Reviews:

Darkscythe Drake: Thanks for you patience! I hope this chapter will continue to satisfy. And while things are peaceful for now within both worlds, peace can be fragile for both sides.

Gwynx: Thank you! I hope you enjoy!

Guest: Yes, back again. Sorry for the long wait.

muzanspiderlilly: Yes, here's the newest chapter.

Gilgamesh50: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

MERK FOX: Things will certainly be different when and how Harry returns to the Wizarding World, and this chapter should shed more light on how it is possible. And he certainly won't be alone the next time.

Yifach17: I glad you think so! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

SoulOfCinders: Given Eren's nature, it is a possibility.

Mariegrey90: Thank you, that means a lot! If there is a possibility for some sort of comic to arise, I wouldn't be opposed to it, that'd be pretty cool to happen.

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan is owned by Hajime Isayama. I own nothing.

Chapter 21: Window of a Bridge

"There's a lot of them."

"How many did you count?"

"I don't know. A dozen. Maybe more."

"I thought I saw Professor Dumbledore down near Hagrid's hut with a group of them. Looks like Hagrid was going to lead them into the forest."

"Think they'll find anything?"

"I don't know. What do you think, Ginny?"

"Ginny?"

Ginny blinked before realizing she was being addressed. "Oh, huh? What?"

Two of her fellow first-year Gryffindors regarded her oddly. "The Aurors that arrived earlier this morning," they explained. "They're out there searching the grounds right now. The gamekeeper is leading a group of them to search the forest. Haven't you noticed Dumbledore and some of the teachers are missing from the head table? They're out there helping with the search."

"Maybe it has something to do with the Chamber of Secrets. Maybe they found out where it is and they're going to go seal it off. I heard Colin Creevey is petrified in the hospital wing. Just like Mrs. Norris."

"Yeah..." Ginny gradually said. "I heard about that, too. Colin's nice, he didn't deserve that."

The others nodded. "Yeah. That camera of his is a little annoying, but he never hurt anyone. I hope they find the chamber and whoever did this."

"Right... same here." Ginny mindlessly poked at her breakfast. The chamber was all anyone was talking about. It made Ginny feel a strange sense of unease. Not just because animals and students were ending up petrified from the attacks, but because she felt she was drawing blanks when these attacks were happening. She felt tired, even when she knew she was getting a full night's sleep.

Or was she?

The day before Colin was attacked, Ginny woke in her bed to find chicken feathers stuck to her clothing. She knew Hagrid had a chicken coop near his hut; had she been sleepwalking? She had never been a sleepwalker, Fred and George would have pranked her to high heaven if she had been. It was strange, it was odd. It wasn't right. And there was no way she was going to mention that to her friends or McGonagall.

It felt like the only person she could really open up to was Tom. Ginny's hand patted her bag, ensuring the diary was still safely in place. Maybe Tom could offer some insight into what was going on with her. Tom was patient, he would listen. He didn't laugh or judge her whenever she mentioned Harry - in fact, Tom seemed eager to learn more.

Maybe that's what it was. Maybe all those Aurors going out now were out looking for Harry. He had been missing since before Halloween, and no one seemed to know where he could have gone. Not even her brother Ron, or any of his second-year Gryffindor friends seemed to know anything. Merlin forbid whatever was lurking in that chamber somehow abducted him.

But wherever he is, Ginny could only hope that he turns up safe.

It felt strange not to be wearing his glasses. He had grown so accustomed to wearing them for the first eleven years that he never really thought what it would be like to be without them. The only reason why he had worn them, to begin with, was because of Petunia Dursley. They were a pair of hand-me-downs like everything he had back at the Dursley house. She had said that the man he thought to be his father had worn glasses and it would save the Dursleys the money to buy him glasses later on.

Now, he could see just fine. He seemed to see better than he did when he had been wearing his glasses. Ymir seemed to think it was an improvement, and if he really wanted to, he was sure he could get a pair with fake lenses if he missed the feeling of wearing them.

"Feeling a little well rested?" Ymir asked as the last remnants of their Titan bodies evaporated into hot steam.

"I think so," he replied. "I kinda want to give it another go. I want to see what else my Titan can do."

