Chapter Text
Nobody understood Eren.
Maybe he was born with his fiery rage blooming inside his heart since the day he was born.
If birds were meant to soar, why do we put them in cages? Why did the wings that were meant to flap, stay entrapped in the cruel cages of the world? Why was such a power bestowed to somebody like Eren?
Damn suicidal maniac.
So many people could’ve had the same power as Eren, people who could’ve changed the world, people who deserved it better than him. Yet, the person who had its power was a slave to its own freedom.
The ocean’s winds breezes through the corners of his neck. Jean wondered how Eren felt, knowing he had to–
Something wet splashed his hair.
“Shit–What the hell?”
Jean lifted his head to look at the sky and saw a dove circling him. It was bird shit.
“Disgusting—absolutely disgusting.” He reached down in his pockets for a handkerchief and patted his hair to get the liquid out when that bird shitted on him, again.
“What the hell, man?” He swooped his cloth and waved it at the bird.
The dove stared into Jean's eyes, dived straight for him and turned last minute tugging his coat collar.
It soared through the sky, spreading its wings angelically and landed on Jean's shoulder.
“Shoo, shoo!” He flayed his arms at the bird and it made some sort of hiccuped sound. Jean swore he heard the bird laughing right at him.
The dove latched onto the collar of his coat and led him towards the ocean, the first ocean he saw.
He took a proper glance at the dove again. Its eyes glowed shades of green, blue and grey. That time he remembered—doves didn’t have greenish blue eyes. It’s almost as if he’s—
“Eren?”
The dove made another hiccuping sound and flowed away.
“Wait! Eren!”
It was gone. Deep into the clouds.
ｖ（＾＿＾ｖ）♪
Later that day, he went into the scouts' shared house. After the rumbling, Paradis built the saviours a huge house for all of them to live together. Connie lived in Ragako with his mother and a couple of other scouts declined the offer. However, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Levi, Yelena (for some reason?), Onyankopon, Hitch, Annie and a couple others settled in this huge house.
“Mikasa—would you believe it if I told you that Eren talked to me today?”
“What?” She had his shocked expression on her face as her eyebrows curved and her jaw hung wide.
“Forget it—I’m disoriented right now” Jean began taking off his shoes.
“Did he come to you as a dove?”
There was a moment of silence as Jeans processed what Mikasa was saying.
“How’d you—“
“He’s been doing that to everyone he’s met in the scout regiment. He stole Annie’s hoodie yesterday.” Mikasa sterned. “Everyone’s been trying to capture him. There’s been a lookout.”
Levi came wheeling down. “The brat shit on me too.”
The door behind Jean clicked open. “Hey guys, some bird just ruffled my hair—that same bird has been doing it for days…” Hitch moaned “Call me crazy but this bird has been torturing me for days—“
“Eren…” Mikasa sighed.
“Wait what?”
“Armin and I have been doing some research behind Ymir and other myths.” Mikasa rubbed her forehead. “Ymir is free from her curse since she is over King Fritz but some people close to Ymir after her demise reported a harmless butterfly following whenever they went. And we found something. The energy of the Titans' power manifests itself every time they cause destruction. This energy builds up over time and resonates with the tree of Ymir. After their deaths, powerful titans with immense energy can choose to come back as a harmless animal. In Eren’s case…since he caused a lot of destruction—his energy could have made him able to turn into a more powerful animal; however he can live longer with extra energy if he chooses a weaker animal.”
“I just got here, Mikasa,” Hitch sighed. “So Eren turned himself into a stupid bird so he could torture us again?”
“Yes.”
Hitch picked up a nearby hairbrush and kneaded her locks carefully. “He needs to stop ruffling my hair before I make into a stuffed potato bird.”
Seconds later, they heard a pound and screech of a bird from outside.
“If you take this into mind, how much longer can he live?”
“Eren is very powerful especially with his other Titan assets, so me and Armin successfully managed to calculate 13 years”
“Thirteen whole years of pain—“ Levi groaned. “He already made me lose my damn eye and fingers.”
“What about Zeke? He killed more than a hundred scouts a couple years ago.” Jean held his breath.
“Zeke is originally from Marley. Meaning that he probably is some kind of animal there right now in a camp.” Mikasa explained.
“Why did Eren wait so long to show up?”
“Resonating with the tree takes time based on how much energy you have. Actually Armin isn’t sure if Zeke is even in Marley right now and is still resonating his energy with the tree. But considering Eren’s back. Zeke probably is at a Marleyan camp.”
“Why’d you wait so long to tell us this anyways?”
“We meant to tell you earlier but we needed more proof and historical documents which are rare to find since most were crushed or burnt in The Rumbling.” Mikasa scratched the back side of her neck.
“If we don’t catch Eren soon, he’s going to keep shitting on me.”
Jean heard another bird screech from somewhere again.
Damn maniac.