Chapter 88
The Forest
/ - sorry it's been a long while since the last update! Had a few things going on IRL, so I hope this new part breaks any patience any you guys had!
Also, Isaah's surname of " Danner " that is shown further down is German for someone who lives in or near a forest :3
A single bullet rippled through the air. And walking away from it was Hange - wiping her eyes as she set the firearm down next to a cart she had been building to place Levi on for when they needed to travel. "I still can't believe everyone got turned into Titans…" Hange would sigh, approaching Fury, who was replacing Levi's bandages that had already absorbed too much blood.
Almost a week they had been hidden within the forest of trees and bushes. And each day, Hange had to pull the trigger on any approaching Scout; each one she shed a tear for in return. "I'm still surprised Levi survived, honestly. It must be the same reason those injuries aren't killing him, too."
"He's an Ackerman." Fury would interject. A nod followed by Hange in response.
"What do we do now, Fury?" Hange then solemnly asked. Her head lowered into the palms of her hands. "It's not like us three can stop Zeke and Eren. Bloodborn you may be, but Ymir made damn well sure Titan Shifter's can't be controlled."
Fury narrowed her expression. "Hopefully Armin or Pixis has some idea what to do next."
"Yes, but, even if Eren does betray Zeke at this point, his little followers will be in rule of our home and in possession of Zeke's spinal fluids. Which in turn means we'll be on the run for the rest of what this life has for us. Maybe… It's our turn. Even though I think we're doing the right thing here, once everything changes, we'll be the ones in a cell. Hell, me, you and Levi should just live out here. What do you think?"
Fury huffed as he eyes directed their way to Levi. "I think he'd complain too much about all the dirt, honestly."
Hange, for the first time in a long while, would chuckle in return. The loudness of it stirred Levi into sitting up, causing both girls to rush over to him. Hange herself pushing him back to return laying down. " I can't believe that Eren has gone and done it, though. Collapsed those walls we've been so familiar with only to set free a stampede of Colossal Titans. We sit here, now, unable to even think properly from how much everything rumbles beneath us..."
"Hange? … Fury." Levi would stutter. " … that piece of shit…"
"Please just rest." Fury would insist, checking him over.
"Zeke went to Shiganshina with Floch, by the way." Hange would then inform. "Over a week has nearly passed since then… and Eren now leads his apocalypse towards Marley."
Levi grimaced. Both from inner turmoil and the pain his body endured. "I screwed up… I failed to notice his true motives… And it ended up with me letting him get away, again…"
"We both want our revenge on Zeke…" Fury spoke softly after noticing Levi looking at his two missing fingers from his trigger hand. "But -"
"If you keep running away… If we keep hiding… what will we have left?" Levi would ask.
Hange pushed up her glasses. "Heard me talking about us living out here, did you?"
Levi would huff as his thumb pointed its way to Hange's half-built cart. "Don't tell me that thing is to be pulled by horses with me on it? Huh… It's not like either of you to shy away from a fight."
"He's right…" Fury would affirm. "You're right.
"Besides, my goal is to still kill Zeke."
"Our interests align!" Hange would protest. "Theo Magath. Pieck Finger."
Standing before the trio stood a man; finger on the trigger of his gun and the Cart Titan towering above him, with a woman slightly removed from its nape so that she could converse more openly. Behind them moved the mass of Titans released by Eren, destroying all beneath their feet whilst their steam kept hidden the monstrosity that became of Eren in his new Titan form.
"Levi Ackerman." Magath would huff. "I heard your skill rivals the Titans. But look at you now. " His eyes then darted to Fury, who stood next to Levi - who was seated on Hange's makeshift cart - with her hood up. But her facial features did not go unnoticed to man familiar with the Tybur family. "And you. The outcast Tybur and for all we know the only Bloodborn left breathing. And yet you can't do a damn thing about Eren Jaeger, who has allowed those Colossal Titans in your wall to begin their stampede over this world. Hell, you've barely done a thing, really. Are you even prepared to dodge my bullet?"
"No one can dodge a bullet." Fury would affirm. "But we've all presented ourselves to you, an enemy, in the state that we are in because we're not stubborn enough to hide the fact we can't deal with Eren on our own. So are you going to shoot me? Or will you shut that mouth of yours and just listen?"
Magath ponders. "Then before I shoot, I have to ask something. You want to kill Zeke, yes? Your eyes make it clear. So where is he?"
Hange stepped forward. "I think Eren absorbed him! So that he can use his Royal Blood. Or should we say the Founding Titan."
"It seems you may know a bit about Titans, Hange Zoe?" Pieck would ask. "More so than any of the Marleyan's I know of. Have you seen this Founding Titan?"
"It's large." Hange would start her proclaimed answer. "Larger than any of those Colossal walking by us. And it's why we come to you to do this together. To combine our strengths. It's not just us three. There are more of us still alive in Shiganshina. Even another Ackerman. And I'm personally willing to bring them here, to us."
