Chapter 85
A Sightless Tomorrow
The rain fell hard. Absorbing into clothes and making shoulders become heavier than they already were upon getting back to Paradis.
Eren was taken into custody – sent straight behind bars, while his brother remained in cuffs and heavily watched. But there was silence from most. A loss of two comrades hit everyone hard. Mikasa stood over Sasha's grave, with Conny and Jean stood respectfully behind her; each giving one another the space needed to grieve over their friend.
Fury took her self aside to travel with Isaah's body, back to the village she first met him in. Levi accompanied her – out of concern for her mental stability. He knew she mothered Isaah, though admitting it would be impossible. And while Levi stayed by their horses, Fury, covered in wet dirt from tending a newly dug grave, now sat before it on the dampened ground. Her legs tucked to her waist as her arms latched around them, and she stared at mound in which Levi had helped place Isaah's body into before covering it. There wasn't even time to have his name engraved onto stone.
Several times, her bottom lip would tremble, but her eyes remained dry and distant. Her metaphorical tears fell down her cheek from the rain that landed upon them. Thunder then rippled through the clouds; the rain falling heavier, and suddenly, a Scouting cloak was placed around her from Levi, who himself pulled his hood up. He noticed the other burial mound now next to Isaah's, and remembered Fury saying the two of them buried his mother upon returning from seeing the ocean.
"Fury…" His voice was low, yet tender. "We can't stay here forever. You know that…"
She would respond, though not before wiping the rain water off her face. "I left Isaah out of my notebook, you know. The one I held on to while I was out here for those 4 years and then handed to Erwin. I didn't want this place to be known about, let alone of the innocence that was within. Hell, none of them knew how to barely use a bow and arrow for their hunting." Fury leaned forward slightly and began to tidy up the burial mound by picking out the worms that were already presenting themselves through the dirt that had been dug. "Found the kid annoying, at first. He was so awe struck from my ODM and my dull cutters. Caught him trying to pick them up one day. But I don't remember being angry. More so worried he'd damn hurt himself…"
"Kids are curious." Levi muttered.
"He asked, over and over, if he could come and see the Walls when I leave. I just scoffed. He didn't realise how dangerous it was out there, but he was the only kid in this village who seemed to want more from life than just the village itself. A part of me respected that…"
"Is this why you wanted to come back here during Rod Reiss's rampage?" Levi would ask.
Fury would just nod. "I didn't want anyone else to die because of me… And now look. It's happened again. When will all this death stop?"
Levi blinked slowly. "When the fighting decides to stop. Until then, you and I both know we have to keep pushing." A small pause, before he would speak again. "When was the last time you heard voices?" Unlocking her arms from around her legs, Fury then looked back over to Levi, but with no answer. "You know what I'm talking about."
She inhaled. A sigh followed. "I block them out."
Levi wasn't convinced, but he knew this wasn't the time to further question. "I'll be dealing with Zeke from here on out. Hange wants him kept away from Eren, and so the plan was made for me to take him into the forest with a handful of Scouts to keep an eye on him."
Standing to her feet, and then tucking some of her hair behind her ear, Fury's eyes still remained eyeing the mound below her. "I'll be joining you with that."
"I don't think that's wise." Levi would frown. "He still wants that Bloodborn child of his, and I thought he killed you too, back in Liberio."
"Oh, his throw." Fury scoffed. "Jean managed to pull me into a nearby building before the ape's pebbles made contact. Thank him, if anything." She then placed a hand on the side of her waist, recalling the injury she did receive from it too. But that wasn't what was hurting, right now. "I need to be there. Keep my own eyes on him. He's taken Erwin and Isaah. You think you're the only one wanting him dead for what he done to us all?"
Levi could give no response, other than the minor shake of his head with his still furrowed brows. He couldn't keep her away, even if he barked at her to do so. The man was in handcuffs. What could he do now, Levi thought to himself? "We'll be setting off tomorrow. We'll most likely be out there for some time, so supplies will have to be brought with us too, so don't forget anything."
"Don't you worry about that…" Fury would softly hiss, frowning herself. "I'll have everything I'll need." She then turned to Levi. "Can I just have a few minutes alone? Please?" Levi would give his nod, and with a brief gaze up at the darkened sky, would take his walk back over to the horses that now pulled an empty cart.
Fury herself then removed the Scout cloak from around her, and would gently place it on top of the grave mound of Isaah, wanting to keep his burial as dry as possible. "Why did you have to make such a stupid promise?!" She would hiss, clenching her eyes closed. "This is why even the likes of Levi doesn't make them. It should have been me on that blimp, me! You could've still been alive and with hope you'll see another tomorrow…" She opened her eyes, only for her hues to shake momentarily upon thinking she saw Isaah then standing over his own grave. It startled Fury, causing her to gasp and throw herself backwards, all while Levi remained watching, knowing fine well his friend was struggling with her burdens she didn't need to carry alone, but had to deal with in her own way, somehow.
She took a deep breath, wiping her eyes to then see no one was there. "I'm sorry…" Fury then trembled with a quiet but shaky breath. "I've been barely able to look after myself, let alone a kid… But you were smart, for your age. Such a young age… Ymir, if you can hear me, you better not be holding him back from being at peace. You made me. You made Bloodborn's. So what the hell do you want?!" Of course, no answer. Fury got onto her feet once more, her shirt now soaked from the seeping water it now absorbed from the rain. Her hair dripping, no longer able to absorb more water itself. And then, a hand landed upon her shoulder. She turned, and it was Levi. It was always Levi. And he was all she had left now.
"I'll be alright." Fury would assure him, though his grip tightened, wanting to pull her away from the boy she buried in a place that was always safe, to him. And in her mind, she would make sure to come back, should she survive what's to come herself. With Eren becoming a sudden threat, and with Zeke having most on edge, no one could shake the feeling that Liberio was just a beginning to a later end.
As Fury and Levi then turned away from the mound, one last look from her was given. Day by day, she felt herself slowly becoming less like the Fury most knew her for. But in her mind, now, before she wanted to set her angered emotions onto Zeke, she wanted to give Eren a visit. To ask him why. And to may be show him that she was not someone who was against the decisions he made.
