Hanza Berries, AKA Falco gets a peak at a world where Eldia never fell.
"You're the little wretch who killed Sasha!"
That was the last thing he heard before he hit the floor. But even when he landed, it still felt like the room was spinning. His head was warm, yet wet. He was bleeding. He might be dying. His time in the war made him very aware of these sensations.
If his head wasn't hurting so much, he'd probably be panicking. He didn't want to die. He had to get Gabi off this island, to keep her safe. And if he died now, and she somehow survived, she'd inherit the Armor Titan with little doubt. He wanted to save her from that. And most of all, he still never told her how he felt.
"Falco! Are you okay?! Falco?!"
He could hear Gabi calling, but he couldn't focus, couldn't find the strength to respond, to even move. She needed to run. That man, Niccolo, he'd kill Gabi. Because Gabi killed someone he loved. Because that person attacked Liberio. Because Marley attacked Paradis. Because the world still blamed Eldians, especially Paradis, for things that happened hundreds of years ago.
Falco hated the way the world was. Why did it have to be this way? Could it have ever been any different?
"Falco? Falco, can you hear me?"
That was Gabi again. But she sounded calmer. Did she manage to get him away somehow? Or were they just locked up again? He was feeling better at least. Did he pass out? Did someone treat his wound?
"Come on, Falco, don't milk this too much."
Milking what, his head injury? Yeah, that sounded like Gabi. With some effort, he opened his eyes and saw that he was...in a hospital?
Yeah, yeah, he was definitely in a hospital. A nice one too. Clean room and sheet, no stains, a decent window, a soft bed and pillows, and...a particularly smug girl in the room. Wait, was that...?
"Gabi?" he asked with squinted eyes.
"Who else would I be?" she asked cheekily. She definitely had Gabi's face, but there was something different about her. She was wearing a black leather coat over a blue shirt. They looked a lot better than most clothes Eldians could get. And her eyes, something was different about them. But more obviously...
"When did your hair get so long?" he asked with a confused look, eyeing the long ponytail on the back of Gabi's head.
"Try asking that when you're more awake," she said with a chuckle. It was warm and playful in a way he didn't recall Gabi being too often.
"Where am I? What happened?" he asked curiously. "How'd you get me out of the cellar?"
"Cellar?" she repeated in confusion. "Wow, you must have been having a crazy dream. We were out in the forest."
"We were?" Falco repeated, sitting up groggily to touch his head. "I thought my head was hurt?"
"Oh, you probably bumped it when you collapsed," Gabi said idly. "No, you just ate some Hanza berries."
"Hanza berries?" Falco repeated in confusion.
"Don't worry, I didn't know what they were either," she assured with a snort. "They're not poisonous, but you, Birdboy, have the distinct luck to have an allergy to a rare berry. Which you ate. A lot of," she explained with a grimace. "You...don't remember at all? You were vomiting so much, there was even some blood."
"N-no, I don't," Falco admitted, feeling a bit dizzy and out-of-body now. "Where are we?"
"Charles Hospital, the closest place for miles," she said with a small smirk. "Well, the doctors said you should be fine. So, this has been a memorable camping trip, at least."
Wait, camping trip?
"Gabi, what have we told you about eavesdropping on the doctors?"
Falco's head snapped to the door in an instance. He couldn't believe his ears or his eyes. Zeke Yeager was standing right there with a smile on his bearded face, as if he had never gone traitor to join the forces of Paradis, for some reason. More importantly...Gabi was...
"It's not my fault your grandpa's voice carries, Zeke," Gabi retorted with an eye roll.
Happy to see him?
"Well, in any case, I've already called your parents and your brother is coming, Falco," Zeke explained, scratching his beard sheepishly. "They might not let me take you camping again for a while though."
They were camping, with Zeke? What?
"Falk, you okay?" Gabi asked in concern, gently pushing him to lay back down. "Take it easy, you're looking a bit pale."
"Yes, it's best to get plenty of rest after a scare like that," Zeke said in the same tone.
"R-right. Did you say my brother is on his way?" Falco asked, feeling like the world was spinning. This didn't make sense. None of this made sense
Zeke nodded. "Assuming he's not arrested for breaking several speed limits," he answered with a small smile.
