Hell Overfloweth
Disclaimer: I do not own AoT
"Have a good trip!" Eren called, waving to the retreating figure of his father.
Carla sighed. She wanted to reiterated her rather negative opinion on Eren's dream to one day join the Scout Regiment, but she knew her son. He had her opinionated temper; saying anything more right now would just upset him and make him run off, leaving them both angry and frustrated. For now, a more subtle approach was needed. "Eren, go to your room."
"What?!" Eren asked in alarm at the sudden punishment. "Is this about me wanting to join the Scouts still?!"
"No," she lied through her teeth. "It's for lying earlier about the firewood. Just stay in your room for the night."
Eren sulked but otherwise accepted the reason. "Fine. Can I at least finish eating first?"
"Of course you're finishing your supper! I'm grounding you, not starving you," Carla answered pointedly, ushering him in and giving Mikasa a look, silently asking her to keep an eye on the boy. "I'll be back in a bit, I need to go to the market."
Mikasa nodded, following after Eren into the house.
Carla could distinctly hear Eren saying something snide to Mikasa for snitching on him. She just shook her head as she started to walk down the path through town. She sometimes wondered where Eren got his ideas from. He seemed more like the son of Keith Shadis sometimes than that of the doctor she married. Grisha was always so calm, polite, and rational. Eren's temper and strong sense of opinions were like her own personality, true, but joining the Scouts? Risking death by titans to see the outside world?
She felt her frustrations melt away as she lost herself in the sights and sounds of her home town and continued her stroll through Shinganshina. The children playing, a mother hanging her clothes, an old man sitting on the side of a bridge.
Carla paused and did a double take at the old man and his rather distinctive hat, smiling as recognition set in. "Enjoying the view, Aster?" she asked as she approached the man.
Aster Arlert smiled in a way only grandparents seemed capable of doing. "Ahh, Carla Yeager, it's been a while," he greeted with a tip of his hat to her. "I take it by that look on your face, you've been butting heads with that wild boy of yours."
"Is it that obvious?" Carla asked with a defeated smile.
"Only to those that know you and your family," Aster answered with a chortle in his throat. "Come, I'll lend an ear if you want. If not, the sunset will be lovely," Aster offered, motioning to the spot to his left.
Carla wordlessly took the offer, enjoying the silence for now. They had come to know each other well ever since Eren took up Armin as a friend, which began his never-ending crusade against the local bullies. Admirable as the intent may be, his excessiveness with the other children caused her no end of headaches and Eren no small amount of bruises and cuts. Even if she was proud of Eren for sticking up for his friends, she wished he had some better self-control.
"What brings you out here?" Carla asked idly to break the ice.
"Armin had a run in with some bullies," Aster answered with a hum, looking up at the sky briefly. "There is a time when a child wants consoling and attention, and a time when they want space for themselves."
Carla nodded in understanding. Eren was more the latter than the former. She paused briefly, to consider her words. But the more she did, the more she realized there was no other words to consider. "Eren wants to join the Scouts."
Aster hummed in acknowledgement and understanding. It went without saying that Aster knew her worries well. He too had children that had wanted to go beyond the Walls, and now he was raising a parentless grandson. "That boy has always been like that. I sometimes wonder if it's not this town," he mused, looking at the Wall briefly. "We're all stuck behind walls, but to that boy, the space must feel even smaller when he can see walls all around us."
"He'll die if he goes, Aster. All of them do, except the ones that come back broken. If not their bodies, then their spirits," Carla answered with a sad voice. "I'm not sure what would kill me more. Being brought back nothing but a limb of my precious boy...or to see him return one day with his soul crushed and his eyes robbed of that bright light in them?"
"And all he sees is you trying to control him, to give up on his dream and settle into a simple life," Aster guessed, his tone lamenting.
"Is it so bad that, that he's right?" Carla asked, staring at the brick path below her feet. "That I want my child to live a safe life? To grow old and fall in love? Is it so wrong for a parent to only hope their child will be happy one day? Not great, not special, just...happy? Content? Alive?"
"That is what all parents should want," Aster answered a headshake. "I just worry, Carla."
"About what?" she asked, looking over to him curiously.
