A/N: This chapter is very OC-centric, but sadly it's required for plot progression, so I apologize for that. You kinda have to read between the lines for some of the dialogues in this chapter. It's written in a very enigmatic kind of way and there are many clues littered around. *cough*
Thank you to my BETA readers: Jikola and Suledin!
Humanity's Strongest Woman by xDollfie
Chapter 24 — The Power Of Names
Year 842, Shiganshina district
She sighed for the umpteen time, watching her 13-year-old daughter at the dining table. From the small kitchen where she was cooking in, Elsie Starke could see that Ida wasn't touching her food.
It's been hard on her, she thought bitterly to herself.
It had just been a year since they have moved to Shiganshina district and Ida has yet to adapt to her sudden environment change. Elsie knew it can't be helped. Though life at Wall Sina was pleasant and luxurious with servants catering to their every need, it was safer here. Jaron couldn't dig his claws into her if she was far away from him.
A sniffle, another soft weep escaped her daughter, Elsie felt her heart clench down a little harder when she heard her daughter sniffle softly again.
I'm sorry, she apologized silently with closed eyes. This is all I can offer you, Ida.
Distracted with her despondent thoughts, her knife slipped and it sliced into one of her fingers. "Ow!"
Her sudden cry had caught Ida's attention and she snapped her head up. Her eyes went wide when she saw blood dripping from her mother's fingers, thick and crimson with life.
Quickly, she wiped away the remaining of her tears with the back of her hand and rushed to her side. "Mom! Are you ok?"
"What do you mean?" Elsie laughed half-heartedly, hastily hiding her injured hand behind her back.
Ida pouted and tried to circle around her, but Elsie would only turn around to follow her. "You cut your finger!" she exclaimed, swinging her eyes up to her mother to scan her expression for any signs of pain. "Let me see it!"
"It's nothing dear," Elsie reassured her firmly, still hiding her hand behind her back. "Why don't you go finish your lunch sweetie?"
She gave her mother an uncertain worried look. "Why won't you let me see it? It'd get infected if you leave it as it is," Ida protested, sounding highly concerned. Her mother had always taken care of her wounds when she got injured, she was just trying to show her that she cared.
"Stay here, I'd get the bandages—"
"I said I'd be fine!" Elsie shouted, shocking her daughter who was still lingering around and trying to get a glimpse of how bad the wound was.
Upset that Ida wasn't listening to her, her voice evolved into anger. "If you aren't going to finish your lunch then go to your room!"
The despondent look on her daughter's face was hard to stomach. She looked like she genuinely wanted to retort back, but Ida didn't protest any further.
At this point, Elsie realized the insensitivity of her words when a small dark cloud passed Ida's features and tears welled up in her eyes. Instantly, she berated herself inwardly for her outburst. It was so unlike her to lose her composure, but she was so desperate.
"Wait, Ida!" she cried when Ida abruptly turned and ran towards her room, slamming it loudly behind her.
Upon hearing the slam, Elsie bit her bottom lip and retracted her hand back. She didn't mean to hurt her. She knew that her daughter was simply concerned about her.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered, gripping onto the kitchen counter as she slowly lifted up her injured hand, somberly watching the small wisp of steam billowing from her wound. A few seconds later, she wiped off the blood on her finger to find that the cut had completely healed.
If only she had better control over her powers.
"I… just didn't want to let you see what I am…" she spoke honestly in the vast emptiness of the humble kitchen, trembling. "Not you… I'll never let you see me like this even if I have to die…"
Elsie wanted to scream in frustration, and she would've if it wasn't for the fact that her scream might frighten her daughter.
It was all so foolish. She knew it was inevitable. More than anyone else, Elsie understood that she would have to tell Ida the truth one day.
Yet even when she acknowledged the reality of it all, all Elsie ever wanted was to shield Ida — her only salvation — from the horrible, merciless place that the world was. It was so painfully contradicting that she almost wanted to laugh. She didn't even know how much longer she could live. One day, Ida would have to fend for herself. What then?
When she was finished with what she was cooking in the kitchen and after she had composed herself, she wrapped a bandage on her finger and hesitantly walked over to Ida's room.
"Ida, may I come in?" she asked, guilt clearly etched in her very words.
"Go away!"
With a sigh, Elsie ignored her daughter's protest and entered her room. Ida was curled up in a fetal position on her bed, blankets messily draped over her thin figure as she buried her face into a pillow.
A sharp pain shot through Elsie's heart when she saw her daughter. It was her fault.
The only misfortune that Ida ever had was that she born her daughter.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry…" she apologized sincerely, sitting down on the bed. "I didn't mean it."
"I know, mom." Ida clenched her fist into the blankets, furrowing them. A thick tense moment passed by before she broke it again, "…Mom, can we move to some other town...? Somewhere where no one knows us… so that we can take up a different identity..."
Her eyes swept over her daughter's dejected frame and her heart twisted and knotted in all directions.
"Why?" she could only ask, too shocked to say anything else.
If only Ida knew that Elsie had the very same thoughts years ago. How much she had wanted to forgo her noble name and run away from everything.
But Ida… that will never work out, Elsie wanted to add, but the words died on the tip of her tongue. We can run now, but for how long? The sins of our family will surely catch up with us.
"The kids won't play with me…" Ida admitted through a series of sobs. "They said I'm a disgrace, that I was abandoned by my family."
Agony shot through her skull as she contemplated more... As she remembered more. As young as she was, Ida couldn't make sense of why she deserved this treatment. Elsie didn't know what else to say, any explanation would mean that she had to tell Ida the true face of their accursed family.
"Is it because I have no father? Is that why uncle Jaron didn't want us around him?"
A day like this would surely come, Elsie knew, but she had wanted to avoid it for as long as possible.
Not wanting to hurt her feelings, Elsie lied, "No…"
"Don't lie to me, mom."
Hands shaking, Ida concentrated on shoving all those memories away and bit down hard on her lips. "I've noticed it for years, even back at the mansion. The servants would talk behind my back, uncle Jaron wouldn't even take a second glance at me… He even told the servants that he didn't want me in his sight. Mom… why don't I have a father?"
"…You are illegitimate, Ida." Elsie found herself saying after a long hesitant pause, realizing she couldn't lie to her any longer. "Your father... was a great man, but he could not stay beside us because he was destined for greater things."
"So, he abandoned us?"
Elsie did not know what to reply. Abandoned was a strong word to describe it, but yet she couldn't find the words to explain it to her daughter. The circumstances surrounding Erwin and her were far more complicated. Little did she know, Ida had taken her silence as her affirmation.
It was foolish and needy, but somehow, Ida had managed to shove all of her resentment to her missing father at that moment. Simply because it was far too hard for a young girl like her to comprehend why she deserved all this, Ida found it much easier to blame someone else for her misery.
"…I don't want to live like this," her daughter said sullenly. "You don't even know how to cook, much less do housework. Where are our servants? Regardless, we are Starkes, aren't we? So, why do we have to live like this?"
Elsie found it hard to say, but she closed her eyes and lied again, "Because we were abandoned... by our own family..."
It was wrong of her to lie, but what could she possibly say? That they left because it was too dangerous to remain there any longer? That would inevitably lead to questions, questions that Elsie did not want to answer.
"Then, I don't want to be a Starke. I want to be no one. Why didn't we change our names when we came here? Why can't we abandon our last names that put us through so much suffering?" her daughter asked in a cracked voice, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "I don't want to be a Starke, mom."
Her name, one way or another, Ida would want to abandon it one day, to change who she was in the past and to find a different path.
Soothingly, Elsie caressed her daughter's soft velvet locks to reassure her.
Red hair, she thought, like burning passion and the blazing maroon roses that burns a dull landscape.
It was exactly the same shade of her crimson hair, the same red color that stained their hands.
Why couldn't she inherit Erwin's beautiful blonde color instead?
Elsie hated the color red.
Because everything she had loved, it was all dyed in the red color she so despised.
"Names are what determines your past and future," she said, and then took a sharp breath, "It represents who and what you are, it's your identity to the rest of the world."
