Chapter One
Found you. . .
I have to—!
Ymir rolled forward on the ground, her breathing heaving as the heaviness of her limbs felt more and more prominent. She had a hard time seeing in the darkness, her grey eyes shining with a bright hue in the darkness of the night. The rustle of the grass, of the branches of the trees behind her, was enough to get her full attention. That moment, she knew they were nearby, even with injuries, she ran faster as steam began to rise from the wounds.
She heard gunshots in the near distance, and a bullet grazed her cheek. Fear was overwhelming her body, but the need to keep moving forward—to reach the manor—was stronger than anything she felt within her body.
Why can't they believe in peace, we could have talk things out! The young woman thought desperately inside of her mind. The steam stopped appearing, and Ymir quickly ducked behind a tree that had its trunk covered in bushes and began to hold her breath. The sounds of footsteps were heard, as branches snapped at the mere contact with them.
"Where is she!?"
"She has to be nearby, there is no way for a devil to run faster than us!"
Ymir narrowed her eyes, looked around, grabbed a rock, and threw it as far as possible from her current position.
They soon reacted.
"Quickly, search that area!"
The footsteps quickly quieted away, and Ymir gasped for air. She got up, not bothering to clean up her clothes that were stained away by mud and insects, and ran toward the mansion.
Another pair of footsteps perked up her ears. Ymir turned around and found someone aiming a rifle at her head.
"You—!" Ymir reacted as fast as she could.
A gunshot was heard within the night, cutting her off. . .
Wallace Tybur reread the letter once more, and then pocket it inside of his suit pocket. He glanced at the side, watching the passing trees through the window as he reached his destination. The carriage pulled over next to the gate for the internment zone, and he stepped out, the wind of the cold night brushing against his skin. A shiver ran down his spine, but he shook his body to send the shivers away as two guards walked up to him.
One of the guards was big in body size, tall and slightly muscular while the other was slimmer, but had a fierce look on his face fitting for a soldier. Wallace prepared himself for the questions that no doubt would arise from his sudden appearance in the middle of the night, but he had been waiting for these quite someday now, there was no backing off from this.
"Mr. Tybur, what are you doing here?" The slim guard asked, evident confusion in his voice. "You should stay away from this place. We, Marleyans, wouldn't want you getting into this filthy place."
I don't have any reason to be away from my people. Wallace spoke in his mind but painted a pleasant smile on his face. "Thanks for the words, gentlemen, but I want to check up on something inside of the internment zone. I do hope that there wouldn't be any trouble if I go inside of ten minutes."
"Only ten minutes?" The tall guard pressed further.
Wallace continued to smile as he answered with a nod. "Only ten minutes, that's all I need."
The guard looked at each other and nodded, having some kind of unspoken conversation. One of them—the slim one—quickly made his way into the small compartment near the gate while the other went to open said metal gate. The slim guard came back, with a hand lamp with a fire burning inside, and gave it to Wallace, who grabbed it with care. The Tybur looked at the gate to see one of its doors open, and the tall guard nodded his head toward the internment zone.
"Only ten minutes," The tall guard reminded. "Nothing more, nothing less."
"Thank you." Wallace stepped inside of the internment zone.
He walked further inside, and once he was away from the gate, he retrieved the letter from his suit pocket and read its contents once more.
"Straight, right, left straight, left, right, right. You'll know who it is once you are there." He murmured beneath his breath and did as the note told him. After reaching the last part of the instructions left inside of the letter, he came to a stop and looked around as he pocketed the letter once more. There was no one nearby, only silence could be found. Wallace moved a little bit farther and even heard his sole tamping on the rocky ground's echo within the street.
He was sure he could hear his breathing loudly, too.
Looking around, the green-eyed blonde gazed over the streets of the internment zone with guilt and sadness flashing over his eyes.
His people were inside of this place but only because the Tybur family schemed for this to happen alongside Karl Fritz. He had seen the memories of his predecessors, and he had seen the pact that had been made—the pact the sealed the fate of Eldians on both sides.
The ones in Marley were treated horribly.
The ones inside of the walls were living peacefully, waiting for the day they die without knowing the outside world.
"Why didn't you simply do something more proactive. . ." Wallace murmured, low enough for no one other than himself being able to hear it, the memory of the king appearing on his mind. "You could have done something better than. . . this. Now, the Tyburs have to our best, but we need—"
Breathing.
