All rights are reserved for Isayama Hajime. I own nothing aside from my OC(s) in this work of fiction. If the changes I made to the story do not suit your fancy then feel free to stop reading, but hence or otherwise feel free to review on how I do
-PLEASE & THANK YOU.
"Line Up!" Yelled a man perhaps in his forties, "the rules are the same as usual! The amount of food you get depends on the number of titans you kill..." He continued. "What you do with your food is up to you." "Damn... I hate this rule, don't you Kozak." Asked a young boy with tanned skin. "As long as I kill them, we get to eat, there's no reason to argue." Answered a boy with dark brown hair and steel-grey eyes. "Could you two stop talking and get us some food." Demanded a girl with crimson red hair and emerald-green eyes... "Never mind... Damian stop distracting Kozak, he's the only reason we get to eat."
"Yeah, yeah I got it Erika, you don't have to tell me twice... So the plan is the same as always then huh? We stay down while you kill as many of them as you can, right?" Damian said to the young Kozak. "But this still sucks, we're not even ten years old yet and we have to go through all this? Don't you ever get tired of it Zak?" He asked again. "It doesn't matter... As long as we're alive I don't mind." Kozak answered calmly but gently. "Sorry for putting you through this all the time." Erika said looking downward. "It's okay."
xxxx
"Hey! Wake up already ya damn monster!" The guard assigned to the cell yelled. Mason shot him a glare, a glare that made even the toughest of men doubt themselves, sadly there wasn't even an ounce of toughness in the guard. "You better wipe that fear away." Said Mason, referring to the pool of urine that had formed at the guards feet. Looking around the cell, it looked different yet it was oddly nostalgic, it reminded him of the cell he use to share with his old friends. "Erika... " he whispered to himself, "I wonder, how different the world would look, if I managed to save you that day?"
xxxx
"Karol... Karol wake up!" Karol opened her green eyes and looked around, the ever familiar blue eyes of her friend Chirsta and brown ones of Sasha. "Yeah I'm up." Karol assured her friends. "We have to get going Karol, we don't get breakfast if we don't do our duties." Sasha pleaded. "I don't want to!" Karol snapped back. "Karol, we have to, it's our duty." Christa tried. "Why don't we just let him starve? He barely eats anything we send him anyway." For the past 2 days, Karol had weaseled her way out of this particular duty, it wasn't anything difficult, the duty only involved sending food to the prisoner, the problem was the prisoner himself.
"Are you still scared of him?" Christa asked. Karol pulled her legs up to her chest and she rested her chin on her knees, "...yes..." She answered sadly. "I-I just... I'm just so confused... The way... he looks at me... those eyes..." She said between sobs. "They... Feel so cold... So full of hate... I'm just... So scared." Karol had started crying. Christa pulled her friend into a hug, "I know how you feel, but you have to do this, you can't ask Reiner or Jean to help you all the time. Besides, everyone else is scared too"
xxxx
"I wonder if he'll let me eat this?" Asked Sasha, looking at the tray of food in her hands. "I hope so, then we won't need to go to the mess hall later right?" Karol answered her friend. They passed by the cells one by one, "why do you think Mikasa came here today?" Sasha asked. "Isn't it obvious... To see Eren." Karol said looking at her friend. "Is it that important?" "It is as important to her as dinner is to you." Karol shot back.
When they got to their designated cell they couldn't believe their eyes, Mason laid asleep on his bed, but it was not a peaceful sleep. He tossed and turned in the bed, swinging his fists and grabbing the air, as if trying to catch or to hit something. "No..." He said still asleep. "Please... I beg you... Let them go... Please" he cried out. "No... don't kill them... I'll do anything... Yes... Anything..." He continued, "NOOOO!" He screamed reaching up with his right arm, throwing himself out of bed.
He opened his eyes, all he saw were the brick walls of the prison that held him. "Erika..." he whispered "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... Please... I'm sorry." Looking up his eyes met Karol's, what she saw made her heart skip a beat. His eyes were filled with tears, and they looked full of sadness, they begged to be forgiven. Realizing that they were there, Mason quickly rubbed his eyes, straightened himself and looked at them with the cold, merciless, glare he kept on since they arrested him at the top of the wall, try as he might he couldn't hide the sadness behind them.