Just like how Ida had inherited the red hair of the Starkes, she too must inherit their sins.
"People have names because they don't know who they are," her daughter countered flatly. "We know who we are, so we don't need names."
Names.
What's in a name really? Besides a bunch of letters sounds strung together to make a word, does a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Would a tragic love story be as poignant if the heroine goes by a different name? Why was it that so important? Why does it determine who they will be and what they can't be?
Ida simply couldn't understand why Elsie wouldn't abandon her last name when they arrived here. Instead, she had introduced herself as Elsie Starke despite the scorns and frowns from their neighbors, almost as if she was proud of it.
"Ida, one day you'd understand. Words have meanings, but names, however, have power," Elsie said calmly, yet there was an underlying sense of dread hidden well beneath it, one that Ida was too young to notice. "Names are undying labels, they show us the sins of our past and who we will be in this world. That's why…"
She paused and pushed a strand of hair away from her daughter's face. "…We can never run away from it. It's in our blood."
Ida lifted her head up from her pillow and stared at her mother for a few seconds, before hurriedly hiding her tear-stained face back into her pillow.
A small sad smile, a soft kiss on her daughter's hair, before Elsie stood up and headed for the door.
"Get some rest," she told her daughter. "I'd be heading out to the market for a while. Dinner's already on the table."
The streets of Shiganshina district were buzzing and full of life when she arrived. The marketplace, as usual, was crowded, packed with merchants and wives haggling for the best prices of goods. The market, however, wasn't Elsie's destination.
With a brown cloak to conceal her red hair that vividly stood out from the crowd, she made her way to the residential area of the town instead. Elsie anxiously scanned the area around her, worried that her brother's men were nearby.
A small house came into view when she made a final turn, the basket where she had packed a few servings of the stew she cooked laced around her arm. She approached a house and she knocked on the door.
A brief moment passed before she heard soft running footsteps and the door swung open.
Casting her eyes on the young child who had opened the door, she smiled kindly, "Hello, is your father in?"
The child had brown tousled hair and vivid teal-green eyes that seem to have sparkled like a glorious lake. He gave her a toothy mischievous grin."Who are you?"
"Eren!" A sharp voice bellowed from behind the toddler. The young boy shuddered and gave a frightened expression like he knew he was in trouble. "How many times do I have to tell you not to open the door to strangers?"
A long dark brown-haired man appeared behind his son and Elsie smiled warmly at his appearance.
"Dr. Yeager," she greeted politely with a bow to her head. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit early for our meeting, am I interrupting something?"
"Elsie…" Grisha frowned, before ushering Eren back into the house hurriedly. "Go to your room, Eren."
Eren genuinely didn't seem to want to go back inside, but after a sharp insistence from his father, he reluctantly lowered his head and obeyed.
Grisha emitted a loud sigh and closed the door behind him, "Lady Starke, I apologize. We should take our meetings somewhere else next time."
"It's quite alright and just Elsie would do, there's no need for formalities between us is there?" Elsie let out a small laugh as she absentmindedly stared at the closed door. "I bought some stew, is your wife at home?"
Grisha shook his head. "No, she went out to the marketplace." He frowned when he saw the basket in her hand, looking as if he was worried at how much it cost her to prepare it. "You shouldn't have."
"The allowance that my brother granted us is enough for us to live comfortably here. Besides, I'm just learning to cook, it's a good experience." Elsie laughed airily, but Grisha's expression contorted when she mentioned her brother.
"…Is that your son?" Elsie asked out of courtesy, trying to direct the conversation somewhere else when she noticed how disturbed he look. "How old is he?"
"He's seven this year," Grisha replied a certain beam of pride to his eyes. "And your daughter? She's thirteen is she not?"
Elsie nodded, surprised Grisha had remembered. It had just been a few months since she met Dr. Yeager. He had saved Ida's life when she was suffering with bad flu and to this day, Elsie still felt a deep sense of gratitude towards him.
"…Grisha." She called him solemnly out of the blue, staring at the narrow streets from where they were.
A few kids were down the block playing happily and it made Elsie smile sadly when she heard their cheerful laughs. "…I pray that we would finish what we started in this life and that we wouldn't have to pass on these hardships to our children… I want them to live happily without a worry in the world. A child... does not bear the sins of their parents. I want to stop this vicious cycle with our generation."
Grisha's expression was emotionless, but he followed her gaze. "…I wish for that too, Elsie. More than anything else."
Silence lingered as both of them stared at each other briefly, their eyes hardened and feature taut. A better place, a safer place. It was all they ever wanted for their children.
And they were determined to chase the visions of their future.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
"Are you dead yet?"
Elsie lifted her head weakly, her breathing hoarse and shallow. "Seth…" she greeted him monotonously, striking green eyes holding his gaze without flinching. "You look well."
A thin brow was raised as he eyed on the chains that bound her wrists and feet to the dungeon cell. Her nightgown was caked in dirt and her every movement was restrained like she was nothing more than an animal.
Such cruelty, he thought, only someone like Jaron Starke would be capable of inflicting this upon his own flesh and blood.
Elsie was a damaged woman, Seth knew, but he also acknowledged that damaged women were the most dangerous of them all because they already know that they could survive.
"How are you faring?" he drawled slowly. "You've seen better days."
The two of them drift into a contemplative silence.
"Ida…" Elsie ignored his question, trying to remain conscious. Her throat was so parched, that every word she mumbled felt like razors digging into her windpipe. "Did you know...? That she was alive?"
Seth averted his guilt-ridden gaze, only allowing himself to feel just one pinch of guilt. "Yes, I knew."
"Then why?" she demanded, sounding betrayed and disdainful. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"…It was for your own good," he stated without hesitation. "You'd have done everything to leave here in order to go back to her side."
There was a slow pause as she regarded his words, slow confusion becoming evident on her features. She narrowed her eyes speculatively at the man before her, realizing that even after years, she still couldn't read his train of thoughts. "Whose side are you exactly on, Seth? Where do your loyalties lie?"
Seth did not answer but instead straightened himself up. "I lived with her back when she stayed in the Underground City," he said, skillfully averting the subject. "She joined the Survey Corps after I left her. Though I don't know how... You should be proud, from what I heard, she's a formidable soldier."
Their relationship was adequate at best, sharing the basic mutual respect, but Seth — unlike the others who were under her brother's leadership — had always treated her kindly. Elsie had long acknowledged that Seth was fighting for her brother, but she had always wondered why he had always shown her respect even if she was a hostage. Though, she had an idea why now.
That fondness mixed with bitterness, she could detect it subtly in his tone as he spoke of her daughter.
She favored him with a rueful small smile. "…Thank you."
He scowled. Though there were further no words exchanged on the matter, there a certain understanding between them. Seth knew what she meant; she was thanking him for taking care of her daughter in her place.
After a long uncomfortable silence, he asked, "Elsie, what is Jaron truly planning to do?"
At that, she slowly dejected her gaze to the ground when she finally realized the reason behind his visit.
"You fight for him, and yet you still don't know anything," she answered passively. "I guess that is my brother for you, he trusts no one — even his own men."
Seth wondered if it was meant for an insult to him, but he paid it no mind and opted for a change in question. "Do you know about the true history of the world? Before everyone's memory got altered that is."
"You never expressed any interest in our true history before, why now?"
"Just curious," Seth answered matter-of-factly.
She considered his answer for a moment.
"…I… don't know much, just some tales that our ancestors passed on, but that is all. Even my father didn't know everything — Jaron on the other hand…" Elsie trailed off, heaving deeply before she elaborated further. "Our memories, like the Ackermans and Asians can't be wiped out by the power of the king who created the walls."
"Ackerman…" he echoed, speaking the name as though it was distasteful and poisonous to his tongue.
Levi Ackerman was the first name he thought of, and he scowled at the thought.
"The Ackermans were a bloodline of warriors once close to the crown, but they were persecuted almost to the brink of extinction, the same as the Asians… The first king feared their power — they whose memories cannot be erased or altered by the founding Titan's power."
"Then why not the Starke family?" Seth countered sharply, his brows knotting. "The Asians and Ackermans were persecuted by the royal family for years, so why was it that the Starkes were spared from this massacre?"
