If I could turn back time and stop myself from hurting Eren, would I have? Grace thought as she inspected her pitiful reflection in the mirror. Her perfect visage had been ruined by tears and smeared makeup. I’m sure Jisoo ponders that question all the time too. I really am turning into her…

Perhaps ‘regret’ was not a good word to use. It certainly would have been a dishonest one; since Grace had squeezed every ounce of enjoyment she possibly could have from the experience. For many months it had been an opportunity to fulfill one of her deepest, most carnal fantasies. 

Truly, it really had started as just a means to see that Eren would not be executed. That was the truth of the matter, since she had the eyes of half the family on her wondering what his fate would be. Keiko had approached it from that angle, and also advised that Eren had to be properly trained to be a good husband.

Of course, there were countless other ways she could have accomplished that. Grace could have easily made a grand show of it but discreetly let Eren know what the plan was. He would have understood what her intentions were and gone along with it for the sake of appearances. 

Alternatively she could have just debated with him endlessly until he understood. It would have taken a while to break through his stubborn skull, but eventually she probably could have found a reasonable compromise. 

Instead, she had done none of those things. Grace had decided that torture was her preferred methodology. It wasn’t the quickest, most ethical, or practical solution in hindsight. The answer was actually very simple, now that she put some thought into it. 

Because I knew it would feel good. Grace thought to herself as she began to dry away the dark smudges of eyeliner dribbling down her cheeks. To break someone so close to me like that… It was an indescribable pleasure. My most sinful daydream was fulfilled.

What had started as an earnest attempt to save his life and marriage had quickly devolved into fantasy fulfillment. Grace stopped feeling guilty over what she was doing, and simply learned to savor every second of it. Eventually she no longer really cared about success, just the pleasure of the act. Undoubtedly Satsuki had predicted such a thing would be inevitable, given that Grace was infamous for her love of little games and idle pleasures.

However, that still didn’t answer the question of whether or not she was remorseful. Grace was rather bothered that she could not answer the question in a straightforward way, but she supposed such a thing was more complicated than that. 

Even after Jade removed his memories, Eren still contemplated suicide… I can’t even imagine how he felt while he still knew everything that had happened. It must have been terrible. Grace mused. He was your friend. Eren trusted you. And you destroyed that relationship. 

Grace blinked in confusion. The voice inside her head had sounded just like her, but she had not consciously thought those thoughts. They had just happened, an accusation levied against herself by some entity within her mind.

After everything he did for you, you repaid him by torturing him to near insanity. Deep down you know it’s wrong, but you’re too caught up in your own self-indulgence and pride to admit you made a decision out of lust. Now you’re reaping the consequences and feel remorse. 

That voice, once again it sounded just like her own but Grace could tell it was not the ‘real’ subconscious thoughts her mind produced. It was something else entirely, like a judgemental passenger watching through her eyes. 

She chuckled and turned on the sink to wash her face clean. “I can’t believe it finally happened to me.” Grace guffawed and smiled at her reflection, which in her perspective was a mirror image of her with a stern expression. An illusory version of her that looked truly pathetic. “I honestly thought it was a myth that this happened to some weak-willed xian.”

“Compassion and human decency are not weaknesses. There was a time when you understood that.” Her reflection snapped harshly at her. It was quite perplexing, even though it was her own reflection speaking Grace perceived the mirror as being a separate person entirely. “Every woman in your family cursed like this has a moment of clarity sooner or later. You take a look at yourself and see yourself for what you really are.”

“Hmm? And what is that exactly?”

“A monster.”

Monster? Do you really think so lowly of us? Grace thought and leaned closer to the mirror, curious to see if that would cause the illusory version of herself to dissipate into vapor. Sadly it didn't happen. “Moments of weakness like this separate a worthless, unworthy xian from those who are destined to remake the world.” Grace remarked dismissively. “To think that I’m even having this conversation with a peon version of myself… How far I’ve fallen.”

“Of every woman in your family, few are as conceited and as self-serving as you are. Before today you’ve never felt an ounce of anything that bordered on real human empathy or attachment.”

“Because I’m not a human. Not anymore.”

