TheMist33: To be honest, I feel like the Scout Regiment kind of hogs all the spotlight of Attack on Titan (and it's fanfictions). I mean, the entire plot revolves around the epic of the Scouts. And I want Alto to find his own path, not be some off-brand Eren and/or Levi. I feel like there are too many SL OCs already.
Lost Girls Part I: The Search for Carly Stratmann
"Alto?" Kassandra's voice was barely a whisper, "Bleeding skies you're supposed to be-"
"Dead?" He finished, "They've tried thats for sure."
The boy was far older and his face was sadder, but this was still the same child Kassandra had practically raised with Astell and Victoria.
Kassandra dropped her gun and wrapped Alto in a bear hug, "After what happened outside Karanes I thought they'd gotten you for sure…"
"I was out collecting water, I heard gunshots and made a run for it." He broke free.
Kassandra backed away, and studied Alto, her eyes narrowed, "You joined the Military?" She asked,
Alto nodded, "I made 4th Place."
"I suppose you're not here to have a chat with an old woman." Kassandra laughed mirthlessly, pulling up a dusty chair.
"Not at all." Alto sat on his own, "And you're just over 40, you're not old at all."
"Anyway, you realize this place is being watched right?" Kassandra asked,
"There are five men, stationed all around the building. One is on the roof, adjacent to the front of the building. Another poses as a drunk in the back alley, while the other three watch the sidewalk. Not to mention you have a tail wherever you go." Alto summarized,
"So then how'd you get in to leave the note? And out?"
"This basement." He stood up, and lifted an old tarp, revealing a trapdoor. "A relic from the Underground project, these tunnels go all throughout the city. This trapdoor-" He pointed "-leads into them. I spent a good two days mapping them out."
"Huh." Kassandra was impressed, "Guess I was wrong to be worried. So, what exactly do you want from me?"
"First, I want to know the state of the Burke holdings." He asked,
"Well. I've increased our holdings in the Reeves Company by 20%. And our bank accounts have garnered a significant amount of interest. I've also managed to keep all the farms and other estates we own in line." She paused, "Why do you even want to know?"
"Two reasons, first, I want to make sure I have somewhere to come back to. And two, I'm planning a civil war."
"I'm worried," Marco said to Annie.
"About what?" Annie asked.
"Christopher of course." Marco continued, "He's never around, and he's always scuttling off to someplace or another. He's hiding something."
Annie shrugged, "Everyone has secrets."
"Still. He's our friend." Marco said to her.
Annie says nothing, and looks away from Marco.
"Hey Marco," Annie asked,
"Yeah?"
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"How do you..." She fumbled for the words, "trust so easily?"
He laughed, "I never thought I'd see the day Annie Leonhart actually asked someone for help."
Annie hmph'ed, "Forget it."
"Aw come on Annie!"
Some weeks later..
Alto flopped on his bed.
Marlowe came out of the closet to the side. "You got a letter. From a girl named 'Mina Carolina'." He tossed Alto the letter, and with a swift motion Alto plucked it out of the air.
"You didn't read it did you?"
"No. I'm better than that."
"Alright." He flipped it over, and the seal was perfectly unbroken. Alto slid his finger under the flap and broke the seal, and began to read.
Dear Christopher,
I've never exchanged letters before, so forgive me if I sound too informal. Or too uptight. The Scout Regiment is about as you can expect it. Small, tight-knit, and once you get to know them. They're quite eccentric as well. For example: Did you know Captain Levi is actually a major neat freak?
I think the thing that surprises me the most is the sheer amount of intimacy amongst the Scouts. Everyone is highly sensitive to each other's moods, even people you wouldn't expect to care know their soldiers far better than they should bother.
Despite the intimacy, they have no mercy when it comes to training. They run us ragged with drills and briefings, especially with the 57th Expedition coming up soon.
I wonder how life in the MPs is. Perhaps you could tell me about it in your letter.
Good Luck,
Mina Karolina
Alto smiled and pulled out the next letter, Historia's letter was effectively the same as Mina's, simply worded differently, surprisingly he also received a letter from Ymir, though after three seconds of reading he realized that Historia must've been looking over her shoulder. Nonetheless, he appreciated it, forced or not.
"Hey. Mind doing a favor for me?" Alto put the letters down.
"Depends on what it is." Marlowe said cooly,
"I'd like you to cover for me tomorrow."
"Isn't that when the Scouts go on their expedition?"
"It is. And I plan to go with them."