"Who's Erika?" Karol asked. "My story of love and lost should be saved for another time." He answered coldly. "Then do you want your breakfast?" Sasha asked, holding the tray up. "You can have it, I still haven't finished the bread from last night." He answered. "Yay!" Cheered Sasha. "When would we be eligible to hear your story then?" Karol asked. "When I'm out of prison and feel like it." Mason answered, not changing his tone.
xxxx
Eren opened his eyes and looked around. The room smelled of antiseptic, was it the hospital? Turning his head back, he saw a window with prison bars, he was in a cell. "Are you awake?" Asked a voice he didn't recognize. Eren turned to the voice and saw 'lance corporal Levi' of the scouting legion. Levi was humanities most powerful soldier, anyone who didn't know him was obviously never had human contact in the last few years. "Yeah." Eren answered still confused. He tried to raise his hand to shake but he felt something pulling it back. Looking at his arm he saw that it was cuffed to the bed. "I'm sorry, but until we know that your an ally for humanity we cannot let you go free."
"Why do you fight titans?" Levi asked. "Huh?" Eren muttered. "I asked why you fight titans." Levi repeated. "Why I fight titans?" Eren asked himself. "Everyone has a reason to fight. Be it for their loved ones or for revenge. If you have no cause you will not survive." Levi explained. "So... Why do you want to fight titans?" "Because... Because they have caused us too much suffering... I can't let them get away with what they've done." Een answered. "And... I want to reclaim this world... I know that the only way to do so... Is to kill them all!" He continued.
"Humph... Tell chief Irwin that I will vouch for this kid." Levi said to the other officers. "But understand, if you go crazy and kill anyone... I will kill you." Turning to Eren. "Get those cuffs off him, he's needed in military court." Eren was confused once again. "Sir the prisoner has been sent to the court room without incident." Reported a soldier. 'The prisoner, who could that be?' Eren wondered.
On the way Eren was amazed by the surroundings, everything was decorated beautifully. "We're here." Said Levi. Eren was shocked, the courtroom was just a walk away. Entering the room, Eren looked around and saw lots of people, mostly high ranking officers, a handful of friends from the 104th trainee group. And in the middle of the room, a figure sitting on the floor, cuffed to a thick pole. The figure turned around and Mason looked him in the eyes, Eren noticed something off, maybe it was because they haven't really known each other but, his eyes were cold and emotionless, they chilled Eren to the bone.
Eren was brought next to Mason and cuffed down as well. Three men sat at a table in the middle. "The trial of Eren Yeager and the 'outsider' shall now commence." Said the man in the middle. "Firstly, the decision for what to do with Eren Yeager." The man on the right said. "What are your views?" Said the middle man, turning towards chief Irwin. "I've already read the reports given to us on this matter. I think I speak for all of the scouting legion when I say he would be a great asset to the legion. I vote that he should be inducted into the scouting legion." Answered the commander of the scouting legion.
"I beg to differ!" Said an officer of the military police. "Yes, I agree." Said Rico of the stationary guards. "He is too much of a variable to be trusted." She continued. "See, she understands why this boy must be handled, I say we have him executed and his body dissected." Suggested an officer. Mikasa wanted to teach each and everyone of them a lesson, but Mason's words stopped her.
"You won't succeed..." He said. "What was that!?" The officer shouted. "Titanshifters disintegrate into nothing just like titans... By the time you sink your blades into him, he'll be nothing but steam." Mason explained. "How would you know!?" Yelled the officer. "Because of the sheer number of times my own alliance has tried and failed!... Dozens of good valuable warriors that are worth thousands of men, dead for literally nothing."
"HE LIES!" Yelled the officer. "How could he possibly know!?" "Would you like a demonstration?" Mason answered coldly. "Silence!" The middle judge yelled, Mason sat back down. "Even if he can't help us learn about the titans, he still can't be trusted." Rico reasoned. "Yes I've read the reports... Eren Yeager you were reported to have attacked fellow trainee Mikasa Ackerman, how do you plead?" The judge on the left asked. "I... Attacked Mikasa?" Looking at Mikasa, he was disheartened when he saw the small healing cut on her cheek.
