Previously on Promise Me:
"Mom and Dad! Where are they?" Aruru asked, positive they were still alive. Phoenix gulped not wanting to explain what had happened to them. "What's wrong?" Tiamat asked, placing a hand on her older sister's shoulder, she had suddenly gone silent and that couldn't be good. "They are still alive. Right?" Sylph asked, hoping their parents hadn't left them forever.
Phoenix remained silent. If she told them that they were dead, her sisters would be traumatized forever but on the other hand, if she didn't tell them, they'd remain happy and have the false sense of hope that they'd see them again. Phoenix sighed, having made her decision, she straightened up and took a deep breath. Ready to to answer their question.
"Answer us!" Tiamat shouted, adding to the drama. Phoenix glared at her, telling her that she had interrupted her. "Sorry." She apologized, a hand over her mouth. "It's fine." Phoenix reassured her, her glare fading. "Get on with it! The suspense is to much!" Aruru encouraged her, trying to get the answer out of Phoenix. She badly wanted to know if their parents were going to be there for them like they had promised so many years ago. Taking another deep breath, Phoenix prepared to answer them.
"Yes, mom and dad are still alive."
Months had passed since the attack on Shiganshina. Thousands of people had been crammed into the Trost district, causing more than just a famine. The poor living conditions had made it nearly impossible for anyone to survive, most of the refugees had either died of starvation or been driven mad by hunger. But still, after what had been lost months before, this was nothing. The refugees had lost everything, every last thing. Their everyday lives, their homes, their loved ones and worst of all, the security that came with the Walls.
There were those who had changed completely after the attack and those who were just confused. And then there was the Yukimaru quadruplets, the eleven year old girls who hadn't changed even a bit. Three of them were waiting for their parents to come get them while one of them knew the truth.
"I'm hungry!" Aruru whined, clutching her stomach and crying. "Me too!" Tiamat chimed in, copying the actions of her sister. Sylph face-palmed at their antics and returned to whatever she was doing. Phoenix was silent, none of them had noticed her presence since they woke up and till now, they hadn't bother to think about what had become of her.
"I'll get us something to eat." Phoenix finally spoke up, startling her sisters who (as mentioned before) had not noticed her presence. "You're awake!" Tiamat exclaimed, pointing at Phoenix with her mouth hanging open. Aruru was too excited for words, all she did was clamp Tiamat's mouth shut before finally deciding on what to say.
"WHO CARES??!! JUST GET US SOMETHING TO EAT!!!!"
Phoenix nodded, getting up and walking past them. "I have a bad feeling about this." Sylph said, shivering as Phoenix walked past her. "Knowing her, she's probably going to beat up someone till they can't even stand and take their food." Sylph continued, thinking of all the methods Phoenix might use to get them food.
Phoenix walked past the residents of Trost, hands in her pockets. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a few people staring at her and whispering. Phoenix averted her gaze from the group of people and continued her quest to find food for herself and her siblings.
After a while, she managed to find her way into a market square. As a result of the famine, there wasn't a lot of food being sold but, despite that fact, the crowd of people outnumbered the number of food being sold.
Just my luck
Phoenix thought, contemplating how on earth she was going to steal food now. Her eyes darted around every corner of the market square, looking for a place selling food that wasn't completely surrounded by people. That place was non-existent. Phoenix sighed, irritated by her inability to think of an idea that would actually work.
She sighed once more before deciding the only method possible was to go in head-first. She nodded in agreement to her own idea before choosing a shop with a fairly large amount of food and pushing past the crowd of people surrounding it.
3. . .
2. . .
1. . .
Within those three seconds, everything was thrown into chaos as Phoenix grabbed a whole lot of food from her chosen shop and ran off, hoping to escape the angered shop owner and civilians.
"You little thief!"
"Get back here!"
"When I get my hands on you!"
They yelled after her. Phoenix ignored them and quickened her pace, rushing past people unaware of the situation the eleven year old was in.
