In Another Life (EreJean)

two

Chapter summary: Jean and Eren's rivalry reaches a breaking point.

Jean struggles to keep his eyes open. Premier Zachary's opening remarks never hold his attention, but today's feel overwhelmingly tedious. There may be important details sprinkled within his monologue of big words and obscure military phrases, but Jean's too tired to listen for them.

He didn't sleep at all. Redrawing his sketch of the ocean stole his hours until the sun came up. The final product sits on the wooden desk that occupies him and two of his comrades, Connie Springer and Sasha Braus. During these meetings, Jean usually sits in the middle to prevent his friends' stupidity and carelessness from rubbing off on each other. Today, he's in the corner seat so Connie can't peek at his drawing.

Jean perks up once the Premier finishes speaking. The entire address is probably two minutes max, yet it drags as if an hour has passed.

The rest of the courtroom is alert. Like most meetings Jean's invited to, all three military branches are present. Being surrounded by several important people should make Jean feel important too. Instead, he shrinks in his chair and hovers his arms over his artwork.

His eyes keep drifting toward the left side of the room, the side that's occupied by the Military Police Brigade. The longer he stares, the more he wonders how he could've been so naive to idolize them in his younger years. Cowards, the lot of them. It must be nice to live in the comfy quarters of the interior, sleeping every night in comfortable beds, tuning out the destruction and heartache that falls on the shoulders of those brave enough to do the right thing.

Then again, if Marco survived the Battle of Trost, he and Jean would be sitting with the Military Police right now, looking as arrogant as the rest of them. Jean was right to join the Survey Corps. It forced him to mature, wise up, and push past any physical limitations he set for himself. But would he trade away that development if it meant having Marco back? Without a doubt.

Premier Zachary opens the floor to Hange, the commander of the Survey Corps. Hange, sitting in the front row with Captain Levi, shoots out of their chair like a bat from a cave and immediately dives into the primary reason for today's meeting.

"Three days ago," they say, "the Scout Regiment embarked on our mission to see what is beyond Wall Maria. During our journey, we came across a single titan. Since it posed no threat, its life was spared. Aside from that one encounter, it appears our military has eradicated all pure titans outside the walls."

Even though Jean experienced this discovery alongside his comrades, it still doesn't feel real. He spent three years as a cadet learning how to slay titans. Since graduation, he's come across more titans than people. And of the 270 soldiers that were around when Jean first joined the Scouts, only nine are still alive.

The bloodshed of his comrades casts invisible scars along every inch of Jean's skin. But with the Scouts killing the hundreds of titans outside the walls, the scars feel less like a burden and more like a promise. Jean's not naive to the fact that he can still die at any moment. Truthfully, it terrifies him. But a surge of hope dominates any of his fears. For the first time since losing Marco, since losing everyone, Jean believes that maybe their deaths weren't for nothing.

"Upon heading westbound," Hange continues, "we reached as far as our land can go. At the edge, we came across a border wall approximately thirty meters high. It is presumed this is where Eldians are turned into titans by the same group responsible for imprisoning our ancestors on this island. Eren Jaeger recognized it from his father's memories, a side effect of inheriting his Attack Titan."

Jean grits his teeth, hard enough to hurt. After what transpired in the early hours of the morning, Eren is the last person Jean wants to see or hear about.