Part 82
The Call to Attack

(2 years later... )

"Lord Tybur. It's almost time." Willy sighed. A heavy lean forward onto his dressing table, hidden behind a curtain call to which sat world leaders on the other side, awaiting his declaration after the 2 year plan of it.

He stood, altering his collar for presentation and turned to whom spoke to him. "If it isn't the honorable Azumabito clan. I haven't the time to be listening to a pep talk."

"I'm not here for such, my Lord. I just wanted to see you face-to-face." Kiyomi smiled.

"I suppose I don't look too pleasant. Stage fright must be starting to bother me."

She shook her head "No. Quite brave, I assure you. I only pray for your good fortune, and that of my apologies that your daughter chose not to join this momentous evening."

Willy held out his hand in acceptance of Kiyomi, who offered her own. "The regret is my own to bear. Would you be so kind as to watch over my wife and other children?"

Kiyomi's smile only broadened further. "Of course. I will treat them as if they were guests in my own home."

The Tybur smiled. Waiting with a watchful eye as Kiyomi left from backstage, with her supporters closely sticking behind her. He emitted a sigh, which felt kept in for some time. "Sir, are you ready?" A guard of his asks. The inpatient crowd that awaited him bustled louder in front of the stage he was about to step out on to.

"Has my daughter been seen since we met those 2 years ago?" Willy would ask within a monotone voice, along with his fading smile in which he wore for Kiyomi.

"Not to my knowledge, my Lord. It's assumed she returned back to the devil island."

"So… an enemy to us after all, it would seem." Willy shook his hair, placing strands of it behind his right ear. "I can not harbour this regret any more."

With his personal guard leading him, the red velvet curtain suddenly raised before him. The flash of cameras flickering among the darkened night as Willy bowed to his audience. The clapping echoed through the streets of Liberio as Willy straightened his posture to only address those who now awaited his speech.
"Let me tell you a story," he announced, "about 2000 years ago, the Eldian's ruled this world with their power of Titans. From the appearance of the Founder, Ymir Fritz, to our present day, Titans have taken the lives of so many from around the world. Because of that, a large amount of races and cultures have been taken… And that slaughter has come to define us all to this day.

But when the Eldian's ran out of enemies to kill, they turned to killing their own. And so, the Titan War began.

Houses harbouring the 8 Titan Shifters shed their blood in this war. In such desperate times, one Marleyan saw a way to victory! Our own hero, Helos! By waging war, he caused the Eldian Empire's biggest threats to turn and kill each other! But… even when exiled to that island… their King still had power. Tens of millions of Colossal Titan's capable of flattening our world still slumber there to this day… The fact that we all still exist is nothing short of luck in its own right.

Marley, our Fatherland, decided to take initiative against the island and sent 4 of our own Titan Shifters to neutralise our threat. But such a plan failed, and only our Armoured Titan returned to us; Sir Reiner Braun. In other words, the devils are alive and well!
While our story up to this point consists of facts known to most here, the truth differs greatly from that of just stories. Now I will discuss the memories that have been passed down within my family from holding the Warhammer Titan. You see the truth, around 2000 years ago, and the one that ended the Titan War was neither Helos or the Tybur family. The one who brought such an end was King Fritz himself. He came to regret how savage the Eldian's had become and the fighting among his own people. How they relied too much on their new Bloodborn's for protection against threats beyond. And so, after he became King, he and the Tybur's devised a plan to establish a single Marleyan as a hero of war. Alongside this, the King agreed to purge any and all Bloodborn's to minimise attention towards his Eldian people, and so the Blood Purge began under the Tybur's additional convincing.

After such a massacre, along with the fatal attack to Atheria, the King declared that any disturbance to his newly formed peace would be met with the wrath of his Titans. But this intention was not true. To ensure his ideals and choices would be inherited, the King made a pledge to renounce war. Because of this, Karl Fritz's memories have been passed down. This is why no Titan from the island has attacked to this day. In other words, we have been protected by a man we thought to be a ruthless murderer and King of the Walls. He knew that no atonement could be made for the choices he agreed to. Yes, we of the Tybur family bargained for our family's survival by convincing the King that the Bloodborn's would become his enemy. We also joined hands with him and sold Eldia to Marley. The Tybur's are no more than a family full of liars and petty thieves.

But, my friends of this fine evening, I have one last truth to offer you. We have all long thought Bloodborn's were gone from this world. I am here now to tell you that hope can come back, for I know that Bloodborn's still exists. For one is none other than my own blood. My own child.
How ironic it has come to be… that the Tybur family pushed for their executions, only to now have one be of their blood. Where is my child now, you may ask? She lives on that island. Pushing the Titan's that attack them back with the Attack Titan that was stolen from us. She is our enemy. A regret I try hard not to bear. A regret that pulls at my honour.

... My dear Aya…
I am standing here now, before you all, to part ways with such honor because I understand now just how dangerous of a position Marley now finds itself in. Karl Fritz used the power of the Founding Titan to build his walls of regret. Walls made of an untold amount of Colossal Titans. They have acted as that island's greatest shield to protect them, until now… But with the revelation brought to us from that island that they not only have the Founder, but a Bloodborn and Ackerman too, the King's ideology of peace has been thrown aside! Our world today is still in danger, for the name of the one who stole the Founder and threatens such peace is named Eren Yeager!

