Five days had passed, and Historia vowed to make herself useful. She and Eren lived in the inn and would go out each morning to help the villagers prepare for winter: picking out fruits and vegetables from the gardens, running small errands, and helping with the farm animals. She didn't have to do any of it, for she was a new visitor, but she knew it was her duty. Although they were still wary about them, some of the other women in the village slowly began to respect the two teens. Upon seeing Historia's face, they'd smile and reward her for such a great effort. Eren, however, constantly shied away from them whenever he was being praised and declined any gifts. No matter how many of the younger women came around to greet him, he would just silently push them away. Historia did teach him how to socialize around others and how to do certain tasks, but he refused to let his guard down. When it came to the preparation of winter, he just did what Historia asked and spoke only when spoken to. After all, he was already used to it.

"Hey Eren," Historia called, after harvesting some crops from the gardens with him and putting them in wooden boxes. She stood up and picked one of them up to put it in a wagon and realized that she needed assistance with the other boxes. "Can you take those and put it in the wagon, please?"

Eren blinked and saw the rest of the boxes filled with vegetables. "Oh… of course." He picked himself up and took a box.

"Thank you." Historia said. "We're almost done… just a few more cases."

"I see," Eren nodded. He thought about something before reaching for another box and watched the other women in the distance who had been picking through the gardens. He noticed how some of them worked as a team, and how some of them joked around together. It annoyed him, watching them laugh.

Historia realized that her friend wasn't helping and paused. "What's the matter?" she asked. "Do you give up?"

"Why do you help them?" he softly questioned. The girl set the box down on the grass and stared at it. She knew what to say but didn't know how. Helping others was all she knew; being raised on a farm her whole life taught her to be compassionate and helpful. But for what?

"I don't know, really," Historia shrugged. "I suppose it's to return the favor. They allowed us to live here, after all. I'm just used to it."

"Aren't you afraid?" Eren turned to her.

"Afraid of what?"

"The ones who don't want us here."

Historia sighed. "Well… I doubt anyone would want to hurt us. They've been so kind… we earned their respect."

Eren folded his arms and glanced back at the women in the distance. "Looks can be deceiving."

"I agree with you, but-"

"One moment, they'll see you as saints… they'll praise you, ruffle your hair and tell you how much you mean to them. And soon, once they've had their fix, they'll drag you by your feet and listen to your cries of mercy as they shit on your potential."

Historia blinked, surprised by his sudden, dark use of language. "You cannot be serious…"

"Like I said before. You would not understand." Eren soon picked up the wooden box and placed it in the wagon like he was supposed to. Before he could pick up another one, Historia took his hand. "Then why did you ask that angry woman in the tavern to stop?"

Eren fell silent.

"You believed she could change, didn't you?"

"I wanted to protect you."

"And Ymir?"

"Maybe."

"You're a terrible liar," Historia grinned, noticing that his ears were turning red. "You wanted that woman to stop because you wanted to see her change. The same way when I came across those two men in the woods. The same way I came across you. Remember?"

Eren pulled away and walked into the garden to sit down in. He couldn't be annoyed with her. "Perhaps… you are right. To an extent."

"Then tell me," Historia came over and sat beside him. "What do I not understand?"

"That woman…" Eren sighed again, after a long pause. "She reminded me of a time when… I witnessed an old friend being harassed by a person of higher status. That person used to be gentle and kind… but my friend made a mistake. They had to pay the price… but I knew they did nothing wrong. I assumed that the person of higher status would have an open mind, but I was wrong. He made it very clear. You might believe people can change, but most of them do not."

Historia nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am aware of that, Eren. My sister would have said the same thing. I may be learning still… but you cannot just assume people's intentions. Besides, look around. These people are allowing us to stay here. They are genuine. As peaceful as it is here, I doubt we'll find trouble. And yes… there was the situation in the tavern. But how many of these villagers act the same way?"

"Perhaps I said too much."

"As long as we're here… I have faith that no harm will come to us again. I know it."

Eren wasn't convinced but he nodded anyway and trusted her words. Her optimism concerned him deeply, yet he knew that she was right. "I will remember what you said."

