He Lies Within the Sea (eremika)

Chapter Nine

Her hands shook with disbelief as she opened the door handle. Her intent was to be utterly quiet, but Mikasa couldn't help but rattle the handle and slam the door. Her mother, inevitably, awoke to the sound. She couldn't face her, however, after seeing the truth. No, she could, but she didn't know how to react, how to hide that she knew. After all, she wasn't supposed to know. Nobody was supposed to know.

Mikasa's mother stopped her on the stairs when she called, "Mikasa. Where were you?" Her voice was groggy and slow, unawaken. She was still in a tired daze, but her mother was awake enough to process that something was wrong with her daughter. Mikasa had a look of disbelief in her eyes.

"I-I just went outside for a bit. I slept a little too long, so I was just... finding something to do," Mikasa answered honestly. It was pointless to lie to her mother, after all, as they had a sense of trust between them, but did they really? How could Mikasa trust her mother after she kept such a secret from her. She told her mom everything, and she thought her mom told her everything as well, yet there was one huge secret that could change everything that Mikasa knew.

"It's the middle of the night, Mikasa," her mother sighed, rubbing her eyes. "What's bothering you? You're hesitating with your words."

Mikasa bit her lip, turning away. Her mother raised a brow, starting to walk over towards the stairs. She stopped moving when Mikasa turned back around, her brows slanted in worry. "Mom, what are you? What am I?!" she cried.

The words hit her mother like a slap in the face, waking her almost instantly. All the grogginess of having just woken up disappeared completely, and her mind was sharp, aware. Mikasa looked hurt, and her mother knew that. The look of pain in her eyes was not because of what her mother was but because her mother never told her- lied to her.

"What did you see?" she asked, staring at her daughter with sharp, analytical eyes. There was only one secret her mother had that Mikasa would be this shocked to discover, but she couldn't discern how her daughter could have possibly discovered it. What did she know?

"I went to the lighthouse," Mikasa answered, seeing no point in bending the truth like her mother seemed to have done most of Mikasa's life. "Dad had a photo album." That idiot, her mother thought. He shouldn't be so careless.

"Which picture was it? Hmm?" her mother questioned further. It was all over, that wall of trust. It was chipped and chipped away until nearly nothing, and she didn't know if her daughter would ever believe any of her words after such a betrayal. What might have seemed trivial to others was not to them; their relationship was based mostly on the trust they had, and to have that trust crumble...

"If you're a mermaid, mom, then what the hell am I?!" she cried. "Why can't I go to the sea? Why is it that you couldn't have possibly told me any of this?! I am seventeen years old; I'm not a child!"

Her mother let out a heavy sigh and strolled over to the living room couch, taking a slow seat. Mikasa was growing frustrated with her mother's lack of explanation, but when she saw her mom pat the seat next to her on the couch, she saw a long discussion taking place. Mikasa went back down the steps and sat next to her mother, trying to stifle her frustrated cries.

"We've only been known to the public for five years, yes, but mermaids have roamed the land countless times before. I was curious, so I left for a bit, and I just so happened to meet your father. Following my decision to stay on the land forever, I was, basically banished," her mother explained.

It all sounded too familiar. "Mother... are you a princess or something?" she asked. The question felt silly, but the meaning was serious. The story Eren told... it sounded the exact same as what her mother was telling her.