Ymir was sitting by the pool, boredly watching Pieck practising her swimming. Her body had healed enough so that she could walk, but she still needed a crutch just in case. She was sitting on a lounge chair with her jaw resting on the palm of her left hand while inhaling the vapour from her vape pen.
Pieck swam by the edge of the pool. "So what do you think of the show?"
"It was fine. Honestly, it was better than I expected," Ymir blew the flavorful smoke out of her lungs.
"You're not supposed to smoke here," Pieck reminded her.
Ymir rolled her eyes, "So? I've been sitting here for 30 minutes, and no instructor or lifeguard has berated me so far."
"That's because none of them are here right now," Pieck chuckled. She pushed herself from the edge of the pool and practiced her backstrokes.
Seeing Pieck swimming made Ymir remember when she had to practice her swimming back when she was in junior high.
3 years ago
"Hello, class. My name is Ms.Poole, and I'm going to be your swimming teacher. Now, do any of you know how to swim?"
Ymir saw everyone raise their hands. Even Eren raised his hand as well, which honestly surprised her.
Ms.Poole looked at Ymir, "You can't swim, Ymir?"
Ymir remembered the eyes of her classmates staring at her when she didn'traise her hand at the time. She heard the sighs, chuckles and Floch's stupid comments he would say under his breath.
Eren wanted to help her learn to swim, but his swimming skills weren't good enough to teach others. Nobody else wanted to help her, so the teacher randomized it by closing her eyes and pressing her fingers on a name.
"Krista Lenz."
She remembered the name that Ms.Poole said. Ymir remembered how excited she was; she wanted to jump up in the air and shout "Yes!" throughout the room.
Krista's face was neutral, but then she grew a small smile.
"It must be fate," Ymir remembered what Krista said.
Ymir wanted to scoff at that. To her, it was more luck than fate. She never believed in stupid concepts like fate or other things like that.
Her fate was supposed to be trapped in that room, receiving nothing but scolding and beatings from that person who calls himself her "father". But she freed herself from that prison and fought for survival.
Ymir leaned back in her lounge chair and took a deep inhale from her vape pen, then exhaled. She smiled a bit, knowing where she is now.
"Relaxing at a pool with a cute girl swimming in front of me." She muttered to herself.
She heard the doors open; the creaking door echoed throughout the facility as they slowly closed.
It was Bertholdt by the entrance with his left arm wrapped in gauze. Bert used the surrounding air to float towards Ymir and Pieck.
"There you two are," Bertholdt landed softly on the floor.
"What do you want?" Ymir said, a bit irritated.
Bertholdt crossed his arms, "One of the Instructors wanted me to tell you two that you guys passed."
Pieck pounced out of the pool in excitement, splashing water all over the place. Bertholdt used the air to block the water from hitting him and Ymir.
"Whoops, sorry," Pieck chuckled.
"Thanks," Ymir said, putting down her arms.
Bertholdt just did a quick hum and walked away, but something got her curious. Well, more like someone.
"Hey, Bert. I have a question for you. What's your deal with the ice guy?" Ymir asked. "Like, you two were going at each other at the port yesterday."
Bertoholdt crossed his arms and sighed, "I don't know. All that he asked me was how well I could control the air."
Ymir looked at Pieck in confusion and looked back at Bert, "That's it?"
"That's it," Bertholdt said. "And then he started to annoy me by doing stuff like staring at me, following me. He even sat next to me whenever I was trying to eat."
Pieck placed her hand on her chin, looking at the door, "Has he tried anything similar to that recently?"
"No. It seemed that he stopped annoying me after that fight at the port," Bertholdt said.
"Seems like the ice dude got his fix for now when he fought you," Ymir joked before she took a hit from her vape pen.
Bertholdt glanced at Pieck's injured hand, "Should you be swimming with an injured hand?"
"Oh lighten up, Bert!" Pieck chuckled as she lightly punched Bertholdt's shoulder. "Not the first time I swam with an injured hand, you know that."
"That doesn't mean you should do it," Bertholdt said.
Pieck chuckled before asking, "Have you seen Porco recently?"
Bertholdt nodded, "I did. According to the doctors, he should be ready for the next round."
Ymir looked at her phone as Bertholdt and Pieck continued to talk to each other. She looked at her music playlist and chose "A Midnight's Dream" by Luna Miles.
