CHAPTER-10

Promise

Note: I don't own any of these characters

Eren found himself, once again, in the deserted hall he had seen in his dreams. Once again, he saw the dark apparition which he had seen before.

"What do you want now?" He yelled at the apparition.

The apparition seemed to be distracted, He was mumbling something.

"Nope... she's not the one."

"What are you talking about?" Eren demanded.

"The coordinate. Oh.. sorry, you've never heard of it have you?" said the apparition and turned to Eren.

"Don't play games with me!" said Eren. "Why have you brought me here?"

The apparition shrugged."I didn't. You came here yourself."

Eren was confused. "I.. I.."

"So!" The apparition interrupted him "How's your life going on."

Eren didn't want to give the apparition any satisfaction. "It's not like I'm alone or anything. I've made friends too! You told me I had no one who cared about me, but now I have a bunch who'll always be my side!"

"Really?" The apparition asked him. "Then why is it that you were not able to trust them with the truth? Why is it that you still play hide-and-seek with them?"

"Because..." Eren wasn't able to finish his statement.

"Because you're in great pain." The person finished. "You've given up on the life you had hoped you would recover here."

Eren was silent.

"Yes.." The person shook his head sadly. "Bonds which are forged between people over a lifetime can not be replaced in a few months or even years. Especially that puppy of yours."

Eren wasn't sure who the person was talking about at first. Most of his friends had just been with him for a few months.

Then it hit him.

"You bastard!" He shouted.

The person looked up. "Well, it's true. Your sister really has no time to bother with you, does she? It must be hard. One day, she's following you like a pet, and the next day, she's treating you like you're nothing."

"No she isn't. She's treating me like a normal person. You're the one who's exaggerating." Eren shot back.

For a second, he thought he saw an amused smile on the apparition's face.

"Fine." He said at last. "We'll see how long you can manage. But, I'll promise one thing. When you need your friends the most, they will let you down ."

And then he was gone.

Eren opened his eyes. He became aware of an intense pain in every single part of his body. It was so bad that he couldn't even speak.

He was aware of the fact that he was in a comfortable bed and that he was covered in bandages from head to toe.

He moved his head to the right and saw someone sitting next to his bed.

"So, you're not dead after all, Eren."

It was Mikasa. Next to her was Joe.

Eren tried to get up, but Mikasa pushed him back with brutal strength.

"You don't need to hurt yourself any more." She warned him.

Eren stopped struggling.

"I heard about what happened from Ryan. I must say, you're naive. What were you thinking?... Did you imagine that you would be able to handle a situation like this on your own?" She said all of this in dark tone.

For some reason, her voice lifted Eren's spirit. It was nice to know that people were worrying about him. He would have smiled if his face didn't hurt so bad.

"You should know... the medical team tried to patch you up, but it seems like you can no longer be a part of the survey corps."

Eren's eyes widened.

"Well, at least that's what we thought before..." Mikasa continued "However, you've apparently got some some sort of resilience towards pain and injuries. The treatment was much more effective on you than a normal person. So they think you have a chance. It'll still take you a few months though."

Joe who hadn't said anything until now, groaned.

"Don't you think you should have broken it to him a bit more slowly." He said.

Mikasa shrugged. "It's better if he knew it as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Eren wasn't really bothering with their conversation.

'Few months, huh? Well, nuts to them. I'll recover before the expedition!"

'But then again... How is it that I've not felt any of the effects of my regeneration yet.'

And slowly, doubt crept into Eren's mind. What if his regeneration and Titan abilities didn't work in this universe? This was something he hadn't considered before.

If he couldn't recover in time, he knew what would happen. And that was why he had to be there.

For now, he pushed all the thoughts out of his head and despite his best efforts to resist, he fell into the murky depths of his sub-consciousness.

Two days had passed. Eren was very worried now. Honestly, at some other time, he would have found his predicament amusing. Being afraid of not going on the expedition and facing killer-titans, that was weird.

He closed his eyes- which were pretty much the only parts of his body which he could move.

'There must be some other way..." He thought.

He waited for some time. Eventually, someone came to visit him. It was Jean.

"You're an idiot." was the first thing he said. "But you're lucky, you've got an excuse to skip the expedition."

Eren rolled his eyes. 'Good, old Jean..'

"I can't believe the others are feeling sad about you. If I were in your place,I..."

He sighed. "Well, It's my fault that I acted like a idiot and joined the Survey Corps instead of the Military Police."

He put his face in his hands."Well, I used to be a fool. But now I know the truth. They're out there and this is the only job that will make a difference."

And then he was silent.

This was one of the qualities in Jean that Eren admired (only a bit). He wasn't like the others who wanted to join the Survey corps just to show off or something. He had seen and experienced the horror of the Titans and he had still decided to join nevertheless.

This is what finally convinced Eren to speak.

"Jean" He whispered, every syllable hurting him.

Jean's eyes widened. "What's the matter. Do you need something?"

"Yes."

"I need to speak... to Ryan..."

He coughed violently. Jean hesitated.

Eren looked at him pleadingly.

Jean finally nodded. "Alright, I'll bring him."

He stood up and left the room.

A few minutes later, Ryan entered. He looked at Eren nervously.

"Did something happen, Eren?" He asked him.

"I need.. a favour from you... no... a promise..."

"A... promise?"

Eren nodded weakly.

With great difficulty,he managed to sit up.

And he spoke in a clear voice.

"Ryan.. there will be a time when you will be given a choice... whether to trust your team-members or not."

Ryan nodded to indicate that he understood.

"When you do get that choice... you must choose the latter."

Ryan recoiled.

"Are you asking me to not trust my team-mates?"

"It's not like that..." Eren replied. "All I'm asking you to have greater faith in yourself. You need to believe in yourself." His face turned white and he sank back into the bed."

Ryan wasn't completely sure if Eren was sane. This sort of proposition was just too weird. Had another part of Eren's memory resurfaced?

He balled his hands into fists. "And what if I'm not able to do it?" He asked.

Eren gave him one last look. "Then you're all dead." He said and remained silent after that.

The day of the expedition:

The troops had assembled in front of the gates. Everything was in order. Titans in the vicinity were being kept away with cannon fire.

One of the officers turned and addressed the gathering.

"Soldiers! Today is the day mankind is going to take another step forward."

He raised his sword. "It is time for us to show the results of our training! This is our chance to accomplish something for the sake of humanity."

The soldiers cheered enthusiastically. The gates opened up.

"Advance!" Erwin shouted.

The troops stormed out.

The 57th expedition had begun.