Chapter Text
A scream pierced through the night, slicing through the sheer peace blanket that had settled over Milestone Park, orphanage and school for magical beings. Lights flicked on and footsteps echoed in the hall, running towards the source of the scream.
The headmaster and professors entered the room of one magical being in particular, Eren Jaeger, whose scream had been recently silenced, by him groaning in pain.
“What’s the matter?”
“What happened?”
“Eren, are you okay?”
“It hurts,” Eren groaned.
“What does?” Erwin, the headmaster asked.
“My back!” Eren gasped. One of the professors, a healer, pulled back the blankets only to notice the sheets soaked in blood. They turned Eren on his stomach, inspecting his back with wide eyes and frightened faces.
“Eren, you’re not going to like this,” Erwin said. “You’ve been marked.”
“Fucking goddammit,” Eren growled, fisting his hands in the sheets as the healer placed the palms of her hands on his back, healing the fresh wounds of the mark.
--
“Dude, what happened?” Armin asked, playfully punching Eren’s arm as he sat down at the desk next to his.
“I got marked by someone,” Eren said.
“What?” Armin’s eyes widened. “Bro, you need to get it checked out!”
“I know,” Eren slightly shook his head. “Rico’s out of state right now. Erwin called her last night and she’s literally on her way right now.”
“Let me see it!” Armin tugged on Eren’s shoulder. Eren sighed and rolled his eyes, turning and lifting his shirt so Armin could see his whole back. The mark took up the whole back, consisting of a white wing overlapping with a blue wing. “Dude.”
“Yeah, it hurt like shit,” Eren said, tugging his shirt back down.
“Jaeger!” Jean walked into the classroom, sitting down backwards in the chair in front of Eren. “Heard you scream like a girl last night!”
“You’d scream like a girl if you’d felt it,” Eren mumbled, tousling Jean’s messy mohawk.
“Although usually people only feel a pinprick when getting marked,” Armin said, resting his elbows on the table. “Yours must have been done by someone who wasn’t magical.”
“Well then,” Jean raised a brow. “They must seriously know their stuff.”
“Why me,” Eren rubbed a hand over his face. “What did I do?”
“It’s not something you did, it’s something you have to do,” a female voice said. Eren felt a hand on his back. He jerked, twisting around to find Sasha with her hand outstretched. “Oh, sorry! I heard you got marked and I wanted to see!”
“Wait--you said it’s something Eren has to do?” Armin asked. “What is it?”
“I dunno,” Sasha shrugged. “That’s all I got. I’m not a professional like Rico yet.”
“Well, looks like you’ll be waiting till she gets here anyway,” Jean smirked.
“Wait, lemme see the mark,” Sasha said. “It might trigger something.” Eren sighed and lifted his shirt. “Wings of Freedom…”
“Wings of Freedom?” Jean asked. “What the fuck is that?”
“I don’t know,” Sasha furrowed her brow. “Ugh, I wish I was fully trained already. I think it has something to do with the past.”
“Ooh! Is that Eren’s mark!” Connie sauntered over to the small group. “Lemme see.” he placed a hand on the mark. “Alright, so...all I’ve got is probably what you’ve already heard.”
“You need to hurry up and get trained already,” Eren said.
“Yeah yeah,” Connie rolled his eyes. “Rico was gone, dude. What’d you expect us to do.”
“Well now she’s coming back,” Armin said.
“Fuckin’ finally!” Connie exclaimed. He took a seat behind Armin next to Sasha. “Does she even know that she left us at a grade four seeker training?! We’re like, the most behind out of all of us.”
“I’m just surprised that she actually is coming back,” Sasha said. “If her ‘business’ took nine years, you would have thought it’d take longer for her to come back.”
“Well, at least she is coming back,” Eren mumbled, running a hand through his short brown hair.
“True,” Armin nodded.
“Alright, class! In your seats!” Shadis called, clapping his hands to gain his students’ attention.
“Jaeger,” Jean whispered. “Soccer, after school, you game?”
“Of course, bro!” Eren playfully smacked Jean on the chest as he turned around in his seat.
