Holding Everything

Chapter 18: Will She Sleep?

He sees my confusion, knowing I don't really wanna do anything without Eren and Rika at the moment, "I know you need them with you right now, but if this is that girls Awakening as your Given Handler, then they have no purpose in being there right now, if fact they might get in the way."

"What do you mean her awakening?" I say, obviously not getting what he means.

"There are 3 stages to the Awakening; for Naturals, it's first witnessing a death in front of your eyes, the second is when your Given Handler and you meet, the connection awakens the both of you," when he says this, I recall when the three of us were all gathered at my doorstep and we all collapsed in the pool of blood, that must have been the second stage for me. He continues "for Given Handlers, the meeting is their first, and their second is choosing whether or not to be the Given Handler."

"So I have already gone through the second stage then." Eren says, cutting off grandpa a bit.

He nods and continues, "So after both have gone through the second stages of the Awakening," he pauses, staring down toward the floor for a moment.

"You okay,Grandpa?" I ask, interrupting his train of thought it seems, he looks at me and shakes his head and continues.

"I cannot say the third stage but you have to go alone," he says in a sterner tone this time, I nod reluctantly. He grabs the book and suddenly opens it before I have the chance to see how he does it.

I suddenly feel the rushing winds blowing in my ears and the familiar feel of my hair being blown every which way; it reminds me of the last time I went through this, though it's not as frightening, but it feels different now that I know what's going on. My eyes stay closed as I 'travel' through the portal. Surprisingly it's not a rough ride, it's quite smooth for something so unnatural, although the air is hitting me with so much force; I feel like I'm simply floating from one place to the next. Once everything settles and the winds stop, I slowly open my eyes to let my eyes adjust more smoothly than the last time. When I do so, everything is white and blank, just like I had prepared for, I sigh and realize I didn't even get a chance to ask how I get out of here and get where I need to go; Lillya.

With a sense of Déjà vu, I begin walking again, knowing if I sprint out of here I might not get lucky enough to run into Mo again. "Let's see, I sprinted and she just sort of appeared, but I'm not sure if sprinting like I did was the reason I escaped in the first place, ah damn I just wanna get to Lillya." I speak out loud and slump my shoulders, closing my eyes and trying to come up with some way to get out of here.

I suddenly bump into something, hitting my head hard and snapping me out of the daze I was in, my eyes fly open and I jump slightly, I step back while trying to calm my racing heart, looking at what I bumped into and see it's a clear glass wall, and a table on the other side, just like when I first saw Eren, Rika and Lil laying here the first time, except there's only one and Lil is laying on it. I rush to the side and realize there are glass walls all around her enclosing her in a glass box; I call her name, no response. She doesn't move around, it doesn't even look like she's breathing; she almost looks like a recently deceased hospital patient who is now awaiting an autopsy. I place my hand on the glass as if trying to reach out to her.

"I told you before, Kou," I turn to my right and spot Gloria, standing there with her hands gently holding one another, looking as neat and sophisticated as last time. She takes a step towards me and stares at Lil through the glass and inhales deeply while raising an eyebrow, she turns her head and looks at me with intimidating eyes and she says with a cold and spine tingling voice, "If they decide not accept their duties, they sleep."