Author's Note: This chapter focuses on Eren's time with the scouting regiment to being adopted by Carla.
~Two years and six months ago~
Eren was terrified. Hardly a day had passed since he was found by Commander Shadis and was brought inside the walls, and everything already felt too much for him. He recognised nothing, Shadis wanted him to look at Shiganshina when they passed through to see whether he recognised the place, hoping it would trigger his memories, but there was nothing. He didn't know anyone who was booing at the Scouting Regiment or did he remember the buildings they passed, his mind stayed blank as he travelled through unknown territory to the Scouting Regiment Headquarters.
When they arrived, Eren was quickly hurried off the wagon by Hange and Erwin whilst the members of the scouting regiment focused on emptying the wagons and taking the horses back to their stables to rest. Erwin had offered his quarters to hide the boy in when Commander Shadis decided what they were going to do with him. Eren was terrified for what would happen next, he knew he couldn't stay with the scouting regiment, from the whispering he heard between Mike and Erwin, he knew that as soon as they returned to their headquarters Eren would be sent somewhere else and the little normality and safety he felt now would be taken away from him. He would lose everything just like he lost his memories.
Commander Shadis called a meeting with Erwin, Mike, Hange and Levi as soon as they returned to their headquarters, he had plenty of business to attend to, informing the soldiers family members of those loved one's deaths and he needed to plan the scouting regiments next steps, the last thing he needed was more work on top of everything else. He needed to find a home for Eren quickly.
"We need to find Eren a home quickly, we can't keep a child here. It will get too suspicious," Shadis said to the squad leaders. They were the only people he trusted enough that they wouldn't say anything to soldiers in their squads or accidentally reveal it to the Military Police. They knew the risks better than anyone else.
"Commander, I have thought of a cover story for Eren. What if we say that he is a child to a member of the scouting regiment who died during the recent expedition, it would explain why he's here and if we say that he had no extended family then there wouldn't be questions to why he's not living with grandparents? The only issue is that it wouldn't explain his memory loss so it would only work around the scouting regiment, not the family who takes him in therefore we would have to be truthful about what happened to him to an extent," Erwin explained and Shadis nodded his head, if anyone could come up with a working plan to protect the kid without having to keep him hidden inside their quarters it would be Erwin, his Long-Distance Enemy Scouting Formation had been such a success in this mission and they hadn't lost as many casualties as they usually did during an expedition.
"That could work, it would also take pressures off us to find the kid a home quickly" Shadis said mostly to himself, he honestly had no idea where he could start looking for a home for Eren, it's not like there was a proper system to what happens if a child loses their homes and family, normally they would go to any extended family member or close friends.
"Why can't we just give him to the Military Police now we're back inside the walls? If Eren doesn't tell anyone where we found him then they could find him a home," Mike suggested, it's not like the Scouting Regiment is the ideal place to look after a child.
"The Military Police hate doing extra work. If we hand the brat over to them, then he'll end up on the streets or in the underground by the end of the week" Levi snapped, he might not care for the brat but he would not let him end up in the underground with no memories or any way to protect himself. No one like that would survive in that place. The brat would be dead before his first day in the underground was over.
"So that settles that issue. Now we need to find a home for the kid. Any suggestions?".
"Um… Mr Levi, why am I on this?" Eren asked, looking down at the ODM belt which was attached to some cables on another device. Eren honestly did not understand what was going on, one second he was reading a book in Erwin's Quarters and the next Mr Levi and Hange came storming in and dragged him out of the room and towards the training grounds giving Eren hardly any time to put his book down without losing the page. Hange had excitingly thrown Eren a belt. Then Levi snapped sharp instructions on how to put it on before hooking him up to this machine.
"We need to keep you occupied during your stay here and since this regiment isn't designed to have children here, then we will have to train you like a soldier. First, you will need to learn how to use the ODM gear, it is your lifeline when fighting titans, if you can't use it then your titan food," Levi snapped standing by a handle whilst Hange observed from in front of Eren.
