The Abyss pulsed.

  Not with the mournful whispers of forgotten souls, nor with the weight of sorrow that had once defined it, but with something new. Something deliberate. Coco stood at the heart of it all, her fingers tightening at her sides as the darkness shifted.

  Roo and Rem hovered close, their luminous, feline-like orbs watching the shifting void with quiet caution. They felt it too—the presence that had made itself known. It was neither a whisper nor a plea. It did not weep or mourn. It watched.

  Coco inhaled deeply, steadying herself. "Show yourself."

  The Abyss heeded her call. The shadows quivered, pulling apart like a breath drawn from deep within unseen lungs. From the depths, something emerged—at first no more than a wisp, then a shape, then a figure.

  It was taller than her, its form draped in the darkness itself, shifting and folding like living ink. Coco could make out no features, only the vague outline of something once human. It did not speak, yet its intent pressed against her mind, a presence both foreign and oddly familiar.

  "You... are the one they whisper of," it finally said, its voice a low murmur, as if carried by the wind that did not exist in this place.

  Coco straightened, her chin lifting slightly. "And who are you?"

  The figure did not answer immediately. It moved instead, stepping closer, and as it did, the Abyss reacted. Tendrils of shadow recoiled, twisting away as if uncertain. Roo let out a soft growl, pressing against Coco’s leg, while Rem merely observed, its tail flicking once.

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  "A wanderer," the figure finally said. "Like you. But unlike you, I was not born of this place."

  Coco's fingers curled slightly. "Then how did you come here?"

  Silence stretched between them, thick and unyielding. And then—

  "I was cast out. Banished. And I found myself in the place no soul should ever find itself." The figure lifted its head, and though it had no face, Coco felt its gaze pierce through her. "Yet you stand here as its ruler. Why?"

  A question Coco had not yet asked herself.

  Her heart clenched, but she did not falter. "Because they needed someone." She glanced at the shadows, at the drifting remnants of lost souls, then back at the figure before her. "Because I couldn’t leave them alone."

  The figure was quiet. Then, a sound—low, almost like a chuckle. "A queen of the forsaken. How poetic."

  Coco's eyes narrowed. "If you’ve come to challenge me, know that I won’t yield."

  Another chuckle, this one softer. "No. I did not come to fight." It tilted its head. "I came to see if the whispers were true. To see if the Abyss had truly awakened... and if its queen was worthy of the title."

  Coco held her ground, even as something in the figure’s presence sent a shiver through her bones. It was powerful—perhaps as much as she was. And yet, it did not strike, did not threaten.

  It only watched.

  Then, it stepped back, its form beginning to dissolve into the darkness once more. "I will be watching, Coco of the Abyss. Let us see if you can truly command what you have claimed."

  And just like that, it was gone.

  The Abyss was still once more, the presence faded, but the weight of its words lingered.

  Roo pressed against her side, and Rem flicked its tail, looking up at her expectantly. Coco exhaled deeply. Whoever—whatever—that had been, she knew this was far from the last time their paths would cross.

  She had claimed the Abyss.

  Now, she had to prove she could rule it.