Overwhelming Sense of Death

The decrepit man bowed, trying to appear fashionable.

"You can call me The Hermit.", he said calmly as he gently took steps towards the captured villains who were bundled together in ice. "Don't try to escape, I borrowed a really expensive gadget to lock the space just because of you, miss portal."

When Lily heard him call himself The Hermit, she sucked in a cold breath of air. 'One of the most mysterious assassins in the world, that hermit?'

Lily's shocked expression soon dimmed, however, because the hermit simply poked the foreheads of the unconscious villains and they immediately exploded into mists of blood, leaving no trace behind at all.

Adrian's back was drenched in sweat, and Diana, for the first time, felt panic at not being able to use her ability. Portals she desperately tried to open around her were half-formed distorted vortexes into chaotic space.

Sarah was frozen in fear. Again. This was the second time it happened to her, despite her willing herself to never freeze, like she did in Meel district, again. She could not help it, this time, with just a few words, all four of them were frozen up in fear. The Hermit. He was too unfathomable. Too powerful.

'Even Ryan is not his match, this hermit's ability is too mysterious.' Diana thought to herself.

Zeke was losing consciousness but willed himself to stay awake through the searing pain. Ryan's prescient words continued to hammer in his mind.

"You are making sandcastles in someone else's playground." Ryan had told him.

'Because of my naivete, these four are now at the brink of life and death as well.'

---

University Hospital.

Ryan was visiting his sister. He had received a special day off from his protection mission because a miracle had occurred. His sister had suddenly awakened from her life long coma and her signs were showing extremely gradual signs of improvement. With the principal protecting the school and the high security, he did not worry about anything, since the students were on lockdown.

The event had made him happy, as well as puzzled him. A long time ago, he had used all his favors to apply for the services of Master Fate Seer, the mystical ability user who could peer through an individual's fate at a heavy cost. He had done so to find out a possible way to cure his sister, however, fate seer's answer had shocked him.

"Her fate has been altered by a force that manipulated the universe. She is suffering her karma as a result. To wake her up you need to alter her fate using a similar force."

Altering fate, this was supposed to be impossible. Yet the master fate seer had seen such a fate in his sister. It was then that he suspected that the battle that caused the demise of his family and the comatose state of his sister was anything but ordinary. At least one of them had bent fate.

'But how did she wake up now? Could it have been me?' Ryan thought but soon shook his head. 'I do not have such an ability. Did something I do change her fate? I need to find out soon.'

Ryan calmly brushed his sister's hair as she looked at him and smiled. Her first words had been "You have grown up so much." and "In the deep darkness, I always heard you talking to me, telling me your stories. You've gone through so much."

When Ryan heard that he almost teared up. He had really gone through a lot. He did not know how many times he almost died, and how many times he wished he had.

"Sis, the doctor said you will slowly keep getting better. Please use the help of the nurses to keep active and work on your muscles. I got special leave today and am able to spend time here, but for some time I might not be able to come back often. Don't be angry, ok?" Ryan gently soothed her.

"Why do you continue to do this kind of work? You could just be a normal student, enjoy school life." She asked him.

"If only things could be so simple." He made a bitter smile. "Things are a bit rough out there these days, you'll know if you see the news."

"I know, I heard a lot of it in my sleep. These nurses gossip so much. I heard there is another patient like me, he was hurt in the Meel district incident and can't move his body, however, these days he too is improving."

"Ho...did sis find a friend already?" Ryan teased.

"Not yet." His sister said awkwardly.

At that moment, one of the nurses exclaimed.

"Eight villains attacked School District, they are killing the Blue Flame!"

When Ryan heard that his face crumpled. Ryan's sister noticed it immediately.

"That Blue Flame, he is a good person, isn't he?" She asked him.

"Yeah, and a very stupid person as well.", Ryan commented.

Ryan was wondering what he should do, when, he heard screams again.

"The Broadcast got cut!"

"What the f$#@ happened?"

Ryan suddenly had a bad premonition.

"The Broadcast was terminated?" He mumbled. Then he received a call. He saw the caller, Delilah's name and realized that something must have gone horribly wrong.

[Ryan! Please, we need your help!] Delilah screamed hysterically through the phone.

[What happened? Are you okay? Calm down and speak clearly.]

[Adrian, Sarah, Lily and Diana went to save Blue Flame. And then the broadcast suddenly terminated! I am afraid something wrong might happen!] Delilah had become hysterical again.

[Don't worry, they will be fine.] Ryan said, to calm her down. [There are people to protect them out from behind the scenes. But do not tell anyone about this. I will handle it.]

'F***!' He screamed in his mind. 'A bunch of f***ing idiots!' He continued to rage.

"Sis, an urgent work has come up. I am really sorry. I need to leave." Ryan said, his face showing the anger in his voice.

"It's alright Ryan. Don't be angry. We can talk later." His sister said with a smile on her face.

Ryan took his leave, however, when he left, her face became serious.

"When I heal, I will make sure you do not have to suffer again." She whispered.