Eren POV
He remembered the rain.
It splashed against the window; the drops much heavier than Eren was used to. They might have been little animals, flying and crashing against the glass in their panic and yet Eren knew that it was only water.
He had always been astonished by the concept of storms.
Water fell from the sky, while the wind carried it around like someone would do with the partner they were dancing with. Swirling them around in a hall only they could see and listening to the music consisting of tremendous thunder and watched only by the light of the lighting.
Eren was sitting in the alcove next to his window, his little feet up against his chest while a soft blanket was thrown over his knees. It was a gift of his big brother and although Eren had first abandoned it on the ground like the petulant child he was, he now cherished it like nothing else.
The thunder roared again, reminding him of the sounds his mother made when she told him stories about animals far, far away from the palace.
He flinched in fear but was still watching the raindrops running down the glass of the window until they reached the spots where Eren would no longer be able to see them. He followed their movements with his finger, counting on a single one to win the race.
Naming them might have been silly.
But it comforted him in the absence of his mother.
She had to go somewhere for the night. That's what she told him. Just like she told him not to be afraid. And he wasn't. Definitely not. He was a big guy already with his age of five years.
"Eren, what are you doing up there?", a familiar dark voice asked in the quiet of the room. It hadn't been disturbed by anything but the storm as for now.
Eren didn't turn his head.
His favorite drop was winning the race. He had to watch it to make sure.
Steps came closer, the shoes of it's owner hard against the floorboards. Eren knew that his room was big. Bigger than most, his mother had told him.
A calloused hand came down on top of his head, patting him softly.
"You know that your mother doesn't want you to sit here when the weather's not that good."
"Big brother, where does all that water come from?", Eren asked, not fancying the idea of getting lectured by his older brother again. He was a big boy. Five years.
The older one sighed and squeezed his body in the alcove. Eren squeaked in surprise when he got lifted on a warm lap with gentle hands hugging him from behind. The blanket was now on both of their bodies.
"The water is coming from the sky."
"And why is it in the sky?"
"Hm? Well, the water came from somewhere else.", his brother murmured and rested his chin on Eren's scalp, who was leaning against the young man's chest. "And the clouds brought it here."
"Big brother, why do you know that?"
"You'll get to learn that in school, Eren."
Eren made a pouting face and crossed his arms, interrupting their quiet cuddling session.
"I don't want to go to school."
"You won't have to deal with many kids, Eren. That's because of who we are.", his brother said calmly, always the same patient person with him. "There will only be a few more. But much less than in-"
"They will be mean.", Eren muttered and pressed his back against his big brother. The older one made a strange noise of disbelieve.
"Why would they be mean to you?"
"Because they always are."
"Who is?"
"Those kids. The ones mom and dad want me to play with."
His brother's arms came around his body again, securing his hold on his little brother and Eren was short of purring at the comfort and safety of his brother's presence.
"Why are they mean to you?"
"Because I'm a...ah...I..." His cheeks reddened. "I don't know what the word is anymore."
A featherlight kiss was placed on his scalp and Eren giggled at the tickling sensation.
"Then why do you still play with them?"
"Father told me to."
"Did you tell him what you told me?"
"Yeah." Eren nodded, remembering the not all too friendly talk with his father. He winced at the memory of the man's hard voice, punishing him being good for nothing. But he already heard that before. It wasn't mean.
It was honest.
And his parents always told him that honesty was good.
So when his father told him that he was a good-for-nothing...then that must be something good.
"What did he say?"
"Oh. Nothing."
- - -
Eren could see every single step ahead of them. His feet remembered their way around the castle, especially the way to his room. It was one of the few up in the towers of the palace. Big enough for one person.
By now – after years spent in poor Shiganshina – he knew that it could probably give more than five people a place to sleep or to live in.
He could tell when they arrived at the right door by the sound of the floorboards creaking underneath their weight. And by the way the doorhandle was a bit demolished. That had been his doing.
A game with Zeke had turned out to be not as safe as they thought it to be.
After they told his father, head hanging in shame, they had learnt not to do anything like that ever again. Their punishment could have been worse. And Zeke's blue eye and Eren's red cheek were a light one for doing something stupid like that.
He knew that it could have been much worse.
Levi brought forward a key, it's metal old and rusty as Eren could see now.
No wonder.
His father probably hadn't been motivated enough to change the keyhole so why change the key?
Levi turned the key.
Nothing happened.
He did it again.
And again.
And again.
Still no click or whatsoever.
Eren was standing behind him, his hands fiddling with each other restlessly. The key wouldn't work. It hadn't worked back then, so why would it do so now? Ten years later? Or...had it been even more time since back then?
He cleared his throat and Levi turned around; his brow raised with an annoyed twitch of his brow. Eren suppressed a small chuckle and said: "Turn the key around."
"Are you stupid?", Levi grumbled and looked forth and back between the keyhole and the key itself. "Everyone knows how to hold a key correctly. Don't think you can make fun of me."
Eren rolled his eyes, amused and annoyed by the way Levi was thinking of him as a small child or whatever.
He took the key from his hands and their fingers brushed for a moment, sending electric sparks down his back. Eren shuddered but got himself under control just a short moment later.
With the key turned around, he pushed it in again – the key wouldn't work otherwise. Not in the usual way. And this time when he turned it around with a smooth motion, they both heard the barely noticeable click.
Satisfied Eren glanced over his shoulder and sniggered at the almost defeated expression in the other man's face.
"How did you know it would work that way, brat?"
The smile on his lips disappeared just as fast as it came to him. He pressed them together and gave the general the key, not willing to hold the piece of memory even for a second longer.
"As a servant you get to know some things about the palace.", he muttered and made a step back, far enough to let Levi go inside first.
While the man raised a brow in disbelieve and shook his head as if he wanted to tell him that he didn't buy that lie, he stepped inside, leaving Eren to decide if he wanted to follow him or not.
He took a deep breath.
Inside he saw darkness.
Not because there wasn't any light.
But because his eyes were desperately trying to protect him from what he was about to see again.
Because only a single glance inside the room told him – his father really hadn't cared to get rid of the blood.
His blood.
(Aaaaannnddd here we go with a second chapter of the day because it's storming and I had the time and rly - studying was my other option so.....
A short flashback to the time before the night Eren had to flee with his mother and we meet Zeke again in his mind and memories.
But what happened? Why is there Eren's blood inside? And why didn't Grisha care to remove any of it?
This is an honest question here, most of the time I rly don't know what the hell I am writing and half the plot never belonged to my original plot so sorry if it's a bit too long or you know...not interesting enough.
Tell me when that's the case!)