"That some children will just never be happy behind these walls," Aster answered with a breath. "Your son is a boy, a young lad that doesn't know what it's really like. But my boy and his wife were full-grown, even had a child, and they still wanted to try to fulfill that dream, to go outside the wall. Their desire for it was so strong, they tried it knowing they would risk leaving their child an orphan. They were a happy family, but it wasn't enough. And my grandson doesn't resent that. He has the same longing in his heart, I think."
Carla let those words sink in, watching geese fly along the wall. "Is it truly so terrible behind these walls? Is the outside world really worth that much risk?"
Neither one had an answer, and they didn't have time to think of one.
Carla's eyes went wide as she saw a flash of something across the sky. "Wha-?" she started, before the ground seemed to bounce out from under her with a great boom, leaving her and Aster tumbling to the ground.
"Ohhhhh!" The old man groaned, rolling onto his stomach as Carla picked herself up. "What was that?" he asked slowly, hoping nothing was broken.
"I don't know," Carla stated as she held out a hand and helped pull him up. "It looked like it came from-"
"Hmm? Carla?" Aster called, looking at her paling face, eyes widen in horror as her mouth hung open with wordless noises caught in her throat. With dread growing in his own eyes, he turned to follow her gaze, and saw a nightmare made manifest.
There was something on the wall. Something huge, red, and covered in dust or clouds. No, steam. He swallowed harshly as he saw the top of a massive and skinless head rising over the top of the wall. "That...that can't be," he muttered, his mind trying to deny the reality he was witnessing.
"That's a Titan," Carla whispered hollowly. "A Titan over fifty meters tall...," she finished, her brow scrunching as it seemed to bow its head. "What is it doing?"
Aster figured it out before it happened. "Carla, get down, now!" he yelled, ducking down under the stone rails of the bridge.
Carla did so without thinking, just as she heard a thunderous noise, followed by a unimaginably powerful and long gust of wind, with a series of smaller crashes. "What...what just happened?" she asked numbly as she stood back up, seeing the oversized Titan seem to duck down or even leave.
"It kicked in the gate," Aster said with deep breaths.
"Kicked in? But that-" Carla nearly died in fear as she realized what was about to happen. "The Titans. The children!" she exclaimed, turning to run as fast as she could for her home. Aster didn't call after her, already heading off towards his own home.
Carla was scarcely aware of the people she ran by as she took off running in the opposite direction. She could barely even feel her feet as they ran faster than she ever had in her life. She was only aware of where she was, which way to go, how far to her home, her babies. She saw the corner, knowing that just around it she would see her house, her home. It would be there, safe and sou-
"No," she whispered, coming to a dead stop as her face paled. "No, no, no!" If she was anyone else, she might have fainted at the sight of a giant boulder crushing her home, her heart. As it was, she nearly vomited, but kept it down as she ran up the steps. "EREN! MIKASA!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, praying for them to be alive, to have not been inside the house.
"AUNT CARLA! HELP!"
That yell terrified her. Mikasa never yelled like that.
She reached the top and saw a scene she dreaded. Mikasa was bleeding from her head somewhere, crouching to try and move a very large beam, which was pinning Eren's small body under it. Her son, her baby laid there with an eerily peaceful look, blood dripping from him and...and...
He was still breathing.
He was trapped, injured and alive.
And the Titans were coming. She could see their heads over the buildings in the distance, hear the screams in the town.
No, no, no! This wasn't what she wanted! She didn't want Eren alive just to die at the jaws of a titan!
She was instantly at her adopted daughter's side, trying to lift the debris. Carla was not a weakling, but the beam was heavy and stuck in place.
"Mom...? Mikasa...?" Eren moaned weakly.
"It's okay, Sweetie! Mommy's here," Carla said with tears in her eyes, not sure if she was trying to convince herself or him. "Mikasa, can you see where he's stuck!?"
Mikasa stopped trying to lift, quickly crouching down to look between a gap in the wood and let out a gasp.
"Mikasa?" Carla called urgently. Mikasa looked up with a broken expression on her face.
"Gah!" Eren screamed and grunted. "Ugh! Something...hurts! It's in my stomach. It's really warm...and really wet."
"He's impaled," Mikasa whispered as Carla nearly fell apart in despair.
