Disclaimer: I do not own Attack On Titan, Eren does.
So just to warn the people who might read this. I started school recently, and i'm only half way through the second chapter of this. If I don't continue this then i'm sorry :(
Zeke is sent back to season 3, episode 1 btw.
It was quiet in Zeke's bedroom. His curtains were closed tightly, refusing to let in the moon's light, leaving the room dark as well. Not to mention it was cold, very cold. Some would consider this perfect condition to sleep, but Zeke frankly couldn't. Not after what he had done earlier in the day.
His parents looked horrified, their eyes wide as they stared at their son in disbelief. Zeke remembered hesitantly lifting up an accusing hand as he pointed at the culprits, his very own parents, effectively turning them in to the Marley Public Security.
Their punishment? That was something he'd rather not dwell on.
Zeke loved his parents very much, he'd do anything for them. But that was in the past, even if he didn't quite want to let go of it. At least he still had his grandparents and Tom, the latter of which was the one who opened up his eyes to the reality of things. His parents frankly didn't love him.
That thought sent a single tear from his eyes to glide down his face, being absorbed by his old pillow. Swallowing down a hiccup, Zeke curled up even farther into his blanket.
He thought of his mother's smile and his father's warm hand. He remembered the few happy memories he had with them, when they weren't trying to teach him history or strategies, when they didn't drop him off at his grandparents house because they were too busy.
Zeke knew what he had done was necessary for the safety of himself and his grandparents, he knew if he didn't do it, he wouldn't be able to see Tom anymore.
"..Accuse them.." Tom has said, Making Zeke freeze. Zeke stared up at him in disbelief, not sure if he had heard what Tom had said correctly. Tom looked nervously down at him "..it's..your only option."
Dread came crashing inside Zeke like a storm. "If you show your loyalty to Marley by going to the authorities and accusing them…" Zeke didn't want to hear any more of this. "...you and your grandparents should be saved."
"No!" Choked out Zeke "I could never!"
"Zeke." Said Tom sternly "Your parents...have done something awful to you. They used you for the sake of their reckless plan. They put you, a seven year old boy, and your grandparents in mortal danger."
"Putting expectations on you, and giving up on you...all for their own reasons. They were never the slightest bit concerned about you." And at those words, Zeke felt his heart shatter.
They were never the slightest bit concerned about you.
That's right. They never cared for him like he did for them, all they had wanted was a weapon, a tool for their own selfish desires. He buried his head into his old pillow, his tears of sadness becoming angry.
Everything he ever did was for them. But all they saw was a disappointment. Why did he have to feel bad? No, he wouldn't let them tie him down any longer. He was going to fight for Marley, for his grandparents, for Tom. He was going to free the world of the Eldians, and the titans with them.
Anger crashed through him like an ocean wave. He no longer felt bad. Just as anger was going through him, he also saw odd thoughts in his heads, memories he didn't remember experiencing.
Long furry arms slung a handful of rocks at small moving objects. Something Zeke could only interpret as ants.
His tears stopped as confusion replaced them. What was up with these memories? They weren't clear at all, but something about throwing rocks at little ants didn't seem like something he'd do.
He started feeling nauseous, his insides betraying him as Zeke was forced to get up from his bed. This has been an awful night. He felt like he was going to puke at any moment. Stumbling over to the door, he desperately hoped there'd be a bucket of some kind nearby.
Not being able to think properly for much longer anymore, he yanked the door open, only to be greeted by a bright light, greatly contrasting the dark room he was in before. Stumbling forward, not thinking twice about it, he took a turn and immediately grabbed for an empty crate, puking into it.
Hearing a couple of stifled gasps, Zeke wondered if in actuality he hadn't slept throughout the whole night and that his grandparents had guests over. Probably Marley Public Security. Looking up, ready to apologize, he froze. Those were definitely not the faces of his grandparents, nor was it the grim faces of Marley Public Security. They were people he didn't recognize at all.
Panicked, he noticed that they didn't have the armbands that Eldians had to wear. They were going to punish him. Quickly glancing behind him, he decided to try to run back into his room, only to see it wasn't his room but rather an empty one, recently cleaned of dust. His heartbeat exhilarated as he turned at the frozen group of people, that definitely wasn't his living room either.
Doing the only thing he could think of at the time, he ran into the empty room and closed the door swiftly behind him, sitting in front of it so it would be more difficult to open if they tried to. He heard their muffled panicked voices through the door and Zeke wasn't about to deal with whatever was going on out there.
Where am I, How did I get here?! He could've sworn he was just in his bedroom, crying about his parents. Although he wouldn't admit that.
Footsteps neared the door and he tensed, closing his eyes tightly, hoping that whatever magical force that had brought him there would bring him back to his bedroom.
Harsh knocking came soon after, Zeke continued hoping. "Open up the damn door before I'm forced to kick it open" came a voice, too calm for the situation.
A dignified "Levi!" Was heard as well.
Still feeling nauseous and clammy, Zeke briefly feared being slammed to the wall by the door flinging off its hinges. This wasn't good at all.
"This is your last warning, at the count of three I'm kicking this door open whether you like it or not."
