Part 74
Under the Stars
"Hey, Isaah?" Fury quietly called for.
The camp had been placed for the night. Sasha and Conny set up the fire as Jean came back with collected sticks for the flames' sustenance.
Eren sat in what seemed to be deep thought. His growing hair long enough to cover his face, as Mikasa placed a blanket around his shoulders, barely enough of a distraction to be pulled back to a dimming sunset, just as Armin sat himself, inspecting a shell he had brought up from the edge of the ocean.
"Yeah, what is it?" Isaah spoke in concern, as he had just finished helping Hange set up her own tent, whilst Levi awaited, on his own, keeping an eye out for any Titans, not that many were now left on the island.
"Can you tell me… more about the village you lived in?" Fury then asked. Her eyes still weighed heavy. She was beginning to fear falling asleep too. The flashing images of death and screams. How did others cope?
"Actually, that's a question I was to ask myself!" Hange interrupted, slapping the boy's back. "Yes… How did that little village of yours keep the Titans away?"
The new Commander of the Scouts, Hange then brought Isaah over to sit in front of the now blazing fire.
Fury sighing. A part of her would've liked to have spoken to Isaah alone. But was this way better?
Isaah swallowed. "Well, I, uh… Man, I wish old man Hexis was still here… He knew everything…"
Hange's brow raised. "Hexis, you say? I heard you say that name on the council room some months back."
"He was who the villagers looked up to." Fury quickly answered. "But… he had fallen ill, and it took his life. This was back when I decided to come back to the Walls, and I discovered for myself that humans could become Titans from seeing Eren transform…"
"Yeah, but the old man was a bit wacky…" Isaah chuckled. "But he always believed humanity owed the Bloodborn's, and Ymir…"
Eren's ears peaked, as Hange looked his way. Isaah deciding to just continue. "He used to tell us all the time, about what the Old King did, and how the Walls came to be. But apparently, that village was there long before the Walls were built."
"… Bloodborn's have existed long before any of us here."
"Come on, old man. We all know the Titans are real, but if these Bloodborn's existed, well where are they now?"
"There hasn't been one born since the Walls appeared. I'd have to say the King was involved. The stories that have been passed through generation's express of despicable things he did. He had them all killed, in fear a Bloodborn could also become a Titan.
Imagine the power. It would've matched Ymir's, almost."
"Ymir?"
"Poor girl… We know not much about her, other than the fact she has a direct link to the creation of Bloodborn's. Children being born dead, only to be brought back with astounding powers of control.
Shared DNA, maybe. I do not know.
What I do know is that the old King let her down. Were Bloodborn's and Titan's her revenge?"
"But this village… It's been here since before the Walls…"
"Bloodborn's built this place. They were among the first to set foot on this island, sailing over from Atheria, away from the threat of the Old King, who was on a rampage out of fear.
But I wonder… Do the Titan's stay away because a part of their mindless selves sense the Bloodborn's? Is it because of Ymir? Perhaps a part of their human selves remember when the Bloodborn's were purged, and they feel regret?"
"That's crazy talk… Titan's aren't human. They're monsters."
"Monsters needed to be created in order to exist. Of course I speculate, but truth has to be among the stories told somehow, for how did they start in the first place? I can speak for myself that Atheria exists, for my own family hail from across the Great Lake."
"But you're not some Bloodborn, Hexis. You just love telling us stories!"
"I wonder if Ymir is in fact linked to their creation… Will there be more? They only started appearing after she died herself. But does becoming one take away anything human about you?
I choose to believe. Eldian's still exist. They live how they can, over in Marley, or behind those Walls. And Atherian's, such as myself, still linger.
If two Eldian's, or two Atherian's that are pure, conceive a child, I do believe it is still possible. But the Marleyan's know more than I. Especially that Tybur family. They know the truth, I'm sure of it. And perhaps it is why Eldian's are hunted as they are…"
"There's truth to all of that…" Eren muttered, revealing his eyes to be staring at Isaah's way. "Ymir was real. And she was the first Titan.
She had the ability to make others, and control them. The King she was a slave to could never have that power. This Hexis wasn't wrong either, that Bloodborn's only started being born after Ymir's death. However she did it, there were as many as there is people living inside the Walls now, and they kept the Titan's she made away from humanity.
But the King began to wonder… A Titan, with the power of a Bloodborn, the ability to control without the need of the Founder's power… He feared that truth, and so the Blood Purge began.
