porco's direction.
Mikasa was sacrificing herself for others, not only for their people but also for the two people she cared so much. It was difficult for him the moment he found out who he was marrying but it would have been a thousand times harder on her.
Hange closed the document in her hands and looked up to the remaining Survey Corps members that she still had in front of her. Even including the former enemies, now allies, from Marley, the place they had assaulted two weeks ago solely to retrieve Eren, who was now a declared traitor instead.
"I suggest all of us to get as much rest as we can and rotate the watch duties in turn. Tomorrow will be a big day for all of us."
Levi turned and made a move towards the other side of the farmhouse. "Great. I'll go and check on the two pieces of shits inside the barn."
Levi and Hange made a move towards the barnyard together. They were, after all, experts in human interrogation.
Reiner wanted to pull Mikasa aside and tell her that he would be with her in any form she would have him - even as an acquaintance if not a friend. Yet, the moment his eyes caught the way Jean's hand lingered on her back in a comforting gesture as she mourned the death of another friend, Reiner knew his presence would always be insignificant to her.
He may be her husband, who deserved her loyalty and respect but he would never have her heart.
He had lost the only girl he ever had strong feelings for and now he knew he was already on the verge of losing another.
"Reiner," nudged Porco, even he noticed his friend's agitation. "They are just friends in mourning."
Reiner nodded, cleverly hiding the frustration on his face with a tight smile.
Armin and Connie, who were passing by the two shifters on their way back to the farmhouse couldn't help but invite the Marley natives to walk with them. "Reiner, you and your friend want to come with us?," asked Armin. They couldn't possibly be as familiar as they were when they were young, naive trainees but at that moment, there was no reason for them to be at each other's throats either when a common enemy was waiting for them when the sun rises in the west.
Reiner exchanged a quick look with Porco and nodded. The four young men walked towards the direction of the farmhouse. Reiner's head, however, did turn back to look at the pyre behind them.
Jean was holding the grieving Mikasa in his arms.
Reiner wasn't sure how he should really feel about that.
Not that he had any right to even feel remotely anything.
The walk back to the farmhouse was a short but painfully silent journey. The slowly consuming guilt deep inside all four of them made a civil conversation became inhumanly possible, even when an alliance was a destined outcome.
Meanwhile, Armin, who was still conflicted on having to come clean to Reiner that it was indeed him who had unintentionally taken away his best friend's Colossal Titan, found himself noticing a piece of rather discreet information from the different way the Armored Titan from Marley carried himself.
It was only when the moment Reiner rested an Oriental blade, carrying the significant symbol of the Azumabito clan on the dining table that Armin had begun to suspect something else.
It looked exactly like the one Mikasa was carrying with her.
Only important figures in the royal family from Hizuru would be entrusted with such blades. He knew that much for sure.
Armin then attempted to coax the answer out of the Jaw Titan holder, in particular, to confirm how much power Marley could possibly have after the attack that had wiped out almost all of its main forces.
"Hizuru had given us a relief team consisted of two hundred trained soldiers as part of the agreement between the binding alliance." Porco offered a very brief, vague explanation.
Armin questioned again, "Miss Kiyomi is aware that you are bringing her armed forces here?"
Porco leaned forward, but Reiner rested a hand on his shoulder, reminding him to not let his mouth run again. The Jaw Titan holder offered a vague answer again. "She respects the orders of the new Lord of Hizuru now."
At that moment, Mikasa passed through the door with Jean following closely behind. In one hand, she cradled her military overcoat while her other hand clutched her blade tightly in her hold.
There was a moment of a fleeting panic on her face when she saw Reiner and Porco. As if it finally registered on her mind that the tall, blonde-haired man sitting opposite of Armin was now her lawfully-wedded husband who had come to her aid.
Before one of them could even say anything to the other, the sounds of hooves against the ground could be heard from the distance. The group instantaneously be on guard as they suspected that it could be a group of Jeagerists storming into their prisoners' rescue.
However, there were no signs of panic nor alarm due to a sudden assault. Reiner approached the doorway, with Jean standing next to him, trying to make out the identity of the unannounced group of visitors. They saw Levi and Hange confronted the leader of the troop.
Reiner's eyes lit up upon realizing the identity of the group's leader.
"Pieck!", exclaimed Porco upon seeing the face of his paramour as she approached the doorway. Yet they both remained professional, greeting each other with only a slight nod instead.
"Your Highness," greeted Pieck with a bow when her eyes landed on Mikasa.
The royal heir bowed down. "Miss Pieck." Before Mikasa could even ask about the children, the female shifter offered the information first. "The children have settled onboard the ship. They are under Lord Takeshi's care."
"Children?" Reiner's amber eyes widened questioningly.
"Yes, War Chief Braun. Both Gabi and Falco are safe. All thanks to Lady Mikasa."
He averted his gaze towards his wife, yearning for an explanation.
Mikasa shook her head, trying very hard to conceal the telltale reddening of her cheeks. "It was nothing."
Pieck shook her head. "Your cousin was almost killed today if it wasn't for your-"
"Ms. Pieck- it's really nothing." Mikasa stammered, trying to stop Pieck from revealing the secret she had been trying to keep until the right time.
Reiner understood her predicament. No one else on Paradis' side knew the nature of their new relationship.
Of course, she wouldn't want her former lover to know.
Reiner noticed Jean's questioning look and decided to divert the course of their conversation. "I am glad that they are both alright. What is the status of Lord Takeshi's position?"
The long-haired female shifter offered a formal answer to her superior. "The Hizuru militants are armed and on standby for your orders, War Chief."
At that moment, Armin finally picked up the last clue to the question which had been playing inside his mind the whole day.
The heirloom blade of the Azumabito family….
The new War Chief after Zeke's defection….
The Hizuru soldiers are placed under his direct command.
Which means he is the new Lord of Hizuru and the only way it could possibly happen would be……
…...by way of his marriage to Mikasa.
Just before Armin could even begin to point out his finding, the back door was thrown open suddenly by Levi, followed by Hange. "Zeke communicated with Eren through the paths. It is possible if we don't head out immediately, Eren would be here soon!"
Mikasa and Armin looked at each other before she pointed out, "There are children here!"
