Chapter 3: The Other Side of the Sea
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The ocean had always fascinated Eren. No matter how many times he had seen the vast expanse of water, he kept coming back to it.
To him it was almost unreal, the size of it and the way it seemed to stretch into and far beyond the horizon. It felt exhilarating when he stepped into the sea and could feel the waves clash against his legs, as if he was part of the ocean; free to move in any direction, not chained by anything. Forever and endless.
Eren felt like the ocean was in some twisted way, his birthright. A safe haven only for him.
Of course he realized it sounded completely deranged and delusional but he couldn't deny the feeling that the sea was in some form deeply connected to him.
However, today there was no such connection.
As he waded through the shore of Montauk the sea felt different to Eren. The difference was subtle and he couldn't exactly place why he didn't feel the same sense of freedom when he'd looked at it before. But he undeniably felt that something had muddied the water.
He smiled and allowed the salt water to spill between his fingers, but the childish feeling of excitement that briefly filled him escaped from his grasp, just as the salty water. Slipping out of his control.
Eren Yeager scowled..
It had been a while since the incident with the Fury and nothing else had happened so far.
If Eren had been anyone else he would have believed it had been nothing but a bad dream. But a feeling inside Eren's gut told him he had been right in his observations.
And just as he trusted his gut on that monster being real, he also believed that what he felt today was just as real.
Today the ocean didn't belong to him.
Storm clouds began to brew above the surface. Gray clouds gathered rapidly into a mad pattern of white, blue and rain. A wind began to sweep across the waves while thunder began to crackle in the distance. It was as if the waves, the wind and the thunder were trying to one up each other.
"Let's go inside Eren," Sally reached out to grasp Eren's hand.
Eren nodded and followed Sally inside, only shooting the ocean one final glance before heading inside the cabin.
The place they stayed at was simple, yet more than Eren could ever ask for. The simple wooden exterior and the salty smell of sea water were practically a second home from home for him.
The cabin was modest in size but contained all the necessary amenities for comfort and he only had to open the door to feel the breeze of the sea in his face.
While rain calmly tapped on the windows Eren and Sally had just finished up dinner, the second course arrived in the form of a dessert, consisting of the worst food that could be legally sold, with enough sugar in it to put down an elephant.
"So did you manage to make any friends this year?" Sally finally started the conversation Eren wasn't looking forward to.
"A few," Eren said, avoiding her eyes. Instead he focused his gaze on the smores that were roasted atop the fireplace.
"A few?" She repeated, her voice slightly humorous.
"Fine, I have not made many friends. But I met this one dude, he's pretty cool." Eren sighed. He didn't bother telling her that he wouldn't be able to attend the same school next year. "And one of the teachers was also nice to me."
"How wonderful," she clasped her hands together. "And did you do as you promised, and avoided getting into any fights?"
"I told you, I can't just let people get away with…" Eren noticed his mother's look and cut off his sentence. He shook his head and bit his tongue. Even he knew better than to argue with Sally.
"You know, your dad would be so proud."
"I don't care about how proud he would be," Eren slumped back. "Besides, what's there to be proud of?"
"Don't talk like that, your dad-"
"He left us, he left you with that animal," all of a sudden his voice gained an edge. His expression darkened and the carefree attitude from before dissipated.
"He had no choice,"
"There's always a choice." Eren insisted, clenching his fist. "And he chose wrong."
Sally knew no words would be able to release Eren from the emotional state he was in. It was something she had grown to love and dread. Once he set his mind on something, there was frighteningly little in the world that could change his view.
All Sally could do was wrap her arms around the young boy and try to push a little from her own warmth into him. Despite knowing better, she tried it anyway, hoping that her embrace had calmed him down a little.
"You are special Eren," she whispered into his ears. "You are so precious to me, but your father," she felt him shiver. "He warned me, you are too special. To some, you should never have been born. People will think you are dangerous. They will claim you shouldn't exist, they will do everything they can to stop you. But there's a place you can go— where your father wanted you to go."
She didn't want to send her son to Camp Half-blood, away from her. And the mere thought of her young son facing such a cruel world caused her to tear up, hug him tighter in a vain attempt to hold onto him for even a second longer than the Fates allowed.
Sally never saw Eren's expression. The way his face contorted in anger as he contemplated the thought of other people coming after him, taking his life, or his freedom. His eyes blazed. His mouth became a hard line as the mere idea that he shouldn't exist caused anger and frustration to bubble inside him.
Sally couldn't find it within herself to finish the conversation.
That night when the rain slammed against the windows and the night had blanketed his room in darkness, sleep finally caught hold of the demigod.
The house was completely still for a brief moment. Rain had stopped slamming against the windows, the fire had shrunk to only a few pieces of coal and for a brief moment.
Everything was completely quiet.
Eren's eye shot open.
We have to move!
It was still quiet.
Then the entire house lit up as a trail of lightning showered the sky in pure white. A howling wind broke through the windows, shattering the glass.
The door slammed open.
Both mother and son stared, for one second lost in the chaos of drowsiness, sound and nature.
The continuous rain of lightning had stopped and for a moment Eren's vision wasn't being bombarded by the unbearable flash.
He stared at Grover who stood in the door opening.
His stomach churned as the truth dawned on his mother and him. As he saw the furred legs of his only friend he knew that there was no going back. Not anymore.
Why? Eren wondered.
A/N Finally a chapter from Eren's POV. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on his character and managed to make it work within the framework of the Percy Jackson Universe. Surprisingly, Eren Yeager, despite how stubborn he is, his character is very versatile, narratively speaking.
Also thanks for the 15 favorites and reviews. It truly does mean so much to me to see people actually care about this silly thought in my head.
So yeah, keep doing that. (I have shortened the reviews and abbreviated them. These chapters are shorter, so I don't want to have them clutter the page but I feel they are still important)
-CaptainMoonShine-
(Reviews)
Joseph Marin: Nice,you do Eren's character justice.
A: I try to!
, Thanks for sharing that fact about your username. My name has nothing to do with alcohol.
Alice Fairchild: Most Aot fics involving Eren do not truly capture the sheer depths of the "madness" or rather, the NEED for freedom which has dictated canon Eren's life
This chapter, though shows a glimpse of it. "Someone tried to take his freedom."
A: Well, most people want to write OOC Eren Yeager to impose their own story onto him, instead of the other way around, which I find much more interesting.
THE TOWER OF PIMPS, glad to see someone saw that little detail on Eren and Gabe's history.
German science, I like your analysis.