Magath and Pieck would peer at one another; with both subtly nodding. " The enemy of our enemies may also be our friends. So you bring the rest of your allies to us, Hange Zoe, and we will see how long this little union may last. In the meantime, I'm sure you won't mind if I stand here with my gun pointing at two of your most prized possessions - for I still have to wonder about your sincerity, after all."
"Go ahead." Fury would scoff. "I may not be able to do a damn thing to Eren, but you seem to have forgotten that normal people can still be targeted…"
"Ah!" Hange squealed, waving her hands. "She is just joking, of course! By all means, I understand your reasoning to want to remain safe."
"I must agree with you, Miss Hange." Pieck would chuckle. "For the Bloodborn says it herself, does she not? That us shifters can not be harmed by her. A retaliation would be a given if my friend here is harmed in any way."
Levi moved her peripherals over to Hange. "Go." He ordered.
"You can lower your guard now." Spoke Hange, returning with the likes of Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Conny and to the shock of mainly Levi, Reiner and Annie. And hidden behind them was Gabi and Falco. "Now we're all here, let me start putting some food on the fire and we can talk more openly; together."
"So you want us to all eat together after all the killing we've done to each other?" Conny would ask.
Magath lowered a bottle of alcohol from his mouth. " And yet here you all are, correct? If you just let Eren Jaeger get on with things, you'll all have the world you wished for. A paradise for an island full of devils. Huh… We were so close to stopping Eren and Zeke from coming into contact with each other. Had it not been for you all helping Eren, we would've succeeded."
"None of us wanted genocide." Hange would huff as she placed a pot of fresh water atop a roaring fire and would scoff. "You call us the devils; the bad guys, for just simply defending ourselves from the hell Marley caused our island to live in! We fought for our lives to avoid the teeth of those Titans you created and left for us to deal with. And yet you sit here and have the balls to say only devils would do this?!"
Magath would take a sip from his bottle. "Yeah. You all look like devils to me. The fears about Paradis have come true, and now the world we share is on the brink of collapse. The result of your struggles. Though if you want a History lesson, it was Eldia who was first to devastate Marley and put our people through hell."
"How long must you play victim to something that happened 2000 years ago?!" Jean would bark.
Hange would then interrupt with a clang of her spoon against the boiled metal pot of food. "Let's stop, shall we? Otherwise, we wouldn't be here trying to talk and eating my famous stew." "
"An argument about something no one was there to even see is tiring…" Fury would sigh, sitting next to a sleeping Levi after moving some of his bed hair out his way.
"So you're saying you see whose side Justice is on?" Magath would ponder.
"Justice?!" Jean narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows.
"She's right." Hange stirred. "The General here is just simply perplexed by our existence. To him, we're devils for considering abandoning our paradise just to save people who wanted us all killed anyway. We have seen first hand off life beyond the walls. We can never go back to the ignorant devils we once were."
Annie then stepped forward. "So are you going to kill him?" A silent stare came her way. "You know who I mean. Eren."
"Killing him isn't the only way to stop him." Mikasa would defend.
"Of course you'd say that." Annie huffed. " Then how? Persuasion? You think someone who made the decision to bring genocide to the human race would so easily be persuaded to not do that?"
"Not until we talk to Eren, then we won't ever know for sure." Armin would surmise.
Annie frowned. "Then let's pretend you managed to talk to him. What would you do if he refuses to stop? Has thinking of Eren as an enemy turned you all stupid? Typical. If those of us from Marley try to protect our home by killing Eren, you'll end up fighting us to protect him. Isn't that correct, Mikasa?" She would then smirk, directing her words to the Ackerman before her. "I'm sure there's nothing more precious to you in your life other than Eren."
Mikasa stepped forward, her brows narrowed and her gaze darkened. "So you want to kill me?"
Despite Annie meeting Mikasa's gaze, her expression softened towards her. "I get how you feel. For I also have reasons to want to stop Eren. I don't want my father to be killed. And that's why I need your help as much as you need mine. If you can persuade Eren to stop, great. At least we don't need to fight then."
"Alright, alright!" Hange called out. "Stop bickering and come get your food. We need to let our horses rest, anyway. It's still going to be a few hours' ride to reach Kiyomi, who's waiting for us at the harbor. According to her, there's a flying boat docked there. We can use that to get close to the Founding Titan!"
"... Must you all be so damn loud?" Awoke Levi, earning feared stares from his peers.
"Ah, the two I was just also thinking about." Magath would scoff from another sip of his bottle. "A useless Ackerman and a Bloodborn this world still does not need."
"This guy drinks more than Kenny ever did…" Fury would mutter as she handed some food to Levi and lowered her hood.
"Those eyes you have…" Magath continued. "Now you do remind me of Willy."
"Meaning?" Fury would hiss.
"Respected to the very end. Are you really okay with knowing that Eren Jaeger also took from you too?"