Her childhood friend gave everyone another grave reminder of how irredeemable was the Attack Titan holder. His sky blue eyes pierced deep into her grey irises as he said, "Eren had killed many more in Liberio. You saw it with your own two eyes. If we don't stop Eren today, more innocent lives will be taken away. We have to do this. Not only for the families and the children here but even for your own unborn children too, Mikasa. They will never be safe."
In that particular moment, Mikasa's eyes met with Reiner's in the short distance with mutual acceptance, or understanding even and Armin's perceptive gaze had finally confirmed the suspicions that had been running around his head ever since Mikasa's return from Hizuru. "If Eren succeeds in killing all of us shifters today, then, Mikasa, your sacrifice will be for nothing."
Pieck and Reiner were very quick to pick up a very telling word in the young strategist's words.
He's the Colossal holder.
Levi grunted in frustration. "I should've mangled that monkey scum to untraceable pieces when I had the chance earlier."
Armin shook his head. "Captain, you knew if you did that, the power could have possibly transferred to another Eldian child or even worst, the Queen's newborn. Right now we have to make sure that either Zeke or the baby is far away from Eren's reach."
It must have been Pieck...
Reiner and Porco looked at each other as they picked up the essence of the Survey Corps' conversation.
Armin agreed. "We can trust them."
"Are you really sure that he," said Levi as he pointed towards his former subordinate. "would not be betraying us the way he did before? We just attacked them two weeks ago." Not that he needed the assurance, seeing that he had his life indebted to the Armored Titan and Jaw Titan's timely rescue much earlier.
The young military strategist nodded his head. "Affirmative, Captain. I believe you have not been updated of a recent development that was unveiled earlier today with Mikasa's return from Hizuru."
"SHE WHAT? When did she ever leave?" Levi's grey irises went wide upon hearing Armin's answer.
"Ah shit…." Connie cursed under his breath. Wait till their Captain finds out about the rest of the news.
In particular, a wedding which he was not invited to nor had the knowledge of.
Jean and Connie were both beginning to get squeamish under the intense stare of their superior.
Reiner silently observed the exchange between the Survey Corps' members. From the looks of it, none of them knew the intricacies of the alliance between Marley and Hizuru, and how Paradis came in between.
Everything was too much for Reiner's brain to digest but one thing for sure, Krista needs help and he'd be damned if he couldn't help her in any way he could. He worried for Krista's safety more than anything else at that moment.
Levi took in a deep breath than usual. "Explain, brats. It's a long way to the orphanage."
Unbeknownst to all of them, even Porco, Reiner's palms began to sweat with nervousness.
He was very sure that none of them had an inkling of his current status and that Mikasa took extreme care in not divulging the identity of her husband to her comrades but at this rate, it would soon be really difficult to keep their secret in the dark for long.
But for now, Krista- no, Queen Historia needed their assistance.
XoXoX
In the secluded area hidden far within the forest, a moderate distance away from Wall Maria, there lied a cluster of wooden farm houses where it had become a well-run orphanage by the Queen herself. From one of the local farmhouses, sounds of screaming could be heard coming from the inside. Two men could be seen stationed outside the house, standing vigil and unperturbed. It was very obvious that they were from the military and were guarding someone of obvious importance inside the dwelling.
A carriage stood outside, with its horse remained loose to graze the fresh green grass out in the fields.
Not too long, a man dressed in a typical farming attire with his light hair hidden underneath a paperboy hat stepped out of the closed door. The moment he reached the wooden railing outside of the farmhouse, he broke down with his face in his hands.
Lost and desperate.
He was losing the woman that he had ever loved.
He knew he was being used from the first moment Historia came to him with her proposition seven months ago.
He initially helped out at the orphanage with the farming works to atone for his past mistakes when he was just a blubbering, idiot kid who bullied the bastard daughter of a noble for fun.
Due to that, he didn't decline her proposition and the fact that he had fallen hopelessly in love with her the moment he saw her at her old house again, the one that she turned into an orphanage for unwanted kids just like her, well, he would never say no to his Queen.
Even when he eventually realized that she was already with another man's child the day she came to him.
Historia's scream broke him out of his pondering. He was frustrated. He knew she was dying. Her labor was not progressing and it has already been almost a day since her water broke.
He was hopeful when the Commander of the Survey Corps' came to assist but even he wasn't oblivious to the forlorn look on the older woman's face.
Inside the room, even when the Queen within the walls was fighting for her life and that of her child's, even she wasn't able to push aside her responsibilities to her people.
Historia's heart broke the moment she received the news from the capital. The chaos that was taking place inside her kingdom.
But Mikasa's form of alliance with Marley will be the hope her people needs.
"Commander Hange, please promise me that you would help me deliver this child. This child is the priority," plead Historia, her thin fingers gripped against her former Commander's hand in a weak grip.
Hange nodded grimly but not without making her concerns known. "Historia, the only way for me to deliver this child would be by cutting you open. There's no way you could take that much pain and I'm not sure how long I would need to stitch you back together. The longer your body is open, the higher the risk of infection or death."
"Please...Whatever it takes," begged the young Queen.
Even then Hange knew the current condition of the room itself would bring a huge risk to the Queen's mortality rate - dirt crusted walls and unsterilized pieces of equipment. Even if the Queen miraculously survives this birth, there is no way she could live without any long-term internal injury or defect.
Mikasa protested her Queen's words persistently. "No, Historia. You would die."
"I know. But my child needs to live. The baby will be the hope of our people. It needs to survive. Before we do this, please get me a paper and a quill. In the event when I do not survive this childbirth, please treat this document as my last will."
Anka, who had been standing nearby quickly ran towards the living hall and grabbed the awaiting blank parchments on the Queen's writing table.
Historia muttered a weak thank you to her loyal lady-in-waiting and swallowed back a bitter grunt when she felt the consecutive wave of contraction - stronger and more frequent this time - from her belly.
She was running out of time.
Mikasa assisted to wipe away the flowing beads of sweat on the Queen's forehead as she struggled to share her last words.
"Commander, please help me write this down……"
All while the Queen was preparing herself for a birth that she would not survive, the carriage and the cart from the outskirts of Shinganshina could be heard approaching the farmhouse.
Armin wasted no time in jumping out of the carriage to inform his superior that there was still hope for the Queen, in the form of Zeke Jeager.
