Theme songs:
Prologue: Bleached Canvas - Moonsong (Levi's Search Theme)
Grey Skies - In Light and Darkness (Levi's Reminiscence Theme)
Interlude: Empty White Dreams - Night Without A Star (Eren's Theme)
Time to tell Eren's story!! ٩(๛ ˘ ³˘)۶♥
This chapter is fast paced and mostly tells how Eren was found and how he found his new family!
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"Ma'!! Help! There's something in the water!!" A young pubescent boy ran towards his mother, interrupting her as she washed clothes by the strong streams of water, she rolled her eyes at the outburst, it was probably just a floating lump of disposed clothing, sometimes clothes tend to float away if one isn't careful enough. The water slushing as he ran on the shallow, rocky parts of the flowing river, this place had more sunlight than all other parts of the place, here where an underground waterfall rested, and the little light peeked through the hole it gushed water from. "Ma' I think its a kid!!" That however caught Mrs. Kirstein off-guard, she immediately threw the halftone clothing over a boulder large enough to keep the clothes above water. She met Jean, her son half way, meeting him with a smack on the head. "Ow! What was that for!?"
"Why didn't you say so!? You idiot, you should've carried him!" She scolded, wagging a finger at her fifteen year old son, her other hand resting on a quirked hip. "Where is he?"
Jean huffed and retraced his steps, leading him to a floating lumber, on it was a small child was feebly hanging, his clothing was stained with moss and mud the fabric was torn and the exposed skin was grazed with many bruises and small gashes. The river had done a number on him.
"Oh my goodness! Jean help me! Let's get him out of here, poor thing!" She gasped, dragging her wet dress along and with all her might pushed away branches on her way. Jean followed, wincing at the sight of so many bruises.
With a heave, they managed to pull the boy out of the tangle of twigs, his face surprisingly wasn't too battered except for a small gash on his forehead bordering past his hairline it was swollen and lumped. No doubt from the strong currents and the rocky way down, there was a waterfall ahead and it was only logical to assume that the child drifted from above it. Whatever the child went through they could only assume the worst, that's how it worked.
That's how their world went, that's how it was in the Underground.
oOo
Jean didn't take long to guess that the kid came from a good family, the clothing he had, the type of fabric; material that felt soft to his fingers despite being ruined beyond repair. And there was that fancy thing he had tied around his neck, which was less damaged. The kid was probably kidnapped and fell victim to human trafficking,
Yet, that did not explain why he was drifting in the river.
'He probably escaped, lousily escaped..' Jean wordlessly put a wooden pail near the bed where the kid was currently placed in, his bed, and waited for his mother to return with the change of clothes. The clothes the boy wore were hung on a worn out chair backrest.
"Jean-bo, help me put these on him." His mother said as she made her appearance, in her hands she had a handful of Jean's old clothes that he most likely already outgrew. Jean felt somewhat conflicted with this, he felt almost envious of the kid, to make his mother fuss over him instead of her fussing over Jean, but he knew that was an irrelevant emotion and tried as much as he could to shrug it off. He couldn't put his finger why, he felt the slightest bit threatened by the kid but at the same time he immensely felt awful for the cruel state the boy was in.
"Ma'... Look..." Jean suddenly pointed a look around the boy's neck.
A golden key.
Janette didn't even spare it a second look. "Don't you dare take that from him Jean, it could be a way for him home for all we know.." She said, not wanting him to get nasty thoughts of even stealing it from an immobile boy.
Jean grunted and rolled his eyes, of course he wont do such a thing. He was just wondering if its pure gold is all.
"What do you think happened to him, ma'?" He slipped his arm underneath the neck of the sleeping boy, minding his wounds and bruises and helped the limp child sit up.
Not replying for a minute or so, she pressed her lips into a thin line and sighed, "I don't know, dear, only he can tell when he wakes up."
"If he wakes up at all.." Jean added, earning a sharp glare from his mother
"Enough," She mumbled, carefully slipping the shirt onto the brunette. "He's so cold.. so tiny, look at the poor thing.." Carefully she thumbed the gash on the child's forehead, it wasn't too deep and wasn't life threatening but the blood bothered her. She looked up at her son. "Jean-bo, I want you to go fetch your aunt Marie and your grandpa; we might need them for this." Her sister, Marie was one of the best medics in the area, with all the scuffles and constant violence in the area it was a decent job and with the little that she earned for every patient she treated she still shared it with her family. Marie had a small stall in the center of the city where in the morning she sold balms, oils and some ginger ale and with her always, their father. He was old but he always continued to look after his daughters the best he could, a sturdy ol' man he was.
