Eren's Point of View
-before the dinner incident-
I still can't get over what Mikasa told me.
I got over the fact that I was acting like a you-know-what and actually started to think about what she said. I'm still in District Ehrmich, laying down on a bed, but I'll probably head back to the Scout HQ once we get the word from Levi. The others are out doing something right now, taking a break from the usual Scout routine. I've just been thinking, and thinking, and thinking…
I should probably apologize. I really should. You know what? That's what I'm going to go do.
She's probably at that soup place just down the street.
Upon exiting the room and strolling down the hall of whatever place I'm in, I'm greeted by Reiner, who seems to be searching for me.
"Eren. I was wondering where you were, glad to see you're okay. Wasn't there to see the fight between you and Annie in Stohess."
"Eh, yeah, I think I'm fine. I'm on my way to find Mikasa, to apologize to her about something. Where are the others? Y'know, Bertholdt, Ymir, Christa?"
"Oh, we're heading back to Scout HQ early. Probably going to do some stuff on the way. I'm guessing you heard about Annie escaping?"
"Yeahhh... Anyways, gotta go."
. . .
Can't find her. I've looked all around this place. Even though Soup Palace is extremely crowded, I know I still would've found her by now. That said, I've yet to ask anyone for her whereabouts, but then again, I don't know where anyone is that could know where she is. Maybe I can just wait here. Despite the loud and crowded atmosphere, I would probably easily be able to relax in one of these booths. My legs are still exhausted and my lightheadedness hasn't worn off yet from the Stohess battle with Annie, so staying here doesn't seem like a bad idea. Though, I'm not entirely sure this is where Mikasa is going later.
After a brief conversation with a few people who work at Soup Palace, I instantly realize I forgot the "reserving a seat" thing, because in contrast to the other Ehrmich restaurants, this place is the most busiest around lunchtime. Every time I ask if I may be able to stay in one of the booths, but not order anything, the employee responds with the generic, "You're not allowed to do that." And the employees, every time after I ask them that question, usually just rush off to their business after giving me their answer - which gives me an idea. They're so focused on running this restaurant, and don't have time to focus on one harmless "problem," so maybe I can just wait here anyways.
And I do. I sit in a booth and chill. I stare out the window at the busy streets of Ehrmich, and watch all the steaming hot plates of food pass by me. At one point, a waitress approaches the booth I'm sitting in. I end up ordering some kind of vegetable soup without even knowing it, because apparently replying "Cool" to the waitress talking about a new type of soup the restaurant is just now introducing means that I want to buy some. I don't even have any money, but I eat it anyways in hopes of somebody I know showing up to pay for it. Nobody does, though, and when the waitress returns I claim that I didn't actually order anything and that I don't have to pay for it.
"It was free. My boss told me to give people like you some of the new soup for free to both help you and see your reaction to the soup. By the way, how'd you like the soup?"
"What? What do you mean, 'people like me'?"
She freezes, and a look of "oh no" appears on her face.
"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to insult you or anything. We're supposed to be giving to the needy."
"Why would there be 'needy' people in this district? And I'm not needy, and I don't know why you thought that."
"You - you look a little roughed up…?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm poor. Looks can be deceiving. The reason I look so roughed up is because I refused to believe that."
"Okay… Thanks for not getting super-angry."
"No problem? Heh," I reply, as she returns to her normal restaurant business.
I give up on my search when lunchtime ends, and convince myself Mikasa wouldn't come here for dinner. She might be back at that place I was staying at. Probably should've stayed there. Though, if she bumped into Reiner, she'd know I'm looking for her… I don't know. When I exit through the doors of Soup Palace, with the complex layout of District Ehrmich laying out in front of me, I instantly forget where I'm supposed to be going. I'm not even sure what kind of building I was staying in, just that I was staying in it after the Stohess battle. The only way I was able to return to it was being led by Mikasa…
Eh, as long as I didn't leave anything important there, I think, looking down at my father's basement key hanging around my neck.
. . .
The sky's getting darker, my eyes are getting heavier, and my body's becoming more exhausted than it was before, despite the time being around 6 o'clock. I have to set things straight with Mikasa. I've always known she's attached to me, but that's all I've ever known. A conversation at the soup place is all I'm looking for. Since I'm probably not going to find my own place to sleep before it's too late, I decide to crash at somebody else's place. I'm denied a few times, but eventually a nice-looking family lets me into their house. A middle-aged couple lives there, with two sons, both of which are just a little younger than me, it seems.
