#maybe there are small miscellaneous places not technically part of a source...?

[asexual-levia-tan]

thats fun, wasn't alpha also a born s-rank, or did i just assume that because yoohyun was possessing him?

alpha also had a caregiver. i dont remember if she was his biological sister or not, but im almost certain she had a caregiver skill. and that was the third source. is it possible that the delightful children just werent aware of her?

........but i think it was mentioned that it was one of the delightful children who killed her

[maxismatchccworld]

Welcome back to our latest - and last! - Deep Dive into the gameplay of The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack. I’ve really enjoyed sharing the designs and development of this pack with you, and I hope to continue doing these sorts of posts in the future. It’s been a super cool experience, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these! In today’s post I’ll talk about the feature that is core to everything in this pack, Knitting! Once again, I have to remind you that we’re still in active development on the pack and so some things may change between now and the final game. Now, let’s talk about some nifty knits!

READ IT I PROMISE YOU GONNA LIKE IT!

In order to start knitting, you’ll need to purchase a Yarn Basket from the Build/Buy catalog. You probably remember voting on these baskets a while back. This was the winning design, presented to you now in all its colorful glory! Don’t like color? That’s okay, because we included a solid black and white variant.

We have one more knitting basket coming too! Remember this one?

The basket acts as the crafting catalyst(neat term, huh?) similar to the Easel or Woodworking Bench in The Sims 4 base game. But unlike those examples, the Yarn Basket is meant to live in a Sim’s inventory so that they can take their knitting anywhere they want to go. Knitting itself is relatively straightforward: click on the Yarn Basket in your inventory, OR, with the basket in your inventory, click on the chair you want to sit in while knitting (perhaps a rocking chair?) and select the Knit interaction. Your projects are saved to your Sim, so you can pause your progress at any time and resume later, and even juggle multiple projects at once. Starting a project costs a small amount of Simoleons for the cost of yarn, but nothing too outrageous.

(Children can knit too!) As a Sim levels up their knitting skill they’ll have access to new patterns. They’ll start with knitting socks and beanies, but as they grow more skilled they can tackle more challenging projects like sweaters and toys for kids. But if you only want to specialize in one thing - perhaps knitted mailbox cozies? - that's fine too! Just keep knitting anything and everything, and you’ll be level 10 before you know it. Speaking of knitting skill, sometimes your skill is reflected in your knitted work, or rather your lack of skill. Knitting projects can fail, and when they fail they can get weird. But it’s all subjective, and maybe you’ll end up accidentally knitting the cutest derpy companion, or the perfectly itchy sweater. No mistakes, only happy accidents!

(Just own it.) One of the niftiest parts of the knitting skill is unlocking the ability to Teach to Knit, where Sims sit down together and have a knitting pow-wow. We wanted this to feel special, so we got a really sweet animation for it (Thanks Haeju!). Now that you can infect other Sims with the knitting bug, no yarn ball will be safe!

(The knitting needles aren’t finished on the Teach To Knit interaction yet, but trust me it's SUPER CUTE.) So, what can you do with all these knitting projects? Lots of stuff! Not only can knitted objects be listed on Plopsy, but you can also Donate them to charity. If you want to surprise a loved one, try Gifting a knitted object too. If you want to destroy all traces of your knitted failures, you can Frog the object and start again! If it's a particularly nice Sweater that you made, consider Adding it to Wardrobe to make it available in Create-A-Sim to all family members.

(Everyone appreciates a nice gift!) We want Sims to be able to knit something for their whole family. Not only will Sims be able to knit Toddler Onesies, but Baby Onesies as well. So put your little grubworm in a handmade knitted outfit. I’m sure they’d thank us if they could! (And if they didn’t like it I’m sure they’d be polite about it.)

(Here’s a sneak peek at some of the concept art for new clothing for the littlest of Sims!) It also felt like a good idea to add an Aspiration to tie this passion for knitting all together. So if you want to master the fuzzy art of knitting, consider signing your Sim up for the Lord(or Lady) of the Knits Aspiration. With yarn running through your veins, there will be no knitting mountain too hard to conquer! Master the Aspiration and you’ll be rewarded with the Sacred Knitting Knowledge trait. What does it do? Lots of stuff! What does it unlock? Something special! Am I being vague? I am! Come on guys, I can’t share all the secrets quite yet.

As I’ve mentioned previously, we’re trying to get as much cross-pack functionality for knitting as we can. Cats can play with Yarn Baskets and Yarn Balls, there will be new Club rules for Knitting, new class electives at University, and knitting counts for Emotional Control, just to name a few. I’m hoping Knitting feels nice and snug alongside our other gameplay systems. Now let's have a chat with our lead Object Modeler, Beth Mohler! Conor: Can you tell us a little bit about what an Object Modeler does on The Sims 4? Beth: As an object modeler I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to make objects work in The Sims 4. This is actually a very involved process, and somewhat different from the wonderful work our environment team does. We work with designers, concept artists, engineers, animators, vfx artists (basically everyone!) to make sure that Sims can use an object properly in an animation, or that all of our objects will work with each other. Once we understand the design for a new object, we will create a rig, a block model (a very generic version of the object used to help us make more of the same object in the future), and a footprint (tells us where the object can go and how Sims move around it). Once those are tested by animators and other disciplines we can model the final version, create UVs, and add textures. We also hook up and test everything in the game to make sure it all looks good. There is a lot to think about when it comes to making objects because we know players can find so many interesting ways to place and use them in game. That makes it a very fun challenge to make them work with everything else we’ve built before. Conor: What feature are you most excited to work on in Nifty Knitting Stuff? Beth: I’d say I am most excited to work on the rocking chairs! I love that we are bringing them to the game and can’t wait to see them in some cozy living rooms or on porches. Conor: What are some of the challenges you are facing working on this pack? Beth: One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the knitting itself looks good and is fun to watch! This is a challenge given that it needs to work for everything you can create. Figuring this out takes a lot of iteration between modeling, animation, engineering, design, and art direction so that we come to a conclusion that will work the best given our time and technical constraints. Another interesting “challenge” is the fact that I crochet as a hobby myself! When you are knowledgeable about something (yarn!) in real life, working on it in the game it can sometimes be hard to separate the things you know and may expect in reality from what is possible or best within a video game. I have to make sure to keep a balance and to conceptualize how we can best convert the knitting experience into The Sims 4. As someone who also generally enjoys interior design and architecture, this is actually one of my favorite challenges and one of the things I love about working on objects in The Sims 4. Conor: What is your favorite feature you have ever worked on in The Sims 4? Beth: I think it has to be a tie between the mini fridge or the robotics table in Discover University. That pack was the first time I got to really take an entire feature from start to finish. I’ve been with Maxis for a while, but I’m relatively new to The Sims 4. Both of these objects had some complex features we wanted that required a lot of iteration. I learned a ton about the technical aspects of our game during the process as well. I’ve also worked on a few very cool things between then and now, but those can’t be shared yet ; ) As a fan of The Sims since the very beginning I am so happy to be able to share a little about what I do on a daily basis on The Sims 4 with you! I haven’t been on The Sims 4 for quite as long overall, but some of you may also recognize me from my time on Sims Mobile where I shared some of our workflows on Twitter for making a juice bar. Thanks! Conor: You shared a screenshot of the In-Progress Rocking Chair in our Rocking Chair Deep Dive. Can you share an updated screenshot now that the Rocking Chair is further along? Beth: I would love to! I hope everyone has been enjoying seeing the progress on this object so far! Here it is a little further along. This program allows us to set the rules for the object materials, footprint size and rig it should use, as well as all the color variants and swatch colors you see in the catalog.

