The Cost of Becoming a Warrior

Chapter 1- A selfish deal

The battle to reclaim Trost was almost over, Eren Jaeger, in his newly revealed titan form, was carrying the huge boulder on his shoulders back to plug the huge hole in the wall that had been previously created by the recent reappearance of the Colossal Titan, the same titan that destroyed Wall Maria 3 years prior.

Bertholdt Hoover and Reiner Braun stood watching, but unlike the rest of the scouts, they weren't feeling happy that humanity were finally going to claim their first win against the titans, they were concerned, as it was them that humanity within Trost was fighting, and had almost won against.

"They're gambling everything, for all they know if Eren gets eaten, then their last hope would be gone!" Bertholdt yelled, a clear worried tone in his voice, as he watched the events in front of him go down, knowing that his work was being reversed, all he's trained for since childhood.

"His death would be a problem for us too, if Eren goes down I'll step in with my titan" Reiner almost boasted, hopeful that this would be the lead they came to Paradis for in the first place, and that the last 5 years would finally pay off.

"And if he doesn't? We risked a lot to make that hole, just to let him plug it again?" Bertholdt retorted, getting more and more worried as Eren got closer and closer to plugging the hole that he created with his Colossal Titan, all for his homeland and his sick father back in Marley. However, in their panic, they failed to pay attention to everything around them, including to who may be nearby listening.

"R-Reiner...Bertholdt..? What are you 2 going on about..?" Marco Bodt, who had been stood behind them the whole time listening, confused but not angry in the slightest, not yet anyway. The 2 warriors looked back, horrified as their faces went pale, realising that they hadn't been paying attention to may have been listening in the slightest, they weren't careful enough.

"Bert, you said you made that hole..? What are you talking about?" Marco asked again, just wanting an answer, nothing more and nothing less, as he looked at his comrades, he couldn't pin down what he felt, all he knew is that he was confused.

"M-Marco...it was a joke" Reiner lied, not very convincingly, knowing Marco was too smart to believe that, after all, he was also part of the top 10 graduates of the Survey Corps, and arguably the 2nd smartest in their class, beaten only by Armin Arlert. Their cover, which they had successfully kept under wraps for years at this point, was about to be blown away because of 30 seconds of carelessness, as panic really started to settle in for the warriors now, they had completely fucked it, unless they could act fast, and without being noticed by anyone else.

Marco panicked, this wasn't like Bert and Reiner, but not wanting to make the situation worse, the cadet used his ODM gear to get away, all the while thinking "They weren't lying, if Eren can turn into a titan then surely there's other humans who can become Titan's too, and if Bertholdt said he put the hole in the wall, is he the Colossal Tita-?" His thoughts were soon abruptly interrupted by Reiner tackling him down onto a roof, Bertholdt following closely behind. "W-wait Reiner! What the hell are you doing?! I just wanna talk! I SWEAR!" Marco screamed, fearing for his life and struggling under Reiner's weight as Reiner forced Marco's arms behind his back and held him against the roof as Bertholdt knelt by Marco and glared at him "If you ever fucking tell anyone what you heard I will use my titan and blow up this whole city. You understand?!" Bertholdt screamed at a petrified Marco as he nodded "I swear! I'll forget this ever happened!" He said through his desperate tears as he looked at Bertholdt, who was someone he considered a friend just a few minutes ago but is now knelt in front of him, his eyes full of seemingly nothing but hate and...fear? Marco's eyes softened a bit, seeing not only Bert but also Reiner looking scared, almost as if they didn't want to be doing this. "I'll do anything...please...don't kill me, lets talk about it". Reiner and Bert shared a quick look as Bert sighed and nodded as Reiner sighed and pulled Marco up, still holding his arms behind his back so he couldn't even attempt to get away.

