The group is nearing the walls. Shadis gives the signal to break the formation. The bodies of Philip and Stefan were taken with them. They deserved a proper funeral. Sebastian and Will were both devoured completely, so they couldn't be brought with them. Oluo has changed. When he left he was confident that it wouldn't be that hard as long as you tried your best. Now he knew that he was wrong. Philip died because of him. They enter the Shiganshina District. A crowd is standing at the side of the path. They see people who see the scouts as heroes, and those who see them as scum.
Petra looks at the crowd. People were actually still supporting the Survey Corps. Petra sees a little girl looking at her. The girl looks like she's seeing her idol. Petra smiles back at her. Next to the girl she sees a man who looks angry. "These bastards are where our money goes to!" He yells. Petra looks at the man. He is convinced that the Survey Corps isn't worth paying. This makes Petra angry, but she decides to ignore it. She rides her horse to captain Levi. "Captain?" She begins. Levi looks at Petra with his serious look. "I wanted to thank you for saving my life." She says. "You should be a bit more careful with your life." Levi says. Petra is a bit embarrassed. "Heh, I suppose you're right." She says.
"You know, they say many things about you. How you're humanity's best soldier... but also that you're emotionless." Petra says. Levi looks a bit surprised. He knew that he was strict, but hearing that he had such a reputation wasn't the best news. "And I completely disagree with that." Petra says. Levi doesn't understand. "You barely know me. How could you know?" He asks. "Simple." She begins. "You could've ended the mission after we failed at capturing the abnormal, but you let me have my revenge first." She says. Levi understands. "It won't happen again." Levi says. "Well, I certainly hope so. It would really suck if more of my friends died." Petra jokes. Levi looks way too serious, like always.
They slowly ride their horses towards the next gate. The young Eren Yeager and Mikasa Ackerman are standing in the crowd, looking at the scouts who are passing through. Eld and Gunther are having a conversation. "Who will tell Sebastian's parents that he died?" Gunther asks. Eld raises his shoulders. "Most likely commander Shadis." He says. "But I suppose that Petra will take it as her burden." He adds to it. Eld feels bad for Petra. She thought that the deaths of Sebastian and Stefan were her fault. The new scouts changed since the first mission. They faced death itself. Some of the new scouts didn't see any titans at all on that day, but others saw their friends getting devoured by them.
They arrive at the second gate. It opens, and now they have to travel through 100 kilometers of wasteland. There was nothing there except for trees and a couple of villages. They stop halfway trough to let the horses rest for a moment. They're in a small village, with only eight buildings. Petra stays with her horse. She doesn't feel like talking to anyone. She was thinking how she was going to tell the parents of Sebastian and Stefan that their children were dead. She knew that the commander of the Survey Corps would usually tell those things, but she felt like it had to be her.
She thought back at that terrible moment. How the abnormal broke Sebastian's skull with its teeth. She looked down at her fist. She started crying. Suddenly she looked up, angrily. "We will kill them all, Sebastian... I swear!" She says. She got the courage to continue. She knew that she wouldn't resign now. She wanted to spend the rest of her life fighting the titans. She wanted to kill those who took her friends. She promised herself to avenge Sebastian and Stefan. "Captain Shadis told me to hand you a new pair of pants. According to him the citizens won't see us as heroes if we wet our pants during the expedition." Oluo says. He gives Petra a new pair of pants. "They're never going to forget this, right?" Petra jokes. Oluo laughs softly. Then his face gets sad again.
"We both lost close friends, Petra. I know how you're feeling right now." Oluo says. Petra is surprised. She didn't expect Oluo to be like this. He was always bragging about his skills with the 3DMG, but suddenly he was like this. "You're not going to resign, are you?" Oluo asks to Petra. Petra shakes her head. "Great, because we'll need quite some soldiers to kill all the titans." Oluo jokes. "During our training you were always bragging, what's going on?" Petra asks, smiling. "I'm pretty sure that we all changed today." Oluo answers. "But don't worry, I won't stop bragging." Oluo jokes. Petra laughs. They are both quiet for a moment. "Adrian is going to resign." Oluo says. Petra looked shocked. One of Adrian's best friends died, and he was just going to back out.
