Caged.
Part 1. Memories.
This was the fifth time Eren left behind the alley in which he must had entered about an hour ago. The narrow street leaded to a stone wall that was marked with the symbol of two crossed wings.
His mind was a completely mess as he turned (again) to the left in the corner that was lighted up by a flickering street lamp. He knew the direction was right, the damn symbol was clearest than before each time he saw it, people in the surroundings were starting to see him with distrust and yet he couldn't decide.
Even though the night offers him the protection his plans needed, he knew he had already lost valuable time, in fact each minute he passed outside lurking put in danger the mission.
He just enlisted in the military, yet he was not using his green uniform, he was in a baggy outfit, with dirt in his face and some scars that actually belonged to him. His hair was messy and, well, intimidation was not so hard since his frowned elbow, (thanks to his lack of decision) made a great job to keep people on his way.
As he approaches again to the, now damned symbol, he took out a small paper in which clear letters were written.
"I must be crazy..."he said, whispered actually, to himself as he entered the alley.
Clenching his fists he stopped outside the wall.
Slowly he started to climb, taking care where he places his hands and feet. He felt his hands freeze as he approached to the top of the wall, his heartbeat was fast and his breathe was out of control.
When he reached the wall, he saw a barrier formed by three men in the entrance of the alley. None of them did anything so he decided to just keep on going.
On the top of the wall he didn't noticed, but when he landed on the ground he immediately regretted not bringing a flashlight with him, the darkness covered everything. Not a sign to be seen, not a path to follow.
He was completely immersed in the dark.
Then he realized how defenseless he was, he could be alone, or surrounded by a lot of persons ready to kill him, or being aimed by long distance weapons.
But he didn't know it and the simple thought of it was terrifying.
He didn't had a weapon but even so he took a step forward, not so sure of himself of course.
First step, nothing.
Second step, nothing yet.
It was on the third step when a sudden punch in the face made him stumbled back.
It was hard to stand up again since he couldn't see anything, not even his own hands.
But recovering fast, Eren was on guard, ready to receive the next punch, when a kick in the back of his legs made him fall abruptly to the ground.
He couldn't even wonder how many of them were attacking him when he felt a strong pressure on his chest and a metallic, and sharpened, object against his throat.
Taking advantage on his free hand, he sends it right to where, he supposed, was the face.
It made an efficient contact making his attacker release the hold of the knife.
Eren stood up quickly sending the other person to the floor.
As he tried to recover himself from the punch, another one came right to his stomach, almost making him faint by the sudden miss of air in his lungs yet staying on feet.
Erwin's voice, his commander, sounded through his mind. "Don't try to beat them, you won't. Just show them how strong you are, make it last, if you can strike some hit, better. But don't try to finish them; if they think you're a threat, they'll kill you. Probably they'll knock you out, if you wake up in the middle of the street, covered with blood, mission is over, return home and try to forget. But if you wake up in a room, the next phase of the mission starts. Let us now in which situation you wake up, got it?"
"Make it last" he thought to himself. Oh well, he was not the giving up type anyway.
He sends his left fist through the air hoping to damage something, but suddenly a hand holds his wrist pulling him into its direction.
Prepared for that, Eren rolled on his feet to the opposite side and connected his elbow with the other person chest.
It made an efficient effect as the other person release the hold on his wrist, but suddenly strong arms wrapped under his own, paralyzing him.
As he tried to release himself by shaking his body in a hysterical way, the grip just get even tight.
"Finish him" It was a male's voice.
A small "hum" was heard and with a set of knocking punches on the face, stomach and legs, Eren blacked out.
-
"Sir please," he was almost shouting as he tried to keep the rhythm of his walking superior ", I know I can bring her back."
"No is no, Cadet. Now return to your duties." Erwin's voice was cold and firm, same as his blue eyes.
"Please, sir! I know her, she is not that way." They were now in front of his closed office door.
Erwin opened the door and him a sign to enter. Eren walked into the simple but clean room, waiting for his commander standing straight in front of the desk.
Erwin closed the door, and walked to his desk taking in the way a black folder branded by the military logo. He lay down in his seat, indicating Eren to do the same.
"Take a seat."
Eren obeyed and sat down in one of the two black chairs in front of him.
Erwin extended the folder to Eren and let it fall in the desk.
"What is that?" Eren asked.
"Open it," he commands "Inside is the track record of Mikasa Ackerman."
Eren flinched under the pronunciation of the name he knew so well. Slowly he opened the folder immediately showing a paper with a lot of handwritten information and a picture of his childhood friend when she was younger.
Eren lift his head in confusion only to find Erwin's one.
"Keep on reading." He said in a calm voice.
He returned to see the papers in front of him. In his hands there were two types of different papers, white ones and yellow ones.
He discovered that the white ones contained the general information of Mikasa, along with some of the most relevant last records.
She had being kidnapped and she was an orphan, something he already knew. Her parents were murdered in front of her, and her house was abandon when the police arrived.
In the records, Eren's name appeared too, it wasn't a surprise since he was the one that had saved her.
A copy of Eren's track record was inserted there too because he killed two of her three kidnappers and Mikasa took down the other one.
The "crime" was justified since it was on self-defense.
After that, Mikasa lived with Eren's family for a year until his mother died and his father disappeared.
Both of them were sent to the same orphan house, they stayed there until Eren's remaining family took him under their protection and he leaved the orphan house.