Panting heavily, Phoenix arrived at the refugee camps and dumped the stolen goods before her sisters. "How'd you get all of this?" Sylph questioned, quirking an eyebrow and sweeping her arms over the foods her older sister had presented.
"Who cares?! I'm starving!" Aruru exclaimed, patting the floor, searching for the pile of food. Her hand landed on what she thought to be an apple. She took a bite out of it and cheered, grabbing a loaf of bread from the pile of food before viciously tearing off a piece and chewing it leisurely, hoping to savor the taste of both the apple and the bread.
Tiamat, as usual, copied Aruru's actions and grabbed a loaf of bread. Instead of starting to eat it at once, Tiamat held the bread in front of her and stared at it, hunger clear in her eyes. "This is to good to be true!"She exclaimed before stuffing the entire thing into her mouth.
Sylph sighed, rubbing her temples. This food was obviously stolen and by eating it, she was proving to be no better than a person driven mad by hunger. "I don't know about this." Sylph said, fiddling with her fingers. She was just as hungry as the rest of them but she just couldn't bring herself to bring to stoop as low as criminals.
Phoenix frowned, waiting for Sylph to take something out of the pile so she could have her share. "Hurry up and eat something!" She exclaimed, trying to make Sylph eat something. She had worked hard to find them something to eat and Sylph's reaction was just unacceptable.
"I-I can't....." Sylph trailed off, afraid she would hurt Phoenix's feelings if she refused to eat. Phoenix was getting angry, Sylph was being stubborn food was food. There was no difference between stolen food and and food that was bought.
Reluctantly, Sylph picked up a loaf of bread like Aruru and Tiamat did and stared at it before bringing it close to her mouth. Her hands were trembling and she dropped it. "I'm so sorry! I-I'll eat it! I-I promise!" Sylph pleaded with Phoenix as she reached forward to pick up her bread.
Phoenix had had enough of Sylph's act. She picked up the bread before Sylph's h could and shoved it into her mouth. "Eat it! Eat it right now! You are going to eat this entire loaf of bread right now or else!" Phoenix exclaimed, threatening Sylph.
By now, tears were already streaming down Sylph's face as she made herself eat the bread. "Good. Now wipe those tears from your face and stop crying. You look weak." Phoenix ordered, not caring if she hurt Sylph or not. This was the way she took care of her sisters. It was the way she made them stronger.
Sylph swallowed the final piece of her bread and looked down. She had disappointed Phoenix, that was for sure. Phoenix had done what she promised to do, get them food and Sylph had to be forced to eat it. She didn't know what Phoenix felt when she refused to eat and she assumed she felt sad.
Boy, was she wrong.
Phoenix was not sad, not even a little bit. She was just angry, nothing more than that. She was simply angry because she had to shove food down Sylph's throat while she didn't even have to say a word to the other two. They had voluntarily chosen to eat.
For a few moments, they were silent. Nobody had said a word since Sylph had been forced to eat. Phoenix broke that silence.
"Sylph, I'm disappointed in you. I worked hard to get food for us and you refused to take a single bite out of anything I brought. Your weak! You need to toughen up! Right now, there's nobody here to take care of us because mom and dad aren't here! This is the only we can survive and you have to accept that! You can't keep on being a baby forever! I won't always be there to protect you or right for you! One of these days, I might be caught by an angry mob and killed! If that day ever comes how do you expect to be able to survive?! You can't keep depending on me! You can't always expect me to be there!"
Sylph looked down, everything Phoenix said was true. She depended on Phoenix too much and she couldn't keep being a baby. She had to become stronger. "You're right, Phoenix." Sylph managed to say, slowly raising her head. "You're right, I am weak, I am a baby and I need to prove that I can get stronger and I've decided that next month, I will be joining the 104th Trainee Squad!"
Phoenix was at a loss for words. She had never expected this from Sylph. She had always thought that she would choose field work over the cadets any day. "I never expected this much from you, Sylph." Phoenix said slowly. She looked at Sylph with an intimidating glare, testing her courage.
