Hange had been working on it for a while. In fact, she had been so dedicated to it that almost everyone immediately noticed the lack of her excited squealing. Not that they didn't appreciate the reprieve, but it was also a cause of worry.
Two weeks later, she approached Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Levi and Connie as they trained. Eren was the first to notice her, relaxing from his combat pose to address the squeaking scientist.
"Yes, Section Commander Hange? Do you need more blood samples?" He asked, recognizing the glint in her eyes. She shook her head, wild hair falling in her face as she beamed.
"Nope! You, my precious Titan Lad, have something else I need!" She exclaimed, squirming in elation. Mikasa raised a brow.
"What would that be?" She asked warily. Hange smirked.
"I'm so glad you asked! Eren, I need your body." She explained. The way she said 'body' instantly made the group collectively uncomfortable.
Armin gaped.
"Um… what?"
Levi then held up a hand sternly, interrupting their confused mumbling.
"Hang on, let her continue. Her opening statements are always misleading."
The teens obeyed and looked to the scientist expectantly.
"Well, for the past few weeks I've been coming up with a new chemical compound that should- in theory- help us get some answers about the origin of the Titans." She produced a small vial of clear liquid. "When ingested, it should enhance your DNA to the point where it's obtainable." She was referring to the endless blood testing they had attempted a while back, with a fascinated and frustrated Hange unable to detect Titan Eren's DNA in his blood, something that should have been physically impossible. "Now, I need you to shift into Titan form, please." She instructed.
Eren turned his green eyes to Mikasa and Armin, a silent question forming. Did this seem safe? Should he really do it? Mikasa seemed neutral about it, while Armin was nodding slightly.
He turned back to the woman.
"Alright, I guess." He carefully removed his gear and straps to avoid ruining them before requesting everyone take a step back. He set a purpose in mind and then bit down on his hand as hard as he could.
Hange squealed in excitement as ligament and muscle formed around him, bones crunching into place and thick skin wrapping around it all. There was a mild roar as the Titan rose to his feet and stretched his arms as far as they could go, releasing a giant puff of steam from his serrated jaws.
His giant hand reached down and scooped Hange up, bringing her eye-to-eye with his glowing green orbs. She lovingly stroked his brow before jumping in excitement.
"Alright, Eren, now open up!" She ordered pleasantly. Huffing, the Titan lowered her to the level of his mouth, opening it and sticking out his long tongue. She then splashed the small vial's contents onto the muscle, watching with interest as Eren retracted the tongue and swallowed with a shudder and a puff of disgust. "Oh, don't be a big baby about it! It wasn't that bad!" She teased as he placed her gently on the ground.
In reality, it was worse than that bad. It tasted like moldy cheese and muddy toenail clippings, mixed with the nauseating iron taste of blood. Eren would have told her this much if his current form was actually able to speak. Instead he expressed his dislike with a cough and a growl, twitching his ears to almost touch his skull.
"Um, Hange?" Levi piped up, face remaining stoic as ever. The woman paused her observing to glance at the corporal. "How is this supposed to work? Titans can't digest anything; he'll just throw it back up."
Hange adjusted her glasses and grinned.
"That's why we have to take the blood sample before he regurgitates most of it. It should absorb into his stomach lining enough to be effective, we just need to act quickly before the stomach lining is regurgitated." She snapped her fingers and her mousy assistant brought forth a large syringe. "Now hold still, Eren." She said.
Eren was too busy curling in on himself to hear her, however. A sharp pain unlike any other was stabbing his abdomen repeatedly, making his teeth clench tightly as he moaned in discomfort.
"Eren?" Mikasa asked, concerned, rushing forward and placing a hand on his toe. He ignored her and released a puff of steam, which descended like a cloud and surrounded the teens. They spluttered in surprise and disgust while Hange rushed forward, writing excitedly in her journal and trying to collect a sample.
It was red, and it smelled like decomposition.
He began breathing heavily, mouth producing more and more of the sickly fog until his eyes began fluttering and he lost his balance.