“Of course not, you are lower than that. You don’t deserve to call yourself human.” Her reflection shot back, which made Grace roll her eyes at the annoying righteousness in her own voice. It made her cringe each time the mirror image returned her words. “It’s not too late. You can still redeem yourself.”

“That would imply I have something to be remorseful about.”

“Hmph… And yet here you are, cowering in your own bathroom drenched in tears after someone you supposedly view as a worthless human, opened his heart to you. It was too much for you to handle, the weight of your own sins.” The reflection said pointedly. 

Grace narrowed her eyes. “Touché. I’ll admit, it disturbed me to realize I had pushed Eren so far he considered ending it all.” She stated. “Because his life belongs to me. He has no right to claim it for his own.”

“You don’t really believe that, deep down you don’t.”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe, it’s the truth.” Grace replied. “This entire conversation is just a test of my resolve. Keep droning on for all I care, I’m not so weak to just stop what I’m doing because a voice in my head told me so.”

“So Suyin was weak then?” 

At this Grace’s smile faded and her face became sullen at the mention of her late aunt. To her frustration, this only seemed to goad the reflection of herself on further. “Oh? You didn’t know already?” The reflection guffawed in mock surprise. “How sad…”

“Fuck you.”

“You know what they say right? You heard all those nasty ‘rumors’ after the funeral that she was the family black sheep who ran off and got what she deserved, because she couldn’t stomach murder and cannibalism anymore.” The reflection chuckled. “She woke up to the reality of her crimes and secluded herself to a dark little cave in the cold. That wasn’t weakness, it was strength to do the right thing. Suyin did it… Jisoo did it…”

Grace clenched the bathroom counter so hard the granite shattered between her fingers. “I am not like Jisoo.” She seethed. “I have never turned my back on my family.”

“The difference between you and Jisoo is that she realized her mistake and sought to fix it. It took her a long time to come to terms with her own humanity. But eventually, she managed it.” Her reflection responded quietly. “And because of that… that’s why you hate her, isn’t it?”

“What the fuck are you-?!”

“You despise Jisoo. From the very beginning you’ve envied her. How she had a loving relationship with her father and sister, how she just wanted to live a normal and happy existence even with all the power you could offer, how she had such a difficult life but grew up to be a kind-hearted young woman. After all, if Jisoo, a tortured speck with a lifetime of hardship could become a good person, why did you, a woman with all the power in the world, become an evil witch with not a single person left who loves you?” The reflection of herself demanded.

Finally Grace couldn’t take anymore and smashed her hand through the mirror and destroyed most of the bathroom wall in a sudden explosion of rage. Glass shattered and fell all around the marble tile, thoroughly covering her clothes.

Although the mirror was destroyed, still the voice plagued her. “That’s why you forced her to kill that woman, her old tormentor, on her birthday. It’s why you turned her against her own family. Her real family that loved her.” Her own mind said accusingly. “And it’s why you tried to break Eren. Because you want her to be alone, just like you.”

Maeve heard the crash in the next room and knit her hands together tightly, the concern plainly written across her face.

She’s not in a great mood. I have to approach this carefully. The speck contemplated, and cleared her throat. “When was the last time you were at Jisoo’s place?” Maeve asked Eren, who also looked over his shoulder in the direction of the bathroom where they had heard the sound. “That palace that she lives in.”

“A few weeks ago, I think. Maybe months? Time really has stopped meaning much to me.” Eren replied casually and shrugged. “Why do you ask?”

“I want to see it.”

“It’s totally abandoned since Jisoo left me. The servants only come once or twice a week to clean it. Why would you want to see it? It’s just a big house.” Eren inquired.

Maeve clenched her fists at her side in frustration but tried her best to remain calm. “It looked nice in pictures. Especially the courtyard!” She said with a grin. “I really want to do tai chi there next to the big koi ponds.”

“Grace’s mother goes to a temple everyday to practice tai chi for her health. Wouldn’t it be better to go there than a lonely old house?”

“Well don’t you want to see the place again? It’ll be where you and Jisoo get married when she comes back after all. I think it would be amazing if the first thing she saw when she got back was you there, waiting for her with an apology~!”

“Why are you lying?” 