Ymir smiled cheekily. "I figured. I'd say we can probably do more, but if Eren is telling everyone else back at the cabin, they'll probably want to see with their own eyes eventually, so this'll be the last one for right now, so make it count, okay?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I understand." He raised his hand to his mouth and looked over towards Ymir. "Ready?" She nodded and he bit down on his hand hard enough to draw blood.

The clearing was momentarily lost to him once again. He was back in the endless field of clay and sand with a darkened starry sky above. The massive figure of his Titan emerged from the voided depths and dunes, its shadowy form looming over him in menacing comfort. The giant hand was reaching out towards him, turning his vision darker than the timeless void surrounding them.

And when he opened his eyes, Harry saw himself towering over Ymir as his second set of eyes opened. The warm, steamy embrace of the inside of the nape of his Titan's neck enveloping him as he got his bearings.

"How're you feeling?" Ymir yelled up to him. "Feeling good? Tired?"

"I'm feeling fine," Harry telepathically conveyed to her. "Maybe a little dizzy, but I feel good."

'Good to hear,' Ymir's voice spoke inside his head from his telepathy link. 'I guess that means your Titan is good on stamina as long as you didn't overexert yourself physically or with your magic.'

"I suppose so," he agreed. "There is something I wanted to figure out."

'What is it?'

"Well... its just that you said my Titan might be connected to space somehow; that that was how I was able to return in the first place."

'Yeah... I remember saying that. What is it you have in mind?'

"Do you think... maybe my Titan can try teleporting?" he suggested. "I know I can turn invisible because it absorbed my cloak, I just figured I'd try it out, see if I can do it."

'I suppose you could...' Ymir pondered. 'How about you try it from where you are now to the other side of this clearing?'

Harry's eyes fixated on the edge of the clearing where the treeline began. He gave a nod and his Titan head followed with the same gesture.

But how to do it? He could see exactly where he wanted to be - just straight ahead. Nothing fancy. He took a few seconds to take in as many little details as possible, to commit them to memory. Harry shut his eyes, imagining exactly what he had been staring at moments ago. He could almost see it in his mind's eye. Harry felt himself lift one of his Titan's feet and when he moved it forward he opened his eyes and...

He found himself but a single step from where he had just been.

"Hold on," He conveyed to Ymir down on the ground. "Let me try it again."

'Remember, there's no rush.'

He knew that, but did his Titan body?

He wasn't feeling exhausted just yet, he hadn't done anything to overexert himself. There was just something different in how his Titan seemed to feel right now. It was almost as if there was some kind of knot or spring coiled inside of its stomach. Strange. He hadn't felt it when he had first transformed; it had only just started after he had tried to teleport. Did that mean he was close to doing it? Had he just not been focusing hard enough? Maybe. Whatever it was, he was ready to try again.

Focusing on the tension he was feeling pooling inside him, Harry shut his eyes again, visualizing exactly where he wanted to go. He felt... almost lightweight. Like he wasn't a towering 13-meter Titan right now. It was almost like he was just suspended in the air. And when he opened his eyes...

He was still in the exact same spot.

"I thought I almost had it that time - I swear."

'You... did something, alright.'

"I... I did? What? I still haven't moved."

From below, Ymir pointed to the empty space in front of him. 'You had your eyes closed, so you didn't see it, but there was like this... I don't know, like a shimmer or a ripple in the air.'

"Is that it?"

'Don't go sounding all down,' Ymir assured. 'Maybe if you keep your eyes open this time, you'll see exactly what I meant. You want to try it again?'

"Yeah. I want to see."

The feeling of the tightened coil had not left him. If anything, it had only seemed to amplify after his second failed teleporting attempt. Keeping his gaze set directly in front of him, Harry focused on recreating what he had tried shortly before. His eyes were steady, unblinking. He saw what was in front of him, he could see where he could be, could, just could. All he had to do was move and he would see it, he would...

See it. He... he had. He saw it.

It was there only for a second, but it had been there - a shimmering ripple, just as Ymir had said. For the briefest of moments, the air had been the surface of an invisible pond.

"I saw it. Ymir... that was something I did?"

'I certainly didn't do it. Whatever it is anyway.'

"I'm going to try it again." Exactly what it was he was trying to do, he was sure he would figure it out.

Here it goes. The same as before. But this time, he knew that he could do it.