"Eren! What's wrong?" Hange yelled up to him as he swayed. "Can you list your symptoms? Nausea? Headaches? Diarrhea? Wait, no… disregard! Just calm down, Eren. Breathe deeply and-" She was cut off by a screech of pain so shrill that they all had to cover their ears.
Then they watched in horror as their friend's glowing eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto his back, shaking the very earth.
"Eren!" Armin yelled, grabbing Mikasa and Connie by the arms and running to the Titan's side. Eren remained unresponsive, though his eyelids had stopped fluttering. Armin hurriedly leaped to stand on his friend's massive chest, laying spread-eagle and listening intently for his heartbeat. He sighed in relief when he heard it.
"He's alive!" He informed the others. Levi nodded curtly, approaching Eren's pointed ear.
"Hey, Brat, it's time to stop snoozing, you big idiot!" He snapped angrily. Mikasa held back a glare and focused on peeling back Eren's large black eyelid, finding his pupil constricted to the point of being almost impossible to see. It didn't respond to the changes of lighting, nor did it focus on the teenage girl in front of it.
"Eren, wake up! Are you okay? Answer me!" She yelled.
Finally he opened his other eyelid, both eyes dazedly examining her. He let out the Titan equivalent of a cough, jostling the humans resting on his chest. His eyes began to droop exhaustedly, and no matter how she waved her arms and yelled, he sank deeper and deeper into sleep.
"Hange! Do something!" Levi exclaimed, though the woman seemed to ignore him and continued trying to find a way to obtain a blood sample.
When the teens had begun to grow increasingly desperate, however, the Titan's eyes suddenly shot open in alarm, pupils blowing wide before shrinking to pinpricks again, and he let out an inhuman cry of pain and fear, grabbing up his tiny companions and throwing them away from himself, trusting their reflexes to save them from getting hurt. He was acting on instinct, knowing that they needed to be away from him but too pained and panicked to communicate this to them, to let them get away on their own. He hoped the soldiers wouldn't take this act of protection as an act of aggression and slaughter him.
Seconds after the confused teens had safely landed beside their alert corporal, a burst of light blinded them. It originated from the sky, very similar to the lightning that seemed to accompany his Titan transformations. They couldn't do anything but cover their eyes with their arms and brace themselves against the powerful wind threatening to make them go flying again.
"What's happening?" Connie screamed over the cacophony.
"I don't know, but it's glorious!" Hange screamed back. Levi rolled his eyes, drawing his blades.
"Be prepared for anything." He supplied, leading several of the growing crowd of spectators to arm themselves and wait for the sudden cloud to clear.
All bodies were tense as things suddenly became quiet, an eerie lack of noise that made them instantly wary. Something was wrong, they could all feel it. Why wasn't Eren making any noise? There were no rumbles to say he was okay, and no human Eren stumbling forward with reassurances. Just silence, and a thick cloud of some sort blocking their view of the Titan Shifter.
"Hange, explain!" Erwin snapped, having emerged from the castle the Scouts used as a base. The scientist startled and looked worried.
"I-I have no idea what's happened! I need to get closer and get a better look. However, in this fog- which looks to be thickening- it'll be difficult to find him!" Erwin nodded in acknowledgement.
"Levi, accompany her." He ordered. The corporal grunted in acquiescence and together the pair stumbled deeper into the suffocating fog.
Mikasa and Armin waited anxiously, gripping each other by the sleeves of their jackets.
Two minutes later, a voice broke through the silence.
"We are currently an estimated six meters away from where Eren was last seen. Moblit, write this down!" Hange called, and her assistant rushed to obey. "Alright, we're now approaching the brunt of the fog, which is thick enough that I can hardly locate Levi, who is right beside me."
A grunt of annoyance.
Armin swallowed loudly, sweat beading on his brow. He could tell that something was terribly wrong. What had happened to Eren?
"HOLY SHIT!" Came the exclamation they had all feared.
