Chapter Text
Years have passed since a great destruction swept across the world, a horrific war amongst the human race. Humanity barely survived, but still, they survived. History before the great war was lost, and humanity is only now barely starting to thrive from their immesurable losses all those 100 years ago. A few nations manifested from the ashes of the past, and now with almost flourishing and thriving towns and cities, humanity is at peace.
However, this world is different than what it once was. The shadows of the past creep into the minds of the human race, paranoia and fear is becoming humanity's greatest enemy once more. Many look to their soldgiers and leaders to protect from them from the invisible threat that could possibly be lurking. Humanity now is ready to attack what they do not understand, they will not risk their survival.
The Walls is a nation part of this new, scarred Earth. Through the ruin of war and through the progress of post-war, it like many other people, picked up the pieces left behind and rebuilt a world for humanity to live happily in. War is over, and peace is here. The fear still lingers, but the people are happy. The government is sound and for the most part, the people trust in The Walls to protect and defend.
But there's a dark side to this progress, they will tell you.
The Walls is a massive nation with 3 large cities, and many smaller towns. For a civilization after a war that almost wiped out the human race, this is quite the size. They have nothing to fear except for those elsewhere who they claim want what The Walls have. They look towards foreign lands with cautious, unwavering eyes. The paranoia of war looms over them everyday. Still, their pride as a nation is firm, and they are confident that nothing can hurt them, for their only threat can come from outside.
---
In the deep hours of the night, a lonely vehicle drove through the relentless and heavy rainstorm. Barely able to see the road, the driver grumbled in frustration and leaned further forward in an attempt to see better. If anyone were with him at the time, they would smell the liquor on his breath. A late night out with a dozen too many beers and then finally he found himself in this situation, foolishly taking the risk of driving while under the influence all while the rain pummeled mercilessly against the earth.
The road is old and cracked, and towering pines line either side of it. The forest they belonged to dark and looming. It was just a couple of miles more to reach the small town; the intoxicated driver was confident he could make it, even in this storm. It wasn't the first time he'd drove under a "minor buzz" and it probably wouldn't be the last.
He sped up a bit, just wanting to hurry and get out of the awful storm. He glanced in his rear-view mirror, catching something in the air, bright green and vivid. It grew brighter and bigger, as quick as lighting but ten times more blinding (and deafening). His eyes went from their sudden wide shock to tightly closed in half a second, shielding himself from the bright green light. He didn't notice his car veering off to the left of the road and then yelled a curse in pain from the impact of a tree he just crashed his car into, body thrashing forward against the wheel.
With a groan, he opened his door and stumbled out. He was too dazed from both the booze and car crash to really care about the rain currently soaking him to the bone within a matter of seconds. He peered out towards the road that was behind his car, wiping at his eyes and holding his arm against his forehead to try and keep rain from blurring his vision any further.
A few seconds passed, and he was still met with the empty blackness and unending rain. The man was close to forgetting about the strange encounter and get back to the crashed vehicle he now had to deal with. But then, there was a rumble from the ground, like a very small earthquake.
"What the fuck..?" He gazed into the darkness more. There it was again, and then again, and again. The rumbling was uneven, and getting stronger. The man looked at the ground in confusion, watching the specs of asphalt bounce from the impacts. He looked back up towards the darkness. He grew more and more nervous, not understanding what was going on.
Then, the first thing he saw emerging from the darkness were two, very very high up, green eyes. The brightness of them was uncanny. The man stared at the hulking creature that was coming closer towards him, its form barely visible in the dark and heavy rain. It was, however, enough to snap him out of his wide, horrified stare and into a rushed flee towards his car. He opened the car door, not shutting it as he turned the keys to ignition, praying that the car would start even with the crash damage. With no luck, he turned back to look at the giant creature, still coming closer with its loud steps slightly shaking the earth around it.
The fear-stricken man gave up on trying to start the busted vehicle, and with a long and horrified scream, he bolted. He ran as fast as he could, breath heavy and eyes beginning to well up with tears. He took no time to gaze back at the giant, too focused on his survival.
Unknown to the man, the large creature stared at him for a few moments before wandering back into the dense trees of the forest.
---
Shiganshina is a small town in the nation of The Walls that's rather unremarkable. A simple town with little more than the bare minimum to define itself a town rather than a barren village. There was a library, a few diners and gas stops for the cars, a scrapyard, a couple of schools, a church, offices for various businesses (and the mayor's), and of course the houses and a single train station. It was a wonder why the train station even existed. Why anyone would stop by such a drab and dreary town was beyond anyone's knowledge, and in particular, a young boy who lived there. A young boy with a very active imagination and a shy but adventurous spirit.
