That pair of beautiful eyes blinked slowly, staring at the ceiling adorned with beautiful glimmering lights that were very similar to someone. Beneath it, there was water as blue as the sky that was stagnant, and bushes of flowers and also trees around it. He was like being in the middle of a lake located inside a forest. If this was the dream realm, it felt too beautiful to see the light of fireflies even once.
"You're awake?"
Leviathan. His red eyes saw a woman who was not unfamiliar walking toward him, with a white tulip flower in her hand. The woman was dressed like a goddess with her face covered by cloth. Ten years had passed since their first meeting, yet there was no visible change in that woman.
"Mother?"
The woman was slightly startled hearing Leviathan's call, before smiling and sitting beside him who was lying down. "Happy to hear the call of mother from you."
Leviathan's hand moved slowly to part the cloth covering the woman's face, but it was stopped first by her while smiling faintly, "Not now, my son." The woman guided Leviathan's hand to touch her smooth face. "It is still too early to know what is behind it. However... mother promises. Slowly, mother will definitely tell you." She continued.
"Actually... what are all of you hiding from me? Why am I the only one who doesn't know? I feel... like being a door to the secrets you keep without having the key." Leviathan said after pulling back his hand.
The woman gently stroked Leviathan's head while staring at the dark red eyes that resembled the figure in her longing. "You resemble him so much. Shining eyes, glittering hair, a handsome face, and a voice that resounds beautifully. You really resemble him so much." Her voice sounded heavy.
"Mother...?" Leviathan rose, surprised to find tears falling onto his face from that woman.
The woman kept shedding tears that fell onto Leviathan's confused face. "Hiks... Look... your child resembles you so much. You're cruel! You left a figure the same as you, making me feel pain and happiness at the same time."
Leviathan rose slowly, staring at the figure crying sadly in front of him while uttering several sentences. "Are you injured?" he asked with his head tilted to the side, making the woman startled seeing the eyes that stared at her.
"Those eyes..."
"You know?" Leviathan moved back slightly. "These eyes are truly dazzling, aren't they?" He drew a faint smile.
"Hha..." The woman laughed softly like the melody of a song, then replied, "That is very true. Those eyes are truly dazzling." Her hand gently stroked Leviathan's head.
Leviathan accepted the woman's stroke like a kitten. "May I stay here longer?" He asked unconsciously.
"Hm?" The woman stopped stroking Leviathan, before she smiled and nodded. "Lie down, and listen to an old story about a unique man whom mother liked very much." She stroked Leviathan's head who was lying in her lap again.
"Unique man?" Leviathan looked up, staring at that beautiful smile from below.
"Yes. Unique man. He resembles you." The woman stroked Leviathan's eyes to put back to sleep the Infinity Eye that had accidentally woken up. "Others know him as a villain, but he is a broad-hearted man in the eyes of those who know him."
"Did he have friends?"
"Family. Although they had no blood ties, they lived like a family. Mother was happy seeing him, because the world where mother lives doesn't have it."
"What kind of world does mother live in?"
The woman stopped stroking, and seemed to think for a moment before answering, "Mother's world is beautiful like heaven, but there it is very cold. There is no warmth like the world where that man lives even though he is in darkness."
"What was that man like?"
"His hair glittered like yours." The woman's hand gently circled Leviathan's hair, then moved to his eyes, "His eyes are beautiful like red ruby gems in the darkness, and his smile is like a crescent moon on a cold night that brings warmth. Very similar to you, child."
"Who is he for you to say he resembles me?"
"He is a man who created light for darkness. In that era, darkness was like night illuminated by the light of the moon and stars. That man succeeded in becoming a King who was feared and exalted."
"Doesn't mother want to tell me who that man is too?"
"No. You must know who this man is, because you exist also because of his existence. We both brought you into this mortal world."
Leviathan immediately woke up, making the woman's hand that was stroking him hang in the air. "My father...?"
The woman smiled. "Correct. A man whom you must call father." She squeezed her hand on her lap, holding back tears that would come again when the call that someone had dreamed of was heard by her.
"Wasn't I born from the darkness of the world?"
The woman stood up, making Leviathan have to look up to stare at her. "As destruction, you were indeed born from there. But as a child, you were born from my womb with love for all time from your father."
Leviathan also stood up, "Why don't I know it? No matter how much I search about my origins and what they talk about me, I cannot find the key. Because of that, I feel like a secret door without a key."
The woman turned around, looking at Leviathan's very confused face. "Sorry. We are the ones who made you have to spin in a dark ocean. This is for your own good. Mother knows this is heavy, but there is no other way. If the door opens all at once, then the ocean water stored inside will come out as a flood that destroys." She replied with a face that implied a sad feeling.
"Then, where is my father? Why aren't you together? Why does mother only meet me this way? Why does the world call me destruction? And why is it only them who are allowed to know?" Leviathan gave a series of questions to that woman.
