COMRADES • Eren Jaeger

CHAPTER 18: Beyond the Walls

You were wearing the factory-made clothes that Marley had issued you — a white button-up shirt with long sleeves, a thick rose pink blazer with a matching skirt that reached below your knees, and comfortable black flats that fit your feet. A small leather suitcase containing the rest of your garments rested at your side.

Pieck Finger laid down on the plushy red seat across you. It was the kind of conjoined seat that meant to be for two, but there were only four people in the train car, leaving lots of free space to remove your shoes and kick back as the train chugged on towards the town of Liberio.

"Y/N, have you ever tried eating doughnuts?"

You looked up from your book to face Zeke, whose back was to you as he played cards with Reiner at another table. The latter boy looked up at the mention of your name and blinked as though still disbelieving that you were there.

"What's a doughnut?" you asked. "Is that a plant?"

"No, it's a pastry made of dough," Pieck cut in, amused by the innocent expression on your face. "What on earth makes you think it's a plant?"

"Well, he said it was a nut!" you argued.

"No, no, it's not a nut at all," Zeke chuckled. "It's just a funny compound name. Although I do think that some recipes have nuts in their ingredients. Why, are you allergic to nuts?"

"I don't think I have any allergies," you said, closing your book. "So I think I can try this doughnut thing you're talking about."

"Excellent, I bet you'll love it with that sweet tooth of yours," said Zeke. "You'll adore it even more than you do those muffins you tried yesterday."

"You've all got some silly names for your sweets," you said. "Muffins. Doughnuts. Why can't you just say bread and call it a day?"

"Because calling it bread would be very boring," Pieck answered, entertained by the conversation. "Didn't you have stuff like this in Paradis?"

"No, there wasn't very much sugar to go around," said Reiner. "There was a really bad food shortage going on."

A food shortage that had been worsened by Reiner.

You noticed that Reiner's jaw had slackened, like he did not want to recall anything that existed on that island. He was nice enough to you so far, but he avoided you as much as possible for reasons you didn't understand. One moment he seemed okay, the next he was breaking down. You concluded that he was mentally unstable after his mission to retrieve you on Paradis.

Pieck gave you a smile, which you returned. "We Eldians don't have a lot of sweets in Liberio either, but you're our motherland's special guest. I expect they'll cater to whatever kind of dish you wish to eat. We've got some variety, you know."

Out of everybody you had met so far, you decided that you liked Pieck the most. With her tired, kindhearted eyes and warm, sweet smile, it was hard to not want to trust her benevolent nature as she did her best to make you feel welcome in your "new home." Although it did quite shock you when you found her crawling around in the hallways on all fours, until she explained to you that it was just the after-effects of being in the Cart Titan form for so long.

You hummed quietly and opened your book again to continue reading the alphabetic translations of the Paradis-to-Marley language. It was easy enough to understand quickly, so you had no problem reading Marleyan in no time. Now left with nothing else to do, you pushed the book away from you on the table and rested your head against the window to gaze at the world outside.

Zeke had already filled you in with everything you needed to know, from the history of the Great Titan War to the situation of Marley against Eldians, who were also known as the Subjects of Ymir. When he explained to you why you were suddenly in Marley with no recollection of your past, the situation of your family had greatly baffled you.