Red Angel

      Superhero… we are used to the fact that this word means proud, brave, super-strong and unwavering fighters against evil, that they are even ready to make their own sacrifice in order to protect their world. And it doesn’t matter in what colors they are shown. Colorful and funny Marvel plots or dark and gloomy DC dramas, no difference. These two mastodons of the comics industry have created many iconic pop culture characters that have sunk into the souls of millions of readers across the planet. It is not surprising that someone, having read these picture books, would want to become a superhero himself.       After all, think for yourself. To have superpowers with you or to be a genius, a billionaire, a playboy and a philanthropist who can afford to purchase hundreds of technologies to create an image of a hero, wouldn’t you like to be the same?       However, do not forget about one indistinguishable feature inherent in every story about the hero — about the tragedy in the form of the loss of loved ones of the character. Bruce Wayne’s parents were shot in an alley, Peter Parker first lost his parents as a child, then his uncle when he was a teenager, and Clark Kent’s real parents died on his home planet. This list can be continued for a long time, but its essence is very clear. Tragedy haunts every future guardian of order.       And, unfortunately, our main character was not spared.

***

      Silence. In a noisy metropolis, where hundreds of thousands of people live at the same time, silence is something unattainable, rather even an impossible phenomenon. But now… it’s so quiet.       The sun is gradually approaching the horizon, the evening breeze blows away newspapers and leaflets lying on the sidewalk, while a lonely boy walks through the deserted streets of his city. What happened? …a tragedy. A tragedy, the consequences of which were felt by the entire human race… until everything evaporated. Except for this kid. Yes, here he is, the same hero who had a loss before the genocide… and he lost everything again. Now it’s absolutely everything.       Months of endless wandering on the dead earth… it’s not hard to go crazy from this torture. What is he thinking about? It’s hard to say. So many tears shed, so much rage and bitterness let out…

Emptiness

      A dark and merciless void. The boy has not experienced anything for a long time. No joy, no grief. It feels like a hole has formed in the chest area, drying up the remnants of humanity and turning it into a soulless shell that can only wander, and wander, and wander…       And only old memories of bygone, carefree days sometimes slip through his head, awakening a familiar feeling inside. Random appearances in familiar places seem to bring the hero back to the past, and the space is filled with familiar images, sounds, feelings… it hurts. It’s like thousands of sharp needles simultaneously dig into the heart until they enter the entire length. We need to get away from there, as far away as possible from memories and forget everything that happened… and so every day.       This is a vicious circle of pain, in which the guy was locked up forever. It’s as if the mind is trying to reach the soul, shouting: “Stop! Stop it! Remember who you are!”. But the soul does not care, it is exhausted from senseless ways of rehabilitation. It was the final chord, there is nothing more to fix.       Bad weather.       An angry downpour, supported by a violent wind, sweeps away everything in the space it covers. At such a time, the guy is sitting on a bench in the park until the storm is over. The cold is not a hindrance to him, he will not be able to get sick. You can, perhaps, take it as a refreshing shower.       But then an unexpected thing happened that attracted the exhausted eyes of the hero. Gusts of wind dragged a book to the boy, which now lay safely under his feet. Poor book. Soon, the downpour will not leave a living place in it, turning it into a paper porridge. But the content of this book could hide deep thoughts about injustice, betrayal, friendship or even undivided love… what a pity that it can no longer be read.       Soon the rain subsided and the sun’s rays slipped through the dark clouds again. The boy walked along the shopping street, avoiding abandoned bicycles and scooters, while puddles splashed under the blows of shoes. The wind did not even think to calm down and the fallen leaves only proved its violent nature. From his strength, something heavier could fly directly into the hero… which, in fact, happened. Stopping on the spot, the guy turned back and, looking at the ground, saw… a book. It might have seemed that it was the same book that was lying under his feet a couple of hours ago. It was brand new, as if it had just been printed and wrapped in hardcover. A nondescript, not thick in pages, medium-sized book in a dark green cover was again lying next to the hero, as if begging him to pick it up and open it. Out of harm’s way, our protagonist walked away from this strange book, hoping not to meet her again. How wrong he was...       Wherever he was, wherever he went, the book always followed him. She could fly back under the pressure of the wind or wait somewhere for the arrival of the hero, but one thing remained unchanged — the book was always there. As if she was alive. At some point, the guy got stuck. He could no longer ignore the presence of the mysterious fiction and therefore succumbed to her tricks. Grabbing the book in his hands, the hero read the title.

“The Tale of the Four Sacred Heroes”

      The headline directly said that it was a work of fiction. Usually, Sacred Heroes are associated with valiant warriors fighting evil spirits. Therefore, it could be assumed that the main genre in the book is fantasy, like the Lord of the Rings or, in extreme cases, Percy Jackson.       But that’s all, just thinking. It’s time to find out the content of the work yourself. So, opening the cover and flipping through to the beginning of the first chapter, the boy plunged into reading…       —… what the?