Another restless night came and went. Lee Seng cozied himself up in front of one of the large windows in the living room and watched the night sky slowly grow with colors. He closed his eyes and focused.
Energy stirred within him, fluttering around as gold and silver flames ignited. Lee Seng turned his head, intently listening to the tune of his own energy. It played a melody that sounded out of tune. The blankets fluttered, falling to the wayside while Lee Seng continued to listen.
"The only way forward…" A mysterious voice whispered. "Is through the pain." A heaviness pressed on Lee Seng's chest and stomach. "…through the pain… I found my way home."
'The only way forward is through the pain…?' Lee Seng cocked his head as the out-of-tune melody started to change key. It slowly started to play a different melody. Two melodies played along with each other. Lee Seng's face scrunched together. 'Through the pain… I found my way home… Home.'
Lee Seng opened his eyes. "What's my home?" Lee Seng whispered to himself. The energy around him changed colors before disappearing. Lee Seng's soul resonated, drawing Lee Seng's attention. He reached up and touched his chest, feeling the rumble. As quickly as it came, it faded, leaving Lee Seng with more questions.
'What was that voice?' Lee Seng wondered. 'It doesn't sound like any voice I know of…' A door opened and Olivia stepped out of her room. She noticed Lee Seng grabbing the blankets and bundling himself back into a nice cozy state.
"Watching the sunrise?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng turned and acknowledged Olivia. He nodded and turned back to watch. He had meditated and time had quickly ascended. Olivia made her way over to the couch and took a seat. She grabbed one of the throw blankets and covered herself. She let out a yawn and stared out the window with Lee Seng.
"You've been watching this for a couple months?" Lee Seng asked.
"With every sunrise, I quietly prayed for you, Manny and Ritsuka to be safe." Olivia replied. Lee Seng turned to look at Olivia.
"You did…?"
"I wanted everyone else to be okay. I even prayed and hoped my own parents would be okay." Olivia looked down at her hands. Lee Seng stood up and made his way over to Olivia. He sat next to her, turning his head and staring close to Olivia. She turned to look at him and realized they were mere inches from each other.
Lee Seng's genuine smile made time slow down. Olivia's heart fluttered. The two stared at each other. She studied Lee Seng's face. His eyes weren't filled with purple anymore. They weren't gold. They were red and blue. Her hand twitched. She didn't know what to do. She slowly lifted her hand up to Lee Seng's cheek and brushed it.
"You've been through a lot." Olivia quietly spoke. She smiled at him, making his heart shake. Olivia's brown eyes glowed like stars. Her hair had grown since he had known her. They went down to her shoulders. Her nose was small and her lips… She patted Lee Seng's face and started to pull away when Lee Seng grabbed her hand. Her eyes, for a moment, got big. Olivia's next question was on her lips, but Lee Seng silenced them with a kiss.
Olivia's eyes closed. The two melted together for a moment. Lee Seng moved his hand to intertwine his hand with hers. Olivia's lips were soft. He wanted more but pulled away, staring into her eyes as she did the same with him. The two lowered their connected hands and Lee Seng smiled before Olivia pulled and turned away.
"W-what was that all about…?" Olivia asked. "I don't think a kiss w-would've been… right there… I-I was just telling the truth."
"And I'm expressing my thanks." Lee Seng responded. He didn't turn away from her. "I don't know when it happened, but you always came to me when I was having a tough time. I'm glad I met you at the entrance exams." Olivia looked at him, growing redder.
"S-stop. I-it was nothing… Y-you were just… in-interesting." Olivia stuttered. Lee Seng chuckled and turned. He gave her space.
"Right. I should probably start breakfast." Lee Seng lifted himself up, pulling the blankets off and putting them on Olivia. "You can have that." He winked at her before heading to the kitchen.
Lee Seng whipped up something while the rest of the gang woke up. The cabin slowly filled with chatter.
"You need help?" Ritsuka asked, stepping into the kitchen.
"I'm almost done." Lee Seng answered. Ritsuka nodded and leaned against the wall.
"So… Do you know what you want to do now?" Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng didn't answer. He continued to cook, unsure what to say. "Do you want to avenge your father? Do you want to just… leave? Although, that would leave this the same…"
"As his son, I should clean up his mess, right?" Lee Seng asked. He shut off the stove and plated the food. With the help of Ritsuka, they set up the table and naturally everyone moved over.
"I mean… It is… Well, it was your dad's problem." Ritsuka replied. "I don't see why it's your problem."
"What're you talking about?" Manny asked, yawning. He scratched his stomach before sitting next to Liz. The two of them looked at each other with googly eyes.
"Lee Seng's saying he should clean up after his Dad's mess." Ritsuka informed the rest of the group as they all sat. "I was telling him it wasn't necessarily his problem to begin with."
"You want to go after the experiments?" Manny asked Lee Seng. The group all looked to Lee Seng. Lee Seng's recollection of the events that followed replayed in their minds. Lee Seng squeezed his hand underneath the table, thinking for a moment. Thinking about the Failed Ones only caused more anger than anything.
"I can barely remember what happened two months ago, but I do remember one thing - the amount of anger I have when it comes to the Failed Ones. They took the Creator, my father, and they tried to take my life away… Instead, they took Keng who's resting within me… I-I try to tell myself to look away, but what good would that do?" Lee Seng looked at the group. "We all have people we care about that's possibly still here… Even if we aren't so close to them. Who knows what happened to those people?
"Can I, as your friend, walk away from all of that? Can I let it go?" Lee Seng looked over to Olivia. "Can I really leave you guys to do that on my behalf? What if you perish because of my decision…? We don't know where the Numbers are and I can't really trust them to fix things… so I guess what I'm saying is… Let's find the Failed Ones and end them. Let's find Mother and kill her. If we can kill the Brood Mother, the others will understand the message we're trying to give them."
Ritsuka, Evan, and Calis nodded. The rest kept blank faces, unsure if they were ready for this. Manny looked at Liz. Her eyes burned with determination. She looked stuck. Manny stuck his hand out to her and she looked at it. She grabbed it and played with it.
Lee Seng and Olivia stared at each other. Olivia had expected Lee Seng's answer to be so, but she couldn't bring herself to accept it.
"What if you die before you even start?" Olivia asked. The question shattered the optimism. It grew heavier and the question only bred what-if scenarios. "What if you truly die this time? There won't be a Keng to save you. There won't be a revival spell or anything! You vanish before we can even get to wherever this Mother is, it'll be all for naught!"
"But I can't just ignore it." Lee Seng said softly. He raised his shirt and stood up, revealing the scar on his body. Manny and Calis understood what the scar meant. The others, they found it hard to absorb. "It's no use if I ignore it. This scar will constantly remind me that the other me is out there. Son is with Failed Experiment One. I have to make things right."
"You're willing to throw all of our lives to avenge the Creator - who, by the way, didn't even bat an eye about you! Everything he did was selfish and you want us to go and fight? No. I will not go on some silly suicide mission!" Olivia stood up and walked out of the room.
"Liv!" Evan's head turned to follow.
"Olivia's right." Lee Seng nodded. Olivia stopped and listened. She could feel Lee Seng's eyes on her. She wanted to be with him, but not like this. "This is a suicide mission and my anger cannot be ignored. People - innocent people - died because of me. The village. Those in Daros. The Academy. The lab. Abby. I need to finish this for them so if you want to leave, it's fine. I won't be mad if you want to leave. You have other people you need to check on. It's been two months so I'm sure you're even more anxious now. We'll leave after breakfast and get you to the city… We'll say our goodbyes there, 'kay?"
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