Chapter 2: The Clock Is Clocking In The Reverse

Panmich's mother was teasing him on purpose; she just wanted to get a reaction out of her son, and she did get it.

"A brave hero never sheds tears," the boy uttered, wiping his wet eyes with his sleeve.

"Yes, yes, you're right; you and your heroes…I swear, someday you are going to die because of your hero stuff."

"Then that will be a glorious death," the boy proclaimed and raised his left arm in the air, "Raging Flame once said, may death come your way; don't turn; stand straight and face it dead-on; Death is not the end, it's the beginning of an eternal glory."

"Even if you end up dead in some kind of dirty back alley?" His mother rebuked mischievously.

"Th-that, Yes! Even then it will be glorious." Panmich stammered a bit, then said confidently.

Panmich's mom chuckled after hearing that; she ruffled his hair and then sent him to rest in his room.

"Directly go to your room, don't try to sneak in on Lisa, she is asleep"

"And your cousin Lia and aunt Reny are going to pay us a visit, so, get down from your high horse and behave normally for once!" Panmich's mom, Susan, spoke in a loud voice.

"A hero is always high and mighty!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

***

The ball of glowing light and heat rose from the opposite direction of the west and showered everything in its reach with bright and warm sunlight.

In the room of a young teen, the morning light entered through a crevice among the curtains and gently fell on Panmich's snoozing face.

As soon as the sun's rays dropped on his face, Panmich began to sweat profusely, and his countenance contorted.

"Argh….ahh…argh" He didn't wake up right away and struggled in his sleep.

*Snap*

After a few more seconds ticked off, Panmich finally jolted awake in his bed.

His soft bed had long turned into a swimming pool due to him sweating intensely.

"...Damn! This pain is growing like a plague; day after day, it doesn't show any signs of ever stopping…" Panmich tightly clutched his head.

'If the pain doesn't stop soon, I will tell Dad about it…'

***

"Are you feeling well, sweetie?" Reny asked the short girl sitting beside her in the car.

"Yeah, mom, I'm fine, just a little under the cloud, that's all," Lia answered.

She had brown eyes, thin lips and her brown hair was tied into a ponytail.

"If it's anything serious, I will make sure to inform you, so quit worrying." Lia reassured her mom.

"Okay"

Although Lia told her mom that she didn't have to worry, but, there was a constant feeling in her gut that something was going to happen, something bad; she continued to fiddle in her seat until they arrived at their destination.

"Hey, everyone!"

"Hello!"

Reny, Lia, Susan, and Panmich greeted each other with smiles on their faces.

When Lia glanced at Panmich, a quiver ran in her stomach, and the sense of foreboding intensified. She stood there, stunned, and gawped at Panmich, until she was broken from her stupor by a haughty remark from Panmich.

"What? Did my heroic glamor stun you?" Panmich acted like a total egotist and ran his right hand through his hair.

"As if!" Lia blurted out, and then took control of her bearings.

The mature ladies looked at everything with interest in their eyes, without any intervention.

"And where is my cute little doll?" Reny asked.

"She has gone out with her father, they will be back by dinner time, you can meet her then."

"Aww, that's so not fair," Reny grumbled.

"C'mon, don't complain, I will keep you accompanied until they return." Susan consoled Reny, and both of the ladies went on ahead, leaving the other two behind.

"Sooo, what do you wanna do?" Panmich inquired.

"I don't know, why don't you just tell me something new about your Raging Fire, I mean, that's what you're gonna do anyways."

"Now that's what I like to hear. Sure, c'mon follow me, I will take you to my room, I have something to show you."

"Sure whatever," Lia said, and she followed Panmich upstairs.

"No matter how small the goodness is, or how huge the evil is; as long as the people believe in justice, evil shall not prevail…those were Raging Flame's words during an interview this month, and I got chills when I first heard them…" Panmich hummed with a gleam in his eyes as he went on and on about Raging Flame.

Panmich continued to speak, bouncing from one foot to the other. He was so engrossed in his own talk that he didn't even glance at Lia, who had a pale complexion and was becoming Paler by the second.

"Oh, and let me show you something…" Panmich said and walked to his wardrobe and began to fumble inside it, his backside facing Lia.

Lia, on the other hand, was having the worst feeling of her lifetime, her mouth went parched, she was clasping her hands so hard that they had turned white, and her stomach churned with uneasiness.

'...I better inform mother' She thought, but as she was trying to stand up, her whole body stiffened, her eyes began to tremble, and before she could guess what was happening, a shrill shriek left her mouth.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!"

"Man, why can't I find—Hiyah!" Panmich let out a girly shriek when he heard that scream, his heart almost jumped out of his throat, and his head hit the wardrobe door. Soon a bump will form there.

"W-what the hell happened?!!" Panmich jerked his head toward Lia.

*Thud*

After the scream, she fell back onto the bed, unconscious.

A flurry of footsteps appeared outside Panmich's room, and the door was slammed open.

"What is going on?!" his mother yelled.

"Lia!" Reny moved straight towards Lia, ignoring everything else.

"Explain," Panmich's mom said, looking coldly at Panmich like she already knew that everything was his fault.

"I-I swear it wasn't my fault; we were just chatting normally, when all of a sudden she shrieked, I even hit my head in panic, look, a bump is already forming." Panmich defended himself and showed where he hit himself.