Said boy was walking down the street towards a small diner with a little book and box held securely in his arm. His blond, chin-length hair bounced slightly from the quick steps of his feet. Within a few more short breaths from exasperation and a swing of the glass entry door, he scanned the restaurant for his caretaker.
"Armin." Called a calm voice from over the long diner counter. He headed towards the owner with his book and closed box.
"Hi Mikasa, sorry I'm late." He said as he placed his belongings on top of an empty stool, still catching his breath.
"I thought you were supposed to call me mom now." She said in what seemed to be a serious and stern tone, though anyone who really knew her would know that's just how she always was, even when joking like this.
"You're still just like a really, really old big sister." Armin teased back. A glare was pointed back at him from his remark.
"I can and will gound you. Go take a seat, I'll bring you your lunch in a few minutes. I have a few customers to deal with." She said, obviously abusing her authority as his adoptive parental guardian. Her subtle smile could be missed by most, but not Armin.
"Alright mom." He laughed and took his things with him as he sat in a booth not too far from the diner's counter, just catching the eye roll Mikasa gave him before going back to her duties.
It had been a few years since it was just them living together, and yet they still poked fun at one another in the way of Mikasa being called his basically mom.
Armin opened the book he brought with him, a zoological book he had borrowed from the library. It wasn't his usual choice, as he took enjoyment from reading fantasy and adventure mostly. However, a book like this was important after catching the... contents in the box beside him. He glanced over to Mikasa, careful to be subtle, and once he saw she was still preoccupied with other tasks, he lifted the lid of the box that held a very small reptile inside. Smiling at the tiny creature (it was extremely cute), he looked through the book he had picked from the library and tried to find the species in question. He honestly didn't know what he'd gain from this, other than knowing what the hell this lizard was, but when you have no friends and just stories to entertain you, learning about lizards was just another thing you got joy from in such a dull, uneventful town.
He continued searching for a match, growing a little anxious about Mikasa finding him keeping a lizard in a flimsy box, and more importantly, keeping it where she worked. It wasn't like he was going to keep it, he was set on putting it back where he found it after he finished his research. Armin just liked animals and what the world had to offer in general, and the tiny thing had just been sitting there. He didn't know when he'd have another chance, so he took it, found a box, and located a book from the library to help him for today's "quest of discovery" (it sounded cool in his head).
Glancing once more to the lizard to try and compare it to the book, he was filled with sudden dread as his eyes grew wide. It was gone. The lizard. The lizard was gone. There was just an empty box with no lizard. Meaning, the lizard is now somewhere in this diner where Mikasa worked, and nothing in this world is scarier than a pissed off Mikasa. Nothing. Of course, he didn't want to cause her any trouble either, he felt guilty enough in general as it was, but he'd be lying if he said avoiding her wrath wasn't his priority right now.
Quickly and as subtly as he could manage, he scanned the area for the critter. Armin headed towards a booth a few feet away from his own, where he was sure it would've gone. A woman was sitting there, long reddish-brown hair tied back in a ponytail with a rather large order of food in front of her. She seemed to be in a trance as she stuffed down the meal. He stood there in front of her, a little awkwardly.
"Ma'am.. um.. excuse me?" Armin asked nervously. The woman looked up from her plate, mid-chew, and stared for a few seconds before finally swallowing.
"Uh. Kid. I'm kind of in the middle of a meal," was the response he got from her.
"Of course! Um, it's just..." Armin began to ramble nervously. "I found this, uh, lizard... and it kind of just escaped and, well, now I have to catch it again before I get in trouble so... well, um, I think its under your table-" He continued to ramble on, obviously nervous from the mess he felt like he'd made.
The woman was oddly laid back about the whole thing, not really offended despite the annoyed look she had from being interrupted from her meal. She laughed, "Whoah kid calm down. It's fine! I'll get your freaky pet back. The name's Sasha by the way, Sasha Blouse."
"Thanks a bunch, you're really helping me out big t-" Before he could say more, both he and Sasha's attention were brought to a group of older men sitting at the booth across from them, one of them recalling an event the day before.
"I'm telling you the truth damn it, its the craziest thing I've ever fukin' seen!" The man telling the story was very animated, waving his arms around with enthusiasm. He also stunk of alcohol. "The fucker was at least like 60 or 70 feet high, and glowing eyes! That's all I saw, after that I bolted, no way I'm being a giant's fukin snack, hell no," he continued, much to the amusement of the other men sitting around. Sasha and Armin just kept watching, the latter being more and more intrigued by the story.
