Promises

Guess who's back? Back again. So sorry that I haven't updated this in awhile! I had some writer's block mixed with AP schoolwork so I haven't had much time lately. But I'm back with a new chapter!

Warning: Lots of graphic descriptions. This one is very graphic so be warned.

Disclaimer: I don't own snk

Chapter 5: Black Rose

The cold wind bit at his numb fingertips. Mist was all accompanying only to be broken by the sight of fire spitting out the ash of someone's late home. Or body. The only distinctive color that was not gray besides the fire was the dark brown mud that swallowed up Eren's boots. It seemed to sap the spirit out of his ever-crumbling will. Black ashes from a pile of burning corpses fell like snow around him as if to show him that his friends weren't worth burying in the ground. That being said, Eren's shovel hit a mixture of thick mud, crushed gravel, and lumps of black dirt covered in a thin layer of ash.

His POW unit was marched into a battlefield that the Scouting Legion lost. It was now three months after his capture and Bertholt and Reiner were gone. They were transferred deeper into the enemy lines to a worse camp. Eren was provided with little clothing and even smaller amounts of food. He and his fellow POW inmates had to perform some kind of manual labor for the Titans, whether it be digging trenches or graves. Today was the latter.

It was one day after the battle and Eren was currently digging a mass grave for his fellow comrades. Some bodies were burned and others buried. It didn't matter who was burned or buried; they were both so mangled into bloody caricatures of the human body that one couldn't tell which side they fought for. If Eren had learned one certainty in the last three months, it was that death is absolute.

Eren's shovel scooped soggy mud out of the wet ground making a narrow trench. It was already being filled with bodies. He climbed out of the pit that so many of his comrades were to be condemned to. As his worn emerald eyes gazed out, he saw the blaze of raging fires along with several Titan soldiers ordering POWs around. The higher ranking ones were overlooking the situation on horseback. The battered and destroyed buildings were a perpetual gray.

Eren started to grab bodies off of the ground and throw them into the trench. All of their supplies, including their boots, had been stripped of them and given to the Titan army's troops for use. Sometimes Eren would catch a glimpse of the dead's face if the corpse wasn't completely ravaged by bombs, bullets, bayonets, or maggots. His green eyes focused on a particular corpse as he went to pick it up. The corpse's eyes were a cold blue; the light was taken from behind them. But there was always a constant when it came to the dead's eyes. There was always a look of relief in them. A relief from their pain of having to live in a world where a man kills another with the ease of pulling a trigger. This body was no exception. It also had it's dog tags around its neck. No one removed them. No one cared. No one came to save the dead.

Eren's stomach found itself in his mouth. He released what little food he had had that day all into the mud. But it fitted right into the scene of fire and ash. What's one more stain on this town? As he spat out the remaining bitter taste in his mouth, he continued placing bodies into the nearly overflowing trench. He then grabbed his shovel and began to dig a longer trench for the unimaginable amount of dead bodies that were in piles around him.

Out of the gray backdrop Eren eyed a black rose. It's dark pedals were vibrate due to the crimson behind it. Eren's emerald eyes widened in horror as his shovel landed on the mud with a thud. Just next to a tattered Scouting Legion flag was a crimson scarf dancing in the wind. His legs started to move his beaten body unconsciously as his mind was flooded by a swarm of thoughts. Is she okay? What happened? Oh god...

"I can't seem to find my lighter.." a Titan Captain trailed off on the back of his horse while digging in his pockets irritably with a cigarette loosely hanging out of his mouth. His eyes were then caught by a prisoner walking towards an enemy flag and disobeying his burial duties.

"Prisoner 24601 get back to your post," he yelled out. Eren just kept moving; his eyes never wavering from the scarf ahead of him. "Prisoner 24601! Get back to your post or you'll be punished!" the captain's voice was louder this time, but for some reason it was fading away in Eren's clouded mind. The captain pulled out his pistol and aimed directly at Eren.

"Prisoner 24601 get back to digging graves or I will shoot you! This is your last warning!" the captain's voice shouted hoarsely. Eren finally reached his beloved scarf and picked it up. Tears welled in his eyes for the first time in months. He heard a loud clack and looked down. His shirt above his lower abdomen looked like a blooming red flower as his red blood spread across his shirt. The last he remembered was the feeling of mud in his face as his weak knees gave way beneath him.