Historia smiled cheerfully and looked at the sky. The sun was on its journey to the other side of the sky, causing the few clouds to turn pink. She had been working for so long that she forgot to take a moment and have glimpse of the heavens that brought her to life. "If only I could fly…" She thought to herself.

"Historia! Eren!" Another woman's voice caught their attention. The adolescents turned to see that it was Petra and Ymir coming along to check on them. "There you are!" Petra smiled and noticed the wagon full of harvest cases. "Wow, I see you two have worked really hard out here."

Historia stood up, along with her friend. "Oh, yes, we were just… taking a break."

"That's fine with me."

"Did you need anything?" Historia asked, wondering why Ymir was there. She hadn't seen Ymir since the day of the fight.

"Oh no. We are fine. Ymir here, has something she would like to say, though." Petra faced the freckled woman beside her, who folded her arms.

"Really?" Historia was interested. "Like what?"

Ymir scoffed, but Petra elbowed her right in the waist. Despite being embarrassed, Ymir had no other choice. "I just wanted to… apologize. I guess. For what you had to see."

Historia noticed the bruises on her neck and the scratch marks on her face. "Oh, no, there's no need-"

"Nah, there is. You're both young and shouldn't have to worry about that stuff. Even though it was Petra's fault for bringing you in there." Ymir stopped when Petra elbowed her again, harder this time.

Historia didn't know what to say at first. "Well… if you really mean it… I forgive you."

"Good. Are we done now?" Ymir looked away and pouted.

Petra shook her head. "Please excuse her. She tends to be full of pride."

"I don't mind," Historia smiled again, appreciating Ymir's indirect warmth.

"Oh, and Ymir also offered dinner at her home!" Petra clasped her hands together, yet Ymir glared at her as if a secret had been revealed.

"That would be nice," Historia replied.

"We thought of doing it early, since Ymir's planning on leaving tomorrow."

"Huh? Tomorrow?"

Ymir sighed. "Yeah, I still have business to attend to."

"When will you return?" Historia wanted to know.

"To be frank… I don't know. Might as well say my farewells now."

Historia didn't want her to leave. She had just met Ymir, whom she considered a newfound friend. As conceited and hotheaded as Ymir was, Historia thought she was kind and wanted to get to know her better. "But," Historia remembered and frowned. "I thought we weren't friends. You said it yourself."

Ymir recalled the exact words she said. "You're right… but I'm not one to abandon others. If you choose not to go, then by all means forget about it."

"No," Historia stopped her. "It's okay. We'll come over." She smiled at Ymir, who soon began to feel bad for what she said before.

"Great!" Petra cried, rather excited. "Now, let's get that wagon into storage before the sun sets on us."

By the time they stored some of Fall's harvest, the light of day had drained away, giving way to the black of night. The shadows were now twice as long as themselves, the air was damp and cool enough to cause quite a shiver. In the gathering gloom the stars and the moon shone brighter in the sky, as if it was reminding the villagers there is light even in darkness. The streets transitioned from loud and full of activity, to still and undisturbed, or so it seemed. In Ymir's dwelling, a rectangular cottage made out of stone and wood panels, smoke spewed right out of the chimney as Historia aided Petra in making a pot of carrot soup. Historia listened attentively for Petra's direction and reminisced a time when she learned how to make the exact same soup with Frieda. The teen saw Petra as an alternative to her sister and enjoyed listening to Petra's kind voice; only, the bond that only sisters were supposed to share were nonexistent, and it wasn't the same.

Eventually, they served everyone else including themselves a small bowl of the soup and sat in the round table in the middle of the room lit by several candle lanterns. "This isn't half bad," Ymir said, trying out what Petra and Historia spent so much time on making. "For a pair of amateurs, you did quite well."

Petra shot back. "Every time. I'd like to see you make the same thing."

"Hey, I'm not saying I'm more skilled than you; I'm just surprised that you both have the ability."

"Well, be grateful that you're filling your stomach. I knew people in the past who would have killed to be in your position." Petra grinned as Ymir rolled her eyes and continued eating. Historia glanced at them both and admired how close they were together even as acquaintances. Everyone sat in silence for a short moment, until Historia decided to break the ice. "May I ask… how you two became so close?"

