Chapter Text
Throughout the twentieth and twenty first century, industries polluted the environment until Earth was no longer hospitable to the human race. During the twenty second century, humanity had to face countless new diseases, most of which came from the inhalation of toxic fumes. Gradually, the air became so polluted that it was no longer possible to breathe without protection. So that one wouldn’t die in a matter of minutes, humans had to wear oxygen masks at all times. Just as the second half of the twenty third century started, humanity came up with a plan to preserve what was left of it. By the time the twenty fourth century began, three cities had been built. Those gigantic buildings, whose purpose was to protect those living inside them, were built in a triangle. Sina had been built against a mountain and was the safest. Roze came next and Maria faced all dangers bravely.
People did not hesitate to abandon their homes and move inside the walls of the Three Sisters. They had been built in a tower-like shape with three floors in each city. The ground floor was the largest and the poorest. The first floor was smaller and the topmost floor was the smallest of all, as well as the richest. Each floor was divided in districts.
Social differences were never abolished and were clear in the disposition of the cities. In each city, the ground floor was dedicated to agriculture, the first was where merchants settled and the second was home to the richest people of the city. There was also a difference of population between cities. Maria was poor and the richest inhabitants of Maria were poorer than the poorest of Roze. Roze was in the middle and Sina, which was the city chosen by royalty, was at the top.
Despite the inequality, humans were glad to live in the Walls. They had a fake sky over their heads, clean water to drink and fresh air to breathe. But this came with a price. Humanity had given their freedom in order to survive, for no one could leave the Walls. The cities were Cages.
There was only a handful of people allowed to leave the Walls. They were a part of the Military Force, a group called the Survey Corp. They were soldiers and scientists who were specially equipped to leave on journeys outside the Cages in order to bring back information and data on the world outside. But it was common knowledge that not many came back from those trips, though few knew why.
As a young man, Grisha Jaeger had been considered smarter than most and had been gifted with an insatiable curiosity for the world beyond the walls. He studied in Sina and became an accomplished scientist and doctor. He had had a bright future ahead of him, as one of the elite of Sina but he cast it all away in favour of enrolling in the Military and eventually joining the Survey Corp. During his time as a soldier he learned many secrets and developed many fears. He was thirty when he left the Survey Corp. With the weight of the knowledge he had acquired on his shoulders he sought to start anew and thus left the prosper Sina for the fertile Maria.
He settled in the modest Shiganshina district as the local doctor. Thanks to his position he became quickly acquainted with the villagers and their ways. The simplicity of their lives was new to him who had spent the majority of his life amongst nobles or in the soldiers’ barracks. He liked it though. It enabled him to momentarily forget about the intensity of the past years, the secrets, the suffering, everything. Instead he worried about what he should make for dinner, what the weather would be like tomorrow and all those things which worrying over might appear meaningless but were to him a luxury.
Amongst his regular patients was Mr Arlert. The old man despite nearing the seventies, was in perfect health and as he wanted to remain so, he went to consult regularly. Of course, it would be a waste to go all the way to the doctor’s and not have a nice chat with the man in question. The two men soon became good friends and were to remain so for many years to come.
Grisha met Carla three months after his arrival. She was younger than him by four years and didn’t have any particular health issues. When she first came to him, it was to mend her arm, which she had broken after a rather spectacular fall down the stairs. While Grisha was busying himself over the young woman’s arm, she filled the silence with polite conversation. As he listened to her speak casually despite her pain, Grisha came to the conclusion that she was a strong woman. He found himself admiring that strength and suddenly paid greater attention to her. He found her long brown hair tied back in a practical tail, lovely. Her brown eyes exuded warmth and even her calloused hands only served to make her more beautiful.
He could not say exactly when he had fallen in love with Carla but he found himself looking forward to seeing her calm smile as she entered his office. When no one else was waiting to see him, he would take more time than needed to examine her arm so that he could be with her a few minutes longer. More often than not they would talk for a while after he had finished examining her.
On the day he announced her arm was completely healed, he asked her to marry him. She smiled gently and nodded. Their wedding was a happy one. Though the ceremony had been modest, a lot of Grisha’s patients had come to give their congratulations to the couple and the atmosphere was thus quite merry. After their marriage, Grisha and Carla moved into a small white house near the doctor’s office.
A year later, Carla gave birth to their first child. As he held the small brown haired boy in his arms Grisha felt certain that his decision to leave the Survey Corp had been right. When the new-born opened his blue-green eyes and gave a delisted cry, Grisha forgot all about the military and focused on the happiness he felt gazing at his small family.
***
Baby Eren had been replaced by a healthy four year old when the epidemic broke out in Maria’s lower floors. Grisha was busier than ever before as he had to tend to countless sick people from early morning to very late at night. Taking care of Eren was entrusted to Carla who went about the situation in her usual calm demeanour. She kept a close watch on her child and seldom let him out of the house. Though she did not show it, she feared the mysterious disease that plagued the neighbouring districts as well as their own. Fortunately, Eren was a rather understanding child and didn’t make any attempt at leaving the house on his own. Instead, he spent hours watching out the window, looking fixedly upwards, nose practically touching the glass. Unbeknownst to his mother Eren was watching out for birds. The winged animals had become quite rare after humanity had come in the Cages. Eren had only ever seen one: a completely black bird who had given a nostalgic caw before extending his wings and flying off in the fake sky. Eren had kept an eye out for birds ever since.
One evening, as the little family was sitting at the table eating dinner, loud banging came from the door. Grisha was immediately on his feet. He opened the door and exchanged a few quick sentences with the visitor. He then grabbed his coat and went to kiss his frowning wife’s cheek.
“Hannes’ wife has fallen ill.” He told her simply before disappearing into the night banging the door shut behind him.
Carla stayed still for a moment before turning away from the door and chasing the worry away from her eyes.
“Well, let’s finish eating without Dad then.” She told her son lightly.
Eren nodded gravely which made his mother smile. The little boy was not very talkative. He seldom spoke but when he did he sounded older. She knew that while he didn’t communicate much he was always very attentive to what was said and what was not. He was often deep in thoughts and sometimes he would ask a question about how the world worked. Carla was very proud of how intelligent her son was.
In the days that followed, Grisha was rarely home. He spent hours tending to Hannes’ wife and when he came home he would be pale and visibly drained of energy. He would look feverishly at his wife and son, a deep fear in his gaze. Carla, as any dutiful wife, would gently make him sit at the table and serve him dinner. Once he was done eating she sent to wash and sleep.
This carried on for nearly two weeks, until Grisha came home one evening announcing that Hannes’ wife was better. He didn’t look as happy as one could have expected. He was ashen-faced and had bags under his eyes. Though he smiled when his wife applauded his success and rejoiced at her the woman’s good health, he appeared more worried than ever.
Soon after, the epidemic ended and Dr Jaeger started a mysterious research which would often lead him to Roze and Sina for days on end. Carla, if she was unhappy about her husband’s absences, didn’t show it. She continued raising her son as she always had, never complaining and never faltering.