Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be posting this up finally! This chapter might get a bit confusing for those of you who has a hard time remembering characters, so I'll be posting up a list of the titan subjects and a description of their titan.
Also! One of the new characters is actually based off of me and my best friend in real life, let's see if you can figure out who I am ;) the answer might be a bit of a surprise!
And to Alex: I'm glad you're liking the story and I have considered doing ErenxMikasa but with a hint of OC jealously, but I haven't fully decided yet.
Hope y'all enjoy this chapter and reviews are greatly appreciated! 3
Chapter 4: Meet Your Fellow Freaks
"Hey, are you okay?" came a small, timid voice from his open door.
Eren jumped and hastily wiped the last of his tears away before looking towards the door. Standing just outside his room was a girl around his age with wide, doe-like brown eyes. Waves of curled, mousy brown hair hung down around her waist and around her head sat a homemade flower crown of wilting white daisies. Her lovely face was sprinkled with freckles and her rose-petal lips were turned up in a small smile. Her pale dress, innocent features, and flower halo gave her the appearance of an angel. All she was missing were the wings.
All the boy could do was gap at her, stunned. Her smile faded slightly in concern.
"You're the new subject right? The last one?" the angel asked, taking a hesitant step into the room, as if she were afraid of scaring him.
"Um, yeah. I'm the last subject," Eren replied, coming back to his senses and staring at the floor.
"Hey, don't look so down. This place isn't all bad and the rest of us really aren't terrible company," she said, tilting her head and smiling. Even her soft voice was angelic, it was airy and sweet, like music.
"I'm Eren. Eren Jaeger," the boy said, relaxing a bit more. At least this girl was nice to him.
"The people that work here call me Angel-." Eren completely understood why. "-but my real name is Guinevere Gray, Gwen for short."
"How come the people working here don't call you by your name?"
"Oh, because Angel is my titan's name, so that's what they call me. It's the same with everyone else. You'll probably get a titan name too after you transform for the first time," Gwen explained, calmly. "Most of us prefer to go by our real names truthfully."
Eren shuddered again, just thinking about what lay ahead of him tomorrow had his stomach rolling.
"Would you like to come meet the others? I think most of them are back now," she said, turning to look into the common room. "I should warn you though, some of them aren't really…quite right in the head."
"Violet said something like that before," Eren recalled.
Gwen stared at him. "You call Ms. Drake by her first name?"
She whispered the question as if it were a forbidden topic and just mentioning their warden's name would cause trouble.
Eren frowned. "Yeah, she told me to call her that."
"Huh…" was all Gwen said before she perked up again, giving her lovely smile. "She must like you then. Most of us are punished for saying her first name."
This news shocked Eren and he was about to ask what punishment they could possibly get for simply saying a name, when a suddenly loud voice interrupted.
"Ey! We finally got the newbie!" the boisterous voice said. "And here we thought you'd never show!"
The owner of the voice appeared next to Gwen, leaning against the doorframe and giving Eren a crooked smirk. This new arrival dressed like a girl, with their plain blouse and short black skirt and their pixie-ish haircut could be feminine, but the strong jawline and broad shoulders gave them a tough, masculine look. Her devious yellow eyes seemed to almost glow in the dim light of the room. Eren barely recognized any of these features though, because the only thing he could focus on were this person's ears and the horrid thing behind them.
Sensing his stare, the newcomers smile widened, revealing pointed canines, while her eyes glowed mischievously. "Like my tail? It's such a useful little thing, but it's really a shame it doesn't have any fur, eh?"
"A-and the ears?" Eren stammered, looking away from the tail to stare at the naked, cat-like ears poking out from her ashy, dark blonde hair.
"Oh, just another lovely feature courtesy of Atlas Corp!" the cat-human laughed, the slit pupils of her eyes contracting in excitement. "Aren't I just the cutest little freak?"