Thanks Beth! By the way, Beth is on Twitter @SimGuruBeth, so be sure to Follow her! And thanks to all of you Simmers for following this pack’s development, this has been a really fun project in a very crazy time. A big thank you to my Stuff Pack teammates, and especially SimGuruSarah who edited my inane ramblings and wrangled the miscellaneous bits for these posts. While this concludes my design Deep Dives, we still have more forum posts with development insights on the way! Keep checking the Community Stuff Pack forum and we’ll have more fun stuff to show off in the weeks to come. Until next time, SimGuruConor

Source: The Sims Forum

[bnhayyy]

The Call (5)

Chapter Title: Liars

Wordcount: 7.3k

Fic Tag: Click

Ao3 Link: Click

Chapter Summary: Time passes, Levi and Hanji meet up with Erwin, and the slayers attempt socialization.

Notes: Thank you @celadongirl​ for betaing this chapter! Also, I actually have a Yumihisu one-shot taking place in the same universe as The Call, which I'll be posting before chapter six. It's fluffy, was written on a whim, and you technically won't be missing anything important to the story if you don't read it, but I'll be posting it at some point within the next week if you are interested. Anywho, if you’re enjoying this fic, please consider joining my writing discord or buying me a ko-fi!

Two weeks passed.

Two weeks with no more encounters with Ymir.

Two weeks of patrolling and training with Annie.

Two weeks of allowing the goofballs Erwin was teaching about the supernatural to pull her into their conversations.

Two weeks of falling into a rhythm.

It was ruined the second she turned on the television.

The local news was running a piece on a missing man.

Mikasa froze as the information washed over her. The man had gone for a walk two nights before and never returned. He was presented as a mild-mannered middle-aged man. Unobtrusive. Distraught family left behind. Not a student, but the street the reporter said he lived on was only a few miles away from Paradis Community College. With the timing-

"If anyone has any information," the reporter pleaded, "then please call-"

Mikasa turned into the television and stared blankly into its depths.

Ymir had killed again. Of course she had killed again, two weeks had passed. No one new had gone missing on campus, but that didn't mean that there were no more victims. For all that she knew, this man might not even be the only victim in the past two weeks. He probably wasn't.

Mikasa and Annie hadn't been proactive enough in hunting the vampire down. Neither she, Annie, nor Erwin had been able to find anything on Ymir. They hadn't seen her since their last fight either, but that- that wasn't an excuse. Mikasa should have found something else to do, another way to go after her. She was the senior slayer, between her and Annie. This was her city and she had already had two opportunities to kill the thing plaguing it.

Twice she had the opportunity to end it. Twice she had failed.

This man's blood was on her hands.

***

Making it to class was an unusual combination of difficult and easy. There was a part of Mikasa that wanted to curl up in bed and forget that she existed for a few hours. However, a larger part of her knew that she couldn't do that. Forgetting about the world once could lead to her doing it again, for longer periods of time, which could eventually lead to her giving up completely.

She was the slayer. She didn't have the luxury of giving up.

So Mikasa had only allowed herself to feel the shame and guilt for a short while. Then she forced the feelings down, leaned into her rage, and got ready for the day.

There were still fifteen minutes until class was scheduled to start by the time she made it to Biology. The room was empty of all but a single student.

Armin.

Despite her seat being next to his, Mikasa didn't look at him as she sat down. She knew that he watched the news every morning and knew the expression that she'd see if she looked at him. He knew her well enough to know that she would be blaming herself for the latest disappearance, and she knew him well enough to know that he would tell her that it wasn't her fault. They both knew that it wouldn't change anything. That wouldn't be enough to stop Armin though. It never was. He was the sort of person who always had to at least try.

That didn't mean that she had to look him in the face as he did it.

Mikasa pulled her bag onto her lap. As she began what she planned on being the very slow process of extracting her book from her bag, Armin began speaking in a low, soft voice.

"Mikasa, I know you probably aren't in a very good mood today, but I wanted to say-"

Maybe getting her textbook out would be a genuinely slow process after all. She hadn't exactly been careful while shoving her belongings into her bag that morning. A small frown creased her lips as she pushed pens, notebooks, a loose stake, and miscellaneous other items aside in order to reach her biology textbook. This wouldn't do for the night's patrol - not if she wanted to try and track down Ymir. On nights when she didn't want her school supplies to weigh her down, she stopped at home to drop them off anyway. Tonight, she would have to make sure to reorganize it as well, make sure all of her weapons were placed perfectly and ready to go at a moment's notice.

"- you've been doing a good job making friends lately, and I'm proud of you."

Mikasa froze. "What?" she asked, the question leaving her mouth before she could stop to think about it.

"You've been socializing more lately," Armin said. "It's made you happier. And you've been doing better as a slayer because of it."

"There are two slayers now," Mikasa pointed out, voice automatically going quieter even though they were alone.

"Annie counts as spending time with other people," Armin argued. "And you've been letting more people in since you've met her."

"Sasha doesn't really-"

"Mikasa." Armin smiled, tentative but warm. Hopeful. "I'm glad. You should have friends. As a person, and-"

"-slayers aren't supposed to have friends," Mikasa reminded him in a whisper. All of the information she had managed to pry from the internet had been very instant on that; the slayer worked alone. She supposed that Erwin might think differently, given how he had pushed her toward the people who were making a solid attempt at sneaking into her life, but he hadn't done anything to warrant her assigning any true value in his judgment. All she had to go on were her gut feelings, and her gut feeling told her that he was the sort of person who got people hurt.

"That philosophy is scientifically flawed," Armin said. "Human beings get stressed when they don't have other people to lean on, and stress makes people perform poorly, no matter what they're doing. You mentioned the other day that you've been having more success on your patrols, right? Well, I don't think Annie's help is the only reason for that."

Mikasa didn't respond, simply trying to absorb his words. In her silence, Armin decided to add a little more.

"Even if you can't save everyone, you're doing better now than you were before. Don't lose sight of that."

