I was five years old when everything changed.
I still remember it vividly.
Most of my life had been cheerful up to that point, the world was a bright and happy place.
The year before I had a wonderful birthday. I had a delicious meal with my family, opened presents, and ate cake before playing with my siblings and cousins until the sun went down. It was one of the best days of my young life, and I felt like I was the center of the world. Laughter, smiles, and happiness all around.
However, on the day of my fifth birthday there was no party, no laughter. Instead in the early morning my Grandfather, James Tybur, took me out of our manor and into the familiar grounds behind our home that I spent so much of my childhood in. However we did not stop there, not in the garden, nor at the pond, nor by the river.
The two of us walked out of the manor and my whole family was gathered there lined up on each side of the path. Siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, they were all there. The older members held blank expressions on their faces, while the younger ones looked on with confusion, but still showing their usual cheerful and energetic selves.
I gave my cousin Sara a smile as I passed by, which she returned before quickly being reprimanded by her mother, an act which immediately soured my mood. I suddenly noticed the heavy air around my family, my Grandfather most of all.
I followed my Grandfather as he walked silently by, not acknowledging a single one of them. At the end of both lines stood my mother Lara and uncle Willy, neither of which did anything but slightly bow their heads as we passed. In contrast to their usual warm personalities, their faces were no more than emotionless statues.
That was my first real sign that something was wrong.
We continued on for what felt like hours through the open grounds of the Tybur estate. Every few minutes I would turn and look, grimacing as the large building, my family, and my home that I had spent my whole life in faded into the distance.
Even as it finally disappeared from view we continued on, eventually entering a forest. I knew immediately that this was the same forest that I had gazed out at from my bedroom window for most of my life, yet that did nothing to calm my nerves.
Hours passed as we continued through that forest and eventually the sun began to drop from the sky, a familiar orange hue covering the landscape and signalling the day had passed us by.
I began to wonder if I would be walking forever. My feet were hurting, my legs ached and my back wanted to give out. I wanted to go home, I wanted to eat cake and laugh with my family, I wanted to live a normal life.
Until finally we reached a clearing, and all of that faded to the back of my mind.
At the center of the clearing stood a towering structure made of the purest white stone, a large Ziggurat with seven tiers. The Ziggurat stood there alone in the wilderness, yet remained entirely untouched by nature, the surrounding clearing was a perfect several hundred meter wide circle made of the same white stone.
The only standout feature I could see from this distance, was a singular large staircase and the path leading up to it, both of them glowing a vibrant blue. It was almost as if the sky itself had fallen and lay to rest here, the last bastion of blue standing defiant against the orange flame of the sun.
Yet most impressive was the white stone. As the rest of the landscape was blanketed in the orange hue of the sunset, the white stone of the Ziggurat remained just that, white. As if it refused to be muted or molded into any other form, as if even the light of the sun itself could not encroach upon it.
"Wow…" It was the only thing I could will myself to say.
I don't know how long I stood there staring at the Ziggurat. It was by no means the largest structure that I had seen, it was barely taller than our home and nowhere near as wide, however it was without a doubt the most impressive creation I had ever witnessed.
Luckily in my daze I did not fall behind as my Grandfather had kindly stopped and stood beside me, seemingly anticipating that I would be frozen in place upon seeing this.
After a few moments of taking in the view my Grandfather continued forward. The whole journey he had been silent and even now he did not utter a word, his face did not betray his emotions as that forever stoic look stood plastered across his face.
We approached the Ziggurat and my amazement only grew as I realised it was not just a solid structure of white stone. Embossed within the stone were intricately carved scriptures and images, glowing with the same blue light of the crystal path I walked on.
It was something out of a dream made real. Even then I had to pinch myself just to be sure.
As we reached the base of the stairs, my Grandfather stopped his steps, and I copied him. He stared silently up at the top of the Ziggurat and a moment passed until I felt something gnawing at the back of my head.
'Go. Climb to the top, know your past so you can shape your future.'
At first I was hesitant to listen, I did not know this voice and this was a lot to take in so I couldn't help but feel afraid. But as my Grandfather stood there silently waiting, my body eventually gave and I took the first step. As I did, a strange feeling overtook me.
As I unwillingly continued up the steps one at a time, my eyes were almost forcefully drawn to the walls of the Ziggurat, to the carvings within the stone.
Most of the lower scriptures were in Marleyen and each layer seemed to tell the tale of a different person. Yet the writing was disjointed and the sentences were unintelligible, as if they were missing something.
The images were easier to understand. Similar to the writing, each tier seemed to have an entirely different theme based on the story being told. The variety of the images depicted here was enormous.
