“Urkg…! Uuhhh…” The woman let out an anguished groan as she stumbled unsteadily through the forest. With one arm supporting her stomach and the other holding her up against a tree, she tried to take another step, only to topple over onto her hands and knees. Head spinning with dizziness, she hastily plucked the mask off of her face just as a surge of bile exploded from her mouth, staining the green grass a murky yellow. “Haa… Haa… Haa… This really isn’t… my finest moment, is it…”

She laughed for whatever humor could be found in her situation, and decided she’d gotten far enough that she could rest for a bit. Straining under her aching muscles, she propped herself against the nearest tree and leaned back. Her eyes, still gleaming red, found the sparkling bits of light peeking through the treetops a dazzling and calming sight.

“...I’ve really done it now,” she murmured ruefully. “Not only did I fail to capture [Baphomet], but I was nearly killed by a pair of children right afterwards. If it wasn’t for this power, I would most certainly be dead right now. Hahaha…”

A light chuckle escaped her lips as they slowly shriveled up, along with the rest of her face. Hair which had once been a beautiful blonde had faded to an ashen gray. Her youthful skin was now littered with wrinkles, and her voice noticeably more hoarse.

“I wonder what would happen if I went back in this state? Half dead, and with no legendary monster to present. And after all that boasting I did to avoid being stuck with any tag-alongs…”

…

…

“...Well, yes, I suppose there is a silver line to all of this. That man’s plan has been halted, and that means you’ve bought yourself more time. With any luck, the Heroes will take advantage of the situation, and finish [Baphomet] off while it’s weak. That would certainly make all of this effort worth the trouble.”

…

…

“...Perhaps you’re right. But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter whether or not I killed the two of them, does it? Neither of them saw my face, and it doesn’t seem as though I was recognized. Furthermore, it seems like those girls intend to face [Baphomet], so the situation should be beneficial to you regardless of the battle’s outcome. I damaged it enough that even if they fail, the other Heroes will be able to finish the job. Still, it would be rather problematic if they actually manage to seal it…”

…

…

“My history with the girl? That’s troubling… I’m sworn to secrecy on that matter, you see. But I am rather surprised at how much she’s grown since the last time I saw her. It’s been quite a long time since I was forced to use your power this severely. Still, I see no cause for concern. I wanted to return with the injuries I’d sustained from [Baphomet] if at all possible, but if I’d recognized that a fight with those girls was unavoidable and healed earlier, I could have defeated the both of them without too much trouble.”

…

…

“...Yes, you’re quite right. Considering the situation, it’s too dangerous to leave just yet. I’ll follow those two, and observe things from a distance.” The woman’s conversation with the air came to an end, and with a deep breath, the wrinkles in her face smoothed out in a matter of moments, restoring her youthful features. Her lips, now full once more, curled into a roguish smile as she slid the mask back into place and stood up. She used both hands to open her parasol, and stepped away from the tree as she leaned it against her shoulder.

Her hat was missing, lost and ruined in the fight, but the canopy provided more than enough of a shield from the specks of light beaming from above. With an elegant gait unbefitting of her haggard appearance, the woman began to walk.

“Well then. I’m looking forward to seeing more of how much you’ve grown… Micah.”

-----

Eveline was not okay.

“SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIIIIITTT!!!!!!”

Again and again she drew back her fist and drove it into a nearby tree, denting it more and more with each hit. Then, with one last scream, she toppled it entirely, and collapsed to her knees while gripping the fallen bark so tightly her fingers dug into the splinters.

They were too late. Yet again, they’d arrived at a place Ellie had been, only to find that she’d moved on already. Though Alma had begun investigating right away, one look at the scene told them all they needed to know—a battle had taken place here, and judging by the lack of monster corpses, it was very clearly a battle between humans.

“H-Hey, it’s alright Eveline.” The one male member of her team she could stand spoke up, attempting to placate her. “It’s not just monsters. There aren’t any corpses at all, so Ellie’s probably still fine.”

“Unless she was kidnapped,” noted the one she couldn’t. Arms crossed, he looked over the scene with a disapproving gaze. “Or burnt to cinders in that area over there. Either way, it’s clear that her ‘companion’ finally showed their true colors.” He smirked, and in the blink of an eye Eveline was up and rushing towards him, fist clenched.

But before she could clean his clock, a hand snagged her wrist firmly. Eveline’s scowl twisted toward Alma’s calm gaze, directed at her.

“Bodies may disintegrate from heat, but bones don’t. I found no bone fragments among the charred grass, and one spot in particular was completely undamaged, which means whoever the spell was used on defended against it. Moreover, there isn’t a single drop of blood anywhere. A battle took place here, but it’s unlikely anyone died in it. Ellie is alive.”