As if on cue, they heard a screeching noise outside the window. Gabi and Zeke shared a look. "There's no way, right...?" Gabi asked sheepishly, eyes wide.
All three of them looked to the door, the distinct sound of someone running through the halls echoing just beyond it before it burst open.
"Falco!"
"Col-?" Falco started, only to find himself enveloped in a hug from the older blond.
"Sweet Ymir, you know how to give me a heart attack!" Colt said, smiling in relief as he pulled back and looked over his stunned sibling. "Are you alright? All Mom and Dad said was that Zeke let you eat something poisonous."
"It wasn't poison, he had an unknown allergy," Zeke said diplomatically.
Colt gave Zeke an accusing look. "And what did I hear about Gabi having carried him here?"
"I was fishing," Zeke answered, holding his hands up in surrender. "Gabi had run almost half a kilometer before I caught up to them. Poor girl thought Falco was dying."
"He was puking blood!" Gabi defended.
"I know, I'm not saying you did anythi-" Zeke tried to assure, only to be interrupted by the door opening.
"If you all keep making so much noise I'll have security drag all three of you down to the waiting room," an older man in a doctor's coat said, seemingly unphased by the commotion.
"Old Man Yeager," Colt greeted on instinct.
"Grandpa," Zeke said with a smile.
"Doctor Yeager," Gabi nodded.
The Yeager patriarch smiled at the sole female in the room. "I'm glad to see you at least have some manners, Gabi," he said with a smile before turning to Colt. "I trust that after knowing me all these years, Colt, that you trust me when I tell you if my grandson was an idiot or not?"
There seemed to be some amusement shared by the three at that, some inside joke Falco didn't know. Or couldn't remember.
"Of course," Colt said, smirking just a bit as Zeke rolled his eyes.
"Good, because he wasn't. Falco has one of the more unheard-of allergies I've heard of. I've met more patients allergic to sunlight than Hanza berries," Doctor Yeager explained. "Luckily, it doesn't appear life-threatening. In fact, it was only so severe because, according to Gabi, Falco consumed, and I quote, a shit-ton of berries."
Gabi looked mildly embarrassed and looked away while the males gave her amused looks.
It was only now that something registered to Falco. Something very, very important.
None of them were wearing armbands. Not even Gabi.
Had he woken up in another world, where Eldians weren't hated? Where Titans didn't exist? It seemed impossible, but nothing else made sense unless he was having a very real dream.
"So, he's going to be okay? There are no side effects?" Colt clarified.
"That was what I am here to determine. Falco was still unconscious until recently," the elderly man explained, stepping forward. "I'd welcome you back to the waking world, young man, but I think you've been getting plenty of that."
Falco smiled awkwardly. "Thank you, Sir."
"No need to be nervous, son. Now tell me, how are you feeling? Does anything hurt?" Doctor Yeager questioned.
Falco swallowed, trying to pretend like this was any other doctor visit and he wasn't having an existential crisis. "I, um, I feel fine. Tired and sore. Except my head, it's throbbing."
"He, um..." Gabi spoke up, hesitating for a moment. "He forgot what happened for a while. He had some weird dream about a cellar that he thought was real."
"Is that true, Falco?" Doctor Yeager asked curiously.
Falco nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. I thought...I thought I got hit in the head with a bottle. Like a wine bottle. It felt...so real."
The doctor hummed while Colt looked on in concern. "Is that bad?"
"There are no head wounds, not when we checked him," the doctor stated idly. "It may be that the allergic reaction caused him to have a hallucination. Or it could have been a fever dream from the meds. Either way, I'm going to keep him overnight for observation."
"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble, Mr. Yeager," Falco said, almost automatically, to his own surprise.
"Hush now. Patching up children after adventurous mishaps is one of my favorite parts of being a doctor," the doctor countered with a good-natured chuckle. "I'll let you rest for now. You should be fine to stand and walk, but don't overexert yourself. Some food will be brought up soon. Something light and easy on the stomach, just in case there is some tearing."
Falco nodded quietly.
Doctor Yeager rose to leave, pausing to turn to the sole Braun in the room. "Oh, and Gabi, you'll be happy to know we have a surprise guest coming up," he stated in amusement.