Even if she got Eren out, he would probably bleed to death in a matter of minutes. If she did nothing, he might live long enough to be eaten by a Titan.
Without warning, Mikasa was already starting to try and lift the beam once more. "COME ON! COME ON!" she yelled pleadingly.
"It's the Titans, isn't it?" Eren asked groggily with a smirk that was somehow both defeated and victorious. "Knew it was only a matter of time, waiting in here like cattle..."
"Shut up! This isn't the time for that, Eren!" Carla yelled, reaching to begin trying to lift again- or she was about to, when she saw a Titan, with a disturbing smile on its face round the corner.
It was looking right at them. There was no one else in its path to distract it.
"Get out of here."
Carla blinked slowly, tearfully as she looked down in disbelief, unable to accept those words as reality. Mikasa mirrored her expression as they looked to Eren.
"Both of you...! Just run away!" Eren yelled, forcing himself to not sound any weaker than he had to. "I know enough from Dad...I'm already dead. My body just hasn't figured that out yet."
"No, Eren! We're not leaving you here!" Mikasa yelled desperately when Carla couldn't form the words to this unbearable situation.
"Dammit! Mikasa! I didn't kill two people for you to die here like this!" Eren yelled out in frustration. "Just get your clingy, scarf-obsessed self out of here!"
"...You can insult me all you want, I'm not leaving you!" Mikasa said tearfully. "I can't lose you! I'd rather die!"
Carla watched the display numbly, looking around at the debris as a horrible, terrible idea came to her head.
There was a long piece of glass right next to her, resting against the ground as the footstep grew closer.
If she couldn't save Eren, she should at least spare him the suffering of being eaten. Right?
She made to reach for it...only to be beaten to the punch. Her eyes widened as she saw Eren's arm stretch out and grab the shard as hard as he could. "Eren...?" she said in disbelief.
"Mom, please...go," Eren begged with tears in his eyes. "Please...don't make me watch you both die with me."
"Eren...I...I can't-" Carla said, knowing she should, that she had to, but how could she leave her son like this?
"Never thought I'd see you giving up, Eren!"
The two females turned to see a familiar blond soldier, Eren just grunting at his voice. "Hannes! Help us, quick!" Carla pleaded urgently.
Hannes took a cautious glance to the titan as he quickly moved to try and lift the beam with them, all three of them straining.
"It's working, it's working!" Mikasa exclaimed in hope. "Just a-"
"GAHHHH!" Eren screamed in agony, a sickening crunch emitting from his body.
"Damn!" Hannes cursed as they let the beam back down, unable to move it further. "I'll go deal with this titan, then come back and help!"
"Just take them and run, you damn drunk!" Eren yelled, desperation beneath the thin veil of rage.
Hannes ignored the call as he ran forward. 'Come on Hannes, time to make good on that debt,' the man thought to himself, trying to steel himself. 'Time to prove that brat wrong abou-'
He froze and stared up at the Titan with fear, the first time seeing humanity's enemy up close.
His face contorted with tears. "...I'm sorry, Eren, Grisha," he whispered before sheathing his blades.
He ran.
Carla was ripped away from the beam as Hannes returned and quickly put her over his shoulder before picking up Mikasa under the other arm. "Wait, what are you doing?!" Mikasa screamed in fury and terror. "Eren!"
"Finally did something right, you old drunk," Eren murmured, trying to smirk even as blood started to pool in his mouth. Still, he held tight to the glass as he felt the footsteps becoming ominously large. "Well, come get me, you bastard," he said defiantly, focusing on the pain in his gut and hand.
If he did, maybe he wouldn't give this monster the satisifaction of seeing him cry as he died.
"No...No..." Carla whispered as her shock wore off, struggling out of Hannes's grasp. She was on her own feet again and trying to pull away from the soldier. "I can't leave him like that!"
Hannes had tears in his eyes as he struggled to keep hold of her arm. "Carla, you can't sav-"
"JUST GO ALREADY, YOU OLD HAG! DON'T YOU SEE I DON'T WANT YOU HERE?!" Eren screamed, even as his lungs burned from the effort.
