"Ailsa." Aiden called out calmly.
"Aiden." Ailsa replied with a smile while she nodded towards the maid who had accompanied Aiden in.
The maid stepped backwards with a bow then walked out silently.
Aiden looked around the throne room for sometime before making himself comfortable in a chair to the side of the room.
He said nothing, he just kept looking around the surroundings as though searching for something.
Ailsa also proved to be quite a patient person and with her signature smile, she kept her eyes fixed on Aiden without interrupting his actions.
It was somewhat awkward yet comforting.
Being in the company of someone considered a foe yet respecting each other's boundary. Atleast that was what Ailsa seemed to be doing.
Aiden who was an extremely intelligent person was instead blatantly studying Ailsa, her environment, her expression.
His actions spelt one meaning. "Pressure".
But Ailsa was taking it all in with no reactions whatsoever except her smile that made one want to relax.
From behind the curtains , veins could be seen bulging on Evangeline's head.
"I should leave those two idiots be, they better be done before I get back." She loosened her clenched fist and slowly faded away from the room like she was never there.
Moments later she materialised in an underground chamber . The place looked like a tomb. A giant lidless coffin that could accommodate atleast three people was in the centre of the room, overflowing with icy mist.
The temperature of the room was at absolute zero.
Evangeline lowered her head to look at the thin film of ice that was slowly coating her skin.
"This is ridiculous, how can a human body contain something that harrowing." She sucked in a cold breath.
With a gentle shake of her hand, the film of ice melted but turned into little drops of frozen water.
She took five paces forward before stopping and focusing her gaze on the lone figure lying in a sound sleep on the coffin which was obviously a king sized bed that had been frozen over for the period of time.
...
Ragnar stopped pedalling the bike , with his arms spread wide and a happy grin on his face , he descended the slope on a free ride.
The wind whistled past him, going through his hair, licking at his scalp and through his finger gaps, it gave him a relaxing feeling.
Before going to school he always banded his hair into a ponytail. But each day on his way back, he gifted the silky black hair the freedom they deserve and with a joyous cycle home, he enjoyed the fresh air peered with the bright sunlight, he felt happiest in moments like this.
On getting to the bottom of the slope, he quickly grabbed the handle of the bike and did a sharp turn.
Just to the side of the street a simple building came in sight.
Ragnar stopped right in front of the short fence, he pushed at the metal gates and towed his bike in.
He was about leaning it against the wall of the house when he heard the sound of a trumpet.
It was so loud yet seemed ethereal like it never sounded and was just a figment of his imagination, it's sound came with a form of majesty with it. It sounded more like a decree than a tone.
"Huh, what celebration? A parade of sort perhaps?" He mumbled to himself before leaning the bike and turning to go inside but his vision caught something that made him pause for a moment.
His jaws dropped the next moment as he saw a blinding light appear at the top of the building right opposite his house.
The area was a quiet one. Free of the overpopulation and pollution filled atmosphere of the city.
He watched as the light kept growing longer...ascending? The next moment the light detached from the rooftop of the building. Slowly it formed into the shape of an adult human and kept floating upwards.
"What the hell is that?"
Ragnar looked around him to see if there was anyone else witnessing the scene. But the next moment he heard a crashing sound from inside his house .
Tearing his attention away from the ascending light, he rushed into his house only to find it empty.
"Mom!!!"
"Dad!!!"..
He called out but there was no reply. He headed to their room but it was empty, the kitchen had broken pieces of a ceramic plate on the floor giving answer to the crash he had hear earlier.
A thought suddenly came to his mind making him tremble for a bit.
He flung his backpack to the floor and sprinted out immediately.
He exited the building and with a full dash he was already jumping over the short fence of their residence.
"Haa hu haa" he panted heavily as he turned and looked at his rooftop and there it was.
His breath hitched at the moment and his legs grew weak.
There it was, two blinding lights could be seen ascending.
Ragnar froze.
He knew those silhouettes.
Somewhere deep inside, before logic could even catch up, he understood.
His parents were leaving.
"MMOOM!!! DAAADD!!!." His scream tore through the air breaking the quiet of the area.
He could see one of the glowing silhouettes looking towards him but still ascending without slowing down.
His eyes followed the silhouette up and he could see it, the number was simply overwhelming.
Thousands of silhouettes could be seen high up , all ascending in one direction.
Ragnar immediately ran back and took his bike out.
"I need to get to uncle's." He immediately began pedalling furiously, heading back uphill were he had descended earlier.
An hour later, Ragnar dropped his bike recklessly while sweating profusely he ran into an apartment that had it doors wide open.
He began ascending the flight of stairs while wishing against all hope that his uncle was around. But he was disappointed when he saw the giant lock on the wooden door.
He leaned against the wall and slumped down on the floor.
"This is it, I'm sure it's the one, how can this be? why didn't I go? what did I do? What do I do now?." His thoughts were all over the place.
He couldn't think straight.
He could almost immediately tell what was going on and with that he knew what was coming next, atleast he thought he knew.
He stood up listlessly and started walking home, leaving his bike in the middle of the street.
The city had become strangely quiet but the confusion in the air was almost tangible. The police station was flooding with what could only be considered a mob, yet some officers were no where to be seen and the confusion was also among the officers present.
Hours flew by and more light could be seen accumulating in the sky.
After an hour had passed, a change finally occurred.
The noise was stolen from the world , everything became still with everyone's eyes fixed on the sky....the now empty sky.
Reporters and online streamers could be seen in different regions of the world doing what they do best.
Ragnar felt as though he was watching a scene from a movie. He felt despair slowly creeping into his heart because he was aware that he was about to experience the harshest and most harrowing moments of his whole life.
Another trumpet sounded.
Ragnar's knees went soft.
He dropped to the floor in the middle of the road with his gaze fixed on the sky above his head....or which used to be above his head.