It was the cold that awoke Eren. His tan eyelids revealed worn green eyes as he gained his consciousness. It was dark and damp as he gained all of his senses back. He was laying on a cold cement floor with a poor bandage job around his stomach as he stared up into a grate that allowed the dim light from the gloomy and rainy day to fill the empty room. Eren knew where he was. The holes, as they were named, were inside the prison camp. They were fifteen feet deep cement holes in the ground with grates at the tops. They were reserved for those who didn't follow orders. There was an eighty percent death rate in these harsh conditions.

The only water Eren received was from the sky and a small amount of food was given every three days. Eren stared at the poorly placed bandages on his abdomen. Red blotches stained the dirty white clothe that covered his torn shirt. He understood why they even bothered to bandage him. They wanted him to suffer before he died, and if he survived, they'd just put him back to work. Eren felt as if hope was one of the smallest grains of sand at the bottom of an ocean.

The ocean..Eren flashed a rare smirk as he thought. He'd never seen one; just another reason to hate the Titans. Just then, two geese flew above his cell. Eren's tan hand reached for them and grasped the air before falling onto his chest with a clink. Clink? He had forgotten that his tags and key were still around his neck. Just then he spotted something crimson out of the corner of his eye.

The scarf! Eren moved to get it, but the pain in his body was so excruciating his eyes started to blur. He couldn't keep focused as his head spun, and he passed out on that cold cement floor. As he awoke he recognized two ocean blue eyes staring back at him with disappointment.

"Armin?" Eren confusedly asked in a raspier voice than he expected. Armin stared back at him for a moment before sighing.

"What happened Eren? I thought you were gonna see the world with me and Mikasa, but you're just lying there rather pathetically," he said in a mixture of disappointment and confusion.

"I still am! I just need some time to-" he was cut short from his response.

"No! You had your dream right in front of you, and you failed to act on it. Now you're stuck dying in a hole with the scarf that represented your dream stained in blood," he accused harshly. "I believed in you! I gave up my humanity for our beliefs! And now you're broken in the bottom of a hole. Is this what I can expect for myself? What happened to all those passionate talks?" Armin questioned pained by Eren's disappearance. "We all believed in you and now you're gone..." he finished meekly with tears welling in his eyes.

"Armin I..." Eren whispered in shock and pain. Armin looked deep into Eren's eyes, and Eren could see the moment his light blue orbs gave up on him.

"Goodbye Eren," Armin finished quietly. His body disappeared into dust right before Eren. He realized that he was hallucinating from the pain. Soon after Eren's vision started to go black again.

As Eren awoke he was met with a face he hadn't seen in years. Her brown eyes were soft as she smiled at her son.

"Mom?" Eren asked, not caring to stop the tears from rolling down his face. Her demeanor changed to a concerned one.

"Eren...my only boy. I wanted the best for you and yet you joined the military. How could you betray me like that?" her face was genuinely pained.

"I did it for you Mom! I did it to avenge you and save Mikasa...I love you," he faded on the last words as his green eyes begged for forgiveness.

"I know sweetheart, but look at you now. You're stuck in the bottom of a hole bleeding to death," tears rolled down her face for her boy as she continued, "You're going to die with no vengeance and no Mikasa. I can't bare to watch this anymore..." she started balling as she faded into dust.

"Mom! No! No..." Eren cried reaching out for the person he lost so long ago. His sight started to fade out again.

Eren was brought out of his slumber once again by an ever familiar scent. It smelled of cherry blossoms and a distinct scent Eren couldn't quite place his finger on. His eyelids shot open when he realized who it belonged to. There in front of him was the love of his life. His everything.

"Mikasa.." he said breathlessly as he stared into her charcoal eyes that only warmed for him.

"Hi Eren," she smiled. "I'm only here for a short time so I wanted to tell you that I love you. Don't you think for one minute that I don't love you. I miss you, so come back soon, okay?" she said brightly but couldn't hide the crack in her voice. It was all Eren needed to hear to know how she felt. She was devastated inside.