“We’ve got a new student today, guys,” Shadis said, gesturing to a freckled teen who nervously stood in front of the class of ten students. “Please welcome him.”
“Hey, I’m Marco Bodt,” he said.
“Cool,” Connie smiled, waving.
“He’s cute,” Eren said, making Marco blush bright red.
“I agree,” Jean nodded. “The freckles add to the cuteness factor.”
“You guys are too gay,” Armin rolled his eyes at them.
“Can’t help it,” Eren pouted, leaning forward to wrap his arms around Jean. “Girls have cooties.”
“Hey!” Ymir stood from the other side of the classroom. “I take offense at that.”
“Well you’re a girl,” Jean shrugged. “You’re allowed to like girls.” He lifted an arm to cup the back of Eren’s neck and card his fingers through the short, soft brown locks. Ymir huffed and sat down.
“Alright, anyway,” Shadis said. “Sit anywhere and we’ll go around saying our names and positions.”
“Top!” Jean smirked.
“I thought I was the top!” Eren pouted.
“Oh my god,” Armin groaned. “Excuse the gay idiots. I’m Armin and I’m a strategist.”
“I’m also a strategist!” Marco exclaimed, with a bright smile on his face.
“Dude, finally! I’m not the only one anymore!” Armin smiled.
“I’m Ymir, and I’m a healer and partial seeker,” the brunette woman said.
“I’m Historia, and I’m a healer!” the small blonde said.
“Annie, fighter,” another blonde woman said.
“Also tell what your power is if you’re a fighter,” Shadis said.
“Teleportation,” Annie said.
“I’m Reiner, fighter, strength!” the blonde man flexed, showing off his large, muscular arms.
“My name is Bertholt and I’m a fighter,” the brunette nervously said. “My power is animals.”
“Connie is my name and seeker is my game!”
“I was going to say that!” Sasha exclaimed.
“Oh, sorry,” Connie said.
“I’m Sasha, also a seeker,” the redhead said.
“Jean, fighter, illusions.”
“Eren, fighter, elements.”
“And I’m Commander Shadis, fighter, and flight.”
“What?!” Sasha exclaimed. “I didn’t know you could fly!”
“Yes, I can,” Shadis nodded. “I just don’t do it often.”
“Even I’ve seen him fly, Sash,” Eren said over his shoulder, arms still wrapped around Jean’s neck.
“Anyway,” Shadis rolled his eyes. “Let’s get back to our lesson.”
“Ugh,” Reiner groaned. “Stupid math.”
“Math isn’t stupid,” Jean said. “You are.”
“Ooh, burn,” Connie chuckled.
“Shots fired!” Armin smirked. Shadis rapped a ruler on his desk.
“Open your books,” he said. “Marco, you can share with Armin.”
--
“Soccer time! What what?!” Jean exclaimed, bursting out of the classroom. A couple hoots confirmed the teens’ excitement as the guys ran down to the backyard fields.
“Powers or nah?” Reiner asked.
“Nah,” Eren said. “Hey Marco! Wanna play?”
“Uh...I don’t know how,” Marco said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“It’s ok, how about you sit on the side and watch till you get it?” Armin patted the taller teen on the shoulder. Marco nodded as he sat down in the green grass.
“I’m playing too!” Ymir burst into the yard.
“What are the teams?” Connie asked.
“Kirschtein versus Jaeger,” Reiner replied.
“Alright,” Jean said. “I want Reiner on my team.”
“I choose Bertholt,” Eren smiled.
“Connie.”
“Get over here Ymir,” Eren teased, gesturing to the taller woman.
“YOU GUYS ARE PLAYING SOCCER?!” Sasha screeched from the side.
“Sash, explain the rules to Marco,” Jean said. “You can join when he does, cuz we’ll have equal teams.”
“Fine,” Sasha grumbled, plopping down next to Marco. “Ok, so soccer…”
“LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!” Connie exclaimed, smirking at the other team.
“Wait for us!” Historia called, dragging Annie behind her. “We wanna play too!”
“I call dibs on Annie!” Eren exclaimed.
“Oh come on!” Jean groaned.
Eren smirked as he looked over at his team, Bertholt, Annie, and Ymir. They could totally win, no problem.