"He can't do that!" Petra says. "I tried to convince him, but he won't listen." Oluo says. Petra looks down. She understood that Adrian would want to resign, but she thought that he would try to kill more titans before resigning. "He's a coward." Oluo says. Petra gets a little bit mad. "He's afraid, Oluo! Aren't we all afraid?" Petra says. They are quiet for a moment. "Captain Levi isn't." Oluo says. Petra disagrees. "Captain Levi is afraid too. Look in his eyes, and you can see that he is in pain. He must've gone through so much in his life." Petra says. "Not that hard to go through things when you're that small, things like a mouse hole." Oluo says, jokingly, since Levi is pretty short.
"Hurry up." Captain Levi says. He is walking towards Petra and Oluo. Oluo is shocked. Did captain Levi hear what he said about him? "Captain Levi! We were just talking abou-" Oluo says. Levi interrupts him. "Change your pants in the stable. We're leaving." Levi says. Petra nods. Meanwhile, the others are already sitting on their horses. Petra and Oluo join the group, and they leave the village. While they are riding their horses towards the Trost District, Petra joins Levi. "Captain Levi?" Petra begins. Levi looks at Petra. "I wanted to ask if I could be the one to bring Sebastian and Stefan's parents the news." She asks. Levi looks at Petra. He isn't certain about what he should say. He knew that she was very emotional, and that she was traumatized by their deaths, but he also knew that it could help her to get over them, so she could move on from that traumatizing moment.
"Yes, that's allright. I will tell commander Shadis." Levi says. Petra smiles. "Thanks, captain. You're the best!" She says, while she rides her horse to the back again. Levi rides his horse towards commander Shadis, and he tells him about it. Shadis agrees with it. "How will the king react to the fact that his strategy was terrible?" Shadis asks to captain Levi. "Every strategy we've used in the past years has failed. We haven't caught a titan for such a long period of time. Hange needs a titan for her research, but how do we know if it'll even be successful?" Levi says. Shadis never thought about that. He assumed that if they caught a titan they would immediately have a huge advantage, but they didn't. "You're right, Levi. We're risking too much." Shadis says. "That's not what I meant." Levi says. Shadis surprised. What did Levi mean?
They arrive in the Trost District. They are welcomed by another crowd. Petra doesn't see Sebastian's parents anywhere, but she sees Stefan's parents. They are cheering. They didn't know yet. Petra looked at Levi, and he nodded. Petra rode her horse towards them. She got off her horse, and she slowly walked towards them. Stefan's parents were suddenly a bit scared. Petra told them the news. Stefan's parents started crying, and so did Petra. After staying with them for a couple of minutes, Petra rides her horse to the group again. They finally get off their horses. "Go to your families, and tell them you're allright!" Shadis says. Most of the people nod.
Petra goes to her parents. She is crying. "We're here for you now, Petra. Just tell us what happened." Petra's father says. Petra tells him everything. "You killed a titan? You did?" Petra's mother says. She looks so proud of her daughter. Petra gets a small smile on her face. Her parents didn't think she was useless anymore, like they did before. She hugs both of them. "I'm so glad you're alive, Petra..." Petra's father says before she leaves. She smiles at her father, and walks away. She finally sees Sebastian's parents. Petra walks towards them, and she asks them to sit down on the bench.
"Sebastian didn't make it..." Petra says. She starts crying again, and so do Sebastian's parents. "Please tell me that he did a good job..." Sebastian's mother asks. "He did... We killed multiple titans with the courage he gave us." Petra says. The parents are crying. "I will avenge Sebastian. I will kill the titans, even if it costs me my life!" Petra adds to it. This gives Sebastian's parents a bit of confidence. They knew that he didn't die for nothing. His death gave Petra the courage to continue. They knew she would become one of humanity's greatest warriors one day. Meanwhile, a man walks towards commander Shadis. "The Utopia District needs help from the Survey Corps. They need you right now."
