Archive of Our Own

"What do you think that Doll's made of?"

It became the most common question Armin was hearing, and quite frankly? He was as interested in the answer as anybody. 

"Maybe they're poisonous? With skin made of something like antimonite  or--"

"Why would he lace a Doll's skin with minerals? Did you see their face? It looked so soft; It couldn't be made of minerals, it would be something like, like hogweed and machineel."

"Actually, it's probably a mix of both." Armin commented, looking through the crowd to see if Jean was still in the room. "They are covered head to toe...." There had to be a reason. 

"It's clearly to hide all the marks! Eren's never been very clean with any of his work. It must be made of a variety of different parts all cut up and smashed together!" The way the guest laughed had Armin uneasy, mostly for the fact that they weren't entirely wrong.

"Oooh, that's a good theory. Did you see that Doll's face up close yet...? Gorgeous! My guess is there are nymph parts in there somewhere."

"Nymph parts?! Why, because its eyes are green?"

"Well I think if it's that cold then it must have chunks of a volcanic fault giant. Eren has one of those dead things lying around the estate, doesn't he?"

"Don't you think it'd be taller if that were true? Now, with those gloves? I'm thinking it must be part spirit, trapped in such a messy robe of binding threads. Trust me, I've seen Eren sew and that explains everyth--"

 "Let go of me!"

A loud, light chime of a crash was then heard. Everyone ran around the house to investigate the noise,  and those who'd been in the room where it happened were shocked to look down at the debris around their feet.

"Glass." Armin whispered, leaning down to inspect what few shards had made their way towards him.

Eren's new Doll, Jean, had struggled and fell down a flight of stairs, and shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.

"What... did I say?" The level, stern voice of Eren barked through the foyer where everyone was now cramped into. 

Nobody said a word, and why would they? How could they? 

Jean couldn't have been the incredible discovery Eren brought back with him from the ocean, could it? Had their body concealed something more, and if so, why encase it in glass- Something so breakable. Was it the robe, and was Jean meant to protect it somehow? 

"Nobody move. Nobody leaves until I have every single piece of Jean picked up and brought to me. Does anybody have a problem with that!?" Eren snapped his fingers, the sound of locks on windows and doors connecting all throughout the building, echoing through to the hall. 

Armin reached down, not thinking about the consequences, and pinched up a tiny fragment of glass, of Jean, no bigger than a pea. 

"Ah!" The piece had cut him, and he hadn't meant to, but... he dropped it.

Everyone now stared at him, including Eren. But that wasn't what Armin cared about. No, not even with the furious glare that Eren had burned into him.

All Armin could do was stare at the bright red dot on the floor, mind racing. 

Glass.

Why glass?

While Connie, the poor gentleman who'd caused the initial accident was not invited back to Eren's estate, Armin had been forgiven for his innocent crime. Today was just a luncheon, a way for Eren to formally apologize for the mysterious lack of prepared food at the last party.

Armin hadn't gotten up the courage to question Eren as to why his new Doll was made of something so... plainly put: Stupid. 

Glass as a material had only one benefit; Its clarity. But with Jean covered entirely in robes, and their face entirely opaque? That couldn't be the benefit of such a creature, regardless of its purpose. 

As Armin caught a glimpse of Jean again, this time much closer, he thought now was the time. Eren was... strange, and could be volatile. They weren't particularly close, and so if Armin was going to get an answer out of someone, Jean, while a stranger, seemed like the safer bet.

"Hello!" Armin greeted, holding out his hand on instinct. 

Jean stopped, looking to him with a blank expression on their face. They looked down at Armin's outstretched hand, and they smiled.

"I can't shake your hand."

Armin blinked, retracting his hand lightning fast. It dawned on him that, if someone were to damage Jean again and it had been Armin who'd done the deed? Ostracism would surely follow. 

"I-I'm so sorry!" He sputtered, folding his hands behind his back.

"Everyone does it," Jean... chuckled. "I'm Jean, it's nice to meet you...?"

"Armin! I'm Armin. Sorry, sorry. You... uhm, do you mind if I ask.... A-actually? Never mind, it's none of my business really." This was going nowhere fast.

"Oh... okay. Well, it was nice talking to you, Armin." Jean slowly turned and walked away.