"Sure ma'.." Jean scratched his head and headed out, but before he made his leave he glanced back and frowned at his mother wiping the boy's face gently with a washcloth.
oOo
"Oh Janette, he's precious!"
It seemed like his mother wasn't the only one the boy's got wrapped around in his little finger, and he wasn't even awake yet. Marie fawned over the boy just as she saw him; she was more than happy to treat him. Even his grandfather didn't object with using their stocks of bandages.
Grandfather, with calculating eyes, he looked over the boy, holding onto a bottle of alcohol as a makeshift disinfectant. "What a fighter, you say you found him in the river?" His eyes narrowed. "He definitely had a rough one way trip down.." He was serious about that. "Although, he's lucky he didn't get crushed by the lumber he floated with, him surviving the waterfall isn't the really the most relevant question now is it?" Right, if their assumptions were right, the boy is most likely from the surface and also a noble boy, despite this, there's no way back for him unless someone comes down that claims him, someone important.
The ladies immediately frowned at the idea, there was absolutely no way for them to get this boy home.
Not just that, how could this little boy survive here? The underground was no place for him, and especially people like him if it was the case after all.
Jean carefully looked over at the adults, a frown still apparent. Once again he was somewhat conflicted, he really did feel bad for the kid, who probably had a family of his own up there and he was also feeling a bit left out, his guardians were taking care of a kid that was not their own for fucks sake.
"We'll just have to see when he wakes up, he'll clear things up," Marie said, finishing up wrapping the child's head. Her fingers strayed and brushed his hair. "Poor child, he must've went through so much.." They all agreed to that silently, to some extent even Jean agreed to that.
oOo
Jean huffed, he was annoyed.
His eyes darted up the bed where the brunette laid, all comfy and stress free.
Whereas he was stuck on the floor, he found it absolutely unfair.
Cursing colorfully in his mind, he glared at the tuff of brown hair that stuck out everywhere, the white bandage contrasting to it, the little light the candelabra provided in the room was faint and the candle was running low as the wax melted on a worn out table, this light was left on in case something happened and Jean needed to call his aunt.
"I don't know who you think you are, you little bastard.. but it's best you go back to where the fuck you came from.." He said with a bit of venom to the sleeping child. "You don't belong here,"
Sometime around midnight Jean awoke to small whimpers echoing in his room. Groaning, he sat up and found that the darkness was nearly blinding, the candle had run out. The lack of light fuelling his annoyance, he blindly tapped his surroundings and searched for the second handle of the drawer, where they kept spare candles and tinder matches.
Striking, and successfully lighting flicker of a flame on the new candle he held it over to check on the kid.
It didn't look good for him.
The brunette curled and panted, his face flushed and sweat coated his eyebrows.
Jean reluctantly pressed a hand on forehead, pulling his back just as he touched the slightly exposed skin, surprised with the heat and just how hot it felt. He immediately acted and called his aunt.
oOo
Jean frowned; once again he was left alone with the brat that stole his family's affections in a way. the kid was suffering from a high fever, which wasn't a surprise for Marie considering the trauma the child's body went through. It was a few hours away from dawn and Jean had barely had sleep, yet he was obligated to watch the fucking kid. With a defeated sigh he grabbed the warmed washcloth and dumped it back in the water basin.
He re-wetted the washcloth and placed it back on the kid's forehead. There were moments where the kid would whine just as Jean was nodding off to sleep, and wouldn't shut up after some time, and it bubbled the annoyance to a greater level.
The fifth time of the night when Jean was about to sleep, he heard the kid cry out in his sleep again, the fever doing it's everything to make the kid miserable, and most of all Jean. He growled and knelt up facing the kid and was about to yell recklessly, what stopped him was the cascading tears the boy had in his cheeks. In some caring part of his heart, he felt greatly guilty for every death threat he had told the kid, aloud or in his head.
