Chapter 7
Old Enemies

«I really wouldn't mind being eaten, as long as it was by a stunningly beautiful lady titan», Commander Pixis sniggered observing the titans that were gathering at the base of the wall. He had brought Syo and the kids on top of Wall Rose to have a private talk but in that moment he seemed more interested in the giant naked freaks down there.
The woman knew by hearsay that the Commander of the Garrison was an eccentric man but she had never thought he could be the type to crack jokes at a time like that. She tried to get the old man's attention. «I have to admit you have some very interesting fantasies but why are we here?»
Pixis calmly turned to her and gave her a soft smile. «Sorry, it was rude of me to drag you up here without an explanation». He walked up to Eren and looked down at him. «Boy… how do you do that?»
The young cadet still looked a little dazed as he was kneeling on the ground, pinching the bridge of his nose. After a deep breath, he began to explain the Commander what had happened that day while everyone listened to him with interest. When the boy was done talking, the Commander moved again to the edge of the wall, his arms crossed on his chest while thinking. Syo too looked down at street below, where the most of the soldiers were now standing.
They all looked very agitated and she could hear them shout and protest even from up there. There was one of them who looked particularly scared, throwing his hands over his head and screeching like an eagle, and Marco had to hold onto him to prevent him from running away. She couldn't help but snicker a bit at the scene. It was in that moment that a strange figure came out of an alley, catching her attention.
The figure walked for some meters on the main street, leaning wearily against walls and stands, and she noticed it was wearing a black cloak and a hood. It stopped for a moment and looked around the place, then disappeared between two houses.
Syo narrowed her eyes. "Is that…?"
Quickly, she turned to the Commander and excused herself. «I'm sorry sir but I need to check out a thing. I'll be back soon», she said taking the handles of the swords in her hands. The old man didn't even have the chance to answer that she had already jumped off the wall.

She landed right in front of the alley where he had disappeared in and ran after him. She found him standing in the middle of the road, looking up at the high wall in front of him. Taking off her hood she stepped closer. «Frank?»
The man turned around sharply. As soon as he recognized her, he threw himself at her and began to shake her by her shoulders. «Syo, finally! I looked for you everywhere!», he yelled at her. His hood fell back on his shoulders, revealing a pale and terrified face and Syo could see the blood in his hair.
«Frank, you're hurt… What happened?», she asked pushing him away from her. Franklin took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.
«Filippo…», he stuttered. Syo felt a shiver down her spine. She quickly took the paper and opened it, revealing a message for the Wrath.
It didn't say much, just an address and an invite to go there. Syo's eyes shifted to the bottom of the paper where two initials were.
«Who the fuck is P.G.?»
«Some criminal we fought in the past, perhaps? I don't know», he said leaning against the nearby wall, «I don't remember anyone with those initials».
Syo could feel her own heart pounding inside her chest. She passed her fingers through her hair and began to walk up and down the street. They had helped catching a lot of criminals during their vigilantes career and she couldn't remember everyone's names.
Her eyebrows narrowed in anger at the thought that someone had taken Filippo away from them just to get to her. They were going to regret that.
«How do you feel?», she asked her cousin, still looking at the paper.
« I feel… dizzy».
Her expression softened as she moved her eyes on him. «There's doctor in that building over there who already knows me. You can go and say the Wrath sent you».
When Syo put her hood back on her face, Franklin fidgeted a bit. He asked her if she was really going to go alone but she didn't answer him. She was already running away. And she was mad.