Realization suddenly struck Armin as he watched the hooded mystery disappear into the crowd. There was one other purpose for a glass Doll; Beauty.

Armin couldn't lie, he was a little excited to visit Eren's estate again. It'd been two months now since the first party in celebration of Eren's latest return. Maybe this time he'd be brave enough to get some answers.

"When do you think you'll leave for your next expedition?"

"No no, tell us where you're going!"

"Is the bottom of the ocean really so barren? You must go again some time. If anyone can find something down there, it's you!"

Everyone had accepted Eren's official report on what he'd found during his time in the darkest recesses of The Emerald Sea; That there was absolutely nothing there. The next mystery was underway, with Jean's existence a bore to society.

Jean had never made a single public appearance. The papers had only heard of them through party goers, and while many a rumor had sprouted, none were all that interesting. What was there to talk about other than the fact that, apparently, Jean was very fragile and was constantly breaking at every other party?

Armin, however, was still quite interested in this himself. He'd never been that interested in the magic of Dolls, but as a history buff he knew their impact on society very well. And Jean just didn't add up. They made no sense in any realm of possibilities! Which was very much Eren's style, but even he seemed to have a method to his madness. So why not this time?

"Why glass?" Armin dared ask, standing directly behind the green hooded figure he knew was Jean.

"Hmm?" Jean turned around, a platter of champagne glasses firmly grasped within their hands.

"Sorry," Armin huffed out a small laugh, "I wanted to ask you last time I was here, but it just didn't feel right for a first meeting. I-I hope it's not still too forward!"

Jean only blinked, head shifting to the side, "I'm... sorry, do I know you?"

Armin was the one to stare back blankly now.

"I'm Jean, it's nice to me-- Hey, are you alright? Why are you frowning?"

Or not so blank stare.

"What?" Armin brought his hand up to his mouth, as if it would hide his disappointment.

"Do you really... not remember me?" Maybe he'd been too rude before, and Jean had done their best to forget about him.

"No, I really don't. I'm sorry, remind me?"

Armin lowered his hand slowly, keeping it close to his chest. A small smile was forced to his face, an attempt to revitalize the mood.

"I'm Arm--"
"Oof!"

Jean was shoved forward, the platter of drinks crashing into Armin not soon before Jean did the same. 

The two of them collapsed to the floor, as Armin couldn't withstand such a weight without warning. That, and coupled with the broken glasses shredding at his exposed hand? There was nothing he could do.

"Owwh!" Armin winced, arms shaking at the pain.

Jean, who hadn't completely shattered this time, was helpless. One arm had been broken to pieces, while the other was safe and sound, cushioned by Armin's body. Their legs, however,  must have disconnected at the knees.

A worried frown painted Jean's face, which now that it was so close to Armin's? It was so... realistic. So lifelike. Surely it was a glamour, as the small pieces that made up Jean's body did not match up with the delicate taupe that colorized their face. That was the only explanation for it, though the genuine discomfort Jean's face bore was something... strange. 

"Oh my goodness, I'm so-- oh no. I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry!" A woman Armin didn't recognize, and presumably the cause of this disaster, fretted with tears in her eyes.

With the snap of fingers, and the clicking of locks, Armin knew where this was headed. 

"I... I'm sorry I didn't catch you...." Armin mumbled at the worried Doll, the worry seeming contagious at this point. 

One of Eren's other Dolls wheeled in a large cart, big enough to fit most of Jean's disjointed body. 

Armin winced again as Jean was pulled off of him, and he nearly fell backward all the way to the tile as the pain in his injured wrist intensified. 

"What's your name?" 

Armin bit down on his lip, muffling the whimpers he so desperately wanted to let out. His wrist was cut up pretty bad. The worst of it was, there were some small shards of glass still lodged in his flesh. The champagne certainly didn't help with the pain, either.

"Who are you!?" Jean shouted louder this time, getting Armin's attention successfully.

"A-Armin...." He stuttered out, eyes narrowed from the pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Jean insisted as they were carted away.

Eren stood over Armin now, frowning, "You're... gonna have to stay the night, I hope you know." 

"What...? Why?" Every word was a struggle to get out. Armin didn't deal with pain very well, and between the roughness of the fall and the stinging, searing pain in his wrist was a massive distraction.