Ymir scoffed and shook her head. "Eh, we're really not that close. We've just known each other for a long time."

"Agreed," Petra added. Historia tilted her head and didn't understand how that was possible, so Petra decided to explain. "Ever since Ymir arrived in this village and vowed to help protect us, I came to respect her as a person. We trust and help one another when necessary and solve any issues that come up. Of course, it's fun to let loose once in a while and laugh… but at the end of the day, we are completely different individuals with different goals in life."

"Aren't you sad when she leaves?" Historia wondered again.

Petra stopped eating and frowned. "I worry for her safety, but… I know that she will return from whatever business she attends to."

"It's not something to worry about." Ymir spoke again and also stopped eating. "We chose to close off our emotions of friendship because it is better that way."

"It hurts… but that's how it needs to be." Petra nearly shivered. Historia could tell that Petra truly enjoyed Ymir as a friend, even though they could never grow any closer than how they already were. "I have a feeling that you two are closer than you think," Historia said. "Why would you want to be closed off from each other?"

"Past events… trauma… there are a number of things. It's difficult to explain. It would be amazing to know what life was like for Ymir, but we decided to respect each other's privacy and move on with our lives." Petra was hurting on the inside; but she refused to let it show, as requested.

"Enough about us already." Ymir suddenly groaned, tired of being interrogated. "You truly are a sheltered child. From asking about our relation to each other to the Land of the Failed… there's no end."

"It's not my fault." Historia looked at her soup. "I was raised this way… I don't know anything about this world or how to live in it like you. I'm trying to learn as much as I can… like why I died in the woods and came back to life, why there are demons in this world, why the men hate women and vice versa, where is The Failed and who is the king that rules it…" The girl looked up when she realized that she spoke too much. Petra stared at her with wide eyes and wanted to tell the teen something she heard from her maids yet was cut off.

"Frankly, it's better that you don't know." Ymir stated.

"Why's that?" Historia asked.

"Because the deeper you dig, the less likely you are to get out."

"What if our lives depend on digging for those answers?"

"Then the more likely you are to get into shit."

Historia silenced and thought about what she was saying. Is it worth getting into bad situations by being too curious?

"C-can I just say a word?" Petra raised her hand, and everyone faced her. She needed to get something off her chest but was too overwhelmed with emotions to spill it out. "Ah, never mind."

Ymir sighed as if it wasn't important and turned to the adolescent boy sitting right beside Historia. "What about you?" she asked, pointing at him. Eren quickly looked up and stopped eating. He had been so quiet that he was practically invisible to everyone else, that is, until Ymir brought him back down to earth. "Don't you talk?" Ymir questioned again with a serious face.

Eren turned to Historia, and then back to the freckled woman. Historia believed he was uncomfortable, so she tried to excuse it. "Please forgive him, he's just-"

"Let him speak for himself," Ymir interjected and leaned on her hand while looking into Eren's eyes. "If he could tell that cunt to stop five days ago, then he can speak now."

The boy didn't know what to say.

Ymir grinned. "You have a lot of nerve. Coming in here and acting like the victim when it is really the opposite. But I can see right through you. You're not so dangerous as they claim to be. You're not one of them.… you're just an insecure little boy, emotionally attached to a naive little girl. At least, that's how I see it now. I wonder what made you this way."

He wasn't offended by her words yet began to avoid seeing her face. He wanted to trust her.

"Eren is it?" Ymir then asked again. When he nodded, she continued. "I actually have something for you." She got up from her seat and went to a wooden closet to grab a large sack of unknown items inside. Historia and Eren both wondered what Ymir was fetching from her things, and she pulled out a small weapon with a pointed, sharp blade on it. When she came back to sit down, she raised it for Eren to see. "I believe this is yours," Ymir said. "It was left on the ground from when I took that demon out of you. Figured it was important, so I kept it with me."

"My gift…" Eren's eyes suddenly gave life and he stretched his arm over to take it from Ymir, but she pulled it away from his reach. Historia understood now of what Eren meant when he asked her about his gift when he awoke from his coma. The dagger was somehow special to him, and without it meant he was vulnerable.

