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"Two days in this madness.. surrounded by a bunch of defiled bastards.." You muttered to yourself in disbelief as you watched Nicolo prepare lunch, "You know, you don't have to cook for them."

"..what choice do I have?" The blonde male sighed as he continued cooking. Behind you, were none other than the group that kept you hostage, they were staring hungrily at the seafood on the table.

"Is this your first time having seafood?" Yelena asked them with a smile on her face, "Nicolo is a master of Marleyan cooking."

"Dammit, why do I have to.." Upon hearing Yelena's words, everyone started staring at Nicolo as he scoffed, "You eldians are free to not eat it. Why would I want any of you to.."

The hostile atmosphere was broken once the russet haired girl of the group rushed to the table and started eating in a manner you'd never witnessed before, and you tried your best not to snort.

"Hey!" A grey haired male shouted, "Not fair, Sasha!"

"You can't eat the whole thing alone, you pig!" Another guy added.

"Mister Nicolo!" 'Sasha' cried out as she looked at him teary-eyed, "You're a genius!"

Your eyes immediately darted at Nicolo and you noticed the faint blush on his cheeks. "Don't even think about it, Nicolo." You warned, yet he ignored you and walked towards the table to the russet haired girl as he held two plates of food in his hands. "L-learn some manners!"

"I've never had something like this before!"

"There's still some left, you don't need to rush anything!"

You heaved a sigh and observed them, and if you wouldn't count in the fact that they were devils.. they seemed normal.

You still couldn't just accept them, it was so surreal to you, even every second you spent on this island felt hellish. You missed home, and deep down you wished for a miracle to happen, you wished for someone to save you.

You and your comrades were forced to sleep in tents near the harbor while it got guarded day and night, aside from that, you still hadn't made peace with the volunteers who'd betrayed your team.

"Hey!" You heard someone shout and glanced at the table, "Join us!" The ocean-eyed boy said as you shook your head vigorously. "As if I'd sit at the same table as you, not to mention even share lunch.."

You spit out the words like venom as your features etched into a grimace. Though you couldn't help but remember the fight from a couple days ago. You were sure that you had broken his nose, and yet there he was without a single bruise on his face.

You didn't even want to think of him being another titan shifter.

"Are you alright, (Y/n)?" You heard the familiar voice of your blonde friend as he offered you the slice of pizza on the counter.

"Thank you." You said as you gingerly took it from his hand. Just when you were about to take a bite off it, your eyes met with Yelena's and all of sudden you felt your gut twist. Even though you tried your best to hide it, all you felt was resentment.

A resentment that stemmed from the darkness, like an illness you couldn't cure. Resentment, that blocked out all reason and sentenced you to an imprisonment of your own paranoia, and the intensity of the suffocating emotion you felt, made it all the more difficult for you to hide it, causing you to fail miserably.

You furrowed your eyebrows as you found yourself unable to eat in their presence and decided to walk away, not minding Nicolo who called out for you. Your own thoughts were the only thing in your focus as you blocked out everything and everyone around you. So focused that you weren't looking ahead and bumped into someone, causing the pizza in your hands to fall on your white button-up shirt.

"What the hell?!" You screeched in shock as you wiped off the pizza and the remnants of it from your shirt. You dared to look up and squinted your eyes once you saw the culprit. It was none other than the red-head who had restrained you as couple days ago, and no matter how irritating those eldians were to you, this guy was even more irritating.

His hazel eyes met your (e/c) ones, his stare was intense enough to compete with yours as he shoved you aside, "Get out of my way.."

"Excuse you?!" You growled, he had shoved you, he really had the audacity to shove you aside. "You should get out of my way, you filthy descendant of the devil!"

At your words, he suddenly turned around, glaring at you with such ferocity you couldn't apprehend. "I think you should know your place." He seethed, clenching his fists in annoyance.