"I think," Eren sighed, crouching down to inspect the wound. "Some of Jean might've gotten into you. They just love making you bleed, huh?"

Armin would have laughed. If he'd gotten the joke, or even the reference to the first time he'd met Jean.

Later, Armin would think. And when Armin thought, he would rub his perfectly healed hand. The phantom pain would make him picture the incident all over again, and wonder;

Why glass?

Another visit to Eren's estate, another chance to make a fool out of himself! Or at least, that's what it was starting to feel like. Armin wished he'd asked how Jean was last time, before he left the next morning. But, well, he'd been too intimidated to. 

Jean must have been very important to Eren, more so than the rest of his Dolls for some reason. Yet, Eren chose to make such an important creature out of something so fragile and hard to shape. Glass would be more difficult to manipulate than wood, or stone, though much easier than the more finicky practice of stitching different magical elements together. 

Eren was accomplished, but not an artist. He was no visionary. In all honesty, to the magical academic society? Most of his discoveries had been chalked up to sheer luck, stupidity, and an insane amount of funds. There was no reason why Eren couldn't attempt fashioning a more complex Doll, yet he went with glass!

Something about Jean was special. Why else would Eren continue to recreate them time after time, locking tens of guests in his estate just to ensure he gathered every piece of the poor Doll?

While Armin made the expected rounds chatting away his fellow guests, he looked for Jean's green robe constantly, and avoided Eren at every turn. If Eren was hiding something, he could always magically instill silence in Jean within an instant, should Armin question Eren too harshly. 

Maybe, if a spell of silence hadn't been engraved into the Doll's core already, Armin could coax the mystery out of Jean today once and for all.

Unfortunately, Armin's plans for the day had come to an abrupt stop as the all too familiar, chiming clang of glass shattering was heard from above.

Everyone stopped, of course. But only Armin's choked silence truly conveyed the horror of what they all knew.

Wide eyed, he looked around for the nearest stair case, and bolted towards it once spotted. This couldn't be happening again, could it? Perhaps it was just a stone sculpture, or some other, less breakable Doll tripping with refreshments in hand!?

Someone else had just turned around a corner as Armin entered the study. On the the dark soapstone tile, in front of one of the large windows, was a trembling, shaking green mass. It was Jean, it had to be. And someone had hurt them again.

Running over and nearly slipping on the polished stone, Armin dropped to his knees to assess the damage.

"Jean!? Who did this to you...? Are you alright?"

The Doll looked up, face slowly beginning to crack-- An entire piece chipped off, crashing onto the floor loudly. "Who... who are you?"

Mouth hanging open in confusion, Armin reached up, then pulled back his arm. Jean was going to break again, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

"I'm Armin... we've met before. Why don't you... remember?" Dolls didn't lose their memory when they were damaged and reformed. Not unless their memory was wiped intentionally.

Jean opened their mouth again, only for more of their face to crack and fall off. "I don't know you."

Armin raised his hand to gently touch Jean's chin, as if to keep them from breaking. He closed his eyes and thought of a quick, elegant combination of runes he was all too familiar with. 

The room went dim, dark, almost like a fog had suddenly taken over. Jean looked around, cracked eyes darting about in confusion. 

"What... what'd you do to this place?" There was an underlying, aggressive growl to their voice. 

Armin chose to ignore it, breathing heavily as he concentrated on a dozen things at once. "Time... time's stopped but it's not forever. I use it for-- Never mind what it's for! If you want this to stop happening, you, you have to tell Eren to make you out of something, anything else. This will keep happening otherwise, and I know you're a Doll but--"

"I'm not a doll." Jean stressed, the one eyebrow they had left angled upward with anxiety. There was a realization in their eyes, like maybe they understood what this was really about.

Armin heaved, brain cluttered and unfocused now by yet another set of questions. Who broke Jean again, and why?

"What...? Wait, wait, what is it that.... did Eren find at the bottom of the ocean?"

Jean scoffed, "He found me!" 

Too much.

Armin couldn't concentrate any longer, and the fog vanished, the room brightened, and Jean...? Jean finished cracking, collapsing... falling apart.

