Part 20
Answers

No longer is she conflicted of the constraints given to her by the walls she now left behind. Fury rode on with the horse Levi had given her so that she has some chance at survival. Out here, the world was just as harsh as it is within the walls. People treat each other like crap, they cause the weaker ones to live in fear. But it's the same out here. When out here, the Titans cause the strong ones to cower in fear.

But out here was where Fury would grow strong. She will persevere and grow as a person, along with her opinions and views. She had left those she cared for behind in order to perhaps return and help them. When will she return? Fury could not give an answer on that one for herself. The only thing she was sure of was that she would make sure she survives. And though she still despises the man, she will perfect the skills Kenny gave her all those years ago. She no longer wants his shadow following her own. She no longer wants her doubts controlling her. For the betterment of those around her, she had to do this. She had to be out here beyond the walls to train and perfect her questionable abilities.

Every question that she can find an answer too is added knowledge for her and she will use it as an advantage. Right now, she needed to practice more with the obvious observations that she could potentially control a Titan. That Fury could potentially manipulate one to even fight for her if she were in any serious danger. Along her way, she will look for any human settlements and learn from any stories they may tell of the Bloodborn's. Stories aren't just conjured out of thin air, they tend to be passed down by survivors. And though the stories themselves may change along the way, at their core, there is always truth.

As for the things she needed to fulfil her needs, Fury would simply hunt on the wildlife and drink water from any passing streams or lakes. The food side of things was another conflict of Fury's, for she always turned away from eating meat when she was within the walls. She found meat to be too much of a luxurious item to be used to eat on daily bases. So she stuck to vegetables and potatoes. Now she was forced to live on the things she chose to not eat, but this was unavoidable and it would go towards her growth.

Fury pushed further away from the walls. So far, she was lucky to avoid any Titans. Each night, she lay among the trees for safety and she would write in her journal which all Scouts were given.

"How many days has it been now?" Fury wrote down though making sure to keep an eye on her surroundings. "May be its been weeks? I can already feel… positive about the choice I made to do this. I've never really felt optimistic about anything I can do or have done. I've always viewed myself to be a burden for those around me. I've been an avoidant most of my life now. I don't even know who my parents are, or if they're even alive. If they are, why did they make me an orphan? My loneliness stems from not knowing them…

But it comes with my own faults. I've let people down along the way. My friends most of all… and they paid with their lives for my ignorance. I still stand by the fact that if I didn't shy away in what I could possibly be, things may have been different that day. They may be still alive…

But… am I a bad person…? I… barely remember their faces. I only remember… death. Another conflict. I have to accept many things but… I also have to let go.

I still had… have… Levi in my life. He's my oldest friend and I trust him endlessly. However, I wish not to write about that kiss on the cheek I gave him. It was more of a goodbye gesture than anything else…

I also gained the admiration of my Commander. I had such little respect for him and now… I've not felt this way before. It's a strange feeling yet it brings… a smile to my face… almost. Oh Erwin, should this journal ever make its way to your hands but I am not the one to give you it, I ask that you forgive me for saying goodbye within a report.

I'm starting to feel confident, even though I'm on my own. Soon, I need to purposely seek for Titans. I need to know, once and for all, if I really did somewhat control the last one I encountered. All I remember is that it required much concentration, however, I was also fuelled by anger… perhaps disdain. Something tells me I'm going to have to learn not to use a form of negativity in order for me to use what I have.

Not far from me is a small village. I wonder if people live there. Though… I shouldn't hope so much. How can any settlement survive without defences outside of the walls? Either way, I will make my way over there tomorrow and see what I can find. But right now, I'm going to enjoy watching the moon's reflection bounce off this stream of water I've come across. It… almost glistens."

Fury didn't sleep for long. She had already gotten used to somewhat sleeping with one eye open. Right now, she stuck to her plans by taking her horse over the small settlement she saw from afar the day before this one. It looked almost untouched by death, but was it too good to be true?

As she approached the settlement, she was met with only silence. It unnerved Fury highly. The place stood in perfection, there was no sign anywhere that indicated Titans passing through here. And yet, the small village itself felt empty and lifeless. This was unnatural, and Fury knew to record this in her small journal later on that day. She wanted observe more first. As the female wandered in further into the village, walking alongside the horse she dismounted at the entrance, she couldn't help but realise that eyes were upon her yet Fury detected no threat. Keeping her eyes open, Fury continued looking to see if there were any nearby Titans, but she could still not see anything from afar.

"It's as it was foretold!" Came the praise from a rather elderly man as he appeared from what seemed to be the main hut of the village. Fury's eyes soon shifted to the man and she stood rather defensively as more people began to appear from their homes. They seemed to be living in such primitive ways, wearing old rags for clothes whilst some of the elderly residents appeared to have tribal-like tattoos painted on their faces to symbolise their status. "You have found your way to us, just as she thought you would!"

"What are you talking about, old fool?" Fury hissed at the man as she drew her Cutters for protection, feeling surrounded by these strangers.

