These streets were so painfully familiar to her feet which had walked so many streets in search of a meal. She couldn't recall if this was the same area of the continent she had lived on following the fall of the empire, although the architecture had shown no signs of change, so maybe more was the same than ever before.

The countless faces had changed- that she couldn't deny. Time had flown by, and what were once children who would have struck her with stones and rubbish were now grandparents to grandchildren who wouldn't dare let a rubber ball bounce in her way lest it caused her to trip. She had enough justification to earn the respect of both her Eldian blood siblings in this viper's nest and that of Marley.

She gently adjusted the red armband on her new uniform she donned. No Eldian here had ever received a red armband in the manner she had before. A young couple in the street bowed their heads but dared not approach her, and she dared not open her mouth to speak per her testing. The press had done a number on these people and this miraculous story of recovery of one of their Titan powers from the island. They knew to heed respect to their Warriors who returned home with heavy losses. But there was one thing among them that caused them to tremble. And among them was an unspoken rule.

Her name shall not be spoken.

…

What was betrayal?

She couldn't bear to think of that lovely face with pleading eyes. On the ship back to the mainland, all she requested was that once recovered, Reiner would give her an answer regarding her letter. And on that day, fate had not been such a moody child, and for that she was thankful.

Yet Reiner hovered over her the whole time when she had written that letter. By no means was she allowed to give a clear answer about her life beforehand or the world that she didn't know existed. But maybe that was for the better. If she could have gone back to the day where they met, they could have remained blissful in ignorance and spent the rest of her life together.

No. Her own life, maybe. But not her. She had to learn to live by her real name. She couldn't let any uncertainty linger in her mind. She had made her choice. She chose the world over her. The real world. Not the one they all believed existed in a microcosm, a little paradise, to flee to when the world became too cruel to handle.

She didn't want any of her friends to come to harm. But as long as this place was scapegoated by the outsiders, it was simply the truth that would have to shine through the cracks in their ignorance. There was still so much she alone didn't understand about why everyone there believed they were the last ones standing, but she had an idea based on those stories by her long dead captors. Not to mention that this idea personified in the actions of that raging boy who couldn't see the forest for the trees. As long as he kept strong but ignorant of the bigger picture, this would play into the hands of Marley for their next move.

The girl was in good hands. Lots of people really cared for her. Yet if any of them could feel and know her like she did, that was not for her to know here. For all she knew, she was now as prime an enemy as Reiner, Zeke, and Pieck were. Of course, Bertholdt was likely dead as the dirt. Had it been a bluff that the military had serum in their hands? Or was he being held captive?

She knew he didn't have a strong will. He'd snap like a twig without someone to back him up. She sighed, wondering what fate could be worse for him. For all of them.

Whatever came for them next, if she had to betray everyone in this unending choking chain of life, all she could pray was that whatever Historia decided to do with her life, she would not back away from the promise they made.

She had to believe that everything would work out for her.

…

Snarling and sneering men in the tribunal didn't scare her. It wasn't dehumanizing to be gagged and bound to a pole as they droned on over all kinds of military documents and testimonies from the three Warriors who made it out alive. She found it amusing above all that she, named for the goddess and devil, returned from a place that was both heaven and hell to these people, and they, the ones with all the power over her to dispose of her by throwing her into the mouth of the next Eldian down the line, were outright baffled at how their mission failed all because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Had she been a hindrance to their plans? Yes. But instead of a curse, she could become their miracle resurrected from the dead. All she had to do was convince them that she wasn't a rogue agent. They preferred the domesticated livestock over those born in the wild to control their Titans. Trouble was, she knew what it was like to be domesticated with all the food and warmth she wanted in exchange for her flesh and soul. No different than these kids here who obviously believed this lie about themselves until the truth broke their hearts.

The brass did not allow her to speak for herself. There had been records of her exile to the island kept by the government, so her identity was verified- the girl who had misled dozens of adults to believe she was the descendent of the royal line. These were details nobody else could have accounted for, but as for how she came to side with them, only Reiner was allowed to recount his side of the story.

"And this girl. Did she ever show any signs of allegiance to the King of the Walls?"