He exhaled deeply from his nose and took the washcloth, wetting it once more and squeezed the excess water out, putting it back onto the kid's forehead. He didn't sit back down on his makeshift bed and stayed closer to the child, his hand rubbing the boy's hair.
That was the last thing he remembered.
The next morning was interesting. Jean was awoken by the slight brightness that filtered through his closed eyelids, it wasn't bright, no light was brighter than candlelight in the underground after all. Opening his eyes, he darted them to check, the candle was half burned out, his mother or his aunt must have changed it while he fell asleep. The pain on his back and neck finally registering to him, ah yes, he fell asleep kneeling on the bed.
He wanted to rub his back but a forced stopped his hand from doing so. Jean looked for the reason and found his hand bound, tiny fingers wrapped around them and that was not all as his eyes moved further up to see his culprit.
Twin jewels of emerald, shining with the reflection of the flickering candlelight stared right into his, some unshed tears straining to fall, and cheeks flushed from the fever.
"Oh.." Was all Jean mumbled out, he stared at him before opening his mouth. "Ma'! Get up here!" His voice made the child flinch a little and his hands squeezed Jean's tighter as a reaction.
The boy's squeeze nearly made Jean yelp, he held in a colorful curse word and nervously stared at the kid. Traces of fear were displayed just with his face. It happened he supposed, this child just woke up in an unfamiliar place, feeling sick, hurt all over and surrounded with people he didn't know. Jean couldn't even imagine what the boy was feeling now.
"U-Uh..don't cry...?" He awkwardly tried, "We just want you to get better." And he failed, the boy shrunk visibly, curling more and his other hand pulled the blanket over him more, his head buried deeper in the pillow and his hand gripped Jean's tighter than ever, with all the strength he was able to conjure up in his weak state.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.. Where the fuck was his mother when he actually needed her!?
Jean gulped and tried to comfort the kid mildly, by stroking the back of the brunette's palm with his thumb and squeezed back, an action he learned from his mother, she had often done that as he was a child too and much like this kid now, when he was sick and needed the physical comfort. The effects were immediate and the kid appeared to be much calmer, but there was still slight fright in his eyes.
A few minutes passed and finally, Janette arrived and pushed past the curtains, that was used as a makeshift door for the room. She smiled widely at the sight of the child being awake.
"Why hello there little one, how are you feeling?" She cooed walking over to the bed, smiling wider at the sight of Jean's hand that was holding the tanned hand of the child. In that instant she was proud of Jean.
The emerald eyed boy just stared at her, his essential worries fading at the sight of the motherly figure heading towards him. All mothers had that sort of effect on children. Jean heaved a sigh in relief when the tight grip from the kid's hand loosened up on his, that was his chance to pull his hand away and he did, the fright returned as the boy darted his eyes back to Jean, troubled and looked abandoned when the older boy let go.
'Ah shit..!' Jean frowned and held the boy's hand again, the little fingers tightened a second time, not loosening at all afraid that Jean would pull away from him again, although he didn't know the older boy, he had felt a bit of comfort when he woke up and there was someone beside him.
Janette sat down making the bed dip a little, the little boy's attention was back to her again. "Hello, what's your name? I'm Janette and this is my son, Jean." She said looking at Jean.
They received no answer.
"Can you speak sweetie?" She coaxed him, stroking his hair, hoping it would comfort him.
The boy looked up at her with glassy eyes, "Y-yes.." He spoke.
Relief was the first thing she felt, she looked up at Jean and hoped that he won't try and say something rude like he always does while she tried to make the boy open up. "Are you okay?"
The boy nodded in response, his eyes not leaving hers.
"Are you from.. the surface?"
No answer.
Janette frowned but still she stroked his hair, "What's your name?"
With sniffles, the boy slightly moved away from her touch.
"I-I...Don't know..." He said with a small sob.
oOo
"He has.. amnesia." Grandfather said, reading a worn out medical book, its yellow torn papers barely hung together that it was like with the slightest of touches it would break apart. "This is the cause of a traumatic shock from the head or any psychological reason.. " Amnesia can result from damage to brain structures that form the limbic system, which controls your emotions and memories. These structures include the thalamus, which lies deep within the center of your brain, and the hippocampal formations, which are situated within the temporal lobes of your brain. Amnesia caused by brain injury or damage is known as neurological amnesia. Another rare type of amnesia, called dissociative (psychogenic) amnesia, stems from emotional shock or trauma, such as being the victim of a violent crime. In this disorder, a person may lose personal memories and autobiographical information, but usually only briefly.
