Chapter 3: The Will to Persevere
A few months had passed after Eren, Mikasa, and Armin applied for the 104th Cadet Corps and the day had come when they must depart for training. Before they left Carla on her own, the three friends decided to wait for an acquaintance of Keith to arrive to look after her. As they waited for the caretaker to arrive, Carla hands Eren a letter and instructs him to deliver it to Keith when they reach the camp. Eren nods and places the letter with his belongings.
In the meantime, Keith's acquaintance, a young man wearing casual attire, rides a carriage through the plains within Wall Rose, passing the Dauper and Ragako Village. Before reaching the Trost District, another man with a white robe of some sort and an eyepatch appears out of nowhere and blocks the path of the carriage. The young man stops the carriage and walks towards the white robed man in annoyance.
"Excuse me, sir. I have to say it's quite rude to be blocking the path for carriages to be passing through," said the young man.
Suddenly, a group of people wearing black clothing with silver armor emerged from various hiding spots and aimed their weapons at the young man. While the young man raised his hands in fear, the one-eyed man approached him.
"I apologize for the hostility, but I must ask you to return home," he said to the young man, "I'll be taking over for you as Carla Jaeger's caretaker."
"Y-yeah, sure. Whatever you say," the young man quickly replied with no questions asked.
He immediately got back up on his carriage and rode away in a hurry. The young man wasn't sure why those people came to him and demanded to substitute him as a caretaker, but he had no reason to continue messing around with them. The man with the eyepatch and the others were amazed at how easily cooperative the young man was. Nonetheless, they decided to proceed with the mission.
Back at the Jaeger household, everyone was wondering what was taking Keith's acquaintance so long. It wasn't long until they heard a knock on the door and Eren went to go answer it, showing the man with the eyepatch from before.
"Hey ! What the hell took you so damn long ?" Eren complained to the man, "You're not gonna be like this while looking after my mom, are you ?"
"Eren ! Don't be so rude," Carla argued while moving herself to the man in order to greet him. "My apologies, sir. He's just tense about my well-being."
"Oh, no. It's fine, I understand. I was a bit delayed on my way."
"Well, if anything, I would like to thank you for taking the time to care for me until my children return. Mister ?"
"Serizawa, Mrs. Jaeger. Daisuke Serizawa."
Carla welcomed Serizawa into her home while Mikasa led him to the room where he will be residing. Eren and the others begin their departure to the training camp while Carla waves them goodbye. Once they had disappeared in the distance, Serizawa brings Carla to her room and unpacks his belongings in his room. Afterwards, Serizawa prepares lunch for Carla, who decides to try getting to know him.
"So, Mr. Serizawa, how long have you known Keith ?"
Serizawa hesitated and replied, "Uh...Not very long, just recently actually. I was a bit surprised that there's no one else to take care of you."
"Well, I don't have anyone else. I'm certainly glad Keith decided to send someone over."
"I do find it odd that Grisha isn't here. I would like to have met him."
"Oh, you know my husband ?" asked Carla, who was slightly surprised.
Serizawa hesitated and replied, "Of course, Keith talked about him before I came over. I also heard about his work as a doctor in Shiganshina."
"He was certainly something. I remember when a plague swept the district and he alone managed to save everyone. Including my parents and myself."
Serizawa finished making lunch and continued, "You know, I'm not really a doctor, but I do have some experience in medicine myself."
"Really ?" Carla asked with curiosity, "Keith didn't mention anything about you being experienced in that sort of field."
"That's because I'm a scientist, so most people don't think twice about me utilizing other skills," Serizawa said as he moved Carla to the dining table, "Speaking of which, I could probably make something for your amputated legs."
Carla giggled, "Make what ? Something for me to walk again ?"
"Yes, I can," Serizawa answered as he sat at the table, "I'll start tomorrow when I gather supplies."
"Wait...You actually can ?"
Few hours later
Eren, Mikasa, and Armin managed to arrive at the 104th Cadet Corps training camp along with other numerous trainees. Eren decides to go see Keith before meeting up with Mikasa and Armin at the bunks. He locates Keith's office and knocks on the door, prompting the commander to open it.
