The young prince sat on the floor with his back against the cold, grey wall, curled up on himself. His loud sobs shook his shoulders as the shadows of the night danced around him. Outside, the storm raged on and the dragon with grey eyes and wings darker than black flew around the tower. Its roars mixed with the sound of the thunders and the prince's cries in the dark night.
He didn't want to stay there as his father had told him to before leaving him alone with the dragon.
He wanted to go home. To his mother and father, to the palace he was born and raised in, to his friends...
That lonely tower was suffocating. It was dark. It was scary. It was cold. It gave no escape.
And it was the home of the dragon.
At sixteen years old, the tower was no place for Eren nor was the cursed forest that surrounded it.
He didn't understand. Why did he have to stay there? Why couldn't he go back home? Why did they imprison him with the dragon? Was he that bad?
Eren wiped his face with his fists as he recalled his father's last words before his departure.
'Listen Eren, this is for your own good. One day, you will be free from this tower. But until that day, it will protect you. One day you will understand everything, you will learn everything once you are safe and out of the tower. I know you are sad and scared. But you won't get hurt here. With time everything will be better. I promise. Everything will be okay.'
He had cried and begged the king not to leave him. But he had left with his knights, not even listening to Eren.
They had climbed the 150 meters high tower with iron wires raptured on the ground and got inside from the large window with the other ends of the wires stuck there and King Grisha and his knights had used the same way to go out. They had cut the iron wires after landing down and immediately, with a few words and hand motions from a cloaked figure, vines and bushes with thorns even sharper than blades had started to grow, surrounding the tower thickly until only a few meters below the window.
Then he had heard the loud, screech like voice of a woman ringing in his ears.
"Go raibh an fiabhras de oblifionena ithe dó! Féadfaidh sé codladh agus féadfaidh sé dearmad nuair a wakessear sé!"
And the storm had gotten even stronger, the few rays of sunlight that could manage to penetrate the grey clouds had disappeared as a dark mist surrounded the tower and spreaded to the forest.
Everyone, his father, the knights, the cloaked figure, they had all disappeared leaving Eren to shout at the top of his lungs from the window and cease to get an answer as rain soaked him and the strong winds made him freeze. His throat had started to burn as if it was bleeding from inside, he had choked as tears joined rain drops on his face, everything had started to blur and spin. Eren had fallen back on the floor.
Then the dragon had appeared.
Eren had only seen it as a silhouette at first but it had got closer and closer. It had come just in front of the window as if trying to peek inside. Then it had backed away again, roaring as Eren screamed and crawled away to the other side of the room, hoping to hide in the shadows.
After that Eren had sat there for minutes or maybe hours, shivering and trying to hear if the dragon was close or not. But the only things he could hear had been the whistling winds and thunders.
Eren still waited, cold, scared and alone. His head started to feel even dizzier and he felt as if everything around him was made of ice. He was also nauseous and despite the cold, his insides burned. He watched the gloomy, grey walls of the tower and tried to pick out the surroundings when lightnings lit the room for splits of seconds.
He felt something wavering inside him. A hot, burning feeling. It slowly spreaded from his chest to his body and as he shivered, he started to pant. It was suddenly hard to breathe.
It was freezing all around him.
But flames were burning inside his chest.
His head was dizzy,
His vision, blurry.
Everything spun.
The darkness around him got thicker and thicker.
He couldn't breathe.
His head ached.
His stomach twisted and turned with nauseoua.
"Hııgghhh...hııgggh"
He was choking.
Burning.
Shivering.
And finally, his already dark and shadowy world turned complete, flawless black.
*ı*
Eren trashed around in his sleep. He kicked the blankets away and tried to rip his shirt, digging his nails in his own flesh.
Gentle hands pried his fingers away from his chest. A wet and cold rag was placed on his forehead as the same hand stroked his hair to help calm him down.
He whimpered and reached out in his restless sleep, his eyelashes fluttering.
'See you later Eren...'
A girls voice rang in his mind, accompanied with gentle smile of the girl that haunted him.
'See you later Eren...'
'See you later Eren...'
'See you later Eren...'
'See you later Eren...'
'See you later...'
'... Eren.'
'Eren!'
'Eren...'
'EREN!'