The rest of the family had grim looks in their faces. It was a sad thought that the child can't remember anything.
His life is basically over too, if no one comes to get him. There were also risks as well if someone did come and say they were a family member of his and end up being a poser(The child won't even know if he couldn't remember who's who.), those things happened regularly down here. Lives lost were lost every day regularly, crimes committed like they were occupational jobs. It didn't matter to some people if they ruined lives; it was ruin others or them.
This boy didn't belong here.
Jewels don't belong underground.
oOo
The following night Jean couldn't sleep, he kept thinking, heck everyone in this house was thinking. They had no idea what to do with this boy, what to do with him, where to put him, how could they return him? Fuck, those shouldn't even be their first priority. How would they take care of a rich kid? The boy doesn't even remember his own name and fuck that, he probably can't even fit in here.
In the darkness a light noise hit his ears, as the sound of small bare feet met the floor. It didn't take long for a smaller body to trip and stumble, landing on Jean's abdomen. "F-fuu--!" He hissed, glaring at the the dark sight in front of him, he can't see but he can surely feel the kid on top of him, squirming. "The hell, man? Get off me!"
With a whimper, the boy scrambled to get away from Jean.
Jean got up and lit a candle up so he could see the kid, finding him sitting between the bed and the drawers, curled and determined to stay there, looking down. 'Way to make a guy feel guilt kid..' Jean grumbled and sighed, kneeling in front of the boy.
"What were you doing up?"
Bright eyes looked up at his own, "I ...need to pee.."
'You have got to be kidding me..!' He almost groaned, he sighed and offered a hand to the boy. "Come here, I'll take you."
Hesitantly, the boy reached out and gripped his hand. Jean pulled him up and led him out of the room, with the candelabra at hand.
Downstairs then outside, that's when Jean let go of his hand.
"Alright go do your business." Jean held the candle up high so the light spread around, the town was dark, as always, only the faint light of street torches and faint candle lights from other houses provided specks of light. The boy looked up at him with a strange look. "Ohh, sorry.." Jean mumbled and turned his head, as awkward as it was he was relieved that the boy didn't waste time and went. "Ready to go?" He didn't look just yet until the boy's hand held his again as a silent signal that he was done.
"Where's the stars..?"
Jean sighed and looked down.
"There are no such thing as stars in the underground kid.." Immediately, Jean felt regretful saying that when the child's face fell. He looked like he was in pain but didn't say anything more. "Let's go inside kid, before your fever comes back.."
They ventured back into the darkness.
oOo
The morning, as well as the night was the same, although in some parts of the city, there where brighter rays of light that filtered through holes and some little airways. Life here was filled with darkness, with only candles as sources. When Jean woke up he found the kid standing by the window, staring towards the darkness, a cloth in his hand. Jean quickly recalled that as the one wrapped around his neck when they first found it. The fabric was ripped and looked nothing more than a rag now.
"You're up early..." Jean mumbled, rubbing the crusty dried substances in the sides of his eyes. He was ignored by the kid. He frowned and looked up at the dying light of the candle, immediately he replaced it with a new one, the light much brighter. "Hey kid.." He tried getting the said kid's attention, Jean walked up to him and eyed at what he was holding. "Remembered something..?" Jean tried to get a glimpse of the boy's face, only to realize that he was crying. "O-oi.. what's wrong?" He said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
The brunette sniffled and wiped his eyes with his knuckles; he turned and raised his hands up at Jean, wanting to be picked up.
Not knowing what else to do he obliged and picked the boy up. "Hey, what's wrong?" He patted the boy's back, mimicking his mother's actions when he was a child.
"I had a dream.." The boy mumbled, burying his face on Jean's neck.
Jean wanted to move away, he didn't want some nasty snot being wiped on him but he went against the idea and stayed still. "A nightmare?"
"N-no.." The boy whimpered. "It was a good dream.." Shakily he wrapped his arms around Jean's neck. "I was... really happy in my dream.."