"I'm so sorry..." Eren couldn't get the tears to flow out of his face. He was in too much pain.

"I have to go now Eren," she said. "Goodbye, Eren," she said with a smile and a single tear rolling down her face. Eren was reaching out and screaming for her to stay as she faded into the wind. She was gone. Just like that.

"No..." he whispered in shock but then his emerald eyes changed. "NO!" he screamed as his tears finally rolled off his cheeks. For the first time in three months he broke utterly and completely.

It had been 10 days since he was placed in the hole when he was released. Two Titan soldiers now escorted Eren, with a crimson scarf wrapped around his neck, back to his designated "house." In reality, they were tiny shacks with no insolation making it very cold. The shacks were cramped with small bunks and filled with people. Shacks were lined up in two rows that were surrounded by barbed wire fences and guard towers. Just at the front of the two rows was a large, guarded, mansion that served as the headquarters of the Titans who were in charge of the camp.

Eren was marched through the thick mud then thrown roughly into his broken down wooden shack. His body hit the floor in front of the other POWs there with a thud. The guards then proceeded to spit on him and kick him before leaving. Eren could feel his wound wanting to open up. Everyone stared at him until one man pulled him up.

"Is the plan still a go?" Eren asked wearily.

"Just give the signal," the man replied. Eren turned to his audience. They were all worn down like him but there was something different about these men. They had fire in their eyes.

"Let's make one thing clear," Eren started loudly, "I am not a leader. I'm a killer who wants freedom to pursue his dreams. There's no going back after this," he finished. Everyone nodded. "Alright then. Offer up your hearts and prepare to die." As soon as he finished people began to rip apart the room grabbing out rusty homemade weapons.

Eren ripped open a floorboard and pulled out a lighter, gallon of gasoline, and a homemade machete. It had a rigid blade and had a bandage wrapped around the bottom for a grip. One good thing about the Titans was that they were too stupid to thoroughly check for weapons.

Eren then lifted up his shirt and pulled the dirty bandages off of his abdomen. His infected wound looked like his body was falling apart from the inside. If he was to fight then he couldn't have it opening up on him. He poured some gasoline on the flat of the blade and pulled out the lighter. Emerald eyes met the orange flame for an instant before lighting the blade on fire. He held his breath as he pressed the fiery blade against his wound. Eren grunted in pain between clenched teeth. The pain was excruciating. He pulled it off after the wound was cauterized. He steeled himself to do it again, only this time, on his back. Eren almost passed out from the pain, but he had to stay awake. For his freedom. For Mikasa.

Eren looked back to the men he was about to commit treason with. They looked at him with determination and pride that fueled their anger. Eren would watch more of his friends die alongside him. He took one last gaze at their strength of will and then nodded. It was time. The plan was simple. When the clock rang at 6:00 then the revolt would begin. Eren began dumping the gasoline all around the run down shack. He then wrapped a rock in a layer of clothe. Ding ding..

Bang!

Eren kicked the wooden door open, splintering the rotten wood into several pieces. The sky was black with clouds. It was as if the world was waiting for the bloodshed. The Titan guard was gawking at Eren after he busted down the door. He then reached for his gun, but wasn't quick enough. Eren's rusted blade had already met the man's neck with a concise slash. Eren's shirt was now painted in a dark shade of red.

The rest of the POWs charged out behind him running straight for the headquarters. The other shacks had done the same as Erens. Eren wiped the blood from his blade then pulled out the rock with clothe around it. He lit the end and tossed it into the shack. Rotten wood immediately exploded into a ball of orange and red. Eren was silhouetted black in front of the raging fire. His emerald eyes were filled with pure hatred for the Titans. Something snapped inside of him in that moment, and his eyes went dark. The only thing running through his mind was the word kill. He had fallen into insanity. He became a monster.

The Titans had set up a thin wall of troops to fend off the POWs in front of the mansion. The guard towers were set ablaze along with the shacks. The only thing preventing the mansion from meeting the same fate was the machine gun nest they had set up in front of it. POWs were being mowed down and falling left and right. Only a few had guns from the guards they had already disposed of. Eren met up with the rest of the group. He crouched behind a crate where another prisoner was.

