Trying to meditate was like trying to do physical therapy. It was hard. Lee Seng struggled to keep himself together. His energy - rather, Keng and his energies - swirled all around him, trying to find a way out. There was too much chaos between him and Keng. Lee Seng let out a ragged breath as he focused harder. He needed to calm the storm. He needed to—
"…"
"…"
"…!"
"L…!"
"Lee Seng…!" Calis's voice broke through Lee Seng's intense concentration. He gasped for air, noticing Calis was squatted in front of him. "Are you okay?" Calis could see the chaos within Lee Seng. It was too much. Calis reached up and used himself as an anchor for the Fox Spirit.
Lee Seng took a moment to breathe. Calis's help allowed him to steady his energy, sloppily dispersing it into the ground. His face was covered with sweat. Calis pulled away and switched to sitting.
"Are you okay?" Calis asked, again. Lee Seng nodded. "What were you trying to do? There was so much… chae within you. It was going to overtake you, so I stepped in and pulled you out of your meditation."
"Negative energy?" Lee Seng translated the word. Calis nodded, clearly worried for Lee Seng. Lee Seng wiped his face with his tank top and leaned backwards. "I was trying to meditate. I guess I haven't fully resolved the issues needed to reach Keng."
"You were trying to get to Keng?" Calis leaned forward. Lee Seng nodded.
"I guess I have a long way to go before I can reconnect with him. You won't get to see your boyfriend either." Lee Seng specifically chose the word 'boyfriend' hoping to see something from Calis. Calis simply nodded, not embarrassed.
"When you say it, it sounds like its real…" Calis looked down. He sighed and stood up. "We should go to sleep. You can try again, tomorrow." He reached out for Lee Seng, who took it.
A night's rest came and went, but it didn't help Lee Seng much. Memories came back and haunted him. The Failed Ones plagued his nightmares and pulled him out of sleep in a scare. He shot out of bed, panting and realizing he wasn't in danger.
Calis quietly slept on the next bunk bed next to Lee Seng. The merman clearly had a knack for staying asleep in any situation. Lee Seng pulled the blankets off him and made his way to the bathroom within the room. He relieved himself and splashed some water on his face. He shut the water valve off and noticed the glimmers of the water rune. He stared at himself in the mirror.
"Dad!" Lee Seng could remember himself screaming for the Creator. The image of his father being eaten… Lee Seng sighed and looked away from the mirror. He didn't want to remember it. He only had one job: find his friends.
"It's not my problem." Lee Seng whispered. He grabbed a hand towel and wiped his face. He set it back in place before shutting the bathroom lights off and leaving the room. He exited the bathroom and made his way to the bedroom door and opened it. He slipped through without much thought and closed it behind him, noticing lights were on.
[5:04am]
The System would always tell him what time it was. It was way too early for Lee Seng to even be up, but someone else had other ideas. Lee Seng stuck his hand into the Void Storage and pulled out some socks and shoes. He sat down and slipped the socks on and then the shoes. The sound of a shower went in the background.
'I'll just go running.' Lee Seng thought. 'I need to get my head into the game.' He stood up and headed straight for the front door. As he reached for it, the door unlocked and swung open.
"Oh!" Akio came through the door. "Sorry about th— Lee." Akio stood in the doorway. It was still dark outside and Akio was already dressed. "Can't sleep?" Akio stepped through and pointed behind him. Lee Seng nodded.
'Of all people, it had to be you.' Lee Seng thought. Akio didn't budge from his spot. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn't have the courage to.
"What?" Lee Seng asked. It took Akio by surprise. His little brother didn't sound like his little brother. He sounded neutral in his question. "I can't sleep. I was going to go for a run. Clear my head."
"Something up?" Akio followed up with the next question. Lee Seng thought about it for a second and shrugged. He turned around and made his way to the sitting area. He plopped a seat and waited for Akio to close the door and sit down.