"Hello, Mr. Shadis. It's nice to see you again," Eren greeted.
"Oh, Mr. Jaeger. What are you doing here ? You should be at the bunks getting your uniform ready for orientation."
"I know, but I'm not sure when would be a good time to hand this to you, so I decided to do now rather than later," Eren said as he gives Keith the letter from Carla.
Keith looked at it for a moment and told him, "Thank you, Eren. I'll be sure to look at it later."
He moved his face closer to Eren in a sudden manner. "Don't think this will make me go easy on you during training, though. From now on until you graduate, I'll be making you live like hell and force you to your limit."
Keith shut his door and Eren stood in place not knowing what just happened. He snaps out of it and heads towards the bunks to meet up with Armin and Mikasa.
Once all the cadets wore their uniforms and went out into the open for the orientation, Keith arrives and decides to demoralize them so that they could grow mentally stronger. While some people noticed that he was specifically targeting people, such as Armin, they were surprised to see a cadet named Sasha Braus eating a potato in front of the commander. It became more unexpected when she decides to split the potato and offer it to the commander, who was also taken by surprise. Despite sharing the potato, Sasha was punished while being spectated by Eren, Armin, and other cadets like Marco Bodt, Connie Springer, and Mina Carolina.
Throughout the evening, the cadets learn that Eren and Armin's home district was Shiganshina and wished to learn more about the two variant Titans and the large creature that helped the injured. Although Eren never saw the Armored Titan, Armin himself witnessed it breaching the second part of Wall Maria.
"Was it true that the second Titan that appeared was larger than the first ? With spikes on its back and such ?" Marco asked Eren.
"It definitely seemed bigger than the 'Colossal' Titan, but it wasn't one itself. It was more like a giant lizard," replied Eren as he was eating his dinner.
"A giant lizard ? Bigger than a Titan ? I've never seen lizards bigger than a mouse, yet alone bigger than a person," Connie stated.
Another voice called out, "That's because there's no such thing."
Everyone turned to Jean Kirschtein, who smirked and continued, "The only thing big around here is that fat lie you're telling everyone. A lizard even bigger than Titans ? Ha ! You're just exaggerating the story to make yourself look cool, ain't cha ?"
"Me ? Exaggerating ? I could say the same about your face, considering it looks like a stupid ass horse with that smile."
Jean became aggravated and shouted back, "The hell you just call me, dipshit ?!"
"You definitely heard me !"
Jean walked up to Eren, who stood his ground, and said to him, "You think you're so special ?! Just because you go around telling people about stories of stupid shit like that ? I hope I get to join the Military Police, so that I can live in the inner walls and not hear crap from scum like you !"
Eren became a bit upset and argued, "Living in the inner walls, huh ? Such a cozy life for a coward who's never seen a damn Titan before."
"Grr ! You bastard !"
Jean and Eren get into a fight, causing a commotion among the other cadets. They threw a few punches and tried to grab onto each other. Despite Armin's pleas to stop the fight, everyone's shouts overshadowed his voice. The fight did not last very long as a bell rang, signaling the end of dinner time. Eren and Jean broke the dispute and left the room with everyone else.
As Jean reaches for the door, he notices Mikasa and becomes infatuated with her appearance. Unable to strike a conversation, he decides to compliment her hair. Mikasa thanks Jean and proceeds out of the room. He decides to follow her, hoping that he has a chance until he sees her walking up to Eren.
Mikasa scolded at him, "I can't believe you let your emotions get the better of you. Now you've started another fight. What would your mom think of this ?"
"You don't need to tell her about this, Mikasa. I don't want her to have more things to worry about."
She reached for his wrist and held onto it. Mikasa then said, "Eren, I promised your mother to look after you. I don't want you to think that I'm constantly meddling into your business just because I want to."
"I know. You've always been protective, but I need to be strong enough on my own in order to protect you and my mom."
"Then, I won't say anything this time. For her sake and yours. Just...remember why we're here and who we're doing this for. Please."
Eren nodded and assured her, "I will. Thanks for talking some sense into me. She would've been proud."