"Give me the gun," he said so calmly it sent shivers down his comrades back. He gave the pistol that he acquired off the body of one of the guards to Eren. He leaned out the side of the crate and pointed the gun. Green eyes met the top of the machine gunner's head. That's all he needed. Pop. With the slide of the trigger the man's head exploded and the prisoners started to overrun the Titan's position. Eren climbed over his friend's mangled bodies to join the fighting.

Eren jumped over the dirt mound that the Titans were hiding behind as the other prisoners did. A Titan held up his weapon and Eren cleaved the man's arm clean off. He then proceeded to shoot the man point blank in the head. Eren looked as though someone had dumped a bucket of red paint over his head. Two Titans then proceeded to point the black barrels of their rifles at Eren. Their faces were stricken with terror while Eren's was blank. His eyes, however, were overflowing with pure, unadulterated, rage. With a quick slash Eren blinded one by cutting his eyes then ducked. He used his blade to push the other's gun toward the sky as the Titan shot. His cold pistol barrel was then placed against the Titan's chest, right over his heart. Crimson blood sprayed out over the ground as Eren pulled the trigger.

Emerald eyes gazed over the other Titan cradled on the ground, screaming out in agony while holding his eyes. Blood was running down his face.

"You're pathetic," he said coldly before pulling the trigger on the man, spreading his brain across the mud.

Eren looked up to the mansion. It had been stormed by the prisoners. They were bringing out the captain of the camp, who was in charge of managing it, and several other Titans. They were all bound by ropes. The group was marched out in front of the mansion then they were forced onto their knees. Thick mud was stained by crimson blood even further as each of the titans was decapitated one by one.

Eren surveyed the field before him. Bodies were strewn all over the ground. It was so bad that the prisoners had to step over and on top of bodies to go somewhere. Rivers of blood carried body parts through the now scarlet mud. One Titan's face was shoved into a puddle of blood. He was forcibly drown in his own blood. Only a few prisoners were left alive. Most were killed in the assault on the mansion. The few that were left had gathered what gasoline that they had left and started pouring it all over the inside of the mansion. He was the only one left outside of the headquarters.

Eren then caught something out of the corner of his eye. A Titan was crawling into the doorway of the headquarters with something in his hand. Click.

"Shit," Eren cursed under his breath. The dying soldier just pulled the pin on a grenade. Eren dove away from the house as the entire thing exploded from the gasoline. Eren lied there for awhile before hearing odd noises. As he lifted himself from the cold ground he heard the sounds of trucks above the crackling fire.

Emerald eyes gazed beyond the barbed wire fences and saw a familiar insignia on the front of the trucks. The wings of freedom. The trucks broke down the barbed wire fence and halted right before Eren. The troops started to mobilize but stopped short.

Only his green eyes could be seen from underneath the blood that covered his entire body. He was silhouetted black behind the gigantic oranges flames once again. In one hand he held a bloodied machete and in the other was a pistol. Behind him were droves of bodies.

"Dear God, what happened here?" Commander Erwin said taken aback by the gruesome sight. Some could be heard muttering that he was the devil, others released their stomach contents all over the ground. Almost all of them were standing, wide-eyed and gawking, at Eren as if he were a monster. Eren spotted a few faces that he knew. He saw Armin's ocean blues, Sasha's tears, Jean's fear, Connie's purging. All of his and Armin's squad members had looks of terror plastered on their faces from the sight of him.

He then felt the warm embrace of one of the soldiers. She smelled of cherry blossoms. He started to hear her voice fade into his head.

"Eren!" she cried out in a soft voice.

"Mikasa?" he said confusedly. He saw her cheeks wet with tears. The reality of the situation started to hit him as he returned to his normal state. His knees fell to the ground and his eyes grew wide. A black rose caught his eye, and he cried into Mikasa's chest louder than he'd ever cried before.

Very dark. I'll try to get back on this story asap. I kind of have an inkling about what I'm gonna do for the next chapter. It won't be as dark I promise. Get it? Promise? Any who all puns aside I love the reviews and how popular you guys made this story. Thanks so much!

Yours truly ~ ianlazy