When he tried the next time, the air was still. And then, it was back. Faint at first, but there regardless. It was small, probably no bigger than Ymir down below, but hovering at his eye level. It seemed to flicker, a translucent candle of his creation. But it was growing smaller, some unseen breath looking to extinguish it. Holding out one of his giant hands, Harry stopped just shy of touching the ripple in the air.

And it seemed to grow more stable.

His hand, his mere presence seemed to halt its extinction. Curious, Harry gave a slow, turning motion with his Titan's hand. The ripple seemed to respond, moving under every small gesture he was making around it. It even seemed to grow.

"It's here. It's not going away this time."

Carefully, with only a single finger extended, Harry reached out to touch it. He thought it would go right through. It looked no denser than a bout of steam. The surprise was immediate when he discovered that he could actually feel the thing.

'It's solid?' Ymir asked, witnessing the unexpected connection.

"Er... kind of." Feeling something as a Titan was an odd sensation. He could physically see what he was interacting with, and while he had control over his mobility, it wasn't the same as actually touching something as a human. His Titan hand felt something like a big rubbery glove that covered his whole body. So touching something that shouldn't have been solid gave the feeling of touching a very thin layer of a plastic bag, or even wax paper.

Maybe the latter was the best comparison. When Harry went to pull his hand away, he discovered that the ripple moved with him, stretching, peeling itself, almost waiting to be torn. The motion was like trying to clear away a cobweb, he could tell it would break, but it would stick to him in the process.

With one swift and efficient motion, Harry yanked his hand away, and the rippling membrane came along with it. And he saw the forest. But not the one he and Ymir were in.

If Harry cocked his Titan head to the side, he could clearly see the trees beyond. The trees he was looking at where the ripple had been were different. The clearing, the layout, all of it was different. He was staring at a completely different place than the one he and Ymir were in right now.

"You... you can see this, too, right?"

'I see you did something. Take me in your hand, bring me up, and let me see.' Complying with her curious demand, Harry lifted her in his hand and brought her to his eye level to see all that he was seeing.

"Different forest. See."

'Whoa... yeah. You made some sort kind of portal. I guess that can kind of count as teleporting, right?'

"Maybe." That was... if he could step through to the other side. "Does the other side look familiar to you at all? Is it another forest here on the island?"

'It... could be. I don't really know. The last thing we want is for you to show up outside a random homestead in your Titan form and scare an old hermit to death. The best thing is to probably...'

She didn't finish her thought. He knew why. He saw it, too.

People. From the other side of his self-made portal, there were people walking through the woods.

There looked to be about half a dozen, maybe more. It was hard to tell with how close the trees were and how small they all looked in comparison to his 13-meter height. Most of them wore official-looking robes, while another, more grizzled one wore a large, old tattered coat and walked with a noticeable limp. But the largest of this party was the man in the front who towered over all the others. Unlike the rest, Harry recognized the giant of a man with his black shaggy hair and beard. He never would have imagined he'd be the one looking down at him one day.

It was the grizzled man in the tattered coat that spotted him first. Given the distance and height, it was a little hard to see, but the man's eyes seemed uneven like one was bigger than the other. At his word, the others halted. Now, they all saw him.

Wands were already in their hands, aiming at him through the rift he had made.

Ymir's head whipped from the group of wizards back to him. 'Close it!'

The wizards were shouting as well, shouting spells that he didn't know and didn't care to find out what they did. He had to close the rift. He had been able to open it, he could close it. He... should be able to close it.

On a whim, Harry yanked his Titan back and away from the rift. The air seemed to shimmer as the first spell came shooting through, grazing the side of his Titan's face. Another followed soon after and struck him right in the eye and Harry found himself unable to see out of it. He moved the hand with Ymir away from the line of fire, lest a stray spell hit her.

The rift seemed to shrink again as Harry moved part of himself away, but not small enough to stop the third spell from passing through. It struck him on his shoulder, and a layer of ice started to encase it.

Rolling the thick muscle underneath, Harry managed to break free of it before it could spread any further. But it would do little good if they continued to shoot at him. He had to close it - now!

With his free hand, the one he had first touched the rift with, he made a closing motion with his hand until it became a full fist. He didn't know if it would work, but he knew this couldn't continue. Whatever it was he did, or willed to do, it seemed to work.

