Striker of The Gods

Mansion, Madrid. 20:40 CET

31st April

The mansion was unusually quiet.

No reporters waited outside.

No cameras.

No meetings.

No training.

For once, Caos wasn’t thinking about football.

He was in the swimming pool.

The water was warm, and the lights beneath the surface cast a soft violet glow across it. Caos rested against the edge, his hair still wet from swimming.

Zeraphina sat beside him, one hand beneath the surface, resting gently against her stomach.

For several minutes, neither of them spoke.

Then Zeraphina looked at him.

“You’ve been quiet.”

Caos glanced at her.

“Have I?”

“Yes.”

She smiled slightly.

“You’re usually thinking about five impossible things at once.”

Caos laughed.

“Only five?”

“Fine. Ten.”

He leaned his head back against the pool.

“Erebus is working on too many things.”

“Quantum travel?”

“Yes.”

“Dark matter?”

“Yes.”

“Zero-point energy?”

“Yes.”

“Dragons?”

Caos looked at her.

“That one is going well.”

Zeraphina stared at him.

“Caos.”

“What?”

“You’re trying to turn humans into dragons.”

“I said the protocol is going well.”

She laughed despite herself.

“I don’t know whether to be impressed or worried.”

“Both are reasonable.”

Zeraphina moved a little closer.

“And you’re only twenty-one.”

Caos looked at her.

“I know.”

“You say that like it doesn’t bother you.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Why?”

He thought for a moment.

“Because age doesn’t decide what I’m curious about.”

Zeraphina nodded slowly.

“You’ve never been very good at doing things normally.”

“No.”

“You couldn’t just become a footballer.”

“No.”

“You had to become whatever this is.”

Caos looked down at his hands.

A faint violet shimmer moved across his fingers before disappearing beneath the water.

“I don’t really know what this is yet.”

Something softened in Zeraphina’s expression.

“That bothers you.”

“A little.”

She studied him.

“You’re stronger than almost anyone alive. You run faster than aircraft. You can hit a football at ridiculous speeds. You’re working with an artificial superintelligence on quantum travel and dragon biology.”

She paused.

“And you still don’t know what you are.”

Caos shook his head.

“I know what I am to myself.”

“What?”

He looked at her.

“I’m Caos.”

Zeraphina smiled.

“That sounds like you avoiding the question.”

“Maybe.”

She rested her head against his shoulder.

For a while, they watched the water.

Then Zeraphina spoke again.

“Do you ever think about how strange our family is?”

Caos laughed quietly.

“Every day.”

“Leonor is six months pregnant.”

“Yes.”

“You and I are having a child.”

Caos glanced at her.

“Yes.”

“Keyla and Michaela are basically living with us.”

“I know.”

“Alexia keeps visiting.”

“Yes.”

“Olga calls you almost every night.”

Caos turned toward her.

“You’ve been keeping track?”

“Of course.”

He smiled.

“And there are royal families, governments, billionaires, old families, politicians, journalists…”

Zeraphina’s smile faded slightly.

“Everyone seems to want something from you.”

Caos’s expression became more serious.

“That’s the part I don’t like.”

“What part?”

“The attention.”

She waited.

Caos looked toward the dark garden beyond the pool.

“Football attention doesn’t bother me. I understand that. I play. I score. People watch.”

He paused.

“But everything else is different.”

“The bloodline.”

“Yes.”

“The child.”

“Yes.”

“The royal family.”

“Yes.”

“The people trying to get close to you.”

Caos nodded.

“They don’t always see people.”

Zeraphina understood.

“They see opportunities.”

Caos’s jaw tightened slightly.

“Exactly.”

She placed her hand over his.

“What about our child?”

Caos looked down.

His expression changed.

“That’s what worries me most.”

Zeraphina waited.

“I don’t want our child growing up thinking everyone wants something from them.”

“They won’t.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“No.”

He looked at her.

“But I can make sure they know they don’t owe anyone anything.”

Zeraphina smiled.

“You’ve said that before.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

Caos gently placed his hand over her belly.

“They don’t owe me football.”

He paused.

“They don’t owe the family a legacy.”

Another pause.

“They don’t owe a government anything.”

“And if they’re born with extraordinary abilities?”

Caos looked at her.

“Then we’ll teach them how to control them.”

