Nyx's pov
The next day I woke up late, Gabi and Reiner had already left for training and meetings.
"Good morning Nyx." Reiner's mum greeted.
"Good morning, sorry but I'm in a rush, I'm late!" I said.
"At least stop for a spot of breakfast." Gabi's father said.
"I couldn't possibly, I'll be in a lot of trouble from the brass." I said.
"Nonsense, Reiner and Gabi both said you weren't feeling well last night. I hope it wasn't anything we cooked." Reiner's mum said.
"Either way Reiner said he was going to tell them you were too ill to attend." Gabi's mum said. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine now, I was ill before I came here yesterday but I'm not contagious or anything, Dr Jeager assured me. Thank you for your concern though." I said.
"Here, I know it's not much but it'll fill your belly." Reiner's mum said as she handed me some bread.
"Thank you." I said as I headed for the door to get my coat.
I tucked the bread into my pocket and then fixed my armband back on. I was in no way dressed properly but this would have to do.
"Thank you for having me, you were wonderful hosts." I said.
"Thank you for coming, you're welcome back any time." Gabi's mum said.
I nodded before seeing myself out of the house and then hurrying to where I was supposed to have been. On my way I ran into commander Magath.
"Commander." I said as I saluted him. "I'm so sorry for missing the meeting."
"Betzner, Braun informed me you were ill." Magath said.
"Yes sir, I've received medical assistance and am feeling much better. I'm ready to face whatever punishment you see fit for missing such an important meeting." I said.
"Just this once i'll let it slide. Braun said you couldn't even stand when he saw you. We need every warrior on their feet for this upcoming mission. Who knew devils could get sick." Magath said.
"Thank you sir, it won't happen again." I said.
Magath simply nodded before walking by me. I continued heading towards the meeting room where I ran into Porco, Pieck, Reiner and Colt.
"Hey, Reiner said you were sick." Pieck said as she waved at me.
"I was and I could have ended up with a beating or worse if Commander Magath hadn't decided to be lenient today. Next time just wake me up, even if I'm coughing up my lungs I have to be here." I said.
"I was just worried Nyx, you lost a lot of blood yesterday. I thought you could use the rest." Reiner said.
"That thought could have gotten her in serious trouble. I'm assuming he knows about your condition now." Porco said.
"Yeah, him and Gabi both." I said.
"Why did Porco know before I did?" Reiner asked sounding a bit offended.
Great start to our relationship, an argument was already starting.
"It's not like I ment for him to find out. I thought I could deal with it on my own, then I had a coughing fit infront of Porco and he made me explain. If I didn't he was gonna tell Commander Magath and that's the last thing I need. If he finds out they'll end my term early out of fear of loosing the command entirely." I explained.
Reiner nodded, having taken that as a good reason for Porco to know.
"What are you guys talking about?" Colt asked.
"It's nothing." I said.
Time skip
The next day a festival had come into town because of the event with the Tybur announcements. Reiner had taken this as an opertunity for us to have a proper date. He came and collected me from my house at the far end of the internment zone and we walked hand in hand together through the streets.
"You know Commander Magath is gonna demand us to tell him about this once word spreads and it'll spread fast." I said.
Reiner hummed in acknowledgement, squeezing my hand.
"Then I'll explain it. Im sure he'll understand, our time here is limited to two more years, us being together isn't too much to ask." Reiner said.
"I hope he understands. You're really the only thing I have to look forward to now." I said.
Reiner smiled at that, brining my hand to his face and kissing my knuckles.
"Reiner! Nyx! Hi!" Pieck called drawing our attention to her.
She was walking towards us, somehow dragging Porco with her.
"Hey! If you drag him around all day you'll get tired. Give the poor girl a break and walk on your own Pock." I said.
"Shut up ginger!" Porco said.
"You two are holding hands, what's that about?" Pieck asked.
"Reiner finally told me he loved me, that's what it's about." I said making Pieck smile.
