(Three months prior)

Grace stepped back into her house and immediately ripped off her tank top, which was thoroughly soaked with sweat. She dropped the shirt into the wash and started a cycle, lest she have to deal with the odor whenever the moisture dried in the fabric.

It was now fairly hot in Beijing. The late spring season was always pretty intense and could be rather humid too, so her usual morning jogs around the kilometers of private property she owned left her feeling uncomfortable and sticky. 

A homemade smoothie always did a great job to cool her down. As per usual she washed her hands then filled a blender with some frozen bananas, a date, peanut butter, almond milk, and some protein powder. While the machine was grinding the contents into a smooth purée, Grace took a seat in the kitchen and began to peel off her socks. 

She had run for an extra half hour that morning, and the damp cotton material clung tightly to her feet. 

Ugh… that’s not the best smell ever. Grace thought to herself and actually wrinkled her nose at the unpleasant odor. The humidity definitely made it worse, and the fact she had chosen to wear a pair of thicker sneakers intended for winter that trapped in heat only made it worse. 

A small, wriggling life form in the vague shape of a human being sprang to life as fresh air filled the sock for the first time in over an hour. Grace pinched the toe portion between her fingers, then unceremoniously dropped the contents to the floor. Eren’s long dark hair was slick wet from sweat, only a small amount his own, the rest was likely all hers. 

He blinked and struggled to come to his senses, after being trapped beneath her crushing bodyweight as she jogged for so long. Likely delirious, the poor thing actually stumbled back into her nearby foot blindly in an attempt to get his bearings. Grace giggled and kindly flattened him beneath her foot in response. 

“Stay there and prostrate yourself.” She commanded in a cheery tone which shook him to the core. Obediently, and despite his meager condition Eren forced himself to roll onto his stomach on the tile and assumed a fetal position at her feet. He tucked his head low to the ground in submission and averted his eyes away from the godlike woman who towered above him like a skyscraper. 

With her toy patiently waiting for her, Grace rinsed off her hands and grabbed her smoothie from the blender. It was nice and thick, and the frozen bananas made it incredibly cold too which was very refreshing. She made smoothies like this all the time and found they relaxed her muscles after a long workout. 

However, it needed something extra.

Grace placed the glass aside and slipped a finger beneath the waistband of her tight, form-fitting yoga pants that clung to her curvaceous legs and glutes to perfectly outline her exceptional physique. She purred in delight as she ran a finger over the front of her panties, where her hand brushed over the delicate outline of a speck nestled pleasantly against her womanhood. 

From beneath the silky fabric, Maeve instinctively flinched and happened to rub her body further into Grace’s love spot. The giantess cooed at the stimulation, and began to nudge Maeve around a bit more to get her a bit deeper. She wasn’t very sweaty here, but Maeve was incredibly wet from a different source. 

After a bit more time enjoying the tender love and affection her other toy administered, Grace pulled the hem of her underwear away from her hips and gently removed the one-legged speck from her lips. Her body passed by the outline of a feathery tattoo on the inside of her thigh, like an inky backdrop. Once she was perched in Grace’s platform-like palm, Maeve needed no further instruction to assume a lowly position on her hands and knee. 

Still, the dark haired speck was clearly quite terrified. She shuddered and out of fear could not raise her head even if she was allowed to in order to make eye contact with her mistress. Unlike Eren, Maeve’s life was completely expendable. She existed for the sole purpose of ensuring his obedience, and at any time she could be terminated either out of boredom or to hurt Eren further. 

After all, there was another one across the sea who Grace could have delivered to her at any time of this one proved insufficient. Therefore Maeve did her very best to be a good little toy, and learned quickly where her rightful place in the universe was. 

Hmmm… you look so cute like that. Grace thought and licked her lips in anticipation. It wasn’t every day she found herself in possession of such an attractive little speck. Most of her deliveries were either men or ugly little hags. 