"Outside of the pledge to the military, she did not disclose any involvement."

"And how did she come to reveal herself as the thief who stole the power of the Jaw?"

"She did it out of her own accord. She wanted to protect us when Bertholdt and I had our safety compromised when the devils swarmed us all at once. Bertholdt had no energy to transform again. We would have not made it alive to relay this information if it weren't for her."

Reiner stared at her as if this would affirm his words. His palms dripped with sweat and guilt. His life was on the line too.

"I concur with Officer Braun's statement," Zeke motioned. "Nobody would expect a devil to return alive, and not one who was cast out over half a century prior. She could be holding very sensitive information about the island, and by stripping her of her power, we have no guarantee of retaining it with her successor. Even a glimpse of it now could benefit us in the future."

In the audience seated next to the young woman Pieck was a young man a few years younger with a scowl on his face. Anger radiated from him like steam, and he was dividing it between Reiner at the stand and her bound to the pole. He wore a yellow armband, which signified something important in the military, but it didn't hold as much prestige as the red one.

"Yet the only reason she stole the Jaw in the first place was because she was cast out to this very island as a punishment. We may have no reason to believe she has any sympathies for the devils on the island, but for her own blood's proof, are we to trust this criminal to execute justice, War Chief?"

Zeke continued, "It is not unreasonable to display skepticism toward working with one considered an enemy or a criminal, but when one so willingly desires to return to her homeland where she was condemned one time, fully understanding the consequences of such an action, can you question her conscience and her loyalties? Us Devils have been shown to repent of our ways before."

This War Chief Zeke blabbered on. The brass clearly enjoyed this flowery rhetoric. All he had to do was sound intelligent and they ate it up like hogs ate up scraps. He kept emphasizing the protection of the information in her memories. Information. What did he want from her that he thought would be useful?

Eventually, the Marleyan officer interrupted with one more question. "You make a clear case, War Chief Zeke. But to be impartial, do you not hold any concerns for this girl who holds the Jaw?"

"There is not adequate enough concern for me. I know the signs of duplicitous motives like the back of my hand, and she has no intermediate traits of one who wants to serve a purpose for another entity." Zeke adjusted his glasses. "However, I must say that the only concern that we may hold is just how she is to be addressed. We cannot simply call her 'the girl' or 'the Jaw' in civilian conversation. The great irony of this all stems from the fact that she comes from the devil's island, and what a more fitting way to have one of their own return with the name of…."

…

The name had been forbidden by Marleyan authorities after the Great War. Too many cities, too many people wiped out in her name. It was once a common name among the most devout of families. The only time the name could be said was during the state sanctioned history lessons given to children and wayward adults. Never again was their goddess to be worshiped.

It was kind that her new comrades did not want her to be nameless, yet she didn't need to be worshiped to feel welcomed. She was fine enough not going by a name at all. Her parents had never given her a name in the first place. It wasn't needed if she was going to be destined to wander the streets and simply survive after she was abandoned. After that cult leader lured her, she understood why names carried meaning.

Shame was, the ministry of the press, in order to justify to the general public the Marleyan military's controversial action to spare an exiled criminal, had to publicize the truth of her identity and just how she came to atone for her wrongdoing from decades ago.

"Mama, the Jaw!" a brave little girl pointed out. "I want to be just like her!"

"Dear!" the mother exclaimed. "I do hope you mean you become a Warrior, or you may as well send us on the next ship to the island!" She quickly dragged her daughter away.

The law still applied to the name though. Nobody was to speak it. This was the only point that the tribunal clashed with War Chief Zeke over. She was to be only addressed as "Jaw" given she had no other form of address. It wasn't bad having been a goddess, but it was better to be a little more lowly.

The Jaw walked along. She couldn't spend all this time feeling pity for the people here, but it was hard not to. It was hard enough to save one person from feeling her life had no meaning but to serve as a blood sacrifice for being born, but a whole populace was another story. Maybe with time they'd see themselves as she saw herself, born from dirt twice over, but at peace inside, not caring what others thought of them.

"Hey, there you are."