Sylph didn't shrink back like she usually would, instead, she returned the glare, surprising Phoenix. "From now henceforth, I'm going to be just like you!" Sylph announced, trying to sound brave even though on the inside she was squirming beneath Phoenix's glare.
"I thought I was going to be your role model!" Aruru and Tiamat exclaimed in unison, giving Sylph questioning looks. "Explain yourself!" Aruru exclaimed, pointing at Sylph.
Sylph was not doing so well. She had slapped a hand over her mouth, trying to keep herself from laughing because Phoenix never laughed or smiled or even expressed happiness.
"Sylph." Phoenix began, placing a hand on her shoulder, noticing Sylph was trying to keep herself from laughing. "You don't have to be exactly like me, you can still keep some of your qualities." Phoenix spoke calmly, something nobody had ever expected her to do.
Sylph nodded in agreement before slowly removing her hand from her mouth and bursting into a fit of giggles. She fell backwards, clutching her stomach.
Aruru and Tiamat grinned victoriously before high-fiving. Having succeeded in making Sylph laugh, they decided on their next target, Phoenix. "Now for mission impossible!" Tiamat exclaimed, turning to Phoenix with a seemingly serious face.
Phoenix stared at them and raised an eyebrow. "Mission Impossible? You know what impossible means, right?" Phoenix questioned, wanting to know if her sisters had thought their 'mission' through or were just winging it.
"First you do what's necessary then you do what's possible and suddenly, you're doing the impossible." Aruru said, stroking an imaginary beard. "When did you get so smart?" Sylph asked, purposely trying to annoy Aruru even though that was, as she had called it, 'Mission Impossible Number 2'.
"Face it, Sylph. Humans and Titans will live together peacefully before you annoy me." Aruru said with a cocky grin. She high-fived Tiamat who had been snickering in the background for an unknown reason.
Phoenix watched the three of them argue about random subjects that were brought up by Tiamat. A small smile was visible, as she watched them. One of the only things she loved was watching her sisters do what they were doing. Her smile slowly grew wider before she was grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh my god! Look!" Sylph exclaimed, pointing excitedly at Phoenix. Tiamat and Aruru's heads snapped in her direction and their eyes widened in shock. "Oh my goodness! She's smiling." Sylph exclaimed, just as excited as Aruru and Tiamat.
"Mission Impossible is half complete!" Tiamat exclaimed, clapping.
Phoenix rolled her eyes before her smiled faded and was replaced by a straight line. "Awww." Aruru whined, hoping to make Phoenix smile again. "Not going to work." Phoenix said, already figuring out what Aruru was trying to do. "Meanie!" Tiamat exclaimed, sounding like a little kid. Sylph frowned playfully and shoved Phoenix.
Phoenix was amused by their actions but less amused when she was shoved by Sylph. "Sylph." Phoenix said in a dangerous voice. Sylph gulped and shrunk back. "Sorry. Guess I'm not as brave as I thought." She joked nervously. Phoenix nodded in agreement "Give it some time." She said, patting Sylph's head.
The four of them engaged in a long conversation upon ending it, they started playing a number of hand-games, having a good time.
"Sylph, remember that thing you said, about joining the cadets?" Tiamat asked, still expertly playing their current hand game. "Yeah?" Sylph asked, tilting her head to one side. "I want to join to!" Tiamat exclaimed, surprising Sylph. "WHAT???!!!" Sylph screamed, missing Phoenix's hand and hitting her face.
"Me too!" Aruru chimed in, surprising Sylph even more. Sylph placed a hand on her forehead, trying to process everything she had just heard. She then turned to Phoenix. "What about you? Are you joining me too?" She asked, wanting to get the surprises over with.
Phoenix tapped her chin, contemplating whether or not she would join the cadets. "I don't know." She said said, still unsure of her final answer. She noticed their downcast expressions and sighed, caving in.
"Fine, I'll do it."