Not Maeve. She was a lithe brunette with chocolate colored hair, big doe eyes, high cheekbones, and perky little breasts. As a speck who grew up without much in the way of toiletries, her womanhood was guarded by a small bush of hair. The stub where her leg used to be before some horrible person severed it was a defining feature that limited most of her movement, but Grace didn’t mind. She thought she was plenty cute already. 

“Don’t be afraid.” Grace whispered with a devilish smile as she brought her plush lips a little closer to her toy, who continued to shiver in terror. “I’m not going to hurt you if you just do as I say. I want you to help me with something.” She said quietly in English and cast a quick glance down to the floor where Eren was still waiting by her feet.

Grace spoke in a lower octave this time, and her words vibrated throughout Maeve’s entire body. “Help me choose… One of you will get to have a nice bath with me and spend the rest of the day relaxing.” She cooed. “The other will get to relieve my stress for the day, if you know what I mean.”

“I-I…”

“I really want to have some fun with you, little one. But again, I can’t decide. So I’ll let you choose for me. Will it be you or Eren who gets off easy today?” Grace continued, her warm breath washing over Maeve and her soft lips just barely grazing over her in a kiss. “He won’t know your decision… It can be our secret.” She promised.

It wasn’t really much of a choice, Grace knew. Whoever got to spend the day as her stress ball would surely pray for death before the first hour was up. She could see the conflict in Maeve’s face. She didn’t want to suffer an entire day, but also did not want to ‘betray’ her friend. It was even more adorable to think her choice would have any meaning, since Grace would get what she wanted no matter what.

Regardless, Grace saw fit to help her make the choice. She pushed her mouth a little closer to Maeve and pressed her lips firmly against her entire body gently. Maeve squealed as she was effortlessly compressed between the gigantic pair of lips and the unyielding palm. 

Grace slipped her tongue out to sample her toy, and ran the slimy organ between Maeve’s legs expertly to elicit a little moan that made her heart flutter. “Let’s have some fun together.” She said as her tongue continued to work Maeve’s legs opened to gain better access to her womanhood.

Maeve was very inexperienced, which was something Grace liked to exploit. With just a few meticulously practiced motions she could have the speck screaming in pleasure with her tongue alone. Soon Maeve’s moans were becoming quite loud.

“Hmph. What will it be?” Grace demanded one final time, although she already knew the answer before it left Maeve’s lips. 

As she received an answer which was just barely audible, she smiled widely and placed another affectionate kiss on Maeve’s body. Grace glanced at Eren again, then raised her foot over him before gently bringing it down. He grunted in pain as she ground him indelicately beneath her heel and the tile. 

Grace opened her mouth and waggled her tongue in anticipation of her treat. “Good choice little one.” She said as Maeve’s eyes went wide before she was tossed into her gaping maw. 

With Maeve out of the way, Grace got on her haunches and inspected Eren beneath her foot. He had no time to react when she grabbed him and clutched his body tightly in her fist. She rose to stand up straight, then pulled down the waistband of her panties and yoga pants down to her knees. 

Grace bent over slightly, and parted her well-toned cheeks until the darker silhouette of her crevasse was completely visible. She could feel Eren begin to squirm a bit more and laughed. “Try to wriggle around a bit.” Grace quipped, before she plunged him into her ass until his feet poked out. 

With her finger she pushed him deeper and Grace squealed in pleasure, before she was positive he was completely lodged inside. Positive he would not slip out, Grace strolled into the bathroom for a relaxing shower with Maeve still in her mouth.

(Present)

Eren wiped the sweat from his brow and struggled to find his footing. He had never felt so out of shape in his life, and felt fatigued from just a few basic exercises. Clumsily he pawed for his bottle of water and cursed aloud when he knocked it over, and spilled most of it onto the exercise mat.

From a few steps away, Grace perked up when she heard the obscenity and noticed that his tiny bottle was rolling across the ground and spilling insignificant drops of water onto the floor of her personal gym. She stood up as well and strolled over, careful to step over Maeve who was in her own pool where she practiced treading water.

What happened to me? I wasn’t so weak before… Eren thought and rubbed his temple in an attempt to ward off the sudden sharp pain that had penetrated his skull. 

