Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

NINETY-SEVEN

He raised an eyebrow. "...Right."

They were silent for a few moments.

"What do you know about Annalise?" said Adette softly.

"Huh?"

"You must be the man my daughter would have married, were she alive." An old sadness returned to her eyes. "Tell me, spirit, is my little girl safe? Is she happy?"

Levi stilled. Poor woman, like so many others, she was but a victim of the Briggs line. "...She's well, ma'am. But tired. She's been fighting a long while."

"She's just like her father then."

"What?"

Adette smiled. "I always knew she'd be just like him."

<>

Lorelai wandered through the maze, the snow crunching beneath her boots. She'd lost sight of Briggs somewhere within the twists and turns of the hedges.

She still remembered this place. It was as eerie as ever.

Once, as a child, she'd tried running from the manor. It had been a dark night, but, nothing could scare her more than her father back then. She'd run into the maze, tried to lose him in the network of identical hedges and deadends.

She'd gotten lost, collapsed, weeping on the ground. It had only taken Briggs moments to find her; he lured her back to the manor with kind words and the promise of a hot meal.

Of course, the next morning, she'd lived to pay for her defiance.

Lorelai shoved her scarred hands in her pocket as she trudged. The manor stood tall in the distant mist. Her mind wandered back to Levi... she hoped he was alright.

Before long, she reached the centre of the maze. It was different than before. Now, in the clearing stood a grand statue. It depicted an angel, her stone wings massive and intricate.

Lorelai read the inscription below.

'In Memorium: Annalise Briggs, gone but never forgotten. 815-821.'

She scoffed. It was an odd thing to behold your own grave.

Death wasn't something Lorelai considered in small amounts. Often she wondered if things would be better were this grave legitimate. She might not have made such a mess of things, at least.

"I come here often, you know."

Lorelai turned around; her father had made it to the centre as well. Lethargically, he collapsed down on a rickety wooden bench, placing his cane down beside him.

"I mourned for you when you left, Annalise," Briggs murmured, looking down. "Your absence struck me harder than you will ever know."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. Always this game, round and round they went. Ever must they dance between a loving family and outright enemies.

"Well, boohoo, I don't give a shit. The only thing you mourned was your legacy, the loss of a Briggs-blooded pawn who you'd use to terrorise innocent people." She crossed her arms.

He smiled sadly. "Do you truly think so little of me, daughter?"

She sighed. "Father, I thought the world of you." He looked up at her. "As a child, you were everything I wanted to be. You were a superhero in my eyes. Though you scared me, I wanted so desperately to make you proud."

"What changed?"

"I escaped this place," Lorelai gestured around. "I understand now that all of this, all this damn grandeur is just an elaborate set to disguise who you truly are. And I will act no longer."