"But Eren did not mean to..." "Silence Ackerman you have no say in this, we know about how you are attached to him, your a biased party." Rico cut her off. "So are you." Mason argued. "In what way am I being biased?" She asked. "Just as she loved him, you hate him, a court that only listens to one side is not fair, if not corrupt beyond human acceptability, or are you really so Titan that you kill without thinking of the benefits." He argued. "Do not compare humans to titans!" She shouted. "I'm not labeling humanity as a whole... Just you. Besides, how sure are you that humans and titans are different?" His statement made everyone freeze.
"They both kill without thinking, they eat more than they need, they are very overpowering to creatures lesser than their size, sound familiar?" Mason reasoned. "What do you know?" The judge on the right asked. "He knows enough to get the job done." Answered Pixis. "Would any officer give information to a soldier that holds no value." He continued. "Then he's useless to us right?" An officer asked. "Not what I was implying, he claimed to be of captain rank, and yet he's shown skills worthy of a colonel, I wouldn't say that he holds no value, if he doesn't have information then we could be starting a war with a powerful alliance by killing him, if he does, then we might have lost valuable information on the titans."
"That argument is only applicable if his story holds true." Rico argued. "And if it is not true then your stronghold was saved by nothing more than a mere monster, I bet your soldiers will be happy about that." Mason shot back sarcastically. "Do you have control over your Titan form then?" Asked the middle judge. "I've been practicing for 7 years now, lets test it out!" Answered Mason. He placed his thumb in between his canines and made to bite it. "Wait! lets not be too hasty now." Said the judge.
Mason's hand was quickly dropped as a knee buried itself into his abdomen. "Careful corporal, pain induces transformations." Mason muttered. "Then I will handle you!" Said Levi. He then walked over to Eren and punched him in the face, kicked his jaw and proceeded to brutally beat Eren. Eren was on the verge of losing control, "careful Eren lose yourself to your Titan and they execute both of us." Mason said reassuringly. "Silence outsider!" And a punch to the left side of Mason's face. When the beating stopped Eren spat out a tooth. "He seems to be in control sir!" Said Levi.
"We cannot possibly be letting him live!?" Yelled a member of the military police. "He'll kill us all!" "Or you could kill yourselves." Mason shot back. "If you don't let him live then your only chance of fighting against titans will be dead. Plus if he does mean to cause trouble then wouldn't it be best if he's outside the walls? Best case scenario, he gets eaten by titans outside the wall. We'll see how this turns out when the titans corner you in your last wall." He explained. "The divine walls will not be broken! The walls are a gift of our divine lord. We needn't worry about the titans." Said a member of the walls religious faction.
Mason looked at him in disbelief, "what? Y-you honestly believe those walls are holy?" The religious man mirrored his confusion. "No matter what you say you will not sway my faith Titan!" He yelled. "You do realize that the wall has been broken twice now, right!?" Mason asked. "The outer towns were meant to draw away titans, the main wall will never be broken!" He shouted. "Then at least let me enjoy the look on your face when a Titan regurgitates you." Mason shot back.
After 10 minutes of thinking and discussing, "Okay for now we assume your story is true and let you go free. As for Yeager... Captain Mason was it? Would you be capable of training Eren in his Titan form?" The judge asked. "I could if he has the desire to control it." Mason answered. "Then please train him... But of course we require some security, so lance corporal Levi shall be his watcher incase he... Loses himself... Final verdict, Eren Yeager will be allowed to live, but will be under guard by lance corporal Levi. He will be trained by captain Mason, to control his Titan self, but should any form of problems get out of hand, you will be both executed."
