''Professor... How do we know, that there are no more humans, beyond the walls...?''

Levi almost dropped the syringe when Erwin flung out his arm. He stood frozen, covered in drying blood, taken aback by the question of his dying commander.

'Why do you always have to be so stubborn? ' he thought.

He remembered the first time he met the leader of the survey corps; his commanding voice echoed through the past. Though he understood none of it. And he tried to grasp its meaning, hypnotized by it, pulled in by the sound.

'They want to know what we did with the sacrifices they made… What became of the hearts they dedicated…'

''If only you had stayed...''

The intense smell of burning flesh brought Levi back to the present. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get used to that stench. He didn't mind the smell of rotting bodies and fresh blood, but burnt flesh was too much.

He looked back at Armin. He was unrecognizable; his hair and lips were burned off. His scorched skin was charcoal black. In some places, where the skin burned away, Levi saw even the flesh underneath was burnt to ashes. His eyes, big, blue eyes that shone with curiosity and wonder, were gone.

"You'll see, Eren! We'll get to the ocean and you'll see it's real!"

Levi looked at the syringe, then back at Armin; Armin took a wheezing breath. He looked at Erwin; Erwin's chest weakly rose and fell.

"Give up on your dreams and die."

But he couldn't. Because Levi was just like everyone else. Because he cared about something too much to let it go.

"Everyone had to be drunk on something to keep moving on."

Levi bent over Erwin again. He was too aware of Armin just behind him, lying on the roof, taking his last breaths. He almost turned around.

'It's us who give meaning to our comrades' lives! Us, the living!'

Levi lunged for Erwin's raised arm. He gripped it tightly and plunged the syringe into the vein.

"Then live. ''

'We will give meaning to the fallen.'

Erwin didn't immediately open his eyes. Sensations trickled through the unconscious haze and he took time to register them. He flexed his fingers, felt the ground beneath him, and took in lungfuls of air.

When he realized he was alive, he remembered the rock that ripped through his sternum. He remembered the final flash of pain, and the darkness after it.

He opened his eyes when a bird flew above him, through the clear blue sky. He stayed there for several seconds, contemplating it.

Erwin lifted himself up with difficulty. He brought his right hand up to his face. His heart pounded and he gripped his right arm, staring at it. It was back... and that could only mean one thing.

''Erwin!'' Hange shouted. She ran at him, tumbling to her knees beside him. She went to hug him, but at the last moment, she stopped herself when her commander gave her a look. It would be very inadequate to hug a military superior.

Erwin looked around.

He was on top of Wall Maria, in the Shiganshina District. He lay on a makeshift bed of sheets, next to Sasha. Her head was bandaged. He saw no other wounded. Jean and Connie sat on the edge of the wall, passing a water skin between them.

The frightened soldier from Erwin's charge was there. He stared at Erwin with respect and loathing.

Eren Jaeger, the most important soldier of the Survey Corps, was on his knees in front of Erwin. The boy hugged a body wrapped in a white blanket, holding its covered head close to his cheek. His dull green eyes were rimmed with red and stared into Erwin with rage and pain. Mikasa stood behind her brother, her back to the rest of them. She looked to the horizon, beyond the walls.

Erwin looked down at the body in Eren's arms.

''Did you... Did you... use it?'' Erwin asked Hange, stumbling over his words. He couldn't take his eyes off the corpse. It was easier than looking at Eren.

''No, I mean, I didn't, but yes; Levi used it on you.'' Her gaze flicked between him and Eren nervously.

''Where is he?''

Hange paused for a second before answering.

''I think... He's inspecting the zone? I'm not sure yet. He won't like me telling you this, but... the Armored and Beast Titans escaped, along with another shifter I didn't recognize.

''Then I have...?''

''The Colossal, from Bertholdt Hoover," she confirmed.

Erwin looked around again.

"Were there any other survivors?" he asked.

"No," Hange replied, with a solemn shake of her head.

Slowly, Erwin stood up; his legs trembled with his weary muscles. Hange gripped him under the arm and pulled him up. It took him a few tries to get both feet flat on the ground. She kept her arm around his shoulders and he leaned on her.