Unsure of what to do, Zeke stared stupidly at the door.
"3"
His whole body was trembling, both from fear and feeling sick. Please don't. Was what he had wanted to say, and yet it couldn't get past his lips.
"2"
Slowly, Zeke got up from his position, his hands trembling as he went to open the door. Deep down he knew he was going to regret it, but either way he was screwed.
"1"
Quickly, Zeke opened the wooden door before the man could get to what he was planning to do. "Wait!" He nearly yelled out frantically. Only to see the man in front of him, Levi? Stare back at him calmly. Everyone's eyes were on him, and Zeke felt embarrassed to have fallen for the man's bluff.
"Right, you want to explain what you're doing here, puking in our home?" Levi asked offhandedly, the calmest of the group. The rest were still gaping down at him.
Not knowing what to say, Zeke looked down at his feet, nervously glancing up at them. "I don't know.." he mumbled. He'd never been the confident, headstrong kid like the other kids in the program, although sometimes he wished that wasn't the case.
A bald guy stepped forward, studying him with a scrutinizing frown. Zeke stepped back a bit. "Did you sneak in or something?" He asked.
Zeke simply shook his head, too nervous to meet his eye. One of the members of the group who was gaping at him like the rest earlier finally broke his silence, gesturing to him in panic. "I had just cleaned that room! No way he could've been in there without me noticing."
Zeke flinched, about ready to walk back in there and try to go back to his room again. "Maybe he snuck in just now without us noticing.." Said a blonde girl, not looking so convinced with her own suggestion.
Everybody looked contemplatively at him, one set of eyes in particular scaring him more than the rest. Dark eyes that belonged to a woman with equally dark hair "he seems old enough to speak for himself, why don't we ask him?"
"Ah, you're right Mikasa.." The 'cleaner' said, looking like he was about to facepalm himself for not thinking of that sooner.
Looking up at his face, Zeke couldn't help but think he looked familiar…
Levi looked at him expectantly "So, how exactly did you get in?"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Zeke gave them his full attention. How exactly was he supposed to explain to them that he really had no idea how he got there? Well, being honest never hurt anybody. "I was in my room, and when I left it, I was here." He said plainly.
They all stared at him with blank faces. "Right.." said the tallest one there slowly. With a sigh he looked at the others "I think this kid lost it."
"I'm being serious.." Zeke said, wiping at his mouth. "It was night time, I couldn't sleep at all.." he paused, shaking away the memory. "..then I started feeling sick, so I left the room to go find a bucket or something. And as you know.." he pointed at the crate "I couldn't find a bucket."
With a sneer, Levi turned to a brunette woman and the tall one. "You two, go find this kid some new clothes." Then turning to the 'cleaner' he said "and Eren, get rid of that crate."
All three of them groaned, begrudgingly walking away to do as they were told, Eren firstly grabbing the crate and walking away miserably. The dark haired Woman followed suit.
Turning back to the small blonde kid, Levi continued pressing. "I'll ask again, how did you get in?" This time he was emitting a menacing aura.
Zeke stepped back further. "I'm being honest!" He yelled, his voice slightly strained. Zeke wasn't somebody who would yell usually, so this was odd for him to do. "I— I must've teleported or something.." okay, now that sounded stupid coming out of his mouth. "I just know one second it's night and I'm in my room, the next it's day and I'm here."
"Hmm.." The blonde woman looked down in thought, before looking slightly up to meet Zeke's eyes. "Where do you live? I'm not sure if that will explain anything, but it's worth a shot." She asked.
There was a beat of silence as Zeke hesitated to answer. He still wasn't sure if they were Eldians or Marleyans, and he didn't exactly want to get punished. "The internment zone in Liberio, Marley." He mumbled, just loud enough for them to hear.
"Marley..?" Asked the blonde man next to Levi confused, he hasn't spoken at all so far. "I haven't heard of that place before, can you be more specific? Which wall is it in?"
The boy looked at him confused. "Wall..?"
The blonde man nodded "yeah, is it in Rose or Sina?" The man hesitated "..or Maria?"
He looked at them funny. "What do you mean by wall? If you mean which side of the wall I'm on in Liberio, I just said, I'm in the internment zone.." he said glumly.
The woman shook her head "no- what Armin is trying to ask is which of the walls is..uh..Marley located in—"
Eren came back in, interrupting their conversation. Along with the other two who only seemed to have an overly large buttoned up shirt. "Urgh, don't know what that kid ate but it certainly didn't look good.." grumbled Eren as he returned to the others. "Did the kid finally decide to be honest?"
Armin shook his head. "No, he's being persistent. Not only that but he says he's from a place called Marley, I haven't heard of that district or town—"
"It's not a town, it's a country!" Zeke corrected, smiling sheepishly at them as they all stared at him.
The tall one who was holding the shirt in front of him stared at the blonde kid confused. "Country? The only thing we got here is walls kids, and I don't think any of them are called Marley."
"The only place with walls is—" he froze. "Paradis.."
Thank you for reading this! please let me know if you enjoyed this or if there's anything I should fix.
Cya later