Marlow stared at him in shock, "Are you insane? You're in the MPs! What reason would you have for going with them?"
"I have someone I'd like to protect." He replied simply,
"Then if they joined the Scouts why not follow them?"
"I have something I need to do in the MPs." Alto said with finality, and Marlowe knew there was no changing his mind.
Marlowe sighed, "What do you want me to say?" he asked.
"Make something up. I'm sick or something." He got up, and shrugged on his uniform.
"Where are you going now?"
"Apparently there's a girl named Carly Stratmann who ran away from home. I just want to check it out." It was a half-truth, Lord Eliottt Stratmann was of interest to him, but not because of his daughter.
"So before you take on all of the Walls. You want to know where Rod Reiss is?"
"Yes." Alto nodded.
"Can't help you. But I know someone who can." Kassandra said at last,
"Who?"
"Lord Eliott G. Stratmann. Marleen Company, you've heard of them."
"Trade and pharmaceuticals correct?"
"Right. Well, like most noblemen, he has a wealth of underground contacts."
"What makes him different?"
"For one, he owes me for saving him and his company when they nearly got implicated in a tax evasion scandal."
"Tax evasion?"
"Yeah, they apparently were filling the forms with false revenue information. That takes me to the second reason, he's deeper and more influential in the underground than most. If anyone can find Reiss at this point, it's likely going to be him."
"I can't exactly waltz in his house and demand Reiss's location."
"Luckily for you, there's an opening. His daughter Carly Stratmann has disappeared, preliminary reports say she ran away…'
"Really? I heard Hitch took on that case after Navina passed it on to her."
"Hitch? The girl will be in Trost by the time Hitch even gets started on the case."
"It may be better if you took it on." Marlowe agreed.
"You and Annie are weirdos." Boris said to Alto, "You're both working on your days off."
"No rest for the weary." Alto replies offhandedly, "This job is semi-personal."
"Suit yourself." Boris shrugged.
Annie approached the Stratmann estate, only to find Alto already there,
"I didn't know you were on this case." She said to him,
"I could say the same about you. You don't strike me as the one to care about something like this."
"I'm pulling a favor for Hitch. That's all."
Alto shrugged and pushed the gate open, "Ladies first."
It wasn't long before Annie and Alto found themselves in front of Eliott Stratmann.
"Have a seat." He gestured at the table.
"Pardon our intrusion." Alto gave him a nod and sat down, Annie did the same,
"Excuse my bluntness, but we'd like to speak to you about the disappearance of your daughter, Carly Stratmann."
"You're telling me you haven't found her yet?" He lit a cigarette and extinguished the match, taking a large inhale.
"Unfortunately not sir."
"Surely there are leads then?"
"We have neither." Alto said honestly,
"I must've been working too hard lately." He exhaled, blowing out a puff of smoke. "It's been ten days since I reported Carly missing. However, despite the MPs best efforts, you haven't found a single lead in that time? Has Nile really become that inept since Dante's death?"
"You are free to think that way." Annie said nonchalantly
Elliott studied Annie, and then scrutinized Alto, "That's not it."
"Sir?"
"You're lying to me. There haven't been any attempts at a search, nor any arrests have there? Someone was shirking responsibility."
Alto shrugged, "This case has gone through two people, each passing it off to the next."
Elliott, for once, smiled. "So you two are the only ones truly willing to search for my daughter?"
"Correct." Annie said
"How long have you two held your positions." He asked,
"A month." Alto said to him.
"Same."
Elliott chuckles, "I've paid a fortune in taxes over my lifetime and this is all I get in return?"
"If you're unhappy with our services then we will leave. I'm sure a man of your position can afford private investigators." Annie told him coolly.
"Not a bad idea." He inhaled on his cigar again, and Alto and Annie both began to leave, "However"
They paused, waiting for him to finish "PIs are nothing but money hungry swindlers, and I believe you two can be trusted, despite your inexperience." He got up and walked to a window
"You wanted to know the circumstances of my daughters disappearance?"
"That's right." Annie said
"The day she went missing, she didn't show up for dinner." He said at last, "We've made it a tradition that we won't meddle in each other's lives as long as we continued to show up for dinner."
"When did you last see her then?" Alto asked
"The dinner prior to that one."
"Was she acting strange then?"
"Nothing seemed off to me." He finished his cigar and doused it in a silver-plated ash-tray.
"Do you know where and with whom your daughter spent her time?"
"No."