There was a seismic slam that nearly knocked him off his feet when Grace dropped onto her haunches to address him on more even footing. “Is everything okay?” She asked in concern and delicately picked up his bottle, which looked like a speck of dust in her fingers. “You seem really out of it today.”

“It’s the headaches again.” Eren muttered and winced in pain as the sensation only worsened until his eyes shut tightly. “Can you grab my painkillers?” 

“Sure thing, but we can also call it a day if you can’t go on.” 

“No, it's fine. I just need a few minutes.” Eren insisted and took a seat as the worst of the pain subsided, and only a faint throbbing was left. 

Grace nodded and left the gym to acquire the medicine, while Maeve looked over to him in concern as well. 

They had started to do group exercises together. Maeve needed to go through physical therapy, and Eren realized only now that the break-up must have had a worse impact on his body than he imagined. His physique was now thin and spindly, almost gaunt and his  hair felt brittle to the touch.

He figured he must have let himself go pretty badly, but fortunately Grace was willing to help him get his life back together. Even if it meant she couldn’t go to her actual gym which was a big factory where she could deadlift eighteen wheeler truckers and the like and instead was inside her own home doing stretches and yoga.

The headaches were the worst part of it though. They had bothered him since the day Grace nearly stepped on him by accident, and only seemed to get worse. Grace had found a popular pain relief drug that was from the top shelf of the Amrita Corporation’s pharmaceutical division, but even they only helped for a few hours at a time. 

Maeve splashed around in the pool a bit more which was really just a bento box filled with lukewarm water. “Did you have another nightmare?” She asked as Eren sauntered over, still clearly bothered by the headache. “You can tell me if you did.”

“Yeah… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Was it the same as the last one?” Maeve asked. “With that girl?”

That girl, she said. The mystery woman who had appeared in all of Eren’s nightmares for days now. “Yes. She was.” He murmured in discomfort. “I was in her shoes this time for what felt like hours.” Eren remarked.

He didn’t like to talk about it. The dreams haunted him so much there were times he thought they were real. What made no sense was how similar they all were. There was no variation, he was simply being tortured by some woman whose face he could not see. 

A gigantic woman who for some reason wanted to inflict as much pain as possible. The agony felt real, so real he often woke up still feeling the trauma. It had become so bad Eren often asked to sleep in the same room as Grace and Maeve, just so she could wake him up if the dreams got too bad, he didn’t want to be alone.

He had to know that someone was there to protect him. 

Maeve pursed her lips. “…In your dream, did the woman have a tattoo on her leg?” She asked. “Around her thighs.”

“I… Y-Yes. She had a tattoo there.” Eren said after a moments thought back to his bitter dreams at night. Strangely he had never realized his tormentor had a tattoo before, but now that Maeve mentioned it he distinctly remembered one. Several as a matter of fact. 

He frowned in confusion. “How do you know that? I never mentioned it before.” Eren asked as Grace returned with a fresh glass of water and the medicine. 

Maeve simply shrugged and turned to Grace, who knelt in order to give Eren the powdered substance mixed with a few drops of spring water. “Take slow sips.” She instructed carefully as Eren eagerly began to drink. “Maybe we should see that doctor again… You’re beginning to worry me.” 

“Hey babe? Mind if I see something?” Maeve asked, her voice suddenly more innocent than before. Eren was too distracted by the tea flavored concoction to pay much attention until she continued. “That tattoo on the inside of your left thigh, was it painful?” 

“Hmm? Which one are you talking about?” Grace asked with a curious frown and pulled her yoga pants down just past her knees to reveal her thick toned legs adorned in numerous tattoos she had done over time.

Eren stole an inquisitive glance at Maeve. What are you doing? You can’t possibly be insinuating that Grace…?

Before he could cut in and ask what Maeve was trying to accomplish, the other speck pointed seemingly at random at a tattoo close to Grace’s crotch on the inner portion of her muscular thigh. “That one! The one with all the pretty feathers.” Maeve exclaimed as Grace took a seat near them.