"Eren..." Carla whispered. Even now, about to die a cruel death, her son was screaming for them to save themselves. "Eren! I'm sorry! I love you, so much!" Carla yelled, tears in her eyes before she turned to run with Hannes.
"Love you too, Mom," Eren said weakly, knowing they couldn't hear him. "Sorry I made you cry again, Mikasa..."
"No! No, we can't...we can't leave him..." Mikasa whimpered as she watched the Titan now looming above the wreckage that was their home. "Please, not you too. Not again."
Carla grabbed Mikasa out of Hannes arms, holding her tight. "Don't look, Mikasa, don't look," she implored, even as Mikasa forced herself to look over her mother's shoulder, her head pounding.
The Titan was there, grabbing Eren out of the wreckage.
Carla, against her own words, looked on as well as they ran. And all she could do was curse the Goddesses for not letting Eren die before that monster grabbed him.
"So, this is how I die," Eren murmured numbly as he was lifted up, somewhere between numb from the pain, angry at the situation, and shock from the inevitability of his own death. "Still...I'll make this meal as tough as I can, you bastard," Eren said as he glared to the face of his killer. He clutched the glass so hard that blood oozed from his palm.
With a defiant, wrathful scream, he stabbed at the titan's hand.
It was pointless, futile, not even doing any damage. Not even a scratch. But he didn't care. It made him feel better, made it easier to ignore the pain in his body and the fear of being eaten.
That didn't stop the tears. He was going to die, like cattle, without ever having a taste of freedom. He didn't even get a chance to see what was so important in the basement for crying out loud.
He was faintly aware that he was being brought towards the mouth.
His life flashed before his eyes, short as it was: All those times playing with Armin and fighting the bullies. Saving Mikasa- and wondering how she ever needed saving when all she seemed to do was rescue him after that. Scoldings from his loving mother, traveling and learning from his father. Getting mad at Hannes and his soldier friends for being lazy.
With one last defiant scream for his life, he stabbed the shard between two of the teeth.
He idly wondered how long that would stay stuck for.
And then the mouth chomped down.
He couldn't even scream as he felt the teeth cutting through his back and his chest, his ribs being crushed and stabbing his lungs. It was all just white hot agony, a sense of falling, and then...nothing.
"NO! EREEEEEEEN, NO!" Mikasa wailed as they ran far, far away. Carla forced herself to keep going, to keep moving forward. If she didn't, she might lose both children today.
"Dammit..." Hannes said with gritted teeth. 'How worthless can you be?! One kid, you couldn't even save one bullheaded kid!' he thought to himself, feeling his shame and self-loathing grow with every step he took and every second he drew breath.
'What kind of mother am I? I couldn't even end my baby's suffering,' Carla thought wretchedly, holding onto Mikasa as a lifeline, less she fall into her own despair. Their argument flashed through her head, her grounding him to his ro- 'If I hadn't made him stay home, he would have been alive! This...this is my fault! My son is dead because of me!' she thought, tears falling freely.
'Eren...is dead,' Mikasa thought emotionlessly, her heart feeling like a great, hollow chasm as that horrible image replayed in her head. 'He...he wanted to go out when we heard the explosion. I told him to stay while I went to check. That...that's the only reason I survived, I was outside when the house was crushed. If I hadn't told him to stay...none of this would have happened!' she thought brokenly, her head pounding as she gripped her scarf desperately. 'I'm sorry, Eren. You did so much for me and I...I got you killed. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!'
And so they ran, even as the boy's blood sprayed over what had once been his home...
Erwin Smith frowned while the Scout Regiment stopped in the remains of a small hamlet. He had no reason to be displeased, he knew, but something felt off.
The 55th Expedition was a resounding success so far, comparatively. Their causalities were very light, their supplies had not been compromised in any way and they had successfully set up two new supply points.
That was the problem though. Things were going too well so far. Titan activity had been light and it shouldn't be. They were fifty kilometers from Trost, roughly half the distance to Wall Maria. In the southern area, there should have been many more Titans this far out.
It was one thing if it was just his own suspicions, but he could see it all over Levi's and Miche's faces. They were uneasy, feeling like he did; that a shoe was about to drop, right on top of them.