"Do you know anything about her hobbies?"
"No."
"Do you know what she did for a living then?" Annoyance was slowly creeping into Alto's voice.
"No."
"Would we be correct in assuming you know nothing about your daughter's activities?" Annie jumped in.
"That's correct. I haven't known anything about her life since she graduated from Einrich University three years ago."
"What was her major?"
"Chemistry."
'Chemistry…' Alto pondered this.
Lord Elliott continued, "As I said, we agreed not to interfere with each other's lives. Even if she was hypothetically fooling around."
"Did your daughter spend much time fooling around?" Annie asked,
"I was speaking hypothetically. I don't actually know for certain."
"Were you on good terms with your daughter?" For once, this question catches him of guard, and for a brief moment his face looks like he's been slapped.
"I never knew what was on her mind," He says after a moment.
"I doubt any father knows exactly what's on their children's minds." Annie says looking down.
Thup. Thup. Thup. Several knocks came from the foyer door,
"So many visitors today. Almost like old times." He chuckles. He turns to Annie and Alto as he gets up,
"By the way, why'd you two join the Military Police?" He asks suddenly,
"Why do you ask?"
"You're honest, and you aren't slackers. Yet neither of you are blind idealists either. People like that are rare."
They both shrug, and the butler whispers something in Lord Elliott's ear.
"If you have nothing else to ask me, I will take my leave."
"No sir. We will return when we have something else to give you." Annie says to him.
Alto looks at him from the door, and their eyes met,
'You know exactly who I am. Don't you?' He thinks 'And you know what I will do if you think of telling Reiss. But you're waiting for me to make the first move.' He scoffs, and turns out the door.
"...In short the Marleen Company dealt in the business of transporting wares from Wall Maria to Wall Sina, but when Wall Maria was breached they lost much of their money, so they had to switch from trade to pharmaceuticals."
"Thanks Marlowe. By the way, isn't this your day off as well?"
"Don't lump me in with the rest of you. My job is cataloging, the world would fall apart without it."
'How strange. The Marleen Company is on the decline, yet Lord Elliott leads an extravagant lifestyle. A sudden switch to pharmaceuticals, an area he has never dwelt in. And Carly hasn't lifted a finger to help her father. Unless she's helping in other ways...'
"In illegal ways no doubt?" Dante said suddenly, and Alto yelped,
Annie looked at him weirdly but said nothing. "Don't scare me like that." He hisses back.
"About Carly. I suspect there's a lot more to her than Elliott says."
"What do you mean?" Alto asks.
Annie raises her head "Marlowe. Can you check something for me?"
"Your friend has things quite figured out."
"She's my equal in Cadet Ranking." I shrug.
As we enter the bar, Annie approaches the bartender, "I'm with Stohess Military Police." She slid a sketch of Stratmann over the table. "Seen her?"
"Nope." He went back to reading
Annie remained silent, and instead stacked coins.
"Doesn't matter how much money you stack. Can't share what I don't know."
"Just thirsty, Limeade please."
"Make that two," Alto calls. The bartender nods as he slides over his own own cash.
As Annie and Alto move to their seats, Annie makes a quick detour.
"You guys seen her?" She raises the picture of Carly.
"You kiddin? No way." However, one of them takes it too far.
"Hey, how 'bout you scurry on home to your daddy~" He tried grope Annie's bottom, but she was on him long before he got close. Grabbing his hand, she held it in a crushing grip, he groaned with pain before she pinned his arm behind his back and dislocated it, and held him down to the table, causing several tablets to fall out.
"Possession of illegal drugs carries a three to five year sentence. But," She applied more pressure on his arm, "If you tell me what you saw...I may consider-"
"Don't fuck with us!" One of the men screamed, rushing at Annie with her fists. But before Annie could react, Alto side-kicked one of the men in the head, sending him sprawling into the table. A third man foolishly threw a punch at Alto's face, he sidestepped before grabbing the man's arm and flipping him onto his spine, eliciting a scream of pain.
"Now, you break your silence or I break your arm." Alto said coldly, still holding the man's arm.
"Carly was a regular here." One of them confessed after Alto sat him down. "So generous that she could make you wet your pants. Always buying drinks for us."
"Danced with us too. Everyone liked Carly."
"We're here for facts. Not memories." Alto pressed. Annie looked at him sideways, in the span of that fight Alto had done a complete one-eighty personality switch. From a quiet but well-meaning officer, to a ruthless interrogator.