Wallace snapped his head at the side and saw a bundle of clothes moving up and down. His mind raced with thought, is that a person? And grimaced at the thought of someone being abandon to die in a condition like this. The blonde man looked around, and with no one in sight, he walked closer to the bundle of clothes. He gently touched it and shook it slightly.
"Are you ok there?" Wallace asked, kneeling. He puts the hand lamp at the side and frowned once no one responded. Using his fingers, he removed part of the clothes, and the sight left him in shock.
There was a girl inside of the bundle of clothes.
Olive skin was revealed by the light from the hand lamp. Green eyes staring and grey ones, and the black disheveled hair that no one had taken care of. Wallace continued to absorb the information. Slightly sunken cheeks, a barely visible collarbone, and the olive skin that was shivering with great madness. These conditions he had seen before through his memories of Marleyan orphans that were left behind, but they received help in the end.
Eldians, however, wouldn't have such a luxury.
"But, I know there is an orphanage somewhere nearby," Wallace said. "All I have to do is sent this girl there and continue looking tomorrow—"
As soon as Wallace touched the girl's skin, he felt like a thunderbolt struck his body without warning. His body paralyzed instantly, his eyes continue to stare at the girl as his hand was numb, and couldn't move it. The girl reached out, her tiny little hand grasping his sleeve.
Then, Wallace remembered what the letter had written inside.
". . .You'll know who it is once you are there."
A smile plastered all over his face as his body began to work just fine once again. He quickly opened up the hand lamp and burned the letter away. Wallace scooped the girl in one of his arms and grabbed the hand lamp with his free hand, then he moved toward the gate once more. He did the walk as quickly as he could, catching the girl staring at him with curiosity above anything else.
"Children will always be curious." He remembered his mother saying. "But your brother seems to be more curious than you."
He arrived at the gate, where both guards were waiting for him. The slim one quickly alerted his partner who opened the gate once more. Wallace walked outside but was soon stopped by the slim guard, who had taken notice of the small child on the Tybur's arm. He quickly looked at Wallace with confused eyes, and immediately inquired.
"Why do you have an Eldian child in your arms, Mr. Tybur?" The slim guard asked, raising an eyebrow. He was clutching his rifle in his left hand, and Wallace took notice of that. It meant chose your words carefully, in the world of unspoken rules.
"I'll be taking her with me," Wallace said calmly, as though he hadn't just said something outrageous for the Marleyan guards.
"Taking her with you!?" The tall guard's eyes bulged out. "Are you perhaps sick, Mr. Tybur? Why would you take an Eldian from the internment zone?"
"There is no such thing," Wallace tilted his head, giving the hand lamp to the slim guard as he faced the other one. "I simply wanted to take this one into the Tybur family."
"But-but-but. . . why!?" The slim guard demanded to know. "Why would you take in someone who hasn't done anything for Marley, someone with the same blood without atonement as her. Mr. Tybur, you must come to your sense, taking in someone from the internment zone will be next to impossible to achieve and besides, what good will thing child," He spat the word. "Could do to atone for its sins?"
Wallace narrowed his eyes, the smile never leaving his face as he answered. "You'll see. This child will show you how much it can atone for its sins as long as you allowed me to take care of it until it can do all it can for atonement."
The slim guard looked at the other one, who simply rubbed the back of his head. "We will alert our higher-up about this, you'll have to talk to him."
The slim guard gave an undignified noise, but his partner ignored him.
Wallace gave a genuine smile this time around. "Thank you." He nodded and walked toward his carriage.
He stepped inside and whispered at the rider. "Take me to my private house."
The carriage soon started moving as Wallace closed the door. Taking a deep breath, he looked down at the girl on his arms, who had fallen asleep somewhere in the journey to the carriage.
His mind quickly wandered with thoughts about everything that will happen from this onwards, everything he would have to do if he wanted to ensure the future of Eldians within Marley—or anywhere in the world wherever they are, even those who are considered as traitors by the Eldians of Marley—Those on the Paradise Island.
They soon reached his house, and Wallace stepped out. He walked toward the door and knocked, after five seconds, the door opened the reveal a maid on the other side of the door.
