Luca's lungs were burning, her legs were useless. His eyes stared at the sky, shone by the noon sun as he was being dragged. A soldier wearing a trenchcoat came over him, both of his legs on the boy's either side. The man was smoking a pipe while holding a shotgun, aiming at Luca's head.
"You, Marleyan, eh?" Said the man before grabbing Luca by his collar and raising him up till his eyes reached the man's height. "Speak."
"Yes." Luca hesitantly said.
"You sure, because we killed every motherfucker, dropped from big balloons." He looked away. "Tell me, brother."
"Fuck off, devils." It was Alberto's voice, followed by a crunch sound, causing him to scream. Luca could do nothing; his eyes turned moist as he joined his hands secretly, mumbling a prayer. The devil, however, heard it.
"You praying? Oh, yes, praying important. We prayed too—walls, bastard king. But now we pray one true god, one who did rumbling. So…" He threw Luca down on the ground. The young man looked on his right as Alberto was lying on the ground, his left hand broken from the middle. He, however, crawled to Luca, covering him from any possible attack. "We know there ships going around. So, let me show you mercy. Fight; one may survive."
"We aren't playing your games, devils." Alberto shouted. The man, not pleased, took a few steps ahead.
"You his brother?"
"Fuck off."
"You want him dead?" The man's question pinned Alberto; he looked at Luca, barely sixteen, a fresh naval cadet now facing death. He could not let him die. "If not, play; rules simple..."
"Fine!" Alberto screamed before looking at Luca, "Punch me, hit me." Luca felt his cheeks becoming moist as he realised what was happening. Alberto, equally tearful, looked at him, his eyes begging him.
"No," Luca said, enraging Alberto.
"Hit me and live!" Alberto said before grabbing Luca's hand and punching himself with it. "I yield." He would have felt embarrassed on other days to play defeated, not by anybody but Luca, his brother, who could not even kill a fly properly. But the shotgun man changed his mind for today.
"No." Luca shouted as Alberto screamed back at him. Both brothers were bickering with each other as the shotgun man looked at them, annoyed. "You can't die."
"Fine, I call off round. You win, pretty boy." He said this as Alberto sighed. He took a deep breath, preparing for his death.
The shotgun fired, its blast ringing in Alberto's ears before Luca's scream filled in. His eyes opened to see Luca collapse on the grassy ground, screaming while holding his left ankles as a large part of it was gone.
"What!" He looked at the shotgun man. "What the fuck? I defeated him." He cried to the shotgun man.
"You no hear rules; winner dies." He looked at Luca, who was sobbing in pain. "But losing loved ones hurts, I know, so another round. Pretty boy submits; he lives."
Luca felt the burning sensation from his right feet. All his toes were gone, while the leather of his shoe was melting. He opened his tearful eyes to see Alberto standing before him. His broken arm was swinging freely.
"Luca, do you submit?" Alberto told him.
"No, I don't want my brother." Before Luca could finish, Alberto kicked his face. Luca laid down straight, his head turning, before he felt Alberto over him, punching him with his good hand. "Submit, dumbo. Live."
Overhead, a large bird flew by, briefly blocking the sun, though the sibling never cared for it. "God here." The shotgun man announced it as others rejoiced.
Falco landed at the now-devastated new port. Eren and Gabi got off his titan before Falco came out. Eren looked around, so the two kids were happy to see some greenery after a long time. The buildings were still damaged, and the ship remained a wreck. Though no bodies were there,.
"I think the Yeagerists cleaned the bodies off." Eren said this before looking at the two kids. "So, I have the colossal titan. I can't transform without blasting this whole place off. Falco has done his part. So…"
"Fine." Gabi said as Eren gave his knife to her. She walked away from them as Eren looked at Falco.
"Will it be okay if we spend some time in my house? I wish to be there." Eren asked. Falco gave a simple nod as Gabi was engulfed in light.
At Singhashina, the roads were jammed with tables. Food and beer were distributed freely to the population, while musicians, artists, and magicians were doing their tricks to entertain the population.
From the fort, Mithaus Gustav watched gleefully at his people, the people of Eldia.
"Gustav, end the celebrations now. Others have already returned to normalcy. You will drain the city's silos at this rate." Gustav turned around to see a long, bald man sporting a moustache sitting on the chair of the mayor, drinking a bottle of Marleyan wine.
"Oh Berna, we need people to be happy, especially when the next phase of our plan will begin soon."
"And what plan?" Berna asked, sipping his wine.