"What? What's wrong, Hange!" Erwin demanded, beginning to edge closer. When the only answer he received was some shrieking and further exclamations of profanity, they all nodded to each other and rushed forward, blades up and ready.
Armin had difficulty restraining the coughs that wanted to erupt from his lungs. The fog was similar to Titan steam, and just as acrid and invasive. The white cloud was full of humidity, yet a cold chill seemed to sweep them all up and wrap itself around them.
"Sound off!" Erwin shouted, and each Scout let out a noise to indicate that they were still there, unharmed by some malicious fog monster.
"Arlert!" Armin shouted in reply, followed by Mikasa's "Ackerman!"
"Springer!"
"Levi Ackerman!"
"Zoe! Shitshitshitshit-"
"Levi, what's got Hange so frantic?"
A hesitant silence followed, something very un-Levi-like.
"Corporal?"
"Erwin, this is something you'd best see for yourself… " At the deliberately vague and shocked-sounding response, Mikasa jolted forward in a hurry.
Erwin grunted in annoyance, waving an arm ahead of himself but failing in improving his vision.
"Well, Levi, I'd like to see it, but this fog makes it incredibly difficult!"
Armin was pretty sure he could hear the corporal rolling his eyes.
"Just follow the sounds I make." He instructed. The sound of metallic clanging filled the air, originating from somewhere to the left.
The Scouts dutifully followed the ear-splitting noise, and soon Armin stumbled into something promising. A giant hunk of bloody Titan flesh.
Gulping, he grasped Mikasa's sleeve and together they approached the source of the clanging- Levi, bashing his swords against each other like cymbals.
Seeing the first of the group to locate them, Levi gestured behind him and continued the clashing, grumpily muttering about how this was sure to ruin the blades. The two took the hint and went around him, stumbling across Hange Zoe almost immediately, cloaked in fog. She was hunched over something, and her shoulders were shaking in excitement.
"Section Commander…?" Armin asked carefully.
Hange whipped around the face them, cheeks flushed and breathing erratic, with a manic grin upon her face.
"Children! Look at this!" She shrieked, waving her arms wildly at the object she had been so engrossed in.
Seeing what it was, both teens instantly felt all hope vanish.
It was a large, transparent sphere about three feet tall and three feet wide. It was a pale pink color, with blue-purple veins scattered throughout. Inside of it was a clear liquid. Floating in said liquid was a small form, about the size of a small human toddler, curled up in the fetal position.
The tiny figure was extremely emaciated, its naked, genital lacking body nothing more than thin flesh stretched over prominent bones. Its pointed ears were held flat against its head, and its lipless maw was half-open in a silent cry. Its black-lidded eyes were firmly closed.
The infant Titan was securely coddled in something inky and blanketlike… Which further examination proved to be very long hair. The formerly shoulder-length locks were now easily longer than the little creature itself, and strategically wrapped around its neck in what seemed to be a form of protection for its only weak spot. The little thing had no umbilical cord to attach it to the inside of its abode, so it simply floated there, limply.
"Is that… Eren?" Mikasa breathed, kneeling beside the scientist that was currently taking hasty measurements.
"It is! It seems my serum has somehow reverted his Titan form to its earliest stage of life- the question is, is this an egg, or an artificial womb? Are Titans live birthed, or hatched? Oh, this will answer so many questions!" Hange ran her fingers along the fleshy surface of the sphere, almost lovingly.
"But… Where's Eren?" Armin asked, noting that the tiny Titan was much too small to contain their teenaged friend. Hange sucked in a breath and giggled in reply.
"Maybe he too was de-aged… meaning that there could be a human fetus incubating inside of this little guy's nape! Fascinating! We'll have to do some tests to be sure, but that's the best theory I have so far!"
When the rest of the shocked group arrived, this explanation was repeated.
"Well… what do we do with a baby Titan? Do we lock him up, or…?"