Running through streets and alleys, Syo arrived to a small square at the limit of the city. She looked around in silence, waiting for an ambush at any time, but the place was completely desert. Before her, there was a shop with an old faded signboard dangling over the door, all the windows barricaded with wooden planks. That was the place where "P.G." wanted to meet her.
She went to the door and tried to turn the handle but it was stuck. Carefully, she walked around the shop and entered a fairly large alley with what looked like the entrance of a basement at its end. Walking up to it, the woman heard someone following her but pretended she hadn't noticed. Even though she was itching to kick those kidnappers' ass, if she wanted to get Filippo back in one piece she had play along.
Leaning over the manhole, Syo saw an old ruined ladder that led underground and when she put one foot on the first rung, it emitted a creepy creak that made her back up in fear that it would have broke. She proceeded to climb down with caution, trying not to put too much pressure on the rungs.
At the end of the ladder, the woman found herself in front of a rotten door. It was ajar and she could see a lit lantern inside, placed on top of a table. Syo gave the door a little push and peeked inside. There must have been a lot of other lanterns in there because the room was very bright.

She opened the door a little more and as soon as the it moved, squeaking, she heard a light gasp and her eyes fell on a tiny figure tied up on a chair at the other end of the room, his blond hair all ruffled and a scared look on the dirtied face. Syo didn't think it twice and slammed the door open, running to him. «Filippo! Are you alright? What did they do to you?», she shouted, hugging him tight.
The boy fidgeted and tried to back up. «Aunt… No!»
Syo pulled away from him and placed her hands on his shoulders, checking for any injuries. There was a red mark on his left cheek and a cut on his lower lip that was still bleeding slightly. Anger was growing fast inside of her but she forced herself to stay calm. «What are you saying?»
«They're here for you!»
«I know», she stated untying the boy. He looked shocked by that information.
«And yet you came here alone?!»
Syo helped the kid up and made him climb on her back. «Don't worry, Fillie. Everything will be alright».
Her steps echoed around the basement as she slowly approached the exit, stopping right in front of the ladder. She looked up at the entrance in silence as if she was waiting for someone. «They're here, aren't they?», Filippo whispered in her ear.
Syo didn't answer him and kept looking up. «I can hear you, you know that?», she said jokingly. «C'mon, don't be shy». Feeling the boy tremble on her back, she gave him a light pat on his leg. After a minute they heard a feminine voice coming from up there.
«Oh. So you did notice me». A woman leaned over entrance with a sinister smile on her face, her long brown hair falling forward, covering her left eye. «Nice to meet you again, Wrath».
«Yeah, well… I'd say the same thing if I remembered you».
«Don't worry, we have all the time to make you remember». The woman pulled out a gun as three armed men appeared by her side. She calmly lifted a hand and moved her hair away from her face, revealing a deep scar crossing her eye. «Go back inside, we have to talk about the compensation you owe me».
Syo cursed under her breath, trying to slide Filippo lower behind her back. «You… at least let the boy go!», she yelled at the other woman who shook her head in response, gesturing one of her men to climb down the ladder.
As soon as his foot touched the first rung, Syo had already rushed back into the basement and shut the door behind her, dropping the kid so she could use both her hands to keep it closed.
When his feet suddenly hit the ground, the boy stumbled and almost fell on his ass. «Aunt...»
«Look if you can find another exit!», she yelled.
Startled by his aunt's shouting, Filippo frantically looked around the large room for a way out. From outside, someone started to hit and push the door but the Wrath held it firmly at its place. She could hear the other woman yelling at her lakeys and it annoyed her. «Shut up, Page!», she shouted against the door.
«It's Mrs Gastlin for you, Wrath! Don't you know how to address a queen?», she asked scornfully.
Syo clicked her tongue, looking over her shoulder to see what Filippo was doing. «I don't think a queen of human traffick can be considered an actual queen».
The boy was shrugging at her, not having found any other exits.
"Shit! I have to think of something…"
She clenched her teeth and turned to the door. «What do you want from me, Gastlin? What kind of compensation are you talking about?»
Syo knew exactly what that woman was talking about but she needed to make her talk, to let Filippo more time to find a way out or at least a place to hide.
«What do I want, you ask?», she giggled. «You must have a terrible memory, Wrath». The pounding against the door stopped and Gastlin's voice became closer. «Stop playing dumb, Masaru! You fucking blew my house up… my house and my husband! And I was stuck in the prison's infirmary for weeks because of my eye! All because of your brilliant idea of throwing molotovs through my window».
«I was just trying to drive you out of there! Who the fuck keeps crates full of gunpowder inside their livingroom? I...»
Syo stopped midsentence, realizing that Mrs. Gastlin had just called her by her surname. She looked at Filippo who stared back at her in shock until his aunt managed to whisper an order. «Hide!»
«You're going to fight them?», he asked worried.
«They know who I am! Of course I'm going to fight them!»
The bangs on the door started again and Filippo ran around the place for a good minute before he could find a good hiding spot, an old wooden wardrobe in a corner of the room. He climbed inside it and closed the shutters, observing the scene outside from a crack in the wood.