"Riah, don't scare him, he just got here," chastised Gwen, quietly. "And you are not a freak. You're just…unique is all."
Riah threw her head back and let out a terrifying, high-pitched laugh that wouldn't have been out of place in a mental asylum.
"Ah, ain't you just the sweetest? Don't got a mean bone in your body do you, Gweny?" snickered Riah, bumping her hip against Gwen's.
Gwen smiled and shrugged. Honestly, the more Eren stared at this beautiful girl the more she reminded him of Krista Lenz. The two could practically be sisters.
"Well, come on, Eren. Don't you want to meet the others?" asked Gwen, holding out her hand. Eren looked at it for a moment before he shakily took it and was led out into the common room.
Sitting in various places around the room were eight other teenagers, most very close to Eren's age while a couple seemed much older or younger. They had all been talking to each other while one of them, a tiny blonde boy who couldn't be older than eight, was digging through the chest and pulling out various toys and games. When Eren and the other two walked in, the conversation immediately died and the only sounds were the rustling coming from the chest.
"Alright, bitches, listen up," Riah started, grabbing Eren's arm and thrusting him into the center of the room. "Newbie here is gonna introduce himself and then y'all are gonna say yer real and titan names, got it?"
A mumbled compliance ran around the room and all eyes were on Eren.
"Um, my name's Eren Jaeger," he said, nervously.
"Where ya from, Jaeger-boy?" asked a girl sprawled out on the couch. This one was probably just as crazy-looking as Riah, with her half-shaven black hair, olive-toned skin, and thick glasses, but what really made her stand out were the strange, tribal tattooing that ran across her cheek, down around her neck and left arm, and ending at her index finger. The design was comprised of swirls in many different colors, some of which Eren had never seen before. Mixed into the rainbow waves were music notes, animal prints, and more horrifically, bits of white bone and black smoke skulls. It was quite beautiful in its own disturbing way.
"Well, I'm from Shiganshina, or I was, at least. Before I came here I was almost half-way through training to join to the Survey Corp—."
"Ha! You wanted to join that suicide squad? You're either brave as hell or retarded as shit," mocked the tattoo girl, rolling in her seat and hitting the stoic-faced boy next to her.
Eren teal eyes darkened and he was about to give his usual speech about humanities fight against the titan when a deathly quiet voice halted his tirade.
"Hannah, shut the fuck up, your shrieking is giving me a headache," sneered a platinum blonde girl with sharp violet eyes. She turned her cold look onto Eren and he could swear he'd seen those eyes before. "And last I checked we didn't want your life story, kid."
"Oh, Lily, always so rude," sighed another blonde who had to be Lily's twin sister. She was absolutely identical to the scary girl but her eyes were wider and her face held a lovely blank serenity. Her purple eyes even seemed a bit dazed and her small smile was airy. This girl really didn't look all there.
"Alright, everyone shut up! We were doing introduction and we're gonna FUCKING FINISH THEM!" snarled Riah, eyes flashing and fangs bared. "Anyone who interrupts gets their throat slashed!"
The room quieted and Eren shrunk to the edge of the room. He had never seen someone so violent, but the rest of them were unimpressed. That Lily girl even rolled her eyes.
Riah straightened up and plastered her wild smile back on her face as if nothing happened. "Alright, I'll go first!" She hauled Eren back to the center and cleared her throat. "You already know my nickname, but I'll still introduce myself. Name's Mariah Hart, but the people here call me Kitty 'cause, ya know, my deformities. Gwen already told you her name so we'll start with the twins."
Lily rolled her eyes again and lazily drawled, "Lily Drake, and that's Dove. We share a titan body named Gemini, so everyone calls Dove Gem and me Mini. Stupid, isn't it?"
"Hello," breathed Dove, in her dreamy voice. Dove looked very uninterested in the conversation and her head began to sway side to side.
"Wait, you share a titan body?" asked Eren, incredulous.