Mikasa showed a slight blush at what Eren just said and made a small smile. Jean noticed this and felt his heart sink to the bottom. As they both walked away, Eren looked at Mikasa's hair and suggested that it should be shorter for training tomorrow, which she agreed. Connie walked past Jean, who wiped his hand on Connie's shirt. Connie wondered why Jean would do such a thing and was told that it was his "pride".
In the meantime, Sasha had finished her punishment and was approached by Krista Lenz, who brought food and water for the exhausted cadet. Another cadet, Ymir, comes across them both, wondering why Krista was taking the time to help Sasha out. Ymir and Krista both proceeded to bring Sasha to her bunk for tomorrow's training.
Keith stays up in his office as everyone else goes to bed. He decides to open up the letter that Eren handed to him earlier and read it.
Keith,
I've been uneasy about these last few months about Eren, Mikasa, and Armin joining the Cadets. I know the training will be harsh considering the fight against the Titans could result in many people dying. I know you said to trust you about the safety of the soldiers being the main concern in the Survey Corps, but I just kept thinking if the three of them are ready for this sort of thing. I don't want to place doubt on any of them, especially Eren. So, if they seem like they can not handle the training, would you please send them home ? If not, then I was wrong in doubting Mikasa, Armin, and Eren. I hope you train them well and discipline Eren if he ever gets into trouble since I won't be there to do it myself.
-Carla
From what he had read, Keith instantly thought of a way to prove that if Eren was worthy enough to fight for his mother. He left his office and made his way to the equipment building where the devices used for tomorrow's training were stored. He picks out Eren's maneuvering belt and purposely breaks it, hoping that tomorrow's training would prove whether Eren had the strength to fight for his family, or give up and quit being a soldier. If Eren shows persistence, Keith will decide to reveal that his equipment is broken and give him a proper one. If he fails, Keith will send him home and hopefully wishes that Carla would be happy at the news.
When the next day came, the cadets prepared their maneuvering equipment and went to an isolated area where various practice rigs were shown. Although people like Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, and Jean managed to successfully balance themselves with their maneuvering gear, Eren was the only cadet that continuously failed and hung upside down. Keith had expected this result and began scolding him so that he could keep on moving. The former commander turned to see other cadets, except Mikasa and Armin, mocking Eren for his embarrassing failure. He gives Eren another chance to prove himself and waits to see, once and for all, if Eren really had the desire to protect his mother.
Eren continues training with the maneuvering equipment, but even with the help of Mikasa and Armin, he fails over and over again. While some of the other cadets teased Eren's inability to do something so simple, both Mikasa and Armin try to raise his spirit.
"Don't stress yourself out too much," Armin reassured, "You have till tomorrow to practice."
"What if I'm not able to do it ? How am I supposed to be strong for my mom if I can't pass this trial ?"
Mikasa answered, "You don't have to, Eren. Your mom would be much happier knowing you would come back to her sooner than she thinks."
"You don't understand !" Eren snapped and slammed his fists, "The point of all this was so that I can protect her for once instead of the other way around. She might be happy that I would get kicked out, but I'd be disappointed in myself for not giving it my all."
"And I'm saying you don't need to do so. She wouldn't care either way and if you get kicked out, I wouldn't hesitate to go back home with you."
Armin added, "Me too. If one of us goes down, it wouldn't be worth it to continue the training without everyone on board."
Eren looked at his friends and felt glad to know that despite the risk of being sent back home, Mikasa and Armin would still be there for him. Nevertheless, Eren decides seeking help from other cadets for the maneuvering training. No one wanted to assist Eren with his dilemma until Marco recommended him to see Reiner and Bertholdt. Although they had no tips for Eren to use, they did converse with him and Armin on their home district.
Bertholdt first asked, "You guys are from Shiganshina, right ?"
"Yeah, we are," Armin replied.
"Then you guys should know how terrifying the Titans were, even that large creature that appeared out of nowhere. So, why be soldiers if you're going to deal with stuff like that ?"
"Because I want to be strong. Strong enough that I can protect others, so that they won't have to go through what we went through."