But Mikasa stood in there alone until, after a year, she escaped.
The next paper he took was a yellow one, there was written the criminal life of Mikasa Ackerman.
There was another picture wrapped on the top of the old paper sheet. This one showed the young woman Mikasa had turned into.
She was not facing the camera since the photo was taken from a blind spot but, even so, the image captures the moment in which she was walking in the streets.
Eren could feel the imposition she spreads even though her figure was frozen in time and printed on a paper.
A simple black shirt and rousted jeans was the only thing she was using when they took the photo.
Her face wasn't clear because of the light and he could only saw her legs until the knees, the rest of them didn't appear in the photo.
Her facial features were almost exactly to the previous pictures except that now they were more sophisticated, elegant.
He hadn't see her in seven years, and yet she hadn't change that much, the only thing that was different was her black hair. He remembered it straight black from start to end, and short. Now it was larger and it was white at the bottom.
He kept on reading the next papers, getting surprised because of the new details he found about her.
The letters that told the story of the black haired girl began with the characteristic formality the army used to use, but as he kept on reading he found himself reading them again and again, carefully passing each word as if they told him a terror story.
Even though the information was not precise since the police ever founded out veridical font of it, the things that were told about her sent shivers through his spine.
Her first kill had been at her nine years old, with her kidnappers.
But the second one came when she was thirteen, and then, as she got older, the number of kills increased as well.
She was involved in a lot of crimes, going from robbery to murder. She acts by herself in some and in a group in others.
Not just that, Mikasa had escaped form the correctional Institution while she was being transplanted to the state jail by murdering around 22 persons.
She had killed 22 persons. By her own.
He dropped the papers on the desk again. His hands were covered with cold sweat and his mouth was dry.
Who was this person? How did the sweet and shy girl he had known became in this?
Reading his thoughts (and also his face), Erwin spoke. "That is Mikasa Ackerman, a serial murder, thug and part of the organized crime. Nothing more." Erwin voice sounded harsh.
"Sir..." Eren founded hard to speak since the air that passed by his throat was raspy.
"You can keep the records if you want, maybe they can help you to remember why you enlisted here, Cadet." His commander words didn't show any sign of sympathy even if they were supposed to be ironical.
"Sir, you can say without doubt who are we dealing with?" Eren's voice was firm now.
Erwin changed his position in his seat. He took his right hand to his chin and stared at Eren with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.
"Tell me Eren, who do you think the real enemy is?"
Eren's eyes widened in surprise, a confuse expression covered his face. "Excuse me, Sir?"
Erwin returned to his usual position on the chair. "Sorry, that was a weird thing to ask, you can leave now."
Eren stood up from his seat and after saluting his commander, he leaved his office.
Later that night, Eren returned to talk to Erwin Smith once more, this time, with a plan that Armin Arlert, an old friend of him, had made in order to convince to bring Mikasa Ackerman out of the delinquency and convincing her of joining the army.
"So, you think this is going to benefice us?" Erwin's voice broke the thick silence in the room after a long time.
"Absolutely, Sir." Eren answered.
Erwin stared at him so long that Eren started to wonder if his commander was feeling right.
When he was about to talk, Erwin turned his back and his voice sounded through the air.
"Then, Cadet Jaeger, this is going to be your first mission."
Eren's eyes bright up with emotion and, as he smiled, he stood up and saluted his superior.
"Sir, you won't regret it."
"Made sure about that, Cadet," Erwin opened a drawer in his desk and took out another folder; just like the one he gave Eren in the afternoon. "However, there is something more you need to know."
"Sir?" Eren asked with surprise in his voice.
"Here," Erwin show him another photograph, this time, the piece of paper showed a man.
Eren took it and looked at it better. The man, who was not staring at the camera, had a strange appearance.
He was not as young as Eren was, but he was not old. He seemed mature, experience showed up in his whole being.
He couldn't see his face because it was not clear, the darkness that surrounded him, make almost impossible, even though he could see the fierceness on his expressions.
"Who is him?" Eren asked lowly, not understanding at all why his photograph was relevant.
"He is another member of the Wings of Freedom, a famous thug between the underground market, serial killer, with the biggest of the murder records, known as "Humanity's Strongest Warrior" and although is exaggerated, he alone is worth to one of our entire squads," Erwin paused his speech to see Eren directly in the eyes, then he finished. "Also, between the gang they know him as Mikasa Ackerman partner, Rivaille."
As Erwin finished talking Eren found hard to focus. His mind was confused and his thoughts were not clear.
"He is Mikasa's partner?" he practically whispered as the words let his throat.
"We don't know the bound that kept them together, but you understand it, don't you?" Erwin asked.
"In order to take Ackerman out of there you'll have to..."
"I have to kill him." Eren finished the sentence, and clenching his fist he shot a decided gaze to his commander. "I'll do it."
"Well then, will talk about details then..."
The young man voice started to disappear as Eren was taking conscious again.
He wakes up in an elegant and dark room. He could only saw the corners of the room thanks to small light that were place there.
He made it; he was inside of the Wings of freedom.
And he doesn't know how to react. He was kind of proud of himself for making it this far, but as he watched the room surrounding him, he wondered what type of people he was about to face, and even important how the fuck he was going to kill Rivaille that now has turned into his opponent if he wanted to save Mikasa from this place.