"Don't be such a grump, Levi! Don't listen to him, Eren! This machine will just test your stability in the gear, if you can balance then you can learn how to use the ODM gear, it's how we work out who is suitable to become a soldier and who isn't," Hange explained and Eren nodded, although he didn't know why they wanted him to learn this, it wasn't like he had plans to become a soldier after all he hardly knew what he was doing now let alone what he's going to do in the future, "Now Levi will lift you up and if you balance then we can move on, if not we're here to help you learn how to. It can feel a little weird at first but just relax into the belt and try not to put too much weight on the front or the back of the belt or you will tip,".
Eren gulped as Hange signalled for Levi to lift Eren up. He felt his heart pounding in his chest, and he clenched his eyes shut. He didn't want to see himself being lifted off the ground. He didn't like it at all, and it took all his strength to keep his arms and legs under control and not to flail them around aimlessly. He needed to relax, but how could he, this felt unnatural to him. He was a firm believer that his feet should stay on the floor, well he thought he was. Now that he thought about it, who was he really, a child found wandering the forest outside the walls with no memories. A boy who couldn't remember anything other than his name. A boy who was practically a blank slate. A boy who was relying on the help of the scouting regiment just to survive. Did he even have that right, he had somehow got outside the walls and then needed the scouting regiment to rescue him from a titan who was about to eat him. Maybe it was better if he had died. He wouldn't be a burden on the rest of the scouting regiment. No, he couldn't think like that, the scouting regiment helped people, from what Erwin had told him, the scouting regiment risked their lives to save humanity from the titans. They were now working to find him a new home or his family, so the least he could do is to do what they asked, if they wanted him to learn how to use to ODM gear then he would use all his strength to learn it.
Eren took a deep breath before opening his eyes, Hange was staring at him in complete awe which made Eren frown slightly, wondering what they were looking at until he realised that he was balancing on the gear. It felt so natural to him, like it was another part of his body.
"You're a natural Eren!" Hange squealed as Levi lowered to boy down, "now it's time to learn how to use that gear,".
All Eren could do was groan as he followed Mr Levi and Hange into the woods.
Hange was the weirder one out of the trio who oversaw looking after him. They spent most of their time talking about Titans with this look in their eyes, Eren wasn't sure how he would describe the look Hange got whenever they or someone else mentioned the T-word around them but it did kind of scare Eren a little. Hange was passionate about the man-eating monsters, that it was the only thing they spoke about whilst Hange was with well anyone, Eren was sure that he knew more about the creatures outside the walls than he did about life inside the walls. He knew the different names for them; he knew the titans only weak spot; he knew the behaviours they showed; he knew how to capture them. Hell, Eren knew about the process Hange goes through trying to name any of the titans the scouting regiment capture and brought inside the walls. He knew so much about the titans that Eren shouldn't have been surprised when Hange approached him after a week of being with the scouting regiment with them asking whether Eren wanted to help Hange and Moblit with an experiment.
Experimenting on titans was weird to say the least, it was his second time coming face to face with one of those monsters since he was found outside the walls and helping Moblit run around after Hange making sure that the Squad Leader didn't get too close to the titan's jaw and helping with small tests like timing how long it took for the titan to regenerate depending on their injury or how long it took the titan to recover when they were restricted from the amount of sunlight they had each day. It made him wonder how his life had changed so much in such a short space of time; he went from this child who was trapped outside the walls with no memories, who was saved by the skin of his teeth by Commander Shadis before he could become titan chow and now he was helping the squad leader of the researcher section with experiments on their newest captured titan but he couldn't fault it, in fact he enjoyed spending time with Hange and Moblit, he enjoyed helping them out with their experiments; he enjoyed learning about this new world. Whilst Hange talked about the titans, Moblit would try to explain their world to Eren which was honestly a little hard since Moblit had no idea that Eren was found outside the walls and believed like the rest of the scouting regiments that his parents had died on the previous expedition and he had no other family to go to and that he didn't know much.