Annie made her way over to the roof after seeing the commotion from the distance "What the fuck is going on? Why was Reiner pinning Marco down?" she said, looking at Marco, who was still being held by Reiner. Reiner sighed "Marco heard us talking about the hole in the wall" He mumbled as Annie's face went white and she glared at Reiner but stayed quiet as she sat down. "I...I have an idea" she said, clearly pissed off at her comrades but staying calm for the most part. Marco looked at her desperately, pleading with his eyes "Please...I'll do anything! Just tell me what's going on and don't kill me!". Annie looked back as her face went even more pale, seeing the pain her comrade was in as she sighed and muttered "Bert... explain everything to him, about where we're from, why we're here. EVERYTHING."

Bertholdt sighed and nodded reluctantly, looking at Marco and taking a deep breath, almost like a completely different Bertholdt to only a few seconds ago, he didn't seem angry anymore, which was a relief. "Marco, we...we are from a nation outside the walls known as Marley... humanity was never wiped out by the titans, in fact, these walls are the only place under threat from them. " He confessed, not even being able to look Marco in the eye as Marco sat listening, speechless as his heart dropped to his knees at this revelation. "We're from Marley... and Marley is split into 2 races, Marleyans and Eldians.. Eldians have the power to turn into Titans...everyone within these walls are eldians, and the titans being sent to kill humans are..eldians, humans turned into titans" Bertholdt mumbled as Marco teared up as reality crushed him. Reiner butted in "In Marley they use Eldians for a programme known as the 'warrior programme' in which they choose eldians to inherit the 9 titans created after the death of the original founder Ymir, Annie is a titan too" he added as Marco looked at a pale Annie, who seemed ashamed that her secret was revealed so quickly. More information was fed to Marco, including information about the founder Ymir, what Eldia did to the world, and the warrior programme that the 3 comrades in front of him were from, each sentence somehow more shocking than the last, as what he grew up knowing about humanity crumbled right before his very eyes. His world spiraled, his entire life, what he'd been taught since he was a kid was a lie.

"We were just doing what we were taught to do, we were raised being taught that you were all 'island devils' and that you were all evil.. after all, your first king did abandon his people all over the world. I only became a warrior to help my dad.." Bertholdt teared up, thinking about his sick father back home, he only wanted to help his father, he never wanted to become a mass murderer, but he needed to, he was promised his father would get the best medical care Marley could offer if he did. Marco started to feel sorry for them, they were just doing what they were told to do, and they were only 12 year old kids who didn't know any better, they just wanted to help their families. It was a feeling the young cadet could sympathise with, he became a scout to try help his struggling family with money, so, what made him so different from Bert Reiner and Annie, really? He looked at them now with a completely different perspective, they weren't evil ruthless killers, they were just kids who wanted to go home to their families.

Annie sighed and sat with him "I'll make you a deal, come to Marley and work with us and we'll spare you. I'll take you myself and you can meet the other warriors, they're all nice enough, they'll take care of you". A betrayed, heartbroken look fell across his face, as he knew that it meant betraying everyone he ever loved, his family, his little brother who looked up to him so much, and most of all, his childhood best friend, Jean, they had known eachother since they were kids and they had done everything together, including joining the 104th. Would he really betray everyone just for his personal safety? "We'll give you a titan." Reiner offered, sensing Marco's understandable hesitance, "We'll get back the Jaw Titan again, or something, and you can have it, we'll make sure of it. Just join the warrior programme.. and train with them, and if we can't find the Jaw...you can have mine." Marco stayed quiet for a while longer, thinking over his decision. before slowly nodding as a tear fell down his cheek "O...ok...I'll do it" He almost whispered, feeling a painful pang in his heart as he knew what this meant for everyone he's ever loved and known, and that he was giving it all up for personal gain, he had never been particularly selfish before this, but, fear does shit to people I suppose. But, hopefully this gamble pays off and he can just play it up for a while and eventually come home, for real. This would only be a temporary thing, a few years at the most, and he would eventually escape and come back home and hide from them, besides, if Marley really was over this so called sea...it shouldn't be too hard to hide from them, right?