While Reiner and Porco stayed vigil on the cart, Levi requested for Jean and Connie to keep a close eye on the defeated, broken figure of the Beast Titan shifter before he stepped down from the cart and walked into the house.
They saw a young farmer who was standing on the porch, approaching their group the moment Levi passed by him at the front entrance.
"How is she doing?" asked Jean the moment the man with the light brown hair was within walking distance.
He shook his head, his eyes were red with traces of tears he might have wiped earlier. "She might not make it. Her body couldn't handle the birth."
"What did Commander Hange say?" It was Connie's turn to ask.
The young man only shook his head again, helplessly. "Nothing."
For all of them, they understood well when Hange could not offer any explanation, it would be because there was absolutely none.
It wasn't too long later when the sound of a newborn crying could be heard coming from inside the farmhouse, causing all of them to turn their heads around in alarm. Armin calmly walked out of the door, approaching the group waiting outside.
The Colossal Titan holder sighed. "The Queen is in her last moments. Now would be a good time for us to pay our respects."
The young farmer instantly rushed towards the house, repeatedly chanting the word 'No' as he did. Jean, Connie, and Onyankopon could only send similar looks of sympathy towards the young man.
Yet, Connie pointed out. "Wasn't the original plan was to feed Zeke to Historia?"
"She insisted that she would not want to be injected with the serum and she demanded that her body is to be burnt instead of buried."
Jean asked, "What about the baby?"
Armin sighed. "It's a princess. She named her Ymir."
Porco squinted his eyes towards Reiner. "Isn't that the name of the girl who was the previous holder of my Titan?"
Reiner, who had been a silent observer, nodded weakly upon hearing his friend's question.
He was too late. Why did it happen this way? Why can't he ever get anything right?
He cleared his throat, swallowing the bitterness within. "Armin, could we pay our last respect to her?"
"Go ahead." Armin nodded. Despite being enemies, Reiner used to be their comrade. He cared about Krista at one point in time. There was nothing left to lose. Who was he to stop him from saying his goodbye?
XoXoX
"Mikasa…."
The raven-haired royal heir from Hizuru only responded with tears flowing down her face as she gave her longtime friend - who was on the verge of last breath - the emptiest stare as her response.
The dying Queen of Paradis looked deathly pale, her golden hair lost its shine and her cheeks appeared much gaunter than before. The white blanket covering her open belly was now tainted with dark red blood. Hange looked dejected, feeling so disappointed in herself for not being able to try harder in closing up the wound in an impossible environment and given circumstances. The newborn was cradled gently in Anka's arms, as she too couldn't hold back the tears from her eyes when she looked at the unfortunate baby.
"Please forgive me for the hurt I've caused you…."
"Stop it, Historia."
"I took him from you."
Several drops of tears trickled down Mikasa's flushed cheeks. "He was never mine to start with."
"You left because of us."
"I left because I want to help you both."
"I don't deserve to ask anything from you right now but please keep our daughter away from her father. Never let Eren touch our baby. I want her to live a long, peaceful life. Promise me, on my last breath, please."
"I promise." There was never any remorse in her heart towards her dear friend. Even when said friend managed to achieve the happiness she had been yearning for since a very long time ago.
"Mikasa, you are the purest person I've ever known. I pray that you have the happy ending that you deserved."
She had lost Sasha. Now she was losing the only good female friend she still has and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
She couldn't fight a mother's will for her child to live.
Historia for her baby.
Like Carla did with Eren.
Like Mama did with her.
She averted her gaze away from Historia. Regardless of what happened between her and Eren, it would never change the fact that Historia will always be like a sister to her and she couldn't bear to see the life slowly leaving her fragile body.
The Captain of the Survey Corps' who had been in silence the whole time stomped both of his feet down on the wooden floor. "Historia, stop this nonsense! We can inject you with the serum and Zeke is ready outside for you-"
"LEVI!" Hange sternly reminded her comrade.
He stubbornly ignored his best friend's words. "Live, brat! Your child needs you! Don't make me force you to survive the way I did before!" His raised voice agitated his own broken ribs, causing him to cradle his torso in both pain and frustration.
Mikasa held him back with her words. "Captain, please!"
Historia pleaded to her loyal guardian's compassion. "As your Queen, I demand that you stand down, Captain….please honor my last wish. I wish to die in my own terms."
There was a hopeful gaze in her dying eyes. "Captain Levi, I entrust my daughter's safety to you and the Azumabito family. Please execute all of the words I have instructed in my will."
"I can't do this…." Levi stood up and left the room in a limp due to the excruciating pain inside his chest. He just couldn't see another mother abandoning her own child behind. On his way out through the bedroom door, he passed by his two saviors from earlier.
Unbeknownst to everyone inside that room, Porco and Reiner had been standing silent from the outside. They were able to witness and hear all the words exchanged inside that room very clearly.
Historia's head slowly turned towards the doorway. Her eyes squinted in a struggle to see the shadow standing there. "Henrik? Henrik, I'm sorry."
The other ladies directed their gazes in the Queen's line of vision. Anka softly replied, "No, my Queen, it's not your consort. He stepped out earlier because he couldn't bear to see you in so much pain."
Mikasa was taken by surprise upon recognizing the newcomers. She didn't expect him to be there nor to be reunited with him so soon. "Reiner…"
He nodded, his eyes moved to his younger wife. "Mikasa…".
The interchange between the reunited husband and wife was as formal and awkward as it could possibly between two former friends in the unknowing public eyes.
His amber eyes darted to the dying blonde-haired young woman on the bed. The bubbly young girl he'd dreamed that he'd married one day.
Who would've thought he'd marry the other girl who he wouldn't even dare himself to dream of instead?
"Krista." He greeted her with obvious pain in his voice. He didn't expect that the only time they would meet again, would also be the last time they do.
Historia struggled to draw in a breath upon hearing their former comrade's name from Mikasa's lips. However, it was the moment her sky blue eyes landed on the auburn-haired young man standing next to Reiner that she gasped in astonishment. "Ymir…."
Porco himself was taken aback when the Queen of Paradis called out for the name of the girl who was his Titan's previous holder. Nevertheless, he dared himself to move forward and knelt next to the bed where the Queen was lying on. It was the only respectful action to do at someone's deathbed.
