"Oh my god! How do you stop a baby from crying?" Karn muttered, his earlier confidence completely shattered. Noah had been continuously weeping for fifteen minutes, and Karn felt a cold dread creeping up his spine. "If Gabriel sees this, he’s going to kill ."
The maids rushed in, drawn by the persistent, frantic wails, and tried everything they could think of to soothe Noah, but nothing was working.
Karn had attempted every textbook solution, feeding him milk, checking his diaper, bouncing him gently, but the infant was unrelenting.
"Noah, your mama and papa will be with you soon. Please, stop!" Karn pleaded desperately, even joining his hands in a silent appeal. "How does Gabriel even do it? He always said Noah is a quiet boy! But all he’s doing is crying loudly. My ears hurt and my head too," he complained, gesturing helplessly toward the maids, urging them to find a solution.
"We think he simply wants to be with his mother," one of the maids said gently, who was currently holding Noah and rocking him in a futile attempt to calm him down, stating the obvious truth that no potion or toy could fix.
Karn frantically pulled his phone from the back pocket of his jeans, his mind racing as he wondered who, outside the imdiate circle, he could possibly call at this hour of crisis. He instantly dialed his mother’s number, but to his surprise, the call wouldn’t connect.
He quickly switched tactics and called his father, who answered imdiately.
"Dad, good morning. Is Mom around you?" Karn asked.
"I’m not ho, son. I left just ten minutes ago for an early eting," his father replied. He noticed the anxiety in Karn’s voice. "What happened? You sound stressed."
"Nothing," Karn lied, trying to sound casual. "I just wanted to ask Mom sothing quickly. I’ll hang up then." He ended the call swiftly.
He redialed his mother’s mobile number, but once again, it failed to connect. Karn glanced desperately at Noah, whose tiny face was now red, covered in thick tears from his prolonged weeping. In a final, desperate attempt to reach his ho, Karn even called the ho’s landline, but that too failed to connect. The world outside seed suddenly unreachable.
Karn’s gaze scanned his phone screen, stopping finally at Aisha’s na. He hesitated, as he definitely did not want to call her, but with his family unreachable and Noah inconsolable, she was his last, best hope. He dialed her number, and this ti, the call connected.
"Hey, Karn," Aisha’s cheerful voice ca through the receiver.
"Hey!" Karn replied, pressing his free hand over his other ear, attempting to block out Noah’s piercing cries.
"Who’s that crying? A baby?" Aisha mused, imdiately identifying the sound.
"Yes. I’m... babysitting the little prince," Karn admitted quickly. "Since I’m not in the capital, could you please tell a quick way to stop a baby from crying? I’ve tried everything, milk, diaper check, but Noah isn’t stopping."
Aisha offered a pragmatic suggestion. "Maybe take him outside. Pups usually get irritated staying in the sa environnt for too long. If his parents aren’t around, it’s a bit difficult sotis, and a change of scenery can help."
"Alright. I’ll try this. Thanks," Karn said, ending the call imdiately.
He gently took Noah from the maid’s embrace and, after quickly ensuring the pup was securely and warmly dressed, he walked out of the house.
"Noah, let’s go see the garden," Karn muttered, forcing a smile onto his stressed face. "Do you know so many beautiful flowers have blood there?"
As soon as Noah was exposed to the fresh air of the outdoors, his tiny, agitated heart cald a bit. The constant wailing subsided to little, occasional sniffles. However, even as the new environnt offered a asure of peace, his wide, tear-stained eyes kept searching the new surroundings, visibly looking for his parents.
Karn finally felt peaceful seeing Noah had stopped. He used the soft hankerchief to wipe the tears from Noah’s cheek while rocking him gently in his arms so that Noah would fall asleep.
’Gabriel, Alie, wake up soon. Noah is missing both of you,’ he thought in his mind.
~~~~
Carlos stood guard, his gaze fixed on Alie’s and Gabriel’s sleeping forms. He could see their closed eyelids flickering rapidly, indicating the intense activity within the dream realm.
Beside him, his grandmother, Ravenna, was completely absorbed in the ritual, visibly expending every bit of her remaining energy. He knew, with a heavy heart, that his grandmother might be critically weakened once this task was complete, yet he was bound by his promise to her not to interfere or stop the process.
Suddenly, his eyes turned brilliant and radiant as an unwanted vision violently intruded into his mind. He saw his beloved grandmother being lowered into a grave, placed right beside the markers of his own deceased parents.
Carlos’s focus wavered completely.
"Son, don’t distract yourself!" Ravenna’s voice snapped, sharp and stern despite her physical frailty. She hadn’t looked at him, yet she instantly sensed his distraction. "Gabriel and Alie are still in the middle of their journey. They still have a long way to go before they can even find Ophelia."
"Ye-yes, Grandma," Carlos managed to say, his voice strained as he fought back the burning sting of tears evoked by the terrifying vision. He took a deep, steadying breath. "After this is over, what will I have to do, Grandma?" he asked, trying to look past the imdiate crisis.
"Gabriel and Alie will be the ones acting. You only have to assist them with what they require," Ravenna asserted, keeping her concentration fixed on the ethereal path she was weaving.
Carlos quieted, accepting his role as the anchor. He imdiately focused his attention back on the delicate, physical work given to him. A small fire pyre was essential to the ritual, it acted as a gateway or a source of energy for the dream-weaving.
He carefully added more dry wood to the pyre, making sure the flas remained steady and kept glowing strongly, providing the necessary energy for his grandmother to continue holding the ntal bridge.
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