Elsie tightened her lips into a thin line, this time choosing to remain silent. He grew suspicious at her sudden unwillingness to talk.
But before he could question her, she broke the silence again, "It was said that the true King within the Walls thought themselves to be gods, because of the power they possessed to control the world via the founding power... but Jaron… he aspires to climb even higher than God himself. He thinks himself to be entitled to that power — that it was his birthright."
He frowned at her enigmatic words, trying to decipher the meaning behind it. "What do you mean by that?"
"Jaron…" Elsie went on in a frail voice, her nails digging into her thighs. Her green eyes hollow and dead. "Would see the entire mankind eradicated, if that meant it could crave a pathway for him to his throne…" she broke off. "…He wants to rebuild the world."
Her voice was so dire that Seth even felt blood froze for a split second.
"Listen to me, Seth..." Elsie said hoarsely. "You care about Ida, right?"
Seth did not answer her but from the way he was looking at her, Elsie was perspective enough to decipher that he did. "Promise me something," Elsie smiled languidly at him, deciding that she would take the gamble. "When the time comes, take Ida and run somewhere safe. Promise me."
His eyebrows clashed into a furious frown. "What?"
"Promise me, Seth," she reiterated again.
"How would I know when the time comes?" Seth demanded, perturbed. "What do you mean by that? Is something going to happen?"
Elsie averted her eyes away as her sign that she did not want to answer his questions. "...You'll know when the time comes."
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
The day was filled with the smell of rain.
Outside, thunderous applause crackled signaling an upcoming storm. The dark clouds were seemingly pressed against each other as though to battle to see which would splinter first.
Cold, Ida thought. Her breath puffed warm and white and her feet felt as though it was frozen.
It had taken a while for her to gain her composure back, but now it was clear to her — she knew what she had to do, death was the only consolation waiting for her should she fail. Her death, and her mother's.
Anxiety and fear coil in her belly and she gave out a long sigh before she exited to the mansion courtyard where most of her Jaron's private soldiers were.
It had just been an hour since Ida had decided that she couldn't stay in that pathetic state of brooding much longer. It wasn't easy, but she had managed to pull herself together. However, maintaining her composure as she watched Jaron's private soldiers equip themselves in their gears in preparation for war was a different story.
Fear shrouded around her like a disease and she held her breath. It was undeniably clear to Ida that Jaron would find ways to manipulate her via Elsie's welfare and security and she was utterly helpless to defend herself.
As she watched the soldiers, she was instantly struck of an image of the legion prepping themselves for an expedition. Ida smiled sadly at that memory.
She wondered how they were faring now.
From the depths of her mind, a small voice had whispered to her — 'you're avoiding it,' it said tauntingly, sending a shiver down her spine.
That part of her knew that the choice she must make was inevitable, yet another part of her reassured her that Levi would always find a way — he always did.
But then again she was not Levi Ackerman and he was not here. The choice befalls on her alone and the consequences were dire. She was greatly aware of the peril she was in.
Ida Starke had a duty, but to who exactly? Elsie Starke, her flesh and blood? Or to her squad, her dreams, and duty?
Across the courtyard, her eyes scanned the area and finally landed on Seth. As if sensing her gaze, he turned to look at her as well. Hazel brown eyes, she thought. How much she relished it in the past, but now they seemed to have hardened.
Why? she wondered sadly. Why do things have to turn out like this?
Sharply turning her heel, she headed back towards the mansion. She needed to see Jaron Starke before she left. Rena stood outside his office and frowned when she saw Ida coming down the hallway.
"You're not allowed here," she stated sternly.
"I'm a Starke and this is my home," Ida countered unyieldingly, firmly putting her in her place. "I go wherever I want, whenever I want. Now, let me pass and I'd look pass your insolence."
Rena was flabbergasted by her insistence, wondering what had caused Ida's sudden change in demeanor. She seemed as though she had given up hours ago. Before she could retort, however, Jaron's voice resonated from inside.
"Rena, let her in."
She tightened her lips momentarily before she moved aside and allowed Ida to slipped past her. The detestable man himself was on his office chair behind his desk, looking imposing and intimidating in his aura alone.
The door shut behind her.
Jaron arched a curious brow when he saw her donning her military attire, only this time, she didn't have her cloak with her. The Survey Corps' pride — green cloaks with the wings of freedom stamped across it — Jaron wondered where it went.
"What can I do for you, dear niece?"
Soothingly, like a stalking shadow was what his voice sounded like and Ida bristled inwardly. That look on his face, devoid of guilt, innocent and moral as though he hadn't done a single sin in his lifetime.
How much Ida wanted to rip into it, wanted to stab it a thousand times, and let the memory of his vile smile wash away with her agonizing tears.
But…
Instead, she buried every inch of her hatred and fell to her knees in front of him.
Her pride, crumbled into nothing. Her dreams, her rage, her love. Everything. It vanished into absolutely nothing the moment her knees touched the ground. Begging on the floor, on her knees... Jaron Starke had won the game this time.
Nails clawing on the concrete floor, Ida shook violently, trying to expel the monster from her mind. "M — My mother, spare her," she only allowed her voice to waver slightly at the mention of her mother, she needed to retain her sanity. "I will do as you ask."
Defeated, bitterly defeated. Ida could taste the bile riding up the back of her throat in disgust for herself.
Since when has she grown so weak? Since when did she submit to the demands of others?
Heaving through corrupted lungs, she desperately tried to retain her self-control from lunging at him right there and then.
'It's the people that you love, that destroys you,' she had said long ago and Ida thought sullenly to herself just how true that statement was.
A musical laugh pierced the air, and Jaron looked at her as though he had found her misery amusing. Standing up, he walked up to her; confidently, strongly and triumphantly.
Proffering his hand to help her up, he commanded. "Stand."
However, she said nothing, only lifting her head up to meet him. Her disdainful eyes met his and held it without flinching. Jaron smirked when he saw her expression, remembering the same look that Elsie had given him years ago. Ida had hidden it well, but Jaron was sure of it — she loathed him.
He retracted his hand calmly, unfazed, and walked to the table filled, picking up a wine bottle.
"Ida," he started calmly, pouring a drink for himself. "I need you to do something for me."
"Anything," she answered firmly in a heartbeat.
"I'm sure you know it by now," Jaron went on enigmatically, turning around and staring her down. "Rod Reiss has the Founding Titan in his grasp. The power that resides within Eren Yeager is able to 'command all Titans'. It once belonged to the Reiss family for generations until it was stolen years ago. Rod plans to set things as they were and transfer this power to his illegitimate daughter — Historia Reiss."
He stalked over to her and took a strand of red hair, allowing it to slide off his hand, "…And I want you to assist him in completing this succession ritual."
"Assist?" Ida echoed for clarification.
"Yes, assist him," Jaron smirked vilely. "From the Survey Corps, that is."
At the mention of the Survey Corps, he gripped on the strand of her red hair tightly. His mouth twitched. "A confidante of mine had informed me today that Erwin Smith, having emerged victor in his damn revolt is gearing up for war. As distasteful as it is, it seems that blood must spill again within these narrow walls."
She clamped her eyes shut and averted her eyes away, the thought of fighting against her very own comrades was biting into her. Their faces, she could imagine it. Wide lifeless eyes as if asking her 'why?' as she mercilessly cut them down.
Ida stubbornly pushed those images out from her mind. No, she wouldn't allow her resolution to waver — there was too much at stake here.
"As for your request… It's only fair we exchange something, don't you think? A life for a life," Jaron continued steely and Ida's heartbeat elevated in response. She dreaded his next instructions.
"…However, dear niece, I need more than just one life," Jaron added with a smirk. "Kill Mikasa and Levi Ackerman, and I'd let Elsie live."
She snapped her head up, shock and horror present vividly on her expression. Ida felt her world tip on a dead axis and she froze over solid.
Upon absorbing her expression, his smirk grew even viler, as though he had discovered something.
"Oh? That face…" Jaron raised a brow and chuckled amusedly at the memory playing in his head. He released the grip on her hair and walked away. "I've seen it before on your mother. She had the very same expression when I threatened to kill Erwin Smith, your father."