"Ymir….you came back."
It was not possible for her to be able to tell that he was the one who consumed her best friend and former lover, yet he couldn't deny a dying woman's last wish.
His hand shot up to caress her face in a gentle, precise manner.
The moment his hand touched her pale skin which was getting colder by the minute, Porco could feel it in his heart that the other woman loved this Queen a lot in her previous life.
"I miss you…"
Porco couldn't help but return her words with the same endearment. "How could I ever forget about you, my beautiful Krista."
There was a smile on the young Queen's face right before the light disappeared from her blue eyes and she remained cold, immobile the moment the hands of Death ripped her soul away from her body.
"N-n….no….." Mikasa whimpered helplessly the way she cried for Sasha on that blimp. Hange held her just like the way she did the day Armin died.
But this time no one was coming back to life.
The room was shrouded with instant looming darkness, gone was the Queen within the walls of Paradis. Only the helpless cries from her newborn and her dear friend filled the silence in the world she left behind.
XoXoX
Only a handful of the Queen's loyal followers stood in front of the burning pyre. In the still of the amber skies, with only several lanterns and the ray of the setting sun to light the immediate procession, the small group gathered to bid their final farewell to the deceased ruler of Paradis. They made haste in ensuring that the Queen's lifeless body was burnt as soon as she drew her last breath.
Levi, Mikasa, Armin, Anka and Henrik, Historia's childhood friend stood in the first row, followed by the rest at the back. The newborn nestled peacefully against Anka's chest. Hange faced the others, with her back to the flames and began to give her last send off to the Queen.
"Here lies the last resting place of Queen Historia Reiss, the truthful ruler of Wall Maria, Rose and Sina of Paradis. The truest, most selfless leader with a heart dedicated only for humanity. As one of the four remaining military Commanders who had been entrusted with our dearly departed Queen's last will, it is my sole responsibility to execute her last words."
Hange moved forward in reading the contents of the document out loud. "This document will be notarized by Commander Zoe Hange of the Survey Corps and in the presence of Princess Mikasa Ackerman of House Azumabito from Hizuru as the sole witness. I hereby list down my consents. In the event when I do not survive this childbirth, please treat this document as my last will."
"I wished to retain my human form and forbid anyone to desecrate my will by forcing the serum on me, living or dead. I entrust my child into the protection of the Azumabito family of the royal Hizuru empire in the East Sea with Captain Levi Ackerman as her primary guardian. She will be the ward of the royal family until she has reached sixteen years of age and ready to ascend the throne left by my passing. As of today, Paradis will be under the sole governance of the Supreme General, who will be elected through a council in the presence of the representatives of the World's Allied Nations."
Both remaining survivors of the Ackerman clan nodded, Levi with a cold expression on his face while Mikasa with tears running down her own.
All while the will was read out by Hange, Reiner's eyes had never moved from settling on the back of his younger wife's head.
"I declare Eren Jeager, the father of my child, as an extremist and must be stopped at all cost to preserve peace. I too, consent to the peace treaty between Paradis and the Marley government with the Hizuru empire as the mediator."
Reiner grasped his hands tightly with constrained anger upon hearing the last paragraph from the Queen's last will. It finally explained a lot on the mysterious reasons why Mikasa left Paradis to return to Hizuru and willingly resigned herself to an arranged marriage with an enemy from Marley so soon after the assault on Liberio.
She was doing it to ensure Historia's safety and her child's future. And that child happened to be the daughter of the only man she had loved since they were younger.
Was he angry that Eren took advantage of Historia? Maybe they did truly fell in love with each other. What he wasn't able to comprehend was how much it must've broken Mikasa's heart.
Reiner sent an apologetic look towards his new bride who was standing right in front of him, with her back to his and Porco's direction.
Mikasa was sacrificing herself for others, not only for their people but also for the two people she cared so much. It was difficult for him the moment he found out who he was marrying but it would have been a thousand times harder on her.
Hange closed the document in her hands and looked up to the remaining Survey Corps members that she still had in front of her. Even including the former enemies, now allies, from Marley, the place they had assaulted two weeks ago solely to retrieve Eren, who was now a declared traitor instead.
"I suggest all of us to get as much rest as we can and rotate the watch duties in turn. Tomorrow will be a big day for all of us."
Levi turned and made a move towards the other side of the farmhouse. "Great. I'll go and check on the two pieces of shits inside the barn."
Levi and Hange made a move towards the barnyard together. They were, after all, experts in human interrogation.
Reiner wanted to pull Mikasa aside and tell her that he would be with her in any form she would have him - even as an acquaintance if not a friend. Yet, the moment his eyes caught the way Jean's hand lingered on her back in a comforting gesture as she mourned the death of another friend, Reiner knew his presence would always be insignificant to her.
He may be her husband, who deserved her loyalty and respect but he would never have her heart.
He had lost the only girl he ever had strong feelings for and now he knew he was already on the verge of losing another.
"Reiner," nudged Porco, even he noticed his friend's agitation. "They are just friends in mourning."
Reiner nodded, cleverly hiding the frustration on his face with a tight smile.
Armin and Connie, who were passing by the two shifters on their way back to the farmhouse couldn't help but invite the Marley natives to walk with them. "Reiner, you and your friend want to come with us?," asked Armin. They couldn't possibly be as familiar as they were when they were young, naive trainees but at that moment, there was no reason for them to be at each other's throats either when a common enemy was waiting for them when the sun rises in the west.
Reiner exchanged a quick look with Porco and nodded. The four young men walked towards the direction of the farmhouse. Reiner's head, however, did turn back to look at the pyre behind them.
Jean was holding the grieving Mikasa in his arms.
Reiner wasn't sure how he should really feel about that.
Not that he had any right to even feel remotely anything.
The walk back to the farmhouse was a short but painfully silent journey. The slowly consuming guilt deep inside all four of them made a civil conversation became inhumanly possible, even when an alliance was a destined outcome.
Meanwhile, Armin, who was still conflicted on having to come clean to Reiner that it was indeed him who had unintentionally taken away his best friend's Colossal Titan, found himself noticing a piece of rather discreet information from the different way the Armored Titan from Marley carried himself.
