Eva, Julieta, Cosmos and... Is Someone Missing?

Eva found herself seated on a beautiful golden armchair, able to observe a strange celestial figure right in front of her staring at her intently.

The first impressions she had upon seeing this being were disconcerting. At the beginning, she thought it couldn't speak, but after clearing up that misunderstanding, her mind flooded with other kinds of questions.

Much more important questions.

<<Where am I?>>

Eva asked herself, while carefully observing that mysterious ballroom which, to her, seemed to be taken straight out of a music album.

After a few minutes of waiting, the being in front of her began to grow impatient.

"It seems she's not going to come," he said, while crossing both arms.

"Who were we waiting for?" Eva asked.

"Julieta," he responded, but for some reason Eva could detect a certain discomfort in that being when saying that name, as if something about it didn't convince him.

"Well, it doesn't matter, I suppose I should introduce myself," he continued speaking.

"I'm Cosmos, from today you'll be working for Julieta's guest, I'll start explaining to you what the menu is."

Upon hearing this, Eva began to grow nervous, not being able to understand how she ended up in that place.

"Wait, what do you mean by menu?" she snapped at Cosmos, feeling offended. "Nothing about a menu! Today I had finally built up the courage to talk to my father! So I'm not going to cook again! I just want to go home..."

Cosmos responded to these complaints with a threatening silence and, recalling the demonstration of power that Julieta had done a short time ago, he decided that he should do something of the same caliber to convince the girl in front of him that she had no choice but to comply with the job she had been assigned.

"Follow me," Cosmos said, and then, without waiting for a response, he walked towards the majestic door that served as the entrance to the ballroom.

Eva, against her will and desires, could do nothing but follow him. For some reason, her body wasn't obeying her.

This alone was enough to scare her about what would happen next, but once outside the ballroom and standing among the enormous ice pillars, Cosmos did something that would make her blood run cold.

That being stretched out both arms in front of him, opening his palms in such a way that it seemed he was trying to lean against a wall.

"What are you...?" Eva began to ask, but she couldn't finish her question.

The space in front of them, that void decorated with stars, began to darken suddenly. All their surroundings began to tremble, to the point of making her stumble.

"What's happening?!" Eva cried out in desperation, but Cosmos ignored her words.

Concentrating his power, he made that darkness expand more and more, approaching them at a slow but constant speed.

Eva didn't understand what was happening. The ice pillars around them began to distort, the trembling intensified and, in a state of panic as she felt her body being drawn towards that darkness, she clung tightly to one of Cosmos' legs.

After doing this, she could see how her own legs seemed to bend, stretch and approach that darkness that devoured everything in its path.

The light of the stars disappeared one by one, being absorbed.

Space itself seemed to distort, ignoring any physical or universal law.

And, just when she felt her strength fading, at the moment she thought she would fall prey to that eternal void, everything ended.

The pillars seemed to have returned to normal and her legs were intact. With cold sweat running through every fiber of her trembling body, Cosmos spoke:

"If you fulfill your tasks, you'll return home, but if you don't..." he said, while both of them looked at the enormous black hole in front of them, "...that will be your destiny."

Eva admired that cosmic event from the ground, still not having regained enough strength to stand up.

However, she had one thing very clear, she hated cooking.

<<I know what I have to tell this disrespectful being! He's trying force me do something hate, that goes against my wishes and had already decided leave behind!>>

Full of confidence and courage, Eva stood up, ready to tell the being in front of her what she thought.

"Should I start cooking now or do you want to explain more about that menu...?"

♥♥

Once they entered the ballroom again, Eva could observe a beautiful and elegant woman in the middle of it. Her smile was captivating, so much so that it made her forget for a brief instant everything that had happened just a few minutes ago.

That must be the girl they were waiting for, the one named Julieta.

"Welcome!" she greeted Eva with a soft and melodious voice that seemed to hypnotize all of Eva's senses.

"You're the new Chef, aren't you?" Julieta asked excitedly, with a somewhat childlike tone in her voice.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Well, Cosmos will show you the kitchen. If you need any kind of ingredient, don't hesitate to mention it, we'll get it for you instantly."

"Of course, I'll cook the most delicious dishes you've ever tasted!" Eva responded, almost as if it were a survival instinct making her try to appear as confident as she could, when the truth was that she was extremely tense.

"I expect nothing less, although I won't be the one tasting your delicious food," Julieta mentioned, while giving a captivating smile, she seemed satisfied with Eva's response.

But, contrary to Julieta, Eva was invaded by nervousness, her legs trembled as she tried to maintain her confident facade without letting the tears flow uncontrollably.

The fear she felt was driving her crazy, and all this was due to a single thought that repeated itself over and over in her head:

<<I'm dead! When they find out I don't know how to cook, I'm>>

While Eva debated between trying to escape and dying, or staying to cook and dying, Julieta began to observe the surroundings with curiosity, her two beautiful sun-like eyes darkening more and more, as proof of how irritated she was.

After a few seconds of doing this, she looked directly at Cosmos, asking a question in a threatening tone.

"Where is Walter?"