Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan, Devil May Cry, or any of its characters…
It took a full day for Eren, Armin, and the other refugees with them on board to arrive in Trost. During this time, Carla woke up from her unconscious state and thanked her son for saving her back in Shiganshina, to which Eren responded that he couldn't let his mother die. Her memory was still a bit blurry, but she definitely remembered how Eren's arm changed all of a sudden yesterday, but she kept quiet about that for now. Good thing that her son also kept it hidden underneath that white cloth on his arm.
The young girl whom Eren and Armin found all alone at the ship's front deck introduced herself as MIKASA ACKERMAN, who was left all alone after her parents had their bodies crushed by falling debris from when the Colossal Titan created the first breach. Eren told her that she can stick with him and his mother since she had no one to turn to. Mikasa tried to turn him down at first and even attempted to return his scarf, but Eren insisted that she needed it more than him and that he would rather get fed to the titans than sit around and let a homeless kid walk around without someone watching over her. His words once again caused the poor girl to blush, before he explained that his mother wanted the same thing.
So now it was Eren, Carla and behind her was Mikasa, leaving the ship while being led to a refugee camp and went inside one of the buildings. Armin wasn't with them since he was with his grandpa. In there, various Garrison soldiers handed out bread to everyone. Eren managed to only get three loaves, he gave one piece to his mother as she leaned against the wall to relax her legs.
He gave the other piece to Mikasa and she stared at the bread for a few moments, leaving him with his own. Eren was about to take a bite, until he felt someone tapping his back. He turned to see a young girl with brown hair tied into a ponytail looking at him with pleading eyes, as she pointed to the loaf of bread in his hand. The poor girl looked to be really hungry and Eren felt bad for her. He handed his bread to her as she smiled widely afterwards, thanking him before walking away and Mikasa looked at him curiously.
"Why did you do that?" she asked, looking at him in surprise.
"I'm not feeling hungry that much." he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Mikasa nodded in understanding. She then bit off a small chunk from her loaf. "T-Thank you for this. I don't know how I can pay you back, uhm… Eren." It was then that Mikasa slowly smiled, the first she has shown ever since they met, and it caused the white-haired boy to smile in return.
Mikasa tore the bread in half and gave him the other piece. "Go on and eat." she told him, and Eren scratched the back of his head. He just gave her a whole piece of bread, now she was giving half of it back to him?
"You sure?"
Mikasa nodded.
"Okay, then." he shrugged and took the piece, before stuffing it in his mouth. Moments later, his mouth was already full as Eren struggled to swallow the bread down. Mikasa let out a small giggle and Eren began to laugh as well. He was relieved to see the girl him and Armin came across laughing and smiling like a normal kid.
Carla watched the two interact and smiled to herself. "That boy never ceases to surprise me…" she muttered while eating her own piece.
He finally swallowed it, before he began coughing violently. He may have swallowed it too fast without even chewing on it enough times. Mikasa patted his back before Carla handed her son a canteen that was just beside her. Eren took it and drank, breathing heavily. "Thank god… I thought I was gonna die…" Eren breathed out.
"Good grief… just what am I going to do with you?" Carla rolled her eyes in slight irritation while Mikasa covered her face with her new scarf and shook her head.
Meanwhile outside the building, people were fighting to get rations for themselves. Everyone was throwing punches here and there, while the soldiers present did their best to calm everyone down. It was a mess at the refugee camp, and even the people inside could hear what was going on outside.
Eren frowned and stood up. "I have to help out there." He was about to leave, before someone stopped him by grabbing his arm. He turned around, and met Mikasa's pleading eyes.
"Please don't go…" she looked down on the floor as she spoke with a shy voice, while hiding her face with the scarf. Eren groaned as he turned back to the door with thoughts of just running off outside, but decided against it. He sighed and sat back down near his mom, and Mikasa took a seat beside him.
"So, what are you planning to do after this?" Eren asked her. "If you want to look for your other family members out there, I can help you get back to them. We'll look for them together, what do you say?"
"I… don't know," she replied sadly. "I don't have any other family other than my parents… at least that's what I know… They never told me if I even had grandparents… or any other members of our family…"
Her statement made Eren looked down. Yeah, now that he thought about it, he was barely able to save his mom too. If it wasn't for…his arm… then she wouldn't be here too. He'd likely end up getting all depressed like Mikasa and his mother would be food for the titans. Yeah and speaking of his arm, he still needed to find out how it turned from a normal one into a monster's. However, he didn't let that single thought take over him. He can always deal with that matter later.
