A sigh. Donovan couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Ms. Isabelle…!" Everyone around the vicinity, who was watching the commotion, was surprised by her sudden appearance.
With a snap of Hana Isabelle's fingers, the unconscious child was healed to full health, slowly regaining consciousness.
The little boy's mother hugged him. "Oh, my boy!"
Hana and Donovan met eyes with each other. Her gentle, motherly smile almost made Donovan give in. Almost.
Suddenly, at that moment, with a snap of her fingers, she and Donovan were sitting on a wooden bench at the park.
The same wooden bench that Donovan talked with Dean in!
"Quite the quick reunion. Would you like to be healed as well?" she asked.
"…" Donovan didn't give an answer.
"I'll take that as a yes."
The next moment, Donovan felt his strength coming back to him. His injuries had been healed, but the blood remained. He still felt nauseous because of the blood loss.
Hana leaned back into her seat. "You are indeed odd and interesting."
Donovan felt his left eyebrow twitch. Here we go again…
With a soft, gentle chuckle, Hana spoke again, "Today, I decided to watch over you."
"I watched you win a fight with three people and save that young man. I watched you break the window of a car and save the little boy inside."
"How amazing is that? I was very bored upon waking up this morning. I needed some entertainment. And you delivered."
She laughed. "See? I told you you're interesting. It was like watching a movie…"
Seeing that Donovan wasn't going to respond, she continued, "Did you receive the Visitor Record of your dear brother?"
Donovan slowly and hesitantly nodded.
Suddenly, he felt the air around him change.
Hana crossed her right leg over her left, and spoke, "You told your handler about what I did to you."
Hearing this, Donovan lowered his head. He felt intense fear gripping his heart. He felt as though he was a child getting caught breaking a vase.
"…But I'll let it go. For now. Remember to never do that again."
She paused, and continued, "Do you despise me, Donovan?"
Donovan grit his teeth. "…No."
"Do you fear me?"
"…" No answer. Donovan didn't want to answer such a question. But remembering Tiero's and Dean's words of advice, he said with a firm expression, "No."
She smiled at that. Hana set her cane beside her. "I see."
"I am a child walking with my mother inside the toy store. Then, from the corner of my eyes, I see a toy that interests me very much. I then start to plead to my mother to buy me that toy… And no matter what, at the end of the day, I will get that toy. You are that toy, Donovan Volgard."
"So you see me as a plaything, something for you to use and break," said Donovan with anger in his voice.
"Correct." Hana clapped her hands. "Good job."
"Your colleagues must hate you very much."
She nodded. "I am aware."
"Most of the things I said to you after I introduced myself were lies to make you let down your guard. Except for the 'blindness' part, because I really was born blind," she sighed, and continued, "but I couldn't control myself, and ended up revealing my desires to you. Such a blunder."
"But it's strange. Most men would be delighted to have such a beautiful and powerful woman to be fawning over them. Why aren't you?"
Donovan clenched his right fist. Because you're crazy, and you won't hesitate to kill me…
Hana suddenly laughed. "We are in a dream. In the real world, not a single second has passed, and we are still in the parking lot."
"Since this is a dream, we can read each other's thoughts."
Upon hearing this, Donovan's eyes widened. A dream…? But how? Is this a spell from the Healer Class? But why would such a spell be in the Healer Class? And she said she can read my mind… and I can read hers too… Then, why haven't I heard anything from her? Could it be that she's not thinking of anything whatsoever? She's abnormal… Wait, she can hear this!
Hana laughed softly. "Truly fascinating. You like to speak with your mind, don't you, Donovan? You like using your brain rather than your mouth."
"To answer your question, no, this is not a spell from the Healer Class. All Shades are given one desired spell as a reward for becoming a Shade. Or a Raincoat. You see, there are billions of spells in the universe that cannot fit in all of the classes of Umbrellas."
"My desired spell was: 'Dream World.' I can put people in dreams without any resistance, and I can spend only 30 minutes in this dream world. 10 minutes here equals a second in the real world. Now that I think about it, I should've chosen a powerful spell related to the Sun God…"
"For every spell, there are thousands, or millions… or billions of replicas of it scattered throughout the cosmos, just waiting to be found. The common, or weaker spells have only a billion. Stronger spells have only a million, and the powerful spells, only a thousand, like Dream World."
"Umbrellas have quite an abundant amount of these spells stored somewhere. When a Visitor, or anyone with a spell, dies, the spells they have engraved in their souls will be scattered throughout the universe."
"Well… Umbrellas likes to call it 'spell,' but it has another name. 'Nilsoul.' Quite a strange name, and frankly, I'd rather just call it 'spell.'"
She finished speaking, not saying anything about Donovan's earlier thoughts: "Because you're crazy", "Could it be she's not thinking of anything whatsoever?" and "She's abnormal."
Donovan was astonished. Speechless. Desired spells… Nilsoul…
Hana sipped on a cup of tea. She wasn't holding that before.
If this is a dream, then does that mean she can do anything she wants in this world? Wait, no, I need to stop thinking…
"Yes. Yes, I can. But it is limited only to my imagination. It is quite a weak spell, because we cannot die here. It is only useful when I need a moment to think during battle," replied Hana.
Donovan forced himself to speak. "Were you… the one who put us in a dream in the Tosla expedition?"
Hana raised an eyebrow. "Tosla? Ah, that planet with an eternal blizzard. I have never stepped a foot on that godforsaken planet, Donovan."