"We do?" Gabi repeated in confusion before she seemed to understand something. "Wait, he's back!? Already?" she asked, looking very excited.
"Oh? I am as surprised as you are," Zeke said with a chuckle. "I thought he wasn't coming home for at least another month."
"He said he was going to surprise you on your camping trip," Doctor Yeager explained. "Now he just wants to see if his protégé is doing alright."
With that, the doctor made his leave, Falco staring on with a very bewildered look
"Wait, I'm lost, are we talking about Reiner?" Falco asked with a frown.
Everyone gave him surprised looks. "Huh!? Why would we be talking about my lame-ass cousin?" Gabi asked, giving him a deadpan look. "What kind of dreams were you having?"
He was wondering that as well.
The rest of the day was a blur to Falco. Between tests and check ups, he was trying to understand just what happened, both to himself and this...world? Timeline? Whatever this was. He managed to get a newspaper and the headlines alone told him many things:
"Famine In Lejakar Continues."
"New Flying Machines Raises Concerns."
"Hiruzu to join the Valhallic Games!"
"Is Tobacco Smoke Unhealthy?"
"Final year of Eldia's 153rd King, Frieda Reiss: Most Likely Heirs?"
He stared for a long time at the paper. There were a lot of other stories, some he didn't have proper context for, but there was an important thing absent.
There was nothing in these stories about a war with anyone. If not for the mention of the King of Eldia's thirteenth year, he almost doubted Titans existed at all. But this was the Eldia Empire. Even if he didn't believe everything they were taught, he couldn't help doubting that all the terrible history was false. There had to be some truth to that, right? But how were things like this now?
"Falco. Oi, Falco!"
He jerked back to awareness at Gabi's voice. "Wh-what, what is it!?" he answered in alarm.
She scowled at him. "It's time to go. Your brother should be back any minute now."
"Oh. Right," Falco said awkwardly.
"Are you sure you're okay? Because you've been out of it more than normal," Gabi said in concern. He was actually grateful that she worried about him at all. "You're not daydreaming about something perverted are you?" she finished suspiciously.
He blinked at that, not sure how to respond to that.
"Give the kid a break, Gabi."
Falco froze, feeling a deep sense of dread at that voice. That calm, level voice that was so easy to trust.
He turned and saw what should be a nightmare in the doorway: The same dull white coat, the same long hair, the same stubble of facial hair, and definitely the same piercing green eyes.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Eren Yeager commented, taking a drink of his coffee with Zeke coming in behind him. "It's only been five weeks, Falco."
Falco couldn't respond and, mercifully, didn't have to.
"Eren! You're back!" Gabi declared enthusiastically, looking like she was restraining herself from leaping forth and hugging him.
"Gabi. The biker look suits you," Eren greeted with a nod, making Gabi preen, before glancing back to Zeke. "I leave for less than two months and you get Falco in the hospital?"
"In my defense, I didn't know anyone could be allergic to Hanza berries," Zeke stated, hands up in surrender with an awkward smile.
"You must be slipping, bro," Eren returned with some amusement before turning back to Gabi. "I heard you carried Falco about half a kilometer through the forest."
"Oh, it was nothing. More like a third," Gabi said bashfully, freezing as Eren patted her on the head. Gabi blushed and almost seemed to melt under his attention.
Zeke gave Falco an apologetic look as the boy tried to comprehend what going on, He wasn't as dense as Gabi or his world's Gabi at least. So unless he was missing some context here...
Gabi Braun had a crush on Eren Yeager.
The hell?!
End of Chapter
So, yeah, Falco may or may not hae found himself isekai'd into an alternate timeline. And nearly had a heartattack over seeing Alter-Eren, who is rocking the Hobo-Eren look.
So, yeah, this is a timeline where Karl Fritz the Coward never was king, and those Eldia is still a massive empire. As for Gabi, well, better adjusted obviously, but has a crush o Eren. Look, I don't like canon-Gabi, but my headcanon is Gabi would have a crush on a Eren in any other world where there not on opposite sides.
Anyway, not much else to tell. Hope you all enjoyed this peak into an alternate world.
PS Hanza berries are a real berry found in Africa, in countries on the coast near Madagascar.