The Tenth Titan

A Moment of Truths And Comforts

Marco groggily opened his brown eyes and looked at the wooden ceiling above him, trying to remember how he'd gotten there. He sighed, a little frustrated that his memory wasn't as reliable as it used to be. It was a little annoying that he couldn't remember what happened when he knew it was important.

"So, you're finally awake. Welcome back to the world of the living," said an all-too-familiar voice. Marco groaned good naturedly.

"Dejá vu, anyone? You really need to change your lines, Jean." He sat up and saw his friend in the same place as before, minus the fact that the light was now coming from a candle rather than outside." Change your stance while you're at it, too."

Jean let out a soft laugh." You know me, Marco. Always stuck in a rut."

"Yeah. What time is it?" Marco yawned, stretching his arms over his head before dropping them back on the bed with a soft thump.

"Well, you passed out at about noon...it got dark around six....and each candle lasts about an hour and a half....so it's about two o'clock in the morning," said Jean, counting on his fingers dramatically. Marco nodded, then looked at Jean quizzically.

"I passed out?"

".... More like fainted from shock," Jean muttered. Marco blinked, then looked at the blankets covering him, thinking back to the meeting, the questions, Hanji's smile, his steaming hand... Marco's eyes flew open as he remembered the cut on his palm, and he tentatively lifted the hand to inspect it. Not a scratch, let alone a cut. Marco's face fell.

"So.... I'm a Titan...." he whispered. He heard Jean sigh heavily before he started hopping around, pulling off his boots. Then he got up and sat across from his disheartened friend.

"Hey, Marco. Look at me," Jean ordered. Marco slowly lifted his head to meet his friend's golden gaze.

"Now that you know what you are, I can tell you...well, not everything since I don't know, but I could give you a pretty good guess. Do you want to hear it?" Marco nodded wordlessly, and Jean took a deep breath.

"Alright. Here goes; you have been wondering around Wall Maria for at least two months, or from ...whatever happened in Trost. Well, three days ago, the Survey Corps went out on an expedition, and you happened to cross paths with us. First, you bumped into Mikasa, Connie, and Sasha," Jean explained. Marco cocked an eyebrow at him, and he graciously ignored it for his own sake.

"If you want to know the full story, you'll have to ask them, but then you ran across the entire formation. Where you bumped into Reiner, Armin, and I. If I'm going to be honest, I was kinda pissed when you showed up, cause we had Titans gaining on us from the other side. And... We had a run in with another Titan a month before that..." Marco didn't miss the dark, angry look that passed over Jean's face. He wanted to ask about it but it was gone as soon as it came.

"The Titans swarmed all over you, and since you were...well, an Abnormal like her, we came to help you out. And then you saved my life," Jean went on, clapping a hand on Marco's shoulder.

Marco blinked and leaned in closer." I saved you? How?"

"Well, I got grabbed and you punched the damned thing's head off. Then you caught me, stared at me, and you want to know what else? You whistled. You whistled! And you brought the horses back!" 

Marco couldn't help but laugh at Jean's dumbfounded expression." Jean, you look like you're trying figure out why Sasha ate a potato during initiation!" He bent double in attempt to stifle his mirth. Jean gently cuffed the back of Marco's head.

"Shut up. Anyway, you called the horses, then ran off the the Titan forest, where you got in a brawl with Eren." 

Marco's head snapped back up in horror." Did I hurt him?!"