The Dead Bog

Regular text: Enough talk, have at you!

Characters talking: "Enough talk, have at you!"

Characters thinking: 'Enough talk, have at you!'

Described events: Enough talk, have at you!

Zobek narrating: Enough talk, have at you!

"Hey, before we start the next episode, I've been meaning to ask you guys something," Eren said to his friends in the 104th. "How's Marco doing? I noticed that he wasn't here with you guys."

All of the sudden, the mood took a downward shift. The trainees now all looked depressed, especially Jean. Burr however, almost looked as if we was expecting Eren to ask this question. 'This was bound to happen at some point,' he thought to himself.

Eren was confused at how dejected his friends looked. "Is something wrong?"

Every one of the trainees knew that someone had to tell the truth to Eren, and it was Jean who decided to be the one to break the news to him. "Marco is dead."

Eren felt like he got hit in the head with a hammer when Jean said those three words. Did he hear him correctly? Was Marco... dead? "H-He.. what? What are you saying?" Eren than gave a hopeful smile in the vain wish that Jean wasn't being serious. "Marco's not dead, you're just kidding around right?" The begging in his voice was clear.

"I wish I could tell you he died nobly, or heroically. Truth is, I don't know how he went out. He died alone. There was no one there to see it happen," Jean replied, destroying Eren's faint hope that Marco was still alive.

Eren had a hard time coming to terms with this revelation. While he wasn't as close to Marco as Jean was, Eren did like Marco and considered him a friend dear to him. "Marco's... dead?" Eren repeated, processing the cold hard fact. Connie, Sasha, Armin, and Krista were staring at the floor downcast, while Ymir and Mikasa appeared to be stoic, but inside, were similarly crestfallen. Erwin, Levi, and Hange felt awkward being privy to this conversation, and chose not to say anything, while Reiner, Bertolt, and Annie also appeared to be keeping their emotions in check, though Bertolt seemed to be sweating a bit more than usual. Reiner felt a pair of eyes on him, and turned his head to see Burr looking at his direction, seemingly giving a disapproving stare. Burr than turned away quickly afterwards. Reiner was confused for a brief moment before his eyes slightly widened. 'Wait!? he... he doesn't know, does he?'

After a while, Burr decided to speak up. "Do you guys need a break? I understand that losing a friend is tough, and I don't want you to feel like I'm rushing you or anything."

Eren considered his offer for a moment, before speaking. "No, I think we'll be fine, but thanks anyway." Truth was, he just needed something to distract him from the grief of losing Marco.

Burr waited a couple seconds just to be sure that everyone was ready to continue. When he concluded that it was okay for him to start the next episode, he hit play.

Voice: Alone again with only his thoughts as his company, he continues on his journey to find the one he seeks. Who or what was that strange creature?

"That's what I want to know, that horse was really weird," Sasha said.

Voice: There is a power here that few know, a power that could have some influence on events. Perhaps the guardian of the lake is aware of him now and offers aid in his quest?

"Hmm, that does seem likely. Maybe the horse was a servant of this guardian. Kind of like a familiar," Hange suggested.

Voice: There is just the matter of the Dead Bog to overcome, a place that has claimed the lives of many of the Brotherhood. The smell of death is strong here and danger lies around every corner, but nothing will stop him... nothing will stand in his way.

The page turns, the music theme 'The Dead Bog' starts up as the screen cuts to Gabriel walking into the Dead Bog, a damp swamp in a forest with the buzzing sounds of mosquitos and insects.

"Lovely place," Ymir quipped.

Gabriel explores through the humid mire, and notices a corpse of a Brotherhood Knight. Gabriel kneels down next to the fallen Knight, crossing himself to pay his final respects, and searches his body to see if he has anything of use, finding a travel scroll. The scroll describes how there are creatures living in the waters of the swamp, and that they will drag down anyone that they can get their hands on.

"Oh, so there's monsters in the water too? As if this bog wasn't creepy enough," Jean said.

The scroll further describes how when walking through the bog, to keep an eye out for bubbles and ripples, as that signifies the location of the creatures, and that one must wait for the bubbles and ripples to disappear before progressing through the bog.

"Wait, if he managed to figure that out, wouldn't that mean the guy first had to have actually get caught by the creatures and manage to break free?" Sasha wondered aloud.

"You're probably right. He must've been really lucky to have broken out of their hold," Armin answered

"But not lucky enough," Ymir stated, referencing the Knight's deceased status.

One last inscription in the scroll details that somewhere in the bog, is a mausoleum. In the mausoleum, there is supposedly a relic that can aid the wielder of Rinaldo Gandolfi's creation, the Combat Cross.

Erwin pondered at this. 'So this Rinaldo Gandolfi fellow is the one that made Gabriel's weapon. He must have been a very gifted artisan to make such a weapon. Did he make others? Is it a common weapon among Gabriel's organization, or does one have to earn it?'