Eren bolted upright, screaming. He scanned the room with wide eyes for two seconds before his vision blurred.
The silhouette of a pale man with black hair approached him.
Gentle but firm hands got hold of his arms and he fell against a strong chest while trembling and struggling.
Then he fainted in the foreign arms of the man and he was lowered back on the soft pillows and sheets.
He fell back in his restless sleep under the watchful eyes of the man.
*ı*
Eren was sitting under a tree on a meadow.
It seemed endlesss, green and full of flowers.
The sun shined proudly on the blue sky adorned with white, puffy clouds.
He was sleepy.
His body felt light.
He didn't feel anything.
As if he was swimming.
Then a girl's chirping laughter echoed around him, making him lift his head just as he was about to fall asleep.
The tiny girl in the pink dress ran near him.
She gave a gentle smile and waved, turning back on her heels when she heard a man in the distance calling out to her.
'See you later, Eren!'
Eren opened his eyes, panting.
The first thing he saw was a ceiling with a simple chandelier hanging in the middle.
He moved, trying to get up.
He didn't feel anything but the pain in his muscles.
He didn't think anything.
His head was empty.
His brows furrowed as he looked around.
He was in some kind of a bedroom, lying on a large canopy bed. He could see a wardrobe, drawers, bookshelves and many paintings on all of the walls.
And one thing captured Eren's attention. Eventhough all the furnitures were thrown around messily, everything was spottlessly clean. Even the old brick walls of the room seemed to be shining.
There were a few curtains that was hanged around on the walls too but he couldn't spot any window. There was only a wooden door with carvings on it.
Eren thought of going out of the room for a moment but quickly dismissed the idea when he, finally, felt the throbbing pain in his bones and muscles.
Instead, he started to inspect the paintings from where he sat on the bed. There was one of a scenery. He could see gigantic trees and a sky dyed orange with the setting sun. There was one of a handsome blond man. He had clear blue eyes, high cheekbones, a straight nose and thick eyebrows. There was one of a castle. It was relatively small but beautiful with many bushes of different flowers and fountains with clear water shining under the sun. Eren looked at all of the paintings for minutes.
They were all captivating. Extraordinarily beautiful. And all of them were lifelike. It was as if the people and the things on the paintings had been cut from the world and pasted on canvas.
'Such talent...'
Eventhough the lifelikeness of the portraits were unsettling with the blond man's eyes staring right at him and the castle looking like a scenery behind a window with its old wooden frame and everything, the work was striking. Eren couldn't tear his eyes from the paintings, looking at each over and over again.
In the end, he spotted an easle at the far back corner of the room. The painting that rested on it was hidden from view with a white cloth draped over the easle. Also there were many brushes and a palette with paints that looked like they were still wet on it on a near table pushed up against the wall.
Eren wondered what did the hidden portrait look like. He thought about going over it and taking a peek.
Was the unfinished version of those paintings still lifelike?
Was the painting already complete?
What did it show?
A scenery?
A house?
An animal?
A person?
Maybe the artist themselves?
Was the artist close by?
Was this room his?
Why was he there?
Who had brought him there?
Who was-
The wooden door clicked open suddenly, revealing a frowning man with a pale complexion, shiny black hair and deep grey eyes.
Scary but captivating.
He was not very tall but he seemed to have a strong build under his crisp white shirt.
"So you are finally awake..."
He was holding a tray in his hands with a steaming bowl, a glass and some bread on it. Only when he saw the tray, did Eren notice how hungry he actually was.
But more importantly who was that man?
Why was he there with Eren?
How did he know Eren?
Why couldn't he remember anything?
The man came closer and put the tray on the bedside table.
"Can you eat by yourself?"
Eren blinked at him staring at his steel grey eyes with his own wide ones.
"Uhh..."
"I said can you eat, brat? If I need to spoonfeed you like a toddler, I want to get it over with soon. So, answer."
He had a deep and smooth voice. Even with his growling like talk with rising anger, it sounded perfect like the imaginary narrator who tells the stories of the memories in one's head.
"I-I can eat sir... But do I know you? I... I don't recall being at this place before..."
Eren found his throat sore and his voice ravaged.
The man sighed.