“What? Y-You serious?” Eveline’s hand raced up to grip Alma’s shoulder as she looked to her best friend with hopeful eyes. Her anger cooled instantly when she nodded with a small smile. Eveline could see the relief reflected in her eyes, and knew that the woman had immediately begun investigating because she’d felt the same fear as her when they first arrived.

“Hmph.” The asshole let out a scoff, cutting through the relief. “There’s no way to say with certainty that she is. You’re just using the lack of evidence to support your preconceived narrative.”

Alma spoke before Eveline could. “If that’s so, then the reverse is also true. There is no definite proof that anyone died here, so ultimately, the situation hasn’t changed. We’ll continue the search until we find her.”

“You…” The man glared at her, and at Eveline who stood at her side glaring right back. “Do you both realize that people are dying right now? Innocent people, children, being slaughtered by these monsters all over the Zaothern villages. Every second we waste on this senseless hunt for a single girl, more and more families are being destroyed. Despite that, you’d still have us playing catch up for however many weeks it takes to find an idealistic fool trying to get herself killed?”

A silence followed his words, leaving a pregnant pause in the clearing. Eveline had a feeling he’d show his true colors at some point, since it was blatantly obvious he didn’t give a shit about Ellie, or any of them for that matter. She’d been hoping that they’d catch up to Ellie before he had a chance to bring it up, but…

Well, it was fine. Better to squash this kind of thing early. After all, though she was a Hero sworn to protect the innocent, she didn’t know any of the people in the Zaothern villages. And she’d be damned if she let Ellie die a pointless death in their place.

But, just as she opened her mouth to say as much, someone else beat her to it. “Say that again.”

Four pairs of eyes went wide at the voice of Mare, who stood off to the side. Her fists were shaking even harder than Eveline’s had just before, and though her bangs obscured her eyes as her head dipped low, it was painfully obvious that she was upset.

No, that was putting it lightly… Mare was fucking pissed. It was a side of the girl she only ever got to see when it came to Ellie.

“'Idealistic fool'…? Is that some kind of joke? That’s rich, coming from someone who would rather stand around discussing what-ifs than actually go to help those people. Ellie may be impulsive, simple-minded and hardheaded; a completely naive idiot who only ever thinks about others and rushes off without thinking, but… but at least she’s doing something.” The kid finally raised her face, and her eyes—crystal blue like her mom’s—shone with ice-cold fury. “The whole reason she left in the first place is because she was tired of waiting around for the okay to go out and save lives, like Heroes are supposed to do. By going after [Baphomet], she’s shown more care for the people of Zaoth than you ever have, you bigoted loser.”

“Wha-?! Y-You little brat-”

“No, she’s right,” Eveline cut in with a sharp voice, thankful for Mare’s interruption. It gave her some much needed perspective on the situation. “Finding and sealing [Baphomet] is a necessary step in resolving this mess. If we can prevent the creation of more monsters, we can clean up the rest ourselves and save what’s left of the villagers. Ellie said as much during the strategy meeting, but none of you fucktards could decide if we should split our manpower between that and defending the populace. All she did was make the decision for ya.”

The man’s teeth ground. “Yes, and because of that we-”

“-are one step closer to fixing your shitty problem. If we had things your way, we’d still be sittin’ around that table with our hands up our asses.”

“I agree,” said Alma. “The limited manpower assigned to this issue was problematic enough, but the time spent planning only made things worse. Our team should have gone after [Baphomet] sooner, and had the Zaothern Heroes split off to defend the villages. If we had, more lives could have been saved.”

As the opposition against him increased, he looked to be getting more and more frustrated. “So what? Your plan is to have the five of us fall prey to [Baphomet] just as that girl will? You really think this small group can do anything to that monster? We’ll all be crushed like bugs because of that girl’s stupidity and your overconfidence, and then who will be saved?!”

This time, Mare spoke up. “You’re right. Maybe we’ll all just die without accomplishing anything. But it’s still better than doing nothing, or fighting a never ending battle until we’re killed regardless. And anyway, you’re talking about a team comprised of two of the strongest living Heroes, so speak for yourself about who’ll be getting crushed.”

“Khh…! Hrrg…!” He had no rebuttal to that, and merely shot daggers at the stone-faced mother-daughter duo and Eveline’s shit-eating grin while visibly seething.

With the conversation seemingly put to an end, the fifth member of the team finally chimed in awkwardly. “U-Uh… Are you guys done now? It’s getting dark, so we really should get moving…”

No one looked like they had anything else to say, so Eveline turned on her heels with a light wave. “It seems like we’re all on the same page now, so I’ll take the lead. Al, which way?”

“It’s difficult to find accurate tracks with all the damage, but we should assume Ellie continued traveling in this direction after the battle concluded.”

“Then that’s where we’ll go first thing in the morning. Let’s make some more distance while there’s light and find a place to set up camp. After a fight like this, Ellie’s probably resting somewhere up ahead. We’ll move at first light and try to close the distance before she reaches [Baphomet]. Sound like a plan?”

