Hello! Welcome to the prologue of my new fic Camp Freiheit! This was slightly inspired by Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Born at Midnight. I created this because I wanted more AUs that were not centred on pairings and so I decided to write one myself! If there is a pairing, which would be highly unlikely, it will probably be Eremika even though I ship Ereri, because in this story it probably wouldn't work. This will roughly follow the anime's plotline and then diverge from the manga. Well, here it is!
Camp Titania for Young Offenders. The words make me want to vomit. My mother was assaulted by a young criminal five years ago. She was shot by one of those criminals from Camp Titania before my own eyes. It was just before noon, and she was working at the till of the local chipper's. It was drizzling, the sky was grey, and everyone was shocked at how cold it was. As a result of the bad weather, we had very few customers, even though it was nearing lunch time. However, we couldn't let the lack of customers dampen our spirits. I was sitting in the kitchen behind the counter playing cards with Hannes, the cook. My mother peeked into the kitchen every so often to see how we were doing, and to spectate the ongoing game of five card poker. We were using stale chips (or fries, if you call them fries) as betting chips and I was losing by a lot. It had gotten to the point where Hannes was making fresh chips because he had won all of mine. I didn't usually stay at my mother's work on Saturdays, but my father was on a business trip so he couldn't look after me on the weekends like he usually would, so my mother had brought me into her work.
Although it was gloomy outside, there was a warm and happy atmosphere inside. I was just about to fold when all of a sudden I heard a bang. I peered out from behind the serving counter. A boy not even seven years older than me at the time, wearing a black balaclava, an odd chain necklace and dark gloves had slammed the door open, and was stalking up to the till. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the silver pistol in the boy's hands. I met eyes with my mother. I had no clue what to do. She made a shooing motion with her hands under the counter, a desperate look in her eyes but I was so scared I couldn't move. My ten year old brain could not comprehend the situation at hand. All I knew was the gun looked like the ones in the movies, not the plastic ones in the toy shop he had always wanted, and he had it aimed at my mother.
"Nobody move!" the robber yelled. His voice was course yet high-pitched at the same time. His shaky hands pointed his gun at my mother's chest. I realised my mother's life was at stake. I tried to step out and tackle the young man but Hannes held me back. I couldn't understand. Hannes was an adult, he should be brave and strong enough to take on the masked boy.
"Gimme the money!" he shouted, nodding towards the till. My mother did not react. She just stood still, as pale as a ghost. The armed robber began to tremble, whether it was in anger or agitation, I couldn't tell.
"Give me the money!" he repeated, his tone a little distressed.
It happened so fast. I heard a deafening bang, like the popping of a balloon and before I could make sense of what had happened, my mother had fell to the tiled floor. Blood trickled steadily from her chest, staining her white shirt red. Hot tears ran down her cheeks, as well as mine. I ran out from my hiding place to my mother's side.
"Mommy!" I wailed. I held her hand with one hand and caressed her face with the other, careful not to brush off of the bullet wound. The robber's breath hitched at the sight of me, and then launched into action. He vaulted over the counter and grabbed the money out of the till. I yelled at him to stop but he ran out of the shop before I could make him stop. A black van had pulled up outside the shop and a blond teenager with sunglasses was in the driver's seat. The robber hopped into the van and they both took off into the distance. Meanwhile, my mother was on the verge of drifting off.
"Mommy? Please don't go!" I sobbed pleadingly. She started to cough, and flecks of blood mixed with saliva sprayed over me.
"Eren..." she said softly. " I-I-"
She coughed up some more blood to my dismay.
"I love you so much..." She spit out some more blood and started wheezing.
"Just... live for me, okay?"
I nodded and wiped the tears from my eyes.
Her hand slowly goes limp as she whispers her last words.
"Please don't leave me..." she pleaded as her life left her body.
"NOOOOO!" I screamed at the top of my voice.
"She's gone. She's gone. She's gone," I cried over and over, until I noticed Hannes curled in a ball in the corner calling 911. He gaped at my mother's now motionless body and rushed over. He hung up on the emergency services and put his hand over her heart.
"I can't feel anything," he muttered. He started doing CPR and mouth to mouth and all that shit but we both knew there was nothing we could do. Hannes stopped after a few minutes to get his breath back.
"Why... why didn't you stop him?" I asked in a grievous tone.
"You're the adult. Aren't you supposed to be brave and strong?" Anger seeped into my voice as I covered my face with my hands.
"Why didn't you save Mommy?" I yelled.
"I could've saved her. But I didn't. Because I'm a coward," the useless bastard replied.
Carla Jaeger was gone. My mother died that day. She did nothing to her murderer, who shot her in cold blood. On that day, I made a vow. I would kill the man who killed my mother.
TADA! Prologue complete! What do you think? Please leave a review, even if it's less than ten words it means so much more than a follow or a favourite. I know some will probably be wondering where tf is Mikasa, but I must save that for future chapters! I probably will update soon enough because I ACTUALLY HAVE PREWRITTEN THE NEXT CHAPTER! I just need to proofread it and type it out. By the way, reviewing speeds up the process *wink wink nod nod*.