The mahogany wine swished in his glass as Jaron casually sat back down at his desk, watching as Ida's eyes grew ever so wider, ever more disdainful as she digested his proposition.
"Why them?" she asked hoarsely after a long silence. "Is it… because of their name Ackerman?"
"Are you not capable of it?" he said steely. "Dear niece, you should know better than anyone else about the power that resides within you. You are just like me, are you not?"
Ida squeezed her eyes shut. She felt like she was going to be sick at the thought of killing them. Meanwhile, Jaron didn't seem too concerned with it, since he kept talking, unperturbed. "…I would gladly exterminate them all, every single damn Ackerman..." he broke off, glaring at her from across the room. "They are a threat to us, and you will scorch this snake nest to the ground before it turns on us."
"Us?" Ida demanded, growing increasingly wary.
He considered her briefly, shaking his head. "Bastard or not, you're a Starke; you share our blood."
"Our name means nothing to me."
Jaron scoffed at her statement, "A name means everything in a world like this, and we, who inherit the will of our ancestors will see to complete it. It is our destiny, one that you share, whether you like it or not. This is the power of names, Ida."
"Why the Ackermans?" she reiterated, trying to meet his gaze and force him to answer her questions. "Why are they so special that they are a threat to us?"
But when Jaron refused to answer her question, she opted for a change of question.
"Just what do you want?" Ida asked pointedly, cutting straight to chase this time. She was getting tired of guessing. "What are you planning to do? Why would you assist Rod? From what I see, you're after the power that resides in Eren Yeager yourself. But it's not yours, uncle — that power was never yours to keep."
Jaron tapped his finger on the desk, pausing like he was contemplating something. Then, he swirled his wine again and took a long sip. When he was done, he stared idly at the glass.
"...A thrifty merchant sells imported wine in the market, and he is struck rich in his business endeavors," he began cryptically, earning a puzzled disturbed look from his niece. He smirked and turned his full attention to her, "But tell me Ida, who would you owe his success to?"
"Himself," she answered almost immediately with a frown, dreading whatever games he was intending on playing now.
"Ah, that is what most people would think..." Jaron shook his head like he was disappointed and continued to watch the burgundy wine in his grasp as though there was something special about it. "But the merchant will have no wine to sell if it wasn't for the wine-maker. One power cannot exist the other, it's the nature of this world. So... if that is true, who does a king owe this power to?"
She thought hard at his question and decided to humor him, "His citizens."
"No," he stood up, placing his wine glass on the desk. "The king sits on the throne and rules, the king-maker is the power behind the throne. The king cannot be a king without the king-maker, because he wouldn't have the power. And so if a king so deemed himself a god, wouldn't that mean that it's possible for someone to create a god?"
Ida felt all of her assumptions die at the back of her mind and she swallowed painfully. Her mind was giving up on her, she wasn't able to understand what he was implying.
Jaron chuckled airily to himself at his own statement, finally averting his bored eyes to stare at her again and he smiled mysteriously, "So, who is the true ruler, the king or the kingmaker, Ida?"
She moved her eyes away. "I… don't know..."
He nodded his head, expecting her answer. "Victors can be uncertain, alliances can be unstable and even the power of kings can be fleeting…" he mused. "...Power is a curious thing, isn't it?"
A frightening thing, Ida thought, a shiver crawling down her spine.
He smirked when he saw that she was silently trying to decipher the true meaning behind his words. "The only thing that does not change and remains unaffected through time, is the power of names, dearest niece. Remember that you're a Starke and nothing will ever change that."
Ida looked at him bitterly, silently cursing both the name she was born with and the very man before her.
There was always certain indifference around Jaron — a calm produced by the gratification of passion; his manners were suave and she could sense the special brutality which comes from the habit of breaking down half-hearted resistance.
It kept his vanity fit. The victories, the power, the vicious plotting. His stare, cold, mysterious and taut, almost able to render one helpless with just a glance. The arrogance of his walk, as though he was nonchalant of the world yet he possesses the knowledge to crumble it at his command.
The disinterest in his eyes, like he knew every tiny dangerous secret she possessed.
Just how much did this man know?
Something horrifying clicked in her mind when that thought crossed her mind.
"That night before Wall Maria fell..." she narrated slowly, eyes hollow as the memories came crashing to her. Why didn't she notice this before? The answer had been in front of her all along.
"You had people come to bring mother and I back to Wall Sina…" she paused and swung her large accusing eyes to glare at him. "You knew that Wall Maria would fall... didn't you? You knew that the Colossal and Armored Titan would attack…"
He appraised her with a frozen face, and a long stretch of tensed silence passed between them.
"Yes," he confirmed and Ida's heart stopped. "Yes, I did."
"I knew that Wall Maria would fall that day, and what of it?" Jaron finished nonchalantly, smirking gleefully without care.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
Levi Ackerman tapped his fingernails impatiently on the table, his scowl ever-present evidently on his face. Around him, his squad wore similar worried expressions. He drew a slow breath as he judged the entire pathetic morale of his squad in one quick glance.
"That damn four-eyes is late," he broke the tensed silence after what seemed like forever. "Again."
"You think something happened to her?" Connie inquired softly, nervous at that thought.
"It's possible," Armin nodded sadly, he knew to be prepared for any bad news.
The Captain heaved irritably when he heard the exchange. He would'VE followed Hanji up to the surface with Edward Faust, but the squad leader had assured him that she'd be fine on her own and strategically pointed out that a leader was needed in the squad should something happen to them.
Levi supposed he was the leader she was talking about.
However, even with that knowledge in mind, that didn't stop him from growing even more agitated with each passing second, and the fact that he was cooped up in this dingy apartment doing absolutely nothing didn't help much either.
The frustration of just being in this pathetic shitty apartment was torturous after knowing who it once belonged to.
Fortunately for him, a rather frantic Hanji Zoe stormed through the main door moments later.
"Levi!" Hanji immediately went to him, urgency present in her tone. "We have to leave now!"
Her statement brought the entire squad to full alert and attention. Armin had initially thought it was an ambush, but Levi knew better than that — Hanji wouldn't be so dumb to lead their attackers to the hideout where the rest of the squad were if that should happen.
"Why?" Levi demanded, noticing the slight gleam of sweat on her forehead. "What the fuck happened?"
"I'd explain to you as we move!" Hanji stated anxiously through the grit of her teeth. The entire squad quickly moved with great speed, quickening their paces as they filed out the door in order.
Hanji took out a crumpled letter from her pocket, handing it to Levi quickly.
"This is the report on the investigation that Erwin commissioned on the background of the Reiss family," she told him, slightly panting as they zoomed down the underground city's streets to the exit to the Capitol. "If Eren and Historia were captured by the Reiss family as the report had stated, then we can assume that they would be heading to their family grounds."
There is a quick pause as the shorter man regards her words, slow repulsion becoming evident on his features.
"What caught my attention was a majority of residents living on Reiss family grounds reports revolved around an incident five years ago. Bandits had taken advantage of the chaos and massacred the entire Reiss family — save the head Rod Reiss — when the family was praying in a chapel after the tragedy that struck Wall Maria. The chapel was burned to the ground after the massacre."
Armin and the rest listened attentively, straining their ears to hear over their hurried footsteps. Sasha frowned to herself, waiting impatiently for Hanji's further explanation.
"However, why would bandits burn down the chapel? It's odd, isn't it?!" Hanji exclaimed with great worry. "Normal bandits would have taken what they wanted and left — there was no need to burn it down! Added with the fact that Rod rebuilt the chapel using his own assets, and contacted Historia shortly after his family demise — it's strange to think that this incident doesn't revolve around Titans."
Levi scowled at her hurried conclusion, already catching on to what she was implying. "And what of the Starke family?" he inquired calmly.
"Erwin conducted a thorough investigation on them as well — Jerome Starke was the previous head of the family, father to Elsie and Jaron Starke. It appears that he shared a close friendship with Uri Reiss, the previous king, and was frequently seen visiting them. Jerome was well beloved by his people living on his lands, known as kind and generous."
