He Lies Within the Sea (eremika)

Chapter Sixteen

She sped beside her mother with whipping speed, the two of them soaring through the sea as though they were birds in the sky, and all throughout the trip, Mikasa had a growing unease in her stomach, like something was not quite right with the situation.

There was more to her mother than meets the eye, as there always had been, but this seemed even stranger. Her mother made the correct twists, the correct turns, and everything about her actions proved she knew more than she was admitting. Mikasa felt this trust faltering even further, and part of her wanted to say she was hurt by her mother, yet still, she had no proof that her mother didn't have a just reason for knowing how to find Eren- for knowing where the lair of those strange silver tailed mermaids were, their red eyes formed from evil itself.

Structures of rock emerged in the distance, given a hazy blue color that warped from being beneath the water. Above them was dark, not a bit of sun shining through in the evening. At least, Mikasa thought it was still evening. She didn't know how long she was down in that cell, for it felt like it'd been hours. The sun could have risen, and they could merely be far too low in the sea to see it.

Either way, it mattered none, so long as they could get to Eren.

Glowing lights appeared in the distance as they swam closer, and soon, Mikasa realized that the rocky structure before them, like a jagged underground mountain with rounded, sponge-appearing edges, was not just a rock but rather something more important than that. In the holes of the structure were mermaids, their red eyes glowing as bright as the lanterns by what looked like an entrance. The largest hole was covered with something of a stone bridge, the edges glowing with blue rocks encrusted in the edges. More silver tailed mermaids stood outside, carefully holding onto weapons like spears, the edges glistening with their sharpness.

Mikasa's breath held, but she looked at her mother who sauntered forward like she'd done it a million times, and her stomach tightened further. Despite being just shy of a legal adult on land, Mikasa almost wanted to clutch her mother's hand like a child, to find comfort in it, yet at the same time, she imagined her mother throwing it aside, like another betrayal would hit her in the face.

No. No. She couldn't think like that. Her mother had been with her for years, her entire life, and for her to even think that her mother would betray her like that. Lying to her about being a mermaid was understandable. Mikasa wasn't mad about that. How could she be? But- but to think her mother had anything to do with the silver tailed mermaids was foolish.

But when she stopped before the gates, turning to the mermaids guarding with their spears, Mikasa felt a shiver run down her spine as they grinned at her mother.

"Princess, we never thought we'd see you here again," the mermaid purred, his tongue almost seeming forked like a snake as he spoke, his words flowing with fluid and feisty sounds, an accent that Mikasa couldn't quite discern. "So surprising that you came even with your daughter. Did you change your mind?"

Mikasa's chest tightened. She'd- just scolded herself for thinking something ill of her mother, yet she was filled with more doubt. Her bones froze, her muscles tightened, and she felt a painful throb in her veins, every part of her frozen in the depths of the sea, her hair flowing about her head gracefully.

Her mother's brows furrowed. "No," she spit. "I didn't come here to discuss a thing with you."

The mermaid snickered again, nodding. He turned to the other. "Escort her to Varan," he ordered. "He'll be wanting to see her again."

Mikasa looked at her mother, questions swirling in her eyes, and when her mother met that troubled gaze, she bit down hair, jaw going taut.

"Trust me," she murmured, her voice too soft to be heard more than a foot away. "Don't make assumptions. I'll explain later."