He Lies Within the Sea (eremika)

Chapter Twelve

Annie's warning shook Mikasa down to her bones. She couldn't wrap her head around the mystery, and her heart pounded hard inside her chest every time she thought about Eren being trapped by other mermaids- and ones with the stereotypical villain red eyes, no less. It was ominous, and that Annie would reveal so little meant that there was something they were hiding from Mikasa. Something important.

Her mother lied to her that she would die if she went into the sea, and Mikasa wanted to believe that it was for a good reason. Whether her mother knew about these red eyed mermaids or not didn't matter. What mattered was that Mikasa wasn't ordinary by any means, and there was clearly something wrong. Something peculiar. 

Eren was being chased by these people solely because of his association with Mikasa. Clearly, they noticed him with Mikasa in that cave when she caught a glimpse of the shimmering red eye, sparkling like a ruby at the bottom. Because of her, he was wrapped up in something he didn't deserve to be entangled in. Something dangerous.

Something important. Something peculiar. Something dangerous.

All of it screamed at her to stay away, to keep back, yet she felt pulled by some unnameable desire to help him. Annie said that they were doing it and Mikasa would only be a burden. She decided to trust her friend all because of the one year they had together. No. It was more like nine months since Annie left at the start of Summer after freshman year.

She nearly floated back home, her mind in the clouds, her heart heavy, and when she walked through the doors, her mother pulled her in for a tight hug while her father was occupied with putting away the groceries. Mikasa raised her brows when her mother stepped away, her face contorted with slight edges of worry, concern sparking in her eyes.

"Where were you?!" she breathed.

"O-On a walk," Mikasa stammered, glancing confusedly at the door. She was still in a bit of a daze. 

Her mother nodded, swallowing. "Sorry," she muttered. "It's been a hectic day."

"I know," Mikasa admitted. "I saw the news, and I needed to go back out for some air. I'm sorry that it worried you."

"Oh, it's fine," her mother said, shaking her head. "Then-"

"Yes," she said. "I saw you, mom."

"I shouldn't have said anything. I had to turn my phone off. Oh! Everyone's calling me."

"I told you we shouldn't have gotten close when the reporters were around," her father chided.

"I couldn't have known he'd interview me!" her mother defended. "Although I did intentionally yell on the local news. I'm sure national news will use the same clip, too."

"Definitely," Mikasa agreed. "I think I'm going to take a long nap."

"Careful you don't ruin your sleep schedule."

"I don't have school, mom."

"Doesn't mean you should be sleeping in the late afternoon and waking up in the middle of the night everyday. That's not natural."

Mikasa flinched. "A lot of things aren't natural," she bit back, turning for the staircase. Like me, she thought to herself. What the hell am I?

"Mikasa!" her mother called. "I didn't mean-"

"I know!" she called back, silencing her mother's worries. When she got in her room, she glanced around at the small space- the bed in the corner, the desk in front of the window, the dresser beside the door. It was simple, a few paintings hanging about. She didn't have any pictures with friends or anything. It was mostly school friends or her and her parents. Eren was truly the only friend that Mikasa spent extensive time with outside of school aside from Annie during that short period of time.