The threat now given to us by Paradis Island is not only from a Bloodborn, but that of the Rumbling. Eren Yeager, who now holds the power of the Founder, is not bound to such a promise set by the King, for he is not of his shared bloodline who must follow his ideology. If he begins the Rumbling, there is nothing we can do! We could do nothing but watch as our cities and history are crushed beneath the footsteps of an apocalyptic nature!

… I hate the blood of which I am; an Eldian. More than anyone else, I have wished for them to be eradicated. But I don't want to die… We all differ in nationality or religion. But now, in the face of these threats, from that of my own daughter too, the time has come for us to unite as one against a common enemy! I now ask for aid from those of you who want to live! Join me as I will myself to live far into the future! With our powers combined, we can overcome this! Join me in this war against the demons of Paradis Island!

I, Willy Tybur, on behalf of the Marleyan Government, declare that the fight against Paradis Island begins now!"

From behind him, the sudden eruption of Eren's Titan emerged from beneath. Roaring in his dominance as debris rained down onto the audience before him as Willy himself gazed up to the towering monster with nothing but fear. Swiftly, Eren grabbed Willy, and tore his abdomen from his legs, shoving his remains down his Titan's throat as the audience screamed in fear from the blood before them.
Gazing out towards him, the Tybur's blood trickling from his jaw, Eren made the swift decision to then dive onto the audience itself in order to kill the Leaders there that congregated in the declaration to attack his home. Around him, the screams of many upon seeing the crushed friends or loved ones beneath the Titan.

From behind the stage, emerged a single female figure, gazing out onto the destruction before her with both tears and blood in her eyes as she held an arm around her own waist from the searing pain. "You have fulfilled your duty as a Tybur… Brother…" She coughed. A sudden flare of lightning surrounded her. The physical form crystallising as above her appeared the manifestation of the Warhammer Titan in which she harboured. Leaving Eren to simply watch on as the Titan came into its creation. Just as it was to be fully formed, a swing from Eren's fist contacted the other Titan's jaw, knocking it to the ground and giving Eren the chance to bring down his attacking punches that seemed endless.

As he thought his wale of punches would be enough, a singular spear, created from the Warhammer Titan, forged itself to pierce through Eren's abdomen and sprung him into the air as he struggled atop its spire. He watched as the Warhammer returned to its feet. Its face already healing from the blows of the other as it now manifested its namesake into a physical weapon, determined to use this advantage over Eren to kill him. But Eren, quick to react, crystalized his fist and shattered the spear into which he was elevated from, swiftly avoiding the ensuing hammer attack. Though now, from behind him, several piercing cannon shots with Anti- Titan ammunition flew his way, causing him to shield his nape in the process of the several hits they made to him.

Whilst distracted from the cannon fire of what was left of the Marleyan Military, the Warhammer took this chance to swing low its physical hammer that then tore through and removed the head of Eren's Titan, leaving the aged boy now visible to see for everyone who only knew him as Eren Yeager.

"Usurper…" The Warhammer Titan echoed. "Any last words?"

"... don't you think it's time, Bloodborn..?" Eren muttered with his glare fixated onto his threat as a single anchor attachment grabbed itself to the Warhammer, and from the dust full remains, swung through Fury with two Thunder Spears. Her hair now neatly changed, still silver, with one side longer than the other, her eyes swiftly altered to their bloodshot form, despite knowing control of a Titan Shifter was to always be impossible.

"Dammit, shithead!" She roared, throwing one of her Thunder Spears into the Warhammer's nape. Pulling the string, the weaponry exploded, staggering the Warhammer and knocking it off its feet as the veteran Scout then came to land herself onto a nearby building, gazing down at the destruction before her with a disdain visage. She knew Willy had been killed this night, and now she had to fight what was presumably also a related family member. "Look at this crap you've caused…"

Near to Eren himself, landed Mikasa beside him, to which Fury knew, as instructed, she would try to get him to come back to the island. Sudden movement then came from the Warhammer Titan again. Despite the blow to its nape by a Thunder Spear, it became clear to them all that this Titan was different, and the controller was not nestled within the neck. Confused, the Warhammer manifested a crossbow and aimed it at Eren, though to which Mikasa was able to remove and take him to nearby safety too.

With narrowed brows, Fury leaped to engage the Warhammer herself once again, having the focus on her as Eren used the time to figure out how the Warhammer was being controlled.
Fury released her second Thunder Spear to the Warhammer. This time the explosion took out one of its knees, though still not enough to incapacitate it. She wondered if its armour was more durable than that of the Armoured Titan itself. Scurrying across a rooftop, as the Warhammer manifested a sword to combat Fury, another sudden flash of lighting emerged as Eren reformed into his Titan. He slammed his hardened fist into the concrete ground beneath him and within his grasp, he pulled out the crystallised form of the lady who was controlling the Warhammer through what almost acted as a connected umbilical cord that attached both her shielded form to that of the foot of the Warhammer.

