"Well" I thought as I packed a bag with some personal belongings, a water flask and two paper bags of rations. "This is a sudden, yet beneficial occurance."
It was around 7 oclock in the morning, the boat for paradise will leave at 10 from the Liberio dock. A MRC240 Iowa-class battleship will be taking me and dropping me at paradise if I remember correctly from the report and briefing with Maggot and the other generals. They will drop me at the port, before making their way south toward a neighbouring ally country, dealing with resistance from an Eldian restoration group. I should arrive at the dock of Paradise at around 12:30.
As I finished up packing, I heard a creaking comming from the bunks next to me. I looked over to see Marcel leaning on his shoulder, looking at me through half lidded sleepy eyes.
"Leaving already?" He mumbled, his voice still croaking from sleep.
"Unfortunatly" I replied, finishing up packing and zipping the bag closed. I swung it on to my shoulder, before turning to face him.
"I'll tell you here and now while I can. You had better come back alive" he said, all traces of drowsieness gone from his voice.
"Who do you think you're talking to Marco? Im the War Hammer" I grinned. He smiled at the nickname.
"And your the Jaw, so the same applies to you" i followed up, going over and sitting on the edge of his bunk. He grinned.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" He replied. We both snickered. He reached out his hand and we both shook on it. I stood up and began making my way to the door, while he flopped his head back onto the pillow.
"I'll see you soon brother" he called. I stopped and looked around at him, kind of shocked. He never called me that before. That name was for Porco. However, it made me happy. I smilled.
"You too brother" I replied, before turning and walking out the door, closing it behind me.
As I made my way along the gravel path and towards the headquaters and office building in the middle of camp, I started to think of what lay ahead of me, what I have set myself, and all the things I will have to do in the future, some good, but most terrible. I would be lying if I said I was not scared. Because in truth, I was terrified. It made me shake even now, and I am sure it was not the cold morning airs doing.
"I am going to become a killer. So many innocent lives, so many people trying to survive just like me, are going to have everything taken from them, for things they had no say or input into."
I stopped in my tracks, looking down at my feet. I'm scared. I'm terrified. What am I becomming. Where do these thoughts come from? Why am I acting like this. I hunkered down, crossing my arms over my knees and burying my head in them. My breathing was quickining. I need to calm down.
Then, something. The grip of a strong, cold hand on my nape. Another cold hand, gripping my face, covering my mouth, sealing it shut. And then, hundreds, hundreds of cold hands gripping my hair, my arms, my legs, my ankles. All hard, unforgiving, pulling me in each direction, all of them relentless. And then, the voices. The whispers. The calls. The demands. The cries. All of them, begging to be heard. And then. One voice. One voice above others. Whispering in my right ear, like they stood behind me.
"You are the possesor of this power. You are the only one who can free your people". My eyes widened. That cold voice. Unforgiving, steel, demanding full attention and co-operation. A voice I have not heard in months.
"Mother?" I thought, trying to turn and look. The grip on my face and mouth tightened. I couldn't turn. I couldn't look. I felt the finger nails digging further into my skin. It stung. It hurt. But the most alarming thing was the weight on my chest. I felt guilt. I felt scared. I felt determination. I felt hatred. I felt sorrow. Everything gathered into a ball and forced onto me. I wanted nothing more than to wail in agony.
And then, nothing. Well, not nothing. Something. Something warm. Something gentle. A hand. This time, only one however. It was smaller. It felt soothing. That weight was gone. It vanished. The hand on my nape. It felt comforting.
I then tried opening my eyes. I was still hunkered. My head in my arms. Warm water rolling down my cheeks. It stung as it rolled over where the nails had dug in. I slowley raised my head. I looked right. And there she stood.
Messy bun, half her hair hanging over her right eye. Those ice blue irisis looking down at me, half lidded, calm and in control, but still with hints of concern around them. At that moment, a light breeze came, making her blonde hair flow in the wind, reflections of sunlight dancing on her defined, yet beautiful face. I was stunned for a moment, just looking up at her, while she looked back down at me. She then momentraily broke eye contact, looking at her hand and slowley trailing it down and stopping it at the tattoo on my back. She held it there for a moment, before removing her hand entirely. She moved in front of me and hunkered down, comming face to face with me.