The first began shrinking even more, growing weaker and faint as it started to collapse back in on itself. One final spell managed to shoot its way through before the rift sealed itself completely, but Harry's Titan was able to move its head in time for the colorful jet to shoot past and strike the tree behind him. A large branch exploded into a thousand tiny woodchips as a result of the spell.

And with that, the rift was gone. Sealed. Like it had never even existed in the first place. Now, it was just Ymir and him alone in the clearing.

He set Ymir back down on the ground as he brought his Titan to a kneeling position. A burst of steam erupted from the nape of its neck as he pushed himself out of it. A few stubborn tendons clung to his face, but he pulled them off before climbing down the evaporating form of his Titan.

Looking over at Ymir, he saw the same wide-eyed expression mirrored on her face as well. Being free from his Titan, Harry discovered just how fast his heart was beating right now. "Are you okay?" he finally asked her. "Nothing hit you, did it?"

She shook her head. "No. No, I'm... I'm good. I just... that was back at Hogwarts, wasn't it." She didn't exactly say it as a question.

"Yeah... it was. That was Hagrid down there, no doubt. I don't know who any of those other wizards were, though."

"Well, whoever they were, they can't do anything now." Her eyes lingered on where the rift had been. "You're not hurt or anything, are you? It looks like some of those spells hit you."

"I'm fine," Harry assured. He looked back to where his Titan was evaporating. "My Titan acted as a shield." He frowned. "But... they still saw me. They saw my Titan."

"Yeah..." Ymir sheepishly agreed. "But... I mean it's not like they even knew what they were looking at, right? Those wizards in the other world don't know about Titans or Eldians or about anything here."

Harry pondered her logic. "...Dumbledore knows things," he settled on. "Dumbledore knew about this world."

Ymir's sheepish smile started to fade. "Right. But from what you said, he was keeping all of that a secret. Not just from you, from everyone, except maybe the Potters."

"..." Harry kept silent. Dumbledore was a secretive old man, no denying that. And from the little he had revealed to Harry, there was no telling how much of that was the truth, or what he wanted him to believe to be true. Still, the only real thing worth believing was that Dumbledore knew of this world. He knew how to come here, and how to take something from it. If and when those wizards reported back to him, or whoever, what would he do then?

"Hey," Ymir said, approaching him. "I wouldn't go worrying about what those wizards are up to right now. We're both here and safe, isn't that what matters most?"

"...Yeah. Yeah, I guess that it is." For what it was worth, it helped in a small way.

Ymir garnered a small smile. "Good. I mean, if anything, I'd be more worried about how we're going to tell Eren about what just happened."

"Oh. Right." He knew there was no getting around it. Hard when the person in question can see into the future. "Think he'll be mad, or disappointed?" For as accepted as Harry was here, he didn't want to ruin a good thing because he had been stupid and careless with his Titan ability. So far, Eren had been very stoic and guarded. Harry didn't want him to become angry.

Ymir shook her head. "He'll probably be worried. And he's never really yelled at me for anything before."

"That's because you're a daddy's girl."

She shrugged. "It has its benefits. But really, I'll vouch for you. He's done plenty of reckless things in his life, anyway. Let's get back to the cabin. We can go over exactly what we'll tell them when we get there."

"Right," Harry agreed. As the two of them made their way out of the clearing, Harry cast one last look back at where the skeleton of his Titan was disappearing. The rising steam rippled in a passing breeze. Different from the one that had been there before.

"And... that is all that happened?" Dumbledore sat across from Alastor Moody up in his headmaster's office. Moody's magical eye was pointed away, facing the back of his skull, making sure no one was outside the door.

"Aye, that's all of it." Moody's electric blue eye whizzed around to face him. "The other Aurors will be reporting back to the ministry by now. Figured I'd tell you first before old Fudge starts pestering you with owls or lighting up your floo."

Dumbledore nodded his head. "I appreciate it, old friend." From his perch, Fawkes let out a low squawk.

"I'm not one for the sentiments, Dumbledore," Moody said, his magical eye tracking a few spinning instruments around his office. "What I'd really appreciate is getting some answers myself."

"I'd imagine so," Dumbledore agreed. "Despite your retirement, I'm sure the Auros you searched the Forbidden Forest with were keen to have you accompanying them."

"Bah! Dawlish could use some direction. But if I wanted to gossip about my old department, I wouldn't be coming to you."

