Volume 7
Ch. 84 Cipher
Pov.
-Falco-
It's been 10 hours since we've been able to get in touch with dad
It actually isn't the first time I've been on this island
Many years ago mom brought Colt and I here so that she'll see her family and Colt could see his mother again
We did so only once, while dad was away training for months at a time
After that he would only be gone for a week or two and he'd return unexpectedly
Luckily he never found out mom brought us here
Anyways, Gabi and I managed to flee into a forest eight hours on foot from Holst
"I told you, I don't want any!" She growls
"Why, because I caught it!?" I yank the turkey back "fine, then starve yourself to death" I turn back around
"Look, I didn't ask you to come back for me in the first place!" She shouts
"If I hadn't you would've been the first they'd turn into a Titan" I say
"Better than being stuck here with you!"
"Fine, then why don't you just leave!? Go, get the fuck out of here!" I growl
"Ugh!! God, fine you asshole! You and your whole family can go to hell, you hear me!?" She shouts
"Just go!" I shout back
"Damn you! I hope your mother dies like the dog she is!"
"WHAT?!" I growl
"You heard me, ungrateful son of a bitch!" She shouts as I storm over to her "you-"
Before she'd go on I slap her across the face
She stumbles back in shock
She sets a hand over her cheek
"How dare you.. Gabi…" I whisper
Her eyes tear up
"H-how dare you?!" She lounges at me
She tackles me onto the ground
I wrap my legs around her waist and I lock arm around her head as she began punching my ribs
"Let go!! How dare you lay a finger on me, devil?!" She growls
"Mgh* you watch your damn mouth, imbecile" I squeeze harder
After a couple of seconds her punches got weaker before her body slumped onto my own
"Tch" I push her aside
I stand back up and I pat myself down before I felt something slam onto the back of my head
"You're an imbecile!" Gabi huffs
Damn this idiot
My head was spinning even so I managed to catch the stick before she'd wack me again
After grabbing a hold of her other hand before she'd slap me I yank her in and I slam my forehead onto hers
She stumbles back as I shake my head
After making sure I wouldn't fall over I lounge at her as she was catching her balance
I wrap my arms around her waist and I throw her over my shoulder
"L-let go dammit!" She pounds her fists on my back "You and Lisa can go to hell for all I c-" I body slam her onto the ground
"Agk*" she gasps after I knock the wind out of her
I pin her wrists onto the ground
"You keep my mothers name out your mouth!" I growl
"A-agk" she gasps for air
She coughs a couple of times before finally catching her breath
"D-damn you. I-I hate you, I hate you, you damn devil. Why's it only have to be me that's lost everything.. everyone.." she tears up "m-my family friends.. Zekes betrayed us, y-you…" she stops trying to hide the sadness in her voice "you betrayed me" tears flood out of her eyes and dribble down to her ears "why, Falco? I.. I loved you, so why?" She asks "I-I don't understand. Everything happened so fast and you act like none of it matters"
"You think I wanted this? I've explained everything to you over and over, but you refuse to listen, Gabi. I loved every one of them just as much as you did, but no sacrifice is ever too great. I'm willing to give everything to destroy this cycle of-of discrimination, living like caged animals and being forced to live the horrors of war"
…
She doesn't respond
We just look into eachothers eyes
This isn't about us, we want to create a better place for everyone
Even Marleyans will be treated just as fairly in the New World
Yes
The New World
That's exactly what it'll be
"What are you two doing?" We hear a woman
I look up as she crouched down in front of me
"Hmm," she tilts her head "you look familiar" she squints her eyes
Wait…
"K-Kaya?" I ask
"W-wait…" she widens her eyes "Falco?" She asks
What are the odds that she'd be wondering off way out here
It's been so long since I've seen her face
"S-so who's this?" She asks
"Gabi.. a friend of mine" I back off her
Gabi sits up
I don't offer her a hand knowing she wouldn't take it so she stands up on her own
"Ohhh okayyy," Kaya giggles "It's so good to see you again, Falco. Though I can't believe you still remember me" she says as she began leading us to her house
"Yeah, it's been a while" I smile
She caught me up with how everyone's been doing on our way to her house
Once we finally arrived everyone had been getting ready for dinner
"Hurry, just pass me the.." grandpa Aurtur stops after seeing me at the door
"F-Falco?" he asks
"Heya gramps" I smile widely
"Falco, it really is you, my boy" he drops what he was doing
"Y-yeah" I sigh as he pulls me into his arms
"It's been a while.. you guys…" I pat his back before he finally puts me down
"Why didn't your mother tell us you were coming?" He asks
"Because.. well… she was injured in Marley.. but she's recovering with the Azumabitos" I say
…
"Oh… well I'm sure she'll be just fine" gramps breaks the silence
"Yeah, c'mon you guys, dinner's ready!" Kaya shouts just loud enough for the kids in the other room to hear
They had been running an orphanage
I told them how I've saved Gabi plenty of times during battle but she didn't seem to care
She barely touched her food
After dinner, gramps let us borrow his old radio, computer, and typewriter
He let us work in the shed and with it all we managed to create a cipher machine
Gabi helped me make sure it wasn't traceable
Of course she refused to say a word but at the very least she gave me a hand
"There…" I finish with the encrypted message
Since they were originally supplied by the Azumabitos only the commanders of each regiment should be able to decode the message
"All we have to do now is find us a satellite and send the message to every computer in the capitol" I say
"What are you planning ?" Gabi finally asks
I give her a little smile
"C'mon we have to get to Shiganshina"
"Leaving already?" We hear at the door
It was Kaya
Gabi glares at her as she set down the bucket of water
"You don't like me do you?" Kaya says
Gabi turns away
"Well, she's like every other Marleyan you've probably met" I sigh
"Hmm" Kaya hums "you think we're all devils?" She asks Gabi
Gabi doesn't respond
Kaya and I exchange looks
"Come, I'd like to show you something before you leave" Kaya says
I look at Gabi
"Okay" I respond
I grab Gabis wrist and I make sure she follows
We follow Kaya to an abandoned village where she lead us into a house
"I used to live in this village" Kaya says
"About eighteen years ago a single Titan wandered off way out here" she says "everyone managed to get away, that was except for my mother who couldn't walk on her own"
"I didn't know what to do. I couldn't leave my mother behind, but even so… All I could do was sit there, and listen to my mother being eaten alive as she pleaded for help, at the very top of her lungs. I couldn't cry, I couldn't scream, I was petrified"
She turns to look at Gabi who looked like she was empathizing, even if she won't admit it herself "tell me, what did my mother do to deserve such a horrible death?" Kaya asks "what did she do to make you hate us so much ?"
