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Violet didn't know where she was, neither when exactly she woke up. The past several hours, which felt like some hazy dream, consisted of her opening her eyes, blinking a few times, and passing out immediately right after. All she knew completely well was that her shirt was gone and an agonizing pain in her back was all that let her knew this was real, as they had whipped her countless times that it was now only a little bit of skin and bone.
She couldn't understand why they brought her here. Was this part of the process before being fed to the titans? Were they taking longer just to agonize her even longer? And why did they even whip her back to shreds? She was incapable of doing anything anyway, as the hit she took to her head was ensuring her passing out every given hour. It was confusing, degrading and tormenting. All she wanted was to finally meet her fate and rest in peace for once in all her miserable life. She was tired of fighting, of constantly looking behind her back, and especially of being someone's slave for life. She wanted this to be over and for her soul to finally be freed from this hell-hole.
Violet was okay with her fate. She did all she could to thrive in the Underground. She fought her battles well and achieved many horrible things that made her accept this with ease in her heart. And Julian was safe and free in the above ground. He would be able to fulfil his dream and hers and live that free, reckless life they have always talked about. No more competing, no more rivalry, finally the peace they both craved so deeply. So for her, this was a good end for the monster she was made to be.
The clacking of boots against the floor made Violet look up, the action bringing pain to her broken back. Her dull eyes met a grinning pair of hazel eyes, a man dressed in the attire of the military corps, an organization that constantly visited the Underground to capture the criminal wandering around. She grew to hate those people and their uniforms since very little, as she saw how they tormented even the innocent souls of the people from the Underground; as they saw themselves as superior and held themselves in a high horse when their 'superiority' was not even the case.
"So what do we have here," The grinning eyed man said, as he crouched to eye level with the dozing assassin, "The all mighty 'Silent Assassin' caught trying to escape above ground." He proceeded to grab Violet by the chin and forced her to meet his eye once again, and smiled as he saw the desperation and pain in her E/C orbs. "Your little friend got to escape, but you didn't. How tragic and cruel is that, isn't it, Silent Assassin?"
He got off the ground and let go of Violet's chin, as he wandered around the room, turning in circles around her shacking figure. She was in so much uncontrollable pain, that breathing was starting to become an impossible task. While they had been trained to endure and not break while being tortured, it didn't mean that it didn't hurt like hell. Especially as they continued whipping her over and over again, even as her first layer of skin became nothing and proceeded to whip her till they reacher her very bones.
"I bet that you're in a lot of pain," He said, "and I can guarantee that it will get worse."
The man turned to look to the torturer who had the whip in hand, and smiled brightly when he saw Violet suck in her breath. "Awe, don't tell me you're afraid. Aren't you supposed to be the Underground's most feared assassin? That even those above ground shiver at the slightest whisper of your name?" When he didn't receive a response from Violet, he signalled the man with the whip over and ordered him to start anew. The agonizing scream coming out of Violet's sore throat as the whip came in contact with her skin, echoed in the empty chamber; the sound of them bouncing through the walls haunting Violet as they vibrated in her ears.
"P-please." She was able to mutter out. Violet wasn't sure she was able to resist anymore whips to her back. She wasn't going to break, but her eyes were fluttering at an alarming rate that she knew that she would pass out once again.
"Please what?" He said, "Do you want it to stop?"
Once again, silence was his only answer. Violet couldn't form any words, as her mind was trying it's very best to suppress the pain. She just wanted to sleep, to meet her fate; anything over this. But before she could mutter out one more plea, the leather made contact with her bleeding skin.
"It will only stop if you tell us where your friend is. Where would he be at, Violet?"
But not even Violet knew where he would be. They only agreed to run as far as their legs could take them, till they felt safe and sound. They never agreed on a certain location, as the whereabouts of the above were unknown and foreign to the two assassins. "Will you not answer?"
Again, silence was all that he heard.
"Okay then, please proceed--"
"I think that's quite enough."
The head of the Military Corps walked in to the room and stopped right in front of Violet and her tormentors. "Is this the girl?"