When the men launched themselves against the door Syo moved away, letting them break into the room. The first one directed his fist towards her but she was quick at dodging it and grabbed him by his long beard, throwing him against the wall. His companions then attacked her together but she knelt down and made them trip by kicking their feet. One of them was already getting up when Syo jumped on top of him, grabbing him by his collar, and began to punch on the head. At first she just wanted to make him unconscious but as she was beating him, the Wrath felt a strange shiver down her spine and her hand moved by itself, unable to stop. It was kind of satisfying to see that man, one of those who had hurt her nephew, begging for pity under her fists.
Continuing to rage on the man, Syo took a quick look around the room to see where Page was and spotted her behind the door, observing the scene with both anger and fear in her expression. When she looked back at the man in her hands the side of his face was covered in blood, as well as her fist. Her hand immediately stopped moving when she realized how deformed his skull looked. She hadn't realized how hard she was hitting him until that moment.
She was so distracted by the horrible view before her that she didn't noticed the two forms crawling up behind her. Suddenly, the bearded man appeared in front of her while the other managed to block her arms behind her back and something hard began to fall on her face over and over again.
Instinctively, she raised up a foot and kicked blindly before her, hitting the man's stomach hard enough to throw him on the ground. With a swift motion she stuck her foot between the legs of the man behind her and made him trip, freeing herself. She took a moment to touch her aching face only to find out that a bleeding cut had opened on her left cheek.
When the men tried to get up, the Wrath quickly put them down with a kick on their heads and turned to their boss. Page squealed at the sight of the Wrath coming in her direction and took out her gun. «Don't move, you monster! Don't fucking move!»
Syo raised her hands above her head, slowing down. «Calm down, Gastlin. Don't make me angry and I may even take you out of here in one piece». Even though her voice was calm, Syo's eyes scared Page.
The woman looked ready to shoot when a wooden board appeared behind her and fell on top of her head, much to Syo's surprise. Page fell on her knees, revealing the kid holding the board. «Filippo, let's go!», Syo exclaimed grabbing his wrist and running towards the door, but not even a second passed that she felt the boy escaping her grip. She turned around to see Page dragging him back by his leg while pointing the gun at her. The Wrath's first instinct was to jump at her and snatch the kid out of her hands but Fillippo reacted first, kicking Page's chin and making her loosen her grip. Syo took advantage of that moment and pounced on her while Filippo ran away.
When she saw the Wrath's figure coming at her, the woman panicked and fired multiple bullets which flew all around the room. Syo heard Filippo scream in fear behind her before she could reach Page and grab her by wrists, making her drop the gun. Mrs Gastlin was paralyzed, staring at her with horror in her eyes until the Wrath decided to take her out with a headbutt.
A trickle of blood leaked from her nose as she fell unconscious on the floor and Syo could finally take a moment to breath. That woman was tougher than she remembered. «Alright, I think we did it», she panted kneeling down beside Page. «We have to take her to the police. Can you come with me or do you want to see a doctor before?»
Instead of a real answer, what she received was a high pitched whine. She turned around but couldn't see Filippo anywhere. Taking off her hood, Syo looked for him around the room until another groan made her lower her eyes on the ground. There, before her, a small body was merely moving in a pool of blood.