"Mm, as bizarre as it seems, it's true. Apparently it's the deformity the lab-coats couldn't fix. Image how long it took for us to figure out we had to transform together? Those bastards thought there was something wrong with us," explained Lily, indifferently.
There was that word again, deformity. Riah had said it earlier when describing her ears and tail. Did the others have deformities because of this experiment? On the surface, the rest of them looked pretty normal, besides the tattoo girl, but Eren knew better than to take something, or someone, at face value.
"Will I have some kind of…deformity?" Eren asked, shakily.
"You could, yeah. Most of us don't really have differences in our human bodies, but our titan bodies are all very different from normal titans. Which in some cases, is a good thing," Gwen said, smiling reassuringly. Eren relaxed and turned back to the rest of the room.
"Can I introduce myself now?" asked a tiny girl practically buried in one of the chair cushions. This girl could have been the younger version of Gwen with her soft brown curls, flawless porcelain skin, and wide innocent eyes. There was a slight difference in her eye color though, because instead of a warm brown, her eyes were milky and dull.
"Go ahead," Riah sighed, throwing her hands up in defeat. She'd clearly lost control of the conversation.
Instead of speaking, the miniature Gwen stood and stumbled over to Eren, touching surfaces and sometimes people to keep her bearings in check. Eren had his suspicions before when he saw her eyes, but they were confirmed when he realized the trouble she was having. The little girl was blind.
Feeling pity for her, Eren stuck out his hand to balance her and stop her from tumbling into the table. She gave him an appreciative smile and her cheeks faintly redden.
"Uh, you okay?" Eren asked, worriedly.
"Oh, I'm fine! Thank you for the help though!" the blind girl said, cheerily. She straightened herself up and continued, "I'm Sophie Gray, Gwen's sister. It's nice to meet you!"
"Titan name, Soph," reminded Gwen sweetly.
"Oh right! My titan name is Cana. It's short for Cannibal," Sophie said, excitedly.
"C-cannibal?" Eren repeated.
"Oh, don't worry! I don't eat humans. My titan likes to eat other titans! It's kinda hard to explain," she said, holding her arms behind her back and swinging back and forth. "Can I touch your face?"
"Uuuuh," was Eren's only reply to this odd request.
"Sophie's blind, so the only way she knows what people look like is if she feels their face," Gwen clarified, gently.
"Um, I guess I don't really mind…?"
Sophie squealed in happiness before stumbling forward and nearly crashing into Eren again. When she steadied herself, she hesitantly reached up and started timidly smoothing her delicate fingers over Eren's face. She traced over his nose, cheeks, lips, and around his eyes. Eren kept perfectly still for her, intrigued by her strange way of "seeing" people. The rest of the room watched in bored patience, no doubt already used to Sophie's form of greetings.
"What color are your eyes?" she finally asked, running her hands through his hair.
Before Eren could reply Hannah leaped up and nearly tackled him, her crazed hazel eyes locked onto his with intense curiosity. She halted her advance right next to Sophie and grabbed Eren's face, pulling it uncomfortable close to hers. The startled boy could see her studying his wide eyes.
"They're kinda like a weird blue-green color, but they got like these gold spots in them. They're pretty as fuck though," she said, still scrutinizing him.
"Er, thanks?" Eren replied, uneasily. He could not get a good sense of these people. They were all completely random and unpredictable, with a very clear lack of knowledge on personal space.
"Hannah, get the fuck off him! You're freakin him out," scowled Riah, grabbing Hannah by the scruff of her neck and tossing her back on the couch. The tattoo girl yelped and slammed into the boy she'd been sitting next to before, who promptly snarled and shoved her on the ground.
Ignoring the tensing in Eren's body at the blatant display of abuse to one of the subjects, Sophie finished her inspection and smiled brightly and giggled.
"You're really cute!" she said, blushing slightly as she was helped back to her seat.