Three heads nodded, and one let out an annoyed grunt.

“Good. We’ve had it tough with the monsters so far, so keep an eye out for more,” she said, then started walking as the group trailed behind her. Not long after, she heard Alma catch up and fall into step with her, then watched as she put a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

“...There were scraps of white clothing in the burned grass, and I found a dismembered hand not far away. Moreover, there was a split in the ground just next to it. The crevice was large and unnaturally sharp, and consistent with marks left behind by Ellie’s sword when she uses [Bisecting Slash].”

“Yeah, so? We know she was here.” Eveline raised a brow in her friend’s direction, urging her to continue.

“The person Ellie fought was wearing white clothes, and that person was attacked using fire magic.” Alma’s eyes found hers in a meaningful look. “...Ellie can’t use fire magic.”

“Ah.” Eveline paused, eyes widening at the sudden revelation. A short while of silence passed before, despite herself, a smile forced its way onto her face. “...So, they really are an ally, huh?”

“Seems like it.” Alma showed a smile of her own. It was small, but coming from someone like her, there was little a more reassuring thing. “We can’t say so definitively, but Ellie has a good eye for people, and I trust that more than anything else. She gets it from you, after all.”

“Heh, the only thing that brat got from me was her good looks and stubbornness. Everything else was from her dad. Don’t you think so?”

“...Yeah, you may be right about that.”

Eveline grinned as the two of them shared a knowing look.

“Still~!” She brought her arm up above her head to stretch. “The mage who unsealed [Baphomet], eh? Wonder what their deal is.”

“It’s hard to tell. Either way, they aren’t our priority. We should worry about the matter at hand and regroup with Ellie as soon as possible.”

“Guess you’re right. Let’s just hope she got a good look at the bastard and ask when we find her.”

-----

“Mm-mmm~! Sooo yummy!” Micah watched in silence as Ellie continued stuffing her cheeks with dried monster meat, with a side of nuts and berries for added flavor. The meat was a little old, but Micah understood why Ellie refused to cook any more for the time being. It was getting late, and their camp was made near a river they’d come across after walking for a good while following their encounter with the woman in white. If she cooked meat now, the likelihood of attracting predators like bears—or worse, hornbears—was high. Knowing that, there wasn’t much choice but to make do with what they had.

Still, it was nice to have a fresh water source. The two of them hadn’t come across much of anything in terms of lakes or rivers in the days of traveling they’d done so far, so managing their water supply was a pain in the ass. But now Micah clutched a full cup in her hands, given to her by Ellie from her large travel pack. She took small sips from it every now and again, but mainly her focus was on the girl sitting opposite of their campfire.

Back then, Ellie had appeared in the nick of time to come to her rescue. And while she was wholly grateful for it, it also left a very glaring question that had Micah’s heart racing perhaps a bit quicker than normal once she realized it: When exactly had she woken up after being knocked unconscious by the woman?

How much… had she seen before intervening?

She seemed to be acting completely normal, but to Micah it felt like she was just waiting for a chance to bring up all of the abilities she’d made use of despite having said she wasn’t all that strong of a combatant. And if that was the case, depending on what the girl made of it all, Micah may have to seriously consider eliminating her once their quest was complete. There was no other way to deal with someone like Ellie, who had a strong sense of justice and would likely never overlook an assassin like herself. Plus, it wouldn’t be hard to make it look as though [Baphomet] or some of its offspring had done the deed, and she could escape before Ellie’s team caught up to them.

That, and many other variables had been swirling around Micah’s head for the past few hours, and that was why she was quiet as she and Ellie had their dinner. It seemed like the girl was paying it no mind, but as she gobbled down the last of her meal and washed it down with a swig of water, she finally turned her attention towards Micah. “Huh? You’re not hungry, Mariel?”

“Huh? Ah-, n-no, not really…”

“You sure? You were working harder than me in that fight. You should eat and get your energy back.” Ellie’s brows went up in worry, and Micah, unable to look her in the eyes, turned her face away.

“I’m fine. You can have the rest of mine.”

A long silence followed as Ellie didn’t respond. Micah still refused to look back at her, afraid of what she would see in the girl’s expression. Curiosity, suspicion… fear.

Any of those would mean she’d seen something she shouldn’t have, and Micah wanted more than anything in this moment for that to not be true. But why?

Why did she even care so much? She was no saint. Just like she’d told herself back in Kleinwald, it would only be hypocritical of her to pretend she had a conscience now, after all she’d done. So why was this kind of feeling sprouting from within her heart?

…

…

…Maybe…

Maybe it was all those stupid stories she kept telling. Or the kindness she’d shown by nursing her back to health. Her endless enthusiasm that was almost infectious, or maybe it was the familiar determination in her eyes to fight for her beliefs and make her dreams come true. Or maybe…

“...Mhm, I knew it. You look way better with a smile on your face.”