“And if they don’t want to use them?”

“They don’t have to.”

Zeraphina smiled.

“And if they want to live a completely ordinary life?”

Caos shrugged.

“Then I’ll help them.”

She laughed softly.

“You?”

“What?”

“You would let your child be ordinary?”

Caos smiled.

“If that’s what they want.”

Zeraphina looked at him for several seconds.

“You really mean that.”

“Yes.”

She leaned closer.

“You know what I think?”

“What?”

“I think you’re more afraid of being a bad father than you are of fighting gods.”

Caos went quiet.

Zeraphina smiled.

“Got you.”

He laughed.

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

He looked down at the water.

“I don’t know how to be a father.”

“You’ll learn.”

“I’ve never had a manual.”

“Neither has anyone.”

“I’ve trained against dinosaurs.”

“I know.”

“I’ve survived simulations that should kill a normal person.”

“I know.”

“I’ve spent months rebuilding my body.”

“I know.”

Caos looked at her.

“And somehow this scares me more.”

Zeraphina’s smile became gentler.

“Good.”

“Good?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it means you care.”

Caos didn’t answer.

She rested her head against his shoulder again.

After a moment, he wrapped one arm around her.

The pool remained quiet.

Then Zeraphina said:

“You’re still thinking about the dragon project.”

Caos laughed.

“You know me too well.”

“Unfortunately.”

“I want it to work.”

“Why?”

Caos looked toward the sky.

“Because humans have always reached beyond themselves.”

He thought for a moment.

“First the sea. Then the sky. Then space.”

“And now dragons?”

“Maybe.”

Zeraphina smiled.

“You really want dragons protecting the mansion.”

“Not just the mansion.”

“What, then?”

“People.”

She looked at him.

“You want to create guardians.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Caos’s answer came immediately.

“Because power without purpose becomes another kind of danger.”

Zeraphina nodded.

“And you think dragons could protect people.”

“If we do it correctly.”

“If.”

Caos smiled.

“There’s always an if.”

She splashed him lightly.

“That’s the most sensible thing you’ve said tonight.”

He splashed her back.

Zeraphina stared at him.

“Did you just splash me?”

“Yes.”

“You’re twenty-one.”

“Yes.”

“You’re supposed to be the terrifying cosmic football god.”

“I took the night off.”

She splashed him again.

Caos laughed.

“That’s war.”

“Good.”

She splashed him again.

Caos retaliated.

Within seconds, the quiet pool had become a small battlefield.

Zeraphina laughed as she tried to cover herself.

“Stop!”

“You started it.”

“You’re stronger than me!”

“You shouldn’t have challenged me.”

“I am pregnant!”

Caos immediately stopped.

Zeraphina stared at him.

Then she smiled.

“You’re easy.”

He shook his head.

“You cheated.”

“Of course I did.”

They both laughed.

Eventually, they settled against the edge of the pool again.

Zeraphina rested her head against his chest.

Caos looked down at her.

“You know something?”

“What?”

“For all the things happening around us…”

He looked toward the mansion.

“I think this is the part I want to remember.”

Zeraphina looked up.

“This?”

“The pool.”

She smiled.

“Not the Champions League?”

“Maybe.”

“Not your records?”

“Probably not.”

“Not the dragons?”

Caos thought about it.

“Definitely the dragons.”

She laughed.

“Idiot.”

Caos smiled.

Then his expression became quiet again.

“I just want them to have moments like this.”

Zeraphina understood.

“Us?”

“All of us.”

He looked toward the mansion.

“Keyla. Michaela. Leonor. The children.”

He paused.

“Everyone.”

Zeraphina took his hand.

“Then build that.”

Caos looked at her.

“What?”

“Not the empire.”

She squeezed his fingers.

“Not the football legacy.”

Another pause.

“Build the life.”

Caos smiled.

“I think I’m trying.”

“I know.”

The violet light beneath the pool shimmered across their faces.

For once, there was no match waiting.

No journalist.

No royal meeting.

No politician.

No scientist asking for another impossible experiment.

Just Caos and Zeraphina in the water, talking about their child and the strange life they were building.

And for tonight, that was enough.

They loved each other.

No end to this love.

There was nothing getting in between their love.

It was going to be his 24th match. They missed that.

To be continued...