"I swear man, I should've bolted the second it hit earth, and I swear to god that's what happened. It was like a bolt of lightning and then BAM. There it was. Straight from space I'm telling you, and it's still out there. This creature was sent to get us. Maybe from Mars or even one of the foreign nations! T-to eat us or invade us or-or something real sinister. Who knows what's next man-"
"What's next? If it's you Hannes, it's probably a trip to the bar!" One of the other men quipped, followed by the others in the group laughing. The man, Hannes, looked somewhat humiliated.
"Hey. I saw it too." Sasha suddenly retorted.
The group fell silent for a moment before the speaker said,"...And I rest my case." The man laughed again, followed by the others.
Sasha scoffed and waved them off, mumbling something to herself as she turned back to her plate and Armin. Armin looked at her with wide, excited eyes. "Did you really see something like that? What if it really is a creature from Mars, or some other planet! Is it really that big-" He began to say.
"Sorry kid but I didn't actually see anything, I just don't want to see anyone get picked on, even the crazies." She said. Armin felt a little disappointed (and a bit embarrassed over his naive excitement), but before he could say anything else, Mikasa walked over.
"Is everything alright here?" Mikasa, placing a hand on his shoulder as she looked over to Sasha. She was maybe a bit too protective over Armin.
Sasha suddenly pulled a strange expression, like she was very, very uncomfortable.
"no. YES. I mean. Yes, all good, I'm good, he's good, we're all good. I'm Sasha." She said with what seemed like a lot of struggle. Her fists clenched tightly on either side of her plate.
Mikasa elected not to question the odd behavior and dragged her gaze back to the young boy. "Armin, it's almost time for my break, get your lunch and head home ok?"
"I will, right after I'm done talking to..?"
"SASHA."
"Sasha." He forced a smile back to Mikasa. She raised an eyebrow but said no more. She walked away once again attending to her job.
As Armin watched her walk away, he felt a firm hand grasp his wrist on the table.
"I found your lizard." Sasha said in low, rushed voice. Something was profoundly causing her distress.
"You did! Th-" Armin began, only to be shortly cut off and pulled closer to her.
"It's in my pants man. Crawlin' up my leg. I'm trying not to freak out here-" she continued whispering.
"Don't freak out! Mikasa's gonna kill me if she-"
"You call your mom by her first name? That's kinda messed up-"
"She's not my mom! Well, kinda? I mean-"
"Listen I'm-I'm sorry kid," Sasha said so quickly, he had little time to react to her suddenly standing up and then, to his horror-
Sasha called out to the restaurant, announcing,"I'd like to apologize in advance for this!" Then, just as quickly, she unzipped the front of her dark pants. A Series of scandalized gasps began; both from the unzipped pants and the 4-legged reptile that fell out and scampered swiftly up and across tables. Shrill yells were heard, and plates were tossed and shattered as the creature made its escape. Somewhere in the back of Armin's mind, he was glad to see the lizard make it safely out, but currently, he was staring at the disaster he brought into existence. He knew Mikasa was going to have it in for him now.
Said person was standing by him and Sasha, arms crossed, and face horrifically stern and without emotion. Sasha looked at her, laughing very nervously and said,"Uh. Could I have this to go?"
Armin just stood there, not knowing what to do other than follow Sasha's actions and give Mikasa his own nervous grin.
---
After the disaster from earlier that day, Armin wanted nothing more than to just get lost in one of his books, or maybe a bad movie that didn't take much to focus on. Not only did he cause Mikasa a lot of shit to deal with, but he also still felt extremely disappointed about the pseudo-alien invader, and maybe a little foolish too. Of course there wasn't any alien or giant creature or whatever, and being practically an adult now, he should've known better than to get excited about the mere mention of a mysterious being (especially from a drunk). Still, it was almost a dream come true, something fantastic that could've happened to him. His very own adventure. He sighed, continuing to stay lost in thought before being brought back to reality by the ringing of the house phone. He walked over to the kitchen and picked it up.
"...Hello?"Armin answered, still not used to answering the phone. He wished he wasn't so awkward around people, at least so he could properly answer the phone.
"It's Mikasa." the voice from the other line said.
"Oh. Hi Mikasa, I'm s-"
"No, I'm sorry, I have to work late again." She began, a twinge of guilt settled in Armin's stomach. "And don't blame yourself. It's not your fault; a few shattered plates is nothing. Someone just called out again," She continued. She really did know him well.
"Ok..."Armin replied.
"Just promise me no late shows or junk food. Get to bed on time, understand?"
Well, she knew him well sometimes.