After reading the scroll, Gabriel resumes his quest, and happens upon what appears to be a camp ground, with several tents pitched about. As Gabriel walks through the campground, a grenade is thrown behind him. Gabriel notices, walks over, and picks it up.

"Uh, I don't think I would pick that thing up if I were him," Sasha said.

Gabriel than glances over as a pack of Goblins come out of their hiding spot, and growl at Gabriel.

The trainees were a little less surprised at seeing these new creatures, having been somewhat desensitized by the Werewolves and Wargs, while the veterans remained composed, except for Hange who looked expectantly at Burr, wanting to know what these creatures are.

Burr answered. "Goblins: small creatures that usually live in swamps and forests. Operate in packs and are very territorial, not liking humans stumbling across their camp grounds."

Gabriel briefly looked at the grenade again, realizing what it is. The Goblins roar, until the grenade is thrown back at them. The Goblins' faces froze in horror, and the grenade explodes, killing them.

Sasha, Connie, and Ymir laughed at this.

The noise of the explosion arouses the attention of the Goblins inside their tents, three of them emerge with their weapons at the ready. The music theme 'Goblins of the Bog' starts up. One of the Goblins charges at Gabriel, and tries to swing its blade at him. Gabriel easily dodges its swing, and delivers a kick to it, sending it flying a couple yards. Another Goblin throws its grenade at Gabriel, but with his quick reflexes, Gabriel catches the grenade, and throws it at the Goblin that he kicked. The grenade explodes killing the Goblin. Gabriel than runs towards the Goblin that tried to kill him with the grenade, jumps up into the air, and does an aerial somersault while swinging down his iron whip on the Goblin, throwing it off balance, whilst critically wounding it.

'I get the feeling that if Gabriel lived in our world, he'd would excel at using Vertical Maneuvering Equipment,' Levi thought to himself, impressed.

Gabriel then throws a silver dagger at the last Goblin, piercing it in the shoulder. The force of the blow causes the Goblin to stumble backwards, falling into the swampy water. As it gets back up, it notices that the water around it is bubbling.

"Uh-oh," Armin muttered, remembering the warning that was given in the Knight's scroll.

A bunch of long dark green decaying arms covered in moss emerge from the water and grab the Goblin. The Goblin tries to struggle out of the arms grasp, but it ultimately proves futile as the arms drag the Goblin underwater, never to be seen again.

"Damn, I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard," Sasha admitted, disturbed at the arms.

"Just what the hell are those things anyway?," Connie asked.

"They're called Naiads. They were once beautiful water spirits that were worshiped by humans, even being offered sacrifices, but eventually humanity forgot about them, and they became ravenous bloodthirsty creatures as a result," Burr replied.

Gabriel glances around himself to see if there is an alternative route, but sees there isn't any, leaving him with no choice but to travel through the water. Gabriel walked over to the edge, and stepped into the murky water, which reached up to his waist.

Levi wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Gabriel walks through the muddy water, careful to avoid the toxic fumes, and keeping watch out for any bubbles or ripples. Eventually, he manages to get back onto land. As he brushes the mud off of himself, the camera cuts to the point of view of something hiding in the shrubs, watching Gabriel. A light growl can be heard.

"Something is following him," Bertolt said quietly.

Gabriel continues to walk through the woods, and happens upon a set of stairs that leads to a mausoleum.

"Oh, that must be the mausoleum mentioned in the scroll. The one that's supposed to contain something that will Gabriel," Armin commented.

Walking towards the mausoleum, he tries to open the doors, but they won't budge. Looking for an alternative way in. He walks to the left side of the building, and sees that there is a massive hole in the roof. Gabriel scales the side of mausoleum, and reaches up to the top. At the top, he peers into the inside of the building. The camera once again switches to the point of view of the creature following Gabriel. It's large green slimy arm placed on a tree. It moves its hand away when it sees Gabriel jump into the mausoleum.

Some of the cadets shivered at the sight of the creature's arm.

Inside the old and lonely mausoleum, Gabriel walks towards up to a monument. The music theme 'Relics of the Brotherhood' starts up. Gabriel kneels on top of a stone coffin.

Gabriel: Forgive me brother... but my need is far greater than yours!

Gabriel looks at a large cross behind the coffin, with a cross-shaped insertion in the center of the cross, and then places his Combat Cross in the insertion. The Cross glows a white light and inserts into the monument. Several dials turn and open four compartments that overlap the Combat Cross.

The viewers were confused at what was transpiring, but found themselves awestruck.

The process reverses and Gabriel pulls out a sparkling Combat Cross. Gabriel activates the cross and a small hook tip comes out.

"That looks similar to the grappling hooks of our Vertical Maneuvering Equipment," Jean pointed out. "That should definitely come in handy."

"The mechanism was very interesting as well. It definitely operates with mechanics, but the white light leads me to assume that magic of some sort is also involved. This organization must be filled with geniuses to somehow combine machine with sorcery," Hange added in.