There were only a few things Erwin could think of to cause this. The first was a group of humans had somehow made it outside Wall Rose and were attracting the Titans to them. Highly unlikely, the group would have to be too big to cause this kind of reaction, and would have been slaughtered by now unless they were all equipped and heavily trained. And he knew there weren't that many quality soldiers suddenly missing.
The second option was that something, somehow, was attracting Titans elsewhere. A vastly unsettling notion for too many reasons to consider.
The third option was literally anything else. In a world as ignorant and unknown as theirs, there was always a chance the answer was something you could never even fathom.
A smoke flair went off. He had a feeling the shoe had just dropped.
"Erwin!"
"What is it, Miche?" he asked, the man's face looking so serious and alarmed that Erwin knew his nose had picked something up.
"Two from the south, moving very rapidly this way," he informed grimly. "Possibly abnormals by the looks of one."
"Levi," Erwin called, glancing to the shorter man, already on his horse.
"Right," Levi answered, galloping off with his personal squad right at his heels.
"Hoooy! Levi!" Hange called, riding up alongside them.
"Section Commander?!" Eld and Petra called in surprise, the other two just groaning.
"What are you doing, Four Eyes?" Levi asked in mild annoyance.
"Hehe, I hear it might be two abnormals, Levi. You know I can't resist at least getting a good look at those before you go off and butcher the poor things," Hange said with a small blush and creepy smile on her face.
"Just don't get yourself killed," Levi ordered, his squadmates just shaking their heads at the familiar exchange.
"Fifteen meter, up ahead!" Gunther called, spying a fat bellied giant to the southeast, running with its arms held up and moving in a manner that resembled something between a chicken and jogging.
"Where's the other one?" Petra asked with a furrowed brow.
"Maybe Miche's nose is acting up?" Orou suggested, trying to act calm and cool.
"Keep your eyes peeled, it could be a tiny bastard," Levi remarked.
As if prompted by his words, a four meter titan barreled over a hill, also running with its scrawny form and a permanent grimace upon its face.
"There he is," Levi murmured, instantly taking stock of the situation.
There weren't a lot of trees out here, which was why Erwin had sent them- they could pull this off with minimal risk if there were just one or two Titans, giving the main force of the regiment the few minutes they needed to prepare to retreat if needed.
"Hey, Captain?" Gunther spoke up with a scowl. "Is it just me, or is that big Titan not heading straight for us?"
They all realized he was right, seeing the Titan's path would take it directly past the group's left, and it showed no sign of changing course. The smaller one, however, was making dead straight for them.
"If it's an abnormal, it might head for the largest group of humans instead of the closest," Hange speculated with a hum.
"I'll deal with the big one," Levi ordered abruptly. "Eld, Gunther, take the tiny bastard. The rest of you, take Hange...and find out what the hell that is to the Southwest."
Everyone looked in surprise to where he was looking, seeing something moving on the hill. A two meter titan? "Ohohohoho! Good eye, Levi!" Hange called, riding off ahead.
"Section Commander!" Olou called, cursing as she continued on, forcing him and Petra to take off after her.
"Good luck, Captain!" Petra called as they all followed after the mad woman.
Levi just rolled his eyes, nodding to the other two before turning his horse to intercept the larger titan, to get a bit closer.
Hange, while very excited and deep in speculation, was keenly aware of her surroundings. "It's not too often we find such a tiny Titan!" she declared eagerly, keeping her eyes peeled. She couldn't see it anymore, meaning it had wandered to the other side of the hill before it could notice them. A smaller size should mean a smaller range of its senses, after all.
She tensed as she she reached the crest of the hill, knowing danger could be just out of sight, but was more perplexed than disappointed when she found nothing at all.
"Section Comm- Eh? There's nothing here?" Olou asked, confused and possibly annoyed.
"No, Levi definitely saw something, we all did," Hange stated firmly.
"Could it have just been an animal?" Petra asked, knowing they did get occasional false sightings with small Titans and large animals.
"Maybe," Hange acknowledged, knowing that eyesight at a distance could only account for so much if the target was of insufficient size. Still, she had been positive it had been an upright creature. Years fighting and studying titans made it hard to mistake that anymore. Her eyes scanned from left to right for anything to provide an explanation.