"Yes, sir."
He only nodded his head and looked down at the girl. Violet only continued looking down at the ground, where the blood running down her back was beginning to pool around her figure. She felt nothing seeing her blood ran free, her mind was blank and her sight was blurring once again.
"P-please." Was all she could get out, again. She wanted a bed, she wanted to rest. Her body was a burning fire as the pain flared everywhere, not a single spot where it felt okay.
"Get her up and bring her along." The Captain of the Military Corps said, "I think it's time for her to meet her fate."
The two other men in the room pulled Violet up with a force that ripped out a scream out of her mouth, as her back stretched so hard it felt as if her wounds were opening even more wide.
"To be fed to the titans, sir?"
"No.
"To be our prisoner till her last dying breath."
✥
They didn't lie when they said she would be their's till her last dying breath, as the conditions Violet was forced to endure felt like it drained her life force faster than it was naturally possible. She had lost a lot of weight, her body eating itself to be able to give her some strength. They worked her out to the bone, making her lift things heavier than her current weight and made her work in the factories that provided for the Military Corps while they supervised; and the whipping's never stopped; her back becoming a canvas full of the old and fresh scars from the daily beatings that happened all the time.
And even four years later after they captured the assassin, the behavior was always the same.
However, the only unusual thing that happened was that in the last two years, they started injecting Violet with random stuff. She never got to know what went in through her veins, but all the time it was a great deal of pain to get it done. Maybe it was poison or something to weaken her body because she never once felt great after the experiment was over; but after each trial, people were always looking over Violet to note down any changes or symptoms that she was experiencing.
It took a few months of injecting and observing her body for the change to start appearing. While she was still severely underweight and her body was still weak as it had been ever since they brought her here, she started experiencing weird powers that were never there in her whole damn life. The first time it happened, Violet was under an immense amount of anger that her whole bed got caught on fire. She was laying in her bed while it happened, trying to calm down her raging temper when she felt her hands start to get warmer and when she lifted her head to check what was up, her whole hand was on fire along with her excuse of a bed.
Ever since that, she was treated like a guinea pig trying to figure out what else she could cause.
Turns out there wasn't a limit to her power, anything that she put her mind to was able to come true with such ease and grace that it looked as if she had been doing this for years now. However, controlling them while her emotions were a mess was quite a different story. So ever since the Military Police and its group of scientists found out the capabilities of her power, they started training her all over again to be the best weapon there could be.
It didn't faze Violet at all that the results of the countless needles and liquids going in her body were this discovery. She knew very well that the Military Police's intentions weren't kind, so when they claimed this would be for a 'great cause' Violet knew deep down that it was a lie.She didn't feel comfortable at all now that her body could do all of these things with just a single thought from her mind; she did not want to be a killing machine again, nor humanity's greatest weapon. She was tired of it all, tired that all her hands knew was the warmth of running blood.
She had learned how to kill since the age of five, and even now at twenty, the cycle never stopped.
Violet's twentieth birthday was three days ago, and nothing new nor special happened that day. It was the same as usual, waking up, doing labour work, getting whipped for no reason and getting whipped some more. Her four birthday's in this place were miserable, but every time she hadn't remembered it was her birthday, as she had lost track of time as it felt like the same day every single time. However, the soldiers from the Military Police were there to remind her, as on her birthday they tended to be harsher; but their treatment was nothing short of the usual, as even on non-special days they would treat her harsher than the previous days.
She couldn't believe she was twenty, and that it had been four years since her failed attempt at freedom. She wondered how Julian was doing, what he was doing with his life with his eternal freedom. All she wanted, and what kept her fighting, was the thought that Julian was out and doing something great with his life. That she was able to be a part of something great that brought someone else so much joy instead of dread.
The thought made Violet smile for the first time in a while, her muscles straining a little since it had been a long time.
"What's that weird smile all about?" A small girl that worked with Violet side-by-side all the time, asked. "That's the creepiest thing I've seen in a while."