“...I’ll be fine Mariel, really. Please, just go…”

“Let’s be friends, okay?”

“Hey, Mariel?” Micah’s heart sank, because she knew everything, including all of these feelings she was only just beginning to understand, were about to come crashing down. “Can I ask you something?”

“...”

“Why don’t you like talking about yourself? Did… something bad happen to you?”

“...”

“Hey…” Ellie’s voice became gentler, probably because she realized Micah was shaking. She dared a glance, and found that Ellie’s eyes were full of… pity. “We’re friends, okay? I’m serious. If it’s something really bad, you shouldn’t keep it all bottled up. You’ll feel better if you talk about it, and the best way to deal with worries is to share them with people you trust. Even if I can’t help you, I can at least liste-”

“...Why…?”

“Huh?”

“Again, and again…” Micah trembled, her voice barely more than a whisper as she fought back tears that were building behind her eyes. Tears of confusion, and of frustration. “Again and again and again… Why does everyone keep looking at me like that…?”

“Did you lose something important in the past because of inaction? Someone close to you maybe? Or…” Mariel’s face softened, but all Micah could see in it was pity. “...were you hurt deeply by someone who did nothing to help you when you needed them?”

Just as she got back to her feet, she heard Talahanan pull the sword out of his chest with ease, and when she looked up it was to meet eyes full of sadness and pity. Eyes that were directed right at her.

Pity.

Pitiful eyes.

A pitiful gaze.

No matter where she went, no matter how much she tried to escape from it, she always ended up under that gaze.

Why?

What did she ever do?

What do they want from her?

Why do they keep trying to understand her?

Why do they keep smiling at her?

Why do they keep trying to take her away from this path she’d walked on for so long?

“I don’t think you’re a bad person, Mariel. I know I have no reason to think that but… it’s just how I feel after spending all this time with you. But it seems like you’re really struggling with something, and I trust you, so… even though it might be difficult, even though it might take a lot of courage on your part… I want you to trust me too.”

Ellie shifted in place, putting her legs under herself to sit on them in a kneeling position, then rested her fists on top of her thighs while looking at Micah seriously. There wasn’t even a hint of the girl’s normal carefree attitude in her expression.

“How… How can you even say something like that? You don’t even know the first thing about me.” Micah shook her head, trying to resist Ellie’s words. “I haven’t told you a single thing about my past, my family, or anything. You don’t even know if my name is real. You don’t know anything at all!”

“...So what?”

Ellie’s blank look actually caused a spike of irritation within her. “So, are you stupid or something? Don’t you get it? The world is full of bad people; people who’ll lie to you, people who’ll betray you, people who’ll hurt you and abandon you for no other reason than because it’s convenient for them. Even people as close as family—parents, siblings, lovers—can do that sort of thing. And the worst part is that you never know whether a person is really like that until it’s too late. You could spend your whole life together with them, and only find out at the very end that they never really cared about you the same way you did for them. That’s… reality.”

“...”

“That’s why it’s better to just not trust anyone at all. Not completely. Not unless you can prove that the relationship is genuine by doing whatever it takes to protect that person. Killing for them, dying for them, anything less than that kind of devotion… is just a long, winding road with pain at the end of it.”

That’s right… Just like I’ve seen over and over…

It first began with Kou, her older brother, abandoning her to die in that earthquake. And from there, Mikasa had witnessed countless betrayals by people who claimed to have bonds of trust. Even after arriving in Magi, it was no different. From the thief Miriam who backstabbed the A&B brothers, to Mr. Stronoff who’d become a contracted servant, to Aurelia’s butler Stefan who tried to kill her, the Circe impersonators in the warehouse, Talahanan abandoning his daughter and the other villagers for his wife, it was all the same; false bravados of trust that ultimately amounted to nothing at all.

Because people are liars. Because people are cowards.

Because life itself is just one big, meaningless spiral of lies and betrayal.

In the end, even I’m no different. I lied to Bernadetta and the others for years, convincing them I was something I wasn’t all because it was more convenient for me. I had so many chances to tell them the truth, but instead I let things end the way they did, while telling myself “it’s not my fault” and “it can’t be helped”, because it was all for the sake of…

…

To Micah- no, to Sawatari Mikasa, Sawatari Yuu was her last hope in a world riddled with lies. If it wasn’t for his birth, she would have eventually lost all reason to live after Kou’s betrayal and taken her own life long ago. If it wasn’t for his innocent soul which hadn’t yet been exposed to the world’s corruption, she would have had no reason to believe people could be trusted in the first place, and would never have gone on to make friends in Makoto, Nari, and Mio. She trusted him because she had a direct hand in everything he was taught, everything he knew, and everything he cared about.

Only him, because she’d spent every waking moment of his life ensuring that he wouldn’t fall victim to the cruel and painful world just as she had, and just as many others had before and will in the future. She made it clear that no matter how much he’s betrayed, how much he’s abandoned, she would always be there for him, always be there to show him that he still has something to believe in. That promise was what had gotten her this far.

