Chapter 34
Location: Lisbon, Portugal
The funeral had ended nearly a week ago, but the streets of Lisbon moved as if nothing had happened. Vendors called out their wares, children laughed and chased each other through puddles, and the river glinted under the morning sun, indifferent to grief.
Rosa Vasquez sat in the back corner of a small café, her fingers wrapped around a cup of coffee that had long gone cold. Steam no longer rose from it, just a faint scent lingering in the air. She hadn't wanted to come out, but the walls of her apartment had grown too heavy. Silence didn't comfort her anymore; it pressed down, making her chest ache.
"umm you're rosa Vasquez, right?"
The voice startled her. She looked up to see a young barista smiling politely. "Your father… he did amazing things. People won't forget him."
Rosa nodded slightly. "Thank you." Her voice was low, flat, almost unwilling.
The barista paused. "I just… people should know heroes exist. Even if they die, they matter."
Rosa's gaze drifted back to her coffee. Does it matter? she thought. right now he's gone, and the world keeps moving as if nothing happened.
At a nearby table, a pair of businessmen discussed the recent attacks in Tokyo.
"no it's true I heard that Hunter, well I'm not sure she's a hunter but… someone saved civilians. It caused shockwaves in the city, but no fatalities," one said, sipping his coffee.
The other frowned. "Yeah, but people were injured. And no one knows who she is, it makes you wonder… do we even understand what these hunters are capable of?"
Rosa's fingers clenched around her cup. She didn't flinch at the mention of hunters. Her father had been one. And yet, their world had no space for grief
She stayed there a long time, listening to the hum of life going on, feeling it all press against her chest like a weight she couldn't lift.
Later that evening, Rosa returned home, the streets was nearly empty. Only the occasional car hummed in the distance, headlights slicing through the darkness. She leaned against the railing of her apartment balcony, letting the wind whip her hair.
" If the world could end tonight, it would finally be honest she said quietly
They did a big funeral and a day after, they just swept everything and trying to make it seem normal!
Damn it! This is the country papa gave his life for .
She shook her head, trying to banish the thought.
"Shut up Rosa don't think that way papa wouldn't want that ".
Slowly she got to her front door
Sighh" I'm finally home
Just then
Growl.....
Her stomach growled, eiii I'm really hungry I haven't eaten all day I just need to have dinner," she muttered to herself, forcing her legs to move.
She entered Her apartment and it was quiet when she entered, dimly lit by the soft glow of the kitchen light. Her younger brother was already sitting at the table, homework scattered around him, while her mother was stirring a pot on the stove.
"Rosa! You're home," her mother said, relief shining in her eyes. "Come, sit. I made your favorite i know you must be hungry "
Rosa forced a smile, small and fragile. "Thanks, Mom."
Her brother looked up. "big sister rosa, did you…?" His voice trailed off, unspoken questions lingering in the air.
She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "I'm okay. Really." Her voice wavered slightly, but she meant it. "I'll be fine."
Her mother placed a hand over hers. "I'm just glad you're back. We've missed you. I've been worried sick, Rosa."
Rosa's eyes stung. She nodded, glancing at her mother. "I missed you too." She tried to push the grief away, but it clawed at her chest. Father… if you were here, none of this would matter.
THANK YOU FOR THEE FOOD !!
They ate quietly, the clink of cutlery the only sound. Rosa's thoughts drifted to her father, to the injustice of his death, and the gnawing hatred she felt for the person who had taken him from her.
Thirty minutes later,
"Man, I really need a bath," Rosa murmured.
Slowly, she made her way to the bathroom to wash up but something went wrong. Her foot caught on the edge of the mat. She slipped, falling hard, her head striking the basin.
The world went black.
"Ehhh what's going on"
Cold spread first.
Rosa didn't feel the pain right away just the shock, a sharp crack echoing through her skull as her head struck porcelain. Her body crumpled against the tiled floor, limbs refusing to respond. The light above flickered once… twice… then smeared into darkness.
Ehh am I going to die? Mom....
For a heartbeat ,maybe longer there was nothing
And then she opened her eyes to emptiness
"Ehh I'm i dead,am I in hell? "A cold pressure pressed against her chest, and a voice, deep and immense, whispered in her mind.
"You feel it," the voice said. There was no mouth moving, no sound. It was the presence itself, immense and infinite, and it pressed into her consciousness like a storm.
Rosa staggered back, clutching her arms around herself as if she could hold her soul in place. Her voice trembled.
"W‑who… what are you?"
The shadows stirred.
"I am Leviathan."
The darkness folded in on itself, coalescing into a form impossibly vast , a body too large for space itself, eyes that devoured light rather than reflected it.
I am the leviathan one of the Six Spirit Beasts, I am the storm that predates the entire cosmos
I am chaos made into consciousness."
Rosa's chest tightened. The air vibrated, heavy with pressure, forcing her breath short and shallow. Fear unlike anything she had known gripped her
heart.
Chaos!
"W‑why are you here?" she whispered, tears spilling freely.
Leviathan's voice deepened, echoing through the void.
"I exist for one purpose, and one purpose alone which is to destroy, to consume, to end anything that dares challenge me."
Her hands shook violently.
What is happening to me ? Am I dead?
"Dead?" Leviathan rumbled, a low, amused sound. His massive form shifted within the shadows.
"Human, death does not answer prayers. Only power does."
The presence leaned closer.
"Tell me human do you crave it?", rosa's breath hitched.
"P‑power…?"
"Yes." Leviathan's eyes burned brighter. "Power that would make the universe bend to your will."
Then, softly almost kindly
"But it comes at a price.", rosa's heart pounded.
"What… what price?"
"You will become my food and I will eat your existence once I'm done giving you power ."
Her breath caught in her throat.
"W‑what if I say no?"
Laughter erupted deep, thunderous shaking the very fabric of the space.
"Then you return," Leviathan said, amusement dripping from every word.
"And then you die."
The shadows tightened.
"The only reason your soul still clings to existence is because I am holding it. Deny my bargain, and I release it."
Rosa's eyes widened. Terror rooted her in place.
Leviathan's voice lowered.
"So I will ask again, Do you want power?
Her teeth clenched. Her hands curled into fists.
"Yes," she said at last, voice shaking but unbroken.
"I want to be strong. I want to stop people from hurting others the way he hurt me. I want them to feel what I felt."
I don't care about the consequences, give me power make me strong please
Her voice cracked. The truth bled through her words
Leviathan loomed closer, shadows pressing down like a crushing weight.
"Do you crave strength for revenge?"
"To reshape the world by your will?"
"I… I think I do," Rosa sobbed. "But I don't know if I can...
"Good," Leviathan interrupted.
"Hatred. Grief. Anger."
"These are the fuel of chaos. That's why I chose you and you will become my avatar ."
Rosa looked up through her tears.
"you said you are a leviathan but I don't understand what you are."
"I am what your world cannot tame," Leviathan replied, the storm before the end and the beginning and the end of fate. Time and existence"
His voice became absolute.
"I bring disorder to those who wish harm upon the universes.
I am primordial chaos given form."
The darkness surged.
"And now," Leviathan declared, "you will become my vessel."
And you will be touched by darkness and you will make your enemy pay
The shadows peeled away, retreating into infinite black. Rosa felt herself pulled backward into pain, into weight, into breath but immediately er eyes snapped open.
Gasping for breath
Gasp Gasp Gasp!!