“I-I’m not! I just really want to go there.”

“You’ve been acting strangely all day. The past week you’ve been distant, and just this morning you pulled that whole stunt with Grace’s tattoo. Now all of a sudden you’re obsessed with going to Jisoo’s old home.” Eren said pointedly and folded his arms. “Talk.”

“...Do you promise to keep it a secret? Between us?”

“It depends on what you say.”

“I… I’ve been having dreams and visions whenever I sleep. Sometimes I hear a voice in my head.” Maeve said quietly. It sounded especially bizarre to say aloud, she realized.

He must think I’m fucking insane. She bristled, but continued nonetheless. “It’s the voice of a woman every time, and she shows me things. She says they are my memories, things that someone intentionally messed with.” Maeve admitted. “You’ve been having similar dreams too. But they aren’t dreams, these are your memories that someone sealed away. It’s why we both get these headaches whenever we think about the past few months.”

“Maeve I think we need to take you somewhere you can make a full recovery, something isn’t right with you.” Eren said in concern and his expression softened. “I’ll get Grace and she can~”

“For fuck’s sake will you listen to what I’m saying?!” Maeve suddenly shouted and lunged forward into Eren, who instinctively took a few steps backwards as she stumbled forward with her cane. “Grace has to know something is up! Nothing that she has told us makes any fucking sense.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“How did I get here?! Why am I in China all of a sudden with her? Where did we first meet and when? What was I doing before this?!” Maeve demanded to know, irate. 

Eren blinked in confusion. “You don’t remember? You and Grace met after I…” He trailed off and had a blank expression for several seconds. There was a moment of realization in his eyes that gave Maeve a glimmer of hope that he had realized the problem with everything, but it was quickly dashed when he grit his teeth and hunched over in pain. Eren clutched his temple as the headache worsened, and he could barely manage to form his next words. “None of what you are saying makes any sense. We should get you to Grace so she can help.” He insisted, almost robotically.

Maeve jabbed him in the stomach with her cane, she could feel the wood graze his visible ribcage beneath the fabric of his loose-fitting shirt. “Why are you so scrawny? When did you become so gaunt and sinewy? You gained a lot of muscle mass while Jisoo was cooking for you but now it looks like you’ve been starved for months on end.” She said pointedly. “Tell me something that me, you, and Grace did last month. What did we do at the start of summer? When did I arrive in China? Answer just one of those questions.”

“What are you two arguing about?” A voice said at the doorway. Maeve’s face went ghost white when she recognized who it was in an instant. 

She turned around to see Grace standing at the entrance to the door. When she so desired, the giantess could move silently. Maeve had no idea how long she had been standing there, or how much of their conversation she had overheard, but whatever the answer was, she was too afraid to know. 

Her titanic ‘girlfriend’ sauntered into the room with her hands at her hips, her makeup smeared from crying earlier and her outfit torn to shreds by shards of glass. There was a transfixing look in her eyes that sent chills down her spine, and immediately Maeve realized she knew everything. 

Grace glanced at Eren, who was still holding the spot where Maeve had struck him with her cane. “Why did you hit him?” She asked in disapproval. “That’s not okay.”

“It’s fine… She didn’t hit me that hard.”

“Even so, you two are friends. You shouldn’t hurt each other.” Grace said with and gazed down at Maeve, who could feel the godlike woman staring deep into her soul. “We need to talk about this. In private.”

The moment the words left the giantess’s lips, her colossal arm began to move forward. Maeve could see her fingers opening like an all-encompassing net to ensnare her. Under normal circumstances it should have been a welcome thing, to be picked up by her girlfriend. But Maeve could only feel sheer terror at the prospect of being in the woman’s hand. 

She had felt this feeling countless times before. 

If she takes me away, I’ll die. Maeve realized as Grace’s fingers were just inches away. She could feel it in her bones that her life would end if she was taken somewhere that Eren was not around to see what would happen. 

I… I remember now. I was brought here to be used as collateral. I’m expendable.