Their house gives off a bittersweet vibe, which hits me upon entering; it reminds me of my old house. I see a medium-sized dinner table across the room, which causes me to flash back to eating dinner with my family, and Mikasa. The parents offer me snacks, saying "Dinner will be ready soon, but you look hungry, so here you go," and also grab me a blanket and seat me onto a couch. For a moment I forget about everything going on and just convince myself I'm at home, relaxing, not a care in the world…
My thoughts are interrupted by a call from the mother. "Dinner's ready! I bought a chicken earlier today from that new market just south of the chain of restaurants, so I hope you all like it. Oh, can someone go get that girl and tell her dinner's ready?"
What girl? Didn't know there was a girl here - doesn't sound like she's referring to her daughter.
"I'm right here," a peculiar voice states.
My heart stops, my hands suddenly curl into fists, and shivers travel down my spine.
I abruptly turn my head to see her. She's staring back at me, obviously surprised, as well.
Annie. She's wearing the Scout Regiment hood. But, by the looks of it, she's taking the appearance of some innocent girl.
At this point I'm completely overwhelmed by surprise, rage, and stress all at once, frozen in time, my eyes locked on that hateful, terrible human - no, she's not a human. She's a monster. She eventually takes her eyes off me and seats herself at the dinner table. I decide not to start anything at the moment in this house, especially in front of those kids, and especially considering Annie can make it look like she's innocent. She's been playing the act for God knows how long.
We eat dinner. The family talks, and Annie talks with them. They chat about various things. I'm not paying any attention to their conversations, only the fact that a psychopathic murderer is having a conversation with this family. I can't take it. My heart is racing at the speed of sound, and I become scared that I'm going to flip out and kill her. I want to. The faces of all of my friends she's taken away from me appear in my mind, only further fueling the flame building up in my body. I haven't even touched the chicken the mother has prepared. Annie's already finished hers.
"Did the snacks fill 'ya up? I was afraid that would happen," the mother lightheartedly says. She has long, brown hair, and is quite pretty, with a blissful smile. Annie being in the same room as this person just blows my mind. "No, I'm just thinking about something. I'm not entirely filled up."
"Why did you crash at this place?" asks Annie, from across the table. She gives me cold look, and I take a good look at those - those eyes, before reluctantly replying, "I'm in the Scout Regiment, and I have no place to stay. You?"
"Same. That's why I'm wearing the hood."
"I-I've never seen you at HQ. Why is that?"
The question doesn't take her by surprise, as she almost instantly replies, "I just joined."
"Well, I didn't know a sweet little girl like you would want to be doing something dangerous like that. And as for you, I can tell you would want to be doing something like that - still, risking your life like that, what do your parents think of it?" the mother asks me, again, lightheartedly, though a little less on the latter portion.
Memories of seeing my mother being eaten by a titan flood back to me, before eventually snapping out of it. Everybody at the table is looking at me, and since the two boys aren't at the table (probably in their rooms or something), I solemnly reply, "Both of my parents were murdered by titans, and so were a few of my friends." I shoot Annie a subtle, menacing look during that last portion. I know I don't know if my dad is alive, because I haven't seen him in quite awhile, but that would take longer to explain. So for now I'll say he's dead.
The mother is taken aback by my response. After a moment of processing what I said, she tells me, "I.. I can see why you joined, now. My father died in the Scouts, and he joined because his father was eaten by one of those monsters… I'm very sorry."
"It-it's fine," I tell her, staring down at my dinner, which I haven't touched.
The father leaves, and he hadn't talked to me at all. He has short, black hair, a menacing face, and looks a little roughed up. So, then, when the mother says, "I don't think I'm hungry anymore. I'll go make your beds," my heart drops again. From that point until the mother is out of sight, I glare at Annie furiously.
I thought she was cool. She taught me how to fight. She convinced me she was a friend. But after the battle with Stohess, seeing her as the Female Titan, this - this anger started to build up in me. Someone I trusted with my life had brutally murdered some of my closest friends. I didn't want to believe it. Mikasa told me to. Mikasa's never liked Annie. No longer holding back, I clutch a knife on the table and attempt to land a strike on Annie's head - she grabs the blade portion with her hand before it reaches her.
"Not so fast, titan boy," she tells me.
She holds the position.
"Blind rage. That's all you are. Always making fast decisions, always giving in to your hate."
"Don't you remember what I taught you?" she asks.
. . .
a few years back
The first thing I hear, which isn't the usual wake-up call from Mikasa, is Annie's voice.
"Eren, wake up."
"I-I'm already up."
"Then that means you don't need any coffee. Get up, we have to train earlier than usual because of our exam today."