Fury's eyes widened upon seeing the bearer within the crystal, only to remember as being Willy's own sister, and therefore her auntie. She gritted her teeth, and yet knew this was inevitable the day she walked out 2 years ago and became their enemy. As Eren began smashing the crystal onto the ground, he then became suddenly overwhelmed by a second Titan assault, coming from the new bearer of the Jaws Titan, that now tried to clench such around Eren's nape. He was then swift enough to tear his enemy off him, though only after it inflicted injury to Eren of its own using its claws as a sweeping attack.

"Eren!" Mikasa cried, ready to lunge to his rescue. Though a sweeping attack of their own came from Levi, who watched from above. His attack was swift enough to remove the bottom jaw of the Jaw Titan itself. Fury almost lunged herself, though more so to assist Levi than to help Eren. In this momentary incapability to attack, Eren used the chance to place the Warhammer's crystalized form between the jaws of the Jaw Titan. Raising both above his head as Eren clenched the jaw shut, causing the crystal to shatter, and from it poured the blood that Eren now consumed himself, absorbing the power of the Warhammer Titan.

In shock, the Jaw Titan, using its claws, swiped at Eren's wrist to which released him from his grasp, as the smaller Titan then proceeded to reconnect its jaw for use.
"... that must have been the Ackerman War Chief Zeke warned us about that just attacked me!" The Jaw hissed to itself.

But it halted, to its own shock, as a mass of Scouts began to flutter around him, causing confusion as he had never seen mere humans daring enough to fight against a Titan itself. Fury came to anchor and land herself next to Levi. Behind him scouted Sasha, Conny, Jean, Floch and Isaah, who awaited orders.

"Regret?" Levi simply directed the single word to Fury who had witnessed her own family being slaughtered by Eren himself.

"No regrets." She would answer. "The shithead might have attacked sooner than we all agreed to, but Willy needed stopping. His voice alone was enough to have others rally with Marley to attack us." Fury then turned to those behind her to address them with orders. "Scout the area, and place your flares for Hange in the blimp! And keep an eye out for the Cart and for Zeke! They're still showing their Titan's yet…"

"Is this all necessary, Squad Leader?" Floch called out. Reluctant to still fight. "What Eren is doing is right, isn't it? This was what we were going to do anyway, assault this place? Shouldn't we be helping him?"

Jean hissed. "Are you kidding me? You're gonna give us that bullshit now? Just do as you're ordered to do! Move out, guys!"

"Isaah…" Fury muttered, the older boy himself now turning, all dressed in their new 3DMG and uniforms. "Follow Jean's lead when you're with him." He nodded, sending out an anchor to follow those already left to place the beacon's for Hange, Armin and Onyankopon.

"Brat's done well to adapt to this new stuff." Levi spoke, now just the two veterans atop the roof.

"New stuff?" She questioned. "We're old. Too old for change. We're still using cutters here…"

"They still get the job done."

Fury hummed, reverting back to Isaah. "He went from a kid living in a forest to now attacking things that were never a threat to him. He's adapted well."

"You worry for him. Stop trying to not make it obvious." Levi huffed, leaving Fury to frown.

"Is it any more or less care than you have for the rest of them? They're not fodder… They're comrades."

"Look at you. Caring." He flicked at her hair, taking notice that she finally cut it. "Why leave one side longer?" Fury scoffed. "Did you cut it wrong?" Her lack of reply was her confession. "At least it looks better than it did. All scraggly looking."

The tired female sighed. She noted earlier that she was now halfway through her 30s, Levi more so. Was this to be her way of life from now on? Fighting? Babysitting Eren still? It was noted even by others that Fury herself had become less frowned. She woke often from nightmares, and voices still echoed in her head, to the point she has sometimes spoken back. Levi, though concerned for her mentality as the years went on, simply knew she had to figure this out for herself.
"So… waiting for Zeke, right?" Fury subtly asked, taking a knee.

"Yeah…" Now Levi frowned, recalling his promise to Erwin. "Not too happy that we have to play pretend with him, but if it stops you from getting pregnant, and it stops more bloodshed, so be it."

Fury paused for a moment. "Same couldn't be said about Historia. Poor kid is months into her pregnancy now…"

"A choice she made to protect the rest of us. Zeke wouldn't have negotiated without it. My only concern is why he let you also getting pregnant go so easily. I can't help but wonder if he's been in touch with Eren whilst he's been here for the last 2 years."

Fury looked up to Levi. "Eren was sending you letters often, right? Did he not mention anything?"

Levi shook his head, pulling out a watch from his inner pocket, noting Zeke should be appearing soon, under the pretence he was here to attack Eren. "The sooner we leave this place, the better. The longer we stay, the more chance we lose our own people."

Though Fury listened, she did not reply. Her thoughts lingered to Willy's speech, and the truth he offered. To think it was the Tybur family themselves that convinced the King to kill Bloodborn's, it somewhat made sense to her now as she recalled Hexis telling her that the Tybur family has long been known to be greedy and selfish. And though they were no real family to her, Fury, with a saddened heart, gave slight hope that Willy's children were not caught in this mess and were still alive. If there's any hope to be given, it's to those who are still of innocent minds.