"What? Y-you wanna know what?" Gabi asks
We look at eachother but she doesn't say another word
"Absolutely nothing, we've lived inside these walls thinking we were the last humans on earth. What fault could we possibly have?" Kaya asks
Gabi doesn't respond
She's been blinded by all her rage and sadness up until now
…
"We should get going" I break the silence
"R-right" Kaya sighs "I'm going to miss you" she smiles "Gabi.." she nods
Gabi just walks out
I sigh
"Tell gramps I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye, we're in a rush" we hug each other tightly before she backs up
"Sure thing, b-but can I ask you something?" She asks
"What is it?" I ask
"About Sasha… was it.. Kara?" She asks
It takes me a second
Being reminded of mom reminds me how much I hated him
"Y-yeah" I sigh
She doesn't respond
How could she
Mom..
Her own husband beat her half to death
No matter what he might say
Or what he does to prove it, he doesn't have an ounce or remorse
That just the kind of man he is
We give each other one last goodbye before Gabi and I finally head off
We 'borrowed' a pair of horses from a neighbor and quickly headed towards Shiganshina
We traveled throughout the entire night, hoping we'd get there by morning but it was no use
We stopped a couple miles from the gates letting our horses rest when we suddenly heard a wagon passing by
Gabi and I look at eachother, both wondering who it could be so early in the morning
We sneak over to the road, I peak over the edge as they slowly came to a halt
They stopped at the small pond we were at earlier to let our horses drink water
They were MPs
But their badges were crossed out as a sign that they're oppose to the government
That would make them enemies
I look at Gabi
She nods back and carefully began tailing the guy that headed into the woods
I sneak up behind the guy that was drinking water before I slam a rock onto the back of his head splitting his head in two
After I took his rifle Gabi came back with the weapon she took from the other guy
"C-careful they're going to hear us" we hear a woman from inside the carriage
"S-sorry I-I'm almost done" a male says
As we walk over to the entrance of the wagon
I look at Gabi
We were both thinking the same thing
"Oh God, I-I told you we should've waited" she says as we get ready to pull the cloth open
I nod at Gabi and she pulls the covered open exposing the two
"Show me your hands" I train my weapon at their heads
"Ahhhh?!?!" The girl quickly hides her naked self behind the guy
"W-wait d-don't shoot!" He raises his hands
"Hands!" I growl before the girl raises her hands
"Get out" I say
"C-can we put some clothes on first?" She asks
"No, get out" I repeat
"It'll be okay" the guy whispers
He slowly walked out and she followed
We get them on their knees and Gabi keeps an eye on them as I checked what they had inside
I pat their clothes down and after making sure there weren't any weapons in them I toss them out
There was a large rectangle box
It looked like a coffin almost but it felt like solid rock
I pull the sheet it had over it and I toss it outside so it wouldn't get in the way
What the hell?
It was a blonde woman
She was frozen inside what looked like hardening
Wait..
Is this…
"What is it, Falco?" Gabi asks
"It's… it's Annie"
-to be continued-
May 2, 2022
My bad for not posting on schedule. I got a life apart from writing this story. Butt as you can probably tell the attack on Titan Arc is coming to an end soon. I'm not saying how many chapters are left but I'll be posting every 2 weeks from now on after this "Arc" is over I'll take a break for a month.
I'll get started on the next arc right away so it isn't much of a break lol. but after the month is over you can expect to see one chapter a week again
Also I been busy editing and posting this story on other apps such as wattpad and WebNovel I added two extra chapters in the beginning that is in Kara's pov where he challenges Ignia so go check that out if you'd like.
Also also I will be posting those two chapters here after I'm done with Attack on Titan though. I'm also making small changes to detail as I post them on WebNovel so if you want to check that as you wait for the other chapters then feel free to find the story on there (it is super restricted so no one under 18 yrs of age can read it and you'll probably have to make an account to read it)
But yeah I hope everyone's enjoying so far and I'll see you in May. that's if I'm still alive