"Annie, I gotta have coffee. Especially wa- *yawn* waking up at this hour. What time is it?"
"Precisely 3 AM. I'll be downstairs, so be ready in five minutes."
She almost exits the room when I say, "Wait."
She stops, but doesn't look back at me.
"Ten minutes," I say.
"Fine."
She's already awake and ready to go at three o'clock in the morning. Astounding. I stumble off of my bed, then downstairs, instantly remembering I don't know how to make coffee. Mikasa usually makes some for me. After forcing myself to stay awake without coffee, I make my way outside to the usual spot Annie and I train.
The grass is wet, it's foggy, the atmosphere is eerie, and the only distant thing I can see are the giant mountains looming in the distance. I'm almost distracted by the atmosphere when Annie, out of nowhere, tries to land a kick on my side, followed by me grabbing her leg and her tripping to the ground. "Nice," she comments.
"What's lesson that's worth waking up at 3 are you teaching me?"
"It's about anger. I've never been much of an angry person myself, but I still know how to control it when I do."
"That definitely sounds helpful.."
"Yes. You tend to let your rage take full control of your actions, which can hinder you - instead, you can use it to your advantage. Being angry can race your heart, stress you out, do all sorts of things… If you channel all of that energy in a positive way, then your chances of winning a fight are greatly increased."
"Well then, let's get started."
. . .
present day
I forgot the specific things she taught me then, just that anger can be used positively - wait, why am I thinking of that now?
Nevermind. The answer's right in front of me.
"Honestly, Annie, I don't give a shit what you taught me. Or at least when you compare it to the present. Either way, you're going to burn in hell."
I jump over the table, grabbing her by the waist, her head slamming against the counter behind the table - unaffected, she gets on her feet and tries to kick me in the head. I duck, and stumble to my feet, giving her a cold stare from across the room. "Why haven't you turned into a titan?" I ask her. No response. Instead, she flips the table in between us over, and I barely manage to leap over it. As soon as I land in front of Annie, she punches me in the stomach, giving me the feeling like I'm gonna hurl.
The fight continues. Both of us try to use our surroundings to our advantage, such as throwing knives, using the table for cover, and hitting each other's heads with pots & pans, but none of us bother to go titan. None of the family residing in this household seems to want to know what's going on down here. I guess that's both good on theirs and Annie's part, because they don't need to be involved.
At one point, I notice Annie with a very large knife in her hand, and manage to strip it from her before she charges at me. Instantly, she directs the knife back at me, using both of her hands, trying to push it into my chest. I hold it back from my chest successfully, even though she manages to back me up into a counter. She's not strong enough.
Once Annie realizes she can't do that, she trips me, and pushes me the opposite direction, to the middle of the room. I still have the knife in my hand, but then she finds yet another knife of similar size, and attempts to blindly strike me. Out of all the parts of my body she could've aimed, she strikes the knife I'm holding, and using full force, and push her back, sending her flying across the room, landing headfirst into a wall.
"I've taught you well, Eren," she says, almost lightheartedly.
I then realize something. She's freaking unaffected by this fight, yet I'm bloodied up on my fists, my face, and even my feet, somehow. Yet, she's still looking like an innocent, tiny girl.
Still clutching the giant knife, I charge at her, only to be stopped a mere centimeter from her head. She's not holding my wrist. "That was close, boy."
"What the hell?"
She shoves me back onto the ground, and I abruptly feel weakened, especially in the hand I tried to use the knife to strike her with just now.
"Congratulations. I would've been dead by now, I'll give you that. But for now, I'm done."
Despite my efforts, I still haven't gotten on my feet.
I can't move.
I can't lift my arms, or my legs, and everything in my sight is tinted light green.
"A-annie," I barely manage to utter before only being able to see green.
. . .
I awaken, immediately greeted by a feeling of dread. What I'm supposed to be dreading is the 2nd feeling.
"Wake up, Eren."
Annie.
"I don't know if you are able to remember it, but after our little chit chat at that family's house you got extremely angry and went titan. I had to contain you within the district. I can't toy around with you anymore, as I've got bigger problems. So let's compromise."
I don't register what she just told me until I familiarize myself with my surroundings. I'm on top of a wall, with a dark, cloudy, gloomy sky up above me. Annie stands out in front of me, with me lying down on the side of the wall.
"Eren. I can throw you off the edge in the instant, or kill you in many other ways. But I'm not."
"W-what?"
"For certain reasons, I need you alive, but I can't let you go wandering around and blabbing about me. But I also can't just leave you in a room for you to starve, either, because you won't be willing to work with me."