"You should know yours!" You hissed as you inched closer to him, causing everyone at the table to turn around and stare at the two of you. For a moment, just for a single moment, there was utter silence, the only sound being the breeze of the sea, but then his laughter disseminated the quietude, sarcasm fused his words, "You're telling me to know my place, Miss 'prisoner-of-war'?"

His choice of words were vigorous and deliberate. He was trying to intimidate you. The intention was to get on your nerves, which you guessed as much, and yet you couldn't help but let your emotions get the better of you.

"I'm a prisoner?" Your voice was strained, the disbelief auscultated. "I wasn't the one, who had been doomed to be caged inside those walls for a century!"

His amused expression changed, instead his lips etched into a firm line. "We've always had the choice to go beyond those walls. You, on the other hand, don't have a choice."

You inhaled a sharp breath, your face flustered from anger as you stopped talking and stared at him, your eyes holding a seriousness even you didn't know you were capable of.

"What's the matter, ran out of things to say?" He cooed, and before you had the chance to respond, an ash-brown haired guy got in-between the two of you.

"Geez, what the hell do you both think you're doing?" He asked, causing you to cross your arms in annoyance. "Hey, Floch. Let's not do this to our volunteers, especially not at a time like this."

"That filthy, air-headed, Marleyan-harlot started it." 'Floch' added shamelessly.

"'Volunteers', my ass!" You interjected lividly, "And you.. mind your language, stupid Floch!"

"(Y/n), don't add fuel to the fire." The guy in between the two of you said.

"Whatever."

"Seems like Floch found someone new to pick on, Armin." The grey haired guy at the table told the ocean-eyed one, which you now knew as 'Armin' as he smiled nervously at your direction.

"Oh.." You seethed, "You think that's so damn funny, huh? You heartless bastards."

"I think you should calm down." The ash-brown haired male suggested as he put a reassuring hand on your shoulder, which you anxiously slapped away, "Don't touch me."

"Have fun knocking sense into that one, Jean." The red-head snickered, "She's worse than Eren used to be back a year ago."

His remark just infuriated you even more, "Shut up, stupid Floch.. don't compare me to that founder devil!"

"I thought your vocabulary would expand beyond the usual insults, guess I was wrong."

Your heart thrashed against your chest as you felt like your anger was about to explode into rage. "Filth like you has no right to tell a honorary Marleyan warrior like me what to do! You.. aren't even humans, all it takes is some titan spinal fluid to turn you all into giant, man-eating monsters!"

You saw the shocked faces of everyone around you, and before they were able to interject, Yelena stepped in. "Excuse her impolite behaviour, please. I'll talk to her."

The ash-brown haired guy nodded at her as Yelena grabbed your upper-arm, "No, you won't!" You protested, but it was to no avail, she dragged you away from everyone, in hopes that talking might solve everything.

"Yelena, what are you doing?!" You asked, unable to trust your friend's decisions anymore as you tried to yank your arm away. "Just shut up and move.. if you want to save Marley.."

"What..? Save Marley? Thanks to your betrayal there will be nothing left of it."

She stopped walking and turned around to face you, "If you don't want Eren Yeager to destroy Marley, we have to play nice.." Her eyes narrowed "The volunteers are here for a reason, you know."

"So.. you haven't betrayed us?" You asked wide-eyed.

"No, I haven't." She replied reluctantly, avoiding your gaze. "Just don't get in trouble, and don't get me in trouble. Stop picking fights with everyone, okay?"

You nodded, a relieved sigh erupting from your lips. "I still don't understand, what do the volunteers have anything to do with this? They were one of our soldiers.."

"Those people were forced to join the Marleyan military because they have no homeland, I had to somehow gain their trust.. in order to do that, I had to kill the captain." She explained.

"But.. what exactly is the plan, and how did you come up with it?" You questioned her as your relieved expression was replaced with a frown. So many questions were running through your head and you didn't even know where to start.

"Don't ask for details, It's all just part of Zeke's fail-safe plan."

"I need to know." You insisted.

"I can't tell you yet, but when the time comes, I'll let you in on it."

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