She recognized the voice. Pieck must have followed her on her free walk to ensure she hadn't gone rogue. She had been such a sweetheart for the last few months, and not in a sickening way. She took her work seriously, but she knew how to have a little fun on the side when she wasn't planted onto foreign soil to do Marley's bidding. She was quite popular among the men here, especially those in her Panzer Unit, but she never let them interfere with her duties.

"And I thought we were supposed to be trailing her."

"Pock, we've been doing that for the last two hours. She's passed the test." She smiled warmly. He just rolled his eyes.

"We're not going to be allowed to be so gracious when the real one starts."

As experienced as she was using the Jaw to hold off Titans, warfare had evolved since she was a little girl and a soldier on the island. Artillery was stronger, and swords and spears didn't cut it in the battlefield. Machinery against Titans was even swifter to kill them than blades could. She had to learn quickly and spend time only observing battles on the sidelines along with the new candidates to inherit the Titans and Galliard.

Galliard had no reason to like her, no more than he appeared to adore Reiner. She stole something most precious to him, and he knew the only way to get him back was to steal her from this world. He didn't want to take the Jaw because he loved Marley- he snorted like the pig he was named for when Marley decided to spare her- it was because of something selfish in him. Did he really value his life so little that he wanted to be cursed to die after thirteen years?

But he was willing to follow orders for it or otherwise risk losing his slot. If not on her, he was probably equally praying for the failure of the Armored Titan overseas as he helped decimate a territory that Marley wished to annex for itself.

"Not everything has to be a sole test. Comrades must stick together."

He sighed. "Alright, Pieck. You don't need to review the whole spiel we gave to the new candidates at commencement."

Pieck laughed. "Didn't you have fun when Gabi tried to scale the bleachers with Falco? I think she's going to try to inherit all four of our Titans before anybody else can get them."

"She just thinks that because of blood ties she'll get the Armored. She's just a little kid."

"And it would be foolish of Marley to base their standards off of nepotism." Pieck turned to her. "Let's go back to the mess hall. You won't be able to succeed on an empty stomach."

…

Nothing could hurt her. Nothing could get in her way.

She dodged each and every projectile with dexterity, not missing a step on the training field some distance outside of the Internment Zone. No chains to hold her in place, no persecution from the angry dissenters to bring her down. She embraced the power in her veins, but she knew that this did not stem from her alone. She searched hard in her mind to find memories from another's to see if these were of any use. She found one.

You were never meant to be chosen as a Warrior.

The words struck her with as much precision as an artillery shell, which almost caused her form to trip over a trench. She leapt with grace to make up for it. She wondered if Galliard was watching this through binoculars. It wasn't going to be him who chose what to do with her. It wasn't up to her either to decide her own fate no matter how hard she performed.

That's just how meaningless everything was. But there was no need to protest. She didn't think she was meaningless. It didn't matter what Galliard or Marley believed about her.

With only one fluke in her test, the current holder of the Jaw passed with flying colors. There was much ado among the brass, a cause for a cautious celebration at the barracks that evening among the military. The younger troops were much more eager to rejoice.

"You're even swifter than our last Jaw was!"

"You're as conniving on the field as the Devil himself! Our enemies will never see what's coming!"

They leaned a little too close to comfort for her, to which Pieck quickly pulled them off and offered them drinks. She forgot how perverted dogs in the military could get. Not that she'd ever find any of the good dogs cute enough to take in for herself. Unless of course they were as sweet of a girl as Historia.

Historia. She could go without saying her own name, but she questioned how she was going to get by without saying that lovely name.

"Hey. You did great out there."

At first, she thought it was another drunken greenhorn trying to get her attention, but it was in truth Galliard. And he sounded honest. And Pieck was nowhere in sight to provide a cushion for his words.

"I'm sorry I doubted you. You'll serve your remaining time well with us. I'm just going to have to wait for Marcel's memories another time."

The closest he was going to get for the time being was through a handshake.

…

"Our Devil! Our Devil!"

The crowds, both Marleyan and Eldian standing shoulder to shoulder, cheered her on as the Warrior Unit returned from another victory abroad with her at the front and center.

Our Devil.

