The Cost of Becoming a Warrior

Chapter 11- Opening up to the Devils

The 2 soldiers stared at eachother for a while. Neither of them knew what to say, what are you MEANT to say when you're reunited with your childhood best friend after 4 years? Not only that, but when you're now ENEMIES? "M....Marco...?" Jean spoke first, his voice shaky as he held back tears, there was no way this was happening. It was ACTUALLY Marco, they'd found him. Nobody could call him a liar now, he was here in the flesh. Marco gulped "J...Jean...?" Marco choked out, this was the first time he'd truly confronted the truth and acknowledged who he really was. Well, what he used to be. He'd never consider himself one of these, he was a MARLEYAN WARRIOR. He didn't give a shit about where he was born, he was loyal to Marley before he was loyal to the island he was taught to hate. However, he was getting a weird warm feeling in his stomach and throat, he felt like he was about to cry, for what? What was he feeling? Jean burst into tears, he was completely overwhelmed, his childhood best friend was stood in front of him, all the memories came flooding back, from when they were kids up until the last ever real conversation they had- that fight. He also remembered Marco being thrown into, what he now knew was Annie's, mouth and taken away. That was all a lie. Here he was, in the flesh, perfectly fine and alive. His best friend was back, well, kind of. 

Marco stared at the man in front of him as he cried. Marco felt a weird pang in his chest, was he feeling sympathy for this island devil? I mean, they did know eachother and seemed to be very close at one point, best friends even, from what Marco could tell from his memories.  What was he meant to say? Was he meant to say ANYTHING? Marco gulped and slowly and hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder as Jean widened his eyes and looked up at Marco and was surprised at what he saw- Marco's face was full of a strange mix of sympathy and hatred, Jean had never seen anyone with an expression like that before. "Wh...why?? WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME?! I THOUGHT YOU FUCKING DIED!!" Jean snapped, he was beyond pissed off. But also relieved. Marco's face dropped as he felt his heart break. He almost felt bad, did he really mean THIS MUCH to Jean? It isn't like Marco didn't understand- he'd be pissed off too, if he found out his former best friend faked their death. Marco took a deep breath "Jean...as much as I hate you. I'm willing to talk." Jean's eyes lit up a little, he was finally getting to talk to Marco after 5 YEARS. He thought he'd never be able to speak to him again, he was relieved beyond relief. 

Jean took Marco on the airship so they could be safe as they spoke. Marco noticed everyone staring at him obviously shocked, did he know these too? "M...Marco...?" the one with the shaved head almost whispered. Marco looked back at him and instantly recognised him, he was in a few of his memories, yet he couldn't quite remember his name. His face fell a little, why was he feeling sorry for them? They fucking annihilated his home without even a shred of sympathy, he has basically no reason to feel sorry for them. Alongside the one with the shaved head was a blonde man and a woman with short black hair, she was wearing a red scarf too, Marco recognised that red scarf from his memories. He couldn't really recall any names right now, apart from Jean's. They all had the same look as Jean did when he first saw him during the first attack on Marley. They all had this weird mix of relief and hurt on their faces, as did Marco, yet he didn't realise it, nor did he know why. These were the people who flattened his home, he hates them. Just last night he was thinking about how badly he wanted to murder them, this was his chance, he could turn titan and murder them all right now. That would probably be a bad idea, though, he knew that the island devils had stolen the Colossal Titan from Marley, but he didn't know who had it, it could be somebody on this airship and the Colossal easily does far more damage than his Jaw ever could. Jean took a deep breath and put his hands on Marco's shoulders , which made him tense up. He was being touched by a island devil, it was disgusting. "Armin, Mikasa, Connie, you all remember Marco...right? I told you I wasn't being fucking delusional!" Jean sighed, clearly frustrated. They stared at him as Marco stared back, at least he now knew their names, not like he cared enough about them to want to remember their names, his thoughts were interrupted as they all jumped on him crying and hugging him. "WHAT THE HELL?! DON'T TOUCH ME!" Marco growled and tried to get away from them, how dare they touch him? They gasped and gulped and all pulled away, looking hurt. Marco rubbed his head and stood up. "I'm here to talk. Not to be your friend. Don't get any funny ideas alright?" he scowled as they stayed quiet and nodded. 

"Explain yourself. NOW." Jean glared at the warrior who was now sat against the wall of the airship surrounded by the 4 scouts. Marco sighed "I don't remember how I got to Marley, all I remember is that I was born on Paradis...I think..and that I now live here. I'm a Marleyan Warrior. I'm the holder of the Jaw Tita-" Marco was interrupted, not by anyone speaking, but by everyone's faces. They all had wide eyes and looked shocked for some reason, Marco had no idea why, but he assumed it was because they hadn't seen him in years, so he continued. "I don't give a shit that I was born on Paradis. I'm a Marleyan before I'd EVER even THINK about joining with the people who DESTROYED MY HOME." Marco scowled and glared at them.  Jean sniffed as tears brimmed in his eyes again, shit, why was he crying? He knew Marco would be like this, but, he was expecting more. He wanted, no, he NEEDED to know how and WHY Marco BETRAYED not only the scouts but his FAMILY. However, he believed that Marco genuinely didn't know how he ended up there, not right now anyway, he'll hopefully remember in his own time. Marco sighed and continued "So..one of you holds the Colo-" he froze mid sentence as the scout's faces went from sad to confused. His scar and head started hurting again, which meant he was about to remember more. A memory of him seemingly struggling under someone's grip started playing. He recognised a girl who was just stood watching him struggle, it was Annie, the girl who took him to Marley in the first place. He saw another face, the face of the man who was restraining him. It was...Reiner? Yet again, shit just seemed to click into place for Marco. He was about to be killed for finding out about his true identity. He made a deal. Marco didn't come here by choice. He didn't think his reality could shatter anymore, yet it somehow did, and the scouts could see that on his face. Marco looked at the island devils in front of him as he teared up and they looked back with nothing but sympathy for the warrior. "I...I think...I remember why I came here." 

"SO REINER BERTHOLDT AND ANNIE THREATENED TO KILL YOU UNLESS YOU DID THIS?!" Jean screamed, pissed as all hell, but not at Marco this time. Marco stayed quiet as the scouts comforted him, why were they being nice to him? They should hate him, as he hated them, or he did, he couldn't even tell how he felt anymore. God, what the hell had happened to Marco Bodt, the loyal Marleyan soldier and holder of the Jaw Titan? Now he was feeling sympathy for the one's he had sworn to hate. Jean kept ranting on and on, but Marco wasn't really paying attention anymore, he was wrapped up in his own inner conflict, this was harder on him than any war could be at this point. It was absolute bullshit, Marco had no clue who he actually was at this point, he knew he was a warrior, but, at the end of the day, he was one of the scum he was taught to hate, too.