"As for me," Eren added, "I have a similar goal just like Armin, but I'm doing it for my mother so that she wouldn't have to stress herself looking out for me."
Armin proceeded to ask both Reiner and Bertholdt, "What about you two ? I'm curious to know where you're from."
Bertholdt and Reiner tried to come up with something until a deep voice interrupted their train of thought, "Stay away from there."
Eren, Reiner, and Bertholdt paused while Armin looked at them in confusion. He shakes Eren out of the trance-like state and asks, "Eren, what's wrong ? Did those head slams finally get to you or something ?"
"Huh… ? No, I just thought I heard something," Eren explained, catching the interests of Reiner and Bertholdt.
"What about you guys ? Are you alright ?" Armin asked.
Reiner replied, "Oh, yeah. We're alright. We were just caught by surprise from looking at Eren's face. We thought we struck a nerve or something."
"Oh, I see."
Eren and Armin went back to their beds, while Reiner and Bertholdt talked about what happened.
"That can't be a coincidence, could it ?" Bertholdt asked Reiner.
"I don't know, but we definitely need to make sure. If Eren is what we think he is, then we might have a problem."
"What about the voice ? Do you think he knows who it is ?"
"Probably not. From the way Eren said it, it seems he might not know. Then again, we're just as clueless."
"Hmm, let's tell Annie tomorrow. She needs to know about this too."
Reiner nodded, "Yeah. In the meantime, we all should keep an eye on him."
The day has arrived when Eren must prove himself again on the maneuvering gear. Mikasa and Armin watched in anticipation, while Keith was ready for the outcome. He walked up to Eren, who was getting fitted for the rig.
"Eren Jaeger, if you are unable to utilize this gear and maintain a decent form while in a 3D space, I will have no choice except send you back home."
He leaned in closer to the cadet and whispered, "Just between you and me, Jaeger. I know your mother would be proud, regardless of what happens."
Eren looked towards the group of cadets and clenched his fists. He did not want to look like a complete fool again, especially in front of Armin and Mikasa, and did not want to head home as an utter failure. When the rig was all set up, Eren began trying to hold his balance. However, he began falling back and hanging horizontally. Just when everyone thought he had failed and Keith was ready to deliver the bad news, Eren had broken all expectations and slowly lifted himself up. No one could process what was happening in front of their eyes as they were so focused on Eren's intense struggle. Keith had never thought that Eren would have been able to hold his own against the broken gear, let alone had the willpower to do so.
When Eren finally held his balance, Mikasa and Armin made a small cheer, prompting everyone to do the same. Eren showed a wide smile and contemplated on his success over the maneuvering gear until he started losing balance and fell yet again. Keith, finally deciding that Eren has proven himself, revealed the broken mechanism of the belt to the cadets by having Eren use Thomas Wagner's gear instead. Eren manages to pass the test, earning respect from the other cadets when they realize that he had to go through the training with faulty material.
Eren smiled at Mikasa and mentally remarks to her, "I did it, Mikasa. You and mom don't have to worry anymore."
Mikasa noticed this and smiled, but she felt sad within when she realized that Eren won't have to depend on her anymore.
Night had quickly ascended to the sky and everyone had returned to the barracks for more training tomorrow. Eren lays in his bed, happily knowing that he has a chance to join the Survey Corps, and closes his eyes. He thought about finally exploring beyond the walls and retaking his home for his mother. Things had just got better and it was only going to get harder.
"I've told you not to go there, Imbecile !" the deep voice returned louder than ever, forcing Eren to briefly panic at its sudden arrival.
"What the fuck ?!" Eren thought loudly in his mind.
"Huh ? Which one of you said that ?" the voice said in confusion.
Eren paused, wondering if that voice was indeed the real thing and not his mind going crazy. He started by thinking of some words to question the mysterious voice and its origin.
"Who are you ?"
The voice hesitated and continued, "Me ? I could ask the same to you. Are you here with the rest ? Hmm...or are you elsewhere ?"
"Huh ? The hell are you talking about ?!"