It was only when the moment Reiner rested an Oriental blade, carrying the significant symbol of the Azumabito clan on the dining table that Armin had begun to suspect something else.
It looked exactly like the one Mikasa was carrying with her.
Only important figures in the royal family from Hizuru would be entrusted with such blades. He knew that much for sure.
Armin then attempted to coax the answer out of the Jaw Titan holder, in particular, to confirm how much power Marley could possibly have after the attack that had wiped out almost all of its main forces.
"Hizuru had given us a relief team consisted of two hundred trained soldiers as part of the agreement between the binding alliance." Porco offered a very brief, vague explanation.
Armin questioned again, "Miss Kiyomi is aware that you are bringing her armed forces here?"
Porco leaned forward, but Reiner rested a hand on his shoulder, reminding him to not let his mouth run again. The Jaw Titan holder offered a vague answer again. "She respects the orders of the new Lord of Hizuru now."
At that moment, Mikasa passed through the door with Jean following closely behind. In one hand, she cradled her military overcoat while her other hand clutched her blade tightly in her hold.
There was a moment of a fleeting panic on her face when she saw Reiner and Porco. As if it finally registered on her mind that the tall, blonde-haired man sitting opposite of Armin was now her lawfully-wedded husband who had come to her aid.
Before one of them could even say anything to the other, the sounds of hooves against the ground could be heard from the distance. The group instantaneously be on guard as they suspected that it could be a group of Jeagerists storming into their prisoners' rescue.
However, there were no signs of panic nor alarm due to a sudden assault. Reiner approached the doorway, with Jean standing next to him, trying to make out the identity of the unannounced group of visitors. They saw Levi and Hange confronted the leader of the troop.
Reiner's eyes lit up upon realizing the identity of the group's leader.
"Pieck!", exclaimed Porco upon seeing the face of his paramour as she approached the doorway. Yet they both remained professional, greeting each other with only a slight nod instead.
"Your Highness," greeted Pieck with a bow when her eyes landed on Mikasa.
The royal heir bowed down. "Miss Pieck." Before Mikasa could even ask about the children, the female shifter offered the information first. "The children have settled onboard the ship. They are under Lord Takeshi's care."
"Children?" Reiner's amber eyes widened questioningly.
"Yes, War Chief Braun. Both Gabi and Falco are safe. All thanks to Lady Mikasa."
He averted his gaze towards his wife, yearning for an explanation.
Mikasa shook her head, trying very hard to conceal the telltale reddening of her cheeks. "It was nothing."
Pieck shook her head. "Your cousin was almost killed today if it wasn't for your-"
"Ms. Pieck- it's really nothing." Mikasa stammered, trying to stop Pieck from revealing the secret she had been trying to keep until the right time.
Reiner understood her predicament. No one else on Paradis' side knew the nature of their new relationship.
Of course, she wouldn't want her former lover to know.
Reiner noticed Jean's questioning look and decided to divert the course of their conversation. "I am glad that they are both alright. What is the status of Lord Takeshi's position?"
The long-haired female shifter offered a formal answer to her superior. "The Hizuru militants are armed and on standby for your orders, War Chief."
At that moment, Armin finally picked up the last clue to the question which had been playing inside his mind the whole day.
The heirloom blade of the Azumabito family….
The new War Chief after Zeke's defection….
The Hizuru soldiers are placed under his direct command.
Which means he is the new Lord of Hizuru and the only way it could possibly happen would be……
…...by way of his marriage to Mikasa.
Just before Armin could even begin to point out his finding, the back door was thrown open suddenly by Levi, followed by Hange. "Zeke communicated with Eren through the paths. It is possible if we don't head out immediately, Eren would be here soon!"
Mikasa and Armin looked at each other before she pointed out, "There are children here!"
Her childhood friend gave everyone another grave reminder of how irredeemable was the Attack Titan holder. His sky blue eyes pierced deep into her grey irises as he said, "Eren had killed many more in Liberio. You saw it with your own two eyes. If we don't stop Eren today, more innocent lives will be taken away. We have to do this. Not only for the families and the children here but even for your own unborn children too, Mikasa. They will never be safe."
In that particular moment, Mikasa's eyes met with Reiner's in the short distance with mutual acceptance, or understanding even and Armin's perceptive gaze had finally confirmed the suspicions that had been running around his head ever since Mikasa's return from Hizuru. "If Eren succeeds in killing all of us shifters today, then, Mikasa, your sacrifice will be for nothing."
Pieck and Reiner were very quick to pick up a very telling word in the young strategist's words.
He's the Colossal holder.
Levi grunted in frustration. "I should've mangled that monkey scum to untraceable pieces when I had the chance earlier."
Armin shook his head. "Captain, you knew if you did that, the power could have possibly transferred to another Eldian child or even worst, the Queen's newborn. Right now we have to make sure that either Zeke or the baby is far away from Eren's reach."
Reiner offered his opinion. "If Eren's coming here to retrieve Zeke, we'll bring the fight to him. The whole town of Shinganshina has been evacuated, isn't it?"
Both Hange and Levi nodded as a response to the question from Marley's new War Chief.
"Both Galliard and I will face Eren head-on with Galliard leading the first offensive and I will be the first defense. Your unit would be better position together with the troops I have brought from Hizuru with me. Pieck will serve as the long-range attack and defense. Your Colossal Titan shifter would be our last resort if everyone else failed to contain Eren." Reiner knew one of his old friends standing in front of him was the one who consumed his late best friend's titan, yet he had no time nor space to mull over his personal grudge. Armin might have carried a pang of terrible guilt himself the way Bertolt did when he was still alive.
One thing he knew that regardless of the shifter, the Colossal powers will always be as dangerous as it had been the moment the power of Ymir was transferred to nine of their ancestors.
He sent a long glance at his wife, who was looking back at him in what he could daresay as hope.
He has a chance to make things right again today, though it may not erase his past sins but he would have an opportunity to make something good out of it and he would not let it go to waste.
Levi nodded and instructed his former unit. "Brats, time to suit up. We'll regroup in front of the house in fifteen."
Mikasa protested her superior's orders. "Captain, I hope the order goes to everyone but yourself."
Levi shook his head. "I'm fine."