At that, Mikasa finally looked over at him. His expression was a telling combination of nervous and hopeful.

She didn't smile at him, but despite the circumstances, it was a close thing.

"This is a new angle for you," she said.

Armin offered her a small smile. "It's true."

It's better than telling me that it isn't my fault, she thought. Verbally, she let out a non-committal hum.

"Besides," Armin continued, his voice taking on a lighter air, "I don't want you in a bad mood for tonight."

Mikasa paused. "Tonight?"

"Ah," Armin said, rubbing the back of his head. As if to mention it had been an accident and not the fully calculated move that it doubtlessly was. "I heard that Sasha wants to go out tonight and take some friends with her, and-"

"-you assumed I'm one of them," Mikasa finished.

"I know you are," Armin said. "She doesn't have your phone number or any classes this early, but trust me, she's going to find you and ask you later."

Mikasa frowned. "I-"

"-Should go," Armin finished.

"No," Mikasa countered, "I need to go patrolling."

"You really shouldn't," Armin urged. "If Ymir has been watching you, she'll expect you to be out in full force after that report. It would be too easy for her to set a trap. Besides, there would be benefits to going."

"Social benefits?" Mikasa asked, voice flat.

Armin shook his head. "You haven't been able to find out anything about her, right? But not all vampires lurk in graveyards constantly. They can't, logically. If you keep your eyes and ears peeled, it might be an opportunity to learn something useful."

Mikasa's gaze dropped down to her bag. To her textbook, which was peeking halfway out of it. She supposed Armin had a point. No, she knew Armin had a point. There had been enough disappearances that people would be talking, especially after that morning's report. It was still... daunting. Daunting in ways that had nothing to do with slaying.

A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye made her glance toward the door just in time to see one of her other classmates filter in. That was her cue. It was time to wrap this conversation up.

"Alright," she murmured. "I'll consider it. But." She turned to look Armin in the eyes, lest he think she was anything short of serious. "If I go, then so do you."

Armin blanched. "But-"

"If it's a social thing, I'll be able to protect you," Mikasa pointed out. She wouldn't risk him around her most of the time, but in this instance, as part of a group, she might be alright with it.

"Yeah," Armin murmured with a weak laugh. "Only social danger."

"For both of us. And if she does invite me, I don't think we'll be the only ones out of our element." Sasha could say what she wanted about why she was trying to befriend Mikasa, but there was no doubting what had turned her attention to Mikasa in the first place. If Mikasa's status as the slayer had drawn the girl to her, then Annie was probably in the same position.

Even if she wasn't, Sasha would almost definitely invite Reiner, and Reiner seemed like the sort of person who would drag his more introverted friends into non-introverted situations. Either way, Annie was doomed.

"Alright," Armin acquiesced. "It's a deal."

"If she asks me," Mikasa emphasized, since the notion still felt fairly unreal. People didn't ask her to do things with them. But Armin was usually a reliable source of that information, and because of that, she was forced to truly consider the prospect. "If she asks me, then we'll both go."

***

Erwin had gone home after teaching his class that morning and went directly for his computer. That was where he remained hours later, leaning forward with his elbows on his desk and his chin resting on steepled fingers.

He felt like he was making progress. It had manifested with a clarity so strong that it became undeniable, the unwavering certainty that he was onto something, that it would all slot into place if he just found a few more pieces to the puzzle. The trouble was that he didn't have any proof. He didn't even have anything other than that feeling to suggest that he wasn't wasting precious time.

And yet he didn't feel like a fool for chasing it.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a knock on the door. Just one, sharp and to the point. Erwin started to stand up, only for something on the screen to catch his eye.

He slowly lowered himself back into his seat and leaned forward.

There were several more knocks at the door, loud and excited. They were followed by the sound of muffled shouting. The corners of Erwin's lips pulled up, but he remained seated and kept his eyes glued to the screen as he continued to scroll down the spreadsheet before him.

As expected, the knocking and shouting soon died down in favor of the sound of a lock being picked.

And as expected, his eyes had been tricking him. There were more brunettes among the people who had disappeared over the past several months than blonds, redheads, or people with unusually dyed hair. However, it wasn't so many that it couldn't be attributed to the prevalence of that hair color over the others rather than an actual pattern.

Erwin didn't know if he should feel disappointed or vindicated.

The door swung open with a click. It was followed by the sound of two sets of footsteps, one heavy and steady, the other quick and uneven.

"Rude asshole," Levi muttered as he walked down the office on his way down the hallway. Probably on his way to the kitchen. Given how far he had to drive, Erwin had known to buy and set tea out for him ahead of time.

Hanji was more direct. They gripped the side of the doorway to swing themselves into his office before prancing over. "Erwiiiiiin," they called. "What are you looking at?"

"Data on the people who've disappeared over the past month," he said.

"Ooh." Hanji leaned over his shoulder to get a closer look. "Looking for patterns?"

"Something like that," Erwin murmured.

"'Something like that?' Erwin, I want details!"

Erwin chuckled. "We should wait for Levi," he said.

Hanji groaned. "He's already off going through your cupboards."

"He shouldn't take too long," Erwin said. "I left the tea he likes out for him."

Hanji laughed. "Like a short, angry Santa."

Erwin smiled slightly. "Here," he said, pushing the desk chair back and standing up. "Take a look for yourself."

Hanji didn't hesitate. They rushed to take his place and leaned forward so that they were only inches away from the screen, eyes darting from one side of the screen as they tried to absorb all the information as quickly as possible. Erwin couldn't help but notice that they still had their windbreaker on. A quick glance showed that although they still had their boots on as well, they weren't muddy, and nothing had been tracked in on his carpeting.

Levi would have taken his shoes off before he started down the hallway. He just moved fast. Hanji may have been the sort to abandon their luggage in the entryway, but Levi wouldn't stand for it, which meant that all of their belongings would still be in the hall.

They had been eager to see him. It almost made Erwin feel bad for leaving them to break in. 

"There's a slight tendency toward college students and victims tend to be within a few miles of the campus," Hanji eventually said.

"That's just the location," Erwin replied. "If we assume that they have limited transportation or something's tying them to the college, the perpetrator might not be able to control that. Anything else?"

Hanji stared at the computer screen for another long moment before shaking their head. "No, it seems random."

"Exactly," Erwin said.

"What, exactly?" a dry voice asked from behind him. It would seem that Levi hadn't become any less stealthy in the months since he'd last seen them. "Some thing's randomly snacking on college kids?"

Erwin stepped back and to the side so that he could easily see both of his friends. Unlike Hanji, Levi had removed his jacket since entering the house. He must have; although it was hardly cold, there was enough of a chill that he knew that he wouldn't have gone without. He was holding a cup of steaming tea atop a delicate white saucer and giving Erwin a flat, unimpressed look from over the top of it.

