A Kiss with a Fist
Chapter Fourteen
Dahlia shuddered as her foot skidded against a piece of rubble—a shingle that used to belong atop a roof, maybe. The woman, having just reached nineteen and the pre-stages before adulthood, was quite accustomed to fighting against titans, now. Not as long as perhaps Lance Corporal Rivaille, or even Irvin Smith, but long enough. Survival rates were extremely low, especially for people as late in the game as Dahlia and Rigor. She hadn’t of been here as long as her aforementioned superiors, but she had been among the Recon Corps long enough to make a name for herself.
The Black Dahlia. “Dahlia?” Rigor called her away from her impending thoughts, his gentle voice drawing her away from the animosity that swelled within her chest—if only for a moment.
Rigor was a tall, slender man, whom was a year older and perhaps just five inches taller than Dahlia. He lacked her strength and undulated anger; she lacked his understand and intellectual capability. But she adored him. On days like this, Rigor was her anchor back into sanity.
His deep-set violet eyes stared at her and she swallowed. “I’m fine, Rig.”
“Do you have your locket?” Dahlia looked forward, watching as titans began coming into view. So many more than she had expected. Those kids, the ones stuck on the frontlines, they didn’t stand a chance. The realization made the uneasiness she had been feeling in her stomach wash over her tenfold.
Dahlia’s hand locked around the necklace she kept fastened to her neck—praying and praying and praying.
She nodded and so did Rigor.
Dahlia tried not to notice the tiny house with the caved in roof. She did her best not to react to the hand that reached into the torn down house and pull out a boy, his limp body making no effort to fight back. Dahlia ignored the screams that tore from the mother’s lips, treading on with Rigor’s grip on her upper arm to guide her.
“More soldiers are on their way, babe. Try to focus on our mission, okay?” Dahlia felt like throwing up.
“How could they have advanced within the walls so quickly?”
“Dahlia.”
“Right,” she sighed. “Sorry.”
Rigor nodded, drawing his swords. And, with one final glance behind her, Dahlia did the same. “I really do hate my job.”
Rigor agreed.
*
Lotte’s head felt heavy. She was sure she had heard a scream, but wasn’t sure. Everything sounded as if she had been underwater. And, after a moment’s speculation to the pounding in her head and the blood that poured from the cut just above her eyebrow, Lotte threw up.
Everything was hazy. And as she rolled onto her back, she could see black dots dancing in front of her vision. And, behind those dots stood her mother. Eline’s thin lips had blood smeared over them, like a lipstick people inside Wall Maria (the wealthier people) wore and pooled around her chin from out of her mouth, where it had also been smeared across her teeth.
“M-mom?” Lotte’s voice sounded thick, even in her own ears.
Eline had been repeating the same thing over and over and over again. But, the harder Lotte tried focusing on the words that Eline’s blood stained lips curled around, the harder Lotte found it to focus on. Her face swam in front of her own, making Lotte feel as if small leaf, gently swaying back and forth in a light breeze.
A sharp hand drew Lotte away from her leaf fantasy, jolting her up into a sitting position. “Mom?” Lotte croaked, again.
Her vision, although still blurry around the edges, had cleared. Lotte could see the dust in her mother’s hair and the tear streaks tearing down her face. “Where’s Aide?”
Eline shook her head, pointing up. She was hysterical. And, as Lotte leaned closer, she was finally able to understand what her mother was saying. “Get up. Get up. It has Aide—get up.”
Lotte reacted fast. She didn’t pause to consider her own injuries. Even when she stood up and her head pounded angrily. She considered a minor concussion, but didn’t dwell on the idea. Her assessment skipped over her own well-being, quickly making sure her gear was still intact. There were minor dents and scratches along her gear, but nothing serious.
Her entire roof had caved in around them. Luckily for Lotte, however, their little area seemed to receive the least amount of damage. Her mother had fallen on instinct, busting her mouth when she ducked for cover. Lotte had been hit by falling pieces of roof—nothing she couldn’t work around. And, Aide—
Aide. Aide. Aide.
Her lips trembled as she released the trigger of her 3DMG, circling around the being that was just beginning to straighten itself from the remains of her house. It was a low-classed metered titan—smaller than anything in her nightmares. But Lotte wasn’t dreaming, anymore. The blank look on its face was real. The limp body it held in its disgusting hand was real.
It was the first real monster she had ever encountered. And with the severity of the situation washing over her skin, screaming Aide in her ears over and over again, Lotte found her arm was a little unstable. She was unstable.
Her attack wasn’t strong enough.
But, its was. Just after Lotte’s attack hit its mark, not nearly strong enough to even disable, the titan’s free hand swiped at her body. The very next real sensation that washed over her body being the glass shards in her back and the splinters in her arms. The impact she made through the window was bad enough without pushing the shards deeper into her back when her body made contact with the floor.
The voice in her head got louder and she struggled to sit out, the pounding in her head seeming to only get worse. “N-no—Ai—“ She was only conscious long enough to see her brother, whom she so adored, be swallowed whole.
!*~*~*!
Sorry this is like twenty years too late. (ok sh it’s only been like a month ok) Wow. This sucks. Like. Imma throw up bc aIDE. Also I suck at like writing action things so if there’s anything you don’t understand hmu. ((I really need to be doing all that make up work from ibca rn))