As the darkness fades, you find yourself stuck in a new world - one that you know more about than you're willing to admit.
Will you be able to change the tragic fate Paradis is destined to fall victim to?
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As your eyes slowly flutter open, you feel your body buzzing with an unfamiliar feeling, your head spinning in a way it never has before. You feel..strange. On any other day, waking up to all these overwhelming sensations would surely send you spiraling into panic, but instead, you feel calm - eerily so. It's as if you had just woken up from a very deep sleep, a much needed one. Your lips part as you try to say something, but all that comes out is a soft gasp, a sound that seems to startle whoever was in the room with you - though your vision is still too blurry to make out who it is.
What had happened? Your memory feels like a foggy void. You know something must have occurred, but there was a distinct gap in your mind, as if a piece of your memory had been carefully carved out. Maybe you had suffered some type of accident? That would make sense. You remember planning a night out with your friends at a newly opened club in town. You even remember getting ready for it, but after that..nothing. Had you even left the house?
Your vision gradually clears, and as you blink away the lingering haze, your gaze focus on the man hovering over you, his eyes widening with what seemed like pure happiness. Once again, on any other day, waking up to a stranger looming over you would certainly trigger a full-blown panic attack. But somehow, this felt oddly natural. It's as if a part of you recognized this man, even though you're certain you have never seen him before. You let go, allowing your tense muscles to relax against the soft mattress beneath you. But then, a chilling realization hits you.
This isn't your bed, or a bed in general. The wooden bars surrounding you made it clear - you're in a crib. And when you finally look down at your body, you don't see the familiar form you have lived in for almost two decades. Instead, you see the tiny body of a baby - one you seem to be trapped in somehow.
"Honey, she's awake!" The man calls out, his voice bursting with excitement, like a child unwrapping his dream Christmas present after having begged his parents for it the whole year.
You didn't usually swear much, but seriously, what the fuck was going on?
. . .
Days had passed, you believe. It's hard to distinguish time when you're basically strapped to a crib all day. You still weren't sure what was going on. Your memories hadn't come back, and even if they did, you doubt they would explain why you're stuck in a random babies body. You tried going over the events of your last fateful day in your original body over and over again, trying to find something, anything, out of place that would somehow bring some rationality into this dreading situation you found yourself in. But it was useless, there was nothing out of the ordinary, you had gone with your day like usual. You wanted to cry out of frustration, but that was what you had been doing already for the past few days, crying and crying non-stop. Seeing how exhausted the people taking care of you were made you feel guilty, so you refrained from doing so in respect to them.
You busied yourself with staring mindlessly at the ceiling, the only thing you could do in this situation. You were sure you already knew every crevice and bump of the its wood at this point. Now that you think of it, the whole house seemed to be made of wood. It was weird, your caretakers didn't seem to be poor, yet their house looked like something you would see in a medieval fantasy story. Before you could lose yourself in your thoughts, you heard the door of the room you were staying in crack open, the sound of multiple footsteps catching your attention.
"She had been crying non-stop in the last few days, we were starting to get seriously worried. But fortunately she calmed down, it seems everything is okay." You recognized this voice, it belonged to your supposed father figure. The man you had woken up to peering down at you. A hum of acknowledgement followed his words before an unknown man was peering into your crib. This surely would be weird if you weren't a baby, but since you were, you guess you had to get accustomed to it.
"Ah, she looks so sweet. I almost can't believe this little angel tormented you for the past few nights." The man joked, his eyes seeming to soften slightly as his gaze met yours. His words brought back again all the guilt you felt for not allowing your supposed parents to properly sleep with all your crying. But was it really your fault? You woke up stuck in a unknown body and still don't know how it happened. You were terrified (still are) and it's not like you can do much more either way, you can't even speak, you're a baby.
"I can't blame her, it's not like she can do much more." Like he had read your mind, your supposed father chuckles, moving closer to the crib so he could pick you up into his arms. That was another thing you certainly weren't comfortable with - being completely at the mercy of someone else, knowing that if they accidentally dropped you it would be the end. But again, what could you do about it?
"Phillip, you..you know why I'm here, don't you?" Phillip, the name of your supposed father. You felt his arms tense around you, but he quickly went back to cooing you softly, waiting for the man to continue. "The troops..We're losing more and more soldiers every time we leave the walls. And we're not even accomplishing anything with all those sacrifices. We need to know if you will be back."
Soldiers? The Walls? It was your time to tense up. The memory of the last few days spend in your original body may be foggy, but you surely recognize these words. It was impossible not to link them to the manga you had just finished reading, Attack On Titan. What a coincidence, you thought. It was impossible for you to be stuck inside a damn book, right? At least, you believe the universe wouldn't be as cruel as to specifically send you to one of the most violent and horrifying mangas you had ever read. You sure hope so.
"I understand, you know I do. But now I have a child, a family. I can't just think about only myself anymore. If I go back to the survey corps and end up getting eating by a Titan, who will take care of (Y/N)? You know my wife's health is fragile.."
And here goes your hope. You feel the now familiar sensation of dread settling into your stomach. No, No..it must be a joke right? A very elaborated joke. There's no way the Gods above would punish you in such a sadistic way. You tried to push down those feelings, but Phillip must have sensed something was upsetting you, as he started gently swaying you in his arms, whispering a few words of comfort, even if believed you couldn't understand them. It was almost bittersweet, if you hadn't just got the news that you may be stuck in a world that is doomed to perish.
"I'm aware, Phill. You know I would never force you to join again if that's not what you want. But I needed to try, we're starting to lose hope." The man spoke up again, seeming just as exasperated as your supposed father.
"Just give me time, alright? (Y/N) is still so little..before I go back I want to make sure she can at least take care of herself in case something happens."