"I don't think it's actually random," Erwin said. "True impulse killers will often end up with some degree of pattern between their victims because of unconscious preferences or sheer coincidence. If you look just at the disappearances on the campus, some of them share the same classes, or go to class with the same person, but it isn't a reliable pattern, and it falls apart when you expand to include non-student disappearance."

"Go to class with the same person," Levi intoned. "That's awfully specific." He paused to give Erwin a long, piercing look. "Is it targeting the slayer?"

"I thought they might be at first," Erwin confessed. "Three of the victims shared a class with Mikasa, but the two other students who disappeared have no connection to her, nor did the four who didn't attend the college. Considering that Mikasa is mostly taking required classes, it could be a coincidence. Quite frankly, even if it does involve her, I think that there's more going on here."

"Alright," Hanji said, spinning his chair around to face him. "What's your theory, then?"

"It could be a particularly self-aware human who's killing additional people that don't fit their target type in an attempt to obscure their true targets," Erwin said.

"Sounds like a lot of work," Levi remarked.

"It does," Erwin confessed. "But so does the other option." He crossed his arms as he cast the computer another look. "It could be a vampire or other demon that is trying to look like an impulse killer when they aren't."

"That's not very in line with demonic behavior," Hanji remarked.

"It isn't," Erwin agreed. "But look at the victims. The genders and appearances all vary. The financial and social information I could gather about them fluctuates wildly. Those victims who do have similarities are too few to stand a real chance at being considered a pattern. And look at the college students; the couple were seniors, but Miss Carolina was a freshman, and one was a forty-year-old late start student."

"They tried for a range even when variation was naturally limited," Hanji murmured.

"I have trouble believing that this is anything but calculated," Erwin said. "It is a far larger coincidence to end up with none than it is for there to be one or two."

"Alright," Levi interjected. "So let's say that some thing is trying to look like they kill. Why? Most demons look for something specific. Vampires don't always, but the sick bastards tend to lean into it when they have a type, not play at being something else."

"Maybe it's hiding something," Hanji suggested.

"If it's pretending to be a random killer, it's already hiding something, four-eyes."

"No, I mean, maybe it wants people to think it kills randomly to keep people off its trail for something else."

"Like what?"

"Ah, I'm not sure." Hanji rubbed the back of their head and offered Levi a sheepish smile. "I don't know enough yet. Anything I say would just be guesswork."

Erwin offered the pair a warm smile. It was nice to see Levi and Hanji banter again, and almost as nice to see how quickly they had reached his own conclusion. "I'm afraid I don't have any detailed theories either," Erwin confessed. "But it is interesting." The demons that acted atypically always were.

"People are dying," Levi pointed out.

Erwin faltered, a faint sight leaving his lips. "I know," he said. "Stopping the thing doing this is my priority. But we need more information. First, we need to rule out the possibility that a human's doing this-"

"-If it is a human acting like a demon, I don't see why we can't just treat it like one and put it in the ground," Levi muttered.

"Don't tell the council-”

“- As if I’d ever tell those bastards anything. -”

“- and I just might let you," Erwin admitted. "But whether it is or isn't, we don't have much to go on." That might have been the point of choosing such a varied pool of victims in and of itself, but everything he knew about demonic nature made him doubt it. “Mikasa thinks that it might be an overly strong vampire named Ymir, but she hasn’t been seen in over two weeks and I haven’t been able to find anything on her.”

“Mikasa,” Hanji cut in. “That’s the slayer who… died… right?”

“Yes,” Erwin confirmed.

"The slayer who didn't tell you she'd died," Levi said. "Any chance you've talked to her about that yet?"

Erwin held back a sigh. "No," he said.

Levi stepped forward to set his tea down on Erwin's desk, then whirled back around to face him. "Why the fuck not?" he demanded.

"This is a delicate situation," Erwin said. "Mikasa has gone without a watcher, or any intervention from the watcher's council, for years, and has apparently experienced at least one highly traumatic event in that time. I can't force her to trust me. I can't even afford to try."

"But you can't keep waiting for her to come to you," Hanji pointed out. "I don't think it'll work. From what you've told us, she doesn't sound like she's anything like-"

Levi and Hanji's eyes met. A second passed, then Hanji looked away.

"- it doesn't sound like it'll work," they finished.

"I know," Erwin confessed. "I just-"

"-Sound like you have a lot of regrets for a guy who talks about not having any," Levi muttered. He wasn't looking at Erwin or Hanji anymore, but some distant spot on the wall.

"This isn't about regret," Erwin said. "It's about not repeating past mistakes."

"Well," Levi said, his voice very subtly off in a way that would be undetectable to anyone who didn't know him well, "making sure she doesn't have a hidden agenda or any other secrets would be a good place to start."

"Probably," Erwin agreed.  A hint of resignation leaked into his voice as he added, "the disappearances and second slayer may not be the only reasons I called you."

"Aaah," Hanji said. "You're useless without us." Their lips twitched upwards. It wasn't enough to dispel the strain that pulled at their voice and lingered in their eyes. 

"Probably," Erwin agreed once more.

There was more to say on the matter. Much, much more. Just not now. He couldn't in good conscience allow them to remain on the subject. Not while Levi was wearing the distant, heartbroken expression that he'd gotten so good at disguising over the years and Hanji looked like someone who'd accidentally punched their best friend. There was plenty of time to discuss the disappearances, Mikasa, Annie, and all the other young people who'd been involved.

That was a lie. In every moment that wasn't spent investigating the disappearances and trying to find a way to stop them, innocent people were in danger. Every moment that he wasn't trying to improve his relationship with Mikasa, he let her slip further away.

The truth was that Erwin was seeing the people he held most dear for the first time in months and wanted to be selfish for at least a few hours.

"Anyway," he redirected, "would you like some help unpacking?"

"God yes," Hanji groaned, flopping back against the chair and sending it rolling a few inches. "I want- I want food. And a nap. Erwin, I cannot emphasize enough how much I want a nap."

"Think the five hundred milligrams of caffeine you drank today might have something to do with that?" Levi drawled, shooting Hanji an utterly unsympathetic look.

"Nah," Hanji groaned. "I just exist this way."

Levi scrunched his nose up in distaste, and Erwin couldn't help but chuckle.

Despite the circumstances, it was good to have them back.

***

Annie did not see how going out clubbing was "for the mission". Reiner could say whatever he liked about it being an opportunity to get closer to the slayer, she would remain certain in her belief that he was just making an excuse to have fun with his human friends.

At least Annie could take comfort in the knowledge that she wasn't the only one uncomfortable there. Sasha, Connie, Jean, Marco, and Reiner took the lead as they approached the brightly lit club, one big, cheerful, chatting mass of dipshits. Meanwhile, Mikasa, Armin, and Bertolt lingered a few steps behind with her, all looking some degree out of place.