Her colossal legs extended for what seemed like miles to surround the two specks who were placed close to her womanhood on the ground. Eren averted his eyes, cautious to preserve his friend's dignity as she seemed to temporarily forget he was there too. 

Maeve hobbled towards Grace and touched the tattoo she had referred to, her tiny hands elicited a little gasp from Grace who squirmed from the unexpected feeling. “This one is so pretty!”

“Oh that one! It’s a dreamcatcher.” Grace replied as her girlfriend continued to feel her up. “It’s actually a cover up of one of my first tattoos. I went to see an artist while I was in London two years ago. The original tattoo was of pretty terrible quality.”

“I want to get it too! We can get matching tattoos.” Maeve insisted and clambered up onto Grace’s leg skillfully to sit on her knee. “Will you take me to London? I’ve always wanted to go.”

Grace’s demeanor changed. “I… Let’s go somewhere else. I would really rather only go back to London if it was for work.”

“Jisoo once mentioned you handled some ‘nasty business’ there a few years ago.” Eren recalled as he finished the medicine. “Mind if I ask what happened?”

“I’d really rather not talk about it.To be honest I would like to forget everything that happened back then.” Grace murmured. She turned to Maeve and poked her playfully a few times until she hopped into her hand. “But it would be cute if we got matching tattoos! I’ll take you somewhere way nicer than London too… How about we go to Paris this winter? Just you and me in the city of love?” She suggested and kissed Maeve passionately.

The response seemed to satisfy Maeve, who returned to her pool and continued to go through her routine physical therapy exercises. 

Grace turned to Eren and observed that he had finished the medicine. “I think you should call it for today. Let’s get you a hot bath.” She suggested and placed her palm on the ground in front of him. “C’mon, I’ll mix you a smoothie.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Eren replied and decided she was probably right. Even with the painkillers his head still throbbed faintly. He took a seat in Grace’s hand and let her pick him up. 

Before they departed, he looked back at Maeve, still curious about what she had done earlier. The mousy girl seemed not to notice him, and swam around in her pool oblivious to him. 

There are millions of women with tattoos on their legs. I don’t get why Maeve would… How does she even know what’s going on inside my head? Eren thought, still dumbfounded by the earlier encounter. 

Grace seemed to notice his silence as they walked into the kitchen. “You had another nightmare last night didn’t you?” She said, more as a statement of fact than a question. “Perhaps you need a change of scenery. We can leave Beijing and go somewhere else.”

“I want to be here when Jisoo comes back. I need to apologize to her.”

“You’ll get your opportunity, but I want you to be safe as well y’know. I think your mental well-being should come first.” Grace suggested and set him down on the counter while she assembled the smoothie for them to share.

Eren sighed. “I… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He muttered dejectedly. “I just feel like something is wrong perpetually all the time. Without Jisoo in my life I just realized how worthless I am I guess. How pathetic~.”

“You aren’t pathetic Eren. And you are certainly not worthless.” Grace insisted. 

His headache suddenly worsened, but Eren but through the pain and looked up at his longtime friend through blurry eyes. It only got worse even as he looked at her, but the painkillers softened the pain enough for him to think clearly for a few moments.

Grace’s eyes were full of concern. After everything had happened she had taken him into her home and taken great care of him. Without her where would he be? And to think she had done so much for him when he had broken her closest friend’s heart.

It took a special kind of person to do that. He didn’t deserve any of this. “Thank you, Grace.” He suddenly said softly as she passed him the smoothie, just a few drops was more than enough for him when poured into a thimble sized cup.

She appeared confused. “Uhh…You’re welcome?” Grace said and scratched her head. She sampled a bit of the banana peanut butter smoothie she had made. “I mean it’s not a hard smoothie to make~.”

“I mean thanks for everything you’ve done for me Grace. I can’t express my gratitude enough.” Eren cut in and chuckled as her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. “You’ve done so much for me in the past few weeks.”

“Hey that's what friends are for.” She dismissed. 

