That night, Lock's home was unusually lively.
Instead of the quiet he had grown used to, the house was filled with voices. Grisha and Carla had brought Eren and Mikasa, while Uncle Harry and Aunt Martha joined as well. With Lock, there were seven of them at the table, and the atmosphere carried an easy warmth.
Shiganshina wasn't a large district, but everyone knew Grisha Yeager. His reputation as a doctor was unmatched, especially after his work during the last epidemic inside the Walls. Even wealthy families from the interior sometimes requested his expertise.
Harry and Martha had both been his patients back then. Meeting again tonight as friends, their gratitude for the man who saved them turned naturally into trust. It wasn't long before the two families fell into conversation as if they had always been close.
For Lock, the warmth was almost disorienting. It was the first time in a long while he had felt something that resembled home.
But good moments never lasted.
Because their house was farther away, Harry and Martha eventually had to leave. At the door, Martha pulled him aside. She had already guessed his intentions for the future, and her words were full of caution and quiet persuasion.
Lock only smiled faintly. His mind was already made up.
As the two of them disappeared into the night, he whispered after them, "Sorry… I have my reasons."
"Then why not tell them face-to-face?"
The voice came from behind him. Grisha.
Lock turned to find him standing quietly in the doorway, his expression gentle.
"Where are Eren and the others?" Lock asked, deflecting.
Grisha didn't press. Instead, his gaze lifted to the massive Walls in the distance, silhouetted beneath the stars.
"Lock," he said at last, "you seem very curious about the world outside. Aren't you afraid of the Titans?"
"I'm terrified," Lock admitted without hesitation. But then he added, voice steady, "That's exactly why I have to go. Fear can't be the reason to stop living. I won't spend my life penned inside these Walls like livestock."
"Livestock…" Grisha echoed softly, eyes narrowing with thought.
Lock studied him carefully, then asked, almost casually, "Uncle, Keith once said you'd gone beyond the Walls. That if he hadn't found you, you might never have returned."
The words struck a nerve. For a moment, Grisha's calm fractured, though he quickly gathered himself again.
"Yes," he said slowly. "I once thought the outside might hold answers. I was wrong. If not for Keith, I'd be dead. Out there, against the Titans, human strength means nothing."
His voice carried the weight of memory, of fear that hadn't faded.
Lock pressed further. "Maybe so… but I wonder. What if there are people beyond the Walls? What if the world stretches to an endless sea? A real ocean?"
The question was framed lightly, but Lock kept his eyes on Grisha, reading every flicker in his expression.
He had no plans to take the Attack Titan from him, no desire to gamble with such a cursed fate. But knowledge—that was worth probing.
For an instant, Grisha's mask slipped. His eyes betrayed something—longing, recognition—before he forced a smile.
"The sea," he murmured. "A beautiful word. Did you find that in a book?"
Lock nodded. "By accident. I don't even know if it's real. But if it is, I want to see it."
"If it exists," Grisha whispered, almost to himself, "then one day… we will."
"Yeah," Lock said simply.
Inside, he confirmed what he had already suspected. Grisha hadn't abandoned his mission. No matter his wife or children, he was still driven by duty—by the goal of seizing the Founding Titan.
The air had grown heavy. Grisha was the one to break it, smiling again. "It's late. We should go back. Come visit your Aunt Carla often—she talks about you every day."
"I will," Lock replied.
Grisha patted him on the shoulder, then returned inside. Soon, Carla and the children emerged. After brief goodbyes, they too departed into the night.
The house grew quiet again, leaving Lock alone with his thoughts.
"The Founding Titan… Ymir… Attack Titan… Eren…"
He sorted through the threads of the story in his mind, searching for the right place to intervene. But soon enough, he shook his head with a bitter laugh.
"No. Not now. First comes the conscription meeting."