The Return of Marco Bodt (Titan!Marco)

Chapter 7

A month later the trainees gathered around three large square-shaped fire pits. This wasn't your average hangout with friends in front of a fire. This was the cremation of the soldiers who had lost their lives in battle. Jean stood next to Bertholdt and stared into the flames. The smell of burning wood and flesh filled the air while smoke hid the night sky from view. Bertholdt stared into the fire a few tears falling down his face. He quickly wiped them away not wanting to show weakness.

Jean knew that somewhere in one of those fire pits Marco was being burned into ashes. Thomas's body had never been found. Jean looked at the ground which was littered with ashes that had been blown out of the fire. It sickened him that he was standing and walking through what used to be his friends. Jean scooped up a handful of ashes and held them up to his face. He didn't know who they belonged to but that didn't matter to him. They had all died heroically and they all deserve to be mourned the same. Jean looked up at Bertholdt who was in the middle of wiping away stray tears.

"Have you decided what regiment you want to go into? Because I have," Jean said, the hand holding the ashes shaking uncontrollably as tears spilled down his face. He wouldn't let anyone else meet the same fate that Marco had. Not as long as he had breath in his body.

Jean had joined the Survey Corps a year later even though he had originally planned to join the Military Police to stay as far away from the titans as possible. Now he had joined a regiment where he would constantly be around titans and the survival rate for soldiers was 10%. It wasn't even a month since he enlisted when he heard talks about an expedition outside the walls.

"Erwin, are you sure this will work?" A short girl with orangish hair asked.

"We've used this strategy before Petra. Why are you doubting it now?" A man with blond hair and huge eyebrows who Jean assumed was Erwin answered.

"Maybe we can capture a titan or two out there!" A brown-haired woman cried, practically drooling.

"Squad leader calm down... It's not our goal to capture any titans..." A brown-haired man replied nervously. "O-Okay maybe we will be able to capture some titans," He added after receiving a death glare from the woman.

Jean went to join up with other members of the regiment that had graduated with him. He felt nervous about going outside the walls. The lingering possibility of death didn't make him feel any better.