"Of course not," Dumbledore agreed once again.

Moody leaned forward in his chair. Both his normal and magical eye fixed on Dumbledore. "I haven't forgotten what I saw when I trailed Potter over the summer. What I just saw out there, looked to be the full thing."

"Ah." Dumbledore simply replied.

"It was big, Dumbledore," Moody continued. "I'd reckon 12 or 13 meters. Could only really guess where I was standing, and I only saw the head and shoulders. My eye couldn't see through anything else but the opening of the tear. I think Hagrid was half tempted to try and communicate with it. He certainly wasn't happy when the Aurors started firing spells at the thing."

"Was it harmed?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Yes, and no," Moody answered. "A spell hit the thing right in one of its eyes. Then it started to steam. The eye was healing itself. The tear closed shortly after." Moody leaned forward so more. "Answer me this, Dumbledore, how is it Potter is able to do it? How can he become that thing?"

"A fair question," Dumbledore nodded. "Without having seen it for myself, I'm afraid I can't give a straight answer. But, I can surmise this much; the full truth is often a mix of myth and speculation."

Moody made a disgruntled huff. "Whatever it is, it gave the ministry boys a good scare. From what I'm hearing, you had a threatening message written on one of your corridor walls on Halloween. And now, a cat and a student are petrified. I'd reckon the next issue of the Prophet will be reporting the Aurors found the Chamber of Secrets out in the forest and had an encounter with the monster inside of it."

"A likely a case as any. Such a creature is still a mystery to us. And as for young Mr. Potter's involvement in such an affair, only he knows such answers."

"Yes, and how convenient that he happens to be missing," Moddy gruffed as he stood up from his chair. "You're a smart man, Dumbledore, but even you have your secrets. Whatever the connection is between Potter and that thing, you better figure it out before something like this happens again. Who's to say who'll be spotting the thing the next time?"

Moody hobbled his way out of his office, leaving Dumbledore to his thoughts. He stroked his long, white beard. It appeared there was a way for those on the other side to see or potentially even cross into this world. The ritual he had conducted with James and Lily had been a strenuous feat and one with little guarantee of success. The power that Harry possesses supersedes that.

Creating a rift or a window between worlds was no ordinary achievement. Dumbledore doubted that this would be the first of such occurrences just as Alastor suspected. How would Harry use such a power? Would he attempt to cross back over? Was this incident in the forest his first attempt, and if it wasn't, what and where else had he been able to see? And if Harry were to try and cross back over, would he be alone?

By the time he and Ymir returned to the cabin, things seemed to have settled down from the tension of the night before. Jean and Connie were talking over by the stable, Pieck seemed to be feeding some of the horses. Reiner was chopping a few logs, he paused when he saw them approach, but eventually turned his attention back to his task. Mikasa was sitting on a chair outside. Spotting them, she rose to greet them.

"Welcome back," she greeted.

"Did we miss anything?" Ymir asked. Harry took another look around.

"Things seem pretty calm," he noted.

"Eren told them everything," Mikasa informed. "They seem to have accepted it easily enough."

"Oh. That's... good then."

Ymir gave him a small pat on the back. "That's one less question session you have to endure."

"I suppose so. How did they react to the whole Titan power still being around?"

"Better than I would've thought," Mikasa answered. "Armin and the rest suspected there was more going on, so they weren't too surprised. He and Eren are talking inside."

"Should we go in, then?" Harry asked. "There's... actually something we need to say, too."

A microexpression of concern seemed to flash across Mikasa's features. "I'm sure he won't mind." With that, she led them back inside the cabin.

Inside, things almost seemed civil. In the lounge, Annie seemed to be writing something down, and in the kitchen, Queen Historia was cutting some vegetables for later. Sitting on opposite ends of the table were Eren and Armin. The latter was rubbing at his chin, seemingly deep in thought. Eren was staring ahead at him, only looking away when they and Mikasa entered.

Queen Historia turned as well and came over to give each of them a hug. "Lunch'll be ready soon. Come take a seat."

"We're not interrupting, are we?" he asked as he and Ymir took the seats closer to Eren.

"No," Eren answered. "I was just hashing out a few last details with Armin."

The blonde man looked up. "Right." His blue eyes momentarily flickered over to where Harry sat. "I believe all my questions have been answered for the time being. I can understand why neither of you was present."