Hanji paused, a dark cloud passing through her face. "However… he committed suicide in his own room one day and that left this 14-year-old son, Jaron Starke as heir."
"Suicide?" Connie gasped in shock, wondering if his ears had deceived him.
"A high lord... committing suicide?" Armin echoed behind him, incredulous at that thought.
It was unheard of. The nobility within the walls was privileged. Wealth, power, and a safe and desirable region to live and rule within Wall Sina. With such a profound indifference to poverty and horrors normal citizens battled daily, it was bizarre to even think of an extremely wealthy lord with such a prestigious title would ever willing end his life.
Hanji nodded vigorously in conformation, "Not only that, it seemed that every single head of the Starke family was known to enjoy a good friendship with the Reiss family's head — the true king — and this went on for generations! I'm certain that they are involved with the royal family and the Titans some way or another!"
Levi breathed deeply when he heard of this, regarding her words with a certain twinge of discomfort. But all of that discomfort receded immediately when the sun glared down upon him reaching the upper lands.
He squinted his eyes, remembering the first time he stepped out of the Underground City from the very same exit.
The brightness from the sun, the feeling of freedom, the caress of the wind.
He wondered if Ida felt this way when she left the wretched hellhole as well and he turned his head to his side as an instinctive reaction. He felt his heart twist when he realized she wasn't there.
He could've asked her if she was beside him.
Their eyes were once plagued in darkness, unable to see what was ahead of them — dreams, purpose, and happiness. Everything changed when they left the Underground City, almost as if the dark clouds that were blocking their view lifted and all they saw was the blue endless sky.
The heart lies, it denies what you're feeling. The head plays games, it oppresses anything you never want to think, but the eyes, on the other hand, will always see the truth.
So why was it he was so horribly blind even after he had exposed his eyes to the light?
She was right there, she was always ready to deal with his shit and to stick with him regardless of everything. But, she left, and now Levi had finally realized just how blind he had been ever since her departure.
As much as he tried to deny it, he missed her.
More than anything else, he missed her presence, to be able to see her.
But the shadows had settled on the place that she left and his mind was troubled by the emptiness.
His eyes darkened when he realized just how desperately he wanted her back by his side. Pulling his hood up, he tried to forcibly dissipate this disturbing revelation as he walked. Behind him, the rest of the squad followed his lead and concealed their faces as a precaution.
They reached stables where their horses were waiting. Edward Faust was already there, waiting for them with bated breath.
"I told him," Hanji informed him after she noticed Levi's troubled expression. "And there's something… you need to know as well."
His brows clashed together, noticing the quiet tone she was using. He didn't have a good feeling about this.
"Any news from Ida?" Levi demanded the moment he reached the man, the rest of the squad scrambling to ready their horses for departure.
"I don't know," Edward answered simply with an apologetic shake to his head.
"What the hell do you mean you don't know, old man?" Levi snarked, clenching his jaw. "Just last night you were preaching so fucking highly about how you would be able to relay information she passed on."
Edward remained calm despite the intimidating glower Levi bestowed upon him.
"Something happened to her, no doubt about it," he explained to him in a monotone. "I've yet to receive a report from a certain confidante of mine I have installed in the Starke family... It's safe to assume something happened to him, and Ida could very well… be dead by now."
Dead?
That instance, Levi felt his body froze over on its own accord, the world seemingly disoriented at that very moment. Desperately, he willed to retain his self-control, but the rage and despair were bubbling in a witches' brew inside of him, alarming him of an overspill.
It's not possible.
"No." Hanji rejected his presumptions instantly. "Jaron wants something with her — he wouldn't just kill her off."
Throwing one firm glance at Levi, she added, "I'd say she's held captive somewhere."
"Shouldn't we try to save her?!" Jean suggested anxiously beside her, as honest with his feelings as he always was.
He felt troubled at the thought of leaving a comrade behind when he knew that she required help — his conscience simply wouldn't allow it.
Hanji exhaled loudly when she noticed the slight scowl forming in the Captain's features and elaborated, "Levi, I may be jumping to conclusions but any place that's suspicious should be worth checking out. We should head to the chapel at Reiss family grounds. We need to secure Eren and Historia. Erwin should've already received my report, it's likely he'd meet us there."
"Then what of Ida-san?" Armin sounded softly, greatly conflicted by the choice that they had to make.
"Eren and Historia are our top priority now, Armin," Mikasa reminded him flatly with a firm look. "We don't have time."
"Mikasa is right," Hanji agreed readily, silently uncomfortable at how alarmingly silent Levi had become, but his face did not betray the emotions she was sure he was feeling. "Rod engaged in contact with Historia after his family's death and seeing how she was captured as well, he plans to do something with her and Eren."
Armin's eyes widened. "Does it have to do with blood ties?" he asked.
"It's likely," Hanji confirmed, mounting her horse.
She finally turned her attention and addressed the silent man, "Levi, what are your orders?"
Hanji knew Levi well enough, and she was confident that he would be able to perform his duty and maintain his composure for the sake of the mission no matter how hard it was.
They simply didn't have the time to nurse their broken feelings.
"We head to the chapel," Levi stated calmly without another moment of hesitation, nothing detectable on his face as he grabbed the horse reins that Mikasa handed him.
Jean stared at him in horror but made no attempt to go against his orders.
His Captain scowled, trying to ignore the constricting feeling in his chest when he saw the evident horror on Jean's face and mounted his horse.
"Ida knew very well what would happen to her should she fail. That damned brat went into it knowing the damn consequences, there's nothing we can do about it," Levi added in an affirming manner.
He turned his horse around, throwing one last seething glance at Edward Faust by the side before averting his gaze to the front again. His eyes were firm, soulless and still.
His decision had been made.
He was strong, the strongest — but for once, Levi didn't care if he was weaker than anyone in the world. All he needed was the power to protect her. What good was strength when he couldn't even save someone he cared about?
"Our main concern is Eren and Historia! We need to secure them at all cost!" he raised his voice, as though he was trying not to sound weak and half-hearted. He knew that he was trying to convince himself that this was the right choice.
Then, his voice turned soft and low, almost barely audible, "The rest is… insignificant."
Levi could only hope that Ida was still the person he knew, and not the person that he feared she had become.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
Blood.
Her face was stone cold and the knife in her hands slicked with blood. Silently, Ida Starke took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped it clean until it was gleaming in the light. It was a habit that she had picked up after Levi, seeing how he liked his blades clean at all times and she smiled sadly at that thought.
"Ida," a cold voice greeted her, and she turned her head impassively to face Rena.
Rena took just once glance at the corpse of a young boy lying in front of her before she grabbed her wrist angrily.
"What the fuck did you do?" she demanded, her tone accusing.
Ida calmly shrugged her vice-like grip of her. "He was a spy for the Survey Corps, assigned to relay any information I have obtained back to my squad. His death was necessary."
Rena's eyes expanded at her straight forward explanation, staring at the lifeless body on the cold floor. She could remember him. A young gardener who had tended to the flowers at the estate's gardens. She felt tension on her shoulders when she saw the wound in his chest. A quick death straight to the heart. Jaron had informed her that Ida was sent here as a spy and the calculating man's frighteningly accurate predictions had proven themselves true again.
"How did you know it was him?" she asked, wanting to distract herself.
"Because I've already relayed one message to the squad," Ida admitted, her features and eyes almost unmoving. She gestured to the bandage that tied around the dead boy's left arm. "That was the tell-tale sign we decided upon, but he won't be relaying any more messages."
Her voice was cold, terrifyingly cold and Rena noticed the muted sparkle in her eyes. "We're leaving now," she told her. "Fischer told me to fetch you."
"Hm," was Ida's only disinterested answer.
She moved through the courtyard with her and Rena studied her from the corner of her eye. Ida radiated a sense of calmness, but what truly disturbed her was the fact that she was able to maintain such self-control given the situation she was in.
"Are you afraid?" Rena asked before she could stop herself, her voice just above a whisper. "There is no need to act brave. You can't be both at the same time."