If, after all this time apart, it turned out that Yuu of all people couldn’t be trusted either… then Micah would know for sure that life was not worth living and die there and then.

“...”

Ellie had gone quiet, so Micah could only assume that she’d gotten her point across. Still, what was this hollow feeling in her chest? “...If you understand what I’m saying, then cut it out with the friend stuff. I don’t want to be your friend, and I don’t want your pity either. I’m alone. I’ll always be alone until I accomplish my goals, and that’s exactly how it should be.”

“...”

…What is wrong with me? Why did I ever think I could have bonds in this world? Bernadetta, Henrietta, Josefine, Brunhilde, Gloria, the people of Halloway, Aurelia, Mariel and Leo, Circe, Zaheer, Talahanan… Why did I ever think, even for a moment, that I could be close to these people? None of them know who I really am deep down, and every single one of them would cut me off in a heartbeat if they knew. Just like Ellie will.

But it was better this way. Getting close to these fake book characters was only going to spell trouble for her in the end. So many times she’d come close to giving up on Yuu and accepting the kindness of these strangers, but that would only have led to yet another betrayal down the line. If that’s the case, then it was better to cut them off first and-

“I… was alone too.”

…

…

Huh?

Ignorant of Micah’s surprise, Ellie continued quietly. “Back when I was little, my mom and auntie were still pretty famous Heroes. I grew up under tons of expectations to follow in my mom’s footsteps, and I even got into a special Hero program for young kids because of her connections.” Ellie closed her eyes, falling into deep contemplative thought as she recounted her story.

---

But those connections also made me pretty unpopular with the other kids. Not only was I naturally talented, I was also receiving special one-on-one lessons from my mom in order to learn her [Bisecting Slash] technique. It wasn’t as big of a deal at first, but all of the praise and attention I got from the adults made the others jealous, and eventually they came to resent me for it.

“Hey, look guys! There she is!”

“Found ya! What, you thought you could hide or something?”

“Surround her! Don’t let her escape again!”

“Hahaha, look, she’s about to cry!”

Ellie, age six, hesitantly peeked out from behind a tree at the top of a hill as a group of boys and girls stared her down. Without saying a word, she trembled in fear as they continued to harass her.

“C’mon Ellie! You’re the daughter of the famous Executioner! Aren’t you ashamed to be cowering like that?”

“All that special training, and you still act like a huge scaredy cat!”

“Seriously, I don’t get it! Why is someone like you getting all the attention? You’re not even the best student in the program.”

“Yeah, Keith is waaaay better than you!”

“Must be nice, getting handed everything you want while the rest of us have to work our butts off just to get any sorta recognition.”

Even though they were saying all that awful stuff about me, I could never really find it in myself to argue back. Part of it was ‘cause I was just a naturally shy kid who never really got used to all the attention from being the daughter of a famous Hero, but there was more to it too. In the crowd, I saw the faces of my friends. Not Mare and Keith, but… other people, that I used to know. People that I used to trust.

Those same people who I thought would always see me for me and not who my mom is started looking at me with the same scorn as the others. In the end, I don’t know if it was peer pressure, or if it was just inevitable, but… honestly, it hurt way more than anything they ever said or did to me. It made me think… that I really was the one in the wrong, so it couldn’t be helped that they were treating me like that.

Later on, after the kids had eventually gotten bored and left, Ellie continued to stay by the tree. Slowly, she sank down until she was sitting against it, then tucked her knees in and buried her face between them. Her shoulders shook as quiet sobs followed.

“...Well?” She hadn’t even heard her mother, Eveline, approach, but suddenly she was there. With her hand on her hip, she raised an eyebrow at the girl’s pathetic form. “I know you hate it when I butt in, so I hung back this time. But what’s the point in takin’ it quietly if this is how you end up afterwards?”

“Ugh… hic… I… I dunno what I’m- hic… s’posed to do though…”

“Hah? What else? Kick their ass- er, their butts!” Eveline quickly brushed aside her awkward stutter and knelt down to put her hand on Ellie’s shoulder. “Look, they can whine about it all they want, but I trained you myself. We both know those brats can’t hold a candle to you in a fight, so why don’t you show them who the real scary one is already? Trust me, they won’t even think of messing with you anymore if you just decked them, broke an arm or two, and-”

“Cuz I don’t want them to think I’m scary!!” Ellie’s shout startled Eveline into silence as the latter backed away, partly because of the force her normally meek voice carried, and partly because she’d snapped up to look at her, revealing the shine of tears as they streamed down her fair cheeks. “They already hate me cuz the adults praise me all the time! If I hit them, they’re just gonna hate me even more! I’d rather… they be mean to me than let that happen…”

Her outburst subsided quickly, and her shoulders sank once again. “But I dunno what to do to make things better… I wanna keep doing my best to become a strong Hero like you, but then they’ll get mad at me for getting special treatment. Anyone that knows you’re my mommy ends up like that eventually…”

Eveline didn’t respond as Ellie became even more despondent, her shoulders drooping lower than ever before as tears threatened to leak out again.