At once, the mousy girl summoned the emotional turmoil into the form of tears of her own, and let out a piercing, manic wail and forced the tears to flood from her eyes down her cheeks. “You killed Madeleine! You’re the woman in Eren’s dreams! You want to kill me to prevent him from finding out you erased our memories!” Maeve screamed as loudly as she possibly could, and propelled herself a few inches to the right with her one remaining leg and plowed directly into Eren with enough force to knock him flat onto his back.

He gasped in alarm as the substantially smaller woman bowled him over, and Maeve grabbed a fistful of his long dark hair and held onto it for dear life. Eren looked absolutely stunned as she looked down at him, eyes filled with desperation as she continued to sob. “Please don’t let her take me away! Eren please! I’m the expendable one but you can save me! If she takes me away she’ll fucking kill me!” She begged and continued to hold onto Eren even as she felt a massive pair of elephantine fingers pull at her leg. “We have to go to the shrine! Just make her take us both there and I’ll go with her! Just don’t leave me alone!”

“M-Maeve please just calm down!” Eren stammered as he was also pulled forward when Grace tried to remove Maeve from his prone body. The speck had latched onto his hair and absolutely refused to let go, and as a result he was dragged a few inches forward across the table. 

Grace pursed her lips and tried to separate them, but only managed to yank a few strands of his hair from Eren’s scalp. “She’s having an episode. Let me take her to a doctor right away.” She insisted. “You can come with us to the hospital Eren, to prove I’m not doing anything nefarious.”

“You see? Everything is going to be alright if you just…” Eren tried to reassure Maeve, but stopped when he saw her crestfallen face. They exchanged a glance and Eren realized what it looked like to be truly desperate. She had dug her fingers into his hand as well and squeezed so tightly he thought she might break it. 

Maeve’s tears continued to pour down her cheeks onto his own face, and Eren pulled her a bit closer to him away from Grace, protectively. “Hey Grace… let’s just do what she says.” He murmured softly. “We can go to the hospital afterwards.”

The enormous woman appeared infuriated by the suggestion. “What?” 

“She wants to go to Jisoo’s house. Let’s have all three of us go right now and then we can take her to a hospital for treatment.” He suggested. “I’ll stay with her the entire time.”

“That’s out of the question. She needs a fucking doctor not~!”

“Grace. Just do this one thing for her.” Eren cut in as he pulled Maeve into a tight hug. “You love her, right? She just needs this one thing and then she’ll go with you to the hospital.” He insisted. 

At that Maeve nodded her head feverishly, but continued to hold onto Eren as if her life depended on it. “Just please don’t leave me alone with her.” She begged softly and tucked her head into his shoulder. “Not for one moment.”

For several seconds Grace contemplated what to do next. If she so wished, she could have forcibly separated the two and taken Maeve with her and there was absolutely nothing more Eren could have done to stop her. However that would likely be messy, and would probably mean a broken limb or two from both specks.

Or, she could entertain the notion and escort them both to Jisoo’s house for whatever it was that Maeve had been told by the voice in her head from earlier had intended them to find. If she chose the former, undoubtedly she would never be forgiven by Eren. 

Mercifully she let out a long sigh and stepped back away from the two specks. “Fine. I’ll go get dressed. We’ll leave in a few minutes.” Grace muttered, then spun on her heel to leave the room. “If only to prove to both of you that I’m not a monster.”

What exactly was she looking for here? Eren pondered to himself and gazed around the familiar environment of Jisoo’s old home. Although he had only been with her in the property for a few short months before they broke-up, the house still held a special place in his heart.

It was where they were supposed to be wed. The same place where it had all ended for them. His eyes flicked over the shrine beyond the various bushes and flower hedges, past the koi ponds, where he had last seen Jisoo. 

This time it was Eren who squeezed Maeve’s hand tightly as they walked carefully through the large stones scattered across the tiles that provided a walkway through the courtyard. Just behind them, both specks could feel the tense gaze of Grace watching their every move. With each step that nothing out of the ordinary happened, Eren could feel Maeve become more and more despondent. 

“They kept the statue.” Eren remarked as the covered shrine came into view. It was just as poorly carved as he remembered, but the blood had been appropriately cleaned off. “Jisoo wanted to burn it the last time she was here.”

“Why didn’t she?” Maeve asked quietly as she observed the absolutely humongous house, which relative to her three inch frame was akin to walking through the gates of heaven. 