"Eren are you alright?" Asked the woman treating the wounds and bruises from his beating. "Yeah, I was beat up a lot as a kid this is no big deal." Eren answered. "That damn corporal, I'll tear him limb from limb." Mumbled Mikasa. "Now, now Mikasa calm down, corporal Levi only wanted to help Eren." Said Karol. "Wow! Your toothsome growing back!" Said the woman, fear began showing in her eyes. "I'm sure you'll be fine just get some rest." She quickly said before leaving. "Uhm guys, where's Mason?" Asked Christa. "I'm sure he's fine." Assured Ymir.
xxxx
Over the past few days a certain green eyed girl tried her best to cope with her confusion. The confusion mainly stemmed from the man who now occupied her dreams. Karol opened her eyes, she saw that her pillow was not soaked in tears. 'Why? First I'm scared of him now he won't get out of my head' she asked herself. She already knew the answer to that question, because no matter how she looked at it, no matter how she looked at his eyes, her heart would skip a beat.
Even though he never showed her his sad gaze again the memory of them would resurface the moment she looked into his eyes. Plus she kept getting this really strange feeling of how he seemed to soften his gaze when they made eye contact, which only made her heart flutter even more. Before she even knew it she was in the cafeteria, she rested her head down on her arms and her thoughts drifted back to Mason's eyes. "Karol, are you okay?" Christa asked concerned for her friend. "She's fine, she's probably just daydreaming about her crush." Ymir's words made her jump.
"I'm not daydreaming about Kozak!" Karol shouted. "I never said it was Mason." Ymir defended. "What are you talking about Mason?" asked Eren. "Oh right you don't know. Karol here has a crush on the 'Titan Knight', she has ever since he saved her 5 years ago, now that she knows he's actually human she can't stop her overactive imagination. She's been having romantic dreams about him for the past few days." "How did you know that!?" Karol questioned. "Wait, I was right? I only took a wild guess." Ymir asked.
"Uhm, Karol..." Mikasa walked up to Karol and held both her hands, "I support your love fully." "Eehhhhh!" Muttered Karol. "Wait you have it all wrong, I don't..." She tried to weasel out but the stare Mikasa gave her made her change her mind. "I'm just..." Mikasa moved her face closer, "I'm just still confused about how I feel." She admitted. "Now that wasn't so hard was it?" Ymir asked sarcastically.
Christa tried to wriggle out of her grasp. "Listen Karol, maybe you're just too confused..." Reiner and Bertholdt heard, "hey lets just keep this between us then, ok?" Asked Reiner. "Yeah we'll help out anyway we can, we're a little makeshift family after all." Annie got up from her seat and walked past the two and to Karol. "How about we go talk to him, I'd like to know his story." Looking back at everyone else she received looks of agreement.
"Hey where's Marco?" Asked Connie. "He said he joined the military police. It's fine though, he's our man on the inside. He'll tell us if anything goes wrong." Jean answered. "Won't he be lonely?" Asked Armin. "He's got some friends of his in there too, so less to worry about." Jean assured everyone. "Could I at least finish this first?" Pleaded Sasha, mouth full of mashed potato.
xxxx
Mason laid on the roof above his room, staring at the sky, more nostalgia. "You loved staring at the sky didn't you Erika? The sky here is beautiful, and it doesn't rain all the time here... You would love this... " Mason talked to himself. Eren could only stare in disbelief, 'who was Erika? Another outsider? A friend of his? Why is he talking to himself?' "How long do you plan on staring?" Mason asked, startling Eren. "Uhh... I just wanted to talk." Eren said. "What about?" Mason began. "We'll first off, why do you avoid us? It's been a month now." Eren asked. "How about we all talk together then?" Said Mason, making everyone in the lower floor flinch.
"Okay so you wanna know me better." Mason said sinking into the chair in his appointed room. "May I ask why?" "It's just that you don't seem to socialize." Karol explained, as if on cue masons eyes softened when they met hers, his gaze still pierced her but the more gentle look made her heart do flips. "Okay well, first off most of the time I don't socialize because of this." He closed his eyes, when he opened them again they were replaced by his usual glare. Chills ran down all their spines, "what's with that glare." Jean asked. "It's a trait I inherited from my mother, you see, she was always a scary type of woman." Mason diverted his eyes which started to tinge with sadness.
