Mr. Ackerman's Library || Mikasa

                 𝐌𝐫. 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲

:warning: 𝐓𝐖 :warning:

𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

In 1984, a picture book titled '𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘖𝘧 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘬' was published by Chris Allsburg, an American author. The book contained 14 images, all of which only included a title and brief caption. These images were created by Harris Burdick, who mysteriously disappeared before telling the stories of any these images. The book was published with the intention to spark the imaginations of young people and to inspire as well as motivate them to create their own story using the few resources.

One of the 14 images was titled '𝘔𝘳. 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺', which I had the idea of using its caption prompt "He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late" to write a story with this, but with AoT characters.

                    𝐄𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲

Mikasa Ackerman sat silently in the kitchen as her father meticulously elaborated to her that she was strictly forbidden to enter the library in the basement. Mikasa nodded, keeping a neutral expression on her face. “Of course, father.” But that was all a lie. Unfortunately, Mikasa was much too curious to not check the basement. ‘What could my father possibly be hiding from me?’ She wondered.

As her father left for the day, Mikasa, as quiet as a mouse, tiptoed down into the basement library. She noticed something strange about one of the shelves, so she then pushed it. A burst of dusty air immediately hit her in the face. She coughed and shivered slightly but nevertheless proceeded down the stairs. As she got further in, all she saw were a bunch of items and books that seemed generic or useless in her eyes. “What’s father talking about? There’s nothing special here. It’s a bunch of junk!” Mikasa mumbled under her warm breath. Suddenly, she saw a single, large, ancient looking book sitting on a fancy pedestal. It was coated with a thick layer of dust and looked as if it had not been opened for many many years.

Mikasa had a ion for reading and glanced at the faded title. ‘Chronicles of Eldia,’ it read. Mikasa’s face lit up like a lamp and she tucked the dust covered book under her arm. She thought she might’ve found what she thought to be a good read, intriguing in other words. She went to her bedroom and plopped the literature onto her bed. After she got comfy laying down, she gently turned the hardcover.

But something was wrong. Mere moments after opening the book, she began to feel unbearably lightheaded. And then, she blacked out.

As Mr. Ackerman neared his daughter’s room to call her downstairs for supper, he somehow sensed that something was amiss. As he entered Mikasa’s room, he saw her ed out on her bed, vines that seemed to grow out of nowhere threatening to make their way around her neck. Attempting to cut the vines would result in serious injury. That Mr. Ackerman knew.

Mr. Ackerman frantically called the police, barely being able to keep his composure. He could barely hear the wailing sirens of the ambulance. When the ambulance finally arrived at the hospital, he soon discovered that his precious daughter had been put into a coma. He closed his eyes trying to focus and muster up a solution. He needed to think meticulously, or he just might end up losing his one and only daughter. If he failed to save Mikasa in a specific time period, then she would lose her life in the same way that her mother did. He started to act recklessly, obviously losing his mind. He tried to ply the vines off her. When he did, her heart monitor fluctuated, and he quit immediately.

Afraid for Mikasa’s life, Mr. Ackerman had attempted to freeze the vines. Nothing changed. Mr. Ackerman felt hopeless.

Meanwhile, Mikasa seemed to be in a never-ending dream. She was cursed to stay in the forest forever. She had been wandering around aimlessly. Until suddenly, she saw a shadow behind the Sycamore tree. “Hey, hello!?” Mikasa chased the figure. When she finally caught up, she pushed the figure on the ground. As Mikasa studied her facial features... they realized that they looked suspiciously similar. “M-Mikasa?” The strange woman spoke to her. Mikasa took a few seconds to process this.

“Mom?” Mikasa was bewildered. She had been told that her mother had died when she was very young. Her mother’s smile turned into a frown. “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you opened the book...We aren’t meant to know about Eldia.” Mikasa told her mother about everything that had happened as they held each other in their arms and sobbed quietly. Listening intently as they caught up, Mikasa noticed that her mother had some bittersweet tucked into her pocket. When Mikasa had asked why she had it, her mother whistled and out came a fox squirrel. She was in awe.

Mr. Ackerman was heartbroken from losing both people he loved most in the world. He wanted to find a way to save them, he was desperate for a way. As he inspected Mikasa’s plug, he made the mistake of tripping over it. It came off, and the heart monitor beeped rapidly as it flattened. This was his greatest mistake. He rapidly became depressed. Mr. Ackerman opened the ‘Chronicles of Eldia’ himself, fell into a deep sleep, and found his family in the dream-like world he could never wake up from.

When his wife found him, her eyes became a waterfall. “Wh-why are you all here?” She questioned very tearfully. Mr. Ackerman did not reply as he smiled brighter than the sun and pulled her into a tight hug. “It doesn’t matter anymore hone, what is important is that we are all together again, as a family.”

As time ed by, the family got accustomed to the new world and built a cozy little cottage to live in. They lived happily ever after, though back in the real world, nobody knew what had happened and mourned the family’s deaths. The library was ed down to their relatives. But there was one small problem, the ‘Chronicles of Eldia’ still resided in Mikasa’s old room. The room where her youngest cousin now resided...

THE END