Eren thought for a moment before he replied. “I guess it was the only thing she really had to remember her mother. Even though she hates Keqing, Jisoo could not bring herself to just get rid of it.” He considered. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“It glowed. You said that when her blood touched it, the statue glowed bright gold.” Maeve reminded him. “It’s special.”

“It’s…” Eren trailed off and tried to think about when he had actually seen it happen. Oddly enough, he did indeed remember such a thing but had a hard time picturing the event. “Not something that we’re supposed to talk about.” He found himself saying softly.

Maeve squeezed his hand even more tightly. “Grace tried to torture that out of you. The memories of that day.” She remarked, fully aware that the titaness was listening to every word. 

Thankfully she merely let out a terse ‘hmph’ in reply. Eren was concerned at any moment Maeve might push Grace too far and she would punish them~

Why… Why would she do that? Punish us for what? Eren thought, and winced as his head pounded. The painkillers had done absolutely nothing that morning. Why is it that my mind immediately goes to that? Grace has never hurt me.

He shook his head. “Stop saying that. It makes me uncomfortable to hear you lie about Grace like that.” Eren muttered, but still held onto Maeve’s hand protectively. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

“Do you not remember your old job? With Maddie?” Maeve asked simply. “She was your best friend. Grace ordered her death.”

“I have no idea who…” Eren muttered and stopped short, unable to take another step forward with the pain in his mind. Maeve pulled him close to her, and watched Grace suspiciously. “S-Stop making names up.”

“Eren isn’t feeling well. We should get both of you to a doctor right now and stop this nonsense.” Grace chimed in, and strolled a bit closer to both specks. “We’ve been here for almost half an hour, and I’m out of patience.” She declared and stooped down.

Maeve leaned close to Eren and whispered sorrowfully. “Jisoo did a lot of bad things… She never expected to forgive you for what you did. It was the other way around.” She proclaimed. “Please Eren, you have to remember.”

“M-Maeve I…” Eren muttered as he dropped to his knees, unable to bear the pain of the headache any longer. Maeve watched him fall and gripped her cane tightly, but did not attempt to hold on any further. 

She had accepted her fate, and simply allowed Grace to pick her up. The two women exchanged words briefly, but Eren could not hear them. Instead he heard a different voice. A familiar one that called to him like a song. 

“I hope one day you can forget my existence entirely and you can move on…. But I want you to know that I will never forget you. I’ll cherish the memories we have together.” Her voice reminded him. 

How had the details of that conversation been lost to him? Eren had clung to every word, even as he quivered in mortal terror. She had not left him because he broke her heart, rather she had broken his and in a moment of weakness snapped and almost killed him. He still remembered the look in her eyes when it had happened. 

After that day he had felt worthless. At rock bottom in life. His one true love was gone and he was left with nothing of sustenance left. Except his friend Maddie, who had been his former employer. She had changed. Once she had tried to kill him too but had done everything in her power to change herself for the better. He remembered it now, their final conversation. 

And Grace… 

“It makes what I must do to you now much easier.” Every icy syllable stuck to him. He remembered the way she had changed completely that day, or rather, displayed her true colors for the first time. The true monster had revealed herself. 

The pain he experienced, the anguish, the hours of relentless, unending torture. It was her who had been in his dreams all along. Grace was the nightmare this entire time, and he had forgotten. 

No. I didn’t forget. Eren realized and opened his eyes to find that Maeve was nowhere to be found near him. He frantically looked up and saw Grace strolling away from him towards the koi pond, with the dark-haired girl in her hand. She ripped those memories out of me. Out of both of us.

“Grace!” Eren suddenly shouted, and stopped the ‘demi-goddess’ in her tracks, moments before she reached the pond. She turned around and eyed him curiously with her brow raised elegantly. “...If you’re going to kill her, you’ll have to kill me too. I will never forget what you did to us.” 

“Oh? And what exactly did I do to either of you?”

“You tortured us both for your own amusement. It was never about saving me from the Amrita Corporation or saving my relationship with Jisoo. That was just your flimsy excuse to fulfill your sick, twisted fantasy.” Eren replied firmly, as Grace slowly began to walk back towards him. “Then you realized you couldn’t break us, and Jisoo would find out what you did. So you had Jade erase our memories.”