He didn't sound upset, more tired than anything. Everything had finally come clean. Well... almost everything. Harry's foot nudged Ymir's under the table.

"Oh! Right." She sat up straight. "We have something to tell you, too." She looked at Eren as she spoke.

Harry jumped in after that, explaining the latest testing they had done with his Titan. Fortunate for him, Ymir kept to her word and backed him up when he got to the part about the rift and being able to see the other world and the wizards' response to him. There was a noticeable increase in tension when they got to that part, but not from Eren. He kept quiet and let them finish. His eyes seemed solemn.

"I see."

"You see?" Armin ran a hand through his hair. "Eren... they were seen. That's bad enough under any normal circumstance, let alone by people from another world. The Treaty of Paradis-,"

"Only pertains to the nations of this world," Eren interjected, his eyes meeting Armin's. "Things would be worse if it had been anyone from this world who had seen them. These wizards, they're no strangers to the supernatural or unexplained. To them, that is normal. What they saw can be easily dismissed as an unknown or variant of some other creature in their world."

Armin was shaking his head. "Even so, Eren, you're overlooking a crucial fact here. The power to travel between worlds is present and can be exploited. It happened once when Ziegfried first went missing, then when he reappeared, and just now earlier today. What would have happened if he hadn't closed that rift in time? What would have happened if one or more of those wizards managed to come through?"

"They didn't," Eren asserted. "And if they had, we would have dealt with it." The other man didn't seem entirely convinced.

"I've no doubt about that, Eren. But isn't that why I'm here? To make sure it doesn't come to that?"

Eren's eyes never wavered as he gave a slow nod in response to Armin's rhetorical response.

Meanwhile, both Hatty and Ymir are consoled by Queen Historia and Mikasa. Both women were showing more outward concern over the encounter in the woods. Despite the both of them insisting that they were fine and unharmed, the two women still asked anyway. They didn't seem mad, but rather more concerned than anything to Harry's relief.

"You're positive you're alright?" Queen Historia asked yet again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, honest. We both are." He hoped his assurances would offer enough.

"Still... from now on, no more transformations or testing without someone else present," she declared. "And that goes for the both of you." Ymir wisely kept quiet.

Mikasa's brows were furrowed. "I should've gone with you two." Her tone was laced with past trepidation. "The next time the need arises for something like that, make sure that I'm present." The both of them just nodded along. It seems a chaperone had already been chosen for them.

"Everything just about settled in here?"

From the threshold of the kitchen, Annie leaned against the frame. Her icy blue eyes quietly observing.

Armin made a move to rise from his seat. "Erm, yes. I believe so." His eyes lingered back to Eren before going back to the smaller blonde. "What do you need, Annie?"

She held up a piece of paper. "A response for the assembly. Read it over, and add whatever else you want. It still needs your signature."

"Right, he nodded. "Need to read it over as well, Eren?"

The other man's attention wasn't focused on Armin. "I trust whatever's on there. We'll leave back for the districts first thing tomorrow morning. They'll be a post you can send that."

Armin walked over and accepted the paper from Annie. His blue eyes scanning over Annie's smaller handwriting.

Members of the United Summit,

Prince Ziegfried of Paradis Island is safe and secure in his home nation. We have met with the missing Eldian prince and he has confirmed the abductors to be rogue agents of an unknown organization with no ties to any direct land or government. The identities of these are unknown, but some are confirmed to be dead while others remain unknown and at large.

Based on Prince Ziegfried's own testimony, the motive behind these individuals seems to have been to keep him in blatant ignorance of the outside world beyond where he was confined. He was able to escape due to his own experience and cunning and stowed away on a ship bound to Paradis. Fortunately, Prince Ziegfried was largely unharmed during his disappearance, the only mark of abuse being a scar on his forehead. The individual responsible for the maiming is said to go by an alias and their whereabouts are still currently unknown.

You will be pleased to know that Eren Yeager is satisfied with Prince Ziegfried's return and has shown no signs of displaying any outward aggression to any of the nations outside of Paradis Island. Queen Historia continues to call for good faith and assist in any efforts to foreign nations. Madam Mikasa Ackerman of Hizuru is still present on the island as well and offers further support in the health and well-being of her godson, Prince Ziegfried.

