Lee Seng marched to the elevator and hit the button. He could hear Chan-Yeol scrambling past his friends to chase after him. Chan-Yeol had a serious expression on his face. It was one Lee Seng saw often and was intimidated by.
"Let me handle it. Find your brother and we'll handle it. You shouldn't have to do this! You're just a kid!" Chan-Yeol shouted. Lee Seng turned and huffed.
"I'm not a kid anymore, Chan-Yeol. I'm nineteen now! I'm not the kid you knew back then. I know what needs to be done." Lee Seng snapped back.
"If you're doing this for your father, you should leave it to the Numbers. They're the ones who—"
"Only I can do this!" Lee Seng shouted. The room grew silent as the elevator quietly dinged in the background. It will be here soon. "My father subjected me to experiments my whole life! I didn't understand what that meant until very recently. No one else will be able to clean up his mistakes. I'll be the one who does it."
"You shouldn't have to clean up after him." Chan-Yeol was right. Lee Seng shouldn't have to clean up after his father's mess. The Creator was weak in many aspects and the Failed Ones were the biggest weakness of them all. He fell into Brood Mother's trap and paid the price. The elevator dinged and opened. Chan-Yeol looked at Lee Seng with sorrowful eyes. "You shouldn't have to clean up after the mistakes your father made. It's not fair."
"It isn't." Lee Seng stuck his arm out to stop the elevator from going. "But what can I do? My dad's dead." Chan-Yeol's eyes shook. He had suspected something happened when the entire lab was destroyed but he didn't want to believe it. When he saw Lee Seng, he hoped the young man would tell him the truth. "The lab's gone. Those changed people… Those humans are no longer human. They're a shell of their former selves and this only ends when they're all dead."
Chan-Yeol grew quiet. No matter how much he tried to understand Lee Seng, he was always the opposite. He retaliated differently. He talked differently. He was bright. Chan-Yeol took in the new man in front of him. This one… This one was definitely different from what he was used to.
"I want to help, still." Chan-Yeol finally spoke after some time. "How can I help you with this?"
"Protect the people here. Connect with other survivor groups and try to get the city back together." Lee Seng suggested.
"Reach out to my siblings." Ritsuka added. "They will definitely be glad someone's trying to fight for this city." He slowly came over with Evan and Calis.
"We were the indestructible city." Lee Seng continued. "You know why we were indestructible? It's because the people united together to fight for a cause. So what if someone from the inside crumbled it all down. Walls go up and they can come down. We just need to rebuild it." Lee Seng motioned for his friends to get into the elevator. Calis hobbled in first with Ritsuka and Evan behind him. "Have some faith in me, hyeong. I can do this. We can do this. I'm not alone anymore."
Chan-Yeol's throat bobbed. He nodded and moved over to Lee Seng, wrapping a hug around him. "Please don't act like your older brother and be an idiot. Be safe, alright?" Lee Seng smiled and patted Chan-Yeol's back.
"I'll never be like him, I swear." Lee Seng pulled away and let out the toothiest smile. His eyes closed and Chan-Yeol couldn't help himself and ruffled Lee Seng's hair. "Hyeong! Stop! No one will think I look cool if you mess my hair like that!"
"You're already an eye catcher." Chan-Yeol smiled. Lee Seng swatted Chan-Yeol's hand away and turned to step into the elevator. "When you see your brother, again, tell him to call me!"
"Yeah, I will." Lee Seng turned and waved.
"And just like that, Lee Seng got out of another problem." Evan commented once they were outside. Lee Seng shook his head, trying to hide his smile.
"You must've been a handful since they all say similar things." Ritsuka added. Lee Seng shrugged.
"I feel the same." Lee Seng shrugged. "Resourceful." He laughed like a gremlin, gathering eye rolls from his friends.
"Lee Seng." Chrono called out. Lee Seng turned and watched Chrono jog over to them. "Can I have a word?" Lee Seng nodded and the group turned their attention to the Fox Spirit. "Are you heading out?"
"Yeah. Gotta continue the hunt." Lee Seng nodded. "What's up?"