The elderly man placed his hand over his heart as he moved ever closer to the clearly shaken Fury. "I assure you, dear, we mean you of all people no harm here." He spoke in a soft manner, calming his preaching. "It is you, am I correct? A Bloodborn?"

Fury's eyes widened forevermore. How could this be possible? How could such primitive and barbaric looking people know about what she could be? "Y-You're mistaken!" Fury replied, though she was in self-doubt herself. "I… I don't know what I am!"

The gentleman raised both of his arms towards the sky, his eyes closed to prevent blindness from the roaring Sun. "And so it was told that humanity's last Bloodborn would seek their existence in this world." He returned to his preach. "That the child of the fleeing Eldian's would come to us in a time of doubt! That this child would need to be set on their path to free us of the fear of the walking monsters! That the child would forgive us for ever purging their people out of lust for more than what we ever needed in this world!"

"Stop!" Fury called out. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. But was it true? It had to have some form of truth, right? "Your preaching doesn't mean shit to me!"

"Forgive us, Bloodborn!" The man continued as the other villagers followed his actions by raising their arms above their heads as well. They stood around Fury as they somewhat prayed. "Humanity was wrong to outcast you and your people! Humanity did not understand what they did not have themselves! Humanity was wrong to purge their only protectors!"

Fury's surrounding fell silent yet again. She looked down at her hands and she clenched them into fists. Erwin's bedtime tale repeated itself within her mind like he was stood there before her himself, re-telling it to her. But it wasn't just a story for children, was it? It was clear, now, that others took on this story as a way of life. As a means to exist and seek forgiveness for something their predecessors had done. The villagers gazed at her in an awe-like manner. But, how could they possibly know that Fury could potentially be Bloodborn? How was it even possible for something to be predicted?

"My name is Hexis." The elderly man then finally mentioned as he gently took hold of Fury's hand to somewhat show her that these people were no threat to her. "My dear… I can't begin to tell you of the long years we have waited for you."

"I-I'm so confused…" Fury muttered, her words stuttering as they left her mouth as she witnessed nothing but smiles aimed at her. "How are you…? Why are you even waiting, how is this even possible?"

Hexis gave a sigh. "Child, you look very much like your mother. Your eyes as deep blue as your mother's once was. She was an unfortunate victims in this world, however, gave us hope."

Fury was becoming even more anxious at the mentions of her parents. People she didn't even know yet it was clear these villagers held them in such high regards. "I… I don't know my parents. I never did. A-Are they alive? Why… Why did they leave me all alone?!" Small-unheard mutters began among the people as their smiles soon faded and it became obvious to the now insecure Fury. She was allowing her emotions to talk for her for once. But a realisation stunned Fury at this point. Her parents were no longer alive. Fury was truly alone and her eyes soon became heavy. Although her parents were people she never knew, no child wants to hear that their parents are dead. Especially not in a world where cruelty already exists on a daily basis.

Hexis placed a hand upon Fury's shoulder to somewhat console the fractured female. "They were endlessly chased by their own family…" He revealed. "Because of what you're mother carried within her womb."

"Nobody should ever die for me…" Fury muttered, her head lowered. "No one should ever die because of me…"

"Your mother surely held out as long as she could… to protect you!" Hexis continued. "She didn't give you away in a world you grew up feeling unfamiliar with because she abandoned you… She did so to keep you alive!" But Fury still did not understand this logic. What she needed to know now was why they were seemingly pursued by their own family. A family that could potentially be Fury's and they still exist… somewhere out there. "What is your name, child?" Hexis then asked.

Fury inhaled a breath of air as she looked back up, people were beginning to go back to their daily lives once their initial excitement of having Fury be here soon diminished. "It's just Fury…"

However, Hexis shook his head as he lead the young woman to the village's main hut, to which inside appeared to be a small meeting area that consisted of a round table and many wooden chairs. "No, I would like to be given your real name. Not the one you use to hide behind."

Fury took a seat as Hexis joined in sitting opposite her, ready to reveal the questions this poor girl had harboured for nearly 30 years. Slowly, she looked down at the silver bracelet with her name on it that she still wore like a name tag "Aya…" Fury soon revealed and it sounded almost foreign for her to speak her real name again after living as Fury since the day Kenny had his hold over her. "Aya Tybur, I believe. Or so this damn trinket says."

Hexis released a sigh as he clasped his hands together, resting his chin atop of them. "So it is true… You are related to them." The elder then closed his eyes, using one hand to stroke his overly grown beard. "Something sings to me that you already suspect about who you are and what you can do. That you have also been told as to why Bloodborn's are no longer. When people see something they cannot have for themselves, they become jealous and greedy. Fights break out, opposing sides come into existence and those who presume they should take the mantle of leadership cause unspeakable things that end up leaving humanity itself in a more worse off state than it already was. And your family of Tybur's are not exempt from this."