"No." Hange was suddenly serious, startling them into silence. "He's too small to cause any harm, and he's too vulnerable to survive in the dungeons. I volunteer myself and these two," she gestured to the readily agreeing Mikasa and Armin, "to look after him. We'll do tests, keep him under control, and try to figure out how to get our lovely Titan Lad back to his moody teenaged self."
Erwin, who was staring thoughtfully at the orb, finally nodded.
"Agreed. Section Commander- you, Arlert and Ackerman are hereby put in charge of this creature's care, safety, and supervision. Please return him to normal as soon as you can." He turned to the tensed group behind them. "The rest of you are to stand down. This Titan has proven no threat so far, and any sort of lethal force will be reserved for only the worst of life-or-death situations. Are we clear?" All soldiers agreed. "Good. Dismissed!"
Line Break
After a slightly hesitant Reiner had carried the egg- due to a lack of any natural opening, it was determined to be an egg- into the castle, setting it upon Hange's own bed before leaving, the trio assigned to little Eren's care immediately got to work.
"We need a plan." Mikasa stated needlessly. Her grey eyes were cloudy with a hidden emotion even her childhood friend didn't recognize.
Armin nodded. "Yes we do. First off- do we take Eren out of there, or wait and see if he exits naturally?"
Hange sprung up, eagerly sharing her thoughts. "I vote that we wait for one week, and if nothing happens, induce the hatching process. I would love to see how Titans are born! Do they have milk teeth to break through the shell that fall off afterwards, like a turtle? Do they crawl out or slide out? Do they cry? Which senses are already developed? Which ones aren't? Will he recognize us upon waking up? Will he search for his mother? Oh! Will he need some sort of material nourishment? Or just sunlight? I'm so excited!"
It was agreed upon that if he hadn't hatched by the following Monday, they would carefully cut the egg open and extract him.
"We'll watch over him in shifts- I'll stay here during the day, when you guys have training; Armin, you'll take the evening-to-midnight shift, while Mikasa has midnight-to-morning. I'll have you officially excused from your early morning training so that you aren't completely worn out, okay?"
The teens exchanged nods of approval.
Line Break
"I wonder if you're hungry in there, Eren…" Mikasa murmured, softly stroking the fleshy substance separating her from her brother. As per usual, the infant inside didn't so much as stir to acknowledge her loving touch or whispered words. She sighed, readjusting to sit more comfortably in the wooden washtub.
To avoid the egg rolling around, they had taken an old washtub, filled it with pillows and blankets, and had set the orb snugly inside, placed by the window to absorb the brunt of the morning's sunlight. There was a small space left over next to the egg, where its guardians often sat.
It had now been four days since the initial transformation that had stripped Eren's age away. So far, the little Titan hadn't even moved. This concerned the Scouts, because normally there should be more fetal movement to signify the development of muscles and increase in time spent conscious. Then again, the Titan wasn't conscious.
Frowning, Mikasa began to gaze wistfully out the window, where the horizon held the promise of a truly beautiful upcoming sunrise.
She was feeling so many things at once, and her mental health seemed to be suffering for it. Anger. Sadness. Fear. Concern. Longing.
She missed Eren. He was her closest friend, aside from Armin. He had rescued her countless times from the clutches of the darkness, and when she was ready to just dive right into it in desperation, his determined face always managed to pull her into the loving embrace of the light. He was her family. Her partner-in-crime. Her support. Her home. Her everything.
Going even days without him was unbearably hard. Even having the scarf that smelled so wonderfully of Eren just wasn't enough. She longed to pull him into her arms, to feel his skinny, strong body against hers. She wished she could kiss his forehead, like she always did before he fell asleep each night; a nervous habit she had picked up when she was much littler, clinging desperately to his side, relying on her lips to reassure her that he was still there, beside her, that he hadn't disappeared today, so surely tomorrow he'll still be her strong uplifting force, surely the one she had sworn to protect and keep would stay another day, and another, and another, because if he left her like her parents had, she wouldn't be able to take it.