She had fair skin and blue eyes. Short-black hair parted to the right and was of average height, if even slightly taller, than the rest of the female population he had seen. The maid quickly looked surprised by Wallace's presence and leaned her head as she looked around him, and then behind him.
"What are you doing here at this hour, master Tybur?" The maid asked.
"I'm here to sleep in the house. . ." Wallace said before moving his arm with the child slightly. "And drop this one here, too."
The maid's eyes widened for a second before they went back into a more indifferent expression. "Who is this, master?"
"This will be the newest addition to the Tybur family." The Tybur stated. "I hope that you can take care of her while I resolve certain things tomorrow, Sophia."
The maid—Sophia—nodded her head in understanding. "Very well,"
Sophia moved out of the way, letting Wallace step inside of the house. The fresh air of cleaned furniture filled his lungs as he moved toward one of the rooms next to his. Going up the second floor, he turned left and walked down the hallway, opening the middle door of the three, he walked inside of it and quickly made his way to the bed.
He gently puts the child in the bed, pulling over the blanket to warm her body. The footsteps soon came to reach him, and he whirled around to see Sophia standing on the doorframe.
"What is her name?" Sophia asked, her voice betraying the lingering curiosity deep inside of her.
"Her name will be Ymir," Wallace answered.
Sophia's body hardened, and Wallace took notice of that. A certain memory flashed through his head, and he groaned inwardly as he heard the voice of Sophia speaking once again.
"Why?" There was anger deep beneath that simple question, a wave of anger that only someone that had been taught to hate that name could have.
Wallace should have known.
The hardest part of his plan is having to make people outside of his family agree with it. That also comes with accepting to be with someone named after the so-called Devil, Ymir Fritz.
"I don't have an explanation that would prove satisfactory for you, but please don't let that name doom your perception of her," Wallace said. "The only thing that she has done so far is simply being born into this world, and there is nothing wrong with that."
Sophia glared at the child on the bed so hard that it seemed that she wanted the child to burn on the spot.
Wallace sighed and walked up to the maid. "Sophia, get some sleep, tomorrow we will talk about it when we have the chance, as she will mostly in your care from now on."
Sophia was silent, and nodded, before going to her quarters.
Wallace sighed even further than before. He took a deep breath, his green eyes growing with new resolve as he moved to his room. The blonde walked inside and sat on his bed, leaning his head on the back of his hands
Father, Grandfather. . . I will make your mission come true. After this day, the only thing we can do is keep moving forward, for the sake of everyone else.
Wallace went to sleep, for tomorrow will be a busy day for him.
Sophia stood by the doorframe, watching the child from her location with hatred daring to spill from her eyes. She lifted her hand, a knife being held by her grip, turning her knuckles white. Taking a deep breath, and after confirming that Wallace was still asleep in his room, Sophia carefully moved toward the child on the bed, raising her knife for a single and clean stab.
She hesitated, though, when she saw the face of the child. Innocent and sleepy, someone who had done nothing wrong in this life.
The blue-eyed woman shook her head, steeling herself. No, I cannot afford to hesitate. My parents would be proud. Killing someone with her name. The maid walked closer, preparing herself to strike when the words of Wallace rang within her mind.
"The only thing that she has done so far is simply being born into this world, and there is nothing wrong with that."
Sophia gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. She put down the knife, staring at the girl on the bed. The maid looked to the right, seeing the mirror that was reflecting her, and seeing her image, herself carrying a knife ready to kill someone just because they had a name, made her stomach turned around in on itself.
"What are you doing?" Wallace's voice came, and Sophia's heart almost burst out of her chest.
Sophia turned around after hiding the knife up to her sleeve and setting her neutral expression, hiding what she had tried to do earlier. The maid simply tilted her head.
"I was watching Lady Ymir sleep." She said.
The Tybur narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Don't lie, Sophia, I know perfectly what you tried to do to Ymir."
Sophia's heart dropped and the blood drained from her face. She should have known that Wallace would know about it sooner or later. The maid stood quiet, not doing a single noise as Wallace looked at her from head to toe, his eyes slid to watch Ymir sleeping, her chest moving up and down, her mouth drooling.
The girl squealed as she tried to grasp something, and Sophia stiffened her body. The sound of an innocent child would forever be inside of her mind now, and the black-haired woman tried her absolute best in doing giving away anything within her emotions. Wallace walked closer to Ymir and motioned Sophia to get closer, too.