Erwin looked back at Eren and the body still clutched to his chest.

''Is it Armin?'' Erwin asked, voice raspy with fatigue.

Eren frowned deeper and gnashed his teeth. That was all Erwin needed to know. It didn't surprise him, but Eren's glare held much more weight than it did before.

''Hange… Anyone with serious injuries?'' he asked, dully He stared at Armin's covered corpse unblinking, every muscle of his face tensed and petrified.

''Just Sasha Blouse," Hange said.

Erwin grunted in reply. "And the eye?"

''Oh, it's nothing,'' she said. "Not infected." She smiled, trying to downplay a wound that half-blinded her.

''Good..." he said. He sighed heavily. "We don't know if the enemy has exhausted all its capabilities. Only that we have. We should get to the basement as soon as possible. Get all the information we can, and finish the mission.''

Cling!

Erwin whipped his head around at the sound of metal on stone. The basement key lay at his feet. He looked up; Eren's rabid eyes bored into his. Erwin looked back at the key and then back at him, questioningly.

'' Go, '' said Eren, in a broken voice. "I'm staying."

"Eren, it's your mother and father's house," Hange said, in a soft, comforting tone. "Don't you want to see it…? You can finally go home.''

He didn't answer.

Erwin stepped away from Hange, steadier on his feet, and squatted down in front of Eren. Eren held Armin closer to him, away from Erwin. Tears fell down his cheeks and he let out a choked sob. Erwin slowly lifted his hand to put on Eren's shoulder, hoping he could show some comfort.

Suddenly, a cold blade pressed against Erwin's neck. He looked up and saw Mikasa. Her eyes were sunken and bloodshot, but her look was cold as ice.

''Don't you even think of touching him," she threatened in a croaked monotone.

"Mikasa!" Hange shouted hysterically. "Stand down, now!"

She didn't move. Eren gave no sign he knew what was happening; he only gripped Armin tighter and let out a louder sob.

''Sheath your blade, Mikasa!" Hange cried.

Erwin held up his hand. It was a sign that ordered Hange to stand down.

Hange frowned, but stepped back. Erwin fixed his eyes on Mikasa's. It was all he could see; her hair curtained her face and her scarf was up to her nose.

''Mikasa... I'm sorry,'' Erwin said, softening his voice. Trying to mean it.

Her cold expression broke into a glare.

''I don't care!" she shrieked. "Leave us alone! We don't want to know anything! We don't care anymore! Go! Take the key, and go!''

She pulled her blade back. With that, her rage collapsed under its own weight. She let out a soft grunt of pain. Her arms went limp. She dragged herself beside Eren and slowly fell to her knees. Her eyes emptied of any emotion. They looked hollow. Eren still didn't move.

Erwin took a deep breath; he knew they were just kids, like so many he sent to die before them. Just like Armin. He knew that his hands were stained, with the blood of many children.

He decided to deal with them later. They needed to grieve. And he needed to find that basement. He needed to know the truth.

He scooped up the key and walked back to what was left of his troops.

''Hange, do you have a map of Shiganshina?''

''Yes,'' she replied, still shaken.

''Then, let's go to Eren's house.''

''Mmm… But I only have a vague idea of where it is...''

"It'll do." He turned to the others. They'd seen and heard everything; they were tense from head to foot and they looked at him in shock.

''Connie, Jean, and... your name?''

''Floch, sir!''

''You three stay and take care of Sasha, Eren, and Mikasa. And watch for the enemy, in case they come back. If you spot them, sit tight and wait for us. Whatever's in that basement is the only reason we came here. And if we go home without it, everything was for nothing.''

His scouts saluted. "Yes, sir!"

''Aren't we waiting for Levi?'' Hange asked him.

Erwin hesitated. ''I think… he wants to be alone for a little while.''

Using the ODM gear, Erwin and Hange climbed down the wall, trying to ration what little gas they had left.

They walked from the plains near the walls, guided by the map Eren marked before the battle. He'd only remembered the general area, but that would have to be enough.

"You look like shredded cheese,'' Hange said, forcing a smile, while they entered the streets of the city.

