The People You Meet in the Afterlife

Marco Bodt

Possible season 4 spoilers 🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯🐯

Marco and Marcel set off on their horses. Despite being dead, Marco was feeling...calm. Maybe it was the soft sounds of the forest, or the warmth of the sun, or his companion.

"I'm sorry about Reiner", Marcel said breaking the silence between them.

Marco wanted to be angry. But based on the tone of Marcel's voice, he just felt a sense of pity for him.

"He should have never been on Paradis in the first place...I'm the reason he's there, and now his mind is slowly starting to split".

"Starting to split?" Marco asked.

"I saw the whole brutal mess. As you were being devoured, it was like Reiner forgot that he was responsible. Like he was another person."

Marco felt his pity for Reiner grow. "He doesn't even remember telling Annie to take my gear off" he thought.

Marco changed the subject, "you keep saying island and Paradis? Care to elaborate?"

"I can go more into the history of it all later, but the island is basically a penal colony, any Eldian who goes against the Marley government are sent to Heaven or Paradise but in translates to Paradis"

"So what these Marley people created titans to punish us? Why only Eldians? How did y'all create the titans?" Marco asked.

Marcel chuckled, "You ask a lot of questions. But only Eldians can become titans and Titan shifters because they are descendants of the Goddess of Ymir. We were taught that she was evil, set the titans upon the world. So Eldians are seen in the eyes of the world as devils."

Marco felt a chill. "So you're from Marley then, or was from Marley?"

"Yeah born and raised, but I'm like you, I'm Eldian. Where I came from, we were second class citizens. One of the only ways to earn any kind of status or just an easier life was to become a warrior. Join the military at a young age, much like your military. Except some of us were forced. Bertholdt didn't really have a choice. Once they sent his mother to Paradis and threatened his father, he had no choice."

Marco was dreading the answer to this next question. "So what does it mean to 'send someone to heaven' or to the island?"

Marcel sighed. "Turn them into Titans, set them lose upon the island....a fate worse than death. Doomed to roam the island, hoping to find a Titan shifter, reliving your worse memories as a pure Titan".

"How do you turn someone into a Titan? Seemed like Reiner and Bertholdt knew how"

Marcel shook his head slightly. "They're different, they are shifters, they have control over their titans. For pure titans, it just takes an injection of a shifters spinal fluid."

"Why do they eat humans?"

"As I said before, most pure titans are looking for a Titan shifter. If they devour one then they inherit that Titan and become human again. It's how I ended up here"

The calmness that Marco felt was giving way to disgust and sadness.

"We were attacked, on our way to the Walls, I don't know why, but I pushed Reiner out of the way, and let the Titan eat me. I don't know if my family knows I'm dead yet", Marcel swallowed lump in his throat. "So now your pal Ymir has the Jaw Titan, and it doesn't look like she is going to reveal that to anyone any time soon"

Marco near fell off his horse. "Ymir!!!! She's like Eren"

"Yep...based on how your military reacted to that Eren kid, I can see why she kept quite. Still not sure why she insists on following that blonde girl into the military"

Marco could hear the distant sound of voices. They most be approaching the town.

"You mentioned Reiner wasn't suppose to be there. Was he forced into this like Bertholdt?"

Marcel laughed. "Hell no. Reiner volunteered. I never got the full story from Bertholdt but, his dad is Marley citizen who had Reiner with an Eldian. His mom told him that if he became a warrior they could be with his dad. I know he went to see he father before we left but he didn't speak anything of it. I'm guessing it didn't go well. But here's the thing, Reiner didn't do well in training. Hell he was always coming in last in almost every category"

"That's a surprise, he was a top 10 cadet in my cadet class"

"Well keep in mind he was only a young kid at the time. So soon the plan was formed invade Paradis and retrieve the Founding Titan, and the Attack Titan which is Eren. I had already inherited the Jaw Titan, and was selected to go along with Bertholdt, and Annie. My brother Porco, he would be 16 now was set to inherit the Armored Titan. But I wasn't going to let that happen."

"Why not? Wouldn't that mean a better citizenship status for you both?" Marco asked.

"Well with me already becoming a warrior my entire family already earned honorary Marley citizenship, and 'pay for the sins' of my ancestors. But there's a catch, once you inherit one of the 9, you inherit the curse of Ymir." Marcel said in a low voice.

"The curse of Ymir?"

"I don't really get it, I just know from that moment on, you only have 13 years left to live. Once those 13 years are up you die, and your Titan goes to a random Eldian, or in the case of the Warrior Program, you are chained up and and devoured by the next Warrior. I couldn't let my little brother have his life shortened too"

Marco had a feeling where this was going.

"So I lied. Talked Reiner up to Zeke and the military brass, and talked down my brother. I managed to convince them that Reiner should be chosen and not Porco. He was furious. He and Reiner never really got along, so to be 'beat out' by him was a huge blow to his pride"

"You never told him?" Marco asked.

"Of course not, he would never forgive me. He didn't listen when I told him not to follow me to the military, and he would not have listened to me then. It didn't make sense for my mother and father lose both their sons".

An overwhelming sadness hit Marco hard. He didn't even realize that he had tears slowly coming down his cheeks.

Marcel stopped his horse, and Marco followed suite.

"Marcel....I'm so sorry"

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong. To be honest, you were just an innocent casualty. Wrong place, wrong time. Being here meeting people who have suffered for so long due to the actions of the Marley military...so many people have died because of...." Marcel couldn't finish.

"It sounds like you and your brother were victims as well. Even Reiner..." Marco said sadly. "Nobody deserves that kind of pressure, especially so young"

Marcel gave a weak smile. "You know I truly believe you would have done everything you could have to help them."

Marco wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled. The sun was starting slowly set. His stomach growled.

"Even when I'm dead I'm still hungry" he said with a weak laugh.

"Come on, there's a tavern in town. The food is good and the ale is cold."

The two restarted their steady pace through the woods. Marco was really looking forward to getting to know Marcel. Despite them being supposed enemies, he was a kind person.

As they rode out of the forest and up the pathway that lead to town. Marco was shocked to see just how big it was, how familiar it felt.

He was knocked out of his awe when he heard people yelling his name.

As he and Marcel rode into town. He saw Mina, Franz, and Thomas running towards him.

He smiled at the familiar faces. Glad to have some friends in the afterlife.

To be continued.