Their sign of affection, about as endearing as a roach in a bowl of soup, was their new nickname for her, the only devil among them they appreciated. The Devil's trickery worked miracles for the military. It wasn't just those in Liberio who knew of her exploits following her return from her eternal sentence to wander the island to only wander the world, just as this figure had in times of old. Marleyan propaganda was far and wide. Their opponents overseas would return home, shuddering at how she was able to wipe out whole units in a single strike against their ironclad machines.

She couldn't blame them for the comparisons. All the instructional materials depicted a creature who looked like her Titan's form. They'd surely try to slay her as Helos had done one-hundred years prior, unless any of their conquered people wished to strike a deal with them. Now that would be truly devilish.

They paraded onwards, gradually encountering quieter streets and smaller crowds. Among these smaller crowds were the people most familiar to the Warrior Unit. Parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins. Many happy reunions among them.

"I did great out there! They called me a goddess!" Young Gabi Braun boasted to her parents. Her parents happily hugged her. Reiner stood nearby but said nothing. He eyed the Devil among them. His mother nearby picked up his disdainful expression and bit her lip. Not everybody was happy to have a reminder from the remains of Eldia living among them. Not one with a name like hers. But she misunderstood her son's discomfort in the situation.

"We know, dear," she praised her niece. "You've brought pride to us."

The Devil felt the same pain Reiner did. Only she, this time, was here out of her own free will. This little goddess was not. She wanted to step in, say some words of encouragement to her, share the forbidden knowledge she was bound to not repeat. But she decided to stay back. It would only hurt the misled flocks. She had to figure out the truth of the situation for herself. The way it was looking now, she would only be awoken from her hazy dreams by inheriting the Armored Titan.

But before that, there were talks and early preparations being made for another invasion of the island. She herself had explained some features of the inner walls to help strategize. It was all truthful. She wasn't going to lie to the people she vowed to serve again. She warned them about the use of ODM gear and how it worked-the government seemed rather intent on knowing where the best deposits of iceburst stone were. Of course they were. They almost valued this more than they valued the Founder.

Of course, the inevitable would have to come where she joined the invasion by her own accord. People she considered friends would not show her mercy for running away, supposedly as a traitorous coward. And the one she loved would have her heart broken to pieces again as if she found a lost jewel and let it fall into the sewers after a long search.

Would the two of them be able to face each other? She couldn't force her to betray her homeland too, but she couldn't stop her from striking her with the blades, severing and separating their bond by more than just an ocean between them. It was her own path to choose, and she wasn't going to let her stray from it.

"Hey, you. We'll see each other tomorrow at headquarters." Porco nodded at her and waved. He joined his parents who could only acknowledge her presence with a slight tilt of the head. Thieves, even repentant ones, were not widely accepted here. Only if and when they were ready would they have a conversation.

Soon all of the families departed. Pieck would normally have invited her to join her, but her father was taken ill and had to be brought home for bedrest. She was on her own in these streets once more and strolled back to the barracks. She had nobody to speak to.

…

She stretched out on her bed and munched on an apple while she browsed over a book about the history of the world from the Marleyan point of view. She stifled her snorting from amusement should a spy be monitoring her actions. The author decried how Eldians bore children in the Nine Houses and volunteered to inherit the power through a system of trials and tests filled with bloodshed. What barbaric cruelty.

"Did you hear that at least two trainees passed out from heat exhaustion today?" a sergeant spoke as he kept pace with another person outside her room.

"Come on, don't feel too sorry for them. If they can't tolerate a little sunlight, they can't shoulder the responsibilities of being real Marleyans," another replied.

After those two dense men passed, she stood up and walked to where she hung her uniform. The nine-point star on the red armband seemed to twinkle in the fading sunlight from outside. For people who wanted to wipe out the past, they sure couldn't let go of her ancestors' high and holy symbolism and use it to shame them and mark them unredeemed. If they really considered her and the Warrior Unit to be true Marleyans, they wouldn't have to wear these.

She slipped the armband off of the sleeve of her coat and cradled it in her hands. She wasn't going to let them ruin her existence or her people's. All onlookers would see is an Honorary Marleyan. Yet inside, she was a devil by blood and by title. That didn't matter. She was living by her true name that Historia knew and cherished, even if it was not to be spoken.