Erwin's uniform was torn, still covered in pebbles from the pulverized stone, and with a large, bloodstained hole on the right side of his abdomen.

Erwin gave a small smirk, but said nothing. Hange went quiet, retreating from conversation. Her commander was focused on finding the basement; any distraction would be an annoyance. Besides, Hange still couldn't forget why he was alive, what the cost had been, no matter how relieved she was to have him back. It hung over her, driving her into silence.

"Eren and Mikasa might be a problem," she muttered to herself. Erwin turned his head slightly toward her.

"Maybe," he said. He didn't say anything else.

"They aren't taking it well," Hange said, after a pause. "They're not the only ones who have lost people."

Erwin hummed in reply.

"So... what are we going to do with them?"

Erwin was quiet for a long time. Hange waited.

"They'll have a chance to leave the Survey Corps," he said finally.

Hange was stunned. "What?!" she shouted. "But Eren is crucial to humanity's survival! And he has the power to do anything he wants! Without his titan under our control, we have no idea what he would do with it!"

"I know," Erwin said, shortly. "That's why I'm giving him the chance."

His brevity masked his fatigue, but Hange still heard it in his voice. She stayed quiet and promised herself she would ask more questions once they were back home.

They'd started from the northeast side of Shiganshina, near the gate where the Beast had trapped them. They were deeper into the town, now, where the undergrowth cracked the carriageway and pavement. Mold discolored the white marble and stone of abandoned houses, covering them in a vivid, organic green. Windows were broken by the Colossal's blast and glass shards glittered on the ground in the setting sun. Between their battle and the first attack five years ago, there was barely anything left to call a town.

According to the map, they needed to reach the southwest area of Shiganshina, which was approximately 5 kilometers straight ahead.

'If only we had more gas...' Hange thought. Her feet ached, her boots pinched, and her legs felt like they would give out at any moment. She reached up to her aching eye; she thought of Moblit, about how he was the last thing that eye had seen. She wasn't sure if that made her happy or sad.

After half an hour of trudging through ruins, they saw fire spreading across the collapsed residential buildings. The heat and smoke were palpable even at a distance.

''Move!" Erwin cried. "We have to reach Eren's house before it's burned!.'' He broke into a run. Hange followed, even as her sore legs burned.

''I think we have time," she panted. "The wind's blowing in the opposite direction.''

''From where can we get around the fire?''

She looked at the map, then back at the streets, comparing.

Bertholdt's titan had scattered the flames towards the district entrance, meaning that the northwest was likely cut by a line of burning houses. So, they had to choose between directly risking going west, or going southeast, south, and then southwest, longly surrounding the hot zone with a proper distance as the wind blew towards there. After giving it some thought, Hange finally decided, and as she took off, her commander followed.

After a total of almost 2 hours of tedious walking, they spotted someone in the distance, sitting on a big rock that had caved in a house.

''Oi!'' he shouted. Hange lit up.

''Levi!'' she called, waving enthusiastically at him from afar.

Levi jumped down as they approached. Dust kicked up around his feet.

''How did you get here so fast?'' she asked him, surprised.

"I've been out here for like an hour, Four-Eyes," Levi reminded her. "And I memorized the map. I figure this is the one we're looking for. Only house in the marked area with a cellar."

He looked Erwin up and down. "You look like shit," he said, but Hange knew he was relieved to see Erwin alive.

''Where is the basement?'' Erwin demanded.

"Back of the house," Levi replied, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "It was under a bunch of shit. I've cleaned it.''

''How thoughtful, Levi.'' Hange gently poked him. He grunted.

Hange turned back to see Erwin had already gone ahead of them. He seemed hypnotized by his own slow, heavy footsteps. Hange and Levi followed him.

"Where are the brats?" Levi asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"Still on the wall," Hange whispered. "Sasha's healing well. She should be okay for the ride back to Trost. Jean, Connie, and Floch are shaken, but they're strong kids. They're holding up."

She took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Eren and Mikasa aren't taking it well," she admitted. "At all."

Levi didn't say anything. Hange couldn't tell what that silence meant.

The three of them descended into the penumbra of the basement's entrance They found a shattered door at the bottom.