He shook his head. “No, not every friend would have done what you have. To take me in when I was at my lowest, after I broke Jisoo’s heart. You’ve been here for me every step of the way and comforted me when I’ve been down. These past months have been really difficult for me and to be honest I’ve had some dark thoughts about myself which I just can’t seem to shake.” Eren admitted. “It’s because of you I haven’t thrown myself off the dresser or hopped into the koi pond.”

“…I-I had no idea you had those thoughts.” Grace admitted and stirred her drink to avoid fidgeting with her hands. “I… I appreciate you telling me this.”

“Did Jisoo ever tell you what happened to my parents?” 

“She did. I know your life has been fraught with difficulties and I want you to know it isn’t a sign of weakness that you’ve struggled with personal demons like this before.”

“After they died I was in a pretty dark place too, just like I am now. Back then I never had much of a reason to keep going. Nobody in the Commune could spare any sympathy for someone like me, a lousy kid whose parents died. I think every speck in Northside can say the same thing about their own childhoods. It wasn’t until years later than I realized just how bitter I was. How much pent up hate I had for people.” He said, looking at his cup as he spoke.” He explained. 

Grace continued to listen silently, and clung to every syllable. She had never seen him open up like this before. He didn’t mean to make it so serious, but Eren thought she deserved to know how much she meant to him. 

“I think if I had known someone like you back then who I felt safe with, who I could trust to be there for me and who would make sure nothing bad ever happened to me, those years wouldn’t have been so awful.”

“Eren… I…”

“When your aunt passed away I knew it was really hard for you. Jisoo couldn’t really empathize with you, and I don’t think you had anybody around who understood just how you felt. Miss Suyin was the closest thing you had to a loving family bond and she was taken away. I know how that feels and don't want you to shoulder that pain alone.” He continued. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay everything you’ve done for me, but I hope I can be that person who is there for you when things like that happen.” Eren promised and looked up.

He frowned. Grace was having a hard time keeping eye contact, he noticed. What was more alarming were the tears streaming down her face and the puffiness in her eyes. Eren knew she wasn’t great at expressing her emotions to other people but he had not expected her to start crying.

Eren walked towards her and tried to touch her hand comfortingly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for this to become such a heart-to-heart. I just wanted to express how grateful I am to have known someone like you.”

“I… I…” Grace realized she couldn’t find the words and suddenly turned around. She practically vanished into thin air into her bedroom, and Eren heard the tears continue to flow more freely. 

Maybe that was too much for her. He thought and sighed. I really am a shitty friend. I could have just taken her out for drinks with whatever money I have saved up from… 

The headache returned as he suddenly felt a bit confused. He knew he had some money that wasn’t from an allowance, he had refused Jisoo’s offer to borrow any of hers. Northside didn’t have much to pay him with, but he did have money somehow. Not much, but it could afford a few drinks. 

Perhaps it was just his imagination, he decided. As he stopped thinking about it, the headache stopped. Stress was probably the reason for the pain. 

Eren brought the smoothie to his lips and took a drink. Grace had not made this one for him before, but recently she had switched back to a chocolate protein powder and this was a good use for it with frozen bananas. 

The moment he tasted the beverage, Eren immediately dropped the cup to the floor and fell to his knees in agony as the pain resurfaced tenfold. He couldn’t breathe; his nose, mouth and throat felt ice cold and unable to contract to let warm air into his lungs. He had only put a small amount of the smoothie on his tongue but it suddenly felt as though he was inside the blender itself.

“I knew this smoothie would be perfect with this secret ingredient!” He swore he heard a voice in his head. It sounded familiar, but he could not quite place it. Eren felt faint and fell prone on the ground. “You made a good choice Maeve.”

“G-Grace?” He muttered. That voice was unmistakable, he knew it very well. 

The shadowy tormentor who had haunted his dreams seemed more clear now. It was not Alice Evans as he had initially thought, her hair was long and golden. This woman was definitely someone he knew, but Jisoo was not quite that tall and her hair was raven black. This woman was of dark hair, and covered in tattoos. He could see them now. Maeve had been right after all, about more than just the tattoo on her leg as well. 

