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THE ARMY OF SOLDIERS CONTINUED THEIR SEARCH FOR THE MISSING GIRL SMOOTHLY, STOPPING ONLY FOR REST AND NOTHING MORE. Very little died during the whole journey, which honestly was a relief to everyone.

But the whole time, they were worried. It's been far too long for them to be out in literal nowhere. Some complained to each other while others dared to talk about it in front of the Commander.

Though, Erwin understood, which was very rare for him considering how he was supposed to be strict with the soldiers.

But among them all, Levi was the most worried. He wasn't worried for his own well-being, no. If anything, he was more worried for the woman named F/n.

Back inside the walls, they never really talk, which confuses the others watching since they knew that they were close but that would indicate talking, wouldn't it?

No.

The two weren't as good at making friends or creating close relationships with other people, which made everything harder to control. But after all of those training and silent interactions, they've grown to care for each other.

Next to Levi, Hange would be the one to care most about the woman. She was the one who took care of her the most, after all. Not to mention, she was the one who gave her her name, which was a larger matter than she intended for it to be.

But Mikasa was also one of the many that had thought about her the whole trip. The woman was her role model, she was everything she wanted to be. Even though the young girl was stronger than she was, she still seemed to be superior.

It was like her ability made her who she was. She was strong, both mentally and physically. And that was what made the girl like her.

"Soldiers!" Erwin's booming voice interrupted their thoughts, "We will not spread and search for F/n! Fire the signal when trouble comes or when you spot F/n!"

"Yes, sir!" they shouted before following the leader of their group in whichever direction was meant for them to go.

Levi and his squad headed in the North-West direction while Hange and her squad rode towards the North-East direction and Erwin to the North direction. Other soldiers went in smaller groups to go in multiple other directions in an attempt to find more crystal paths for them to use as a lead.

Armin looked around the place, seeing nothing but endless fields of grass. The grass was rather similar to the ones on the walls, short and plain, very unlike the ones he saw in the large field with the many kinds of flowers.

Eren looked forward, brows furrowing as he attempted to look for whatever seemed to be suspicious. Connie, Sasha, Jean and Historia all followed after him, turning their heads every once in a while to see if their target was nearby.

Everyone was concentrating on the surroundings but Levi was not. Instead, he focused on the sudden change in the surroundings.

The air was different, oddly different and not just that but he felt dizzy. His head hurt for a moment then, causing him to turn around as the others followed, confused.

"Captain?" Eren spoke up for them all, "Why are we going back? We're supposed to be heading in the North-West direction."

"I am well aware," he responded, ignoring his question.

The Captain rode on his horse at a slower pace as he tried to search for whatever there was that could be the cause of the dizziness. The man stopped and the others followed in confusion, minds wondering about the weird attitude that their Captain had.

But, then again, he had had a different attitude ever since her departure.

Levi stared at the air that moved. Somehow.

He raised his hand slowly and touched it, seeing how the air seemed to almost be like water flowing from the tip of his finger down to the palm of his hand.

"What the..." Jean breathed out while the others watched the Captain observe the place silently.

Levi retracted his hand before facing his squad, eyes still narrowed from what he had discovered.

"Fire the orange signal," he said, staring at Connie straight in the eyes before the boy quickly grabbed the signal flare.

The bang that reached their ears before the orange smoke came out of the ammo was louder than expected, probably because Hange wanted it to be more noticeable for the other squads.

And it did.

Despite having already noticed the flare, one of the soldiers in Erwin's squad informed him of it.

"Orange flare from the left-wing!"

"Fire the signals," the Commander ordered and the soldier did so with no hesitation.

Hange's squad looked up at the dark sky, noticing the fading green flare after the orange as did Levi's squad. His squad stayed in position through their minds were running all over.

Hange led the squad quickly towards where Erwin's was before the two followed the Commander where they saw the first orange flare.

The ride was silent, gallops from them and the soldiers that gathered from each and every direction as the only things to be heard but no word was spoken. But the heartbeat reached their ears, unable to hold the anticipation any longer.

They reached Levi and his squad and Erwin immediately questioned the man as he had not seen anything in particular.

"Where is she?" he asked and the man raised his arm, touching the thing mid-air the same way he did in front of his squad.

At first, they thought he was insane until they saw the air that was being touched at the end of his fingers flow to the palm of his hand. It was... interesting.

"What is that, Hange?" Erwin asked and the scientists hummed thoughtfully.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully, keeping her hand mid-air and watching the airflow down her hand, "But it might be a layer of protection of some sort. A very modern layer of protection."

The Commander pondered for a moment, taking time to think of what to do next. Then he faced the soldiers.

"Soldiers!" he shouted for the people at the end of the group to also hear, "We will be searching for the end of this layer of protection! The search for F/n will still continue!"

"Yes, sir!" they shouted and the galloping of horses was heard next.

Levi and his squad rode forward whereas the others rode to where they came from. Their eyes were strained in the air, following where it would end. It seemed to have the shape of a quadrilateral, square or rectangle none of them knew.

But none cared either.

They only rode until they reached the place where they met with the others, with the air only continuing to flow around the corner. It looked like invisible walls that acted like water and air at the same time.

The horses were gathered all in one palace with a few soldiers readying their tents while the others readied themselves. They've decided that some of them would be going in the water-like air while the others stayed out to guard.

They stood behind Erwin, waiting for an instruction they all heavily anticipated. Hands clenched and eyes narrowed, breathing short and hot.

They were ready for this, ready to risk their lives to save the woman they'd been searching for more than a week.

And so, with the Commander's command, they stepped in the oddly behaved air with pain throbbing through their heads.

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