Thinking back, it really wasn’t the kind of expression a kid should make over something as simple as having friends. But it was a real problem for me at the time, and it terrified me to think that I might never make any friends as long as I also wanted to become a Hero. I remember feeling so torn between the two things I wanted most in the world…

But then, my mom said this to me:

“Haa… You really do take after him more than me… Sorry to say, but this is a problem you’re gonna have to solve on your own, kiddo.”

“Eh…?” Ellie looked up to see Eveline looking down on her with an exasperated smile. “What do you… mean?”

“I mean, if you’re not willing to punch your problems away, then that means you gotta think ‘em away. Think about what you wanna do going forward, and about what you can do for yourself and for those you wanna connect with. The only one who can decide all that stuff in the end is you, Ellie.” She made to lean down again, but instead of touching her shoulder, the woman’s hand made contact with the top of Ellie’s head, lightly ruffling her hair. “But keep in mind that you can’t force people to like ya. No matter how hard you try, there are always gonna be people you just can’t get along with. And you know what? That’s totally fine.”

Ellie gasped as Eveline closed the distance between them, pressing their foreheads together as she smiled softly. “‘Cause there’s also gonna be people who like you, no matter what. They’ll like you so much that you won’t be able to get rid of ‘em even if you try. Do whatever you want to push ‘em away, and they’ll just keep comin’ back, forever and ever.”

“R-Really…? There are really people like that…?” Ellie was awestruck, leaning into her mother’s every word as their eyes remained locked. “But… how will I know where to find ‘em?”

“Hmm, well that’s just it. You gotta go out there and find ‘em yourself. It’ll be difficult, and it’ll take every bit of courage that little heart’a yours has got, but nothin’s ever gonna change if you just keep hiding and crying on your own. I promise, if you just take that first step and stay true to yourself the whole way, you’ll be able to find those people someday. And if you ever think about doubting yourself again, remember-” Eveline paused her words for a moment to plant a quick kiss on Ellie’s nose that got the girl giggling. “You’ve got one right here already. Been here all along, actually. And your aunt Alma makes number two. So the next time you feel like moping, don’t just sit by a tree and keep it all bottled up. Rely on us instead. We may not be able to help much, but we can at least listen to your worries. You’ll feel better if you talk about it with someone you trust.”

Ellie was silent after Eveline’s speech concluded, her eyes glazed over in deep contemplation of her words. Eveline took it as a positive sign and stood up, then planted her hand on her hip once more.

“Alrighty. So now that you understand, what do you wanna do now?” Eveline grinned as her words prompted Ellie to push herself to her feet right away. The girl still looked quite frail, but her face sported a completely different expression than before she’d approached.

There was a glint in her eyes, and not just from the tears she hastily wiped away. “I dunno. I still don’t know what I should do yet, but…” She looked down at her tiny hand, trembling with fear and uncertainty. There was no easy way to stop it, but Ellie realized that that was perfectly fine. It was enough to just clench it for now, as tightly as she could. “I don’t… want to live like this anymore. I don’t wanna be alone anymore. I… I want things to change, and now I think I get… that I have to be the one to start that change. Right?”

Ellie glanced up at her mom, only to pause at the sight of her bright beaming smile. “Attagirl! Who the heck cares about things like destination? We’re women of action! Just keep on running ‘till you find something. Use all your power to change it if you don’t like it, then take off running again at full speed! And don’t forget to smile!”

“Hehe… ehehe!” Eveline’s positivity was infectious, and soon Ellie found herself sporting a huge grin of her own. Now filled with newfound energy, she turned to run off towards the camp where her fellow trainees were, but paused after a few steps.

“...Hey, mommy? Tha-augh?!” Before she could speak, she suddenly felt a strong shove from behind that left her stumbling to awkwardly regain her balance. She looked up to see Eveline brush past her, giggling like any other child Ellie’s age.

“Thank me when ya finally work up the nerve to punch one’a those brats! More importantly, race ya back!” she called as she turned to run.

“Wha- n-no fair~!” The challenge spurred Ellie to move as well. The mother-daughter duo sprinted down the hill together as their laughter filled the afternoon air. By now, Ellie had forgotten all about her earlier anxiety, and for the first time in a long while she simply reveled in the feeling of enjoying the present moment.

“Wah?!” That is, until Eveline suddenly tripped and went tumbling down the rest of the way. Ellie’s eyes went wide as she hurried to catch up with her mother, who laid unmoving once she rolled to a stop on her back at the foot of the hill.