"Well," Armin said, a shaky smile inching its way across his face. "This place certainly seems energetic."

"Yeah," Bertolt agreed. "Lots of... energy."

Both of them looked nice. Their hair was done, and while they weren't overdressed, they looked sleek and trendy. If only they didn't look both look like they expected someone to come around and shove them in a locker at any second. Bertolt actually looked a shade worse than Armin even though he could easily kill anyone who tried such a thing.

"These places are supposed to be loud, aren't they?" Mikasa asked. She looked and sounded relatively unbothered by the pair. Her tell was that she walked at the very back of the group, behind even Annie. Such behavior was just as out of place with her appearance as Bertolt and Armin's nervousness, because if they looked nice, she was stunning.

Mikasa was wearing a shimmery black spaghetti-strap dress that went down to her knees, black heels, and a touch of red lipstick that drew attention to the angles of her face and the soft curls of long black hair framing her face.

Annie had quickly thrown on a pair of jeans and a nice-ish blue shirt.

She really was going to kill Reiner one of these days.

"Yeah," Armin said, voice soft enough that it wouldn't carry to the people who actually enjoyed places like this. A small grimace touched his face. "I guess I didn't think about that. I hoped there'd be more... I don't know..."

"Jazz?" Bertolt suggested.

"Jazz would be nice," Armin agreed.

But there was no jazz. They were still a solid hundred yards away from the club and Annie could already hear the techno music pumping from it, the sort of sound that existed primarily for total strangers to grind and gyrate against each other. According to Reiner, Sasha had sworn up and down that they played a variety of music.

With Reiner and Sasha being the ones making the claim, Annie felt like she was valid in having her doubts.

Speak of the devil. Reiner began to slow his pace until he naturally started lagging behind the group of extroverts. When he reached her side, Annie caught his eye and frowned. He winked, then took a few steps backward so that he was walking beside Mikasa.

Mikasa gave him a faintly surprised look at the sudden approach, but didn't say anything. That gave him time to get started with whatever angle he was trying.

"I was wondering, do you have a sword?" Reiner asked.

Mikasa blinked. "A sword?" she asked.

"For slaying," Reiner clarified. "We-" he gestured with his head toward Jean, Connie, Sasha, and Marco, who were shooting occasional glances in their direction now. "- were talking about the best way to behead something, and-"

"AN AXE IS BEST!" Sasha hollered.

Annie winced, both because of the blatant eavesdropping and the oh-so-inconspicuous line Braus had chosen to scream.

Naturally, Reiner called back, "AXES ONLY HAVE ONE SIDE!"

"NOT ALL OF THEM!"

Reiner chuckled, then turned his attention back to Mikasa. "Swords have a bigger advantage than being two-sided though," he said lowering his voice into something more comfortable as he continued speaking. His voice was capable of sounding very warm when he tried. Pleasant. Sometimes even comforting, if you didn't know what he was actually like. "A good-sized one will let you keep some distance between yourself and your opponent without the fuss of having to aim with a long-ranged weapon, and the momentum you build once you get going makes up for the weight. They're the way to go for demons that require decapitation."

Mikasa nodded, expression thoughtful. "It makes sense," she said. "But, why are you talking to me about it?"

"Because every slayer should have at least one good sword, but they can get pretty expensive."

Annie frowned. She saw where Reiner was going with this. Being aligned with the council, Mikasa could probably get all sorts of weapons if she just asked. She didn't seem like she would be willing to ask though. Depending on how deep her distrust and animosity toward the council ran, she might even turn down offered resources.

Offering to arm the very slayer that they planned to kill was a bold move. However, she couldn't deny that it was one that would likely help gain her trust.

Reiner continued on, obliviously confirming her theory. "Me, Annie, and Bertl have several though. It wouldn't hurt for us to give you one."

"We have a horde," Annie corrected, "because you think they're cool."

"So do you," Reiner said.

Annie glanced to the side, but couldn't deny the accusation. Swords were cool. They were effective and felt nice to use, which were the most important qualities in a weapon. That they had an intimidating appearance was only icing on the cake.

"Thank you," Mikasa said. "I'll think about it."

Annie wasn't surprised. The other slayer didn't seem like someone who would accept charity or sincere gifts easily. Of course not. Doing that was a fast track to letting people in. Annie was more than experienced with the steps you take to keep from letting people in, and because Reiner and Bertolt knew Annie, they recognized those steps and knew the exact moves to counteract them.

Mikasa Ackerman really was doomed.

Reiner gave Mikasa a warm smile. "Alright, just let me know what you decide."

With that, he wandered off to rejoin the main group, who were gathering by the club door. Waiting for the stragglers.

Annie sighed and picked up her pace. She reached the rest of the group several moments before Armin and Bertolt, who were a few paces ahead of Mikasa in turn.

"Alright!" Sasha exclaimed. Between her ridiculously wide green and her cheerful orange dress, the girl was practically radiating excitement. It was almost enough to give Annie a headache on the spot. "Everyone ready?"

"It's a club, not a rollercoaster," Jean said. "Calm down."

"She has a point though," Marco said. "It's nice to make sure everyone's ready and actually wants to go in before we do anything." He shot a short, almost imperceptible glance at Annie, Bertolt, Armin, and Mikasa before grinning at the group as a whole.

Lovely. They were being handled with training wheels.

"I'm ready," Mikasa said, short and to the point.

"I'm... kinda nervous, but also kinda excited!" Armin paused for long enough to take in each member of their group as he offered a small grin. "I'll be fine."

"Me too," Bertolt added. "I mean- I'm not the most social person around, but I'm not going to get overwhelmed or anything."

Annie sighed. "Let's get on with it."

She stepped ahead of everyone and pushed open the door without waiting for a response.

Annie's senses were immediately assaulted by a combination of bright, multi-colored lights, the scent of sweat and something sweet, and the loud pulse of techno music trying to drown out all the noise. The last factor was the dominant one. If she'd thought it was loud outside the club, that was nothing compared to the inside. This was the sort of place where you had to scream to be heard.

She didn't realize that she'd frozen until a heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Reiner asked. Shouted.

"Yeah," Annie said, voice straining from even just the short response.

He nodded, seemingly content. As he turned around to go back to his conversation with Connie and Jean, Annie noticed Bertolt giving her a concerned look. She shook her head, sending him a glance that tried to convey 'I'm fine'. The frown on his face suggested that he didn't quite buy it, but he didn't come over and fret over her either, which was something.

"We should get a table," Sasha called over the clamor of the music.

"Good idea," Marco remarked.

With that, the night set into motion. The group found a table and lingered for a little while before starting to split off. Some to get drinks, some to dance; even Bertolt and Armin eventually let Reiner and Jean prod them into heading out. It seemed like there was something for everyone to do.

