Your Promise | Shingeki No Kyojin ;; Eren Jaeger |

Epilogue One

Just for fun :) there are slight spoilers for season 2 and 3! (They're more like hints, not outright spoilers, but beware!)

Eren

I stumble across the clearing in the forest where Rose and her sister went to visit their parents before by mere coincidence. Before, Rose told me that only she and her sister can go to the "spirit world" because they've died before but I'm still skeptical about it all. This definitely seems like something straight out of a book, I just can't believe it. Traveling between the living and dead world? How is that even possible? I need to see it for myself.

I squat next to the violet Iris in the ground. The sun shines on it like a spotlight and I frown. "There's no way this could bring someone to the afterlife--" I bring my hand out to touch the petals, just like Rose did before. 

However, when my fingers brush against the flower, my head pounds like a hammer is banging on my skull. The forest around me becomes distorted in my vision, the trees, ground, and sky become hard to differentiate from each other as everything becomes one blur. My heart begins to race, it's as if it'll explode. My body shakes rapidly and I can barely control my movements as I break into a cold sweat."W-what the hell is this?! What's going on?!!" I scream in agony and try pulling myself away from the flower but I fail to do so before passing out. 

Moments later, I shoot up from the ground, my brain feeling like it was thrown on the ground and trampled on. I press the palms of my hands to my temples and groan while looking down. I'm still in the forest but what happened to me?

"Ah, another visitor!!" A cheerful voice suddenly pipes up. 

I jump back and hold my hand out to create distance between the person and me. I look up to see a blonde guy with sage eyes sitting before me. He looks the same age as me and wears all white clothing. 

"W-who the hell are you?" I ask defensively. 

"Eh? I thought that would be obvious. I'm Raeger, Rose's old friend,"

My eyes widen and I point at him. "W-w-what?? So I can come to the spirit world?!" I note exasperatedly and he chuckles. 

"I guess so, life is unexpected, don't you think?"

"This guy is way different than I thought he would be, he's so optimistic..."

"So, you're Eren Jaeger, right?"

"How'd you know?"

He crosses his arms. "Rose told me, of course. I am her old best friend," He gloats. 

"So you're really... Dead?"

Raeger smirks and nods. "No need to hesitate, it's been years since I've died. It seems you've experienced death yourself like Rose and Rosalina," He leans closer to my face after a second and stares at me. "Or you're experiencing it right now..." He mumbles. 

"Huh?"

He goes back to his original position and shakes his head. "Oh, it's nothing. Here," He stands up and tilts his head for me to follow. "Let's go somewhere better,"

Raeger leads me to the edge of a cliff with a lake below and surrounded by the forest. He invites me to sit with him and I reluctantly do. Although I'm still suspicious of him, he talks to me casually, like we've known each other forever. My nerves ease after a bit and I talk informally as well. He tells me stories of Rose as a kid and I have to stop myself from laughing at hearing how she used to be clumsy. She's matured a lot over the years, I guess. I share my stories with Raeger too about our time training and he listens in awe. Rose told me what feels like ages ago that Raeger wanted to become a scout to see the outside but he never had the chance; this is probably one of the only times he's heard about this stuff from an actual cadet other than Rose. 

"Hey, Raeger," I speak up. 

"What's up?"

"Have you seen it? Have you seen the outside world?" I inquire. "I mean if you're dead you aren't really limited to what you've seen when you're alive, right?"

He looks off at the sky above, bringing his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun. Birds soar above, creating shadows on us. "Yeah, I've seen the outside world. It's not quite what I expected though,"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Uh, shoot! I mean, there's Titans and whatnot still out there, can't have freedom until they're gone, right?"

I slowly nod in agreement. "Right... That's why I'll wipe them off the face of the earth!"

"Heh, I'm sure you will," 

Why does he sound so secretive? Does he know something? 

"Eren," He suddenly says after a moment. "When you go outside, be sure to be there for Rose,"

"That's a no-brainer, why wouldn't I be?"

"Just need to make sure she's in good hands," He props himself on his arms behind him. "You know, I loved Rose when I was younger, obviously before I died. I don't think Rose told you,"

I jump and yell, "W-what?!"

"Is it that surprising? This is Rose we're talking about, you'd be crazy not to fall in love. But, in the end, we weren't meant to be together. I'm over it now, I just want her to be happy and she is with you," He places his hand on my shoulder and his sage eyes darken, becoming serious unlike his cheerful persona from before. "Take good care of her."

I firmly nod to reassure him. "I will."

• • •

In honor of season 4 part 1 ending today, I finally decided to publish this! It's been in my drafts for a while

Technically, Eren can go to the spirit world because (spoiler warning!) the Titan powers decrease his lifespan so he's in the process of "dying", that's how I view it :)

I will be writing more epilogues but it will be after the time skip into season 4 so be on the lookout for that!

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this short little chapter :))