It didn't take her long to find it, off to the right, but she had trouble believing her sight.
"What is...?" she asked in shock, catching the attention of the Team Levi members.
"Hm, what is it?" Olou asked, turning to follow her gaze...before he nearly fell off his horse. "Is that a person?! Without a horse?!"
"No, wait," Petra said, eyes wide. "I...I think that's a child!"
"A child?! We're half way to Maria, what child could possibly be out here!?" Olou questioned, not sure if he was trying to imply she or the situation itself was illogical.
"We'll never find out just waiting here!" Hange retorted, sending her horse forward to bolt towards the potentially-young traveler.
The closer they got, the more Hange realized that Petra was right. The proportions were all wrong for them to be a human suffering from some form of dwarfism. It was definitely a child, preteens by the looks of them. But how did a child survive in Titan territory?!
And it just occurred to Hange. This person, this child was not running. They were walking.
Not even away from where the Titans had ran, but instead towards them, to the North.
She came to a stop, just a few feet from the mysterious child, the two scouts coming to a halt behind her.
There was an awkward silence as they stared at the child, the boy lost amongst a land of Titans. What did they even say?
He was small, young, perhaps only ten. His body and head were mainly hidden by a black cloak, ragged with holes and decorated with burn marks. His face was covered by the hood of his cloak and a long scarf around his neck, stained an oily black with the ends of the scarf hanging down over his back.
And he was still walking, just walking. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice they were there yet.
"Umm, hello?" Petra called, breaking the silence. "Are you...okay?"
When the boy finally stopped, Olou and Petra couldn't help feeling on edge. Hange leaned forward in anticipation, watching every inch of the child as he turned to look at them.
There was a gasp, an inhale, and some stiffening all around. Hange's eyes widened before settling grimly. The boy was dark haired and his skin was pale, far too pale. But the look in his green eyes was what caught them. Hange had seen that look many times, too many times, but she hated seeing it most on a child. Those wary, cynical eyes stared at them with a half-lidded gaze. He didn't look relieved or surprised to see them. He didn't seem to care at all.
He looked like he had been through Hell.
Without another word, Hange got off her horse and walked over to the boy, kneeling down to his level with what she hoped was one of her less disturbing smiles. "Hey, kiddo. You want to come with us? We can take you somewhere safe, okay?" she offered kindly.
He stared at her for a moment, and the half of Levi Squad present wondered how the Section Commander would even react or what she would even do if the boy declined. They couldn't just leave this alone, leave a child wandering out here beyond the safety of Wall Rose. They were saved from that bizarre situation as the boy nodded slowly.
"Okay, I'm going to pick you up now to help you on my horse. Is that okay?" Hange asked politely. Once again, he nodded his acceptance and let her pick him up with a bit of effort. If she had to guess, she'd say he was just over thirty kilograms. Which was good yet confusing. That meant the boy wasn't malnourished and starving, but how was that possible? Even ignoring the improbability of him being alive to begin with, all the food in any towns should have expired by now. He would have to be living off the wild game and plants.
Just where had this boy come from?
"Section Commander?" Olou spoke up awkwardly.
"Yes, yes, it's more than a little strange, but we can ask him questions later," Hange said with a sigh, placing the boy up in the saddle before mounting it herself, the boy now directly in front of her.
"Well, the brat at least have a name?" Olou asked, nobody even bothering to call him out on trying to act like Levi.
"Hmm? How about it? You want to tell us your name by chance?" Hange asked with a kind tone, eye smiling down at her passenger, who looked up at her. "I'm Hange Zoe."
The boy stared, the silence making them wonder if he even could speak at all, until he opened his mouth behind the scarf. And despite everything else, the boy's voice was clear and strong, "Eren Yeager."
Hange grinned, trying to sound playful and reassuring. "Nice to meet you, Mister Yeager."
End of Chapter
And here. We. Go! First chapter of this little beauty. A story of how Eren tragically died instead of Carla and seems to have now mysteriously reappeared years later without aging a day. And now the Scouts are taking him in.
There's a bit of mystery to this fic, but there's a lot of horror and hurt-comfort.
Not much else to say, I hope you all enjoyed this. I have a lot more of this coming.
p a treon . com (slash) akumakami64