"Well, I'm going to join the military two years from now." Eren said in a determined voice. "I want to fight the titans… they destroyed my home and they almost killed my mom! Not to mention they also killed your parents and left you all alone, right? I'm going to fight them and take back our home!" Mikasa's eyes widened, the boy was so confident, and she could tell that he was hungry for vengeance against the titans. It almost felt like there was nothing that can stop him…
All of a sudden, Carla spoke up as she pulled on Eren's ear, making him cry out in pain. "What did I tell you, young man? You are not joining the Survey Corps! You saw what those titans did to our home, I can't let you risk your life on suicide missions, Eren."
While the mother-and-son duo continued to argue, Mikasa was left in her thoughts. What did she want to do now that they were safe from the titans? Wait, 'safe' isn't an appropriate term, more like escaped from the titans. Looking back when she was still boarding the ship with Eren and Armin earlier, she didn't want to do anything else and would rather die. Why wouldn't she? She lost her parents and her home. She had no friends, and no loved ones to turn to. She was all alone. The question shouldn't be about what she wanted to do, it should be more of what can she do while she was still here. But that made her confused… is there even anything that comes into mind for that? She then looked at the white-haired boy beside her.
"Eren," she called out getting the boy's attention along with his mother's. "C-Can I join the military with you?"
"What did you just say?" Eren asked, wondering if he was hearing things.
"I… want to join the military with you, Eren." That was a lie, she didn't really want to, but felt that she had to do something before passing away. While she indeed had nothing left to live for, Mikasa didn't want to spend the rest of her remaining days sitting around a corner and wait for starvation. No, she was better than that.
"Are you serious?" Now Eren was confused. Where did that come from? "Earlier, you were looking like you lost all hope in living, now you want to be a soldier? There's no way you can handle it."
"I'm… I'm feeling better now," she half-lied. True, she was starting to feel better but the memory of her parents and her grief was still fresh. "It's not like we're going to enlist tomorrow, right?" she said, remembering how Eren specifically said that he would sign up in the military two years from now.
"Yeah… it's just…" he wanted to ask what caused her to have this answer all of a sudden before he sighed. "You know what, forget it. Just… stick with me, okay? You're stuck with me and my mom from now on."
Mikasa nodded with a small blush on her cheeks.
"Mikasa, forgive me for this…" Carla interjected with a serious look on her face. "I may not have known your parents at all but as a mother myself, I can say that they wouldn't want you to join the military, even if they're still alive right now. I'm sorry Mikasa, but if you will be with us from now on, you have to listen to me. I won't let the both of you join the military. Not while I'm here. This is for your own good." Mikasa looked down sadly, knowing the truth behind her words. She knew that becoming a soldier was basically risking her life in the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Eren was glaring at the ground with his fists. Great, how was he supposed to fight against the titans now? Why was his mom so persistent in keeping him from joining the Survey Corps? It's not like he would die as soon as he steps into the battlefield. That's why there was a training camp for soldiers, right? He would learn how to properly take care of himself there! The only way he could die is if he was too stupid to forget an important rule or something.
In the midst of his inner conflict, a familiar blonde boy walking nearby suddenly caught Eren's attention. "Hey Armin! Come sit with us over here!" he called out. Armin turned and smiled, before running towards them. He sat beside Mikasa as Eren turned back to look at his mom, only to see her looking relieved while looking at the building's doors. Eren was confused and turned to see Grisha walk in, surprising him before Armin caught his attention again.
"Eren, I thought you guys were outside! It's a war out there!" Armin said in relief, causing them all to laugh softly before the blonde boy looked embarrassed. "I was lucky to get two pieces of bread for me and my grandpa, but I almost got caught in the fight for it."
"You should've went with us earlier then, I could've saved you the trouble." Eren smirked, and Armin only smiled in return.
Armin then turned to the raven-haired girl sitting beside him. "What about you, Mikasa? How are you doing so far?"
"I'm… doing fine," she answered as she grabbed onto her scarf.
The blonde noticed how Mikasa kept on wearing Eren's scarf even though it wasn't cold anymore. Sure, she was shivering earlier back when they are at the boat going to Trost, but right now it wasn't even cold. In fact, many of the people inside with them were sweating buckets due to how many refugees had settled inside.