“Mommy! A-Are you okay?!” Ellie called out, but got no response. Even as she approached the woman’s side, she laid completely inert with her arm spread out, staring at the sky blankly. “Mom… my?”

“...” Eveline’s expression was seemingly frozen in a blank look of surprise, but after a few moments of quiet, she suddenly brought her hand up to cover her face, and let out a high-pitched whine that Ellie had never heard from her before. “~~~~~!!!”

“H-Huh?! D-Does it hurt mommy?! Just wait, I’ll go find a support mage and-!”

“I-I’m fine! Really!” She forced herself up in one motion, then awkwardly scratched at her hair that was now filled with twigs and grass. “Ahaha… I guess it’s fine to slow down every now and again so you don’t get hurt. Anyway, off we go!!!”

Ellie flinched as Eveline suddenly jumped to her feet and took off again without warning. “E-EH?! Wait for me, mommy! I said waaaaaait!!!”

---

“...Your mom’s kind of weird.” After listening to Ellie recount her past, that was the first thought that came to Micah’s mind, and she ended up voicing it without thinking.

“Hehe, I know right?” Ellie seemed to take her words as a compliment, and showed a grin not unlike the ones she’d described in her story. “But she’s one of a kind. I really love her, and I’m super grateful for everything she taught me. I wouldn’t trade her for any other mom in the whole world!”

Micah didn’t bother responding to that, and instead turned her gaze away again. Partly because she didn’t want to see what Ellie’s face looked like as she said that, and partly because the subject of mothers made her stomach knot uncomfortably. Even now, she kept asking herself why she let Ellie speak until the end, when she didn’t want to hear any of it in the first place. …Did she?

“...But anyway, you get it now, don’t you?” Ellie seemed to sense the complex emotions Micah was feeling, and her voice lowered as she spoke gently. “I dunno how similar of a past you’ve had to mine, but I totally get how it feels to be afraid of trusting people. Back then, it was basically my biggest fear to make a new friend, only to have that same friend turn on me when they got annoyed by all the attention I was getting.” As if reliving the experience then and there, Ellie gripped her chest tightly with one hand. “It… hurts. Sometimes way more than any blade or spell can hurt. And it leaves wounds that don’t heal as easily. I can understand why you’d end up thinking the way you do about people; that you can only trust them if you’re willing to kill or die for each other.”

Micah was still slightly turned away, so Ellie crawled around the campfire to grab her shoulders. Micah resisted, but Ellie’s strength easily outmatched hers while [God’s Blessing] was deactivated, and suddenly they were face to face. “But Mariel, that way of thinking just isn’t right! You may think you’re doing right by that person, but you’re not! You’re only hurting yourself and anyone who tries to get close to you! Nobody will be happy if you do things like that!”

“Why can’t you understand?! Doing these kinds of things won’t bring anyone happiness!”

“Huh…?” Micah breathed out her confusion, startled by the way the girl’s words overlapped with an echo from her past.

“Family, friends, anyone that ever cared about you or will in the future—you may think you’re protecting them by distancing yourself, but that’s not true. People like that will keep on loving you no matter what you do, but that love will end up hurting them if they’re forced to choose between it and what they think is right. And if you let things stay like that… then eventually, you’re going to lose the things that matter to you most of all.”

“I… If that’s how you… th-think… then you’re… going to lose… something really important to you… someday...”

No… They’re dead… Why… Why are they…

“Please, Mariel!” Ellie’s voice became desperate as she lowered her head while still holding Micah’s shoulders. “Please, have faith in something! Have faith in me! I don’t want to see you end up like I almost did! I promise, there really are people in this world you can trust!”

Micah could hear Ellie’s voice break the more she spoke, which left her even more stunned and confused than before.

She’s crying… for me? Why…?

Was she hallucinating? Micah blinked, but the silhouettes being vaguely illuminated by the flickering fire behind Ellie remained. Mariel and Talahanan, but also Leo, Circe, Zaheer, Aurelia, Altheon and Barnabel, the nuns…

And God.

“Back then, I ended up embracing my isolation, and believed that I was better off not trusting anyone in the first place rather than suffering the horrible loneliness that came with being abandoned by people I trusted. But after my mom talked to me that day, my feelings changed. She made me realize that deep inside, I didn’t want to just settle for the status quo. I wanted things to change. Being a Hero just like her was one thing, but I wanted to make friends—so many friends that I wouldn’t be able to count them all—and grow stronger with all of them together. And after I realized that, I started to take action to cause that change.”

Micah, still in shock, found herself tensing up as Ellie suddenly closed the distance and encased her in a hug. “I failed a bunch of times, of course. Even after I resolved to become more friendly and open with people, there were some that just couldn’t accept my situation and ended up distancing themselves from me. But I endured the pain and betrayal each and every time and never gave up. And in the end, it paid off, and I met the two people who became my absolute bestest friends in the world. They were both just like me; people who were suffering all alone and convincing themselves it was better that way to cope with it. Seeing them like that, I finally realized that there isn’t a single person in the world who doesn’t want friends, no matter how much they try to hide it. And you’re no different, Mariel.”