Our alliance plans to continue to monitor the ongoing development here on Paradis Island and send frequent updates to the United Summit, until any and all qualms have been sated.

The bottom was left blank for his signature. Looking it over again, Armin saw little flaw to be had with it. Much of it did rehash what had already been released by the press, but coming directly from them should hopefully quell any doubt or suspicion.

The mention of the scar on Ziegfried's forehead might raise a few alarms for those more jittery members of the Summit, but in hindsight, Armin saw the reasoning behind it. If there was any suspicion of Titan power still existing, or somehow linked to Ziegfried, the scar was proof enough to dismiss that as the healing factor would have removed it by now. Strange that it had not.

Perhaps it had to do with it being from a magical curse. Armin suspected that was the only logical explanation. Or, as logical as magic could be classified as. Maybe the answer to that lay somewhere in the Paths, or even something Zeke might know. But Armin had little interest in paying a visit to the prison where Fort Salta had once stood. Captain Levi would have chewed him out if he had known he had paid a visit to Marley's former War Chief. For more than the first time, Armin wondered what the former captain would make of this situation.

But Armin did not wish to bother Levi. The man had served and fought enough to be subject to another headache. Perhaps he would write to him, just to keep in touch. It had been too long since Armin had actually seen him, but he heard some of the injuries he sustained during the war were looking better.

Focusing back on the letter in hand, Armin went for a pen and signed his name at the bottom. He folded it as neatly as he could and put it in his pocket for safekeeping.

"Everything in order, Armin?" Historia asked.

"Yes, I believe so. This should be enough to satisfy the Summit, just short of meeting your son for themselves. Do you plan on taking your children on a goodwill tour of other nations?"

"I've already done so earlier this year," she replied.

"Just a suggestion. I'm sure you'll hear it mentioned more than once."

Historia gave a dismissive half-nod. "Why don't the two of you go and make sure you're packed? The wagon will be here early next morning for the trip back."

As the twins made a move to leave, Armin spoke again. "Before either of you do, there is something else I wanted to know."

"Like what?" Ymir asked.

Armin thought of how best to word this. "Back when you two were in the woods and Ziegfried's Titan opened that rift, you said that some spells hit you when you were in your Titan form, yes?"

"Yes," the prince nodded. "Why?"

"Did any of those spells hurt your Titan body, and if they did, did they heal?" Armin then asked.

"His eye was healing," Ymir supplied. "I saw it."

"Okay. And when you bite or cut yourself to transform, it always heals afterward, right?" Armin continued.

"Yeah, always. I mean, I've only transformed a couple of times, and when I tried summoning my Titan back in the other world, but everything always healed."

"I see. Everything except for the scar on your head."

"What are you saying, Armin?" Mikasa asked.

"I'm just curious. All his physical injuries healed, and so did the wounds sustained by magic in his Titan. Yet the scar remains. Did anyone ever tell you exactly what curse it was that hit you?"

"Just... that it was a really dark spell. No one ever said its conjuration name, so I don't know."

"Hm."

He felt Annie's gaze on him as well. "You suspect something?"

"Just a theory," he clarified. "I'm wondering, is the reason the scar isn't healed because the curse is still somehow affecting him?"

"Armin..."

"Are you saying that-,"

"I'm not saying anything," Armin halted both Historia and Mikasa as he spoke again. "It's just a theory. But if he could only fully access his Titan after making contact with a powerful source of magic, it stands to reason that something was blocking him from fully doing so before. It could be the distance between worlds, but if his injuries healed ever there, it suggests there was more to it, that some remnants of the curse might have been prohibiting him."

"Something like a parasite," Eren spoke. "Maybe even like Ymir Fritz and the source of organic life."

"...Something of that sort," Armin reasoned. "But more parasitic than symbiotic."

"If that's the case, what are you suggesting?" both Historia and Mikasa asked in different manners.

"If that theory is true, which I hope its not, then either Ymir opens Paths to us to investigate what might be going on with him. Or... we get answers from ones who would know best. The wizards from the other world."

Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay between chapters. I haven't had as much time to write as I'd like, but I thank you all for bearing with me to get this next chapter out. Thank you for reading. Next chapter: Posed with a dilemma, a choice will have to be made to ensure the safety of the Prince of Paradis. Wills and worlds will be tested as a result. Chapter 22: Rift.