The younger Ackerman argued persistently. "You're injured!"
Hange nodded her head. "She's right and you know it, Levi."
"I can't step back now. I've made an oath to be the one who takes that brat down the moment he betrays us and that moment is now."
"I'll do it, Captain." Mikasa insisted, despite the tremor in her voice.
"Don't brat, you're going to get yourself killed. I need you to live. Besides, our friends from Marley here won't be happy if something were to happen to their prisoner of war."
"..." Mikasa was taken aback by Levi's direct exclamation, a hint of pain flashed across her face upon learning that her only kin was very upset with her decision.
"I was updated by Arlert and Hange. Regardless of how I am feeling towards your decision, what you're doing is noble, Mikasa but right now, if something were to happen to you, more than two sides would suffer the consequences. We can't afford that to happen. We have to see the alliance through."
"Ensuring her safety is our priority but Levi, I can assure you that is not our only concern right now," insisted Reiner, much to everyone's surprise. The Armored Titan holder genuinely felt that it was his responsibility to rectify their current standing.
Levi looked up, the earlier stress and injury added a more intimidating expression on his face. "There's no use for a dead bride and a dead heir to a powerful empire for your government isn't it, Braun?"
"Marley and Hizuru are official allies now with Paradis following suit. Everyone's tired of fighting relentless wars, Sir. But we can never move forward until the current threat in Paradis is dealt with and we are here to assist not to take advantage." The young War Chief stood straight and tall, with his right fist on top of his heart. The younger him would have gloated and folded his arms in ignorant arrogance, but the current him once again pledged his heart to humanity after so many years of turning his back against it.
Due to the big height differences, it might seem that the younger man was looking down at his former superior yet Levi could sense nothing but absolute honesty in Reiner's words.
Everyone in that room was surprised by Reiner's persistence, he was so very distinctly different from the young soldier they had known from five years ago.
Levi looked up to the Marley native, an eyebrow raised questioningly. "Her husband must be some important hotshot noble back in Marley huh?"
Reiner flustered, a hand ran through his blonde tresses as he stammered with a reply. His own face begun to redden. Porco decided to inject a short-lived humor the moment he piped in, "Noble? Not really. Hot? Depends on the Princess though." He earned a poke at the ribs by the female shifter of their group.
Mikasa was already blushing furiously at that point, causing her to suspiciously turned her body away from the group, afraid that everyone would be able to witness the change on her expression. She was absolutely contemplating to storm off but even then she knew it would make the unbearable situation even worse.
Jean, their Squad Leader, much to her relief, decided to break the awkwardness by pointing out, "Captain, all of our gears are back at the barracks inside Wall Rose before we were jumped by Eren's followers. I'm not sure we have any equipments to begin with."
It was rather obvious to the Marley War Chief that Jean was very, very bothered with their current conversation.
Their Commander, who had been the silent observer placed a hand on Jean's shoulder in a calm reassurance. "As I have always taught you, Jean. It never hurts to have a contingency plan. Go to the tool shed behind this house. Bring Connie, Armin, and Onyankopon with you. Bring everything you see inside the underground basement there to here."
"Yes, ma'am!!" The young men saluted to Hange's instructions.
The remaining Survey Corps' members began to disburse with Jean leading the pack, heading straight to an old shack a stone's throw distance away from the farmhouse, Armin and Onyankopon following suit. According to Hange, she had been using the old tool shed as a secret storage for emergency military rations and supplies.
After a short quiet moment, a shrilling cry broke the silence inside the small, rustic hall of the wooden house. Anka rushed out in panic as she approached Hange and Mikasa, with the newborn in her arms. "Commander, the babe has not stopped crying since we bury the Queen. What should we do?"
Hange's eyes landed on the flushing infant. "Is the nursemaid on her way here?"
Anka nodded. "Mr. Henrik managed to find a neighbor about few houses away who had just given birth. She was very willing to nurse the Queen's heir, given the circumstances. She should be here anytime now." She handed the crying infant princess over into Mikasa's waiting arms.
"Ms. Anka, are there any garments that Historia recently wore but yet to be cleaned? Can you please bring it to me?" asked Mikasa to the red-haired officer of the Garrison, to which Anka took prompt action in.
Now that the babe was up close in her own arms, Mikasa could see how beautiful the tiny human was. The babe cried, eyes shut in discomfort. Pieck moved closer to catch a glance over Mikasa's shoulder and cooed.
There was a small smile on Hange's face. In an ideal world and a different circumstance, the two women could pass off as a pair of sisters.
Anka returned with a long light pink-colored drape - Historia's favorite - and handed it over to the Hizuru princess. Mikasa used the fabric and wrapped it around the babe like a swaddle. She then rested the babe against her body, its face nestled between the juncture of her neck. Its flushed cheek touched gently on Mikasa's skin. The babe's mouth gently seeking the warmth offered, latching greedily looking to have her first feeding. Nonetheless, the incessant crying stopped.
Reiner swore he felt time stopped when his eyes took in the vision right in front of him. Never he would've imagined that someone who had gone through so many horrors - with all the weight on her shoulders, who had the same amount of blood on her hands the way he did - could be as gentle and comforting.
Why did it feel as if he has seen this before?
Could the paths have sent this particular memory to his younger self?
Anka sighed helplessly. "She's definitely hungry. Poor thing."
Hange looked in amazement. "Skin to skin contact between a newborn and its mother is very important. How did you learn that, Mikasa?"
Mikasa took in a deep breath. "When the human traffickers attacked my home ten years ago, my mother was with child. She'd been teaching me on the ways I could have assisted her when she gives birth. But I not only lost my parents that day, but I also lost what could've been my little brother. That's what Dr. Jeager said."
Pieck sent a sympathizing look at the young noble heir, having been able to understand some of the Princess' origins from the whispers of the people back in Hizuru. Even Porco was giving a questioning look at Reiner, who looked away regretfully, in response.
Reiner couldn't even begin to envision the immense pain Mikasa had gone through way before they met as trainees. She had lost her family to real demon incarnates and the following year, she had lost not only another home but a family again due to his government's misguided assault against humanity.
Due to his actions.
"You'll have a family, I promise…." She whispered softly against the top of the babe's dark hair, still damp from her first bath. Even then Mikasa knew that the little infant would not only be the ward of the Azumabito clan, but a true member of their already mixed family.