“No, you’re… you’re wrong, I…”

“I know how much it hurts to be betrayed. I know it’s scary just to imagine having to go through that pain again. But nothing’s ever gonna change if you just keep running from it! I promise, if you just take that first step and stay true to yourself, you will find people that trust you, and that you can trust in return.”

Micah felt her thoughts stalling in her head. Every rebuttal, every instinct to shove Ellie away and retreat behind her walls once more was being overridden by a part of her she’d been trying to smother for the last twenty-four years.

The part of her that still wanted to believe in others, despite the fear of betrayal weighing her heart down. The part of her that was forcefully exposed while Mariel interrogated her about her regrets in the holding cell. The part of her that sought comfort and warmth in Circe while at her most vulnerable. The part of her that wanted to believe in Talahanan’s foolish ideology as he went on about protecting people, and became emotional when even he ended up proving her beliefs right.

The part of her that, right now more than anything, wanted to return Ellie’s hug and call her a “friend”.

But the other part of Micah—the little girl who watched her brother leave her to die—was still wary. Could she really be trusted? Would Ellie really accept who she was deep down, and the things she’d done to get this far? Would anyone?

She had to ask, just to be sure. “How… How can you say something like that so easily? How do you even know I’ll be able to find anyone like that?”

“How? You really haven’t figured it out by now?” Ellie almost seemed amused as she pulled away. Still resting her hands on Micah’s shoulders, she leaned in until their foreheads touched, their eyes inches apart as Ellie shut hers gently. “I know ‘cause you’ve found one already, silly. Her name’s Ellie, and she’s trusted you from the moment she first met you. That feeling’s been growing stronger every day we’ve been together, and it’s too late to change them now that we’ve come this far. I think of you as a friend now, Mariel, so I’m gonna keep on pestering you until you extend me an olive branch. And that starts…” Micah felt her shoulders squeeze as Ellie suddenly embraced her again. “...with returning this hug~!”

Her grip was so strong that Micah could scarcely breathe from within her arms. It was so smothering, so bothersome…

…and warm. So very warm.

Seriously… Why won’t these people just leave me alone? No matter how cruel I am, they just keep sticking their nose in my business for no reason…

…

…

…Fine, whatever. I just have to do it, right? I get it, so... enough already...

“I give up. You win.” Her voice quiet with defeat, Micah slowly brought her arms up to wrap around Ellie’s back, then pulled her close as she returned the hug. “I still don’t know if I can do it, but… I’ll try. Just this once, I… I’ll try.”

“Fufu~ So you admit we’re friends then?”

“Geez…” Micah rolled her eyes, but could feel her heart lightening with every second the two held each other. “Of course we’re friends, dummy. Why else would I listen to you drone on about yourself these last few days?”

“Wha- hey! I thought you liked listening to my stories!”

“Hehe…”

“Awww, I know we’ve made our friendship official and all, but you don’t have to start with the teasing right away Mariel… Can’t we just enjoy this moment a bit longer?”

“...”

“...Mariel? What’s wrong?”

“........Micah.”

“Eh?”

“My real name… it’s Micah.”

“...”

Ellie went quiet after that. Micah had decided to take the initiative and give her real name Circe be damned, but she wasn’t expecting to feel Ellie’s grip loosen. It caused her heart to skip a painful beat as she realized she made a mistake in revealing just how distrustful she’d been of her supposed friend.

As Ellie pulled away from her, all she could think to do was apologize while keeping her gaze to the grassy floor beneath them. “I-I’m sorry, I… I know it was horrible of me to lie, and I should’ve told you sooner. If you want to take all of this back, I understand-”

“I’m Ellie.”

“Huh…?”

Micah raised her head, and her breath caught in her throat as Ellie showed her the brightest smile she’d seen on her thus far. She almost looked to be on the verge of tears as her hands moved down Micah’s arms to interlace their fingers together. “My name is Ellie! Nice to meet you, Micah! I hope we can be friends from here on!”

“Ahh…” That smile was full of so much innocent joy that all of Micah’s doubts instantly washed away. For the first time in so, so long, Micah… no, Mikasa, felt like she could fully and completely depend on another human being. And that brought about a warm feeling in her chest that caused her to smile brightly too. “Yeah! Same here!”

Behind Ellie, the figures were starting to disappear one by one. Mariel, Talahanan, all of them wore smiles on their faces as they turned to walk away, then vanished like mirages. Micah didn’t know how much of what she was seeing was real or just her own imagination, but one person in particular caught her eye.

It was God. Not only was he the last to fade away, but to the very end his expression never once changed from a neutral stare.

And as his eyes shut as he turned to leave like the others, she almost wanted to say he looked a little… disappointed.