Her expression was stiff and stoic like a statue, but she made no attempt to reply to her until they reached their horses. "The only time one can be brave, is in the face of fear."
The redhead glanced at Seth by her side, already mounted on a horse. Their gaze met for a few seconds before she hastily turned away and got on her own horse.
Choosing will always hurt, one way or another, and she knew that.
Her mind flashed back to how she had so ruthlessly murdered her ally in cold blood just minutes ago. Strangely enough, Ida felt no remorse for what she had done, only burning envy for the young boy lying dead on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
That boy was lucky that he was still capable of bleeding, she thought. Because most of her feelings were dead and gone — she wasn't capable of bleeding any longer.
All her blood had been long drained from her.
How much Ida wanted to bleed again.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
Under the blanket of darkness and the guidance of the stars, Ida Starke and the rest of her faction of nine arrived on a seemingly peaceful plot of land. However, Ida knew it was nothing like how it looks. There was something strangely eerily about the place that forebode impending bloodshed.
It was so peaceful, so untainted, like a blank canvas waiting to be painted by the blood of the fallen.
A humble chapel came to their view shortly after and Seth dismounted his horse, the rest following his lead without protest. He glanced at the redhead sneakily, disturbed that she wasn't asking any questions.
A walking corpse, Seth thought inwardly, but he willed his discomfort to fade.
Once they were inside the chapel, he removed the floor mat covering a secret entrance to the vast underground dungeon below it. Ida tilted her head to the side, passively watching as the soldiers descended into it one by one until it was just her and Seth.
"After you," Seth told her tonelessly, gesturing to the passageway.
With a disinterested look, she obeyed. As she descended deeper down the dungeon, the brick walls around her slowly shifted to shining stones. In silent awe, she followed the group deeper through the tunnels.
After they reached the end, Seth pushed open the large wooden doors and Ida's eyes expanded at the sight.
An underground dungeon was an understatement, it was an immense cave with walls made of the very same shining stones that she saw just now. A large staircase in front of them led to the ground floor.
"Oi, Oi," a distinctive loud voice that held a mocking glint echoed and she turned around looking for the voice. Kenny Ackerman fell skillfully to the ground, reeling in the grapples from his gears. "Where the hell have you been, were the lot of you idiots taking a large dump?"
"Kenny," Seth greeted flatly, handing a black bag to him. "I brought the package."
Ida watched the exchange with malicious intent brimming within her. Did these two know each other?
Her hands instinctively reached for her blades. This was the man who murdered her comrades; members of Hanji's squad back and even Nifa back at Stohess District.
That profound maniacal vile smile that never seems to cease to fade from his expression... she wanted to rip into it.
A voice inside her screamed for blood, but she was stopped abruptly when Kenny noticed her behind Seth.
"Oh? You were with that runt back then..." he smirked amusedly, lurking nearer to her. Ida assumed that he meant Levi. "So, I get that piece of shit didn't manage to keep you safe from that damned Jaron's grimy hands?"
"Knock it off, Ackerman," Seth commanded sternly, earning an acidic defiant glare from Kenny. "She came to Jaron on her own accord, she's working with us now."
"Tch," he scoffed, pinning his glare at Ida this time with the vilest of grins. "Whatever, but if this piece of shit messes up, I won't hesitate to finish her for good this time. All this trouble for a damned redhaired brat..."
"Ackerman…" Ida echoed, holding this glare without flinching. "Are you related to Levi?"
It was odd, now that she thought about it. Kenny Ackerman didn't look like the type that would willingly take someone under his wing. Unless of course, they were related in some way or another. And judging from what Jaron had informed her, Levi was indeed an Ackerman, it was the main reason why her detestable uncle wanted him dead.
But if that was the case, why didn't Jaron want Kenny dead as well? Was it because he was on his side? Actually, why was it that her uncle wanted all Ackermans dead?
Kenny cocked his brow and then laughed sadistically at her question. "Why? Is that what's restraining you from attacking me? Worried what that brat would say?" he asked sardonically, the side of his lips twitching. "...Heh, pardon me, missus, it seems that you ain't awfully bright... You're that Starke brat, are you not? One look at that shitty red hair of yours..."
"Names, blood ties," Ida went on in a monotone, her face as calm as ever. "It means nothing to me, so I don't see how that would be a problem…" she broke off. "…Even if the two of you are related."
He met her eyes with a challenge. "Even if you have to kill that disgraceful mother of yours that sadist Jaron kept locked up like a dog?"
Ida clenched her jaw at his remark, glaring at him with much severity. However, it seems that Kenny was growing even more amused at the sight of her loathing him. The conversation was entertaining to him, she observed.
"Tch. I don't even know what Jaron is planning for a little brat like you." Kenny sneered, stalking off in another direction, his hand on his cap. "Your idiot of a Captain is paying us a visit later on, let's give him a great shitty welcome party, shall we?"
Her knuckles whiten as she clenched her fist, glaring daggers at Kenny's retreating back. The agony of not being able to retort was eating straight into her and she had to use every ounce of self-control to restrain herself.
Seth emitted a soft sigh. "Hey, let's go."
He shot his grapple into one of the stone-encrusted pillars and reeled himself in the air, with Ida following suit shortly after. As they weaved their way through the pillars of the cave, her shifty eyes wandered to the other soldiers stationed on a little platform on top of the pillars. She stared at their gears.
Pistol-shaped grips, high-powered projectiles, guns — they all were equipped in the modified 3DMG like the ones she saw on Kenny and his subordinates back then Stohess.
As Ida scoured the cavern, she noted how many soldiers they were, her squad was greatly outnumbered.
A horrifying image flashed in her mind. Sasha, Connie, Mikasa, Jean, Armin, Hanji, and… Levi… all of them butchered as bullets rained down upon them. Her chest constricted at those gruesome images and she couldn't help but worry even though she acknowledged that she had no right now.
In the end, she could only sit by helplessly and watch her squad battle for their lives, but the most disturbing fact was not that — it was the fact that she would be one of their enemies and would have to draw her blade on them.
How ironic it was, she thought. She had trained intensively for years to protect her comrades, and now she had to use the very same strength she had gained on those very same people.
A view came to her and it sent her eyes wide with horror and shock. The sounds of mechanism reeling the grapples caught the attention of the three people on the ground and they effectively snapped their heads up to look at her.
"Ida-san!" Historia called out in a mixture of surprise and horror the moment she saw her.
Eren, on the other hand, could only show his surprise with his eyes, his mouth was muffled and his hands were both chained tightly to the caves to a point they were suspended in the air, restricting any movement at all.
Ida immediately knew that this was the succession ritual Jaron was talking about. Rod was planning to transfer the 'ultimate' power residing inside Eren to Historia. He would be eaten by her, she analyzed quickly, but what could she do about it now?
If the power that Eren's Titan form possess was able to eliminate Titans for eternity and that the Reiss house really did possess this power for generations — why hadn't the kings of the past destroyed all the Titans? If Rod was successful in transferring the power to Historia, then wouldn't things be the same as they were?
Is this what her mother meant by that there is no way to free mankind?
She landed after Seth on the ground and a man beside Historia greeted him. Ida assumed this was the king, Rod Reiss. He was a rather short man and slightly overweight. He looked nothing like a king at all, in fact, Ida even thought that Jaron Starke in his intimidating stature and expensive fashion resembled a king more than him. She maintained her apathetic dissemble when his eyes trailed curiously to her.
Seth could sense that Rod was eyeing on Ida behind him. "This is Ida Starke, I'm sure Jaron has already informed you about her."
"The Starkes and the Reiss family were allies for generations," Rod said flatly, giving her a once over. "It's good to know that there will be new blood to continue this friendship."
Ida felt sick upon hearing that, but she only clamped her lips together and nodded her head stiffly. It made sense now how Jaron was able to manipulate him and act on his own interest behind the scenes, Rod Reiss was nothing more than a fool, clearly lacking a king's disposition.
Thankfully, Seth had noticed her discomfort and hurriedly changed the subject. "Everything is prepared accordingly, we are ready at any time. You should begin soon, sir, we don't have much time."
"Ida, why are you here?!" Historia charged towards her, appalled by her sudden appearance.