Everyone but Annie and Mikasa.

It wasn't that they had been intentionally forgotten or excluded. They had been invited to go get to the bar, go dance, or even just wander around the club when Sasha announced that she wanted to go "people spotting". The slayers were the ones who had turned down every invitation.

Now that she thought about it, Annie realized that it had seemed like it came as automatically to Mikasa as it had to her. That impulse to turn away anything that could potentially distract from the ultimate goal.

Except Mikasa's ultimate goal was, presumably, her calling. And Annie's...

...Annie's goal wouldn't be furthered if she just sat there doing nothing. However, it was also hard to do much of anything with all of the noise. It was loud to an average human. To the enhanced senses of a slayer, it was absolutely ridiculous. It may be true that a vampire's hearing was even better than that of a slayer, but she had absolutely no clue how Bertolt and Reiner were able to shoulder their way through it. For her, there was no ignoring how it put her teeth on edge.

One long, thoughtful look at Mikasa revealed that it was probably the same for her.

Which made it an opportunity.

Annie stood up and gently grabbed hold of Mikasa's wrist. "Come on," she said, already tugging her forward.

Mikasa hesitated, and for a moment, Annie thought she might resist. Then she stepped forward and fell into pace with her.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Somewhere quieter," Annie replied.

Indeed, it grew quieter as they approached the back of the club. A series of semi-private loveseats and more-exposed couches littered the back wall. When they sat down on one, Annie was pleased to find that the noise had been cut down by roughly half. It was still loud, but no longer bordered  on unbearable.

"How did you know that would work?" Mikasa asked, her eyes glimmering in a way that almost made Annie think she might be impressed.

"I've been in places like this before," Annie lied. It wasn't a difficult one to pull off when one of her closest "friends" was so social. At that moment, she was actually grateful for Reiner's demeanor. There was no reason to suspect that he was almost as new to doing things like this as her.

Telling the truth, that she was just familiar with building design, would turn into a much more complicated lie as she scrambled to explain why. So many things about her would, if she let them be known.

Mikasa gave a brief nod. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem," Annie replied. "But I have to ask-" she didn't, but there was a little ember of curiosity burning within her now, pushing her to find an answer. And it was harmless enough that she was willing to give in to the impulse. "-why did you come here? It didn't look like you were excited even before you got in."

"I could say the same to you," Mikasa said.

"Reiner pestered me into it," was Annie's easy response.

Mikasa paused for a moment, a thoughtful look flickering across her face. At that moment, for no reason that she could put a finger on, Annie wished that she knew what it meant.

"Armin and I made a deal," she eventually said. "I'd go if he would."

It was an answer, but one that only made Annie more curious. She furrowed her brow and was in the process of deciding if she wanted to ask more questions when laughter bubbled up from a loveseat a few yards down. It was soft, but happiness made it louder, just loud enough for a slayer to catch it over the weakened cacophony of the music.

The laughter carried a snippet of conversation with it. And with it, a name.

"Ymir, you are-"

Annie's eyes narrowed at the same second that Mikasa went stiff. 

They were both on their feet in an instant. Gentle laughter still echoed from the direction of the voice. A quick glance was exchanged, and Mikasa began prowling in the direction the voice had come from, Annie following a few paces behind.

They were led to one of the loveseats, its tall, curved sides providing the occupants some semblance of privacy from the rest of the club. As she peered in, Mikasa's eyes widened, a faint sprinkle of pink coming to brush her cheeks.

Annie didn't stop to absorb it before looking for herself.

It was Ymir alright. She had no trouble recognizing the vampire who had so gleefully taunted them - even though her face was half-obscured by the blonde girl she was kissing.

And kissing.

And kissing.

The girl gasped as Ymir began to kiss off the girl's lips, along her jawline, and down her neck.  When the vampire nuzzled against the crook between her neck of shoulder, however, she erupted into another round of giggles. Her eyes fluttered open... and immediately landed on the pair of slayers staring blankly at her and her partner.

A number of different things proceeded to happen within the next instant. The girl pressed herself against the back of the loveseat with a surprised yelp. Ymir turned to face them, agitation flashing in her eyes. Mikasa's jaw went a little slack. And Annie's own eyes widened as she recognized the girl who'd been making out with Ymir as Krista Lenz, the girl who was likely kindest, warmest, and all-around best person in Paradis Community College.

Annie and Mikasa exchanged a glance. No words were exchanged; they didn't need any. People like Krista tended to attract vampires with sadistic streaks like moths to a flame. If Ymir was playing with her like this, then Krista was in grave danger.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Ymir groaned.

"Let her go, Ymir," Mikasa growled. Her hand was already creeping toward her purse. It was relatively small, but Annie would be willing to bet that she'd still found a way to stash a stake in there.

"Or what?" Ymir asked, voice heavy and eyes dark.

"Ymir," Krista hissed, reaching forward to grip the vampire's arm.

Ymir glanced at the blonde, and through some trick of the light, Annie almost thought she saw her expression soften for a heartbeat.

"Look," Ymir said, looking back at them with a sigh. "Unless walks in the cemetery are your height of romance, I don't crash your date nights. Return the favor and stay out of mine."

"Date night?" Annie parroted.

At the same time, Mikasa said, "that's not going to happen."

"I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding," Krista piped up. She shifted forward a little before sitting up straighter, her voice and expression containing a whisper of something Annie had never detected from her before. It was like glimpsing a flicker of steel while rooting through a bundle of cotton. "I'm not here against my will. Ymir is my girlfriend."

Girlfriend. There was another thing that she wouldn't have guessed about Krista. However, it was something that was far less important than who said girlfriend happened to be.

"She's using you," Mikasa said. That earned her dark looks from both her and Annie, but Mikasa continued. "You're in danger if you let yourself be alone with her. She has- a history-"

"I know that she's a vampire," Krista said, voice flat and blunt.

Mikasa's mouth closed with a click. Meanwhile, Annie found herself staring.

Krista knew? Sweet, innocent, perfect Krista knew that Ymir was a vampire and was dating her?

She supposed it wasn't impossible. After all, Annie was a slayer and she was working with two vampires. But there were special circumstances surrounding her, Reiner, and Bertolt. They had good incentive not to hurt her, the very same incentive that drove her not to stake them. Besides, they couldn't afford to turn on each other.

This was different. It was possible that naivety was driving Krista to put too much trust in Ymir, but what could possibly keep Ymir from turning on Krista?

Mikasa and Annie reached the same conclusion at the same time, but Mikasa beat her to the punch. "She's going to kill you, she just wants to gain your trust first."

Annie nodded and forced herself not to react to Mikasa's statement beyond that.

"Really? And you think she'd keep that con up for over two years?" Krista asked, a hint of bitterness and anger sinking into her sweet years.