"What happened to her?" Asked Christa. "She died of a rare disease when I turned five... " he explained. "And your father?" Annie questioned. "He... He died a few months before my mother, they say his death caused her health to deteriorate." Mason's eyes began to fill with sadness. "How did your father die then?" Bertholdt asked. "Like a true father... He was the last thing that stood between an army of titans and the last wall of our stronghold. He killed every Titan that came close to the hole in our wall and held them off until reinforcements came. The funny thing is the titans never managed to directly kill him, he came home said his goodbyes to me and mom, then died of his wounds."
"So you were orphaned at the age of 5, big deal." Said Ymir. "Ymir!" Christa scolded. "Hahahaha... She's kinda right though, losing my parents wasn't the tough part, well not compared to what happened afterwards." Mason said. "What happened next, was it what made you strong?" Eren requested, Mason's face turned dark. "A few months after my mother died... A new king came into power in our fortress. He was a horrible man, corrupt, lecherous, and downright evil." He stated. "He... He approved of slavery..." Everyone was shocked. "He set up new laws that... Used the criminals and orphans. Women became slaves to nobles, men became workers and orphans were used to fuel the war effort."
"That's horrible." Sasha exclaimed. "That was just the beginning. Orphans were trained in the most brutal way possible, how you may ask, well, with experience." Mason said. "That doesn't sound so bad." Said Jean. "You don't understand what I'm implying don't you?" Everyone swallowed hard. "Everyday we would be put into an arena, they gave us gear and they would release titans on us." Everyone's jaw dropped. "They did what!" Shouted Reiner.
"You heard me, they released titans on us, the weak would die, the strong survive to eat. They had a rule where how much food you get depends on how many titans you killed." Mason explained. "I normally scored top because I killed more. The smart ones made friends with me, the less bright ones fought for their food. Yeah, so that's how I became strong, first hand experience since I was six years old." he stated. "Is that how you met Erika?" Asked Karol. Mason looked at her with surprise.
"Erika was a special kind of girl." Mason said. "She was basically the first girl ever to look into my eyes and not be afraid. Her eyes were the first I ever truly looked into without a sign of fear but she was never strong enough to back it up. And then there was Damian, he was always kinda slow, and not to mention he was the most scared of us all." Mason told. "The plan was that I killed and they stayed put, then I'd share whatever food I got with them."
"We're you attached to them?" Sasha asked. "Very, I was very attached, because of my eyes I never really had friends. But then again, are people who turn to you out of desperation really your friends?" Mason asked the group. "I found that out the hard way..." His eyes turned distant. "When you've never had friends...you can't tell if you're being used or if you're really friends. Sometimes I wonder whether or not they were really my friends."
"But in the end you can't really tell until you've lost them. Eren, do you like Mikasa?" He asked, Eren's face turned a bright shade of red. "NO! We're just family." He yelled. "Funny, Erika used that excuse too." Silence filled the room, it was only broken when Mason continued. "It wasn't long before attachment became love. Erika was everything to me, she was the one reason I continued fighting. Damian was a close friend but friendship didn't compare to love, unless you consider that it was unrequited love." His eyes saddened even more. "You never got the chance to tell her?" Karol tried to guess.
"Once upon a time there was a prince and a princess, one day the princess was captured by a monster. The prince fought through hoards of enemies to save the princess even though he was weak he never gave up. The prince beat the monster and saved the princess and they lived happily ever after. Moral of the story is?" He told. "That if you fight and never give up your dreams come true?" "That love concours all?" "That the only way to live is to fight?" Everyone guessed but Mason's face turned cold, "moral of the story is that a monster never gets the girl he loves."
"What the hell kind of moral of the story is that!?" Asked Bertholdt. "Mine." Mason answered. "I confessed my feeling for Erika... But... Damian kinda beat me to her heart. She was just more attached to him than she was to me, her excuse was that I was family, that I would always be like a big brother to her." He clenched his heart. "In the end I agreed... But that kind of pain cuts deep. What hurt more was how Damian was too dense to notice. She clung to him like these two." He said pointing to Ymir and Christa.
