New ⚜ (erenxarmin)

Chapter 2 : Lies or Reality?

Seconds seemed to turn into minutes before they were already to Eren's place of residence. He paid the driver and signaled for Armin to get out. Walking up to the apartment's entry door, he stepped into his house, dropping his bags from work, remembering that he needed answers out of Armin in order for him to stay here, otherwise it was back on the streets for him.

"You can relax now. It's much quieter in here, huh?" He said to him, going over to make some coffee. The only noise that could be heard was the ceiling fan blowing a soft breeze through the apartment, the fake plants in his home rustling softly in rhythm with the turning of the blades. Armin looked around, taking everything in as it was much easier to relax now. He sat down on the couch, pulling at his hair.

"I'm not dead... am I?" he paused, "this has to be a dream or something... yeah just some wild dream I'm stuck in"

"No, it doesn't look to be a dream" Eren handed the other a cup of coffee, hoping that maybe a drink would be able to ground him. He sat down in a chair across from the blonde. "Now you need to start talking if I'm gonna let you stay here. I don't want some crack addict taking advantage of my space to get some peace and quiet"

Armin didn't even know where to start when it came to what happened. "I... I don't know where i am. I was riding my horse after killing titans and I started to feel really...sick. Then I passed out and woke up here. I don't know what any of these tall buildings or machines are" He said, looking at Eren who was now laughing.

"You're joking right? You must have a couple screws loose. Titans were from the year 800, so i don't know what type of drugs you're on, but maybe i need to bring you to the hospital-"

"It's not year 840?" Armin gave him a look of genuine confusion. How in the world was he able to jump months, let alone decades? Eren was starting to get suspicious. The man didn't smell of any type of narcotics, so he immediately ruled out drugs and alcohol. Maybe he wasn't mentally sane?

"No, the year 840 was like... 2 thousand years ago. Nobody even talks about those times any more, not even in textbooks" Eren stated, standing up to grab a book off his shelf, flipping through the pages that showed the different gear they used to fight those titans. "All of it is just stories, nobody has any artifacts or anything from that time"

Armin fumbled through his pockets, reaching in and finding his field journal where he made sketches of the different titans and such, as well as had a copy of the blueprints for his gear that wasn't on him. "This is about the gear I have" He handed it to Eren. Time Traveler or not, this wasn't something from his time. He held onto it carefully, sifting through the pages delicately as he questioned even his own logic. Eren scoffed, laughing a bit.

"There's no way in hell that you're from the year 840. What's your name? This book shows all the fallen soldiers that were found. Start naming the names in your regiments" Eren asked, looking at the list of names that was part of the only thing from the year 800's Scouting Regiment.

"Well, I'm Armin Arlert, cadet of the regiment... People who were in my graduating class were..." Armin started to list off all the names of people he graduated with, as well as their age and ranks. Eren followed every single one written in the book. The details that Armin was giving were something that a normal person could never memorize or have any sort of information on unless doing extensive research on these years. "Some of my higher commands were Commander..." He continued with the list and ranks of all these people, giving fine details about each of them.

Eren couldn't even believe it. It HAD to be true that Armin did indeed time travel... but... how? He named everyone in this book that he had. Only a couple people in Japan were able to get this book, and it was handed down through his family for years. It's impossible that Armin was someone who the book ran in the family. "Well I'll be damned... If you're lying, you're doing a hell of a good job of doing it, but all of this information you're giving me still blows my mind" Eren said, running a hand through his hair as he tried to process everything. "So you're from the year 840.. Correct?" Armin nodded, "...and you're a soldier?" Armin nodded once again.

Eren pulled out his phone. He needed his friend to hear about this. Armin saw the phone and honestly thought it was some sort of weapon, backing up a bit from Eren. "Woah relax, it's just a phone... no harm" He said to him, watching as Eren seemed to press buttons on the glass, but not press anything at all. Soon he was holding it up to his ear, talking.

"Hey Hange. Do you think you can come over? Like... now?" He said, pausing, "Well this guy on the streets i found says he's from the year 840 and the shit he's saying is really legitimate... Okay... Okay see you soon" He hung up the phone.

"Were you just talking to yourself?" Armin said, giving him a puzzled look. Eren tossed the phone over to him as Armin flinched and moved away from it, looking at the glowing screen, "What even is this... glass?" he said.

"No, I wasn't talking to myself. I have a friend coming over. She might be able to help you. She knows more about the titan era then anyone else in Japan. Also, stop freaking out, like i told you, the phone is harmless and wont hurt you at all"

Armin picked it up hesitantly and started pressing things on it. When he opened up the camera app, he looked at it confused. "How am I so tiny? Is it a mirror?" He asked. It was like being around a child for Eren.

"No, it's a camera, it takes pictures, you know, photographs? Er... no you probably don't know what that is. It's almost like an instant painting of anything you point at it" He said, "Press the button in the middle on the bottom"

Armin did so as the flash hit his face and he dropped the phone, soon picking it up as he tapped around on it a bit more, incomplete awe at the complexity and details put into such a small space. There was a knock at the door as a woman soon entered. Armin was a bit timid towards her but she didn't seem like a threat.

"Thanks for coming over Hange, uh... This is Armin, the kid I was telling you about. He says he's from the titan era but somehow got here..." Eren said to her as she walked over to Armin, looking at him rather closely, causing Armin to pull away a bit. She then studied the journal that Armin had as she read through it intently.

"This... This is pure gold! So much information with sketches and detailed drawings of those beings... There's even blood on some of these pages. Yours? Or the titans?" She asked Armin as she kept examining all of the evidence she was provided with.

"Its... It's mine. Titans don't bleed, they more the less evaporate when they are killed. Just kinda turned into a pile of bone until they eventually disintegrated.." Armin said to her quietly, seeming to be in a very vulnerable state where everything was still a danger to him.

"Woaaaahhh! Eren, this is amazing!" she exclaimed, sitting next to Armin as she looked him in the eyes. "If you truly do have a time traveler here... that means we can get so much information about the time period and fill in all the missing pieces to the research!" Hange was extremely excited, not really realizing the fear she was causing Armin to slip into until she looked at Eren who was cueing her to relax a bit. "Sorry sorry..."

"Armin... if i can ask, what specifically were you thinking about when you seemed to pass out before you woke up here? Anything in particular?" Eren said, thinking that there had to be some sort of trigger that caused the time travel. It wouldn't just happen randomly... would it?

"It's honestly really hard to remember what I was thinking about when it happened. Everything is just so foggy..." He said, sounding exhausted, both mentally and physically.

"Eren... what are you gonna do with him? I'm sure that he doesn't know how to travel back, and you can't just leave him on the streets.. Right? You wont kick him out?" Hange said. Armin perked up, getting nervous from hearing that. It was true, Eren had no duty to take care of him, hell, he didn't even have to bring him to his house. It was all volunteer.

"Hange... I dont know" Eren sighed. He knew he couldn't afford to support two people in his small apartment, barely being able to house himself and feed himself every week. Only getting paid minimum wage, having to care for someone else was something he didn't think he could do, but when he locked eyes with Armin, he saw the fear deep within those ocean coloured eyes. Lost, scared, confused, helpless. He couldn't just kick him to the streets, who knows what would happen to him. Eren got up to get himself another cup of coffee.

"He can stay with me while we figure this out..." He murmured, enough for everyone to hear. Armin felt relieved, the calmest he had felt this whole time. Hange smiled.

"Okay! I'll leave you to get Armin comfortable. Call me if you need me!!" Hange said, soon getting up and exiting through the door. Eren sat back down, looking at Armin intently.

"Before I let you stay, we are going to have to make a few things clear..."