#taleofmuses

It took her some time to fully grasp what was happening, not to mention to come to terms with what had transpired in the last few hours. From nearly being killed, to watching her father turn into a titan, it was a living, waking nightmare that was finally over, but would probably still haunt her for many more years.

Once finding strength to get up, Pieck checked on her father first, finding him as well as could be given the situation. Gabi and Falco were close, reunited with their families, Reiner, too, while the rest finally mourned everything and everybody they lost, including Eren.

Only two people were missing: the Ackermans. From what Pieck gathered by listening to Armin explain it all to Connie and Jean, Mikasa left. It only left Levi who was unaccounted for, and with how everybody was still wrapped up in grief and verbal conflict as Müller showed up, Pieck took it upon herself to find him.

There were only a few places he could have hobbled off to given his state, and sure enough, she found him leaned against a large boulder and-- crying? It was far from the image of the man who basically made it his mission to take down as many of the marleyan titans as possible just some weeks prior. A part of her didn't want to imagine just how much he had suffered through, watching his comrades die and sacrificing themselves to make sure they had the best chance possible to stop the rumbling.

If there was one thing she knew, however, was that no man deserved to grieve on his own, so Pieck sat down next to him, without a word, without even a nudge, to keep him company.

He should have said no when the case first landed on his table. He was still a junior lawyer that got assigned petty theft and small claims cases, mostly because the boss was a racist shit that had it out for him simply for having to hire him to fill the diversity quota. Even then, Ryan bit his tongue. He needed the job, and in this economy and the state the whole country was in, he was lucky not only to have a job, but also to still be even allowed to live where he did.

This case, however, was one that ruffled feathers on an international scale. He skimmed through what was placed in front of him: k-pop idol accused of verbal and physical assault that left a few fans with almost life threatening injuries. He heard about it on the news, but never really thought much of it. Definitely not a case he'd get assigned.

But he did. Because he was korean. Because his boss assumed he knew korean, and who better suited for that job than the only korean in the office. If he flunked the case, his boss would have grounds to terminate him, so of course he'd shove only one of the biggest cases to him.

The drive to downtown LA to the police station felt heavy. He really hoped nobody actually expected him to speak korean.

That, too, flew out the window when he was met with expectant faces of five other koreans, which he assumed were the rest of the group, all five speaking rapid korean to him, clearly already in the loop that he was there to represent and defend their friend. They might as well have spoken alien to him. Ryan just forced a small smile and moved past them, following one of the police officers to the interrogation room.

"안녕하세요..," was the first thing he said, the accent very horrible and the pronunciation very likely very butchered. He sat across from his client. "My name's Ryan Park from Whitmore and Associates, the law firm your company hired to handle this case." Ryan showed him his credentials. Damn. The guy opposite of him couldn't be older than he was.

@taleofmuses semi-plotting for Nami

It wasn't often that they had enough money to go out to dinner when in port. Nami had deemed that for once they did though, so the crew had ended up at the cute little seaside restaurant. The bar open to the beach and a small band playing in the corner. The music was the kind that made your body want to move the longer you listened to it and the more alcohol that ran through your veins.

Rising from his seat he held a hand out to Nami, a playful smile pulling at his lips as he tipped his head towards the area of sand where people had started to dance. His feet already bare and pants rolled up slightly to accommodate for the sand. "Want to join them?"

It was just sheer dumb luck that he was alive. If it hadn't been for Pieck, who not only insisted on saving him bit also nursing him back to health despite the protests of the others, Erwin would have met his end right outside of Shiganshina.

For four years he'd lived in Marley now, keeping to himself, avoiding people (mainly the racist ones) whenever he could and building a life for himself. Sending back word that he was alive and well wasn't an option, all until Levi and his squad showed up. Havoc broke out, one that Erwin, for once, wanted to have nothing to do with, no matter his curiosity.

Pieck informed him of how things transpired once everything had calmed down. The titans were no more, the teen he once thought would do great things still did them, though saw himself become a villain as well and paid the price for it.

At least there was one person he looked forward to seeing again.

His feet took him through the long hospital corridors, past many doors until he reached the one he was looking for. A few soft knocks resounded through both hallway and room before he pushed the door open, blue eyes finding Levi immediately.

"You look like shit," Erwin said, cracking a small smile.

A loud yawn escaped him as Yeong-ho leaned back in his chair, taking off his glasses and closing the laptop. It was way past midnight and he'd just finished coordinating the last few details with a couple of venues for XCape's international tour. He'd have to make more calls and write more e-mails, but he'd leave that for the next day. Right now he needed sleep and, more importantly, food.

He passed what Black Lotus let Hyunjin have as a studio, seeing the light still on in there, too. He smiled lightly to himself. Kid's been slowly getting back into what he was told was normal. The decision what to do about food then was made then and there.

Yeong-ho left the building only to come back around half an hour later, two bags with takeout in hands. He gently knocked on the door before poking his head inside. "Hey, kiddo. Saw you still working so I got you some food."

The years of captivity had taken their toll on him. His clothes were torn in places, scars ran down his arms from countless times of his wings being clipped, his own feathers in parts permanently remaining in his human form. He was almost sickly thin, pale as well, and looked rather pathetic just huddled in the corner of the room, shaking like a leaf on water and staring at the man in front of him with fearful grey eyes.

Phaeran was convinced he was done for. The moment the sea stone imbued ring came off his leg and he transformed back, his life flashed in front of his eyes. So many had hurt not just him, but his whole island before, hunted the shifters down, killed most of them. He was one of the few that initially managed to escape before taken captive.

Maybe, just maybe he'd have enough energy to run, but he'd seen the crew, knew what they could do, knew what their captain could do, so what would be the point in running?

"Please don't hurt me.." The words came out in a whisper as he tried making himself even smaller.

Her journey to find and kill all members of the Shinbakufu took her to Yamato. Well, their journey, better said. While Yasuke was traveling mostly on his own, following clues that a Samurai, or a former one with good connections, could have more luck with than her, Naoe was stuck with Yong-sun, who almost insisted on coming with her. Whether it was personal revenge that drove the young korean prince to it or just the thought that she was a frail little girl incapable of taking care of herself, she didn't know. Part of her didn't want to know, either.

What Naoe did know was that, blond as he was, he would draw attention. Clothes were one thing, easily changed, appearances not so much. And prince or not, she refused to allow herself to treat him any differently than she'd treat any other traveling companion.

"Keep your hood up," she whispered to him, hand reaching to tug the fabric over his eyes some more. "I don't know why you couldn't stay at the hideout with your brother until we figure out how to get you back home."

Finding the Ghost proved to be a bigger task than she anticipated. Hinas original plan was to visit his allies, see if they would be willing to share his location, but as expected, none of them budged about it. A part of her couldn't really blame them, lord Sakai was proclaimed a traitor and giving away his location to a random girl who just politely asked about it wasn't exactly something they were willing to do.

So she was sent on a wild goose chase throughout the island, asking in each and every village she came across. Either people didn't know or once again didn't want to say, and Hina had given up all hope when a kind soul mentioned that the Omi Temple had received a lot of help in a very short amount of time just recently. It had to be him, and she prayed to the gods that he was still at the temple.

Arriving at Omi Temple, Hina left her horse outside the gates before stepping through them. Her prayers seemed to have been answered as she spotted the man she was sent to bring to Shimura castle conversing with one of the monks. She waited for them to finish, and only then approached him, bowing.

"Lord Sakai."