"No, you can't have it back just yet." Ymir scolded lightly. "Not until I completely trust that you won't go on a killing spree while we sleep."

"You are contradicting yourself," Historia softly added. "He won't hurt anyone. He knows better than that, I hope." Eren nodded, agreeing with his friend. "I promise," he soon spoke again, and meant it. He just wanted his stuff back.

Ymir raised an eye brow and hesitated, until she had an idea. "Alright. Fine. I'll give it to you if you do one little favor for me. There is a pile of firewood just outside of the back door. Would you mind getting a few for us, since it is getting a bit chilly in here?"

Eren wasn't sure if he should do it, so Historia reassured him that everything would be fine if he just did what Ymir asked without questioning it. If it meant getting his things back, Eren decided to obey the little request and got up from his seat to go outside. He left before anyone else could say anything to him, but Ymir chuckled. "I like him."

Historia did not realize it, but Ymir was trying to experiment on him. And so far, she was pleased. All they had to do now was wait for his return.

Once he walked over to the back of the cottage, Eren found the large pile of firewood that had already been chopped up for use. Before he knelt over to pick up a few, he looked up at the night sky and observed the full moon that was surrounded by twinkling stars. There was a backdrop of crickets chirping in the tall grass and a group of fireflies danced to their songs. Eren knew he had to hurry, although he couldn't help but to enjoy peaceful solitude.

It wasn't until he found himself struggling. His sight was blinded by a black sack that went over his head and pulled him backwards into the arms of an unknown individual. He was soon heaved up into multiple arms and dragged against his will somewhere that was further away from Ymir's cottage. Eren used every bit of his strength to fight back, but there was no use; once the black sack was removed from his head, he again found himself with his hands tied together, leaning against a brick wall. Freaking out, Eren forcibly pulled on the ropes until his wrists began to hurt.

"Well, well, what do we have here!" A familiar woman's voice exclaimed. Eren looked forward and saw four ladies who did not seem like the friendly villagers he had been witnessing for five days straight; and one of them was the exact same woman who fought with Ymir. The woman knelt over close to Eren's face while the others surrounded him, and she smiled. "Why look at you! All scared and defensive… not very nice isn't it?"

Eren tried to ignore her and continued to pull on the ropes. The woman suddenly grabbed his face, and he stopped what he was doing. "Gee, you sure do put up a fight. I for one know what it's like to be in your shoes. Restrained to a secluded space, isolated from the world, no food or water, beaten and harassed every day… it sure isn't fun. And you wanna know who did it to me? Do you?"

He wanted to escape somehow, but there were no animals nearby for him to control. His captor, who expected a response, suddenly smacked him across his face. "You'd better answer me when I'm talking to you!" She picked him up from his side and slammed him upright against the wall. "I've been watching you, you see. You and your little girly-friend. Helping out, pretending to be nice to everyone. But you can't fool me. It's all just some little scheme to make everyone trust in you, so that you can stab them in the back. And I refuse to let that happen. I refuse to allow scum to take over this town!"

Eren suddenly tried to attack her with his arms, but they were tied in such a way that he could barely move them apart. "Aw, what's wrong?" the woman soon asked. "Can't seem to defend yourself? Too weak to move freely? You're not so strong after all, aren't you? That's too bad!" The evil woman snapped her fingers and prompted one of her friends to fetch something from an empty stable.

"Do you wanna know what I'm going to do to you?" she asked again, a sadistic smile growing on her face. "We're going to have so much fun. Your ears will deafen from the sound of your own screams… and those pretty little eyes of yours will cry tears of blood once we're finished. Then, I'm going to fetch that blond girl whom you call your friend… I won't touch her. But she'll be hurt, seeing your mutilated body."