Violet brought a hand to her lips and touched the fading smile, "I-- do you need help with that?" She quickly changed the topic, as it pained her a little to talk about her long-gone companion.
"Oh sure," The small kid said. Violet walked up and grabbed the box, struggling with the weight as her arms felt weaker than usual and the fresh beating still made her back ache. Seeing Violet struggle, the kid tried to help but was interrupted by Violet as she said, "It's fine, I got it. Don't worry about me."
"Okay, Violet." The girl said, "Oh and by the way, happy late birthday to you!"
Violet only nodded her head and followed the girl.
✥
Once the two girls were free of lurking eyes, Violet placed the box down and opened it slowly.
"Are you sure you got everything I asked for?" The assassin asked.
"Yup, everything you asked." The girl beamed, "But, I don't understand. How will this help out?"
Violet turned to the girl after hiding the box in a little compartment she made, "Remember what I told you a long time ago?"
The girl shook her head 'yes'. "Great, then this will help me fulfill my promise to you. It will cause a distraction and allow us as much time we need to get the hell out of here."
"Really?" The girls eyes widen, unable to believe the words from the much older girl.
"If I do this right, then yes, it will happen. Thanks to you, there is a chance to start both of our lives anew."
The thought brought the small girl so much hope that she also had long ago lost, that she threw herself at the assassin and wrapped her in the tightest embrace she could manage. "I love you so much, Violet! Thank you so much for protecting me!"
Her heart fluttered with warmth, the words making her broken heart mend a little with the love emitting from the small child. "I love you too, little one." She said, "Now you go back to work before they notice something is off."
"Okay!" The child said and wrapped her arms again around Violet's neck. Violet only patted her small head and then gently pushed her away. "Now, small one. Before they punish you."
The small figure left the room and Violet turned to the box hidden a few steps away from where she stood.
Pulling it out, she crouched down and started getting all the materials out. The vigilance was weak around her cell at this time, as it was usually lunchtime for all of the guards. So, taking advantage of this small miracle, she started putting her plan in march. To grant them some time to escape, she had to create a fire to ensure a decay in visibility and a barrier against the guards that would surely come and see what the ruckus was all about. While she did possess the ability to start a fire, in order to control her magic and ensure she didn't use them unless required, the Military Police gave her doses of iron to suppress her magic. This meant she couldn't use them till the dose wore off.
So crafting and creating a fire-bomb from scratch it was. Violet was lucky she was taught how to craft such a thing during her upbringing as an assassin. While it was a skill hardly ever used, they taught it to each assassin that entered the guild and signed their lives away to Head of the Assassins. Although back then it annoyed the ever-living heck out of her to learn something she would never, ever use, she was grateful that they sat her down and forced her to learn the skill; as it was finally paying off and this would guarantee their escape.
So she mixed and mixed and crafted the bomb all hour-long while the guards where off to lunch, that by the time they were back, Violet had everything hidden and two bombs under her care. She couldn't wait till it was the hour for their escape. They have both been waiting for this moment to come, ever since Violet made her promise to the small child with frightened eyes. She'd swore she will protect her and free her when she got the chance.
And today was the day Violet Grey would fulfill what she swore.
✥
"Get down, now!" Violet whispered-yelled to the small girl as she grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down.
It was now a few minutes after Violet Grey detonated the first bomb and now both she and the little girl were making the run for their lives. It was awfully funny to Violet how similar this moment felt, just like that one time four years ago with Julian. She felt the same adrenaline rush, the same fear and the same determination as that night. Just that this time there was more violence and a little life she had to take care of. Grabbing the small child's hand she said, "Follow me and stop looking back. We gotta get out of here now!"
Running while crouching down was not an easy task, but that's what they had to do to prevent getting spotted and caught. "We are not far from the exit, come on, push it." She was so close to freedom, she could almost taste it. And once again, it was that same thrilling experience as before. Violet was hopeful that this time it would all work out, and she would do anything in her power to ensure it all went right.
But as soon as they were getting near to the exit, when the door was almost right in front of their faces, the two girls heard, "There they are, by the exit!"