"Calm down. Control you're breathing" she said, looking me in the eye. I nodded, closing mine, and taking longer breathes through my nose and out my mouth. After a moment, I nodded, slowley standing up and composing myself. She also stood, and began walking away. She stopped after a few steps however, and looked back at me.
"Stay alive" she said in her usual tone, before turning back and walking away.
I looked after her for a moment, before closing my eyes, running my hand over my face. I took a moment before I continued walking. Now, normally when dreams or visions like this would happen, any time I had nightmares such as that, it would be all I could think of for the following days. Why did it happen? What caused it? What was it about?
However, the one thing dominating my mind right now, was Annie's behaviour. She had never shown that kind of side to me, or indeed, anyone here before. She was always alone, isolating herself from others, speaking only when spoken to and avoiding any interaction when and where she can. She was also ruthless, a genius in combat, showing little to no mercy or sympathy for those she demolished. So why did she do that? What was her reasoning? She had nothing to gain from that.
"Stay alive". Her words echoed in my mind. I stopped at the main door to the headquaters, taking a deep breathe, and steeling my emotions, cementing my facial features and relaxing completely.
"Oh I'll stay alive. You just worry about you" I mumbled, before opening the door and striding through.
*2 hours later, 09:30*
I leaned against the railing of the dock of Liberio, waiting for the crew to complete preperations for sail. They were loading supplies, loading the turrent guns and doing an overall inspection. I lit a cigarette, inhailing and holding it for a second, my eyes closed and my head leant back, opening my eyes slowley as I exhailed, looking up at the orange sky. It was beautiful, the whispey grey and white clouds gliding across the open air, the orange beams reflecting down as the sun grazed its surface. I wonder, would I see this view again? From this dock, and even from this nation? With the wqy my plans have been layed out, then I never will again. I havd no intention of returning anyway, but the feeling of leaving still remains.
"Mind if I join you?" I heard next to me. I turned and saw Zeke next to me, smiling. I also smiled and nodded, taking out my box of cigarettes and tapping it, causing one to spring up through a opening in the top. I offered it to him and he thanked me, before taking it. I lit a match and covered it, lighting it for him. He thanked me once again before taking a long pull and exhailing it. We both stood in silence for a moment.
"You're doing the right thing" Zeke said. I turned to look and he had a smile on his face, before looking back at me. "Just know that I am on you're side, always. And I will be joining you soon".
My eyes widened slightly. Zeke smiled, before getting up from the railing, turning around and offering his hand to me. I shook it and we said our goodbyes.
"Stay safe, my friend" he said, before turning and making his way back into the crowd, the white marleyan warrior attire making him stand out against the rest. I stood there for a moment, contemplating what he meant. He was on my side? He would join me soon? Did he know of my intentions somehow? Impossible, I never let slip my plans or fathoms for the future. However, I did notify them all, except Reiner of course, how I would leave soon, so could he potentially have linked that with my actions and created a stable hypothesis?
I sighed, taking a final pull from the cigarette, before dropping it on the ground and grinding it under my boot. I looked up onto the boat and saw a ladder being lowered to the port. Its show time. I picked up my bags, before making my way over and boarding the giant ship. I looked around as I stepped onto the centre of the deck, taking in my surroundings. Three massive turrents on deck, accompanied with rapid fire machine guns, three on each side of the ship to cover each angle. A massive central tower in the middle, clearly the steerage and meeting room. And roughly four levels below deck, these being containment, supplies, ammunition, bunks for sailors as well as ports for torpedo launch.
A truely terrifying creation indeed.
I finished my observation, before heading toward the central control tower. I went in and completed a check in, examination on physical health, and was briefed on my tasks while here.
When I arrive, I will wait for nightfall before making any movements. Titans are dormant without sunlight and while enough moonlight can suffice at times of a full moon, there wont be one any time soon for me to worry about.
In terms of transportation, I have to use my hardening ability to absorb the crystal and leand leading from my ankles into my titan body. This will allow much quicker mobility and I can run and focus on fighting without carrying my body in my hands. Whenever I need to sleep, bury the crystal, but keep the titan body connected.