"No," Eren cried, and looked into the woman's eyes with legitimate fear. The woman's friend finally returned with a large bucket in her hands, and roughly placed it in front of Eren. He didn't know what was in there, but the horrible smell nearly made him gag. The other friends giggled as the woman ordered them to stand him up to his feet, and they tied him so that he'd hang from his arms from a wooden beam. They ripped his shirt off of him and threw it to the floor. "You did this to yourself, sweetheart," said his captor, who put long gloves on her hands. "No one will come to your rescue. It's just you and me. Might as well say your prayers now. I'll be sure to let your friend know that she was in your thoughts." She bent over to stick her hand in the bucket and took out a handful of horse feces. Eren did everything he could to break free from the ropes, but the woman suddenly grabbed him still with one hand. "Open wide!" She said and shoved the feces into his mouth with her other hand. The others laughed as he spit it all out and gagged uncontrollably.

"Stop, please!" Eren yelled, both upset and terrified.

"Aw, you're begging!" his captor shouted again, and shoved more feces into his mouth, practically smearing it all over his face because of how much he refused. "Swallow it, or else!"

He purposely spit it on her. "Fuck!" she screamed and backed away. "Ugh! You disgusting piece of shit!" She turned to her friends and told them that it was their turn. Eren watched as they giggled excitedly and soon took turns whacking his body with tree branches and leather whips. One by one, the five women took out their compressed rage on him until they broke through his skin. He screamed on the top of his lungs in agony and felt as if his life was flashing before his eyes. The only things going through his mind was getting revenge, and the thought of Historia getting caught up in it.

"Something's wrong," Historia spoke to herself in a worried voice. "It's been too long. Why hasn't Eren returned yet?"

Petra nodded, also concerned. "I agree. He should have been back by now."

"I'm sure he ran off." Ymir stretched her arms. "For such a simple task… it's alright though, he's his own person."

Historia shook her head and stood up from her seat. "No, he wouldn't do this."

"Where are you going?" Ymir sighed.

"I'm going to look for him."

"No, Historia-"

"I'm going!" Historia sped her way to the door and ran outside. Ymir groaned and jumped up from the table to go after the teen, and Petra decided to abandon her seat to follow her also. The three of them walked into the dirt street while Historia nervously called for her friend. "Where can he be?" she thought out loud and called Eren's name again. "Maybe he's at the inn?" Petra asked, trying to help.

"Or, he went into the woods." Ymir added.

Historia stopped in her tracks when she heard something in the distance. "Do you hear that?" she said. Ymir grew concerned when she did hear the same sound: the screams of several women. "Yeah, I do actually."

Historia led the way and ran towards the sound, until they discovered a large horse stable built out of bricks at the end of the village, and the sounds were no more by the time they reached the doors. Ymir told them to stay behind them and carefully opened it. And when they all saw what was inside, Ymir covered her mouth in disgust. Three female bodies were sprawled out on the ground with tree branches sticking out from their stomachs. A fourth one hung from a wooden beam by a whip tied around her neck. There was blood all over the floor, and there Eren was, sitting in the middle of it. "Eren!" Historia cried and ran over to him, ignoring Ymir's warning to stay away. Before she could meet him with an embrace, she studied the bodies around him and the blood stains on his skin. "Eren… what have you done?"

"You lied to me!" Eren shouted at her out of nowhere.

Historia blinked. "What…?"

"You said… that they wouldn't harm us… you said to not be afraid. But you lied!"

Historia realized what he was saying and felt a rush a guilt taking over. "Eren…"

He unsteadily stood up and faced her. "Why would you lie to me?"

"I didn't lie! I swear… I didn't know this would happen."

"Historia… what am I to you?" he then asked, tears filling his eyes.

She was afraid of saying the wrong thing, so she went up to give him a hug. "You're my friend."

Eren shook his head and shoved her. "Stay away from me!"

"Is that not what you want to hear?" Historia cried.

"Do you know what it's like… to be tortured daily for something you didn't do?" Eren asked, clenching his fists. "To be treated like something you're not?"

Historia stayed quiet; didn't know what else to say or how to say it. Eren gave up and suddenly ran from her, escaping the stable with his eyes squeezed shut. Ymir and Petra said nothing, unsure of whether to comfort Historia or to leave her be. The teen soon turned around to the exit and stared at the floor. She was painfully guilty; not only did she say a lie, but she lost her only friend because of it. Historia failed to protect him yet again.

She wanted to be punished for it.