No… That’s not possible for it to be her. Eren thought. It’s not possible. It just isn’t possible for it to be Grace.

Maeve watched the two exit the gym and continued to tread water silently, until she was absolutely certain Grace and Eren were gone. Carefully she grabbed the edge of the bento box, then breathed in deeply before she plunged herself into the shallow watery depths.

She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift aimlessly for a few moments, her only focus on that strange pull in her mind that had drawn her in earlier. “Are you still there?” Maeve thought, still uncertain whether it had all been a dream. “I can’t see you.”

“You don’t need to. You just have to be able to hear me.” A disembodied voice said in a muffled tone. “Did you see it?”

“A tattoo doesn’t prove anything.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

Even though she could not see the woman, Maeve could venture to guess whoever she was had been smirking in satisfaction when she said it. “What are you? How can I hear your voice?” She asked mentally and continued to hold her breath whilst submerged. “Am I going insane?”

“Not yet at least. You’re experiencing something called a ‘memory echo’, which is very strange because you’re not… well, you aren’t like me.”

“And who are you?! You refuse to tell me.”

“It would put us both in danger if you knew. I know it’s hard… Your memories have been played with, you feel like you can’t trust me.” The voice insisted. 

That’s… That’s not true! Maeve tried to convince herself and grit her teeth as the onset of a terrible headache began to ensue, but right before the pain became unbearable, the voice spoke once again. 

“Many of your memories have been sealed away. It’s painful to try to remember them. I can only help you with the pain so much. You are not a Descendant of the Fang Sisters, the fact that we can even communicate like this is miraculous as is.” The woman went on. 

As she spoke the pain began to subside. The woman, whoever she was, had a nurturing, motherly voice that soothed Maeve’s agony. “I’m so sorry for everything that has befallen you Maeve. Please let me help you.”

“I… I don’t want your help. I’m in love with Grace, she protects me.”

“No. She’s enslaved you.” The voice replied in a firmer voice. “Madeleine is in trouble. For her sake you have to awaken from this.” She insisted.

Madeleine? Who the hell is… Why does that sound…? Maeve struggled to maintain her composure and felt herself becoming faint. She could only hold her breath for so long under the water. “H-How can you help me and Eren?”

“There is a shrine to the Buddha in Jisoo’s old home. You need to go there with Eren as soon as possible.” The voice instructed, heavily garbled. “You’ll be saved there.”

“Saved?” Maeve repeated, right as she felt the presence in her mind dissipate and she was forced to surface for air. She panted and struggled to catch her breath, left only with the memory of the strange conversation she had with the entity that spoke to her in her mind.

The voice had spoken to her for days, ever since she woke up and felt that something was not quite right. It came to speak to her in Maeve’s dreams, whenever she was alone, and it always told her bizarre things. Just recently it had tried to convince her that the tormentor in Eren’s dreams was Grace, Maeve’s own girlfriend.

Why did she bother with the voice at all? Why couldn’t she bring herself to tell Grace what was happening? Why had she entertained the notion and checked to see if Grace had a dreamcatcher tattoo like the one Eren’s monster had?

‘You’ll be saved there.’ Maeve recalled the voice saying. At the shrine to the Buddha, was that not the same place Eren once claimed Jisoo had touched the statue of the deity with her bloody hand and~?

Maeve blinked. 

W-When did we have that conversation? I don’t remember but I know for certain that me and Eren discussed it once. He told me about the golden light and Jisoo trying to kill him once. But he’s never brought it up since. Does Grace know about that?

Of course she did. Grace had to know, since she had expressed disapproval for his notion that had happened. Eren had told the truth, Maeve had seen it in his eyes that he was being genuine. But Grace, had she done something to Eren and he no longer spoke about it? But they were best friends, why would…

Something is wrong here. I can feel it. Maeve realized. Her gut instinct told her that her own thoughts were a mess, and she felt terrified by the prospect of what that could mean. The issue was she could not fathom who to trust, but she was absolutely certain now that there was something Grace was not telling her or Eren. 

We have to get to that shrine. I need to find a way to get there.