That was when Reiner's gaze, once again locked with hers from across the room.
He nodded his head as a sign of his support, much to her surprise. Nevertheless, she gave a similar nod in return. Eyes clouded with a glassy look for a child she had just met.
Unbeknownst to them, almost everyone in the room noticed the rather privy, intimate exchange between the two individuals.
Levi began to make his way to the shed where their current prisoners were detained. "I'm going to have one last chat with Zeke before we head out."
His words broke the instant and silent connection between his kin and the young new leader of Marley and Hizuru. "Commander, Captain, seeking permission to seek an audience with your prisoner as the current War Chief of Marley?"
Hange nodded, while Levi shrugged. "If anyone so much shifts when they're not supposed to, I am slaying someone's neck on the spot."
XoXoX
"So, they made you the new War Chief? Didn't take them long to replace me…." Zeke's voice was a hoarse whisper, like a raspy air was struggling to escape from the column of his throat. His body was tied against the large post in the middle of the empty barn, save for a cluster of haystacks. "You've always been a smart one, Reiner. One day they'll discard you too and you know it."
Reiner shook his head. "When you betrayed Marley and left, you have no idea what was left behind back in Liberio. It would've become a wasteland if it wasn't for Hizuru's assistance."
There was a cynical laugh from the lips of the Beast Titan holder. "You are still a naive young boy. Hizuru played a part in this from the very beginning. You've been playing into Kiyomi Azumabito's hands right now and you still don't realize it."
Porco stepped up, his fist enclosed in a pent-up rage. "What do you mean??"
"She has a very particular interest in Paradis and she's using the upcoming war between all of the other World nations against this Island to monopolize the iceburst stone's mining for her own country's gain. Little Miss Ackerman is her golden key."
Before Reiner could move forward and demand a further explanation from his former superior, Levi Ackerman stepped in as he grabbed a handful of their prisoner's flaxen hair and spoke directly into Zeke's face. Only a breathe's distance was between them.
"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? F'KING EXPLAIN BEFORE I BUST ANOTHER EYE! WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH MIKASA?"
"Jeez, Levi, catch a breath will you…." Zeke coughed, more blood flowed down the corner of his lips. "Mikasa Ackerman is nothing more than a beautiful and very useful puppet for Hizuru to sink their claws deep into Paradis soil. They need her to further their agenda: invading Paradis' natural resources. They moved faster than anyone. The Azumabito family are just a bunch of money-hungry opportunists."
Levi grunted in disagreement. "For your information, Liberio's people are now indebted to Hizuru. Mikasa is nothing like them. She sacrificed her freedom by binding herself to an Eldian man from Marley in marriage all for the sake of your own people's survival."
Zeke laughed between fits of bloody coughs. "Who'd knew Mikasa Ackerman had it in her all along…..willing to spread her legs for an enemy all for the sake of 'peace'."
Reiner's fist connected with Zeke's jaw out of nowhere, catching Levi and Hange by surprise. Their eyes widened in curiosity at their former subordinate's immediate action.
The holder of the Armored Titan spat back. "I won't allow you to talk shit about my wife with your filthy, treacherous mouth, Zeke. She's too pure to lay with an enemy yet merciful enough that she didn't kill me on our marriage bed even when she had all the chance last night."
There was a small 'Oh' that came from Hange upon hearing Reiner's revelation, while Levi, who had eventually picked up the connection much earlier, stepped in front of Reiner and calmly commented, "Stand down, soldier. This piece of shit has no idea what's been happening since he defected."
"I apologize, Captain Levi. If you'll excuse me….I really need to step out before I kill this traitor." Reiner took his leave and head out of the barn's door, it closed with a frustratingly loud thud. Pieck and Porco remained vigil, knowing that their close friend and immediate superior was very bothered by Zeke's disrespect towards the Hizuru Princess.
Pieck made her words known. "Things are changing, Zeke. Reiner is not only the new War Chief but he is also now the Lord of Hizuru. He would not allow any sides to take advantage of the other. We are achieving peace and it's truly sad you won't be alive long enough to witness it."
"As always, Pieck proves herself right, isn't it Zeke?" taunted Porco towards the traitor to their homeland.
Levi added, "Don't threaten him too much. His neck's still connected to the Spear's trigger. One wrong move, the whole place will blow up along with everyone here."
"I will not die until I have carried my mission and it is to save all Eldians from a miserable fate," there was a pause as Zeke struggled to breathe. "The key is euthanasia. I will use the Founding Titan's powers to cease all Eldians from the capability to breed. I will make sure that none of us will ever give life to new Titan shifters and the bloodline will die with the last child ever born today. We are a curse by mere existence."
Levi spat out a curse word, before uttering, "Who the hell do you think you are? To decide how others should live? Not you, not Eren, not the King should decide for others."
Zeke then began to unfold his own history, one of his childhood and the horrors he had experienced as a young boy inflicted by his own parents through negligence and selfish ambitions.
XoXoX
Mikasa stood in front of the vanity mirror, looking at the weary reflection she saw in front of her. It was another irony of her life.
Yesterday, she was standing in a wedding dress yet today, she was standing in her own Survey Corps battle suit, one that she had thought she would no longer need to don anymore.
You're nothing without me, aren't you?
Those words kept replaying inside her head, again and again, growing louder in the still silence of the small room - one that Historia had used as her bedroom. Her granite eyes lingered over the bed, still warm from the Queen's dying form. It was unbearable when the thought of her dear friend was still alive and breathing only several hours earlier.
She had died so Eren's daughter could live.
It never gets easier every time she had to bury a friend. To think that she would've become numb at this point already.
And the thought of having to put an end to the infant's father once and for all shook her to the core of her heart.
When her hands stopped in the middle of fastening the chest plate bearing the Wings of Freedom, she was sorely reminded of the last time she was prepping for the rescue mission in Liberio, Sasha was the one who helped her with her gear and equipping the Thunder Spears on the mechanical launchers.
"We'll bring him back home together, Mika."
Those were apparently Sasha's last words to her ever. It was not even a proper goodbye. There was never a need to.
