A Forbidden Family (Attack on Titan)

Chapter 35

"I didn't call for the portal to open," she said quietly.

"Then how did it 'suddenly' appear?!" Erwin almost yelled. "There's got to be a reason behind this!"

Katrina was close to tears now.

"I-I swear I don't know!" she cried out.

"Why you-" Erwin was cut off by my mom.

"Erwin," my mom said sternly. "That's enough."

She turned to look at Katrina and asked softly,"Was there anything suspicious going on before the portal opened up?"

Katrina sniffed a little and answered,"N-No. Nothing out of the ordinary."

My mom nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, that's really strange," she concluded. "A portal that connects the anime world to the real world cannot be opened unless either a Normato calls for it or an Animato opens it."

My mom thought for a moment before turning to face Levi.

"What do you think, Levi?" she asked him. Levi made a small 'tch' sound before answering,"I think it's got something to do with that shitty Prophecy of Time or something. Like hell I'll know."

"The Prophecy?" Erwin questioned. "What has Katrina falling out of the sky to us got anything to do with the Prophecy?"

"Erwin, Levi, let's not discuss this in front of the kids," my mom said firmly. "They don't need to know this yet."

"Actually, we already know," I broke in. "So you guys can have your little conversation in front of us. We want to know what you guys are talking about too. Stop keeping your 'little' secrets from us."

My mom stared at me.

"When did you find out?" she asked cautiously. I pointed at Noah.

"He told me," I said.

There was silence in the room before Erwin grunted,"Fine. You two can stay."

"Great. So, what were we again?" I asked innocently.

My mom sighed and took the lead,"We were discussing about the Prophecy. Levi, did you gather important information about it yet?"

My dad rolled his eyes and came off the wall that he was leaning on. He walked over to the table and placed his hands on it, slightly leaning forward.

"Yes I did," he said slowly and looked at each of us in the eye. "First of all, I sort of figured out the first line to the Prophecy. The Shadows of Night and Glimmers of Day must rise and reap. Erwin, you said that Noah's element is light before, right?"

Erwin nodded.

"Glimmers of Day. I came to one conclusion. It represents Noah," Levi said, his eyes still on everyone. We all slowly nodded. Me and Noah already figured out this much. Nothing new so far.

"So, if Glimmers of Day means Light, then Shadows of Night must be the opposite," he continued. "Its stand for Dark."

By now, Katrina had looked up at the mention of her son's name.

"So Noah and the person with the Dark element will rise and reap together?" she asked. Levi nodded.

"But we don't know who's Dark yet," he said.

"I'm Dark."

My voice rang out loud and clear. For a second, I didn't believe that it was me who just spoke.

Everyone ceased their speaking to face me. Levi seemed the most surprised.

"What do you mean that you're Dark?" he asked.

"I found out," I told him. "Noah helped."

Everyone turned their attention from me to Noah and back to me again. This seemed to go on forever.

At last, my mom broke the silence.

"So Karen and Noah must rise an reap... as one?" she said in disbelief.

"Yeah, looks like it," I said and crossed my arms. "You have a problem with me being Dark?"

No one said a thing. I don't blame them. Sometimes things as crazy like this happens.

"So," Levi coughed a little to continue. "Assuming that Noah is Light and Karen is Dark, this brings us to the next line. To stand or fall, the worlds must be preserved. This line is pretty self explanatory. Basically Karen and Noah must save both the Anime world and the Real world from some huge disaster that's going to happen soon."

He glanced around the room and stare into everyone's eyes. When he saw that everyone was still on track, he stood up straight and adjusted his cravat.

"That's all I got," Levi said. "Anyone else?"

Erwin shook his head and my mom said,"No."

Only Katrina still seemed deep in thought.

"To stand or fall..." she mumbled. "Does that mean whether Karen and Noah lives or dies, both worlds will still be saved?"

My mom stared at her.

"What made you think that, Katrina?" she asked. Katrina looked at my mom and said with confidence,"Look at the second line, Caitlyn. To stand or fall. Another way to say that is To Live or Die, right?"

My mom tapped her chin softly.

"Hm. You're right," she said slowly. "But... What happens if they either live or die?"

Katrina looked down.

"I don't know," she whispered softly. "But I don't want Noah to ever get hurt."

"I don't want Karen to get into danger, too," my mom agreed. "Let's all hope that Karen and Noah lives."

There was silence once again as the adults brooded over our fates.

I, myself, am scared. Will me and Noah die? Or, by some miracle, will we live? I don't even know how to use my Animato powers yet!

I felt someone grab my hand and squeeze it tightly. I turned to look on my side and saw that it was Noah.

"It's going to be fine," he whispered reassuring to me. "I won't let you die."

My eyes widened a little at his words but I slowly relaxed to his touch.

"Yeah..." I agreed. "I'll keep you alive as well."

Noah smiled.

"Thanks," he murmured.

"You're welcome," I whispered back.

Sometimes life isn't fair. Mine isn't. It was tragedy after tragedy. But even so, we can always find that one person we'll protect with our lives. I found mine. Even if I only knew Noah for a short time, something tells me that no matter how cruel fate can be, he'll always be by my side, fighting, smiling, laughing, crying together with me.

I found another friend. It's me, Demy, and Noah now.