"…Were they subjugated to greed too?" Fury asked, her teeth almost grit. Hearing things such as this only increased her already cynical view over people.

"No, they are just a greedy." Hexis quickly responded, to Fury's surprise. "Your family, the Tybur side, are the definition of what true greed can look like. One in particular, Willy, is the worst of them. He spins his lies, people follow him blindly. Yet his only goal is to use the Titans to bring war to the surrounding continents. The rest of your Tybur family sit happily among their riches, devising plans of their own to have control over the people they have promised to keep safe within Marley. All they need is their precious Bloodborn."

"Marley…? Wait… Are you seriously telling me that… beyond the thing… the Ocean? there's more people who live like we do?" Fury wrote what she had been told down in her journal. If this knowledge ever managed to get back to the Scouts, the information she has stored within the pages would be priceless. "I don't understand… these other Tybur's, you say they need a Bloodborn to help them do what? Succeed?"

"My dear, you don't even realise what it is a Bloodborn could potentially achieve, do you? When they existed in the many, they were the original wall that stood between humans and Titans. An unbreakable barrier of will power and combined concentration. They kept the Titans away by controlling them. One Bloodborn was enough to control a handful of the beasts, but in the many, the Titans never breached into the world of human life."

"I've already been told about this…" Fury muttered as Erwin's face flashed into her mind. But why was Levi's there too? "That people got greedy, killed them."

"It was a grand massacre, Aya." Hexis spoke on and it was clear he was distressed with this knowledge. "The leader's began inciting fear among civilians. Convincing them that their own protectors would use their ability to control them. To keep them in line. With the support from the feared population, the Bloodborn's were purged. The more Bloodborn's were lost, the weaker their unbreakable barrier of will came to be. And eventually, none seemed to remain. Leaving the mindless Titans to wander back over towards human life, leaving them to feast among the already restless populace. By the time they realised they needed their Bloodborn's, it was too late. A handful of people remained loyal to those who protected them, and they, including myself, believed a Bloodborn would return one day. To forgive us. To deliver us from our sins."

"But what has all of that got to do with the Tybur's?" Fury asked. She couldn't tell Hexis that she forgave what people set out to do in the past because Fury wasn't there to witness it.

"Only pure-blooded Eldian's could conceive a possible Bloodborn. If one was Eldian and the other was not, only a normal child would be conceived. But if two pure-blooded Eldian's reproduced, it was always a high possibility that they could keep the population of Bloodborn's growing. As he grew older, and Willy fed upon his own views and opinions, did he realise that if people gained word of the Bloodborn's returning, he'd lose control over them. He'd lose his population to strike against the other islands. He realised this after your mother had already fallen pregnant for him."

Fury stood from her chair, her face frowned as she tapped the table. "What did this Willy do, Hexis? What did he do to my mother?"

"It's not so much what he did, it was what he had ordered someone else to do. Yes, it was Willy who hunted down your mother as she fled to the safety of those walls people sleep behind, but it wasn't him who killed her." Hexis tapped his chin, trying in vain to remember the Bounty Hunter's name. "Ah! Yes, I recall his name. My mind! It's not as young as it once was! Yes, Willy hired a cold-blooded killer by the name of Kenny Ackerman to pursue your mother behind those walls. It was this man who caught up to her. From what my Bird's told me, you were already gone from her womb by the time her body was found."

"K-Kenny?" Fury's eyes shrunk in a manner of despair. Why him? Why did it have to be that man's name? "He's the one who killed my fucking mother?! Was that why he was down there?! Did he even know who I was?!"

Hexis raised his hand towards Fury, to ask her to remain calm. It was clear to him that Kenny's name was familiar to her, evidently; however, he did not want her to lose herself in anger. It was a Bloodborn's downfall.

"Hexis!" Came the panicked voice of a young man as he ran into the hut, breathing heavy and leaving both Hexis himself and Fury waiting on his next words. "Titans! Two of them! They've breached!"

"How?!" Hexis exclaimed. "They haven't done so in in over 50 years!" He then noticed Fury drawing out her Cutters and readying her ODM, however Hexis grasped her wrist and shook his head. "I ask for no violence here, Aya!"

"Don't be stupid!" Fury pulled her arm away from the man. "Those things aren't going to leave unless we're all eaten or I strike at their napes!"

"No, Aya!" Hexis pleaded. "This is an opportunity for you! Use your ability, control them! Send them away from this place without shedding blood this day!"

Fury raised her eyebrow at the elder. Was he mad? Or was he just insane? His knowledge so far has left Fury with less questions, but he's somewhat asking her to prove she could be a Bloodborn? Fury can barely remembered what she did last time to control that Titan in the forest that led her to the remains of Ilse. Hexis was asking a lot of her, but may be he was also right. This was an opportunity.

Therefore, Fury reluctantly agreed to the old fool. However, she made it very clear that if she was unable, she would need to strike at the Titan's nape. There were obviously reasons as they why Titan's had not already breached this village before, and she wanted an answer for that too.