I will be givin a year here. My primary objective is to locate and secure the founding titan. I am then responsible for aprehending and him or her back to Marley, where their ability will be passed on to a candidate with royal blood.
Roughly 2 hours has passed and I spent majority time in my room, preparing myself mentally for the task at hand. I have ran through each strategie I could think of, weighing the chances of reprocussion. Everything.
I lowered my head slightly, closing my eyes, sending my focus out around me, reaching from the walls of the ship, into the ocean, seeing if I was within reaching distance. Then, I felt the familiar tug in my arm. I grinned. I was within range. I was rather shocked at my growth, but then again, this is the war hammer abilities we are speaking of.
"Approximately 3.9 kilometers, roughly 12,500 feet" I mumbled.
"What are you mumbling about brat?". I looked up and saw the captain of the ship standing there. He was a fat man, with a lot of flesh around his face, along with a miserable attempt at a goattee. He wore a ugly expression and he stood there taking up the whole door frame.
"What do you want?" I said, slowley standing up and making my way over, maintaining eye contact. He backed up slightly from the door, immediatly dropping his gaze. Weak. Not even putting up a fight.
"Your being dropped now, we are here". He said in his prideful tone, however, turning away while he said it and waddling towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. I stared after him until he was gone. I sighed, before moving back into my room, collecting my bag and belongings, before making my way back up to the deck.
I stepped off the ladder, onto the dock of Paradise, the sun gazing down as I looked around. Crystal blue and green water, full white clouds and a calm breeze. This would indeed be a paradise, had there not been hundreds, if not thousands of many eating giants on the otger side of the massive wall at which I now stood. The crew did not leave the ship and I watched the it pull away, aiming south. I put down my bags and watched it, waiting for roughly 6 minutes.
"That ship travels at 2 knots per hour, and covers roughly 2.3 miles in that hour" I mumbled, raising my right hand and lowering myself to the ground of the dock, sending my reach out, down the foundations of the dock, to the sea bed and along the floor of the water. I maintained concentration, continuing to reach, all the while the pulling sensation grew painful. I continued moving it out, stretching the distance, until I found the appropriate area I was looking for.
"Any second now" i said, watching the ship. And then, the moment came.
I poured nearly all my energy into my arm and swung it up into the air. I kept a clear image in my mind of what I wanted to create, its dimensions, the size, and just where I wanted it to exit. A second later, a massive explosion sent waves out across the ocean, before a giant spike was revealed, impailing the ship straight through the control tower and rising it out of the water. It rose roughy 20 meters, near the thicker end of the spike and was left there. I heard the distance screams. The explosions. The crashing of equipment and metal falling into the ocean. Everything. I was panting heavily and I closed my shaking hand into a fist before swinging it to the right, fracturing the base of the spike at the sea floor, causing it to break and fall to the left. The ship crashed into the ocean, port first, and very shortly, disappeared beneath the waves. There were no Eldians on that ship. I asked the captain himself and he claimed he would not let any devils so much as touch his baby, and how I was a lucky exception.
I was shaking with exhaustion from that spike alone. My legs were weak beneath me and my vision was clouded. However, I hauled myself up, before dragging myself up the steps towards the high drop where they turned innocents into man eating beasts. I collapsed at the top, facing the georgous sky above me. I momentarily closed my eyes, smiling.
"It worked. Haha, it worked" I mumbled. With that control tower destroyed, they would have been unable to send out an emergancy signal. I made sure the spike was thick enough in circumfrence to completely obliterate it. And with no emergancy message being sent back, the ship will look like it has just vanished beneath the waves.
I smiled, before the unimaginable realisation and guilt struck me. I just took so many lives, and for what? Why? Why did I do that? What is wrong with me??
I sighed, unable to understand myself anymore. One moment I am ruthlessely taking lives, the next I am mourning them. I just don't understand anymore.
"I need to regain my energy" I thought, as my eyelids grew heavy.
"Tonight, I make the trip to the walls." I thought, as sleep wrapped me in her warm embrace.
"And to the home of the devils of paradise"