"The bottom of the ocean...." Armin panted, scanning the mess of broken glass before him. It was beautiful in a way, the sun shining and reflecting through and bouncing off the varying sized chunks of the mystery not-Doll. The green of their robe added a slight color to the whole thing, making it seem almost... innocent. Art, and not a tragedy.

What was at the bottom of the ocean? Rocks. Micro-lifeforms. Restless spirits...? 

But no, Armin knew there were a thousand better ways to trap the dead. No, no this was something else. It was right in front of him! On the tip of his very tongue if he could just concentrate!

"What is going on-- Armin, you did this?" Eren ran into the study, then carelessly walked through his "Doll's" remains to confront Armin.

He looked up, shaking his head gently. "Nn--.... I wouldn't..." But Eren was already turning, walking away with the snap of his fingers.

The rising chatter and commotion coming from below was almost enough to drive Armin crazy. As he lowered his gaze, though, he noticed footprints made in between the larger shards of Jean. Eren's boots leaving designs in the blanket of the smallest little pieces.

Armin's eyes widened, and he practically slammed his hands down into the mess to feel around it for himself. He'd cut himself, and winced as he did so, but he'd made the discovery he was looking for. There was a powdery feeling to the smallest pieces, as glass did sometimes when it broke to this magnitude.

"Sand...." 

Jean was glass, but not made of glass. They were found at the bottom of the ocean, as sand.

After Eren had reviewed a surveillance spell, he'd forgiven Armin for his previous accusation. Now was the messy business of cleanup, and of course healing. For both him, and Jean.

Quiet, and still consumed in his own thoughts, Armin hadn't given Eren much for conversation. Only auto-piloted, four word responses at most. 

"Armin."

"...Armin?"

"Armin."

"Hm? What? What. I'm here, what?" Armin looked up, surprised to see the concern in Eren's eyes. 

"I asked why you ran up to check on Jean like that.... I saw it when I cast the spell. You knew what happened, didn't you? Why'd you run up there so fast?" Eren explained, softness quickly fading from his face.

Armin blinked, giving a polite, harmless shrug. "I don't know much about glass Dolls... and yours," He looked up at the one eye he could see, glaring. "Yours keeps breaking. And they don't seem to remember anything."

Eren's face didn't change, though he did give a quick nod. "They're my first Doll made from glass."

"You know, it's cruel making a Doll out of glass." Armin wasn't wrong. He may not have been an expert on Dolls, but purposefully making them easy to dispose of, never letting them interact with others physically, and erasing their memory constantly just wasn't right. Only a very small sub section of society still treated Dolls in such a way. It left a souring pit in his stomach.

Eren shrugged, either not understanding or not caring about the underlying message. "Jean's only broken a few times by my hand. It was in the early stages of their... stay with me. I never hurt them on purpose. My guests on the other hand... so careless!"

His terminology had Armin suspicious. Eren was no poet, but something about his choice of words felt to Armin like... like he too was trying to imply something other than what was strictly said. 

As tempting as it was to test the waters further, in the event that whatever Eren was hiding wasn't immoral and cruel, Armin didn't push his luck. 

"Can I..." He looked down, the hint of a blush threatening his cheeks. "Come back, when Jean's... better?" Was that even the right word for it? Jean wasn't sick, and they weren't dead, nor were they hurt, so? What was Armin to consider their condition?

Eren did seem shocked at this however, one eyebrow cocked, "Sure? I'm having a garden party for Mikasa's faerie studies next week. I wasn't going to invite you, but you can come. Just," A sigh. "Do not have another debate with her on the hundred-year war. This'll be a light show, not a lecture on the dangers of fae-hunting."

Armin nodded politely, and took it as his opportunity to leave. He didn't mention the fact that, while Eren had left earlier to interrogate the guests and lock up the building...? Armin had scooped a good handful of Jean's dustier remains into his pocket. 

Now begged the next question: What was Jean really?

Each day of waiting had felt like pure agony! Armin would occasionally sneak a peak at the vial of glass he now had on his person at all times. Somewhere within it were the answers to a thousand questions, and the only thing stopping him from getting to them was Jean. 