"Yeah of course, no problem," Armin said, looking over at the container that held cookies and other sweets.
"Goodnight, I love you." Mikasa said.
"You too mom." He joked partially.
After gathering some cookies and a few pillows and blankets, he put together a decent nest of warmth and flicked on the T.V. screen. He sat down in front of it (Mikasa would probably tell him he's too close to the screen) and shoved a cookie in his mouth, enjoying the sweet food and letting his mind get lost in an amusingly lousy horror film, it had terrible acting and cheesy effects, the whole package.
Something about a mutant shrimp from the heavens, or whatever. He wasn't entirely sure. The movie wasn't that intriguing as it was amusing. Plus, part of his mind still lingered to the thoughts of a giant space invader or mythical giant. He kept trying to push the thoughts out of his mind. Watching the bad film and eating more cookies, more focused on the latter.
After a while, the blond began to doze off, even in his sitting position. He tried to shake his head in an attempt to stay awake. He knew he couldn't fall asleep like this unless he wanted to piss Mikasa off a second time today. Though if he were completely honest, she wasn't that mad to begin with. Still, there were crumbs everywhere, and along with the T.V. playing and blanket nest he had made, it wouldn't be hard for her to guess what happened.
I'll clean up after this movie, its almost done anyway. He thought to himself.
Then, without warning, crash!
Something from upstairs made a noise. Armin gazed towards the stairs, a bit nervous. That was strange. He left the safety of his blanket nest, and he slowly crept towards the stairs, only to have his attention brought back to the T.V. again. The film became distorted with static.
"What?" Armin muttered with a little frustration. He bent down right in front of the screen, banging his fist against it a few times before it went completely black with no signal.
Armin let out a long, frustrated moan. "Not again..." he mumbled. So the crash must have just been the antenna getting loose again. Maybe a bird flew on top of it. With an annoyed sigh, he stood back up and headed outside; he didn't want Mikasa to have to deal with it.
Despite wearing the blue jacket he always wore, the night air was still a bit cold. It was definitely past ten by now, Mikasa would be back within 2 or 3 hours. He climbed up a nearby tree, not trusting the old ladder they had, and hopped onto the roof where the antenna would be. He rubbed his eyes, still feeling pretty tired, and carefully walked along the rooftop. With a yawn he lifted the flashlight he had grabbed on the way out and turned it on, pointing it towards the old antenna.
Except, there was no antenna.
Armin stared, letting out a tiny gasp. He walked over to the base, where the antenna should have been. It looked like it was... ripped off. Armin's mind ran through different explanations for this. A robber maybe, though why you'd trash your target by ripping it off (and destroying the hardware in the process) was unknown to him. He shone the light across the roof, trying to locate the missing object or evidence, and then towards the back of the house. There, he saw part of the wood fence that surrounded the perimeter of his house. A small portion of it, maybe 5 feet in width, was crushed. The wood was splintered and laid against the grass and dirt. Armin moved the flashlight even past that, towards the forest. Even from his place on the roof, he noticed how the trees opened up oddly, forming a path that definitely wasn't there before.
Armin looked on in amazement as well as disbelief, eyes wide. Despite his earlier chastising of himself, he still gave in to his curious mind. "It's real..." He whispered to himself. All earlier doubts about the existence of a mysterious being were shoved away as his excitement grew again. There was still a small part of his mind that told him this could all be a coincidence. After all, there was a significant storm last night. Even so, Armin wanted to find an answer to all this. This was becoming his own small adventure. Worse case scenario, he'll have found nothing except the broken antenna; he could at least recover that. He took this opportunity, and with determination in his eyes, he rushed back down and into his house.
He ran up to his room, grabbing an old BB gun from under his bed. Mikasa got it for him a while back, not comfortable enough to give him a real one but still insisting he should have something to keep him safe. He knew she had at least one real gun in her room, but she kept it locked. It was also possible there were more hidden elsewhere, he really wouldn't put it past her. He was fine with his own though; it was just to keep him safe, not kill something. He never even used the thing, and didn't really want to either, he wasn't fond of combat (except maybe the ones he read in stories).
He placed the gun down on his bed, the letters spelling "ARMIN ARLERT" displayed on the stock of the gun. He grabbed some duct tape after rummaging through his drawer and wrapped his flashlight around the barrel, taping it tight. That way he could have the gun at the ready and still have light without needing an extra hand to hold it.
After tying up his shoes, he ran downstairs and opened the back door of the house, completely forgetting the mess around the T.V.
He stood there for a moment, staring into the dark forest and the new path in the trees.
Armin took a deep breath and walked toward the dark woods.