Eren simply stared at her in surprise. Did she just call him cute? If the brunette wasn't in constant state of shock from all the strange events taking place around him, he would have been highly embarrassed by the little girl's words.
Riah sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright, we're moving on! 'Cause I don't have the fucking patience to wait for ya'll to get your shit together. Who's going next!?"
"Me, me, me! Oh, pick me!" Hannah squealed from her place on the floor, jabbing her hand in the air in excitement.
"Hannah, you don't have to raise your hand. We're not five," Lily taunted. Hannah stuck her tongue out at her before she quickly started speaking.
"My name's Hannah Lara and they call my titan Bones! 'Cause it's got this cool bone armor on its face and chest and stuff. Oh! My titan's also male, in case you get confused," Hannah exclaimed so fast Eren almost missed a lot of her words.
"Why is your titan male if you're a girl?" asked Eren politely.
"I was born a girl, but I'm gender fluid. Basically it's a fancy word for saying I see myself as a boy and as a girl, depending on my mood," Hannah said, sounding far more intelligent than normal. "My human body is female so my male side comes out in my titan form."
Jaeger nodded, understanding well enough. When Hannah didn't speak again, Riah prompted for someone else to step up, seeming pleased that things were going faster now.
The boy on the sofa sighed and sat up straighter. Eren cautiously turned his attention to him. From the way this boy had treated Hannah earlier, Eren already didn't like him. The boy was tall and lanky, and looked almost undernourished with how little muscle clung to his thin features and how baggy his clothes were. Jet black hair swept over his pale forehead and lay across his head like inky satin. Set into his sharp face were two black holes for eyes, the iris so dark it almost blended perfectly with his pupil and gave him a demonic look. His thin, bony face was set in indifference, as if being here was a waste of time. His expression bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain blonde, ice woman from training.
"Piers Anderson, Wraith Titan. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but that'd be a lie," he hissed out, his voice low and wispy, sounding very snake-like. Now Eren truly knew he didn't like him.
"Oookay, now that we got mister doom-and-gloom out of the way. Rogers! One of you go!" snapped Riah.
"Okay!" sang out two voices from the other side of the room.
As if they just popped into existence, two small figures jumped out and stood in front of Eren, giving him another heart attack.
One was very clearly a boy with short, golden hair and large blue eyes. He looked so similar to a younger Armin, Eren could have easily mistaken him for his little brother. The boy had on a bright smile and in his hands was a toy train, no doubt the thing he was searching for in the chest.
The figure next to the little boy was more of a mystery to Eren. They were dressed in a pair of tattered slacks and a cotton shirt, very similar to the boy next to them, but this child had longer hair reaching down to their hips in golden waves. They're face looked girlish but there were certain features that seemed distinctly male. If they were older it would have been easier to guess their gender but considering they looked only about ten or eleven and had no curves or muscles, it was impossible to say if they were a girl or boy.
"Hello! I'm James Rogers, but you can call me Jimmy!" said the boy, vigorously shaking Eren's hand. He smiled and widely and Eren returned the smile. "My titan's called Anatomy. Kinda funny name, huh?"
"Nice to meet you, Jimmy," Eren replied, pleasantly. Eren always got along pretty well with children, mainly because he acted like one himself most of the time. After Jimmy let go of Eren's hand, the brunette turned to the other Rogers and held his hand out.
"And what's your name?" Eren asked, noticing how shy the child was acting. They kept their head down and nervously tugged at their sleeve.
"U-um, I'm A-Andy Rodgers," they stuttered out, shakily grabbing his hand and then hastily releasing it. "M-my titan's named Melody."
"Those are really nice names," Eren said, smiling kindly in the hopes of putting the young one at ease. Andy nodded and blushed profusely before they scampered back to their seat on one of the chairs. Their brother quickly joined them since they were both small enough to fit on one chair.
Gwen leaned up and quickly whispered in Eren's ear, "Andy's technically a boy, but she prefers to be considered a girl, which is why her titan's a girl. She's also really self-conscious and shy."