"I don't know why I'm telling you this, but besides Number 1 being severed from her Deimon, we also saw a bunch of Failed Experiments." Lee Seng continued his trail of stories, hoping Akio could make something of this. Akio listened intently as Lee Seng recounted everything that happened. He realized why his little brother had gotten upset and realized he was a douche to him.
Lee Seng told Akio everything, even hearing Akali walk in and listen in. When Lee Seng finished, he lowered his head and kept his eyes on his hands. He sounded broken by the whole thing.
"That's why you look like that." Akali whispered. She sat beside Akio with a towel wrapped around her hair. "Keng saved both of you, giving you a chance to live."
"But the Failed Ones got out. This 'Mother' sounds familiar but this 'Son,' he sounds new… If he was inside you then that could mean…" Akio's voice trailed off, not wanting to make the situation worse. Lee Seng looked up and leaned back on the couch. His heart only felt heavier telling Akio and Akali. It didn't seem to help him at all.
'Would it have been better if I kept everything to myself?' Lee Seng thought.
"We know what happened to the lab at least." Akali looked at Akio. "What do you think we should do after we find Lee Seng and Manny's friends? Should we search for these Failed Ones that escaped?"
"They could be anywhere." Akio sighed. "Between all of us, it might be hard to kill a single one that powerful. Anyone who lived through the heat is clearly strong. We'll probably need to…" He eyed his sister, not saying the last bit of information.
Keng stirred within Lee Seng, pulling his attention to himself. Lee Seng grabbed his chest and felt Keng move for a second, before fading. He could feel energy drawing itself into his Soul.
'It's moving faster.' Lee Seng observed. He stood up, drawing attention to himself.
"I'm going to go for a run." Lee Seng motioned. "I'm only telling you because I thought it would help." Lee Seng made his way to the front door and unlocked it.
'I hope it does.' Lee Seng pulled the door open and exited. The door slammed shut, leaving Nine and Ten alone.
"We need to find the Numbers." Akio finished his sentence in Japanese. Akali sighed and rubbed her temples.
"Why did the Creator have to die to her of all people?" Akali responded back in Japanese. "This is worse than worst! We'll have to expose ourselves… Ah, what do we do?" Akio sighed and pulled his sister in.
"We've gone through the worst of it. We've killed those Failed Ones before, we'll kill these ones too. We have to in order to keep the peace." Akio reassured himself and his sister.
Ritsuka followed the path back to the cabin. He had a large backpack strapped to him while wearing shorts and a tank top.
"Almost there." Ritsuka sighed. He wiped the sweat off his brow and continued towards the cabin. Ritsuka hadn't seen the others in nearly a month after making the decision to make his way back to the city with his brother and find clothes. "Jiro, didn't come back with me… Why's he more worried about our siblings? They can handle themselves. That prick…! Made me carry all of this by myself!"
Ritsuka climbed the hill, coming to a stop. He took a moment to take a breath, realizing the sun was about to come up. The color of Dawn only reminded him about Lee Seng and Keng. He frowned as the thought came to him.
'Will we ever find them?' Ritsuka wondered. He shook his head and slapped his cheeks.
"Come on, let's go. Almost there." Ritsuka whispered. He started down the hill. Ritsuka ran for a while, realizing nothing seemed familiar. "Shit, did I make a wrong turn…? Wait, am I actually further than I thought?" He pulled the folded map out and began the long annoying process of unfolding it. "Let's see… This is the wrong way… I was on this path and went this way…"
A tree branch snapped somewhere in front of Ritsuka, drawing his attention immediately. He pulled his right hand away from the map and summoned Obsidian Glass.
"Damn, branch." A familiar voice cursed in Japanese. Ritsuka could hear someone hopping in front of him.
'I can barely hear their footsteps… Could there be survivors?' Ritsuka wondered.
"These shoes suck." Lee Seng commented in English. HIs foot landed on the ground and he shook his head. "Will I even remember the direction I came from? Should I just go back? Nah… I don't wanna go back to them yet. Forward, then." Lee Seng continued forward as Ritsuka readied his katana.
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