"What the hell are you talking about…"
"So, I'm willing to do something. We're currently standing on Wall Rose."
She looks off the the left. "Over there is known as District Utopia, which is the northernmost district not taken over by titans. On the other side is Wall Rose interior."
I don't respond.
"Step one foot outside District Utopia or say one word about me being alive or anything you know will cause problems for me, and I'll make sure you'll regret it. I need not say the consequences. Got it?"
"Go to hell."
Link's Point of View
one or two years ago
What the heck is this?
Man, this temple is constantly surprising me.
After killing a couple of those annoying tektites, I had went through a door to find a small island, surrounded by an endless ocean, with another door on the opposite side of where I'm standing. I can barely see it from here, but I'm pretty sure there's a lock on it.
Let's get whatever the hell this strange puzzle is over with. Actually, I just want to get this entire stupid water temple over with.
I tread across the ankle-high water, my shadow looming out a good ways behind me. I step onto the extremely small island, observe it for a moment, and keep trodding to the exit. I instantly notice my shadow's gone. When I reach the exit, with the lock keeping me from entering, I turn around to see something strange.
On the small island in the middle of this odd "room," my - my shadow is standing there. Literally. It's staring straight at me, I think. Wearily, I lurch towards it, when it suddenly strikes me, sending me backwards into the water. It leaps forward but I halt it with my Master Sword, pushing against its - its dark Master Sword. The glowing, upside-down triforce symbol on its right hand distracts me, with a jab to my waist snapping me back to reality. The hell was that? Dark triforce?
We fight, the shadowy figure always predicting my movements, and using nearly the same types of attacks as me. When I try to strike its head, it tries to strike my head. When I step backwards, it steps forwards, and vice versa. I take my bow out to see if it has a bow, but it doesn't pull out anything. I take aim at its dark body and let the arrow fly, only to be stopped by its sword. It literally just hit the arrow out of midair. I repeat, with the shadow backflipping away from the arrow or dodging it in some other way, but still sometimes slicing it with the Dark Master Sword. That's a pretty good name.
Before I know it, I'm out of arrows, and I don't have any of that strange stuff used for Din's Fire and all of that - "magic," I've heard people call it? I don't know.
The shadow - Shadow Link, I'll call it - becomes more aggressive, both predicting my every movement but also using every chance to land a strike. Eventually, I'm playing 100% defense, barely stopping its attacks, until Shadow Link finally hits me in the arm. In that moment, with my aching right arm, I grab the shadowy figure and hurl it into the water and drive my sword into its back, not wanting to get beaten up by this copycat any longer. Finally, that's over with.
I direct my attention back to the exit of this place, which no longer has a lock on it. I tread over to the door and open it, continuing this forsaken temple.
Well, that was definitely something.
. . .
present day
The hell is that thing? I think, still half-asleep. There's this figure off in the distance, barely visible above the tall grass and from the small window of this shack. Before I hop off of the bed I notice my triforce of courage on my left hand resonating, which, at first, I think is nothing. It's done that a few times randomly, but not in a while. Probably nothing.
I equip myself for a temporary trip and head on out into the wasteland - heh, calling it that kinda makes it seem cool. I peek just to the right of me to see the figure still looming over me, like a shadow. It looks like it's just as tall as me. Preparing for the worst-case scenario, I unsheathe my sword and lurch towards the - the thing. I'm not looking down at it, but I'm sensing my triforce of courage is resonating even stronger, making me question inside my mind where this thing comes from. Then, when I get close enough to it, it hits me:
Water Temple.
This is the thing from the Water Temple back in Hyrule, with the dark-triforce thingy on its right hand. But it's the same height as me. What did I call it? I forgot.
I'm about a few meters away from it, and after halting, observing it, and continuing forwards a few times, it eventually grabs a bow out of some kind of pouch and aims it towards me.
It doesn't shoot, but it does surprise the hell out of me, causing me to sheathe my sword and aim an arrow towards it.
"Aren't you from the Water Temple?" I ask it, not expecting much of an answer. Sure enough, its response - which probably isn't even a response - is just continuing to stand there and aim an arrow at me. "I take it you see me as some kind of enemy."
"Well, I can assure you I don't really feel like causing trouble with anything, especially with things back in Hyrule. You don't, by any chance, know how to get back to Hyrule, right?"
"Didn't think so."
I cut the monologue and eventually stop trying to appear threatening altogether to see if I can solve this problem a different way. I put my bow away, and even lay my sword sheathe on the ground and cautiously walk towards the shadow version of me.