The redhead saw that Historia was looking behind her. "They aren't with me," she stated firmly, knowing what Historia was thinking. "I came alone, I betrayed them."
The group heard a muffled cry and Ida turned her attention to the direction it came from.
That look…
She appraised Eren with a rueful smile, knowing what he was thinking. Ida could see it — Eren's wide eyes asking her 'why' — the disbelief in his features was so profoundly clear, and the hurt and contempt in his eyes sent her heart dropping to the abyss of her stomach.
But she willed herself to stand firm, couldn't falter now.
She wasn't the righteous soldier that Eren had thought she was, Ida was human in truth — a human who selfishly wanted nothing more than to save her mother, even if it meant that it would condemn mankind to live within the walls for all of eternity.
That's right Eren, look at me. I'm nothing more than a detestable, pathetic, weak human being, helpless against the power of names.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
Betrayal.
Such a tragic word, Ida thought to herself. For when there is betrayal, there is trust. Betrayal never comes from your enemies, but only from people who you trusted. It was no foreign emotion to Ida, she had known of betrayal long ago back when she still lived in the Underground with Seth.
She could remember that day as clearly; the resentment and rage she felt when she found out he betrayed her.
At one point in time, she would've gladly taken a bullet for him in a heartbeat. However, it was clear to her now that sometimes, the very same person could be the one firing that bullet.
As she stood stiffly on the platform on the pillars — her hand grips already in her grasp in preparation — Ida had repeatedly told herself that she would be able to stomach it; the looks on her comrade's faces when they realized exactly what she had done.
But sadly, it was exactly what was weighing on her currently.
She imagined the hurt, the despair, and the contempt as she slashed down her squad members one by one and she felt a shudder of fear zip through her.
Ida had already experienced it once when she saw Eren's expression, and it was an understatement to say that it had shaken her resolve threateningly. You can do it, she reassured herself again and again like she was mumbling a prayer, trying not to think that she wasn't even convinced with her statements. You are strong.
"You shouldn't have killed the boy," Seth suddenly spoke, alerting her of his presence. She had been so immersed in her destructive thoughts that she didn't see him landing beside her.
Sensing that Ida wouldn't reply to him, he opted to elaborate on what he meant, "...Rena informed me about it before we left. You killed that spy because you wanted to prevent them from finding out about anything, didn't you?"
He sighed audibly when Ida didn't even bother to spare a glance in his direction. Seth understood her, more than anyone else in the world. She was hurting, more than he could never imagine.
"But it's futile, Ida... They will find out about this place eventually," he continued, knowing that he had hit right on the nail. "The entire coup d'état that Erwin Smith had conducted was a rounding success, the entire military had switched sides, and they would be here any minute. If you want to keep your mother safe, you should just do what Jaron asks."
There was no point in her sudden pulse of anger at his words. Any other day, she would have snapped at him for even daring to advise her after what he had done to her. But not today, Ida was far too numb — too damaged.
"So... are you saying that, no matter what I do… this battle will occur...?" she spoke softly in a voice of wonder, surprising Seth that she even bothered to reply. "And... my own comrades and I would've to draw our swords at each other?"
She could feel the slight tremor of despair on her fingertips and she clutched on her hand grips harder to stop them from trembling. "That whether they win, or we win, we will still have to threaten each other with swords — are you saying that, Seth?"
Seth stared impassively at her form, giving her no consolation whatsoever. He let her continue, Ida needed to come to terms with her situation and she needed to accept it.
She allowed a small chuckle of mingled disdain and despair to pass her lips and she lifted her head up to stare at the ceiling. "In order to avoid such a fate, even if I don't get to see him forever, I was willing to do almost anything to avoid such a case... My mother or him, it took me a lot of guts to make my mind..."
With exaggerated slowness, she moved her head to look at him, unable to contain her emotions any longer. Seth's eyes widened in shock when he saw a lone diamond tear slip past her lower lashes. Ida's teeth clashed together so hard that he was amazed they didn't break.
"So... are you saying that..." she spoke hoarsely, cracking from anguish. "…All the efforts I've placed in the Survey Corps for the past year, all the dreams that I had... all the people that I've grown to care about... Are you saying all of it means nothing at all and this fate can't be changed?"
Without another thought, Seth gingerly reached out to wipe that stray tear away from her face. Brows knotted, teeth clenched, eyes firm — Ida was falling apart, crumbling before his very eyes; visibly vulnerable and weak.
"Yes,," he said flatly after a while, his hands still on her cheek. "There's nothing you can do but accept it. You have to, there's no other choice."
She clamped her eyes shut when she heard that, trying to calm herself. But it was futile, all she could think about was Levi's touch on her cheeks, comforting her exactly like how Seth was doing.
Why was he an Ackerman and she a Starke?
If they had been born with different names — a different family — perhaps they wouldn't be in this position they were in right now. Perhaps she would still be able to fight beside him, perhaps they wouldn't have to be on opposing sides…
Perhaps if things had been different, they could be happy together, could have a life together.
Perhaps if they were no one, they could live a happy peaceful life and never venture down the path as a soldier.
He, whose family had been persecuted by the Royal family for years, and her, whose family were a loyal ally to the crown and aided in this brutal persecution. He, who was bound to duty and was one of humanity's greatest assets, and her, who was bound to her family and was nothing more than a chess piece in someone's game.
Perhaps if they were born with no names, Levi would be the one beside her now, comforting her, and not Seth.
o o o —xπ{Ö}πx — o o o
Jaron Starke sighed, staring impassively at the family portrait that hung in the hallways. His feet were rooted firmly on the ground and his hands were clasped together at his back. He had been just a boy back then, but a mere boy born with a powerful name.
He touched the painted portrait consisting of Jerome, Elsie and himself gingerly, remembering the words of his father.
"We're sinners," he had said with the same despaired and depressed expression he had always worn in front of his children. "If the first ancestors who first lived in the walls hadn't done what they had — if our ancestors didn't side with the first king, things would've been different."
He clenched his jaw, almost hearing his father's voice ringing in his ears. How much he hated him. One might find Jerome Starke noble, compassionate, honorable — but all Jaron saw in his father was a weakness. Pure weakness. He was so weak despite being born with such a powerful name.
And that was exactly why Jaron needed to kill him.
He needed to remove any trace of weakness from this house.
He glazed his eyes through the family portrait again, landing his hateful eyes on his twin sister's painted face. Elsie was almost exactly like their father — the righteous speech she always made, the staunch stare that stared at him, the blatant despair in her green eyes... everything in her mirrored him exactly.
Perhaps that was why he hated her as well.
He smirked amusedly at that thought, crossing his arms behind his back again and moved towards the dungeons.
"Dear sister," he called soothingly with affection when he reached her cells.
Elsie Starke didn't move from her spot on the ground, knowing that taunting voice all too well. "Brother... What brings you here? Here to offer me more of your generous hospitality?"
Jaron laughed, smirking at her sardonic words. He wondered how she had the strength to retort. "I thought you rather enjoyed this lovely place, but seeing as you hadn't been taking your meals, I came here worried about you..." he answered slyly, relishing in the sight of Elsie's bedraggled appearance behind the bars.
His sister snorted loudly in disbelief. "Why don't you stop with your stupid pleasantries and just get straight to the purpose of your visit, Jaron?" she sneered, cutting to the chase. "I'm sure an important man such as yourself has better things to do."
She knew that Jaron was just here to taunt her once again and that he enjoyed every bit of her misery, but she wouldn't give him the pleasure of enjoying her demise.
"You seemed upset." Jaron continued on with his false pretense of worry. "I thought you would want to know what happened to your daughter."
Elsie immediately snapped her heavy lids open. "What have you done with her?!"
"I sent her away to Rod Reiss," he answered calmly.
"Rod?" she exclaimed, eyes as wide as saucers.
"You look surprised," he noted sharply. "Well, he was once your betrothed…" he broke off, his expression turning darker. "Until you destroyed everything with that sudden pregnancy of yours."
Elsie tightened her jaw, knowing exactly why Jaron was still spiteful over this. Not only did the political marriage got called off, but it almost meant that she had halted her brother's plans.