Almost all kinds of weapons were carved somewhere on this Ziggurat. From the basics of swords, spears, and bows to the more rare and elegant weapons, whips and flails. Yet among them all hammers were clearly the most prevalent.
As I looked deeper into the images they almost came to life and I could see them clearly, not as images, but as real objects. I could see everything as if I was there. I could hear, smell, feel, and taste it all. But it was hazy, as if I should not be looking at it, the images themselves seemed to run to my peripherals, refusing to stay in the center of my focus.
The tiers seemed to progress from one to the other, it was a timeline encased in stone. My family's history laid bare before me and played within my mind.
More recent at the bottom to most ancient at the top, and the designs mimicked that. From industrial cities to large castles, humanities progress over the last century was shown here in these carvings, and I felt it all.
It was a strange experience, weirdest of all is that even at my young age I could understand it, it felt as if my mind had suddenly expanded and I knew exactly what it all meant. This was my history, the history of the Tybur family and that which I would inherit. I didn't know how or why I knew these things but they felt almost instinctual, like they had always been a part of me.
I kept climbing and step after step the story of my predecessors was shown to me, yet I could see that most was still hidden from me. Being a Tybur I was welcome here in this clearing, yet I was still an outsider to those that stood here before me, I knew I was still missing something.
Upon reaching the top layer the scripture became unreadable. Looking at it I just knew it was old, some sort of ancient long lost language that mustn't have been used in a long time.
I knew this place was ancient, but this showed me just how far back it must have gone.
And then I saw it, the image that will always stick in my head. A small humanoid, being picked up and devoured by one ten times its size.
Even at my age I instantly recognised what this was.
"Titan." The word pierced the veil of visions playing within my mind.
It was the first word my Grandfather had said since we left our home. Even as far as he was, it sounded like he was right beside me, not a shout but a declaration.
And there was not just one, but dozens, hundreds. The entire top tier of the Ziggurat showed these creatures as they destroyed, crushed, and devoured humans in countless numbers. Seeing it in the flesh made me want to retch and run. But my fear had taken over and all I could do was stand and watch hell on earth.
Titans slaughtering humans, humans fighting titans, humans murdering humans. For centuries that is all the world was. It was terrifying to imagine living in a world like this and it was hard for me to take in, yet most surprising of all, was the titans fighting other titans.
I was witnessing the life of the first man to step foot here, the original creator of this place, the first true Tybur.
I had to remind myself it wasn't real, that I was still in that clearing climbing those stairs. And so swallowing my fear, I pushed onward to the top.
At the top of the Ziggurat stood a small shrine, a simple altar in the center. Carved on the ground around the altar were images, faces. Each around 2 meters wide, the images all depicted people wearing helmets, all carved deep into the stone and all glowing with that same blue crystal.
Each helmet differed in design but they all held a similar style overall. Almost like siblings, they were close enough that you could see the similarities, yet distinctly different enough to be picked out as their own thing.
Stepping toward the altar I felt energy flood the air as my hairs stood on end and goosebumps covered every inch of my body.
Yet I couldn't stop myself.
I couldn't stop myself as I walked toward the altar. I couldn't stop myself as I raised my arm. Couldn't stop myself as I reached out and touched the altar-
*BOOM*
As my hand hit the altar it was followed by a crash of thunder and a flash of lightning. My body locked itself in place as fear took over, I felt the feeling of overwhelming power behind me, of a monster staring down its prey.
Slowly and carefully I turned my head, it felt like any sudden movement would be my end, and my body once again froze as it entered my peripheral vision.
"Ti-t-titan…"
"Alexander."
Hearing my name my body spun around and I was now stood face to face with humanity's greatest enemy.
Standing there was an aberration, a creature that should not exist. Fifteen meters tall with pure white skin, muscles visible on every inch of its body.
It's head resembled the helmet of a knight of old. A thin slit allowed the eyes to peer out, the mouth was covered with a horizontal grate of white, deep red flesh and a large mouth visible between each strip.
Yet even more immediate was that this was also an image I had seen not only a few moments ago, one of the helmets carved in the stone here at the top, it was one of the 9 faces immortalized here.
And it was real.
It was something that was unmistakable to anyone alive in this world.
A Titan.
"It is time you learned the truth about our family, about the history of Marley, and about your future."
A/N: The first few chapters will be short, these are mostly basic worldbuilding to prepare the foundation for the main story and give Alex some backstory to play off of.
The head of Grandfather's titan resembles a bellows visored sallet, but where the indents would be on the mouth area of the helmet instead there are gaps for the mouth to be seen through.