"You say finally like you knew." Porco said.
"Oh I did. It was kind of obvious, he's the only warrior to never question any of my orders and check up on me even though I was in the safest position." I said.
"If you knew why didn't you say anything." Reiner asked.
"I was waiting for you to come to that conclusion on your own. I heard your conversation with Zeke a year or so ago about how you only worried because I was the youngest. Zeke went on a rant about how stupid you were over that. Everyone knew except you." I said.
Reiner's cheeks went red and he looked away.
"Well congratulations you two, now let's go meet with the candidates. I'm sure they're going food crazy." Pieck said.
When we eventually found the four children that we were looking for we saw them looking longingly at a food stall.
"Come on, grab what you want." Reiner said to them asche fished his wallet out of his pocket.
"Really?" Falco asked.
"Yes!" Gabi cheered before beginning her order.
Reiner just smiled and shook his head.
Time skip
The day went on like that with Reiner paying for them to have food from all different food stalls. His wallet getting emptier the more they ate. He even ended up buying pizza for Pieck, Porco and myself as well.
"Ooh! Look at that." Gabi said as she spotted another food stall.
Everyone began following after her, Reiner a bit more reluctant due to concern for his wallet.
"Here, pay for it with this. I'll be there in a minute." I said as I handed Reiner some money.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Reiner asked.
"Don't bother, I just saw something back there that caught my eye. I'll catch up." I said.
"Don't take too long or Gabi will have dragged us on to the next place." Reiner said.
"I'll just follow the yelling, you can hear gabi from a mile away." I said causing him to chuckle.
"Reiner! Hurry up!" Gabi called.
I kissed Reiner's cheek and then waved.
"Don't keep a hungry girl waiting." I said.
"I'm coming!" Reiner called back before letting go of my hand to follow them.
I turned back to go down a row of stalls we had already visited. Their was a history inspired stall crammed between a sandwich and a noodle stall. It was covered in little trinkets and books based on historical things from all different races.
"Anything interest you dear?" A woman looking to be from the middle East asked. "You seem to taken by these little things."
"I recognise them is all." I said.
"Well they all have the Betzner family crest on them, that's an eldian family. They were once the noble advisors of the king, immune to the memory altering powers of the founding titan. When the king left for paradise he sold them out to buy him and his family time. When they were caught they were seen as the lowest of low and kept as Slaves. They had it even worse than the other Eldians because of their association with the King and the family got heavily diluted with other races and bloodlines due to their position as slaves." The woman explained.
It was a history I was well aware of. One my father told me was a truth I should never be ashamed of no matter what anyone said. He was proud to say he was from a family that used to work with royalty but I was mad that they used us as scape goats and left us for dead. My father claimed that he had forgiven them for what they had done to us for as long as they would one day save us from Marley and rely on us again. Of course, that likely won't happen.
The diluted bloodline thing was another issue all together. Zeke had recently come up with a theory, that my diluted Eldian blood was the reason for my small titan form and my body beginning to shut down. Royal blood made a titan shifter stronger and gave them more control so it made sense that someone that wasn't fully Eldian would struggle more to handle a titan form, the less Eldian blood you had the harder it became.
"I'm aware, I'm a Betzner myself." I said.
The woman smiled at me.
"You've faced much oppression then." She said. "Much like my own race."
"I'm sorry that I played a part in that. Oppressing others isnt what I signed on for but it's all I seem to do." I said.
The woman shook her head.
"It's alright dear. My father did work similar to what you do now to stop us being oppressed. It's a vicious cycle, to avoid being oppressed you must become the oppressor." She said. "Now what can I get you?"
"Two of the lockets please." I said.
She picked up the two necklaces with my family crest on them and handed them over to me and I handed her over some money.
"Thank you." I said.
"You're very welcome dear. Have a good day." She said.
I nodded and then left to catch up with the others. I'd put something in these later and give them to Gabi and Zelphia.