Evangeline remained still in the middle of the road. Her head hung low, golden hair obscuring her face from view.
The warmth on her cheeks still lingered slightly, her erratic heartbeat showing no signs of calming. Her eyes were unfocused.
She still recalled the gentle yet calculating gaze he had given her. She knew. She knew he wasn't the Ragnar she knew, at least not yet, but she couldn't help wanting to expose everything at that moment.
Her passion ran that deep. She had been trying to calm down ever since he left, but her desire for him had reached such sky-high levels that it seemed impossible to resist.
All she wanted to do was throw herself at him, spill every bit of information she held, and help him as much as she could. Yet something within her kept fighting against that urge.
She clenched her fist tightly. Her nails dug into her palm, sending droplets of blood onto the marble floor.
She was so powerful that the pain should have meant nothing. Yet strangely, at this moment, it felt as though a sizzling hot metal rod had been driven through the center of her palm.
The droplets of blood that fell onto the marble road corroded the surface beneath them, burning through the stone until they evaporated, leaving behind tiny holes in their wake.
The illusion of burning was intensified by the sight, but the pain did its job.
She straightened her posture.
"Huuu..." she exhaled heavily.
Adjusting her skirt, she raised her head toward the sky with a dark look in her eyes.
She still recalled the reactions the group had after staring into the heavens, but she had been so focused on Ragnar that she ignored them.
Now she realized she had also been influenced by whatever was hiding behind the clouds.
"Tsk tsk... coward. Hmph."
She scoffed and turned away.
"SCREEEEEEE!!!!"
A disturbing screech tore through the sky as if in response to her disdain. The bright clouds parted, revealing a deep expanse of utter darkness.
Evangeline stopped. Her expression turned icy. Her lashes fluttered for a moment before she turned and shot the creature in the sky a murderous glare.
"How dare you talk back!"
Her golden eyes gleamed with furious light.
"SHWREEEEK!!!"
The creature screeched back. Multiple gaps appeared throughout the dark abyss that seemed to be its body, pink lights emerging within each one.
Slowly, they coalesced into pupils.
Pink pupils.
Thousands of them flooded the heavens.
The wind picked up into a howl. The earth trembled beneath its gaze. Gravity itself seemed to lose its hold as rocks around Evangeline slowly rose into the air.
It was a silent standoff between two monsters.
Evangeline looked upon the display with indifference. The anger in her eyes vanished in an instant.
She turned and continued walking.
"Be grateful I'm on a leash."
This time, the creature made no sound, as though it had no desire to continue the interaction.
As Evangeline vanished into the distance, the countless eyes receded, dissolving slowly back into the darkness. The parted clouds returned to their original state.
Peace returned.
Back in the suburbs of the eastern region.
Ailsa stood before a trembling Joel. His hands were covered in blood, his face stained with it as well.
"Boss... I-I... I don't know. I'm just so hungry."
He hurriedly explained.
"Captain, what are you saying?"
Aiden rushed to his side but froze in his tracks.
Joel's gaze locked onto him.
Aiden gulped.
A drop of sweat trickled down his face as he stared into those dark eyes.
Joel's pupils were nowhere to be seen.
What remained were two empty holes that held nothing but darkness.
The longer Aiden stared into them, the more suffocated he felt.
"That's enough. We're heading back."
Ailsa broke him from his trance.
She turned and started walking away.
The girls who had followed her hesitated over where to position themselves.
Behind her?
Or in front of her?
Unable to decide, they ended up taking both sides.
"Forgive us, my lady."
They hurriedly begged in panic while throwing frightened glances back at Joel, who followed shakily behind them with his head hung low.
Meanwhile, back in the abandoned building...
Ragnar lay asleep, utterly unaware of his surroundings.
It was a strange thing to do, just as everyone else in the city had been behaving strangely.
The apparition in the sky had everyone in the city under its influence.
Ragnar wasn't spared.
In fact, he seemed to be receiving a much greater share of it.
His body was enveloped in a soft pink glow.
Upon closer inspection, hundreds of butterflies could be seen perched upon him.
Evangeline appeared at the entrance.
She came to an abrupt stop when she saw the scene before her.
She gritted her teeth in frustration.
The building shuddered as though responding to her discomfort.
"Trust in him... trust in him... trust him... trust... him..."
she chanted while exhaling slowly.
When she regained her composure, she walked out of the building.
With a single step, she appeared before the massive double doors leading into Ailsa's throne room.
"You're here."
Ailsa spoke as Evangeline entered, but received neither reply nor reaction.
Evangeline looked around at everyone present.
"So why did you call me?"
She settled her gaze upon Ailsa.
Ailsa rose from her throne, her gaze calm and her pace measured. Her chest rose and fell evenly.
"We need your help."
She paused, staring at Evangeline as though trying to gauge her reaction.
Seeing none whatsoever, she continued.
"I don't know what it is or where it is, but I hate what I'm feeling right now. I feel like punching a hole straight through the sky, but..."
She gritted her teeth, breathing heavily.
"...I'M SO FUCKING WEAK!!"
With shaky breaths, she dropped to her knees.
"Please..."
Tears slipped down her face.
Evangeline watched everything quietly.
"Hoo..."
She let out a heavy breath.
Bending down, she helped Ailsa back to her feet.
"You don't need to do that. I can help... but this is not my fight."
She spoke between sighs, as though resigning herself to fate.
The others wore confused expressions.
"What do you mean by that?"
Aiden asked with a frown.
Evangeline was their only hope, yet it seemed she was also looking toward someone else.
"Ragnar," she replied.
"He has to fight for his dream. If I intervene, he'll probably remain stuck for much longer, and I don't want that."
She raised her eyes overhead, her gaze seeming to pass through the throne room and beyond its roof, toward whatever waited in the sky.
"He has to grow...
...and you all too."
She looked at them before finally resting her gaze on Ailsa.
Ailsa still appeared disheveled.
Helpless.
Suddenly, she felt a hand settle upon her shoulder.
Evangeline looked her in the eyes.
"Be strong for him."
With that, she walked away, leaving the confused group behind.