A Blast From The Past

"From my mother?"

Eren repeated staring at the bald man with wide eyes, too many questions spawning at the back of his mind.

Silas said nothing, merely nodding in return, before somehow managing to once again wheel himself out of the room without the use of his hands.

Now left on his own, Eren’s mind could finally try piecing together all the events that had occurred thus far.

Firstly there was the strange crippled man who had claimed to be a friend of his mother. Now that he thought about it the man shared an uncanny resemblance with a certain Dr. Homer his mother was once very fond of.

Although Eren recalled him having much more hair and a much more common means of transportation–Legs.

"The explosion must have taken a lot from him..."

The man must have only made it out due to his awakened physiology, which was much more sturdy than the average human.

His body as an awakened was capable of much more than just peering through microscopes and jotting down theories after all, despite the fact that all Dr. Silas seemed to be interested in was sitting behind a desk littered with test tubes and sample plates.

The more he thought about it the more he seemed to recall estranged memories of the once eccentric man pulling rudimentary tricks with his weak telepathic abilities all in an attempt to win young Eren's approval.

It came clear as day, the doctor's relentless attempt to hit on Elizabeth–Eren’s mother, but only managing to earn a chuckle or smirk from her. She might not have thought of him the way he did for her, but it was unmistakable the fact that she cared for him deeply.

"Seems like he lost much more than his legs that day."

Eren’s mind seemed to pause as memories of his mother's snorting laugh filled his mind's ears.

Muscle memory led Eren’s hands to the space between his collarbone and chest where his mother's amulet once sat. He was fond of reaching for her amulet whenever he thought of her it was a force of habit.

When his pale fingers found nothing he panicked, his eyes widening as he searched frantically for the red amulet.

It was only after he had gotten to his feet that he seemed to recall the events that transpired before his death.

He recalled the amulet soaking up every last bit of moisture from his body till he died of blood loss.

'Come to think of it, how am I still alive?' He wondered.

Every single ounce of blood had been taken from him so how exactly was he standing looking and feeling better than ever?

"Have I truly awakened?"

For some reason he could feel it. There was power now hidden within his muscles and the world seemed much clearer. He felt like he had just subscribed to the premium version of life.

At this point it was unmistakable, he had actually somehow managed to awaken. A part of him still found it hard to believe.

After all, there had been countless tests and examinations he had undertaken multiple times throughout his adolescence years and each one of them came out with near certainty that he would never awaken.

'So what changed?'

Neither of his parents–to the best of his knowledge had awakened.

Besides that, the examiners had said quite plainly that his body was simply unable to absorb or expel MANNA, and without that seemingly basic aspect of awakened physiology there was no hope for any form of awakening to take place.

Eren tried to recall the events that had occurred in his dream. As he did short images flashed in his mind, red and suffocating. It wasn't long before he recalled his whole body being consumed by the blood-red tendrils that escaped from his mother's amulet.

'Did her amulet actually cause all this?'

And if it did, did she have any idea that it would happen?

By the looks of it, she did, and she seemed to have prepared very well.

In that case, Eren knew the only way he could get answers was by going to meet Silas and taking from him whatever his mother had left behind.

After being asleep for almost a week Eren found using his legs a bit tedious. Each step he took–at first, was terribly measured and scrutinised, it was after a while he seemed to have gotten used to it once again.

The mansion was massive and it made finding Silas almost impossible.

There were always more doors that led to more rooms and hallways, and each space of the mansion was designed to copy a Victorian-style space, with aged wallpapers and lamps, it was still very pleasing to the eye.

Finally, Eren pushed open an already half-opened door. He could see Silas at the corner gazing at a framed picture that sat right next to the window.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't save your mother. In more ways than you can imagine, she was the one who saved me, despite me being the awakened one."

"Those cruel bastards!” Silas cursed.

"What?" Eren asked confused.

As Silas turned Eren could see the tears in his eyes glimmering as the sun hit it.

"...What killed your mother wasn't some freak accident at the workplace... no, it was them."

There was hate in his eyes as he spoke, clutching the cream-coloured blanket that sat on his numb thigh.

"At the time we had no idea who they were, but we knew they were awakened. They stormed the lab massacring every attendant they saw and later blowing up the whole building sky high."

"They wanted our research and threatened to kill you if your mother didn't comply. She had the chance to make a run for it but to her, you were more important than her life."

Eren had his hands over his mouth. His legs trembled, forcing him to reach for a counter in support — hearing your mother had been taken from you by another human being was a bitter pill to swallow.

Eren cried out silently as images of his mother's death formed in the darkness of his mind. He sat on the floor heartbroken his head buried between his knees.

Now all of a sudden the jokes Drake and his goons had made at his mothers expense seemed to hurt much more. The mere fact he heard them utter such words aloud made his heart ache.

Silas watched him from beside the window tears falling off his cheeks.

He wheeled himself towards Eren, and watched him for a while before throwing his arms over the little boy’s shoulders.

"Hold onto this pain tightly, you will need it for the time to come."

Silas said as he reached for an object hidden beneath his lap blanket. He pulled out a tape recorder and offered it to Eren.

"Your mother gave me this and told me to give it to you and only you when the time was right.” He sighed. “It might sound cheesy but I don't think there's a time more right than now."

With that Silas left the room leaving Eren alone with his mother's tape recorder sitting on his lap, her voice hidden beneath the electronic tapes.

What was in it? What information awaited him? He could only wonder…