"Ever since Floch died, Simon, Martha, and I have been consolidating people under the Yeagerist banner. Nitrov has kept his word, and the machine guns will be delivered from the base soon. Your men are currently guarding Singhashina."
"Where is Firhan?"
"Pfft, you care about that bastard. He left the island a few days before the rumbling. He left a son on this island, another mouth to feed."
"How do you know about that?" The effects of the wine started to take over Berna.
"Berna, how many dark-skinned babies are born on this island? The woman he made the child with is already famous for all the wrong reasons. You know."
"Fine, when is Eren Yeager coming back? I can no longer wait to take back my family's assets from that bitch." Berna slammed the bottle on the table. "How dare she take my property? Zachry already paid with blood; now she will."
"Stop your bloodlust, idiot." Gustav told him before taking a glass for himself and placing it before Berna. "Is that the 'titan' wine?"
"Yeah." Berna poured some for Gustav. "Good thing we were away. So, how is Nedlay?"
"Bad, all those seditious bastards were already the problem before all this bullshit. I think there will be a revolt soon." Gustav scoffed before taking a sip of the wine. "Good in a way, if Nedlay falls in case of a civil war, I will release those traitors to start whatever utopia they want to. At least the production of ODM gears will stop for some time."
He said this before going back to the window, looking out at the city. The people were still celebrating on the streets. The sun was now reaching overhead.
"Gustav," Berna said before pouring another drink for himself. "I think you know already, but still, I am not doing this solely for my property, Historia Reiss seized after the coup. I believe in you."
"Thanks, brother." Gustav said. He took a deep breath, continuing to look at the city.
Eren, Falco, and Gabi entered Singhashina as the people were having lunch in the streets. Tables were filled with food as people celebrated and enjoyed themselves. Eren wore a hood to hide his face, holding both kids's hands. They navigated through the busy streets before they came near his home. Renovated after reclaiming Wall Maria, it was the same as it once was in his childhood. Before the wall fell.
"Celebrations are still going on." Gabi asked as they reached Eren's house. Two guards stood in front, guarding the house from any intruders.
Eren's eyes turned purple again as he brought the two kids inside while the guards ignored both of them. Eren took his seat silently, both kids joining him. He took off the cloak before looking at the duo.
"It has been weeks, right? Well, the bathroom is there. Take a bath while I get something to eat." Eren said this before getting up from his chair. He opened the door and left the house.
Falco looked around the small house; it was a small wooden house, not that different in terms of comfort compared to his own house in the Interment Zone. Gabi got up and walked to the bathroom before looking back at Falco. "Will you go, or should I?"
"You go." Falco said before getting up. "I am going upstairs; call me when you are done." Gabi gave a nod to him.
Later, Falco was sitting on the bed, wearing his pants and T-shirt. His hair was still moist after the bath. Gabi was standing in a corner, tying her hair. She looked at Falco, who was staring at Mikasa's scarf, and rolled around his hands.
She climbed the bed, crawling her way behind Falco's back and hugging him. "What happened?" Gabi made a smile, trying to cheer her up. Falco looked at her. "Cheer up; we are safe now."
"Yeah." Falco said Gabi rubbed his wet hair. "Gabi, are we going to an orphanage?"
"Yes, Eren said he would let us live there. We must help those toddlers." Gabi announced.
"I remember that there was no obligation to..."
"Come on, we can take care of those babies like..."
"Parents?" Falco said, causing Gabi to stop. The images of her parents flashed before her eyes as her happiness evaporated away. She still kept her smile.
"Falco, you are quite a mood buster." She said this before tightening her grip. "Fine, we can be like mom and dad to them."
"Yeah, at least they can have someone they can get love from." Falco sighed, his grip tightening around the scarf. So much changed in a month's span. Just before he was sitting on the family table, his parents and Colt were chatting with each other and laughing, and now nothing was left. He looked ahead as Gabi was standing in front, a smile on her face.
"Falco, you are not alone." Gabi's hands coiled around Falco's shoulder as she embraced him. "I am with you. Forever." Falco returned the embrace, smiling.
"Are you two done?" Both looked back at the door. Eren's head was poking in, his eyes dull. "Then come down and eat."
"You don't have manners. Knock before coming in." Gabi shouted at him as Falco embarrassedly looked down.
"I already knew what you two were doing before I came upstairs. You have plenty of time to do lovers' stuff after you both eat." Eren said this before going downstairs.
"I can't wait for him to die. He has no respect for our privacy." Gabi shouted before going to the door. "Come, let's eat." Gabi left the room. Falco got up, straightened his shirt, wrapped the scarf around his neck, and joined Gabi.