A mass genocide. Eyes gouged out from all of them, children that were born dead being killed, an entire island scarred with fire… Any pure Eldian's that survived then had their memories wiped clean, and were told humanity was close to extinction because of the Titan's beyond their new Wall, all to maintain hope in their King, whose daughters were just like their mother. Our enemies, across the sea, were enemies of that King, and they feared Eldian's and refused to speak of the scarred island between us both. They forced Titan serum into any pure Eldian, making them become Mindless Titans and wander forever where we call home."
"Eren, you need to rest…" Mikasa insisted, though he only looked away.
"Born dead…" Fury repeated quietly, then looking over at Isaah himself. "Did Hexis ever explain more about that?"
The young cadet looked down, remembering with narrowed brows. "Just that, 100 years ago, sometimes when a child was born, it was born dead, but came back as a Bloodborn.
Their abilities were similar to Ymir's, and so they believed it was her creating them… But, other than that, he never explained more."
"I just don't understand why he never told me that!" Fury hissed, sighing heavily.
"Maybe Hexis was scared himself?" Isaah suggested. "We never really saw any Titan, until you showed up that day and dealt with them. Maybe even Hexis began to wonder if it was best some things were left unspoken? But not once was I ever made to believe they were monsters. My parents used to tell me all the time that they believed they'd come back."
Fury groaned. "The thought of being born dead… If only our memories could stretch back that far…"
"Would sure make all of this a lot easier in understanding!" Hange bolted. "So, we get it. Ymir made Titan's and she was most likely the one creating Bloodborn's. Dunno how she does it from the dead, but questions are made to be answered one way or another. Even if we all have to go over to Marley as a small, undercover group, and find out what we can under disguise."
"Are you really thinking about doing that?" Eren asked in interest.
Hange hummed, tapping at her chin. "It's probably the best way. And we get to see what this Marley place is all about. See how far advanced they are than us. A little detective work. It's gonna take a while to set into motion, to get to them without trouble, but it's certainly an option." She then turned to Fury. "And you can find those Tybur's. They sound like they're a big deal over there."
Fury nodded, in thought. "Right… The Tybur's. That name is being brought up more and more lately. They know something, the truth, I'm betting. Because all it took was my mother, and a man called Willy Tybur, to conceive me and I turn out to be a Bloodborn.
There's still things about both Mia and Willy that I don' know, but I have a right to find out, if only to stop all this damn back and forth."
"Careful!" Sasha laughed out loud after swallowing a hefty amount of cooked meat she had hunted. "You were the one to always say you didn't care about people much!"
"… Sasha…" Everyone sighed.
"I think this should all be discussed in Historia's presence back at the Walls." Hange continued. "With how supportive she's been so far, I think she'd be interested in answers too.
But for now, bedtime everybody! Long ride back tomorrow!"
Most retreated to their respected tents as Hange clapped her hands. Eren, Mikasa and Armin sharing one, whilst Jean, Conny and Sasha shared another, with small room for Isaah, who still stayed sat next to Fury around a dying camp fire as Hange moved to her own commanding tent.
"Are you mad at me..?" He dared ask Fury, who herself inhaled.
"No." She exhaled, a sigh being made through it. "No, I'm really not. Just a lot to take in." She looked up. The stars shone brightly this night. When was the last time she decided to look up?
Fury took her eyes over to Levi. That was right. The night she, Isabel, Farlan and Levi all sat there, looking up to see a world without a darkened ceiling.
Almost a decade ago. And yet it's been so easy to forget about the sky hovering above her.
"Is Sasha right?" Isaah muttered his next question. "That you still struggle to care for others?"
Did she struggle? She continues to grieve over Erwin, still misses Isabel and Farlan. Was that truly someone who didn't care?
"Just on the outside… Besides… I came back for you, didn't I?"
Isaah's eyes brightened. "You did! And I promised to keep you safe, and I will!"
"… Go to bed…" Fury then groaned, earning a small laugh from him as he jumped to his feet, yawning.
Wishing a goodnight, Isaah himself retreated to his shared tent as it was then just left with Fury and Levi outside. Her eyes were still upon him. But things were difficult between the old friends, ever since Kenny came back. Her body yelled for her to go and talk to him, yet the hidden side to Fury was honestly scared to do so.
She didn't want to worsen what was already a distance between them. And yet, even as the tips of her fingers held on to Erwin's bolo tie, it was Levi who was on her mind.
