HUMANITY'S CURSED EYES
CHAPTER XIV | TRIP TO THE GRASSLAND

The figure vanished before she knew it. Levi hadn't seen it even as the form crippled over him. She was left a bit vexed inside the dungeon cell for quite some while. A very long while. It appeared the night prior and now closely nearby, and Levi couldn't either descry or discern the eerie black figure.

She had two chest pains; morning chest pains. Two days had dragged on like a snail in the edge of hunger. She could have shifted outside the cell and furtively procure a potato for sustenance. Yet she didn't. The guards across the bars were scrutinizing her every move. Who knows what might occur if she infringed her punishment time. She wouldn't be trusted as an ally with her rivalry.

Eren Jaeger, titan in his teens, isn't content with her arrival; better yet discovery. Condemning her whenever the opportunity arises in effect with his two ex-comrade's - Reiner and Bertholt - betrayal. Not like she can blame him. She's not so pleased joining the war and being the center of controversial speculations inquiring her vigor and supernatural abilities unrelated to titan shifting. She would had inquired the exact thing if she were them.

Inevitably, she'll be stationed aside Eren for the upcoming mission. Hopefully by that time, she would have mastered two things. The Oblivion State; she'll need to remain conscious for given instructions during the operation. Secondly, cooperate with the outrage teenager who damn well has the spirit of a thousand bulls.

Ermoza had counted the fourth-hundred brick stone in the far corner of the spacious room when Levi appeared unlocking the cell door with warm potato and glass of water balanced in one hand. A fetching goblet of ale from Queen Historia would have been inviting. She scrambles off the stone floor, dusting her white jeans.

"Hange will commence a further experiment with you," he announces, handing her the fresh cooked potato.

She quickly takes an appreciative bite off the velvety texture. "We're conducting this experiment inside the premises?" She asks hoarsely before masticating deliberately slow.

Hange joins in with green cloak wore assertively on her. "The contrary." She lifts a chin, expression set. "Outside the walls."

"I saw it coming," Ermoza murmurs, looking at the green cloak.

"We're in haste. So quickly dump that water down your throat," Levi elicits in an abrasive tone on watching her unruffled eating.

______

She peers through the brightness of the outside as she treads with Hange and Levi to the horse stables. Is this Reincarnation Development process making me unhinged during a lucid war? The repugnant smell of manure reaches her nostrils. She scrunches her nose, "Someone must rid the manure today. Whoever it might be." She lowers her hand from its roof position.

"Wouldn't you like to be the volunteer?" Levi suggests, being handed his black stallion's reins by Jean.

"I've got enough pain and suspicion to have to handle the late snack of these beasts," She immediately rejects the offer.

He shrugs, "Could ease some of the tension." He pulls the reins and heads off with Erwin mounting on his horse with an anxious rookie standing behind the commander afraid from the precarious hold Erwin has on the saddle horn.

Ermoza strolls through the row of stalls, peeking at the horses who weren't chosen. They all appear the same: chestnut.

"We must hurry," Hange urges. Ermoza searches quickly for one special beast capable of dealing with her nature. The rest of the group may grow impatient if taking long to decide. Hange notices the slight abrupt tension on Ermoza's posture. A chest pain Hange speculates.

Hange times Ermoza for a minute, watching the veins bulging out of her neck fade. Her chest pain is gone Hange observes discretely.

Ermoza comes around a horse distinct from the chestnut colored horses. It isn't grey, white, or black. It's a tobiano patterned horse, white legs from the hocks and knees down white crossing the back between the withers and the dock of the tail. The white color is arranged in a vertical pattern while the facial markings are similar to those of a traditionally solid-colored horse. It has extreme white facial markings; a brown color extending down the neck, giving the appearance of a shield. This horse is different.

A smile tugs the side of her lips. She loves different. She runs harmless fingers over the slick patterned hair. The horse backs away with a snort.

"She's quite an outlander when it comes to human interaction,” Hange comments.

"I want her."

Hange gawks at Ermoza's persistence. “It's futile. We must reach the walls before noon.” Hange reaches for Ermoza's arm but stops short. Ermoza has shifted through space, appearing on top of the horse. “Ermoza-”

The horse neighs in surprise, lifting its two front hooves in the air. “Steady boy,” Ermoza soothes. Not a moment later does the horse fall into her submission.

“That wasn't the right way to handle the horse,” Hange frowns. “You've only taught it to fear you.”

“I am to be feared commander,” she responds in-a-matter-of-fact; a solemn face cascading her gorgeous face.

______

The group galloped through limited grasslands, abandoned villages and crop fields until they began trotting through the forest. At one point it was ordered from Erwin to mount off the horses due to a narrow pathway with small deep slopes and rocks bulging out of the dirt. This gave the opportunity for Levi to proceed with the primer mission aside conquering back Wall Maria. Levi's orders is to impregnate Ermoza before embarking to Shaganshina District; believed to be necessary in case the demise of Ermoza came to occur unexpectedly.

"How you holding?" Levi asks her after coming across a more wider path allowing them to walk abreast.

"Quite...tedious," she utters.

"Chest pains?"

"None."

Hange had informed him about Ermoza's chest pain in the stables. She may be a bit confused and startled when she finds herself in top of the stallion Hange had said.

That stallion should be a gelding horse he had said, a bit anxious for the beast to act aggressively when Ermoza were mounting him. And indeed Ermoza was taken by surprise for a brief moment before composing herself.

“Is there some event I'm particularly missing?”

Levi's eyebrows lift slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Two days ago you asked if I remembered the night in the roof. What am I not remembering?” She stares at him.

Erwin and Hange inconspicuously cock their head to the side for better hearing of the conversation. Levi saw this before Ermoza popped the question. Hange and Erwin knew Levi as an open book after being together for so many years. He didn't want to admit it to himself but the kiss he shared with Ermoza elicited a spark so profound he can't quite place together. It's just not an amorous advance. There's something else entirely; like if they knew each other in another time and place. Levi reveals, "Nothing you didn't like.”

______

"Now we can test your powers, Ermoza,” Hange excites. As expected no titans are wandering around these planes. The group is nearby a forest giving them the advantage to utilize their 3DMG. Three trees lay arched beside each other allowing the group to tie the horse reins around the trunk.

Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Sasha, Armin and Connie scan for any irregularities, meanwhile Commander Erwin stands close by in the tree to watch the experiments take hold. Levi stands in guard of Erwin’s safety and a close eye on Ermoza.

"Alright Moblit. Prepare to doodle the info. This woman is about to transport.” Hange slams her palms together. “We'll see at what exact distance does your transportation limit to.”

What none of them knew was the upcoming secret about to be unleashed

Pardon for the short chapter. Nothing much happened.