"You got my note? Did you read it yet?"
"No. I kinda forgot about it with all the… stuff happening. What's on it?" Lee Seng pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket and unraveled it.
"I got word from General Halys's group that they found something related to the lab blowing up." Chrono whispered. "That's where they're going to be for the next couple of days. General Halys was asking for you, too."
"Oh." Lee Seng nodded. He read the note and looked at Chrono. "You aren't going?"
"I'm staying here. I offered you since you're wondering about." Chrono smiled. Lee Seng rolled his eyes and stuck the paper in his pocket. "It's not too far from here. It's a five hour journey by car."
"Where am I gonna find a car?" Lee Seng asked. "This place ain't doing so well. It's not like I have cash either."
"You're resourceful. Figure it out. General Halys expects you. Don't let me down." Chrono waved and turned and left Lee Seng hanging. Lee Seng sighed and shook his head. He turned and continued on his way.
"She just threw us under the bus." Evan commented.
"She threw him under the bus." Ritsuka corrected Evan.
"Hopefully it's worth traveling that far." Calis added. The three nodded.
"Let's just focus on finding the Numbers first. Then we'll figure out transportation problems." Evan suggested.
"Let's go to where my family's staying. I'm sure they have a spare car for us." Ritsuka informed them.
"What about gas?"
"Gas is old age! We got better fuel power with these cars! Trust me."
The group walked for hours before finally seeing Old Town. Run down buildings with boarded up windows and doors. There weren't any cars in the Old Town.
"What're we looking for again?" Evan asked. "I forgot what the picture was."
"I remember it." Lee Seng told them. "You can't miss it."
"I've never been to the Old Town…" Evan glanced around nervously. "It's so… creepy."
"They were talking about changing the Old Town and reforming it." Lee Seng brought up. "I guess that ain't happening for much longer. This place is crumblin'!" They turned right and followed the street for a while. "It was close to here…" He slowed to a stop, tapping his fingers together as he scanned the area.
Ritsuka, Evan and Calis scanned in opposite directions, taking in Old Town. Its roots were heavily set in the old world era. Calis pointed at the tallest building in Old Town.
"There." Calis informed the group. Lee Seng and the others turned and looked in the direction he had pointed. Lee Seng's eyes focused, zooming into the building.
"Oh, it's there." Lee Seng pointed. "I see it!"
"God, your sight's good too, Calis?" Ritsuka asked.
"Living in the sea, you have to have great eyesight of things to come." Calis answered with a nod. "C'mon, we're not that far away, now." The group moved in the direction of the building, keeping their eyes peeled out for anything. Lee Seng strolled with optimism. He hoped the Numbers were still here.
As they grew closer, Lee Seng began to feel a squeeze in his chest. He let out a short breath, stopping and clutching his chest. Evan turned and noticed Lee Seng.
"Hey, guys." Evan motioned for Ritsuka and Calis to stop. "Lee, you okay?" He moved over to Lee Seng, who was struggling to breathe.
"You okay?" Calis asked Lee Seng.
"Lee." Ritsuka whispered.
A flame lit inside of Lee Seng. It was familiar. It pulled his attention away from what he needed to focus on.
'Not now.' Lee Seng thought. He imagined the flame dying down. 'Please not right now.' He steadied himself and his breathing. He straightened himself up and looked at his friends.
"Are you… okay?" Ritsuka asked.
"Fine… Strange feeling." Lee Seng waved. "Don't worry about me. We're almost there." He motioned at the apartment, tapping his friends to continue. Ritsuka hung in the back, following after Lee Seng as he waddled. The large building grew and the huge graffiti mosaic appeared.
"We're here. Now what?" Evan asked.
"He passed through here so it might be somewhere around here." Lee Seng began to look around. He found the point and moved over to it. "He was here, looking this way…" He pointed in one direction where Number 9 was going and then pointed in the direction he was looking at. "What were you looking at? Making sure nobody was following…?"
A pop-up from the System appeared in front of Lee Seng.
[Warning: Tremors.]
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