COMRADES • Eren Jaeger

CHAPTER 19: Skilled Fighters

(trigger warning: harassment and assault)

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"WAR?" you asked in disbelief, looking up from your sketchbook to face your rigid housemate. "You've barely been resting at home for the past three months and Marley's already planning to send you to another war?"

Zeke shrugged as he lightly tossed the baseball between his hands. "I'm afraid so, Y/N. The Paradis Island Operation was only half successful—we might have retrieved you, but the Founding Titan is still on that island. The Colossal Titan and the Female Titan too."

"Annie Leonhart and Bertholt Hoover," you said, recounting the names of the Warriors they had left behind. "Losing them and their Titans was a very heavy price to pay just for the sake of some random girl. And now the motherland is heading to war and you guys are going to fight."

The plank floor of the Jaeger clinic rumbled as Zeke slowly dragged a wooden chair over to your study table, where multiple old journals and thick books that Dr. Jaeger had lent you were spread open across the desk beside the window. Outside, you could see the residents of the internment zone as they walked through the street and went on about their day, some with newspapers in hand. Every now and then, a car would pass by, and the loud sound of their engines would distract you from your work.

Earlier, before Zeke had so rudely barged into the empty clinic to tell you he was returning to war, you had been doing things to pass the time — reading his many medical books and playing around with the many instruments that you found. Eventually you had gotten tired of nosing around like a little kid and sat down to try your hand at drawing in a sketchbook that Zeke never used.

A bright young woman's face was constantly on your mind. She had light ginger hair that touched her soldiers and amber-colored eyes. The image of her face flashed in your brain like a faraway memory, and the fact that you couldn't name her frustrated you to no end. So you had done your best to draw her face down on paper before you could forget.

Zeke pushed his chair right beside your desk and peered at the sketchbook where you had been practicing your sketching skills. "New hobby? I didn't know you liked to draw."

"I've read every single book on your shelf," you deadpanned, snapping the sketchbook shut to hide your crappy sketches from Zeke. "Dr. Jaeger's medical books too. I think I'm going to end up working as a medic in the local hospital in the meantime. There's only so much information my brain can store at once."

"Sketching, reading books, and becoming a medic. Aren't you a talented girl?"

"Very funny," you said, folding your arms at the man sitting next to you. "I'm trying to put myself out here so I can find my place in this world."

"Your place in this world," Zeke repeated, looking thoughtful. "I guess the memory loss is as present as ever. Have you got a clue as to where you belong?"

You hesitated before answering. "Marley."

"You don't sound sure, Y/N."

"I am sure," you said defensively. "My ancestors came from Marley and I was brought right back to Marley. I just happened to have taken a quick detour to Paradis Island."

"Marley wants you to be there for when they take control of the Founding Titan because you're of L/N descent," said Zeke. "That'll still be in the far future, when the war against the Mid-East Allies blows over."

What a dangerous world, you thought. Humanity fighting each other? Unheard of.

"In the meantime, you're just expected to get along with the Warriors as you'll be working with them soon," he reminded you. "The Warrior candidates too, since they're most likely going to be the Warriors by the time Marley has the Founding Titan."