"In the end I buried my own feelings and let it go. Since they were my friends I helped pull them together... I thought that seeing her smiling face was all I needed. I never realized that not being the reason she smiled hurt more. To drown out that pain I started killing more and more." He explained. "Did you ever get over it?" Asked Karol. Tears started forming in his eyes. "It's hard forgetting your everything, it's even harder when someone you once considered your best friend turned against you." Everyone got confused. "Damian found out that I loved Erika, around that time I became a titanshifter so he asked me to stay away from her. He who I once thought was my friend, now hated me."
"A month ago you were crying about her right? Was this the reason?" Karol asked. Mason wiped away his tears, "No, the reason I was crying was because I couldn't save her..." Everyone got startled. "Damian may have been slow but that didn't mean he wasn't possessive. I never would have imagined that he would... That he would..." His words stopped at his throat. "That he would what?" Asked Karol, grabbing him by the shoulder. "That he would kill her..." Silence filled the room again.
"He did what?" Asked Karol. "I became a soldier and he became a successful businessman, Erika of course was happy but she was also upset that he started cheating on her. I tried my best to tell her to break up with him, but she never took my advice. Then they had a fight about how he was cheating on him and... he killed her." Gasps came from all the girls, even Mikasa was taken back. "He then tried to pin the blame on me, he came after me with his new friends, so I killed them."
"That triggered a civil war between the oppressed and the corrupt. We won in the end but well lets just say that too many people died." Karol felt her heart jolt. Everyone felt sorry for Mason. "Then commander Lauren and her merry band of Titan fighters came along and helped us out. I joined the Forward Vanguard Alliance because of my skills and... abilities. Our stronghold now has a stable government and is standing strong. The end." He finished. "Did that really happen?" Asked Annie. "Whether you believe it or not I don't care, because that's my life, I know that it's true." He shot back.
"Okay then I guess that's good enough. He's told us a lot now lets not make it tougher for him." Said Reiner. "Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. If you need people to talk to then you could talk to us." Said Christa. Everyone left the room, except Karol and Mason. She was too lost in thought, 'I never realized that he had such a past' "I don't mind you being here but I wouldn't want people getting the wrong idea." He said to her, snapping her out f her thoughts. "Uhm... Sorry." She made to get up but her legs wouldn't move. She wanted to know more but Reiner was right, he's already said a lot. 'Maybe just one more' she thought.
"Have you ever tried getting over her?" She asked. "Getting over Erika... Hmm... I have... But it is hard when she's the only thing in your life. You're all the first people to bother thinking of me as a human since Erika died." He answered calmly. A small smile appeared on his face and his eyes softened. She felt her face warm up and her heart did flips in her chest, "uhm... May I ask... Why do you soften your gaze when you make eye contact with me?" She asked now in full blush. "Oh! was I? Sorry if I made you feel awkward." He answered, now scratching his head. "Maybe it's because... Your eyes..." She looked at him with a puzzled look, "My eyes?" "Uhm, your eyes... Look just like Erika's, a beautiful emerald green." He mumbled.
He had answered one question, she wasn't imagining it. She felt her heart relax and tighten at the same time, now another thought appeared, did she make him feel comfortable or was she bringing up bad memories? She couldn't help but feel more confused than she was before this. "Uhm, I think I'll go now then, sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable." She said with a small bow as she made for the door. "It's fine, I feel a lot better now." He assured her. "Thank you." He said in near whisper. "I'll see you tomorrow then." She said, he nodded.
He watched her go before closing the door and slumping down against it. "What are you doing Kozak? You're a monster, monsters don't get happy endings." He said to himself and placed a hand to his forehead. "She noticed huh? Damnit that was years ago. Am I really so desperate for affection? No I can't, I can't do this to her, I'm probably just using her as a replacement for Erika, wait a minute, a replacement means I had Erika. No, no, no, she deserves better." Mason argued with himself, caught between the angel and demon on his shoulders.
Ch.7 end...
Okay so chapter 7. Not much violence in this one, had some trouble getting Karoline's feelings right. Anyway review to let me know if you did anything wrong and tell me what you think about Mason's back story.