Annie couldn't help but falter. "Two years?" Even for an especially sadistic vampire, spending that much time on a betrayal con was... weird. It wasn't impossible though; she'd heard of vampires who spend upwards of half a decade tormenting a specific victim. If that was all, she probably would have recovered fairly quickly.

The thing that made her hesitation stick was the flash of passion in Ymir's eyes. "I would never hurt Krista," she growled.

"You're a vampire," came Mikasa's automatic response.

"So?" Ymir retorted. As she spoke, she subtly shifted to cover Krista. As if Annie and Mikasa were the threat. "Just because I don't have a soul doesn't mean I can't love."

Annie pursed her lips. This, she knew, was true to an extent. Vampires had things that they liked. When they liked a person enough, it was possible for that like to grow into care . And sometimes, once in a blue moon, one was even capable of love. Or something close to it. It was selective and selfish, not quite love as humans thought of it, but for a vampire, it was a lot. 

But it was rare. It was even rarer for the vampire to be able to set their innate selfishness aside enough to not kill or turn a human who had become the target of their affection, let alone for a human to be able to tolerate their love. Never mind reciprocate it.

And yet Ymir was implying...

Annie didn't know what to think.

Mikasa didn't look like she did either. However, her expression was settling into something along the lines of disbelief, which seemed to give her the fire she needed to continue. "It doesn't matter if you do or don't," she said. "You've been killing people. "

"No, she hasn't!" Krista cried, wriggling out from behind Ymir.

"You expect us to believe that?" Annie asked. She forced herself to keep her face placid and didn't dare glance at Mikasa.

"Krista, " Ymir hissed.

"You need to have this conversation eventually," Krista said, conviction in her tone. "It should have been the first thing you told the slayers. 

Annie all but felt Mikasa stiffen beside her.

Krista's eyes were hard in a way that Annie had assumed her incapable of when she looked back at the slayers. "Ymir doesn't kill people," she said. "She gets her blood from the butcher."

"You called yourself the biggest fish," Mikasa abruptly piped up, looking at Ymir.

"Yeah, because I'm the strongest vamp you'll find around here," Ymir said. "It doesn't mean I'm responsible for everything that goes wrong."

Annie scowled and turned her gaze to Krista. "You can't believe her," she said, even though she found that she did. She argued because she believed it, lest Mikasa start believing it and look for another target. "She's a vampire."

"I don't care, " Krista ground out. "She's a vampire who's been by my side for nearly three years, and I would trust her with my life. I don't know why people have been disappearing lately, but it isn't her. "

"She's still a vampire," Mikasa said. "We can't-"

"You can," Krista cut in with a hiss. "She isn't hurting anyone, so you should leave her alone. Or you'll have to go through me as well."

"That doesn't sound like much of a challenge," Annie remarked.

"Krista..." Ymir shot her girlfriend an alarmed look, leaned toward her-

And abruptly lashed her leg out, knocking Annie into Mikasa.

"...Let's get out of here."

It only took a few seconds for Mikasa and Annie to regain their balance and disentangle from each other. However, in those few seconds, Ymir managed to scoop Krista up in her arms and disappear into the crowd.

Mikasa moved to take off, but Annie quickly grabbed her arm. "Look at the crowd," she murmured. "They aren't going to stick around, and we won't be able to catch them before they can get out. Going after them will only cause panic."

A few tense seconds passed. When she felt Mikasa's muscles begin to relax, Annie dropped her arm back down to her side.

"...I may have to ask Reiner about that sword after all," Mikasa murmured.

[bride-and-bride]

Memory

Wrote that fanfic, just as I threatened! It’s about time passing and the Crystal Exarch, and the impressions people leave on you, and some other miscellaneous musings.

Uhhhhhh it’s straight up about Defiant Bride as the Warrior of Light, and contains major MSQ spoilers up tooooooo... about 80? Early 80!

He hadn't realized he'd forgotten her face until someone asked what she looked like. The weight of it hit G'raha Tia in a rush; the guilt, the embarrassment, the disbelief... he was the only one alive who'd seen her face in person, and he couldn't even remember it.

He tried to explain it in his head... she had just been one of many, back then, after Operation Archon. A Warrior of Light, not The. One of many with Hydaelyn's blessing and ties to the Scions. There'd been at least two dozen who'd come along when it came time to explore the tower; people of all races and skills, each blessed with the power to try and fight where normal people couldn't. It was reasonable, he was pretty sure, to forget one face in all that.

It wasn't. It didn't feel right, and he didn't feel better for reasoning it all out. Even if there'd been others, hadn't he spoken the most with her? Challenged her, worked with her? He should be able to close her eyes and see her clear as day, like no time had passed at all.

Or maybe it was the tower? Perhaps his rest had messed with his memories, robbed him of this vital thing, and it wasn't G'raha's fault. Maybe that's just how it was, travelling suspended through time. No one was around to tell him otherwise, so he clung to the idea like a drowning man would to a raft.

It made it strange, then, to piece it together as if he was the same as the others, as if he'd only read about her deeds, heard the stories passed on through the generations as a way to keep the nights a little brighter. Here was a mention of her butting horn to horn with a dragon, and a little piece filled in... Yes, just one horn, the other a stump. Rare in au-ra. Her face wasn't symmetrical. There was mention of the sight of her facing down the Empire's Prince Zenos, the gap in height, and there'd be a trickle... she wasn't tall, looked unassuming, even had a small stance, right up until she drew steel and became a solid guardian to match any other.

It was those moments that he treasured, that calmed him when he faced his plans ahead. He could remember something of her that books couldn't... he had some tiny piece of the Warrior of Light that'd been lost to time.

He didn't really know why that felt important to him, but as he drew up plans with the Ironworks, as they took step after step to the end... it felt important. It felt vital.

It still felt important when he realized when he'd arrived and began to come to terms with the time stretched before him. There were plans to make, yes, but now there was no one but him who knew her at all. He had to remember, or no one would.

---

G'raha privately felt like it was forgetting that had caused the mistake. He didn't have the right image (maybe he never had it), and so when he tried to call to the Warrior, he instead pulled...

...not the warrior of light.

That, he was pretty certain on, fuzzy recollection or not. She'd been significantly less hyuran, for one thing, and definitely not pale.

Not that he wanted to admit the potential source of his failing to Thancred, even after the weeks passed and he came around to something like understanding. It was easier if the man wasn’t completely sure of how he was doing things, if there was some vagueness... he seemed the type to dig into things if given the chance, and he was hardly prepared to explain.

It gave him a unique opportunity, though. For the first time in a hundred years... he could speak to someone from his own world. From his own time, technically, though he knew Thancred came from several years after he'd sealed himself away. Being a man from the First gave him natural cover to ask about the Source and all it's people, and just hearing familiar names and places gave him a comfort he’d been denied for decades.

