The sea among the Paradis Island and the land of Hizuru, May 29, 851
"Could you stop moving around like a worm?" Levi admonished Armin angrily, during a meeting where Theia was explaining her intentions with the refugees they had rescued from slavery. She suddenly stopped speaking, looking at him worried and Levi painfully closed his eyes to massage the area between his eyebrows, trying to hide his irritation from the drug. Armin looked down in shame.
"Sorry, I'm just wondering if it's a good idea for us to draw so much attention to us," Armin began in a shaky voice.
"What do you mean?" Theia looked up at him, observing the face, Armin still hid from her eyes.
"This way we probably won't convince the people outside that we are not devils," he stated, which caught the attention of the silent Eren.
"Armin, do you really feel that when we explained it to a few people outside, something would change? Do you think anyone would even listen to you?" Theia leaned back in her chair and raised her eyebrows. "Nice to meet you, we are completely ordinary Eldians from Paradis. My name is Theia Ackerman, I have the blood of almost a thousand people on my hands. Meet my husband, Levi Ackerman, who is an adequate replacement for the entire army, his distant relative Mikasa Ackerman, a very friendly, innocent woman. Of course, we can turn into titans and eat entire civilizations. On top of all that, we can destroy you with Rambling at any moment, because next to you is the founding titan standing, and right next, there is a completely harmless colossal titan that will destroy the entire city. Otherwise, we are quite a peaceful nation, we like to drink tea, sing and do all the usual things that you do, too. We believe that we will get along well," Theia smiled wryly and Levi rolled his eyes after she finished her tale. Armin looked at her with horrified eyes as her smile fell. "There will not be a day when people outside think we are not enemies. No matter what we do, no one will understand what we are like. No one will understand our intentions, and on the other hand, our intentions are selfish, just like theirs. We want to protect our land and words will definitely not save us, because there is no one who wants to listen to us, Armin," after Theia's words, Levi took a breath and looked out the window at the approaching island.
"After the Four Nations War ends. All eyes will turn to us. I don't think you'll find anyone asking our opinion before they attack us, to take back the colossal and founding titan, like they did, when they destroyed the walls six years ago. They're just going to kill us and it's up to us whether we let them destroy us or defend ourselves," Levi stated in a low voice and couldn't help but want to return as quickly as possible to the base of the survey corps unit, where during their journey beyond the borders of the island, Kiara's nannies were in charge. He wanted to hold her again and know that she is in his hands and safe.
"Like this, killing never ends," Jean stated sadly. The cabin was again engulfed in silence for a moment, and the gazes of all present were fixed on the floor.
"What about going along with Zeke's plan?" Suggested Connie, but Theia sighed.
"I would like to avoid that. Rambling would cause the death of many innocents,"
"And war is a better solution?" Jean interrupted her.
"I was thinking. If it is possible to cause Rabling with the help of Zekke, is it possible to control the titans like he did with the Titans from Ragako, or like you Eren did with your father's ex-wife? It doesn't mean that..." she paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "Couldn't the Titans just be wiped off the world?" She asked and all eyes focused on Eren. "I mean something like... ban Eldians from turning into Titans, wouldn't that be possible?" After her question Eren lowered his gaze to observe his hands.
"And if we lost the power of the titans, how would we protect ourselves from Marley's attack?" Eren asked, but Theia was surprised that he didn't actually answer her question at all. "Just because the titans would disappear, the threat of attack and extermination would not disappear, as you already said Madam. We will not be saved by words about the fact that we have become miraculously harmless. We would just lose a huge advantage in power," Eren stated in a cold voice, after which Theia thought again.
"How about... Destroy the base 9 titans. If we destroyed the titans without their successors there would be no founding titan or titan with the ability to turn humans into titans. Without the abilities that Zeke has, it wouldn't matter that Eldians can change into titans, because there would be no one to change them," Eren nodded after her remark and looked into her eyes.
"You mean to kill Zeke, me and Armin," he added to her theory.
"Yes," Theia replied too simply, noticing how Eren stared at a shocked Armin for a few seconds.
"The army would not allow you to do something like that. They cannot give up the military power they see in us. But I'm glad madam that you're considering the possibilities," his voice seemed too strange to Theia. She couldn't shake the feeling that the boy knew more, like he was willing to admit. But what seemed to her even more strange was his look, every time he looked at her, she saw - an approaching tragedy.
Immediately upon returning to Paradis Island, Theia dismissed the unit and called in a detachment of military personnel to conduct a medical checkup to all refugees and their registration. While Theia was occupied with work, Levi immediately made his way to the prepared horses to be the first to head to Holst. Theia had no intention of stopping him. She knew what his heart was missing, and she also knew that he desperately needed to rest and that was best for him when he had Kiara in his arms. She wanted to go with him so badly. She lowered her sad eyes to the records she handed to one of the officers of the military garrison when she noticed Sebastian standing next to her with an absent expression. She looked up at him and stared only at the shadow of the strong man he used to be. In two months he lost weight and his face bore many new wrinkles. Her throat tightened with regret and suddenly she didn't even know how to address him. He looked ahead as if searching for something he had lost in the distance.