Her fingers ached to run themselves through his soft hair, to ruffle it and hear the indignant squawk that was just so Eren that it was an amazing comfort in the darkest of times. Her arms felt so empty without him to occupy them, even if his hugs only lasted for about ten seconds anyway. Her ears hurt with the desire to hear his sweet, sweet voice- Come on, let's go home- and her mouth felt dry and tasted of ashes without something to say to her brother.
"Eren… I… I miss you… And Hange is saying that it's possible you'll be stuck this way… Please… Please don't let that be so." It sounded like begging, even to her own ears. She kept her voice at a whisper to avoid waking Armin, who was napping on a spare cot nearby, and Hange, passed out on the bed. "Listen, Eren. I've seen you take on full-blown Titans without breaking stride. I've seen you defeat two human trafficking scumbags singlehandedly, using only a tiny knife. I've seen how strong you can be. You're tough, and you wouldn't just let something like this take you down! You might not be invincible, but damn it, you're as close as it gets!" By now several tears were escaping her eyes as she stared intently at the small orb of life containing all that was left of her most treasured friend. "Please don't leave me on my own! Don't let this Titan take you over! You have to fight! To live, you have to fight! Be the amazing, determined, strong boy I know you are. Come back to me, and be alright."
Sighing dejectedly and ending her whispered plea- or maybe one could call it a prayer of sorts- Mikasa began to rise, wiping the tears from her face. She needed to take a breather and stick her head out the window. Hopefully the chilly early morning air would calm her raging nerves and clear the emotional fog that was so dulling her senses.
As she twisted to lift her other leg out of the tub, however, her gaze fell once again upon the tiny shape of Eren's Titan form. And she froze.
A bony little arm was outstretched, reaching deliberately in her direction, and those beautiful green eyes that were unmistakably Eren's were now finally opened, looking up at her longingly through a milky protective membrane covering his eyeballs. His other hand was clutching loosely at the hair he wore like a scarf. Those little brows were furrowed, and his eternal lipless sneer was somehow conveying the very essence of a tearful frown. He looked scared, and desperate, and so very confused. And he looked like he wanted nothing but her.
She gasped, finding oxygen scarce, and her eyes doubled in size. She had to tell the others!
But as she turned once again to rush over to the room's sleeping occupants, she heard a noise she wouldn't soon forget.
From behind her there came a watery, choking wail, muffled by the liquid Eren was trapped in and the thick layer of the egg's fleshy shell. It was high-pitched and infantile, sounding exactly like a tiny, helpless creature of some sort that was desperately trying to communicate. And it sounded dangerously close to a strangled sob.
She couldn't take it. Hearing Eren- but it's not Eren it's not is it? Is it?- in any kind of distress was torture, absolute agony. Without hesitation, she jumped back into the uncomfortable tub and hunched as close to the egg as she could, placing her hand on the warm surface of the sphere.
Baby Eren trilled in joy at this and inched himself closer to the inner wall of the egg, reaching out an uncoordinated hand to nudge where her hand lay. His tiny little fist was barely half the size of hers.
Mikasa's heart nearly split in two when this wasn't enough for the young beast, who wailed again, sending bubbles to the small pocket of air above his head. She could see it in his eyes- he wanted to be closer to her, to actually touch her without a barrier of flesh and amniotic fluid standing between them. He longed for her familiar comfort just as much as she craved his.
And that made tears return to her eyes again.
"Eren, I'm sorry! I can't do anything more! If you want me, you have to get yourself out of there!" She exclaimed quietly, minding her sleeping roommates, selfishly wanting to have this moment solely between herself and the boy she had adopted as her brother.
He blinked, humming inquisitively, clacking his teeth together in thought. He seemed to understand what she was implying, and brought back his itty-bitty fist to crash very gently into the wall of the egg that encased him. Nothing happened. At first he looked disheartened, but then that familiar Jaeger fire flashed in his eyes, and he pulled his fist back again. With Mikasa watching in awe, he gathered his strength and slammed into the wall as hard as his newborn muscles would allow.
