Adopted?

"Er... I can explain...?"

"You can? Go ahead" Tiffania drawls while crossing her legs, drawing confused eyes to her.

"Uh, alright..." Michael coughs into his fist and gets up after tossing Illococoo off of his chest, "This is Ymir, God of things I'm not entirely sure of yet, she was enslaved for thousands of years but by complete fluke coincidence I accidentally resurrected her... That's about it, I think?"

"That's it?" Tiffania presses.

"That's it?" Maria parrots, as if they hadn't just heard one of the craziest explanations ever. She wasn't even sure if Michael was being honest or if he was simply just trying to prank them.

Michael shrugs, "I mean, yeah, what else is there to say about it?"

"How about your 'accidental resurrection', and everything else you got up to in Ymir's world?" the half-elf asks, unsatisfied with his too short and succinct answer.

Michael glances over at Saeko and Megumin who give a nonresponse, letting him do all the talking since one had her problems that needed solving and the other just wanted to watch the fireworks.

...

"Well, we started by killing cannibalistic giants surrounding a large walled city-"

---------------------------------------------

"Uhmm..."

Mikasa's head lifts towards Eren who was slowly blinking his eyes at the ceiling, the boy seeming thoroughly confused, not only by the fact he was suddenly in a bed, but also because he'd seen no real escape from the situation they'd found themselves in at court... Court...?

"Eren!" Mikasa voices as she grips his hand and sits closer to his bedside.

"Mikasa... W-what happened? We were..." he unconsciously pats his stomach as his eyes widen, "I got stabbed...?" he questions, desperately looking for answers.

"Do you remember what happened after that?"

He shakes his head, "No... I think I felt... Anger? But that's it..."

Mikasa wets her lips, trying to figure out how to break the news to him. The boy that'd vowed to annihilate all titans just so happened to be one himself... That wasn't something you could just drop on someone, especially not someone as physically minded as Eren.

"TITANS!?" Armin shouts at the top of his lungs as he sits up in his bed.

...

The blond boy looked over and grimaces slightly as he spots the awake Eren, "D-did you tell him yet?" he instantly asks, causing the hairs on Eren's back to stand, he wasn't used to his friends keeping things from him. Not so obviously to his face at least.

"No-"

"Will you two just tell me what's up already!? Whatever it is I can take it!" he angrily exclaims.

The duo look at one another and let out simultaneous sighs.

------------------------------

Louise and Joseph step through the Dimension Gate with Miraak's corpse. Both let out tired hums as they drag the body over to the raised platform and lay it to rest in a 'kingly' position. His hands tucked to his chest and laid over his green blade that Hermaeus Mora had corrupted.

They were deep within Skuldafn Temple, that place which held the pathway to Sovngarde and that was used in the recent battle against Alduin. Why had this place been chosen by Miraak? Well, its inaccessibility, was one, Surtr's rumoured reluctance to return and loot the place another...

The biggest reason laid behind the platform Miraak was laid to rest however... A large cage stood, with a huge grey dragon lying within it. It'd raised its head upon their arrival and gave no indication of hostility, other than the slight growl it let out upon seeing Miraak's headless body.

"Well?" Joseph impatiently asks it, "Do your job."

"Sahlag uth zey... Zu'u fen piraan dii nahkriin das ganog, nii fen kos ful." (Pathetic mortals ordering me... I will claim my vengeance soon enough, it will be so.) the dragon grumbles out before getting to its feet.

This beast was actually one of the oldest dragons around... Miraak had left him caged here during his first war against the dragons, he needed an absolutely loyal slave as a countermeasure against his untimely death and so he'd spent much of his time continually breaking its will while casting the Bend Will shout upon it.

To it, not much time had passed, being caged for countless years while mentally broken had a tendency to do that... Regardless of its annoyance with Louise and Joseph's presence, the beast got to work.

"Slen Tiid Vo!" it shouts, unleashing a roar that shudders through the whole ancient temple. Enough so that some sleeping Draugr were awakened by it, disturbed as if someone had prodded them in their graves directly.

A bright golden light illuminates the room and renders Miraak's corpse almost start to resemble the sun in its intensity. Louise and Joseph look away to prevent themselves from becoming blind, but once the light had faded and they look back, they see Miraak sitting upright on the pedestal, a grimace striking his features.

"My lord!" the two mages drop to a knee as Miraak examines himself, feeling around his neck where a faint scar still remained.

"That was... Unexpected..." he grips his fist and grins to himself, "Shall we go for round two? No holding back this time."

"T-they killed you! And you want to start fighting as soon as you're back?" Joseph challenges in confusion.

"I wanted to fight, I knew the chances of dying yet I gave them every opportunity." he focuses on them, his misshapen and corrupted face not covered by his mask. "A fight with no risk is no fight at all. Our weakness now will only make our victory all the sweeter... Come, we must summon my dragons back... Do either of you have any thoughts on what city we should burn first?" he idly questions as they begin to walk through the temple.

...