Thancred didn't mind telling him about Ul'dah and the Scions and Ishgard and Ala Mhigo, and G'raha still felt a little shock of excitement when he'd relayed the information. Yes, he'd known all of it, but there was something so different about hearing it from someone who's been there rather than relayed as history! Thancred was, of course, exceedingly sparse on details on what he'd actually been doing... so sparse that G'raha could only immediately hope he could get the man to do the same in the first, to equal effect.

He never had the chance to ask about the Warrior of Light. Thancred seemed particularly careful with details about the Scions, and her most of all, and when at last he departed the Crystarium, he took any secrets with him.

---

The next two had had many, many more secrets between them. Only one was willing to share any.

Y'shtola saw only in aether, he'd come to learn, and quietly he feared she'd seen something in him that had made her so prickly, so guarded around him. Every time they spoke he had this sense that she was prodding him, dipping in and around his words, seeking to pull out every bit of meaning from even that which went unsaid. It was a bit unsettling, like she was trying to read his mind.

Or perhaps she was just like that? That wasn’t much better... he never quite knew how to handle such direct people, and there’d been a touch of relief when she had worked out what she wanted to do on her own and seen herself out.

Urianger was easier, comparatively. He knew scholars... He was one, even if Rammbroes had to chastise him a bit more than the other Students of Baldesion. The man was a direct disciple of Louisoix and they'd spoken before, long in the past. He had a twisty, secretive personality... and after a bit of conversation, proved to be remarkably fast on the uptake. He'd guessed at a lot more than G'raha had been trying to reveal, and in time it had become clear that they'd do better working side by side than trying to hide things.

He still couldn't quite get himself to ask about the Warrior of Light. Urianger and Y'shtola both were perceptive people, and he didn't want to know what meaning they might glean from untimely curiosity.

---

His third and fourth mistakes he regretted so keenly it made him ache. Alphinaud and Alisaie, the Leveilleur twins, older than he'd last seen them and yet still so young. He felt like they shouldn't have to be part of this fight, like it was wrong of him to snatch mere teenagers to the first.

Of course, he knew exactly what kind of battles they'd been fighting in the Source, and they hadn't deserved to be there, either. And of course, he also knew what they'd accomplished and that if they hadn't been there, things would've gone far worse all around. It didn't entirely soothe his mind.

Nor did the enthusiasm the pair showed in working in the First. Oh, yes, Alisaie had been ready to cut him to ribbons on arrival, and Alphinaud had had dozens of pointed questions and looked so worried he felt extremely bad, but once things had been sorted... Particularly once the twins were together again, and had spoken to Urianger, they were ready to fight at his side. They shouldn’t really have had to fight.

They were talkative.

They admired the Warrior of Light, and he'd realized the first time Alphinaud had brought her up that they saw her the same way G’raha did. They spoke of her with plain admiration, a person they looked up to but a person. She wasn't just a symbol of hope or light, she was their friend. Their partner. (They missed her. They were so worried about her. They hoped she was well, but had to trust she was...)

The desire he'd felt when he scoured the pages of 'Heavensward' finally had a chance at satisfaction, in the tales they shared with him. It was if he had a woodcut, a stark, rough black outline, and he'd added his own details, but here... these two could start adding color.

The warrior of light was a Paladin without peer, winner of some grand tournament in Ul'dah that Alisaie had been extremely disappointed to miss. It was rare, you see, that she could see the woman fight seriously off the battlefield; she was nervous in spars, always afraid of hurting someone more than she planned to

The warrior of light got along with Moogles, Alphinaud had relayed with no small amount of awe, even the ones high in the mountains who faffed about all day making nuisances of themselves. She'd taken to a job as an assistant post moogle, for some reason, and assisted the fuzzy things in restoring some stonework in the Churning Mists that Alphinaud was dying to visit in person.

The warrior of light was kind, they said, in every story and anecdote and tale they shared to keep themselves going. She was strong. She was resilient, and kept going when others could no longer. She was brave, no matter the odds. She would keep going, even without the scions at her side, and she could be trusted to stand tall until the end.

She was Defiant, they said. And G'raha Tia listened, and he pressed his hands against the gates and silently begged them to part and allow him to save her.

---

Three thoughts had run through G'raha's head as he exited the Crystarium, almost certain that his mistake in aim had dropped her no farther than Lakeland.

The first was professional. It was time to be the Crystal Exarch, and to be him so much that she would have no way of guessing that they'd met before, even in passing. He needed her to be on his side, and to understand, and to trust the Crystal Exarch even from their first meeting.

The second was gleeful. A hundred long years and more in slumber in the spires of the crystal tower... years and years and decades and decades of planning and painful decisions and research and mishaps all to save the First. And the Source, and the Warrior, though he couldn't help but think of those as the secondary goals, now. He'd lived here too long and seen too much to not dream of the darkness alongside his people.

The third was a nagging terror, that while he'd gotten it right the last four times... this time he might've fucked it up and dragged the Warrior of Light to the first without any clothing.

He saw Lyna speaking to someone by the gates, refusing them entry, and he felt it before he saw.

She stepped aside, and the Warrior of Light looked up at him.

For a moment his mind went blank. All the planning, the years of preparation all fleeing him for the breadth of a heartbeat.

She was so much smaller than he remembered. Lyna towered over a lot of folks, where as G'raha was usually the toweree, yet he still managed to claim a few inches on her. And she was... Soft, his brain provided, after searching though and discarding a variety of adjectives. He didn't think she was muscular but neither had he recalled her being quite so... rounded.

She met his gaze, and her eyes were mismatched, and he remembered something long forgotten, some centuries old memory nudged free.

"W-we're kind of opposites, have you n-noticed?" She'd asked, as they waited for news on some surveying, sitting side by side on a relatively safe patch of crystal in Mor Dhona. He'd been confused in the moment, but she'd gestured to her eyes and then his own, smiling. "Nearly t-the same color, your right and mine."

And she'd been right. At the time, his Allagan blood still slept, and he'd never noticed they each had a blue eye until she'd pointed it out. There'd been some feeling he'd had, realizing someone had paid that much attention to him... enough to notice something so small.

It came flooding back. She didn't talk much when she was down to business, and people thought her calm and stoic, but it was because of her stutter. She favored a longsword that seemed too big for her, because she'd grown up among Hellsguard and never quite adjusted to having things the right size for her. She didn’t understand magitek in the slightest and her expression was polite and glazed when Cid tried to explain anything. She hid her smile with one hand when she laughed, most of the time, and fiddled with her armor when she was tense, and took her tea so hot that it burned everyone else's mouths.

Defiant Bride, the Warrior of Light.

There was no hint of recognition in her eyes, but he'd been preparing for that for over a hundred years. It was, in fact, what he wanted. It only barely stung.