"No, you're not her and you're definitely not one of them. How can you communicate with me ?"
"I don't know, but you're avoiding my damn questions !"
Eren then saw complete darkness all around him, with none of the other cadets in sight. He tried walking around, hoping to see if he could navigate through the void. A blue light appeared in front of Eren and formed a figure about eight feet tall that resembled something familiar to him. The blue light retreated to the back of the figure and eventually formed rows of spikes. Eren slowly came to a realization that the figure was indeed the massive creature that once helped his mother. The creature marched towards Eren in a curious manner and looked straight into his eyes.
The creature said to him, "So, you are a human. I've never communicated so closely to one before."
Eren was shocked at the reveal and stated , "You're that beast from before. The one who saved my mother years ago."
"I have ? I had saved many humans, but with your small size, it's difficult to remember any faces."
"You did. I'm very grateful for that, but I always wondered why exactly you chose to save us humans in the first place."
"I saved you all because a human child saved me once. Perhaps a long time ago."
"A human child saved you ? From what ?"
"His….grandfather. I believed that was what he said. It's been so long that I could hardly recall that memory."
Eren was amazed that the creature simply decided to help humanity simply because a single child had protected him in the past. However, there was still more he wanted to ask.
"Are there others like you ? Massive beings that wandered the world ?"
The creature thought about it and replied, "There used to be, but they were gone so long ago. I may be the only one left of this world."
The creature suddenly looked troubled, as if he had sensed something wrong, and walked away. Eren tried to call him back, but figured that the creature needed to take care of something.
"My name is Eren Jaeger, by the way," he declared to the creature, "I hope you can come back to answer more of my questions."
"My name is Mi…," the creature hesitated and resumed, "Godzilla. Please refer to me as Godzilla."
He walked away into the void, leaving Eren behind. Suddenly, Eren immediately dropped down and yelled at the top of his lungs as he headed towards a bright light. Armin slaps Eren across the face, causing him to wake up in a panic.
"The hell just happened ?!" he shouted.
Armin said to him, "I was going to wake you up until you started screaming out of nowhere. To be honest, you kind of scared me a bit when you started waving your arms violently."
"Yeah, Jaeger. You getting nightmares or something ?" Jean laughed as he walked past the two.
Eren got up and told Armin, "Don't worry, man. That won't happen again. At least I hope it doesn't."
Eren and Armin exited the barracks for their next training, while Reiner and Bertholdt waited next to Annie outside.
"Are you absolutely sure he heard the voice too ?" Annie asked them both.
Reiner replied, "It seemed like it when it appeared two nights ago. We're not sure if he heard it again last night."
"I'm surprised that it just comes and goes. It usually says something like a sentence and disappears," Bertholdt added.
Annie looked at Eren and said to them, "If what you said is true, we definitely need to keep an eye on him."
Meanwhile, Godzilla was making a move within Wall Maria. He noticed that some Titans were losing interest in him and made their way towards Wall Rose. Godzilla reached out to the Titans and pulled them away. After seeing how the Titans reacted to humans, Godzilla ensured that they would not get to the other humans by injuring the Titans and forcing them to regenerate each time. With the abundance of Titans all around him, Godzilla wasted no time slamming them into the ground, which either killed or hurt them. With no knowledge of the Titans, Godzilla knew that they were after the human race and that there were Titans with some level of intelligence, which he can strongly sense whenever they appeared. Whoever Eren Jaeger was, Godzilla could feel some power within him that felt similar to other kaijus in the past. Although Eren's location was still unknown to him, Godzilla patiently waited until that power was unleashed and his presence would be revealed, just like the two odd Titans he sensed during the attack on one of the human settlements years ago.
I honestly wasn't sure if it was a good choice adding Serizawa this early into the story when he should have appeared later, but I decided to add him in as Carla's caretaker because I feel like I can add more to his character as it develops with the story. If anyone feels like Keith would find out that Serizawa was not the person he appointed to look after Carla, I'd tell you that it's definitely a no brainer. That's all I have for now. I'll be a bit busy the next few days, but the next chapter will certainly be posted before the week ends.