No matter how weird Hange was, he knew that he was going to miss them the most. Mr Erwin and Mr Levi still treated him like a child who didn't know any better whilst Hange spent any of their free time with Eren helping him adapt to life inside the walls, hell they even knew how scared Eren really was about living with a normal family again, how he was scared that he wouldn't be able to fit in because he was so different compared to everyone else, what if his memory loss freaked the other children out so they didn't want to be around him? It kept him up at night trying to imagine what would happen next, what would his life be like, but he knew he couldn't focus on that Hange had promised that when they had the chance, they would visit Eren as often as they could. He knew that no matter what happened in this world, he could always count on them.
It had been two months since Eren was found outside the walls and brought inside, two months since he started living with the scouting regiment whilst Commander Shadis searched and searched for somewhere he could stay and now today he was leaving, leaving the little normality he had behind and moving in with a woman he barely knew and a child he had never met. According to Shadis he found Carla Morgan by word of mouth, he had travelled to the Shiganshina District and overheard two waitresses talking about how Carla had adopted Mikasa Ackerman, a young girl roughly the same age as Eren who became an orphan after her parents were killed by bandits and she was nearly sold into slavery. After finding out where Carla lived Shadis wrote a letter to the woman expressing how he had a child who needed homing, Carla agreed to meet Shadis who explained a water down version of what had happened to Eren, they had found him abandoned with no memories but the child knew his name. But Carla was much smarter than Shadis was expecting, not that he believed that the woman was dumb, he just never expected someone to challenging him on the story. Carla had demanded to be told the truth or she wouldn't help, she pointed out all the problems in Shadis story before standing up getting ready to leave; she told Shadis how she didn't want him to waste her time if he refused to be honest, she couldn't welcome a child into her home without knowing everything that had happened to him after all she had another child to protect who had already gone through a devastating time she couldn't risk Mikasa getting hurt.
Shadis knew he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, if he refused to tell Carla then she would walk and he would be back to square one with finding Eren a home but if he told her, then there was a chance she wouldn't believe him and leave. And even if he told her, he couldn't risk her telling others about what he had said and the Military Police turning up at their door so instead he got her to sign a confidentiality agreement so she wouldn't tell anyone anything that Shadis told her before explaining Eren situation, how he was found outside the walls in the clutches of a titan, how they had smuggled the boy back inside the walls still confused how he even got outside there in the first place, Shadis explained how he needed to find a home for Eren because the scouting regiment wasn't the ideal place to raise a child. Carla didn't want to believe it at first, that a child had somehow escaped the walls and even if it was for a short time, he had experienced the horror of the outside world. She then demanded to meet the child, and Shadis escorted her to Erwin's quarters where Eren was staying.
Eren jumped when he heard the bedroom door swing open, he wasn't expecting Erwin back so soon and he had nothing arranged with Levi or Hange. It quite surprised him to see Commander Shadis stood there with a brown-haired woman he didn't recognise.
"You must be Eren," the woman said walking into the room and sat in front of Eren on Erwin's bed, "I'm Carla and I'll be taking you to live with me soon. Is that alright?".
"Taking me where?" Eren asked a little nervous, it scared him the thought that they would take away him from what he was used to and forced into the unknown.
"I'm from the Shiganshina District, it is a town on the south edge of Wall Maria, you will come to live with me and my adoptive daughter Mikasa, she's about your age," Carla said.
"Does that mean I can't…. talk to my friends anymore?" Eren gulped, he hated the idea that he might lose his friends.
"Friends?" Carla questioned, from what Commander Shadis had told her Eren didn't remember his past unless the boy had become friends with any children from a nearby village, but Carla couldn't remember there being any villages in these parts.
"Squad Leader Hange and Moblit, Captain Levi and Squad Leader Erwin too I guess" Eren replied, he had become close with the mad scientist and their assistant and he got along with Levi and Erwin too so he would miss them when he leaves.
"We can write them letters if you want and they are always welcome to visit when they can" Carla said with a small smile on her face.
"Really" Eren said his eyes widened in surprise as he threw himself at Carla wrapping his arms around her neck, "thank you! Thank you, thank you".