Armin then smirked. "Oh Mikasa, I see you've taken a liking to that scarf… did you know it belonged to Eren?" he said in a teasing tone. For some reason, Mikasa didn't like where this was going. "Are you perhaps developing a liking to Eren because he gave you his scarf?"
Mikasa comically turned red as steam blew out of her ears, before she started stuttering incoherent words in embarrassment. Armin began laughing at her reaction.
"Oi Armin, cut it out. She's feeling cold, cut her some slack." the white-haired boy scowled. Eren wasn't normally like this, especially to his friend, but he wasn't fond of jokes like that either.
"You're being protective, aren't you Eren?" Armin teased. "You should date Mikasa, then!" Eren groaned, the poor girl looked like she would faint out of embarrassment, while Armin and Carla laughed at them. They were all interrupted when they heard another voice join in.
"Hello, everyone." Grisha said, announcing his presence as he approached them.
Eren quickly stood up and ran to embrace his father, and Grisha knelt down to return his son's hug. A few tears fell from the older man's eyes as Carla looked at them with a smile.
"Hello dear, you're about a day early." she greeted her husband back just as Eren pulled away from him, and Grisha stood up once again with his fists clenched.
"Forgive me. I wasn't there for you two." he said grimly, looking down on the floor. "As soon as I heard that Wall Maria was breached, I made my way here as fast as I could, and I hoped to see you with the other refugees. I'm just glad to see both of you alive."
Carla shrugged. "Well, we're alive, but I don't know if that's good news for me. My legs are really hurting right now since they nearly got crushed by a support beam back in our home."
Grisha looked worried as he immediately knelt down and checked on his wife's condition. "Oh dear, let me have a look at it. I hope it's nothing worse than broken bones. And remind me to thank whoever pulled you out of that beam and got you to safety."
"Pfft, you should thank your son then." Carla crossed her arms and looked to the side. "He was really stubborn even though I told him to leave me there. Even when Hannes took him away, he elbowed the guy and ran back to help me escape. We were all about an inch away from getting eaten by a titan, but what's done is done. Though if you ask me, that was really reckless of Eren so you better give him a proper talk about it. Maybe even have that talk about him not joining the Survey Corps like what I told you to do." For a moment, Carla forgot all about how exactly Eren saved her, which included the arm that he waa hiding under a white cloth right now.
"I can't just leave you to be eaten, you know!" Eren yelled back, defending his actions. He didn't notice that his father, Armin, and Mikasa were all looking at him in complete surprise. Eren did that while they were in danger of getting eaten?
"I understand." Grisha nodded, before turning his attention to Eren, but more specifically to his right arm. "Eren, I will talk to you after I'm done treating your mother. And it looks like you've gained a little injury of your own too." Eren's eyes quickly went to his arm and his eyes slightly widened. "Bear with it for a moment, let me just finish this."
How could he? He completely forgot about that. Right, his arm was the only reason why his mother was still alive. If it didn't turn into that, there's no way Carla would be alive right now. The same could be also said for Hannes and himself. What bothered Eren right now was how exactly did his arm morph into that? Why did it happen? Was he a titan himself or something? That thought scared him for a second, but he shrugged it off. There's no way titans could have glowing arms that can grow bigger out of nowhere. Or maybe a monster that humanity had never known about until now? The possible answers were most likely infinite, but he would deal with that later while alone. Right now, he had to answer the curious and worried looks from his friends.
"Eren, what happened to your arm? I noticed that it's been wrapped ever since we were at the ship going here." Armin asked him.
"I… I kind of… uhm, stretched it too much when I was trying to lift up the piece of wood that had my mom underneath…" he lied, since he remembered Hannes' warning about not revealing his arm to anyone else. Not even to his friends. He could only hope they would buy his excuse.
"Does it hurt?" Mikasa asked in a worried tone.
"I-I'm fine, it… it doesn't hurt much anymore since I wrapped it up. As long as I don't move it much, it'll go back to normal." he assured them, and his two friends looked at him in worry, before finally nodding.
After Grisha informed his wife on how to ease the pain she felt, he recommended for her to start using crutches so she could support herself in walking or even standing. It would take at least 6-7 months before her legs can fully recover and be able to walk normally. But there was the danger that if Carla injures her legs another time, she may never be able to walk properly again. He was also introduced to Eren's new friend, Mikasa and Grisha only smiled at seeing his son creating new bonds. The boy was always sticking with Armin and didn't bother to make new friends, so this was a good thing.