Every damn time, always something had to go south. Violet pushed the little girl in front of her and looked at her in the eyes. "Run, get out of here and run. Don't stop till you know you're safe and sound."Violet turned to look where the guard was, but when she didn't hear the retreating footsteps of the little child, she turned and saw the child standing right in front of her with tears in her eyes. "What are you doing? Get out of here." Violet growled.
The child only shook her head 'no' and smiled a weak smile. "I can't do that, Violet."
"What? What do you mean--"
"You have to run, I will save you some time."
Violet's eyes widen with shock as the words left the girl's mouth. "Are you insane? I can't do that, you will get--"
"And I am okay with that, you have to go. Please, Violet. Let me do this for you. I know how this has been on your mind for a while."
Violet crouched down so she was eye level with the child. "Where is this even coming from."
"From the start, I was okay with the fact of being left behind. I promised myself that if something went wrong, I would ensure you got out even if it meant that I had to sacrifice myself.
"So here we are and I am okay with, Violet. I truly am. You did so much for me, more than anyone ever has. You gave me the big sister I never had and protected me with all your strength and might. And for doing that to me, this is how I want to thank you for that.
"So please, run and get out of here. Please do this one last thing for me, please."
Violet was about to protest when she saw a guard approach and grab the small girl by her little throat. Before she was able to react, the man dragged his knife across the small neck of the child and claimed her innocent life with just a slice.
The violent cry that left Violet's lips was enough to let the man know he also was about to meet his end by Violet's own hands. A shattered piece of glass in hand, she launched her arm with full force to the guard's chest and plunged it with all her strength to were his heart was at and stabbed him violently for as many times as she could. But before she could properly mutilate his body to avenge her small companion's life, the approaching footsteps made her get up and ran so wildly fast. It had been a long time since she had run or done any shape or form of exercise, that it felt as if her very lungs were on fire. She didn't look back, not taking for granted the sacrifice of the one life she vowed to protect.
Over and over again Violet failed to protect those she loved. She wasn't able to cure her mom, she wasn't able to protect Seth nor the other assassin's that faced their brutal deaths, she wasn't able to protect Julian above ground, and now this little girl who sold her life in exchange for Violet's freedom. She was a failure, a huge damn failure and that made a vicious cry leave her dry lips. She wasn't good at protecting those she loved. All she did was destroy and kill and do terrible things when all she wanted was to do a good deed. She was just another weapon, humanity's greatest weapon, that claimed the beauty of everything around her.
So once she got far from the place she destroyed, she climbed the wall of a nearby house and laid on the rooftop and proceeded to cry.
✥
Violet was too damn exhausted to open her eyes when, hours later from her disastrous escape, she heard the zipping of the all-too-familiar maneuver gear and the sound of their boots landing in the same roof she was done crying in.
She knew she was cornered from every place she could even think to escape from, so all she did was sit up and looked up to a pair of icy blue eyes. Her dull eyes told everything her mouth didn't: she was done, tired, hopeless and had given up on everything.
Noticing this, the tall Commander crouched down and extended his hand. "My name is Erwin Smith and I am the Commander of the Survey Corps." All Violet did was stare at his hand, as she did not posses the strength nor power to extend her hand to her new captor. But she nodded her head in acknowledgement and continued staring at his mesmerizing eyes. Seeing it as an act of rebellion, a certain small captain 'tched' at the annoying sight.
"I have a condition for you," The tall man said, "accept my offer and join the Survey Corps, or be handed back to the Military Police who are looking for you as we speak." Violet saw the challenge twinkle in the Commander's eyes, and she couldn't help but be annoyed by his actions. He knew damn well she would accept his offer, that she would join his ranks and kill some titans for mere fun, over being back to the place that would for sure haunt her till her last dying breath. So Violet stood up and gathering all the little strength she had left, forced her hand to go up and stretched out her hand to meet the Commander's hand. With a soft grip on his hand, she shook it two times and said,
"You got yourself a deal."
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