Well, more likely it was Eren. But Armin just didn't trust him enough, at least not yet. And he didn't dare contact one of his colleagues to inspect the glass, either. If Eren was keeping Jean's true nature a secret, then they must have been something truly incredible. 

The law never mattered to Eren, and he'd broken it countless times for nameless reasons. Eren did whatever he pleased, and if it didn't garner so many fascinating magical discoveries? The world order probably would have persecuted him for his pastimes a long time ago.

Nevertheless, Armin went out of his way not to make it obvious that he was looking forward to seeing Jean again. Though, and he did not realize this, Armin's face lit up any time he got a glimpse of the signature green outfit in the crowd. Especially considering the amount of people who had arrived tonight!

Mikasa's specialty with fae creatures was like nothing anyone had ever seen before, as if she were one of them herself. Some had even whispered in secret that she herself had been captured by them as a child, and only now was able to tell the world about them.

Of course, all that was very interesting, but not as much as Jean was to Armin. It was almost anger inducing, how almost everyone had given up on the mystery of Jean so quickly. Did no one see how special they were? One day, Armin secretly vowed: People would know of Eren's greatest, most well-kept secret of a discovery. 

Dusk set upon them far slower than Armin would have liked, but it gave him the distraction necessary to slip away and try to convince Jean to go somewhere with him, privately. Mikasa was holding her main event, fit with a lovely magical performance by herself and some fae, out in the night sky. 

Jean wasn't allowed outside. It was perfect!

Skirting around, and occasionally poking through the moving crowd, Armin was beginning to lose hope that Jean was even around anymore. Perhaps they'd taken their leave once they'd heard the garden doors were being opened?

"Excuse me...." Armin felt a tap on his shoulder. 

"Hm...? Oh!" Surprised, but certainly overjoyed, Armin turned to see Jean standing behind him. They offered him a glass of champagne, "I haven't seen you with a glass all evening, and that's just no fun." A smile tugged at the side of their mouth.

The sight made Armin want to smile right back, but he could sense there was no recognition coming from Jean. They were just... doing their duty.

"Actually," Armin spoke quietly, and soft. "Could you... come with me? Upstairs?" It was the only place he figured they'd be alone. 

Jean blinked, but nodded. "Yes. I can't go outside, unfortunately. I won't get to meet... the faeries." They frowned, eyes darting past Armin, out at the diminishing crowd. 

"Oh, and thank you." Armin grabbed a champagne flute out of respect, and quickly downed it. The taste made him want to vomit, as he wasn't a big fan of alcohol to begin with. The satisfaction on Jean's face, however, made it a worthy sacrifice.

"I'm Jean, by the way. And you are?"

Armin kept a good distance between them as they wandered off, not wanting to be the cause of an accident. "We've actually met before. A few times. Heh." 

"...Have we?" Jean sounded intrigued.

Once they were safely on the second floor, and in a perfect spot to watch the inevitable light show outside, Armin gestured for them to sit down. No falling over and shattering into a trillion pieces that way.

"We really have met before, h-here. I think this... belongs to you?" Armin pulled the vial from his pocket, gently opening the cork.

Jean's face twisted with anger, "You stole this from me!?"

Armin gasped, quickly offering it more fervently. "N-no! Not exactly, I... I don't know! I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, honest! I don't know what I was--"

Jean snatched the vial away, staring at it with crossed eyebrows. "You have no idea...! How, how important these are to me." 

"I..." A lump formed in Armin's throat. "I... hurt you, didn't I?" He whispered, determination alone keeping the burning in his eyes at bay. This clearly was not his pain to feel, it was Jean's. 

They moved to pour the pieces out onto their hand, but quickly stopped. "Hold this," They offered the vial back to Armin, who quickly obeyed in silence. 

Slowly, and very carefully, as if they'd never done it before, Jean pulled a glove off. They'd revealed the same gentle taupe skin coloring as was on their face, their palm swirling with different lines that were clearly meant to mimic the human palm. Yet, there was something different about them... awfully artistic, even. Deliberate.

This was not Eren's work.

With their gloved hand, Jean took the vial back without a word, and slowly poured it out onto their exposed palm. Jean gasped, breathed out a short breath, and inhaled again sharply as the dust and chipped pieces collected together in a beautiful, sparkling little pile. 