"You never forgave me for it," she said dourly. "Nor have you ever loved your niece."
"Love…" he repeated like it was a foreign word to him. "I'm not capable of something like that, sister! Not when you destroyed everything I have planned for you — have planned for our family!"
"It's a pity that the brother I knew has been enslaved to a family name," Elsie spat, glaring at him. "What are you exactly waiting for, Jaron? You should strike now when the military and the royal family are at war with each other and snatch the power out of their grasp! Isn't that what your main goal? Isn't the 'king's power' what you're after all these years?"
"Snatch it?" Jaron repeated through gritted teeth, infuriated. He walked closer to the cells and gripped the iron bars. "That damn power was rightfully ours from the beginning, we're the kingmakers! The Reiss family cannot be what they are without us!"
"Then just take it if you think that power belongs to you!" she screeched back in defiance. "What are you waiting for?!"
For a tense moment, both of the siblings said nothing, only glaring at each other with passive aggression.
"…'One should never commit to anybody until you know there is a clear winner, then you should remind them of your undying loyalty until it serves you no more' — I read that in a book once, glorious advice if I should say so myself," Jaron chuckled amusedly to himself. "I'm going to let Reiss and the military battle, I'm going watch let my enemies slaughter each other, and when they're done, then I will seize the power from whichever that survives."
"The Reiss family bloodline is the only one which can fully control the Founding Titan power," she pointed out smugly. "You know that. Your plans have come to naught, Jaron."
He turned his spiteful glare to her, "And whose fault was that? You were supposed to marry Rod and join our bloodlines together, and his children — your children, the descendants of Starke and Reiss could control the damn coordinate to its full extent! With the power that we possess, we might even be able to overwrite the vow of the Reiss king!"
"And then what?!" Elsie snapped, growing in disgust for his indifference. "You are going to use our said children as pawns in your vindictive game?! There's no guarantee that our power could overwrite the vow! I know what you planned to do Jaron — the marriage wasn't for my sake! It wasn't to make me Queen! You were planning to install me as in the royal family so I could extract information and report to you! And you were making me your broodmare so that the coordinate power could be controlled by the Starke bloodline as well! You're talking about a war!"
"Yes," he admitted unabashedly, his eyes turning darker. "That was your duty, and you failed at that when you got pregnant with that commoner Smith's brat. You were the one who forced me to change my plans! You left me with no other choice!"
Fury reigned in Elsie's veins. "You should've never harbored plans to take—"
"Wall Maria even had to fall because of it! Ida's birth has cost the lives of thousands, sister!" Jaron interjected sharply, rage burning in his green eyes. He released his grip on the iron bars, his voice grower darker and more hateful. "...Their blood is on your hands."
His sister scoffed in disbelief, turning her head away. She couldn't bear to look at him any longer, too disgusted by the sight. How could he blame her for the death of thousands? If only he had dropped all of his plans, then nobody would have to die. When Elsie Starke had told him she was pregnant with Ida, she understood that it was detrimental to his plans to install her as Queen, but never in her life could she expect that her brother would find another more despicable way to get what he wanted.
And for that, Elsie Starke was guilty.
She was guilty because she should've known her brother — his insatiable quest for power was unparalleled to anything else in him.
"I heard about it all… how the military had switched sides," Elsie reminded him tauntingly. "You will lose brother, Erwin will take you down."
He clenched his fist and his mouth twitched. "All this time... you're still rooting for him — choosing that bastard Smith over your own family!" Jaron hissed irately. "You haven't changed at all."
But then, he paused, and his expression reverted back to the calm indifferent one he always wore. He chuckled to himself. "...Well, I suppose that doesn't matter now, does it..?"
"You have orchestrated all those plans for nothing," she stated confidentially again, ignoring his comments. "The Founding Titan's true power is bound to the Reiss family bloodline — only they can fully exert its true power. You've lost, Jaron, accept it and stop all this at your peril."
But after he remained alarmingly silent after her offensive remark, she snapped her head back to him in wonder.
Jaron only smiled sweetly at her when he met her gaze, his dark green eyes holding an enigmatic glint. "Did you know… sweet sister, that someone else out of the Reiss bloodline had been able to tap into that power and control the Titans? As for now, he is learning to control the power, but this only proves that the coordinate could be adapted to the host — regardless of bloodlines. There's a loophole, though I don't know what it is yet."
Her eyes widened in horror, she knew that the Founding Titan had been stolen from the Reiss family, but the news that someone out of the Reiss bloodline could make use of its power alarmed her.
Because if someone other than the royal bloodline could control the Founding Titan, then wouldn't that mean that the vow of renunciation for war would not affect them?
"Who is it?" she breathed out slowly. "…Is it the person who stole the power from the Royal family years ago?"
"Not exactly, but his son." Jaron continued with an amused smile. "I wasn't sure that it was possible for anyone out of the Reiss bloodline to be able to use the coordinate power… but now that it has been confirmed that it's indeed possible… that changes things for me doesn't it?"
He stood up, looking highly pleased with how events have worked out in his favour. "After Rod transfers the stolen coordinate power from Eren Yeager to his illegitimate brat, Historia, she'd be weak, more unaccustomed to her power, unlike the previous host…" Jaron stopped and then smirked triumphantly to himself. "…And well… wouldn't that be the perfect time to strike then?"
Elsie snapped her eyes fully open in shock, her mind was only focused on one thing, "E — Eren Yeager?"
"Oh, that is the first you've heard of him hadn't you? He's the boy that Ida and her squad had been dying to protect," Jaron mused with an arched brow. "His father, Grisha Yeager stole the coordinate from the Reiss family, killed every member save Rod, and passed the power on to his son. No one knows of his intentions, or where he came from… But he certainly made things complicated…"
A long stretch of silence and then suddenly, Elsie's voice turned frighteningly cold, "And would that be a problem then, dear brother?"
Jaron raised his brow, curious at her sudden change of demeanor. "Why would a dead man's intentions be a problem to me?" he stated haughtily.
Elsie kept her firm silence and downcast her gaze as Jaron stared at her approvingly at her docile behavior.
With a satisfied sigh, he went forward to the bars and tapped his finger on it. "Rest well, sister, I need you alive and well. I'd come to visit you soon."
With another crude smile, Jaron turned and left the dungeons, unbeknownst to the growing smirk on Elsie's face.
After five years in captivity, her dead soulless eyes seemingly found back their lost sparkle as she glared at the closed door after he left.
"But brother, a dead man's will lives on in that of his children who bear his name…" Elise murmured under her breath, a slow satisfied smile spreading on her cracked lips as she slowly pieced the pieces together.
Grisha, she thought, closing her eyes and breathing calmly. Is this your last resort…? What are you planning…?
When she had heard that the Founding Titan had been stolen from the Reiss family years ago, Elsie had thought that everything was over — that her plans had failed before they even started.
Elsie Starke had long given up, had long lost the will to fight back.
However, now that she knew who exactly stole that said power and was able to control it — it changes things drastically not only for Jaron but for her as well.
She had thought of Grisha and his family to perish in the fall of Shiganshina…
Was it just a coincidence...?
The power of a name, what was it exactly?
'The true power of a name was the ability to inherit the will of your predecessor, to finish what they couldn't.' Her father, Jerome Starke had explained to her one time when she asked that very same question, and it was this day, that Elsie finally understood what he meant.
Could it be… that Grisha hadn't failed just yet? That all the efforts and sacrifices she had made weren't all for nothing?
She let out a loud sigh mingled with disbelief and relief.
Grisha, I had hoped that we would be able to finish what we started... but it appears that we had failed terribly...
From now on, the road that our children must walk would be terribly frightening and hard... But… I believe they can accomplish what we cannot.
Her heart — which had been barren and incapable of feeling anything all these years — suddenly lighted up as a flicker of hope started a raging fire deep within her, burning her up and lifting her. She stared at her chains keeping her prisoner and thrashed against it, defiance brimming in her green eyes.
Perhaps, not all was lost yet…
Perhaps, mankind did have a chance at freedom after all.
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