''If the key was only for a little door… I don't think it would have been necessary to make such a big deal out of it,'' Erwin mused. "Levi, can you kick down the door?".

Levi nodded and stood primed in front of the door.

''Wow, Levi," Hange said, making her voice lighter and teasing. "I've never seen you so ready to get dirty before!''

"I know how to do things without getting dirty, Four Eyes,'' he replied. He kicked and the door fell with a crack and a smash. He looked over his shoulder at Hange and cocked an eyebrow. There wasn't a speck of dust on him.

Hange genuinely smiled for the first time that day. She had lost Moblit and everyone else in her squad. They had lost Armin. But Erwin and Levi were alive. Her best friends were with her.

Erwin lit a lantern and stepped into the dark office. Hange and Levi followed. As always.

''It's getting dark," Connie said. He rubbed his head anxiously. "What if something happened to them? If all of this was for nothing…" He looked at Sasha beside him. She'd woken up a few minutes before, but she hadn't said a word since they told her what happened. She didn't even eat the ration they'd given her. She just picked at it mournfully.

"Sasha, say something, please,'' Connie begged.

''I just can't believe he's gone,'' she whispered.

Connie looked over at Eren and Mikasa. It had been hours since Commander Erwin and Major Hange left and they still hadn't moved. Eren had stopped crying; his tears made clean paths down his dirty face. His eyes were dead and empty of their usual fire. Connie wrung his hands together. He wanted to help, wanted to do something to make it better, but he didn't know what.

"Should we say something to them?" he asked nobody in particular.

"No," Jean said. He had been standing on the wall for hours, eyes fixed on the southern horizon, watching for the enemy. He looked at Connie over his shoulder.

"They don't wanna hear it, trust me," he said, a flash of pain on his face. "Just leave them alone for now."

He turned back to his watch and Connie shifted uncomfortably. He wanted to do something, anything. It was too quiet and the tension was suffocating. His first instinct was to tell a joke; that's how he usually broke the tension.

But Armin was dead. And Connie couldn't think of a single joke.

He perked up at the sound of gas and grappling hooks. He scurried to his feet and ran to the edge.

Commander Erwin, Captain Levi, and Major Hange landed on the wall. Connie and Jean gathered around them. Floch stayed where he was, watching Erwin wearily. Connie wondered what happened between him and the commander, but he didn't ask.

"So, what'd we find?" Connie asked. Levi pushed past him, knocking him into Jean, and advanced on Eren with short, violent strides.

"Get up," he growled. "We need to talk about your father.''

Mikasa tensed behind Eren and looked over her shoulder at the captain. She looked imposing, like a guardian statue. Connie had seen her almost kill Levi back on that roof. She looked ready to try again and Connie had no idea who would come out of that fight.

The captain stopped in front of Eren, but Eren didn't look up.

''Get up," Levi snarled. "Now, if you don't want me to kick you again.''

Eren didn't answer or acknowledge the threat. It didn't even look like he heard them. It looked like he was somewhere else. Somewhere far away.

Jean tentatively stepped forward and Connie followed.

''Eren, come on," Jean urged, in a soft voice he'd never used with Eren before. "We have to take Armin home…''

''This is his home,'' Mikasa answered bitterly.

''I know," Jean said, soothingly. "But if we leave him here, he won't be treated. He'll be left to the elements and the animals. And he deserves better than that. He deserves to be treated, to have a proper funeral.''

Connie looked between Jean and Mikasa. Jean's imploring eyes met Mikasa's desperate gaze in a silent argument. He didn't know who would give first.

Suddenly, Eren screamed at the top of his lungs. Connie tripped backward and fell next to Sasha, who matched his frightened expression. Jean jumped in terror. Mikasa whipped around in panic. Captain Levi reflexively drew his sword. Hange looked horrified. And Commander Erwin just watched impassively.

Eren clutched Armin's body tightly as he screamed. His eyes bulged and the veins in his neck popped. He only stopped when he violently vomited all over the white sheet that covered Armin's corpse.

He drew in raspy, wet breaths. Vomit and spit dripped from his mouth. Nobody moved. The only sound was the wind.

''Dina...'' he whispered.