They did bring Eren back home, along with Sasha's cold dead body, with a fresh gunshot wound on her chest and according to Connie - Eren's bitter laugh as a response to her death.
Are you even beyond saving, Eren?
There was a gentle rap against the wooden door.
She tilted her head slightly and noticed Reiner's tall figure standing next to the doorway from the mirror's reflection. It was always in his previous nature to be the one who approached with a question or words, yet at that moment, his mind wasn't able to conjure any intelligible thoughts.
Afraid that he'd say the wrong things again.
It was very fortunate because she had the same notion too.
Here they were again, meeting alone behind closed doors and four walls.
Yet, she didn't turn him away or asked him to leave when he closed the door behind him and settled himself against a wall.
She continued to fasten the remaining buckles on the right side of her chest and on her thighs. The reflective surface of the chest plate glinted in the light of the lantern.
Seeing her up close clad in a military suit truly caught Reiner off guard - no, it wasn't because of the usual intimidating look she has on her face, but upon knowing how the sleek black suit contained a very enormous power within.
Whether it was a wedding dress or a battle suit, her silent strength was visible regardless.
The feature that set them apart was the unavoidable fact that he is a Titan shifter but her….she is a Titan in human form.
He had always known her as a fearless fighter since they were younger but this day, he could truly witness her strength and resolve - even more so after she had lost so many times, again and again. She would still get herself back up and continue to fight for the ones she loves.
Mikasa continued to tighten the straps of her gear, oblivious to the way Reiner's eyes were fixated on her reflection and the way he averted his gaze respectfully when he saw the back of her suit which was still undone.
He began to point out with his words and tiny gestures of his fingers, "The back's still…." Yet, his words hung unfinished, as his cheeks began to redden.
Why would he feel embarrassed now when he was the one who helped undid her dress yesterday?
Mikasa looked up towards the taller man, a quizzical look on her face. Yet, she finally noticed the way the suit loosened against her back. She never did utter a sound when she let his hands pulled the zipper up starting from the bottom of her spine. Although there was indeed a tiny shiver emanating from the insides of her body when she felt the tips of his long fingers brushing gently against her skin, ghosting unintentionally lingering touches in its course.
"The last time we were getting ready for battle, Sasha helped me. I'm so used to having her helping me that I-" Her words wandered aimlessly, her lips shut in a painful reminiscent. Her sunken eyes locked with his honey eyes, exhaustion against loneliness.
She had lost her parents, her home, Sasha, Historia and she knew she was on the verge of losing Eren when the sun rises.
He wanted to say….
You're not alone.
I'm here for you.
I've never stopped being your friend.
But all those words seemed more content in nesting inside his throat. Never to be said, only meant to be kept.
All he could do was to give a solemn look instead - like the coward he was - when she looked away from their reflections on the vanity mirror. Her body began to turn slightly facing his direction, hoping to excuse herself and place a distance in their close proximity.
He could literally be standing in front of her, only a whisper's distance between their heads yet they would always be worlds apart. The top of her head almost reached the bottom of his chin as he looked down at his young bride's blank face who averted her eyes away from looking into his.
He was about to turn his body around when the deafening sound of an unmistakable explosion could be heard from behind the farmhouse, followed by an earth-shattering rumble in its aftermath.
It was exactly like a rerun of Liberio's assault that night.
His first instinct was to shift but he couldn't do that without destroying the farmhouse in return.
Therefore, his reflexive action was to hold his arms out and grabbed onto the young woman in front of him in a protective manner as he pressed their bodies forward onto the floor.
Reiner felt as if time stood still the moment his forehead hit the dusty wooden floor of the bedroom upon impact from the explosion. His sudden movements caused dust to fly upwards as an aftermath. His heart beat fast, too loud that he could hear its thundering beats inside his own ears - mixed with the shrilling chain of noise that follows a blast.
It was only when his nose caught a whiff of the same intriguing floral scent that took him back to his matrimonial chambers, did he lift his head and opened his eyes to see Mikasa's confused face - torn between anger and shock.
She really began to hate these series of explosions.
He knew his weight would've placed a significant pressure against her chest yet the raven-haired Princess of Hizuru could only send a partially terrified-partially worried look to him.
"Are you alright?" The exact same sentence came out of their mouths coincidentally.
His right hand was cradled around her head, shielding it from potential damage from the fall. His other hand wrapped tightly around her slender waist.
Apparently, Mikasa had the same notion in her mind, with her arms hooked underneath his and her grip tight against the sturdy muscle on his back, pulling his body tight against hers.
Here they were, in each other's arms just like the night before. The only difference was at that moment, there was nothing but worry instead of an existing animosity.
The shrilling noise that followed the explosion stopped ringing in their ears. Sounds of people shouting, running and doors been thrown open followed the aftermath. Heavy footsteps could be heard hitting the ground around them.
"Commander!!!" Someone's voice could be heard faintly, coming from the direction of the barn.
"Mikasa, are you alright?" The door was thrown open suddenly, revealing the remaining loyal shifter of Paradis, clad in an all-black ensemble of the new Survey Corps' military uniform.
Armin stood frantic at the doorway, he struggled to catch the breath that he lost while making his way there. Upon assessing the situation right in front of his eyes, he knew his childhood friend was alright. Reiner pulled himself away the moment Mikasa lifted herself up to a sitting position, sending a question to the blonde prodigy. "We're alright. What just happened?"
"Jean and the others are still assessing the situation. No doubt, that was a Thunder Spear earlier and it blew up the whole barn."
"Shit…shit..."
Reiner cursed under his breath as he began to realize that Porco and Pieck were still inside the barn when he left. Yet, when he looked at his new bride's face, he found not the ever calm there but only sheer panic and fear instead as Mikasa's breathing grew heavier.
She began to hyperventilate.
His heart broke.
Please give me the strength to protect her calm.
XoXoX
A/N: Okay that was another long chapter but I am not sorry because I want my lovely readers to be able to read this over the weekend. Tell me which was your favorite part of this chapter or what you hoped to see in the next one :) Till next chapter!
Notes:
Next chapter's summary:
An audience with the Allied Nation's council opens up locked boxes of hidden memories, unravels painful truths and yet, achieves the impossible peace one could only dream of before. Mikasa eventually lets go of her past while Reiner finally learns to accept his future.