"Look brat, you have been sleeping for three days. You just had a fevery illness so your memory is foggy. We will talk once you get completely better."
"Illness?"
Eren didn't understand a thing.
What had happened to him?
Why had he been ill?
Was that place his home?
Was that man someone he knew?
If it was so, then why couldn't he recognize anything around him?
Why couldn't he remember?
Eren looked at his trembling hands on his lap. He felt panic rising in him. The corners of his eyes started to feel hot and his breath got caught in his throat for a second.
"Hey...Brat! Don't do that now... nothing is wrong. You were out in the storm and you got sick that's all. You never got that high of a fever so it lasted a little long and you can't remember things that well. BUT it will get better. Now eat!"
Eren didn't answer. He felt strangely depressive. It was as if he had lost something or someone important and couldn't remember.
"Eren, eat."
When he heard his name, Eren took a deep breath and looked up at the man as he placed the tray on Eren's lap.
"What is your name?"
The man made a 'tch' sound and averted his eyes to the side.
"Levi."
Eren looked at the tray on his lap.
"Levi..."
It didn't ring anything. He didn't know anyone named Levi or looked like Levi. He sighed and lifted the spoon with some soup in it. But his hand was still trembling and he spilled a few drops.
Seeing that, Levi sat down on the bed near him and took the spoon out of his hand.
"Tch...So much for being able to eat on your own huh...You are going to make a mess like that."
He slowly lifted the spoon towards Eren's lips.
"I... I can-"
Levi put the spoon in his mouth when he tried to oppose.
"Shut up and eat, brat."
So Eren swallowed. The soup was delicious. It had different plants and some meat in it. But it was a bit spicy after the third spoon. Eren reached for the glass of water.
"Spicy..."
Levi helped him lift the glass to his lips.
"Those spices are going to make you better so stop complaining brat."
Eren drank some water and pouted when he still couldn't get rid of the spices.
In a few minutes, he finished all of the soup and bread. His stomach felt full and his muscles slowly relaxed. He started to feel a little better. The pain in his bones and the headache -which he wasn't even aware of- disappeared. Once again, he felt himself falling into the arms of sleep.
*ı*
Eren woke up a few hours later. He sat up and stretched on the bed. He realised that he was fully rested and although he still couldn't remember anything, there wasn't even a trace of pain or ache left in his body.
His mood brightened after that. Maybe he couldn't remember much about himself but Levi would certainly tell him, right? He obviously knew Eren.
With those thoughts, he got up and went out of the wooden door after Levi who had left him to rest.
Outside, he found himself at a circular area with five similar doors including the one Eren had come out. It was fairly big and it looked like a living room.
He could see many bookcases, a few couches and chairs, and a large window on the opposite wall from the doors. It was nighttime,he could see. There were many paintings on the walls out there too.
"L-levi?
He hesistantly called out but no one answered. He walked around the room. It looked like Levi wasn't there.
'Maybe, there is an exit behind one of these doors.'
'But where did he go so late in the night?'
He tried to open each door one by one. All of them were locked.
'Did he lock me in here?'
Eren went over to the window to look outside and he noticed that he was so high off the ground. Suddenly the strange structure made sense.
He was in a tower.
All alone.
Locked inside.
Images flashed before his eyes.
A storm.
A king and his army of knights soaked in rain.
Shadows dancing in the corners.
A dragon.
Eren didn't know what those meant or why he saw them.
Were those his memories?
Were they real?
Or was it Levi that was his imagination?
"Aaghh!"
Eren fell down holding his head with both hands.
It couldn't be real.
It wasn't real.
Those images were only nightmares.
It wasn't real.
Someone would fimd him soon.
Someone whom he could recognise.
Someone would help him.
Someone...
Anyone...
His throbbing head felt as if it would explode.
As if something was keeping him from remembering.
As if he would die if he remembered anything.
As he crawled in pain, a loud roar echoed in the starry night.
"Agh! Aaagghhh!"
The pain worsened.
The roar got closer.
His heart veat quickened.
The dragon came.
He couldn't escape.
It sticked his head inside.
He couldn't crawl away.
Then...
two familiar arms held him.
"You brat... Why are you out?"
Eren opened his eyes.
"L-levi... You are... the dragon..."