Down to every single little detail, this thing is exactly like me. By the looks of it, a shadow version of the gilded sword is in its sheathe, and a "shadow-bow" is wrapped around its torso, kind of like what I do sometimes. The only difference is it is entirely dark, like a shadow. Its eyes are the darkest, instantly noticeable upon inspecting this thing's face. Ooh, I remember that. That's the "dark-triforce". Upon its right hand is the triforce symbol, dark and glowing - or resonating, just like my triforce. It's also upside-down. Hm. Neat.
Once I enter a one meter radius shadow me - I'll call this thing Shadow Link - steps backwards, still ready to shoot an arrow through my body. I move even closer, and it moves backwards some more, until eventually it backs into a tree atop a hill. Just a little down to the right of me, I can see the shack I was staying in, and the surrounding wasteland. Though, no abandoned cities are in sight from where I'm standing.
I turn back towards Shadow Link and he's closer to me, and that surprises me, almost sending me down the hill. Then, the figure decides it'd be cool to kick me down the hill, and it does just that, and I tumble towards the rusty shack, right by the window. Epona looks at me questioningly.
Shadow Link sprints towards the shack and enters it, and I follow him, still trying to not appear threatening. "I take it you're not apologizing for sending me tumbling down a quite large hill, but can you at least respect my personal temporary property?" He slams the door in my face.
"Fine, have it your way, you baby."
I start to worry he's going to steal my items and/or Epona, so I attempt to open the door, but it won't budge. I peek through the window to see all of my stuff still there, along with Epona, and head back to the door. It busts open all of the sudden, with Shadow Link on a shadowy-horse, and he rides off into the wasteland.
Didn't even cause a problem. Just went into my place, took a look around, and got a shadow version of Epona. No violence involved.
Hm. Well, that was definitely something.
I brush it off as one of the many strange things that happen during my travels, not knowing he will one day cause some of the biggest problems for me and wreak havoc on my life in nearly every way possible.
End of Act I
This was a kinda "getting the other business done" kinda chapter. I don't really know what I mean by that, but it probably means that I didn't intend for this chapter to move the plot along a whole bunch. Basically, reveal what's going on with Eren and reveal a villain that's going to stay in this series for quite a while. Oh, and, if you don't already know (I put this in almost every chapter), I post updates of my progress on the latest chapter of THaBA on my profile, and even post a preview for every chapter, which is usually a paragraph or so. I'd advise, if you're wondering when the next chapter will be uploaded or want to see a preview, you to look there.
Oh, and, now that I've got some things set, I'm ready to start going plot.
What I meant by that was, I've got some events I wanted to get out of the way written and done for, like the introduction to Maxus (not really) and Shadow Link, and I'm finally ready to start moving the plot forward without thinking, "Oh, crap! Forgot about that dude!" So, get ready.
Chapter 8 Review Response
Itherael: Continue this well written story!
- Frank
Will do. Thanks!
Guest: Link's meeting Mikasa again isn't he? Well this is going to be an awkward team up considering what happened before.
Not just yet. But soon.
Gussy Phantom: I love this! I know you don't take requests, but it would be really cool if Link met Levi again. Please update soon.
Thanks! And I messaged you the answer to your request, but in this section I'm just going to say - what happens, happens.
triforcemeralds: This is very interesting. I really like the realistic Link portrayed here, and while some parts are strange since I'm not completely familiar with the AoT universe, I know enough that Link's foray into this world piques my interest.
I think the only question I have for right now is just how long is his hookshot? That's a massive distance for that golden thing to stretch, so I'm a little curious how he works it. the description in the chapters doesn't paint enough of a picture for me.
Thank you, and yeah, I've had some people who don't know much about AoT, and are learning about it as Link learns. And I didn't put too much thought into the whole hookshotting-up-the-giant-wall thing, because when I was writing the first chapter that showed Link doing that I was too lazy to figure out how long it can actually stretch. I don't really want to rewrite canon, but for now I'm going to say it can stretch really long, and if it becomes too much of a problem I'll rewrite that part a bit.
The way I wrote how it works is that Link would aim at the middle of one of those 50-meter high walls and hookshot up it, and when he reaches the middle, before he starts falling down he'll hookshot the top of the wall, sending him to the top. I'm not really good at describing that, but he basically climbs the wall with his hookshot. If it needs rewriting because it's too unrealistic, the only edit I'd have to make is changing using the hookshot twice to climb the wall to using it like five or six times. I'm not too good at imagery regarding writing, but I try my best.