"Right…" One of the men shifts nervously, clearly sensing the change. "Anyway, some ten days ago she flew into a rage in the bar, got real quiet, then upped and left. No one's seen her since."
"Why would she get angry?" Alto asked,
"This dumbass here took Coderoin in front of her." The gray-haired man nodded at the man in a green shirt, "But it was weird. She never had a problem when we took other drugs."
"But she was angry when she saw Coderoin. Why?"
"That's what we want to know." One of them shrugged,
"Also, why'd you lie to us about not knowing Carly?" Alto asked, after silence, Annie cut in, "You want to walk home on crutches tonight?"
"W-wait!" They all yelped, "We thought...she was in trouble." One of them admitted nervously.
"Yeah...her dad's company isn't doin' too well. Yet she always shows up with bags of gold, we figured it might be something shady at best."
"'Specially after some shady dude came asking 'bout her."
"Who?"
"Expensive suit with a fake eye. Never caught a name. But the eye was entirely red, you'd recognize him instantly."
"What kind of illegal activity was she involved in?" Annie asked
"We don't know."
"Then try remembering it in prison." Alto sighed,
"Hey hey! We're serious this time she never talked about it!"
"How can I trust that when you didn't even know Carly a few minutes ago?" Annie asked offhandedly.
"We really don't remember anything!"
"Then enjoy jail time." Annie shrugged,
"I'm pretty sure they told you everything." The bartender says at last. "So please stop harassing them."
"So now you remember something." Alto says with a slight sneer.
"I never forgot anything. I just didn't want my reading to be interrupted. Anyway, maybe you can ask Carly's boyfriend."
"Name and address?" Annie asks coldly.
"Kemper Boltz, he lives onSouth Aachen Street but I don't know the exact address."
Annie leveled a look at the green shirted man, who recoiled timidly. "I-I swear this is news to me!" Instead, she simply walked over to him, grabbed his shoulder, and popped his shoulder.
"Sorry about that." As Alto passed by, he said nothing, but left them a few coins and a nod.
As Alto left, Annie paused at the doorway, "How'd you know?" She asked,
"About?"
"Kemper and Carly?"
He shrugs, "You hear a lot of things working as a bartender. Some of them things you'd rather forget."
As Annie took a bite out of her sandwich, she noticed a cat sitting down, and staring at her. In a brief flash of pity, she ripped of a piece and offered it to the cat with her hand outstretched. Instead of taking it, it simply hissed.
"You don't do it like that." Alto said at last.
"Do it like what?" She asked in reply, Alto didn't answer, but took the piece of sandwich and squatted down to the cat's height before outstretching his hand. This time, it tentatively approached him before swiping the food and beginning to nibble.
"Cat person much?" Annie says mirthlessly.
"I like all animals." He shrugs,
"Hey, Christopher?"
"Yes?"
"What's it like...to kill someone?"
Alto nearly choked, as violent images came barreling through his mind, "Where's this coming from?!"
"Forget it."
"We've arrived, you two!" the driver calls from the front.
"Can you wait until we get back?" Annie asks.
"You're new aren't you? Don't you know what this place is?"
"The slums of Stohess. So dangerous no one patrols here any more."
"Then you know my answer." Alto thanks the man and pays him, and the driver leaves shortly after.
Alto and Annie pass by a group of thugs roasting something that looked like sausage, but in a place like this it could be anything. They turned to watch Annie and Alto pass.
"Who're you guys?"
"We're looking for a Kemper Boltz."
They just laughed,
"You need a permit to have an open fire in this district. But tell us what you know and I may let you off the hook." Alto said
"You two are real funny. Your heads go bad cause o' the heat?" One of them sauntered towards Annie before slipping a knife to her clothes, "How about we...help you cool off?"
Annie looked at the knife with disinterest before kneeing the mans hand, sending the knife flying before proceeding to grab his head and slam it into her knee. The thug slumped to the ground. And all before the knife fell back down only for Alto to catch it.
All the men backed up in fear
"Do you know a man by the name of Kemper Boltz?"
"Mr. Boltz it's the Stohess Military Police!" Annie knocked, when he didn't answer, Annie opened the door.
"Mr Boltz?" Annie looked around, and saw no one.
"Better look around for anything incriminating." Alto took to a back room.
As Annie searched, she looked with disgust at a box of coderoin, but moved to under the bed. Kneeling down she looked underneath and scrambled backwards immediately, slamming into a table behind her.
Kemper Boltz was dead.