"Maman…"
Only the sound of crying met the little girl's ears, but she couldn't figure out exactly where it was coming from. It rang through the air with an ominous note that chilled the brunette haired girl to the bone. By now it should be a sound that she's used to but how could a little eight year old really become used to the sound of her mother's heart-wrenching crying.
"Maman, Clio needs to eat and Thalia and Harmony are looking for you." The small child rubbed her arms in a vain attempt to give her cold soul some warmth. The house itself had lost its warmth long ago. A spotted, brown and white puppy wound its way around the girl's feet in an attempt to console her.
After searching through the kitchen and her parent's bedroom she finally found the dark haired women curled into a corner, wedged as far as she could fit. Void sky blue eyes froze the girl right where she stood at the door of the washroom; with a sense of cold and hopelessness washing through her she didn't dare move a muscle.
"Ma," she whispered to deaf ears.
Caught up in her own twisted world the bony woman began to wail louder and louder.
"They took them from me! From me! None of this is worth it!" She rolled herself forward and beat her fists against the floor, "How dare they! They shall burn in Hell! FUCKING HELL I SAY! J'EN AI PLEIN LE CUL!"
Her voice became warped as she regarded her child and her eyes turned completely black. "MELPOMENE, ALLOW ME TO SAVE YOUR SOUL! DEATH IS THE ONLY SALVATION!" The girl's mother became liken to what she could only imagine as a demon from the depths of Hell; her jaw opened so far it could only be unhinged and she let out an ungodly scream.
In response the girl clamped her hands over her ears and screamed herself, both in attempt to lessen the skull splitting pain and express it. Her fear only thickened when the picture warped into a room of fire, she watched as her mother returned to semi-normal despite the melting skin and peeking bone as she continued to grieve. The burning sensation was numbing and a welcome change.
"Maman, what's happening?!"
Her mother lunged at her with a shining knife.
She woke with a start and swiftly smacked her head on the object hanging above her head. It took Mel a moment of swearing for her to catch her bearings and realize that she was lying on the floor and the object she had smacked her head on was her bed. Untangling herself from the sheets became that much more of a chore with a splitting headache, but it was eventually achieved.
"Melpomene! Mel! Hey are you awake yet!" The woman's voice was followed by three strong knocks on the door.
Discarding the idea of making her bed Mel dragged herself to open the door and forcefully smiled. She knew exactly what Abagail was at her door for but she decided to remain friendly for her last morning here. "Hello, Abigail. I'm awake don't worry!" She laughed slightly as she attempted to finger-comb her brunette hair casually.
"Yeah, yeah," Abigail waved her hand dismissively before smiling at Mel with her shining green eyes framed by wrinkles. She was a lady rather advanced in her years but still contained all of the vigor as though she was much younger; her graying red hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was still very fit from all of her years of working a large farm.
"I actually came here to make sure that you were ready to be leaving soon," she informed the blue-eyed girl while wiping her hands on her apron.
"Ready to get rid of me that soon," Mel asked with a teasingly raised eyebrow.
Abigail let out a hearty laugh at that and shook her head. "No no no! Of course not! I just wanted to make sure first before I asked you to help me in the fields one last time; my husband, bless his stubborn ass, can't be bothered right now. He's out badgering with that poor shop keeper in town about the price increase on the seeds."
"Well I finished packing last night so I guess I can help you out one more time," Mel pretended to be annoyed at the notion. "It's not like you've let me live on your farm for two whole years or anything."
Abigail smiled softly, "Well I'm not like so many of the other people here in Wall Rose- I'm not just going to selfishly turn my back on a child in need. We can't start turning on each other like that-"
The older woman continued to ramble slightly but Mel had stopped listening. At the mention of people turning their backs on each other, Mel's stomach had dropped basically right out of her abdomen and onto the floor; she smiled and nodded like she was paying attention. Luckily there wasn't much talking after that as Abigail and Mel walked out to the fields and started to work on checking the foliage for an excess of pests. The suddenly silent girl was too caught up in her thoughts of her earlier dream to think of forming a coherent sentence.
It took almost four hours to finish the crops that Abigail had designated for them to water and check. By the time they were done Mel was sweating a good amount and prayed for a chance to sit down.
Not because she was tired though but because she felt sick to her stomach.
"Sweetie, if that work was too much for you then you can kiss the rear end of a horse because you're not going to survive training." Abigail handed her companion a glass of water before pouring her own. As she took a seat on the crate next to the younger girl they both turned their attention to the sky.
Mel laughed softly before shaking her head and chugging the cup of water, "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine, Abagail. This is something I've been waiting for a long time- you know that."
"It's just," Abigail paused and considered her wording, "I don't want you getting some big head and charging in there like an idiot and pulling stupid shit. It's life or death after you leaving here…"
"Abigail…" Mel caught the other woman's attention before continuing, "It's been life and death ever since Titans first showed up…"
"But you're not doing this for the sake of saving humanity from the Titans, are you?"
There was silence at that. Mel had never before considered the fact that someone may catch onto that; perhaps that's something she should work on.
"Is anyone?" Mel weakly asked.
"Maybe not for all exactly that reason, but they're doing it because of the Titans- regardless if they're running towards them or away from them. That's why you should be extra careful, a lack of true a proper commitment to this sort of thing will get you killed."
"I…" The blue- eyed girl rubbed her face with both hands before running them through her hair and giving Abigail a forced smile. "You have a point but I must challenge that slightly because I do have the commitment, it's just that mine is slightly different than everyone else's."
Abigail hummed softly and searched Mel's face for a few moments.
"What, you guys are just sitting around? Whaddya know I go into town to work my butt off and I come home to see my nagging wife and annoying farmhand doing nothing but sitting on their tooshies for however long! "Abigail's husband winked at them and let out a hearty laugh as he approached.
"Oh what do you know?" Abigail rolled her eyes at him. "We did our share of the work for now- and just as a future note, going into town to badger some poor child about prices he doesn't control doesn't count as working your butt off."
"Nag nag nag," he chuckled before stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking at the sky. "Well look at that, it's time to be going yah brat. The sun is at its peak so the wagon from Trost should be there soon. Abigail go cowpoke those useless farm boys we pay into doing the rest of the work for me, will ya? I'm gonna go run kiddo over to the pickup; I'll be back in about three hours."
When Mel looked into the sky the sun was indeed at its peak. Wasn't this when she was supposed to finally feel excited when she was finally supposed to show her mother wrong? What exactly was she feeling right now, she wasn't sure. Was it… dread?
'I could be feeling death for all I care; I have to do this regardless.' Mel swallowed hard and gripped her fists tightly.
"I'll go grab my bag." She quickly bowed slightly and turned around while cringing at the sound of her strained voice. As she walked away Abigail and her husband shared a look before her husband shook his head and started to make his way back to the horse.
Author's Note:
Oi I always have trouble starting a story off, it's so difficult for me ;-; But I am actually quite pleased with this one and hope that you guys like it as well :) Reviews are love!
Translations:
Maman: Mom, mommy, etc.
J'en ai plein le cul- akin to I'm fed up with this or I'm sick of it