Grisha then took Eren outside so he could start "treating" his son's arm and have a meaningful talk with him, but the young boy started to get confused when his father started to lead him to the nearby forest, away from the refugee camp.
"Dad, why are we in a forest? I thought we were going to talk." he asked as they stopped in an open clearing where they were surrounded by plenty of trees.
"Shh…" Grisha told him with a finger to his lips, indicating silence. The older man was starting to look desperate as he looked around in case someone had followed them here. Once he was sure that it was just him and his son, Grisha knelt down and grabbed Eren's right arm, before beginning to unwrap the cloth around it.
Realizing that his dad was someone he could trust with this, Eren decided to tell the truth. "Dad, there's… there's something you have to know… i-it's about my arm, I… I don't know how it happened but —" he stopped in his words when he noticed that Grisha wasn't paying to him at all. "Dad listen to me, this is important!" he cried out. "I don't know what's going on with me, but I don't want my arm to be like this! I don't want to be a monster like the titans!"
However, Grisha still didn't answer and he still had that desperate look on his face. He didn't even look at his son. Eren growled and he was about to smack his father in the head to make him pay attention, but he stopped when Grisha finally removed the cloth, revealing his demonic arm underneath.
Eren was becoming more afraid the more he looked at it. He didn't want to be a monster, he wanted to be normal. He completely forgot how it saved his, Hannes' and his mother's lives yesterday. He even turned his head to the side, disgusted with the appearance of his own arm but Grisha was a different story. The man had his mouth agape, with his eyes as wide as saucers in complete shock. He didn't look afraid in the slightest, as he gripped his own hair with his hands.
"I…It's… t-true…" Grisha said in a shaky voice.
"W-What?" Eren's voice was filled with nervousness. He was nervous that his father would be disgusted with him and treat him as a monster because of his arm.
"The legend… of Sparda… It's… it's true…" the doctor continued to breathe out, looking at Eren's arm in astonishment rather than being shocked.
"What legend…? Who the hell is Sparda…? Dad, what are you talking about? Do you have an idea what's happening to me?!" Eren said with more desperation in his voice, as he wanted answers.
All of sudden, Grisha's face grew serious and Eren feared the worst. This was it. His own father was going to treat him like an outcast of society and Eren was sure that he would completely be like how Mikasa was when her parents died. Alone and lifeless. The boy closed his eyes and prepared for what was to come.
.
The sound of a suitcase opening tempted Eren to open his eyes and see what it was, but decided against it. Grisha was probably going to hit him with something to cut off their bond and the thought of seeing it will only hurt him more.
.
Eren was forced to open his eyes when he felt Grisha grabbing his arm roughly and pulling the boy close to him. Eren was confused why his father had tears streaming down his face and was about to ask what's going on, but Grisha beat him to it.
"Eren, I don't have much time so I will leave everything to you. I want you to know that I am happy to have been your father, even though I am not." That got Eren to widen his eyes in shock as Grisha pulled out a syringe filled with a purple serum. "I am sure that your mother has told you about the legend of Sparda. Through that name, you will know about this arm! Everything is about to change, Eren. More than you ever know! It's not just titans you're facing! Sparda, Eren! Sparda! Remember that name, Eren. Remember it… for the sake of humanity!" The man then plunged the syringe into Eren's arm, in between the reddish plates that it directly got to his skin underneath before Grisha injected the serum.
"AAAAAGGGHH!" Eren grabbed his right arm as he screamed in pain, feeling something strange happening to him, not just to his arm but to his whole body. After Grisha had emptied the syringe, he pulled back and Eren fell to his knees instantly, crying from the intense pain that his arm felt from that injection.
Grisha was breathing heavily before stepping back, watching his son writhing on the ground in pain for the next few moments. The moment he saw Eren's skin beginning to glow blue, more tears streamed down his face as he took the gold key hanging from his neck anf showed it to the white-haired boy.
"Eren, listen to me!" Grisha's voice caused the already weakening boy to look up, even though he had collapsed on his stomach as his body began emitting a blue aura. "Eren, never let go of this key and remember that you need to make it back to our house's basement. Inside there are the answers to everything. The serum may affect your memories so just remember to look at this key everyday!" Grisha threw the key just in front of Eren and continued to speak, a proud smile appearing on his face despite the tears. "I know you will make me and your mother proud. Don't just focus on killing the titans, my son! Learn to appreciate the little things around you, and don't make the same mistake as I did." The doctor said to his barely conscious son, whose eyes had turned red.
