Part 16
Questioning
Fury took a seat that was placed on the other side of Erwin's desk within his quarters. She had been here how many times now? She wiped her eyes, leaving them red from the amount of tears she let out. Her posture was back to normal now. Well, it was normal for her. She bore no smile, no care. You wouldn't think she had just been crying unless you witnessed it yourself.
Erwin sighed as he took his seat behind the desk and put his hands together as his elbows rested upon the desk itself. It was scattered with documents and reports. "In the months I have come to know you, I've not once seen you show any emotion like that." He confided, closing his eyes as he inhaled air. "Don't tell me it was Levi's doing?"
Fury frowned at her Commander, even though the two communicated as if they were friends. "One thing, one little thing can be enough to tip someone over the edge." She muttered, crossing one of her legs over the other. "Whether that be words or words coming from a person they care for. Levi has… We've both lost two close friends. I can't let that slide by so easily."
"So you care for our new Captain?" Erwin then suddenly asked, leaning back into his chair, almost smirking, as Fury did not appreciate the suggestion.
"Not in the way you're thinking." She snarled. "I owe a lot to our new 'Captain'. If he didn't give me a place to stay when we lived in the Underground, I'm not sure where I'd be right now."
She then took a breath of her own. "You promoted him rather quickly. Realising he can be better, are we?"
Now Erwin was smirking. "He has potential no other has shown whilst I have been the Commander of the Scouts. You should know by what you have seen that there's no second chances among this regiment."
Fury rolled her eyes, which were still red from her crying. "Why am I here?"
Erwin then picked up some of the records on his desk as he began to skim through them. "Hange couldn't find out much about you." He then said as he stopped at one of the pages, skimming through the notes with his eyes.
"You brought me here to question me?" Fury asked, folding her arms out of offence.
"We don't let threats just slide here. You may not have been among the Scouts when you performed your outrage, but things like that are recorded."
"How many times..?" Fury rubbed her temples in aggravation. "I don't… I really don't remember this outburst you so clearly keep telling me about!"
Erwin stood from his chair to then go and lean next to the window that allowed in some sunlight from outside. He opened it, needing some fresh air. "Have you ever heard of humans known as Bloodborn's?" He asked like he was somewhat interrogating, but he was responded to with a raised eyebrow from Fury. "My father spoke of them when I was a young boy. He'd read to me each night, about these Bloodborn's I speak of. From what he read to me, these people harboured some… wanting power within them." Erwin smiled as he remembered how excited he'd be for his father to tell him more with each passing night. "Each night, I'd be given the same line by him. 'The Bloodborn's kept the Titans away from us. With their combined manipulation through biomass control, they were able to steer them away!' As I got older, I began seeing these stories for nothing more than what they are; stories."
"Commander…" Fury interrupted, clearly confused. "Why are you telling me about a child's bedtime story?"
Erwin then turned to Fury, his content appearance soon fading. "My father told me of all the things a Bloodborn can do. Keeping the Titans away was just something they worked together to do, whether forced or by choice. Yet he always made something clear; that a Bloodborn would not be aware of their abilities until given reason to use them. Perhaps when threatened or… may be under stress."
"Well like you said; just stories." Fury was starting to feel under stress now if she was to be honest. "You don't honestly believe people with, what, otherworldly powers can exist, right?"
"It's not something we may ever know. They're all dead." Erwin revealed, going back to his chair to sit in it. "The outcome to the existence of these Bloodborn's is that they were all hunted and killed out of fear. Killed by humanity itself. It was fear of what the Bloodborn's were evolving to be capable of that sparked a mass purge long before any of this existed."
"But… they could only control Titans with… what, magic?" Fury questioned, clearly intrigued.
"Some call it that. My father described it as control, muscle manipulation almost." Erwin began to pour himself a small glass of Whiskey. "They could control the flow blood in our bodies, make us do what they wanted. This was what people came to fear. Yes, they seemingly forgot the years of extra protection offered to them by these Bloodborn's because they grew fat on suspicion. According to my little bedtime story, the Bloodborn's looked just like you and me; they were human and they did nothing towards humanity to gain their purge. People just wanted what they couldn't have; power."
"When it comes to power, people fight for it without thought for others until someone gains it." Fury muttered her cryptic words. She always held a negative view of humanity in general. "So, in this story of yours, people wiped out other people who did nothing but protect them out of greed, is that it? And the bastards in the Government used fear as their excuse. Typical." Fury then gazed at her Commander. "I still don't understand why you're telling me this."
Erwin frowned. It was not a light one. "Something my father also told me, which has given me many questions, is that if enraged a Bloodborn would forget what they ever did once they are snapped out of it. Observation number one in recognising the beginnings of a Bloodborn."
Silence then met both Fury and Erwin as he revealed this sceptic fact of his. Is he speculating his story to be of true events? Has he begun to believe his own bedtime stories about these Bloodborn's? It was clear, to Fury, the man was suspicious of her. "It's a story." She almost whispered to Erwin, repeating what she initially said as he drunk his Whiskey. "They don't exist."
"No, they do not." Erwin soon replied as he allowed the unnerving silence to linger only a slight more longer. However, not once has he moved his gaze away from Fury. "But just imagine if they did! We'd not have to worry about the Titans, our expeditions would proceed without deaths. They'd become the real saviours of humanity, not the walls. I still ask you though why it is you don't remember your performance of anger towards me."
"Like you keep reminding me, I was angry." Fury replied, folding her arms. "I was blinded by that anger. You threatened my friends, and as you saw from Levi when he tore that Titan apart, he and I were protective of them!" She huffed as she stood from her chair, about to leave Erwin with his thoughts.
"We have another expedition on its way." He finally told her, clearing his throat. Fury found herself looking to the ground. She hadn't been on the last two, whereas Levi had. It was how he gained his promotion, no doubt. "This time, I expect you by my side. Absorb yourself in guilt and grief any longer and you'll end up like Nile over at the Military Police."
"Unlike Nile, I'm not a coward." Fury snarled as she left his quarters, leaving the Commander smirking at her response. He had become affiliated with Fury, as of late. He respected her, despite his questions. But Erwin was no fool. His Bloodborn story was revealed to Fury for his own reasons. And he knew, that in time, it would become evident to him whether or not Bloodborn's truly exist.
