Chapter 79 Beacon

Lee Seng pushed through the doors and watched as the hat man and the everything around him vanished from his sight. Lee Seng stepped into the familiar hallway of the Creator's laboratory. The lights flickered as he pushed through the second set of bulletproof doors. Every light in the laboratory seemed to flicker at random intervals.

The laboratory usually smelt like disinfectant but was now replaced with stale air. This through Lee Seng off. He glanced around, taking in the new sight. The natural sunlight was blocked by a cloudy sky. Little light went into the large windows.

"What am I doing here?" Lee Seng wondered. He started down the familiar buildings. He aimlessly walked down the hallway path straight ahead of him. His muscle memory was taking him to his room, but an eerie yet familiar feeling was pulling him in the same direction.

Lee Seng walked down the barely lit hallway, pushing past the first sector door and continued down the hall. Lee Seng pushed through another sector door and turned his head to look at the right hallway coming up. He stopped and stared down the hallway. It was where his room was located. He felt the eerie yet familiar feeling pull him forward and continued down the hallway.

Lee Seng pushed through the last sector door and soon reached the end of the hallway. He remembered this sector being where his older brother and sister stayed. He turned his head left and something was shining in the distance.

"What's down there?" Lee Seng wondered. He took the left turn and passed eight doors before coming to a stop. "The ninth door. Akali?" He grabbed the door handle and opened it. The door creaked and Lee Seng watched as a bright light shimmered on the bed. Lee Seng watched as the light formed a body.

Lee Seng recognized this person as Akali. She was sitting on the bed looking down at something in her hands. Lee Seng took a step closer and that's when Akali looked up. She stared straight at Lee Seng who froze in place.

'Does she see me or not?' Lee Seng wondered. Before Lee Seng could move, Akali's shimmering body moved and her hand reached out at Lee Seng. Her hand materialized and grabbed Lee Seng and quickly pulled him out. Lee Seng quickly left Limbo and was pulled back into the real world. The stale air was replaced with Akali's scent and her familiar dorm room.

,m "Woah!" Lee Seng yelped out as Akali pulled him into her arms. Lee Seng bumped into her, heart racing. He looked around and noticed Akali's room. The twin bed where she was sitting. The desk on the other side. Akali slowly pushed Lee Seng away and moved her hands onto his face and pulled his gaze onto her.

"What the hell were you doing?" Akali asked. Lee Seng studied her eyes. She seemed genuinely worried and surprised. Lee Seng started to stutter, trying to pull himself out of his older sisters grasp.

"I-I--" Lee Seng pulled away. He turned to look where he came from and the door was closed. "I, uh..."

"How long were you in there?" Akali asked. She immediately walked over and grabbed the pitcher of water near the door and filled a cup with water. She pushed the cup of water into Lee Seng's hands and motioned him to drink. Lee Seng took huge gulps, realizing he was really thirsty. Water trickled down his chin as he finished the cup of water and gasped in relief.

"I was at the Academy," Lee Seng began. He watched as Akali pulled the cup out of his hands and went to refill it. She placed it back in his hands, her attention fully on him. "Right before the last fight, I went to meditate. I was really nervous because I was facing first place and third place partners from the Solo test. I closed my eyes for, like, a second and this man with shadow powers wrecks this girl and guy from another duo match.

"He didn't stop the match and was going to kill the girl so I rushed in. Before I knew it, I was pinned against the shadow walls and he plunged his--" Lee Seng felt the burning sensation in his abdomen and bent downwards, dropping the cup of water. He clutched at his stomach and Akali rushed over.

"Lee, what's wrong?" Akali asked. She grabbed his arm and put her other hand on his back and bent over to look at him. Lee Seng growled in pain as the burning sensation grew.

"Into my... ahhh-- abdomen...!" Lee Seng grunted. Akali moved him onto her bed and pushed his head onto the pillow and tried to pry his hands away from his stomach. She put her hand on his stomach and could feel it was burning.

"Oh no." She whispered. Her hand lit up and she looked at Lee Seng. "This is temporary. This is gonna hurt... maybe a lot. Be strong, Lee!" The light in her hand began to swarm Lee Seng's body. Lee Seng felt the burning pain flare and he began to try to rip himself away from her. Akali switched her hands and held Lee Seng's chest down with her right hand.

"Akio!" Akali screamed. Her watch lit up and clicked. "My room. Now! Help me!"

"What's happening, Akali?" Akio asked.

"Help me with Lee Seng! Something's wrong!"

Her watch dimmed and she began to hold Lee Seng down as best as she could. Lee Seng screamed in pain as the flares grew larger in his stomach. The light spreading across Lee Seng's body held about forty percent of his body, starting from his abdomen area and Akali noticed shadows seeping out of her little brother's body.

Minutes passed and Akali's door flew open. Akio ran to his siblings side and immediately wrapped Lee Seng in shadows and looked at Akali with a worrysome look.

"What happened to him?" Akio asked. Akali continued spreading her light across his body. Wisps of shadows flew out of Lee Seng.

"I think someone did something to Lee Seng." Akali answered.

"What did they do? Wasn't he at the Academy for the exam today?"

"I'm not sure either. He told me he went into Limbo, but how could he do that?" Akali turned to look at her brother. She watched as her brother's face froze and Akali slowly nodded before refocusing her attention onto Lee Seng. Lee Seng screamed in pain as more shadowy gases and wisps flew out of him. "He mentioned he was meditating before the match and some shadow man was gonna kill some exam takers so he stepped in. The shadow man plunged his hand into his abdomen area which keeps burning."

"The shadow man plunged hi-his hand into Lee Seng?" Akio repeated. He watched as his sister nodded and he looked at Lee Seng. He sighed and his hand turned into shadows. "It'll be faster if I collect whatever energy is in him."

"But it's more dangerous."

"We don't have a lotta options, Kali. I'll extract the shadow energies and you can burn them after I get all of it. Keep a layer of light on him to burn whatever lingers." Akio instructed. Akali nodded and held the layer of light on Lee Seng. Lee Seng continued to scream and Akio plungedh is shadowy hand into Lee Seng's abdomen.

Lee Seng's scream grew louder and the Kato twins ignored his screams. Akio began to feel the unnatural shadow gases and wisps inside Lee Seng's body and attracted them into his hand. Akio spent minutes gathering and then pulled his hand out. Akali quickly wrapped the shadowy gases in light and destroyed them.

The two spent the next fifteen minutes repeating the process. Lee Seng's screams quieted down and at the end. Akio and Akali leaned against the bed and sighed in relief. Akio released the shadows holding Lee Seng. Lee Seng clutched his abdomen area and rubbed it. It didn't burn. It didn't hurt.

"What the hell did you do?" Akio asked. He rolled his head to look at Lee Seng. Lee Seng turned and looked at his older brother. Akio had a serious look on him. Lee Seng knew this look well and turned to stare at the ceiling. He spent the next couple of minutes explaining to Akio and Akali what had happened in detail. He didn't leave any details out. He told the whole story from the shadow man to following the hat man out of the school and finding Akali.

The three sat in silence after the explanation and Lee Seng's mind began to wonder about the fight. He pulled his phone out and realized he had missed calls and texts from Olivia.

"Ah, shit." Lee Seng said louder than he meant it to. He clicked Olivia's name and hit call. The phone rang and instantly was picked up.

"Lee Seng, what the hell happened?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng could feel his ears ringing. He pulled the phone away from his ear. "You disappeared! Ritsuka and Evan didn't go out of the ring. They ended up team-tagging me. I tried to call for you but you were nowhere to be found! What the hell happened?!?"