"You're welcome Eren, Commander Shadis told me you don't remember much so I would never want you to stop seeing the people you have got a connection to," Carla said hugging the boy back, "Hey Eren why don't we make a deal, if I help you with writing these letters would you keep it a secret. You shouldn't never be ashamed of whom you are friends with but sometimes it's best to keep it to yourself, people might not see the scouting regiment in the same light as you do and I don't want you to get hurt, it would be for the best for now if you don't tell anyone about being found outside the walls or living with and knowing the members of the scouting regiment. Just to keep you and your new friends safe, okay?".
"Deal!" Eren grinned before jumping off the bed and darted out the room, he needed to tell Hange and Moblit the good news. Carla laughed as she watched the boy go, for someone who has already been through a lot he didn't act like it but maybe he was that good at hiding it, she knew Mikasa had learnt to hide her emotions from everyone other than her friend Armin and Carla. Maybe Eren had learnt that as well, for now it didn't matter hopefully in time Eren will slowly open up to her when he sees that he can trust her just as much as he does with this Hange and Moblit people.
That was a week ago, Carla had left not long after meeting Eren before she had to return home to Mikasa. When she departed, she promised Eren that she would return for him after sorting out a few necessities she needed before she could take on the responsibility of looking after another girl. Carla arrived around ten in the morning, giving Eren enough time to pack his things and say goodbye to those he had gotten close with. She found Eren waiting outside the entrance of the scouting regiment headquarters with Commander Shadis and four others who Carla could only assume were the soldiers who had looked after Eren during his time here.
"Aww I can't believe you're leaving us Eren and there was so much I still wanted to do with you" Hange said as Carla approached them. She noticed a small bag was slung over Eren's back which must contain all his belongings. Eren laughed.
"Miss Carla said you can come visit whenever you're free, you can come tell me about all the experiments you've done!" Eren said cheerfully before wrapping his arms around Hange's middle to give them a hug.
"Now how can I resist such a tempting offer" Hange said, smiling as they returned Eren's hug.
"So, you'll come" Eren asked, a little worried.
"haha of course Eren, you don't get rid of me that easily!" Hange said grinning as Eren let go and looked up at them.
"Eren we will have to leave soon, it is a few hours on the boat to reach Shiganshina and I can't leave Mikasa alone for too long," Carla said, she hated to interrupt Eren saying his goodbyes but the longer they stayed here the harder it would get for Eren to leave them behind, "I'm sure if they have the chance your friends could come visit next month to see how you've settled in,".
"Promise" Eren said, looking at Hange and Moblit, but he let his eyes trial over to Levi and Erwin too.
"I'll be there, and I'll drag the others kicking and screaming if it have too" Hange promised giving the boy another hug before stepping back allowing him to say goodbye to Moblit, Levi and Erwin. Moblit embraced the boy and told him to behave for Carla, whilst Erwin ruffled Eren's hair and Levi snapped a 'good riddance' before tiding up the mess of Eren's hair which Erwin made.
"See you later, Kid" Commander Shadis said, putting his hand on top of Eren's head before pushing him over to Carla.
"Thank you for saving me, Commander Shadis!" Eren said, smiling up at the commander.
"You're welcome kid, now go before you miss your boat". Eren nodded, giving everyone an enormous wave as he ran off after Carla. He refused to turn around, scared to see his home for the last few months disappear into the distance. Instead, he kept his head held high as he took each step towards his new life.
Eren had never been on a boat before, he watched from the edge as it moved through the water barely paying attention to what Carla was telling him, when he came inside the walls he didn't get to see all this, he kept moving his head around frantically trying to take everything in at once not wanting to miss anything. He said nothing; he didn't know what to say, there were so many questions buzzing through his head about what was waiting for him in his new life but at the same time he still wanted to enjoy what he could, he wanted to enjoy this peace whilst it lasted before the boat arrived at their destination and when it did Eren realised something he hadn't noticed before. Shiganshina was huge, it didn't look as big from the little he saw when they travelled through, but now he was standing in it; he felt so tiny and he was positive that he was going to get lost with all the turns they were taking to get to Carla's house from the city gate they entered through.
