RAM WAS ON THE VERGE OF LOSING HIS CONSCIOUSNESS.
His ears were ringing and everywhere he looked seemed hazy and blurry.
He felt someone calling him as if form far. He strained his ears to hear them.
To identify who was calling him.
He couldn't.
The voice called once again and Ram realized that it came from somewhere nearby him.
Ram turned all around him to find…
Nothing.
No one were there.
Even though his vision was blurry, he should at least be finding something right?
But he found nothing.
The voice repeated once again and he started to doubt it. Was it his imagination? Or was it the after effects of the Transfer of Powers?
Was it something from the Elder of Water's memories?
Ram didn't know.
The same voice repeated once again and Ram realized that it was Aunt El who was talking to him.
Ram shook his head. No. It wasn't his imagination. If that were the case, then he should be hearing younger version of Aunt El, not the current one.
She was probably using The Obscurer, the one that enables one to hide themselves from others vision.
He strained much harder to listen to her voice. But he was still not able to hear what exactly she was saying.
The voice sounded once again. "Wa…"
What? Way? Wander?
What was she trying to tell him?
"What?" he asked or at least tried to.
He realized that even he was not able to hear his voice.
The Transfer of Powers of Water had messed him up. He was not able to form a coherent thought or hear anything or even speak properly.
Ram moved his hand, or tried to.
It didn't budge.
Ram realized that he was not able to move any part of his body.
His whole body felt as if he weighed a ton.
What's happening?
Aunt El spoke and this time, Ram could detect a sense of urgency in her voice.
Ram tried to move his body, strain his ears and even tried to open his mouth.
Nothing happened.
What the heck was happening to him?
"WAKE UP!" Aunt El screams at the top of her voice and she was visible to him for a moment.
She looked pale, much paler than she usually did, and also worried. So worried her lips were bleeding.
Had she been chewing her lips out of nervousness?
Before Ram could ask her the same, The Obscurer was powered up and she was invisible once again.
"Wake Up," she pleaded.
Ram's haziness somewhat disappeared and he was able to think clearly to a certain extent.
He was even able to move his body as well as open his mouth.
"Wh … at … hap … pen … ed?" Ram struggled between gaps and hoped his Aunt got the message.
She did. "I shouldn't have trusted him. Why did he have to do that? They know what had happened and they are coming for you. Wake up and run away," she said.
"Whom are you talking about?"
"The Institute. The rest of the Elders and Elites form the Institute know about you somehow. They are coming to get you. You have to run away from here right now," she pleaded once again.
Why would they look for him? They knew that he were supposed to be monitored and tortured by Elder of Air right?
What had happened?
Ram turned away from where he had seen his Aunt and stared at Elder of Water.
He looked worse than Aunt El. Dark circles under his eyes, his face more wrinkled than before, his hair more grey. It felt as if he had aged couple of decades after the Transfer of his Powers and Memories.
And he was sweating.
A lot.
There was little movement in his chest, but every now and then, it stayed still.
He said that he would be fine. That nothing was going to happen to him.
Is this what he meant?
He looked as close to death as Ram had ever seen. He looked even worse than the Old Man.
Ram shook his head.
He couldn't look at Elder of Water anymore.
He turned his gaze to where he had previously seen Aunt El when she dropped her Obscurer for a moment.
She was really nervous. Ram got the vague sense whom she spoke about when she said she shouldn't have trusted him.
She was talking about Elder of Water. He had promised her not teach him how to perform hypnosis.
But he had done the same and much more. He had transferred his powers as well as his memories.
He promised to him that nothing bad was going to happen to him. That he was going to be alright and also something about new technology that would let him keep his memories and powers as well.
But the way Elder of Water looked, he doubted that was the case.
"What happened to him?" Ram asked.
Aunt El groaned. "No time to exp—"
She was cut off as someone slammed the door open.
In the shadow of light, Ram was able to see a figure that he had only seen once.
The one that hated him.
Veera.
Veera had been angry at him after he saw Ram kiss Sandhya, repeatedly using his powers.
He was a fan boy for Sandhya and Chandra and their relationship and he had been angry as hell at him. It was as if he had kissed his girlfriend and not Chandra's.
Sandhya sent him off to inform Chandra about her finding Elder of Time and Ram hadn't met him again.
Ram had not seen him even during his first trial at Justice Hall.
What was he doing here?
Veera smiled at him. He looked pleased as if a trouble that had haunted him for long time had been resolved.
Another person, an Elite or probably a guard that Ram hadn't seen earlier had stepped beside Veera and Veera's face was back to normal.
Glaring at him.
Veera raised his shaking hands, pointing it towards Ram and then at Elder of Water and screamed, "He had harmed Elder of Water. He is dangerous. Capture him right now and for god's sake, someone call for the doctor. Elder's life is in danger."