"Hm, does this mean that there is someone out there who can also put others in a dream? Quite concerning…"
She isn't the one who put us in that dream? Then who…?
"Who, indeed. I am quite curious as well. Either that person also has the Dream World spell, or, they have the Lucid Dreamer Box…" she said with a sip of her tea.
Lucid Dreamer Box…?
"It's a device that was invented to recreate the effects of Dream World. But it was stolen from Umbrellas by someone from a hundred years ago. It is much stronger than Dream World, because it can put a hundred people in a dream, whereas Dream World can only put one person in a dream."
"Hm… Yes, I'm certain that someone used the box on you and your teammates."
The two sat in silence for a while.
Suddenly, Donovan spoke, "You only healed me here, but not in the real world."
"Yes. Do not worry, I will heal you back to full health after the dream ends. After all, no one wants a broken toy."
Donovan almost said something to the last part of her sentence. Almost. "My brother's Visitor Record had many redactions."
"Ah. Yes, I was also curious about that as well. I'm afraid I can't tell you much about it."
They sat in silence for a while once again.
She suddenly spoke, "You know, Donovan, I could make it so you would cease any form of resistance, and then have my way with you inside this dream world. But you would despise me too much if I were to do that, so I shall refrain from doing so."
Upon hearing this, a shiver went down Donovan's spine. He quickly calmed down, making sure that he wasn't saying anything in his mind.
"You're full of entertainment, Donovan. I could keep watching you forever and be entertained forever. For now, I am in the 'observing' phase. Soon, I will be in the 'having my way with you' phase," she said with a chuckle.
Donovan's face froze. "You're really crazy," he couldn't help but blurt out.
"For you," she added.
"I wonder, Donovan… Are you a man of many secrets? I would like for you to open yourself up to me. Also, if you could just give yourself up to me, I promise you that I can get you whatever you desire."
Donovan leaned back into his seat, looking at the sky. Then, he said with a tone of agony, "Can you get me home, then?"
"Home?" she asked.
"Never mind."
Hana hummed. "Home… Your home in Umbrellas?"
Donovan didn't say a thing.
With a chuckle, she said, "Truly interesting…"
"Right now, as of this moment, I am holding myself back from pouncing on you."
"I'm afraid I must end the dream here, lest I lose control of myself once again. We will meet again, Donovan Volgard. And do not worry, everything I said in this dream is all true. There is no lie."
Hana Isabelle stood up, while Donovan remained seated.
At that moment, Donovan opened his eyes, finding himself still standing in the parking lot, surrounded by the ambulance and people.
Hana snapped her fingers, and Donovan was healed back to full health. But of course, the blood on his clothes remained, and he was still nauseous from the blood loss.
With a smile, Hana Isabelle disappeared into thin air.
Donovan arrived at his apartment at 9:57 a.m.
He removed his blood-stained clothes and gave it to his laundry robot. He also decided to take a shower.
After all of that, he got the chef robot to make him something. Donovan sat on the sofa. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Dean… You look like you're really desperate for a woman to obsess over you… I'll give Hana Isabelle to you…
Man, I must've looked like some kind of serial killer when I entered the gas station…
His conversations with Hana were very mentally-draining for him. These talks I have with her always result in me gaining valuable information… Knowledge is a weapon… Sigh, but she always drains me mentally…
Donovan made a silent prayer that nothing goes wrong in his next meeting with Hana.
62-Litus-55.
Ring.
Another ring of the doorbell.
The door finally opened, revealing an ordinary-looking man in a black suit holding an umbrella.
Benedict sighed upon seeing this. He looked down, seeing a yellow tag on the man's left chest with the word, "AUTHORIZED" in all caps. "Yes? May I help you?"
"…A-Are you Benedict Volgard? Sir, the higher-ups demand that you—"
Benedict interrupted him, "No thanks, not interested."
"But sir—"
At that moment, Benedict closed the door. "Tell them to quit it!" he shouted.
"Benedict? What's all that noise?" asked Lillian. She was in the middle of doing the laundry.
Their house were situated inside the city of Nuto, a city in Litus. Everything seemed to be "alienmade" here, with the only thing that stood out was Benedict's two-story house which was manmade.
The backyard had a garden, and the interior of the house was very modern.
Benedict scratched his head, and said, "Nothing, dear!"
With a sigh, he returned to the living room, returning to his favorite seat—the sofa.
"Are the higher-ups still demanding that you return to Umbrellas?" asked Tiero. He was seated on the sofa across Benedict.
"Yep. Can you do something about it? Tell them to stop pestering me."
"Ben, I'm just a handler. I can't do much about it."
Tiero sipped on his cup of coffee. Benedict sipped on his glass of iced tea. "How long has it been since we've last seen each other? Five years?"
"Six. It's been six years, Ben," said Tiero. "I'm sorry, Ben. I couldn't attend your wedding…"
"I apologize too, old friend." Benedict sighed. "How are the others?"
"Jiro's doing well. Mei, she's… never mind. Dan and George, I can't get in touch with them anymore. I heard Holly's on a top-secret mission…"
Tiero paused to sip on his cup of coffee. He continued, "Ivan and Alice, I haven't visited them in a while. Their daughter is doing a great job as a Shade. I heard she's even awakened her Soul Essence now."
"As for Christian, well… No one knows where he is. I just hope he's not dead."
Benedict asked, "Is Donovan alright?"
Tiero put down his cup on the glass table. "I came here to see you, Ben. And… to talk about Donovan."