"Don't worry about getting lost, I'd never send you to get anything if you weren't confident that you could get back home. How about tomorrow, I take you on a tour of the district whilst I run a few errands," Carla said as if she could sense Eren's unease, Eren nodded maybe if he stuck to Carla's side whenever she went out he would slowly feel more confident in navigating his way around this place?
"This is my and now your home" she said as they turned around one last corner to a small house perched above some steps. Carla squeezed Eren's arm with reassurance before pushing open the door and she stepped inside with Eren following closely behind her.
"Mikasa, I'm back… oh hello Armin, I didn't realise you were here too," Carla greeted a young girl with black hair who was sat beside a blonde-haired boy who looked the same age. It wasn't until now that Eren's worries settled in. What if they don't like him, what if they think he's weird? Eren grabbed the back of Carla's dress and tried to hide behind the woman, "oh Eren, there's nothing to be worried about. Mikasa, Armin this is Eren Yeager remember the boy I told you about. Eren, this is my adoptive daughter Mikasa Ackerman and her best friend Armin Arlert. I'm sure you will get along just fine,".
"Hi, I'm Armin, Mikasa and I are looking at this book I found in my grandfather's basement. Do you want to join us?" the blonde boy said. Eren looked at him then to the girl, then back to the boy. He seemed honest, he reminded him of Hange whenever they were talking about titans, Hange and this boy had the same look in their eyes. Maybe he would be fine after all.
He didn't recognise where he was, a land full of sand reaching out in every direction. The sky was filled with stars twinkling in the dark as if it was a normal night sky that Eren watched when he was in the Shiganshina District for the first time. He gazed up at the stars and wondered about his past. Since the fall of Wall Maria and joining the cadet corps, Eren didn't have that luxury anymore. He wasn't sure where he was going, everything looked the same, but he had this urge to move, like he needed to get somewhere.
"Eren Yeager" an unfamiliar voice said, Eren turned around in circles but he couldn't see anyone.
"Eren Yeager" the voice said again this time much closer, Eren looked again yet still he couldn't see anyone, but his surroundings changed. Sand still surrounded him, but this time there was a giant pillar of light that branched out like a tree. The closer he got, the brighter the light shone.
"Eren Yeager" the voice spoke, but this time a small girl appeared inside the pillar of light. The girl had straight cut bangs with shoulder-length light coloured hair. She wore a tattered dress with a cloth headband, sash belt, and leather sandals laced just above her ankles. She looked like a slave, but even by looking at her, Eren knew that this girl was special. She was important, but he didn't know why.
"Who are you?" Eren asked, "why did you bring me here, where is here?".
"Eren Yeager, son of Grisha and Dina Yeager, younger brother to Zeke Yeager and inheritor of one of the nine," the girl said confusing Eren even further.
"What! How the hell can you know that about me, I don't know that about me. The inheritor of what?! Where are my parents? Where is my brother? What happened to me? What happened to my memories? Did you take my memories?" Eren said firing off as many questions as he could, but the girl just shook her head.
"Everything will become clear soon, my dear descendant, follow the paths, come find me before it's too late,".
Eren shot up in his cot, hitting his head on the bunk above and let out a small groan. What the hell was that dream, was that real or was he finally losing it. It didn't feel like a memory, not like the one he had about his brother, god; he had a brother, a mother and a father, he now knew their names, Grisha and Dina but in his other memory his parents were traitors but why, everything was slowly becoming too much. What the hell had his life been before he lost his memories. He had an older brother who apparently protected him from their traitorous parents and yet somehow, he's trapped inside these walls with basically no memory of his family. If his brother had protected him before then, where was he? Why did Zeke let him go outside the walls? Why did his brother abandon him?
"huh… Eren what's wrong, you're crying" Armin said groggily, but the sight of tears instantly woke him up. Eren just shook his head before wiping the tears from his face. He hadn't realised he was crying but why, why was he crying for something he didn't remember.
"I… I need to get to the paths; I need to find Zeke," Eren said before collapsing on top of Armin.