Marked for Death

Calamity

"Carla, human curiosity isn't something you can control with a lecture."

He remembered his mother's desperate protests when he announced he'd wanted to join the scouts. His father didn't choose to lecture him, he kept his calm resolve the whole time.

"Eren" Grisha had called out to him. He pushed up from the dining table, ready to defend himself as his dad eyed him with cool eyes.

"When I get back, I'll show you what I've been keeping a secret in the basement all this time." He showed the key briefly, tied around his neck at all times. He treated it as if it was sacred, never taking it off.

"R-really?"

He remembered the excitement when his dad had made him that promise. He was struggling to contain his anticipation for when his dad would return.

Except he wouldn't, and he never would. He'd remain curious and only imagined what secrets were inside the basement. He never attempted to enter, even as he got older, feeling like it was a deception to be inside without his father beside him.

When Carla had dragged him back to the house and beelined for the basement, Eren hadn't expected her to withdraw the very key that his father refused to take off.

"How do you have that?" Eren couldn't tear his eyes away as his mom roughly jammed the key inside the lock. "Dad had that the day he disappeared."

"It's a long story, Eren. I need to start at the beginning for you to follow what I've been doing. And so that you'll believe me" She dropped the door heavily to the floor and clambered down the stairs.

Eren stood frozen, watching her disappear down into the basement. He'd always dreamed of going down there one day and his father would be smiling fondly back at him, apologizing for disappearing. Entering now would shatter that illusion, regardless of how old he was.

"Eren, hurry. We don't have a lot of time". They'd waited until later in the afternoon before Carla had steered them back to the house, she was worried about the scene caused earlier involving him leaving his squad. She didn't want unwanted eyes following them back.

He frowned at her words. What did she mean they didn't have a lot of time? Taking a steadying breath, he walked beneath the floors of his childhood home, prepared to shatter the illusion he strongly wanted to keep believing.

Carla had already jammed the door open at the base of the stairs, the green paint wearing a way around the edges. A small amount of light flowed out from within, casting an eerie glow from the stairs. Eren peeked his head inside, not sure what he was expecting to see.

The room's walls were mostly full of old books that hadn't been touched in years. Small vials, full of all types of liquids and things that looked like human body parts were covered in a thick coating of grime. Not unusual for a doctor he supposed. There was a small desk pushed to the far side of the compact room, littered with papers and books. When Eren walked closer, he recognized them as the posters of the four missing children in Shiganshina, along with numerous other documents.

Carla was rifling through each one, unbothered as some fell to the floor. Eren hadn't pictured this when he was a kid. He expected something magical, earth-shattering event. Not a basic study like this. Why had his dad kept this a secret, there was nothing special that Eren could see.

"You wouldn't remember what I'm about to tell you. You were just about to graduate from the training corps and join the scouts".

She gestured to the stacks of papers scattered around the desk. Eren warily approached, peering down at what she was showing him.