"Willy Tybur wanted nothing more than to invade this island and either kill all of us or enslave. And he was going to willingly issue that order knowing I lived here. If that's what you wish to respect, then good on you, old man."
"An Eldian who hated being an Eldian. Ironic, isn't it? Perhaps that's why he had no issue with seeing you die."
Fury frowned, taking in a spoon of Hange's stew. "I don't think you knew him at all, really. He was proud of his family. He was proud when he told me it was the Tybur's, 2000 years ago, that began the Blood Purge's. Sure, the man may have wanted me dead before I was even born, but the moment he knew a Bloodborn was born into his family… Ha… He sure saw it to be a way to redeem the past."
"And yet you still chose this island." Magath growled. "Was the choice worth it? Knowing what came next was Eren murdering that entire family?"
"A family that were strangers to me. But the kids… I never wanted anything to happen to them; just as Gabi and Falco also shouldn't be here among all this, despite the fact that little shithead killed someone important to us all, too! Not just one, but two people, in fact."
"I…-" Gabi stuttered, tears beginning to swell, the guilt still burning deep for her since she came to realize that people here were no different to those in Marley.
"Go on." Fury barked. "Can you even say their names?!"
"I'd lower that tone, if I were you…" Magath frowned as Fury got to her feet.
"Sasha Braus and Isaah Danner!" Fury would continue, it now obvious that she, too, still hurt from losing Isaah. "And you shot and killed both of them!" Both Conny and Jean lowered their heads when hearing Sasha's name.
Pieck, within her Cart Titan, then lowered its head to Fury's eye level. "Please, Miss Fury…"
But Fury paid no attention. Her brows lightened, as did her frown, and once more, she would raise her hood as she then sat back down. "You didn't let me finish." She would then sigh as her hues looked directly at the grief-stricken Gabi, whose tears fell down her young cheeks. "It's wrong that kids as young as them even got dragged into all of this."
"I-I'm so sorry!" Gabi would plead as she slammed her fists to the ground. "I thought what I did would bring a sense of pride to Marley. Eren's attack to us in Liberio killed my friends, too, and I wanted revenge. But I've seen what life is like over here, on this island that I was taught to believe was full of devils. I was even taken care of by Sasha's family, despite knowing I killed their daughter! Why can't we all just get along… Why? None of us here should be part of a feud that began 2000 years ago, but because we are, even my parents are most likely going to die by the Founder's doing…"
"Gabi…" Magath muttered, daring to reach his hand out to her before lowering it.
"Acting like you care for the girl now doesn't mean shit." Fury would hiss towards the man. "Marleyan, right? So that means you could've seen either of those two inherit a Titan and cut their lives short because of the 13 year curse from Ymir."
"A decision I'm starting to see may have been wrong…" Magath confessed. "But what of you? Do you care for any one but the Ackerman over there?"
"... I've learned to trust my comrades." Fury would open up. "I'm sure a lot of you know but for those that don't, my life started in the Underground. It was supposed to be safe should this day ever happen, but the place became riddled in thugs and filth. Down there, you really get to see the worst in people. And it left me wondering why I should care about anyone but me at all.
But then I met you all. I met Levi first, who took me in and fed me. Sure, I keep my guard up, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't put myself in front of anyone here to take a bullet for them, because I would. You lose so many people and you begin to realize how precious life is. And it's ironic that Eren, of all idiots, opened my eyes to that ; along with Erwin, and even you, Armin, with that dream you held on to. I may be useless to you all now, as a Bloodborn, but being that does not define me. There's no way in hell I'm sitting out of this fight if there's a small chance that I can be of some help. And I think it starts with reaching Ymir."
"... Fury." Jean would mutter. Mikasa herself nodding towards her and giving her approval of trust in return, despite her dislike of Fury over the years.
"What do you mean with it starting with Ymir?" Annie would ask.
"I got to talking to Fury in private." Hange coughed, still stirring her second batch of stew. "Bloodborn's were created from Ymir's will to take back control. So what if that means she can also be communicated with in Paths?"
"But we have no way in there unless we're pulled in by Eren?" Jean would question. "He only reached out to us on briefly."
"We all heard Eren's message, indeed." Fury would repeat. "Telling us he was going to destroy this world and free us. You don't at all think Ymir may have some influence over his decision? When he made contact with Historia, he must have seen the past and who knows how many futures. Maybe my concentration isn't just meant for control. Maybe it's also a way to contact Paths and reach out to Ymir?"
"Hell, it seems worth the try." Jean admitted.
Mikasa would then ask. "The moment we try to talk to Eren; the moment we try to change his mind, perhaps then is the right time for you to concentrate towards Ymir, Fury? We have to try anything before thinking our last option is to... kill him..."
"Honestly, you're right, and anything is worth trying at this point. I'm tired of all this damn death. We have no other option than trying to stop this shithead." She would answer.
"We should all make sure to sleep as best we can." Hange would appoint. "Tomorrow begins the biggest fight we'll ever have to endure together."