"Look at her," Wallace said softly. "Someone so innocent and so pure who has had a rough start in life."
Sophia said nothing.
"I know that your parents had taught you a lot of things, some of them to hate while others to like, but you shouldn't let their teachings simply dictate your life," Wallace stated, giving a companionate look at the maid.
Sophia, again, said nothing.
"What I ask you is give Ymir a chance before you decide your opinion about her," Wallace said as he nudged Ymir awake.
The girl peeled her eyes open and looked around her. Her grey eyes landed on the green of Wallace, and then the blue ones of Sophia. The orphan sat on the bed, and looked at both adults with curiosity, then she stretched her arms toward Sophia, who looked split at the action. The maid looked at the master of the house, who looked like he wanted her to hold the girl, and opened his hand.
Sophia sighed, and slipped the knife from her sleeve, and gave it to Wallace, who nodded approvingly. The maid faced Ymir and lifted her by the armpit until the girl was sitting on her arms. The child began to touch Sophia's face, looking around and giggled as she did so, making the maid's heart skip a beat.
"Sophia," Wallace called out, catching the maid's attention. "I'll do many things today, please look after Ymir until I come back, understood?"
"Yes, master," Sophia said, looking back at Ymir.
"Then, I'll go and change." Wallace walked out of the room, leaving Sophia alone with Ymir.
The woman sighed, and touched Ymir's cheeks, feeling how little skin she had. I'll have to prepare something for her. She grabbed the child's mouth and opened it slightly. Good, she has teeth.
Sophia walked out of the room, Ymir in arms, but once she did, she couldn't help but wonder if there was something amiss. It was a feeling within her mind, as though something had slipped from Wallace's and her minds.
"Are there any news about Wallace?"
"Sorry, Madam, but nothing has been found about him yet."
Madam Tybur—or Klara Tybur, for her family and close one—sighed as she rubbed her temples, the feeling of her years finally appearing on her face. She had brunette hair, long enough below her chin and dark eyes. She was still wearing her nightgown when the news had spread around the manor that her eldest child decided to go out in the night to do something and still hasn't come back.
She heard someone clicking their tongue beside her.
"What is this brother of mine doing? We have things more important to do than playing hide and seek!"
Who spoke was Wallace's younger brother, Larry Tybur. A young man with blonde hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a white shirt and trousers, and the scowl on his face seemed to scare off some of the staff of the manor away.
"Calm down, Larry. I'm sure your brother will have a very reasonable explanation." Klara tried to reason, but it seemed her son's anger was bigger.
"No, mother!" Larry exclaimed, sitting on the chair in front of his mother. "He has been going out for a couple of days now. What would the people say if they discover that a Tybur was doing something so suspicious as that? Out predecessors sacrifice could go through the mud if he continues to do this, we cannot afford to get the eyes of the Marleyan higher-ups on us."
There was a knock on the door, and one of the maids went to attend to it. Larry continued to talk with his mother, trying to get to scold Wallace went he came back when both of them heard the door closing. The maid had a letter on her hands.
"What's that?" Larry asked, narrowing his eyes. Letters at this hour weren't good signs for him. It could mean his brother did something stupid.
"A latter, Master Larry." The maid politely said, smiling. Larry clicked his tongue.
"Larry, calm down," Klara said once more, and then turned to the maid. "Tell us who sent the letter."
"Stefan Weber," The maid said, eyes widening in the process. Larry froze on the spot, while Klara frowned.
"The famous Marleyan General?" Klara questioned, getting a nod. "What does it say? Tell us without saying anything very important or confidential."
The maid nodded and began to read. The more she read, the more her eyes became wider until they appear saucers. "It's about Master Wallace,"
"Oh, great. What did he do?" Larry groaned, putting his face on his hands before getting shushed by his mother.
"It appears. . ." The maid had trouble speaking out, but shook her head and said it nonetheless. "That he is going to adopt an Eldian orphan."
The temperature dropped in the room. Klara Tybur was soon replaced by Madam Tybur, her eyes blazing with cold and muted fury. What?
It seemed, though, that Larry voiced out Madam Tybur's thought quite nicely.
"What?!"
This is the revised version of Chapter One.
A/N: Give me your thoughts about it.