Gabriel then sees a window in the back of the mausoleum. Deciding to test his upgrade out, Gabriel swing his iron whip a grip point above the window, the hook tip grappling onto it. Gabriel than walks up the wall while holding onto his Cross, and when he reaches the window, he pushes himself off the wall with his Cross still grappling to give himself enough momentum to crash through the window. Gabriel smashes through the window and lands on a cemetery behind the mausoleum.

"Awesome," Eren said in respect of Gabriel's skills.

Upon landing in the cemetery, a gigantic green creature with a large nose, and covered in slimy green coating appears on top of the mausoleum. The Swamp Troll roars down at Gabriel, and jumps down to smash him with his huge fists. Fortunately, Gabriel dodged in time.

"There's Gabriel's stalker," Reiner said.

"It's a Swamp Troll," Burr told them.

"Swamp Troll," Hange said to herself as she wrote down a description. "Is there more than one type of this so-called Troll creature?"

"In fact, yes there is. There's the Cave Troll, which is similar in appearance to the Swamp Troll, but instead of the slimy green coating, they are covered in brown fur. There's also the Small Trolls, which are basically Cave Trolls, but much tinier."

"I see."

The music theme 'The Swamp Troll' starts up as the giant went towards a stone statue, and using its immense strength, ripped it from the ground to use as a weapon.

"Cunning bastard isn't he? Using his surroundings to his advantage," Levi observed.

The Troll then swings the statue Gabriel, who dodges and unleashes a series a strikes against it, the hook tip leaving deeper cuts in it's body. The Troll then smashes the statue on ground in front of Gabriel, the with the force sending Gabriel back. Gabriel gets back up, and jumps into the air swinging his whip at the Troll, the hook sticking into its skin. The chain than pulls Gabriel towards the Troll, which tries to shield itself with the statue, but Gabriel breaks through it, and kicks the Troll in the face, knocking it back.

"Damn, he really is strong," Connie said.

The Troll, now even more pissed, resorts to just smashing its fists at Gabriel, who continuously dodges it, with several gravestones being destroy in their fight. Gabriel swing his whip at a nearby tree, the hook grappling into the wood. Gabriel sways around the tree, and brings himself back to the Troll, delivering yet another kick to it's face, this time dizzying it. Taking his chance, Gabriel grabs the Troll by it's slimy fur, pulls back, and wails onto the Trolls face, following with a knee uppercut, before jamming the spiked arms of the cross into the creature's mouth and finally ripping up and away at the inside of it's mouth, pulverizing it's brains.

"Jeez.." Jean found himself flinching at the brutal way Gabriel killed the Troll. "He doesn't show much mercy to his enemies."

The Troll falls onto the ground dead. Gabriel than, grapples his chain onto a tree, to pull himself out of the cemetery and into the woods. Gabriel navigates through the woods until he finds what he's been looking for: Pan's Temple, situated across a canyon with waterfalls pouring down. The large gap being bridged by a set of stairs that leads down to the opening of the temple.

"Wow" Armin was amazed at the beautiful view of the Temple. "It's hard to believe that a place like this is next to a swamp."

Gabriel walks down the stairs, reaches the gate of the temple, with two goat-themed statues next to each side of the door, and enters.

"So this is the place that Gabriel has been sent to look for. What's so important about it?" Erwin asked.

"I believe that this is the place where the so-called 'guardian of the lake' resides who, if my assumption is correct, is one of these Old Gods," Hange said.

"Correct on both accounts," Burr confirmed as he played the next episode.

Hange's notes:

* Goblins: Small crabby little creatures that live away from human civilization. Aren't fond of people trespassing their territory. Use tiny explosives in battle.

* Naiads: Water spirits that were once worshiped by humans, even being offered sacrifices. Were forgotten by humans and became ravenous creatures who will pull down anything that walks into their waters.

* Trolls: Large creatures that are somewhat similar to Titans, but are less human looking. Apparently come in three variants: the Swamp Troll which has green skin and his covered in a slimy coating, the Cave Troll which is covered in brown fur, and the Small Troll which is similar in appearance to the Cave Troll, but much smaller.

* Gabriel's weapon was made by an artisan by the name of Rinaldo Gandolfi. There also exists a mechanism that can upgrade the weapon. The mechanism appears to be a fusion of machine and magic.

* The guardian of the lake that Gabriel is looking for is one of the Old Gods. He lives in a temple in the forest.

I really want to apologize for the long wait. Classes have been a pain, and it's been really difficult for me to find the motivation to continue this story.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments, and while I hate to sound needy, try to go into detail of what you like and dislike about it, and how I can improve.

One question I have to those who have played the game: in the next chapter in Pan's Temple, how should I go about the puzzle scene with Marie? I plan on skipping most of the puzzles, but this one I can't as it foreshadows future events. Let me know about any ideas you may have.

Bye for now.