Obviously, it didn't harm them to hold it. And, as they slowly closed their fingers around the remains, Jean's eyes closed, a peaceful expression took over their face. They sighed gently as they began massaging their own fingers into it. 

Armin wasn't entirely sure what he was watching, and the guilt that had risen in him was only somewhat relieved. 

"I... I need these. I need, this. But," Jean opened their eyes, turning to face Armin once more. "I'm... glad you took them, when you did, Armin."

Eyes narrowing, only to widen once more, Armin gasped. "You...! You remember?" He hadn't reintroduced himself yet tonight. 

Jean sighed, shaking their head. "Barely. I can... see some of it, with these. Just, whew, feeling them helps.... But...."  Dread sunk into Jean's face, and Armin could feel the guilt ramping back up.

"Eren will have to... put these back in."

Armin was beginning to understand, or at least formulate a new theory. Why Eren locked down the entire estate each time Jean broke, making Armin stay behind to remove any pieces of glass that might've been stuck in him, having Jean covered almost entirely with thick, heavy robes.

It was all to keep Jean exactly the same, somehow. Every piece needing to be put in its place. Though it still didn't quite... click. 

"So these are... conveniently, your memories?" Armin murmured, confused as ever. 

Jean chuckled, shaking their head. "Oh, no. No that's not really it. Actually, I'm really not supposed to... say." Suddenly, their face was worry stricken. "You can't tell anyone about this! H-have you already!?"

Armin quickly shook his head back, "No, of course not! I thought... I thought Eren was doing something horrible to you, since he said you were his Doll! But... you're not a Doll. So, I don't.... It's why I took some of you with me last time. To... try and figure things out."

Jean visibly relaxed, "Eren... Eren's a strange human. But he's never done anything to hurt me. He's keeping me a secret, after all. I'm... actually safer this way."

More. Questions.

Armin couldn't be mad though, not when he was getting so many answers. If Eren wasn't hurting them, then... that's what really mattered. "I won't tell anyone, I promise." He smiled for assurance, glancing down at the massive gathering of people outside. Not a soul was looking back at them, of course. Their eyes were all trained on the faerie's performance.

"Oh... could you do me a favor?"

Jean had a frown on their face now, as Armin looked back at them. 

"Sure...? Of course." What was he going to say? No? After he'd stolen their remains on a whim?

"I won't... remember this, after Eren gives these back to me. Could you maybe...." Jean looked out the window, staring at the bright and colorful magic of the faeries. "I don't know much about human magic-- Is there any way I can, I don't know, see this again, later? Eren never does that kind of magic." They nodded their head forward, gesturing towards the performance.

Armin was stunned, honored, that someone would ask him to try capturing a recording with magic. Sure, Jean didn't understand what they were asking for, and likely didn't understand a thing about the varieties of magic that came with what was essentially slipping time into a bottle, but....

This was exactly the kind of magic Armin lived for. 

"Yeah! Yeah no, I can definitely do that!" Armin giggled, and chewed on the sides of his mouth to try killing his giddy smile. Armin was never very popular, and this type of magic was a tricky, intimate task.

Jean, oblivious to the ordeal, glanced back at him. "Do we have to do anything special...?"

Armin looked outside, blushing reluctantly no matter how hard he wiggled his facial muscles in protest. "Y-yeah, just.. hold my hand, and look at whatever you want to remember." In his other hand, he pulled a small lapis stone from his deep pockets. This would be Jean's to keep, to look back on everything they'd see with the help of a little magic- Should Eren allow it.

Wordlessly, Jean used their teeth to pull off the other glove, and placed their hand atop Armin's. The sensation wasn't what Armin had imaged it would be. Jean's skin was smooth and cool, just like glass. Yet at the same time, it had the same imperfections of something created by nature.

This type of focus was usually harder to achieve, but Armin let it come to him so naturally; Picturing the runes in his mind, over and over, over and over, over and over....

Quietly, without so much as another word, the two of them sat together that night, watching the beautiful lights of the faeries and the moons dance together. Until it had finally ended, of course, and Jean insisted they part ways before Eren learned of what Armin had done.

Armin left Jean with the lapis stone, which unbeknownst to him, contained not just the faeries' performance, but a fair amount of the blonde himself, too.