Grisha took a deep breath as he heard the transformation begin, lowering his head. "I will be gone now, Eren. We won't be able to see each other again. Tell your mother I love her and no matter what you become, I will always love you as my son! Their memories will teach you how to use this power, so remember! Retake Wall Maria and get to the basement!"
Those were Grisha's final words as the sound of a growl interrupted him and looking up, the image of razor-sharp teeth was the last thing he saw before everything went silent.
…
…
…
Eren's eyes immediately flew open as he woke up with an audible gasp. He sat up and looked around, though he immediately noticed that he wasn't in the forest. He was in a large empty space that looked more like a typical living room, illuminated by a light bulb which only meant one thing. Someone carried him here. His father was nowhere to be seen as well.
He stood up and looked around for his dad, even calling him out when he noticed no one was around.
"Dad? Dad? Are you there? Dad, where are you?" Eren tried walking around to see if his father was just hiding from him or something. He was getting more irritated when he still didn't receive any response. "Come on Dad, where are you?! This is no time for games! You need to explain to me what you meant when you said all those things to me!"
Eren was about to scream in frustration that he can't find his father anywhere, but he stopped when he noticed something different with his arm. His eyes widened in surprise.
His arm was… normal.
Just normal.
It didn't look like it belonged to a monster or anything, and the red plates that were supposed to cover his arm were gone! His skin wasn't even glowing blue anymore! Just to be sure, he looked at his other arm and saw it wasn't glowing either. He was back to normal!
"Wait, wait, wait…" Eren started to speak, shaking his head incredulously. "Was it all just a dream?"
"I don't know what you're referring to, kid." A voice said from behind Eren, causing the boy's eyes to widen exponentially. "Was it about your father going all crazy and injecting with a weird serum, because that wasn't a dream. Hehe. All of this around you is close to that, but this ain't a dream either."
Eren slowly turned around and saw a man sitting on a couch with his arms sprawled beside him and his legs were spread open in a relaxing position.
Where did this guy come from all of a sudden?
The man had long white hair similar to his own, and he was wearing a wears red pants, yet his crotch and rear were only covered by long, black leather motorcycle chaps featuring a brown, cowboy boot design around the ankles. He wore black boots and black gloves that exposed his knuckles and index finger on each hand, and his pants are wrapped with a black belt with a silver demonic skull. He was wearing a deep red, short-sleeved coat with numerous gold colored studs decorating the shoulders, collar, and chest, and a single zipper on the front. Underneath the coat, he had a black, zipped up undershirt.
"Yo." the man said, waving his arm nonchalantly towards Eren.
"W-Who are you, mister?" Eren asked in confusion. He knew he wasn't supposed to talk to strangers and he normally distrusted anybody whom he didn't know, but right now, any form of help could be useful in figuring out where he was. This place was giving him the creeps and he just wanted to know where his father was.
"Oh, where are my manners? Name's Dante." The man known as Dante did a finger salute towards the young boy, before standing up and pointing to himself in a cocky way. "Acclaimed Devil Hunter, the owner of the most successful agency in the world Devil May Cry, a son of Sparda, and your one and only uncle, kid." he boasted in a smug tone, as Eren's eyes widened at hearing what he said.
Sure, he had questions about everything that this… Dante guy just said… especially the part when he heard the name 'Sparda' but what shocked Eren most of all was the last bit as he could only mutter out one word in return.
"What?"
And that ends the chapter! Dante has made his appearance, and has dropped the bomb to Eren. Grisha has injected the titan serum to Eren, so what will happen from now on in the present time? All that's left is to explain everything to Eren, including his heritage and everything related to demons, before getting back to the present time.
If you're gonna ask about Dante knowing about titans, no he doesn't. He doesn't know the story behind them, and heck, he doesn't even know the story of Eldia and Ymir. He was even confused with what titans were in the prologue. But what he does know is that there is a world beyond Eldia, and he knows about Marley. That will be important for what's happening next chapter.
Okay, so I altered Mikasa's backstory a little and there's a reason for that. The truth is that I'm going to pair her with Eren and I'm gonna be REALLY uncomfortable if I do that with them being like siblings and all. But take note, this will be an Eren x Harem fanfic, with Mikasa as the first known member. Feel free to guess who's in, guys :)
If you have more questions, ask away!
Goodbye… and good night! BANG! *too sweet gesture*
-Lance