There was a distinctive popping sound as his fist broke straight through, and he quickly retracted it when he was met with cold morning air.
The amniotic fluid seeped out, thankfully absorbing quickly into the blockade of towels surrounding it.
First came his head, made heavier by the weight of the long, sopping wet mane of hair attached to it. When one of his shoulders got stuck, Mikasa reached out and began to gently coax his body onto a waiting blanket. Finally he was released, and after the hair was untied from its choking wrap around his neck, he announced his birth with a spluttering cough, followed by a purr of sorts.
His malnourished and stunted body was lying limply on the blanket before her, shivering and weakly trying to move. His eyes were closed in exhaustion.
"Eren…" she whisper-cooed, softly running a hand up and down his back until he acknowledged her with a coo of his own.
She couldn't help it; she smiled.
He was quite cute, this miniature Titan.
When another shiver wracked his frame, she gathered him up in his blanket and leaned back to recline against the side of the tub, laying him on her chest. He squeaked happily and curled into her warmth, little ears wiggling in a way that could never not be totally endearing.
And while she lay there, a tiny Titan laying snugly and sleepily on her chest, her fingers gently weaving through the silky hair decorating his newborn head, listening to his slow, even breathing, Mikasa found herself relaxing. For the first time in a while, she knew everything would be okay. She might not have had any solid proof of this, but deep down, she just knew it.
She fell asleep with a smile, and with a newborn Titan clutched securely to her, looking for all the world like a mother and her beloved son.
Sorry to those of you who ship EreMika (I do too, actually), but this story is going to be a familial sort of relationship, and there are also no pairings.
Also, almost all scientific-ness is total fiction. I'm no scientist.
Without an umbilical cord, how could he breathe? Titans apparently don't need to breathe, according to Wikipedia. So there.
Anyone else think a baby Titan as described above would be the cutest thing ever?
Also, I know a baby Titan would be, like, 50 feet tall at least, but in this, they start out extremely tiny and then shoot up in a few big growth spurts later on. After all, if he's too big, he can't do all the cute normal baby things I have planned, like bathing- in a bathtub!
Whoops. Spoilers.
Whatevs.
So, how did you like it? I felt the need to write something new, so while I probably should be a responsible Fanfictioner and update my other two stories, INSTEAD I'm giving ya'll this for now until my Merlin/YJ muse decides to return from vacay.
To my Never Quite Lost readers- I am in the process of writing out my plans for future chapters. Coming up is a 4-to-5-part story arc (is that what those are called?) and so something this big needs extra special care and planning ahead. Also, that story is coming closer to its end, I'm sad to say, so I want to make sure I tie everything up nicely to make it an all-around awesome experience for you. For now, I'll just say it won't be any longer than 40 chapters, and most likely won't make it all the way to 40 (we're currently on chapter 29). I don't want to drag it on for so long that you all get sick of it.
For those of you reading Lullabies and Broken Wings- this one is giving me some trouble, because I'm caught on this one plot point that's vitally important, but is giving me lots of trouble and doubts. Please excuse the long periods between updates, and please be patient while I make some very big and difficult decisions on just where this story is going and how it'll get there. You all are the best!
Sorry if the Eren/Titan identity is unclear (like, if he's Eren or just a baby Titan) but it will be explained in future chapters. This well has lots to offer before it goes dry!
Should I continue? I'm thinking this one will be ten chapters at most… A shorter multichapter one. There will be Levi, Hange, Armin and such in later chapters, but I felt Mikasa would be the one most heavily affected.
Please drop a review!
Also, if anyone is interested in drawing the cover art for this, feel free to PM me to discuss! The person who draws (or whatever method you use) it can decide exactly what happens for one whole chapter of this story (as long as it's pairing-free!)! So what're you waiting for? Don't be shy, my lovely artist readers!
Anywho, gotta go study… like I should have been doing over four hours ago…. :/ Man, life can suck sometimes… especially for a student. Oh well.
Goodnight, lovelies!
-ThisVioletofMine