Freefall | Eren x OC

Chapter 86: Beware (Eren's POV)

⚠️TW: HEAVY MATURE SUBJECT MATTER, PLZ READ A/N SPECIFIC TW TAGS ⚠️

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All I ever wanted to do was save your life,

I never meant to grab the knife

'The Rumbling' by SiM

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Eren felt complete unease the first time he travelled into the underground city, the entrance hidden in some grimy, graffiti-filled caves in the woods. The city had been built centuries before, for reasons no one is sure of anymore. The city is now home to nothing but crime, poverty, and filth; no wonder Levi left it so many years ago to become a janitor.

Eren walked past rundown homes, countless bars, brothels, and drug dens. No matter how tough he thought he was, he felt completely out of place down there as a coddled trust fund kid. Here he saw real suffering, real pain, unlike any he had seen. But he soon learned that this didn't matter to the people down below, not when it came to him at least. At the end of the day, he was the son of the late great Grisha Jaeger, the only doctor who gave enough of a shit to save this place from the plague sweeping the island. And it didn't hurt that Eren was Paradis' reigning rock idol either.

It only took the first few trips for Eren to get comfortable with this city and now he can wander it like every other resident, in no fear of harm to himself. A few days before his birthday and your wedding, he and Floch wander down here by themselves after receiving a message from Magath to meet him at the pub.

Eren and his mate go inside and are greeted by a busty waitress, holding a tray of beer pints. "Ahh Eren Jaeger!!" she says excitedly, "I'm so glad you got to make it here, follow me to the back!"

Eren and Floch exchange looks before heading to the back where Magath sits with a intimidating bald man with prominent wrinkles and dark circles under his grey eyes. They are both chuckling and enjoying their beers as a man lays on the floor, tied up with rope, and sporting a black eye and bloody nose.

"Ahhh Eren! Floch!" Magath says enthusiastically. "So glad to see you. Lemme introduce you to my friend Keith Shadis... Keith, these are the boys I was telling you about."

"Ahh yes, look at 'em, real young blood," Keith eyes them. "You sure they aren't too green Magath?"

Magath grins and kicks the man on the floor from his seat. "Trust me, they won't be green for long when they find out who this person here is..."

"What? Who is he?" Eren says, eyeing him suspiciously and Keith smiles.

"This here is a man who likes to run his mouth off when he's drinking. He came up to us while we were in here and told us how he used to work for billionaire until he got fired a few weeks ago. Participated in kidnapping an Eldian woman for his boss to marry and knocked out her husband with a rifle, shot at a black cat... ring a bell?"

Eren's eyes flash and he stares down at the man. "This guy? This guy is the guy who knocked me out?" Without hesitation, he kicks the man over so he can get a good look at him.

"Does he look familiar Eren?" Floch says and Eren shakes his head angrily.

"No? You wanna know why? Cause this fucker butted me from behind." With that, Eren kicks the man square in his ribs, and he lets out a shout of pain. "What the fuck's your name?"

The man coughs, a trail of blood running out of his mouth. "Eh—Eh—Eddie..."

"Eddie huh?" Eren says angrily, "You know you're a dead man, right Eddie?"