𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮↳ 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙯.

07: Decision

(in the year 843, Marley)

In Marley, specifically Liberio, they had a completely different organization from the Honorary Marleyans. Though they were different, they both served the same purpose: to send Warriors off their land and to venture off into Eldia, where then they'd be given the mission to destroy Humanity behind the walls.

Both Marleyans and Eldians alike were able to join the completely separate organization if they didn't like the idea of becoming a titan shifter. Most people went with becoming an Honorary Marleyan because they wanted to make their homeland proud. A small part of the land, a minute portion, went with becoming a Marleyan Mercenary and being sent 2 years before the Honorary Marleyans as a second option; a plan B. If the Honorary Marleyans couldn't do it, it'd be the Mercenary. The Marleyan Mercenary is a person, Marleyan or Eldian, that was trained from the minimum age of 6 and the maximum age of 10. The child is trained ruthlessly, and at the end of each term, which would start with 80-100 children, they'd put those children up to the embodiment of the phrase, "kill or be killed."

Those who made it past the test, which wasn't a lot, were granted another year in the organization. The second year would give the children education, like basic human needs and common knowledge, none of that math stuff. They thought math wouldn't get them anywhere if they're fighting Island Devils. They'd repeat the process over and over again until 11 years had passed, and the generation of children would be picked from the top 15 in the term.

And that's exactly what you went through, from the age of 6 to the age of 17.

Your best friends, Gertrude and Oliver, sat down on the steps next to you. The decision of which Mercenary would be shipped off to Eldia to start their mission.

"Yo, Y/n!" Gertrude chirped as she plopped down on the steps and unwrapped her sandwich. You turned to her with a soft grin on your face before looking down and noticing the tuna sandwich sitting in her hands. "Tuna? Again? Do you have some sort of addiction to fish sandwiches?" You question, cringing at her as she took a bite from the sandwich. Gertrude huffed through her nose and waved her hand dismissively in your face.

"Tuna's good if you cook it," She said with a mouthful of bread and tuna. You rolled your eyes then looked at Oliver as he plopped down on your opposite side. You looked at his lap and saw a container of food sitting there. The ravenette quickly opened up the container to reveal a rather delicious pile of potato salad sitting there. Your eyes glimmered as you looked down at your own lap and saw the pizza sitting on top of your lunch box.

"I definitely prefer salmon." Oliver commented before taking a huge bite of his potato salad. Gertrude narrowed her eyes before glancing at him. "Salmon's overrated!"

"No it's not! Salmon's perfect!" Oliver argued. Gertrude rolled her eyes then made an alligator mouth with her hands. You chuckled for a moment before sighing. The two of them looked at you in confusion. "What're you sighing about now, Y/n?"

"I wonder who they're gonna pick tomorrow, for the ceremony." You answer, still looking down at your pizza. Oliver and Gertrude sat in silence for a moment while the wind blew in everyone's hair. Your uniform, black button ups with black slacks, was marked as a symbol that you're training to be a Mercenary. Everywhere you went, you saw people staring at you, either in horror or awe, at the trained killer walking around town. It chilled you to the spine, to see that people think of you as a killing machine. Which, in a way, you were. At any given moment, if you felt like it, you could kill anyone in Marley and make it look like some random murder, or even suicide. But you weren't like that. You joined the organization because you wanted at least a chance at making your homeland proud, at their decision, at being sent off to Eldia.