"Ethan Demonio. He died long ago, and left a message to take care of you by pouring a lot of love so that the seed of destruction inside you would not grow. But, mother cannot do it perfectly. Sorry! Please forgive mother, child." The woman knelt down, crying sobbing full of regret.
Meanwhile, Leviathan stood still hearing the name mentioned. Not unfamiliar. That name was familiar. He had also once heard a great demon mention that name. "Ethan Demonio... King of the gods of darkness." He stared at the woman kneeling beneath him before sitting down and asking, "What does this mean? Are you boasting?"
"N-n-no, child. I am your mother, and he is your father."
"Then... who are the great demons who are near me? You must know." Leviathan's voice was still the same, calm without anger.
"They... are ancient gods of darkness."
"Why are only they alive? How did father die, mother?"
"All... because of my fault! Just blame mother, child! Your father died because of mother! Mother is truly useless. Sorry..." The woman's voice grew fainter.
Leviathan stared at that woman. Her figure was now so fragile. Guilt and regret were seen spinning in her life. How much were her wounds? Amazing that she could endure this far. "Calm down." He pulled that fragile body into his embrace just as the woman had done for him. "I will not blame you. Even though a lot of suffering will return when telling me about this, you still do it. Thank you."
"Ethan..." The woman sobbed even more feeling the presence of the figure she missed in Leviathan. His voice, the two hands that embraced her, and the choice of words in his speech that was so calming, "You really left your duplicate, Ethan." She whispered softly.
"I don't understand about father, mother, or family that is always talked about. But one thing I now understand, I have it. Mother, father, and the demon race who are my family."
The woman moved away from Leviathan's embrace, looking at her son who had grown up outside her caresses. "My decision to open the seal was right, wasn't it? Look at him, growing into you whom I love. This is your son. The child of the owner of the fate of world destroyer." She thought to the beloved figure who had passed away.
"Cough, cough!" The woman suddenly coughed with a heavy breathing sound.
"Mother, what's wrong with you?"
"N-nothing." The woman stopped Leviathan from approaching. "Go back. Someone is waiting for you with anxiousness. I entrust my greetings for him, and the others. Light and darkness accompany you."
"Ah, m-mother...!"
Leviathan startled as his surroundings faded. When looking ahead, the woman cloaked in light disappeared. The beautiful world became white silence. His gaze was empty. Then, his eyes stared at both his hands and his body that was carried by the fading color. Gray smoke rose upward. A faint voice was also heard,
"O destroyer of the world, owner of light and darkness. The Absolute Supreme being who has a great destiny. Your presence is both a blessing and a threat to the mortal world. Only you can determine the end of everything."
Leviathan's head was filled with foreign memories he had never had. Birth, life, death, until destruction, was shown from the past toward a distant future. He heard the sound of mournful screams and joyful laughter in one rotation. But, it was not clear! His head felt painful as if after being hit by an iron hammer very hard.
"Calm down child."
Thud
Leviathan saw that woman come again, and the foreign memories that hit his head disappeared. The pupils of those red eyes trembled. His mouth gaped not knowing what to say. His heart beat very fast. Fear coursed through every part of his blood vessels. His body understood what he saw, but his soul did not. Frightening. Although faint, the destruction far ahead was frightening!
"Did you see it?" the woman asked worriedly.
"M-mother... W-w-what is this...?"
"How could it be? Wasn't there no trigger?" The woman thought anxiously. "Did you see something?"
Leviathan closed his eyes to remember it, then stared at that woman with the Infinity Eye shining in his eyes. Shocked and anxious, making the woman's body tremble. "Ethan... how is this? Didn't I follow your words to teach him love?"
"Mother..."
"Yes?"
"Are you really not going to tell me who you are?"
The woman was shocked. Leviathan returned. The tremor of fear coursing through her body disappeared. "Is this a reprimand? This child..."
"Mother?"
"Ah, yes?" The woman's eyes blinked because she was startled.
"I will meet you. Will you tell me then?"
"Alright." The woman finally smiled.
"It seems mother's time is up. I won't ask anymore, but come back by taking your leave."
"Mother loves you." The woman stood up, walking slowly leaving Leviathan. But before really leaving, that beautiful body turned around and stared with remaining fear. "Leviathan... Mother cannot completely change the destiny that has been determined. The world will surely make you see its side that shines but is full of desecration." She said very softly.
"Cough!" The woman opened her hand that covered her mouth, seeing the amount of blood left there. "Maybe I have gone too far. Reincarnating seven great demons and staying in the dreams of both my sons, until giving birth to a spirit of light. At a time like this, I actually don't have much time left. Mother hopes you don't meet mother."
In the darkness, the woman's body collapsed. Cold, silent, and full of regret. No one knew she was there. The loved figure had gone, the cherished son kept his distance from her, and the son she wanted to caress had a painful great destiny. Deciding to open her feelings was the right and also foolish choice she had ever made.