After she finishes her meal, she replies,
"Very well, very well. Let us take turns keeping watch tonight."
"Hey, wake me if you get tired, remember!" she says firmly, pulling a blanket over herself and lying down among the supplies.
I do not answer. I tilt my head upward, staring at the full moon.
Then I glance toward the captain, who is reading a newspaper at the helm. I approach, quietly climb the steps, and stand before him. "Captain, may I ask you something?" I say softly.
With a pipe in his mouth, he replies, "Hm? What is it, young man?"
"Is there any certainty that there will be no storm tonight?" I ask clearly.
"Hm? Why do you ask?" He takes a sheet of paper, glances at it briefly, then looks back at me with a light chuckle. "There is nothing to worry about. I have sailed this route more than once, son."
"Is there truly nothing to worry about at all?" I press.
"Nothing whatsoever. Sleep soundly, and we will arrive by morning. As simple as that," he answers.
"Thank you," I say, descending the steps. Instead of returning to Rose by the wall, I walk toward the ship's railing.
I look up at the sky. My heart continues to question, my mind refuses to fall silent, yet the countless stars and the bright moonlight gradually calm me.
I lower my head and close my eyes. Nothing.
I open them again and look at the illuminated sea—
"Red?"
I blink, close my eyes, then open them once more to be sure. The sea remains red.
A single drop of water falls from the sky and lands on my face. I clench my fist. Truly, I have no breath left to face another trial.
I turn to wake Rose, but—
GMMMRRRMM—a deep, heavy sound crawls through my bones and the ship's planks. I tense and freeze. The vessel shudders, yet no one wakes or seems to notice. I run straight to Rose, who is still asleep. "ROSE, WAKE UP, ROSE!" I shout, shaking her shoulder.
"Hm? What?" she mutters, stirring slowly and rubbing her eyes. "My turn, right?" She looks at me, and her face tightens when she sees the strain on mine. "The water is starting to rise. I told you—my instincts are never wrong."
Lightning splits the sky. People begin to wake. Rain starts to pour.
GRRRMMMRR—this time, it is closer.
The crew rushes onto the deck. "What is that?!" "Captain!"
Rose looks at me, her face pale. "Hiro… that isn't the whale from before, is it?"
"No," I say. "That one is already dead. This is its predator."
Storm. Lightning.
"EVERYONE! LOWER THE SAILS!"
We work under the rain. Lightning tears the sky apart, sometimes thunder without light. Rose and I haul crates inside and pull ropes, while Oliver, Santiago, Grizz, and Gruzz climb the masts and manage the rigging. The captain shouts orders; Bartra watches the dark horizon.
"FASTER! MOVE!"
"Damn it, why a storm now? This zone should be safe!"
All that can be seen are flashes when lightning splits the sky. A shape. A shadow. Too large.
Everyone turns to look at it.
The captain stares, stunned. "WHAT—"
I freeze.
Rose stares as well. "WHAT IS THAT—"
She freezes.
Everyone freezes.
The captain drops to his knees, trembling.
"LEVIATHAN." The captain's word echoes through the silence.
SKRAAATH—lightning roars, tearing the sky apart. Rain pours down; the sea rises and slams against the hull, rocking the ship violently.
"EVERYONE, GET INSIDE!" the captain shouts to all the passengers.
They rush below in panic and fear, their screams filling the air.
"HEY, YOU—DROP THE ANCHOR. NOW!" the captain yells at the crew still near him.
"Aye!" they answer in unison, hurrying to the winch and releasing the chains.
From among our supplies, Rose has stubbornly kept Oliver's sword. At last, it proves useful. I take it, and I know what I am about to do.
"Rose," I call. She turns. "Do you know what you are doing?" I ask, though I do not need her answer.
SKRAAATH—lightning tears the sky again, and for a brief instant its light reveals the creature's face, impossibly close to the ship.
WRAAAAATHH—the Leviathan's roar explodes, shaking the air, the sea, and the ship itself.
There is no time to freeze. I sprint toward the ship's railing, ignore the roar, leap, and hurl myself toward the Leviathan as it begins to sink back into the sea.
"Huh?!" the captain mutters in disbelief as he sees me jump from the ship toward the Leviathan.
"BOY!" one of the men shouts after escorting his wife and child inside. "What is he doing?"
The crew freezes, watching me race away from the ship toward the sea dragon.
Their view of the Leviathan is blurred.
Mine is not.
Rose, for whom this is not the first time witnessing my recklessness, immediately grabs her bow and prepares to help me.
I drive the sword toward its body. "AAAAAARGHT!" I force myself closer. "Huh?!" The blade does not pierce its flesh—it strikes its scales.
SKRAAATH—lightning splits the sky again.
"AARGH!" I try to drive the sword in, but the scales refuse to yield. SWITCH—an arrow pierces a scale beneath me.
I begin to slip, but the embedded arrow gives me something to hold on to.
A weak point. I find it—its gills.
I look back at Rose on the ship, bow in hand. "ROSE, ITS GILLS!" I shout with all my strength.
"Damn it!" The Leviathan's movements and rhythm are too fast. I cannot match them from here.
Worse—it is about to slam back into the sea. "DAMN IT!"
"HIROO!" Rose's cry reaches me, faint.
The arrow will not hold if I keep using it as a grip.
I swing the sword. "AAAARG!" I drive it in, forcing it through the scales.
WRAAAAATHH—the Leviathan roars again, deafening.
"Hurts, doesn't it?" I shout back after its roar.
Rose now has a clear line to its gills—but she closes her eyes as she aims.
As the Leviathan drops back toward the sea—SKLASH—SWISH—BLASH!
Three arrows fly toward the gills Rose targets. Her shots waver, thrown off by the Leviathan's violent rhythm.
But—
Now I am about to crash into the sea, unable to break free—
BLAAAM—the Leviathan slams into the water, and I am dragged along its scales near its tail.
Rose grabs another arrow, draws her bow again, preparing for the Leviathan's next rise.
But—