Luna Miles is one of Ymir's favourite audio artists. She had listened to her for years, the slow melodic mix of keyboards, drums, guitars and beatmakers to create a beautiful, calm sound. Even though Luna never revealed her face, she tends to use a digital avatar to speak to her fans or for interviews.
Ymir wanted to meet her, but it seems that it will never happen. Despite having a high-pitched voice and living somewhere on Libertos, she knew nothing else about her.
'I'll probably die before I ever meet her,' Ymir thought.
"Anyways, I'm hungry," Pieck stretched her arms. " What about you guys?"
"I can eat," Bertholdt agreed.
Ymir's eyes were closed, enjoying Luna's music through her headphones. Her smooth voice mixes excellently with the bass guitar and the drums.
Ymir felt a tap on her shoulder, breaking her immersion from the music, "What?"
"Are you hungry?" Pieck asked.
"Not really," Ymir shrugged. "But I am thirsty, so I'll join you guys."
Pieck and Bertholdt were talking to each other while Ymir was listening to music, muttering the lyrics under her breath.
When Ymir made it to the restaurant, she sat down at a booth next to Pieck as Bertholdt sat across from them.
"Oh baby, I was waiting…so long…oh baby…I was waiting for so long…so long," Ymir sang the chorus under her breath as she read the drinks part of the menu.
Pieck giggled under her breath, "What song is that?"
"Hmm?"
"You were singing something, what was that?"
"Tch, it was nothing," Ymir growled.
"Oh, Pieck. I wrote down the biggest adversaries in this exam," Bertholdt said, sending Pieck a digital document.
Pieck's phone made a rabbit sound before she took it out. Her phone was in a thick black case, and when she tapped the screen, the wallpaper showed Pieck and her father.
"Irrelevant question, but how's your old man?" Ymir asked. "Been a while since I've seen him."
Pieck made a small smile. "He's fine. I called him this morning."
"Maybe I should say hi," Ymir said before looking back at the menu.
She felt a vibration on her thigh, and she took out her phone, seeing that she got an attachment from Pieck.
"What did you send me?" Ymir asked.
"It's the opponent's thing, Bert wrote down. I want to give you an advantage as well, so I sent it to you," Pieck explained.
Ymir opened the attachment, seeing a 15-page digital doc with a summary of the strongest examinees here, including pictures as well. She noticed that some of the photos were a bit blurry, and some of them showed examinees either shocked or angry.
"How did you get the pics?" Ymir asked with a sly smile.
Bertholdt cleared his throat. "That doesn't matter. All that matters is we can match the faces with the summary I wrote down."
Ymir looked at Bert with disappointment, "Mhmm…anyways, is this in any sort of order? Like strongest to weakest?"
"No, it isn't."
Ymir slowly read the document. She wanted to scoff, seeing this examinee on the list. She was one of the examinees who nearly failed the previous tests and passed them by the skin of her teeth.
"Are you serious? Her? She's a threat?"
"Yes. She's a threat. Her mastery of her power is dangerous," Bertholdt said.
"I don't see what's so threatening about gum," Ymir joked. "Oh no! My gum is in danger! Better hide my gum stash in a secret place, don't want to lose it!"
Pieck chuckled while Bertholdt just crossed his arms.
"Although gum is a fun and unique power, it is pretty versatile," Pieck noted. "Depending on how she uses it, she could basically copy my ability."
"Or prevent you from being effective, Ymir. Since you tend to be a more close-range fighter," Bertholdt added.
Ymir swiped down on her phone screen to see a muscular man with fair skin and spiky lime green hair. He looked to be exercising when Bert took the picture.
"Okay, what about this beefy dude?" Ymir tapped her phone screen. "The guy with the lime green hair?"
Bertholdt swiped his finger up. "Oh, him? He can inhale massive amounts of air and exhale that same amount at high pressure."
"I know that. But, I'm guessing because he uses air as well, that you put him on the list?" Ymir asked.
Bertholdt nodded. "Although I haven't fought him yet, I fear his ability might interfere with mine."
"Not surprised that you put him on the list," Pieck said, pointing at the ice guy.
"I would say he's the biggest threat here," Bertholdt said.
"I second that," Ymir agreed.