Jean knit his eyebrows together, clearly confused why the he was crying even though he said it was a good dream. "Then why are you crying..?"
"Because it wasn't real.." He said sadly. Desperately, he wanted to sleep and keep dreaming.
Jean didn't know what to say to that so he went with a plan to change the subject. "What's that thing you're holding? It was around your neck when we found you.. it's not a mouth gag isn't it?"
Sniffling, he peeked out of Jean's neck, staring at what he was holding. He didn't remember ever taking it, but he felt better seeing it, holding it almost made him feel safe.
But what is it.
"Its.." The brunette tried to find a word.. a word to call it.
「"Not a 'hanky thinggie'." A gentle ruffled his soft brown locks. "It's called a cravat. And this one has your name on it." A deep gentle voice said, dragging his thumb on the tip where a written name was embroidered neatly in red cursive writing. "Do you like it?"」
"It's a.. cravat..." He said with an uncertain tone in his voice. "I has..."
Jean raised an eyebrow at the boy. "It has what?"
A name.. His name!!
"M-my name..." The brunette spread the fabric open, looking for red.. something red..
It was torn but he could make out something written in red.
"...Ren."
His name?
oOo
.....
"REN!" Jean yelled. "You little asshole!! Give that back!" Jean yelled while the one called 'Ren', ran off outside, with an extra loaf of bread at hand.
"Finders keepers Jean!" He laughed and ran faster, despite the height he still quite lacked despite the years, and now he reached eighteen he was still quite short but still he had his speed. The lithe build he had what he lacked in strength made up for his body's affinity with speed.
He loved annoying his brother, and his brother loved to tease him. It was a cycle they had since he was little and he just wouldn't have it any other way.
"GET BACK HERE! I WILL-"
"You'll what!? Tell on Marco about me?" Ren grinned, looking back at his brother from his shoulder. He laughed seeing his brother flush a healthy shade of red. It came out by accident really, Jean had mumbled Marco's name in his sleep. Ren had never met him before but Jean had a friend from the surface, that was Marco. He used to live next door until eight years ago when his father suddenly had a great earning of money that resulted in them moving to the surface. Marco still wrote to Jean plenty and always mentioned that one day he'll help them out of the underworld. Ren heard a lot about him from their mother too but not so much.
"...I'LL KILL YOU!!"
He always says that, Ren mused, but even at his most angriest time Jean never could seriously hurt his little brother, ever. To which Ren always got away with whatever he's done with only a ruffle of the hair. Yet he realized Jean had a weak spot on him too, and as a clever little boy he was since he was younger, he used that against Jean. Jean won't admit it out loud but he had a mild brother complex. And another thing he had that since his younger days that he never grew out of, his baby face.
"I'd like to see you try, big brother!" He grinned, he said it loudly on purpose. Ren laughed in his head when he saw Jean slowing down, masking his sudden disinterest with being tired.
Oh he loved being cute..
"You're such a brat!" He heard Jean yell as the horsefaced man finally gave up coming after him.
That word though, always tugged something in his heart. Ren stopped running too, the torchlit pathways of the city almost darker than it was before. He looked up the skyless ceiling of the Underground City, where at night he still unconsciously tried to catch a glimpse of light, of stars, anything out there that wasn't covered by the cloak of darkness.
Yeah, he was a brat..
Brats always wanted what they can't have. He wanted to go out, to see the stars. Maybe.. just maybe, he could find what he lost, though he's told everyone he gave up long ago trying to remember exactly what, deep down he can't let go, something told him, that stubborn brat inside him. There was something out there that needed him among all else, it was just a feeling but it was strong. He wanted to find it. He wanted to see the stars.
A sad smile painted on his lips, he wondered if the sky was beautiful as he imagined. He can't remember, but he knew somehow that it was something he can't wait to see. It hurt that he can't, and his heart still kept on wanting it.
He was indeed a brat.
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(IF THERE ARE ANY, EXCUSE THE GRAMMAR AND SPELLING)
I love you people, thank you for 80 followers!!
Guys this is for you! I love you all! Hope you enjoyed and yeah well, I be busy again starting next week so expect very delayed updates!
QwQ please don't hurt me..
So.. bye? See you on the next chapter when I can update!
~MixMix~