Eren nodded at her. Though it was a surprise to hear that a little boy wanted to be a girl, Eren wasn't a judgmental person. Besides, it really wasn't that much a stretch to think of Andy as a girl.
"I suppose it's my turn, is it?" sighed a boy leaning against the wall. Eren almost didn't see him there, being in the shadows of the room and away from the center of attention. The boy shrugged off the wall and Eren was struck by how tall he was. He had to be as tall as Bertholdt, with lean muscles wrapped around his long figure. His dark brown hair was neat and well-combed and his face was strong and handsome. Behind a set of thin glasses was a pair of intelligent silver eyes that seemed to hide an eternity of secrets in them. This boy had an aura of calm authority to him that made him seem like a natural born leader. The silver-eyed boy walked to Eren and firmly shook his hand.
"I'm Gabriel Knowles, my titan's called Lightning, but they just shorten it to Light," Gabriel said, giving Eren a small, welcoming smile. "Good to have another man here, truthfully. The girls were starting to outnumber us."
"Oh yeah, like you would complain, Gabe," snickered Hannah. She waggled her eyebrows at him suggestively and he only rolled his eyes at her.
"Some of us have thoughts other than the perverse ones in your sick head," Gabriel shot back, smirking. Hannah opened her mouth with a comeback but Riah cut her off.
"Alright, alright, shut up! That everyone?" she said, glaring around the room.
"You forgot Mathias," whispered Dove, her blank eyes roving over one of the steel doors. At the mention of Mathias, everyone in the room shuddered and turned to look at the same door. Eren frowned and stared at the door as well.
"Who's Mathias?"
"Mathias Cane, also known as the Razor Titan," answered Gwen, brow knitted in fear. "He was the first one to arrive here and because of it, he was given the worst tests imaginable, since the project was still in its early stages, they had to test him to his fullest capabilities. These days, all we do is practice controlling our titans and honing our skills, but with Mathias, they had to push him to his very limit."
She shuddered then and her eyes grew sad. "He used to be so nice but after going through all they did to him, he's changed drastically. He isn't even allowed to socialize with us anymore and he has to be kept chained at all times."
"He's that bad?" Eren asked, eyeing the door wearily.
"Mm hm, it's so awful," Gwen finished, her face drawn in pity.
"Ya wanna meet him?" snickered Riah, getting very close to Eren's face. Seriously, what was it with these people and popping his personal space bubble?
"Um, I'm good," Eren replied.
Riah laughed and started dragging the brunette towards the door. "Don't you worry your pretty little head! Mat will be chained up so he can't even get to the doorway!"
Eren dragged his heels but even then he still ended up in front of the ominous steel door. How strong was this girl!? With one last mischievous look, Riah grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door into pitch darkness.
Just as he was starting to think the room was empty, a sudden growl erupted from the blackness. Eren leaned forward, his curiosity getting the better of him, and had to immediately jump back when something leaped from the corner towards him. The creature was yanked back abruptly by a thick metal chain. Instead of jumping again, it strained against the metal cuff around its neck in an attempt to maim one of the teenagers standing at the door. With the little light leaking through the doorway, Eren could see what exactly this creature was.
It was a boy probably around the same age as him. His pale hair was long and matted around his ferocious face. He wore only a pair of ragged shorts while the rest of him was bare and filthy. His body was muscular without being overly bulky, but he still had the look of a man who could easily rip a person apart without a single thought. Even his ice blue eyes screamed mania and animalistic savagery. Whoever this boy had been before, it was clear he didn't exist anymore. He'd been replaced by a mindless beast.
Eren stared at him in absolutely horror. Was this going to be his fate? Would he end up crazy like this? Best case scenario he could see was turning out slightly off like the rest of them. The worst case was crouched in front of him, practically foaming at the mouth and straining against his bindings.
Eren wasn't a coward, but even he knew when it was time to be afraid.