“If that’s actually what happened, I wonder why you aren’t holding your tongue and trying to deduce some way out of this. Truly, if I was the person you say I am then surely you would know that I would happily spend the next few years of my life dedicated to crushing you.” Grace reminded him. She dangled Maeve in the air next to her face. “Do you think I won’t hesitate to kill this little one right in front of you, instead of ‘accidentally’ dropping her in the koi pond so you didn’t have to see her drown?”

“You ordered Maddie’s death.” Maeve cut in darkly. “She never had anything to do with this.”

“I’m told she died inside of Ruiwen’s stomach. Ruiwen was someone you thought you could trust, right Eren? But the moment she was faced with direct orders she chose her family over any of you worthless humans.” Grace stated coldly. “I could have done far worse things to her. And you both as a matter of fact, but I tried everything in my power to ensure you could both be happy and well cared for.”

“By erasing our fucking memories of the months of torture you put us through?!”

“Had you both been broken, you could have lived long happy lives. Eren, you could have spent eternity with Jisoo as her loving pet and husband. Maeve, I would have treated you like a queen as my favorite love slave. And even when I discovered your deception, I tried to let you both live prosperously with me.” Grace pouted. “But now I see that such gifts are wasted on you. You’re both just rogue variables that I tried too hard to solve… I apologize for wasting your time.” She stated and held Maeve up into the air, and coiled her fingers around her possessively.

Grace’s eyes bore the same malicious glint they had whenever she was about to snap a limb, or crush a hope beneath her heel like dust. Eren looked up at Maeve despairingly, but felt some small measure of comfort to know that she wouldn’t suffer anymore. 

Neither of them would. 

Maeve managed to smile as a tear fell down her cheek and onto Grace’s hand. “It’s okay Eren. I’m going to see Maddie now~!”

Just as she was beginning to speak, Grace squeezed around the tiny speck’s body with the full force she could possibly exert. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the constriction tightened, and Eren saw the fingers that coiled around Maeve like chains slam into her on all sides and begin to compress her into pulp. 

It was at that very moment, just mere nanoseconds before Maeve’s body could burst into a misshapen ball of meat, that the unfathomable pressure from the offending giantess’s hand was torn away by an equally powerful force. Eren blinked, and when his eyes opened, he could no longer see Grace’s hand wrapped around Maeve. 

Instead, he only saw Maeve, still completely intact with only slight bruises from the unsuccessful attempt to crush her into paste, suspended in midair for a moment as gravity worked to catch up to the lack of support keeping her airborne. 

As Maeve began to fall, Eren also realized that Grace was nowhere to be seen anymore. He noticed a sudden movement from his peripheral, and subconsciously registered that she had rapidly been sent flying away in the opposite direction at the speed of a bullet train. 

Not a moment later, both Eren and Maeve heard a massive crash followed by the sound of collapsing cinder block, wood, and support beams from Grace’s body as she rocketed through approximately seven or eight concrete walls of the house, which resulted in the roof falling down on top of her splash zone somewhere in a random guest bedroom, completely covered in several tons of debris after an unrivaled force slammed her through the building like she was a wrecking ball. The punch had carried enough power behind it to create a powerful shockwave that sent several smaller pebbles and stones flying as if subject to a terrible wind.

Maeve only fell a short distance, and she landed promptly in the hands of a different giantess. Unlike Grace who had held onto her with full intent to kill, trapped inside a tight fist, this woman clutched Maeve within a safe, protective barrier close to her chest. She gasped as the fingers opened slightly, to ensure she could at least breathe and she found herself looking into a colossal pair of eyes. 

The speck’s eyes began to water even further and she felt her heart pound joyously in her chest as a glimmer of hope returned. Maeve only made eye contact with the familiar face for a brief moment before the titaness turned around and glanced at the ground where she had practically flown across the courtyard, still careful to step over Eren, who looked up at their savior in astonished disbelief as he fell to his knees once again in shock, as the newcomer stooped down to get a better look at him in concern. 

“Jisoo…”