"Theia, what do you think? Will there ever be a day when this mindless killing will end?" He finally asked and Theia lowered her gaze slightly. She would like to know the answer to his question. "Asher was like the son I never had," he continued in a slightly shaky voice. She took a breath as she was overcome by the urge to apologize for Asher's death, which she couldn't prevent, but was stopped by Sebastian's sincere smile. "I'm so glad you're okay," the words got stuck in Theia's throat as she heard his sweet voice and he suddenly walked up to her to pull her into his arms. "All this time I was wondering if you made it, I mean the childbirth, and when I saw that you came on that ship. I..." he pressed her closer to his injured body, while Theia's mind couldn't organize her thoughts. She stared ahead in silence, trying to understand Sebastian's words. "I'm so happy you're okay," he stroked her hair and pushed her fragile body against him.
"I... I'm glad you're okay too," she frowned sheepishly as he backed away from her a bit.
"Could I ask you something?" She nodded. "Would you accept my request to join the survey corps?" She frowned at his request.
"Why so suddenly?"
"Because I realized that scouts see in the distance something I didn't see in my life before. Maybe because scouts came to rescue two members of the garrison along with those poor people. I don't know..." Theia frowned, searching in vain for the smiling, tobacco-smelling man she knew. "You will not die, Theia..." she suddenly raised her eyes and Sebastian looked dreamily into the distance again. "Please don't die..."
She returned to base with really no energy. She thought she wouldn't even be able to take off her gear as she entered her office, which had a beautiful view of the smaller terrace. Her gaze immediately stopped at the drawn curtains that were blowing beautifully in the wind in the half-open glass door. She stood between them and leaned against the wood paneling to gaze tenderly at Levi who was sitting in a rocking armchair with Kiara in his arms. She was wrapped in a pleasant, white woolen blanket that Levi himself had bought for her and he rocked her very gently. Theia suddenly felt like the worst mother on the planet, leaving her child in someone else's care while traveling the world alone, preventing Levi from spending time with his daughter. She also noticed a small detail of the change in Levi's behavior, and that was that training and fighting were not his priority anymore. Suddenly he didn't mind that someone else was training the cadets instead of him. Because he was rocking their daughter in his arms right now, letting his long, black hair blow in the spring wind. And Theia instantly fell in love with this view. If only everything were different and they could be like this all the time. She wrapped her arms around her body and frowned sadly.
"Don't do it," Levi interrupted her in a low voice so as not to wake the baby. He gently turned his head to look in Theia's direction, strands of hair falling from his face. "Every time you hug yourself like this, you feel insecure," he looked at her sharply and she breathed with a smile. There was nothing she could hide from him, because he was reading her like an open book. She stepped onto the terrace with one foot when something occurred to her mind and she went to the bathroom. She returned, to Levi's surprise, with a towel, scissors and a comb. He raised an eyebrow curiously as she placed the things on the coffee table.
"I didn't even ask you how you knew where Staria took Sebastian and Asher," she turned his head so he was looking ahead and untied the bun on top of his head where his hair was tied up.
"Harald told me," he answered simply and closed his eyes, because she started combing him pleasantly and pulled all the hair back. Theia frowned suspiciously.
"Harald? I thought you got your information from the captives, but..." she lowered her voice as Levi checked Kiara's sleeping face while Theia wordlessly began to shave the back of his head with a razor.
"I killed them all," he admitted in a low voice, after which Theia's hand froze for a brief moment. Levi felt it and he also felt disgust in himself. There was silence, but Theia continued her work for a short while. She very gently pulled back his bangs, which she shortened with scissors, and then shaved the hair around his ears with a razor. She ran the blade across his neck, Levi feeling no fear. "I don't care where your steps lead us. I will follow you even to hell. I will stand behind you, protect you, no matter what happens," he whispered, patting Kiara's head very tenderly.
"I want you to know that you are a good person. You will never get tired of being the one with a good heart and making the right decisions. Even though it's hard and I know very well that it's often easier to just be cold-blooded, but you're not like that... you're just, so necessary for this world. For me," she lowered her eyes to adjust the ends of his bangs.
"I often wonder if I'm still a good person," he answered her words in a terribly exhausted voice. He frowned his brow and felt that his right hand was quitting after today.
"If you were not there, I would have drowned in the darkness long ago," Theia whispered as she combed his hair back to the front. Pieces of his hair fell over his shoulders and he smiled softly.
"This is the first time you've ever cut my hair," he remarked, his lids beginning to feel heavy. "It's... pleasant..." he closed his eyes and suddenly a very familiar person appeared in his mind. With a pleasant face, a smile and a touch... so warm...
"Levi... your hair is too long again. We have to cut them...
Yes, mom...
You are a very good boy. Mommy is proud of you..."
He felt her caring arms hugging him, but that was only Theia, covering him with a blanket and left him to rest in peace, with his daughter in his arms. Carried away by the most beautiful dreams.