Chapter 602 The Not So Strange Curse

"He went for two years." Keng's voice cracked. "Two years after that. He shrank deep into his own head. Became a loner. Any friends he had that tried to stand by him when he lost Jae and Jason, left him because he had gone cold. After two years, Lee Seng's personality suddenly switched and he said he was fine to Akali, right?" Keng looked at her.

"Ye-yeah… He said he was fine and insisted the therapy had helped. That the me-meds had helped." Akali nodded.

"He took meds for this too?" Akio asked. He was squirming too much in his spot. The pain from the moving cut with black ooze was starting to bother him, again. Akali turned her attention to Akio and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't squirm so much, you'll tear your wound open, again." Akali told him.

"How can I not?!?" Akio shouted. "You kept this from me all these years? We need to find him!" Akio started to move when Akali tried to push him back. Akio forced himself off the bed, falling into his sister, who grabbed him and held him up. "How can Lee be fine?!? He's hurting even after all these years! He's not fine! W-w-we need to find him before something worst happens!"

Akio's voice shook with intensity. He sobbed in Akali's arms as she patted his back. Keng wanted to keep looking away but watched. This was one of the many reasons why he needed to find Lee Seng before it was too late.

"You have a phone?" Keng asked.

"Not the time as you can see." Akali motioned at her brother. Keng sighed and scratched his head. It took Akali sometime to get her brother under control. The wound had slightly reopened and she looked to Keng for help. Keng wandered over and knelt down. He studied the wound intensely while Akio wiped his tears and snot away. Akali had wandered to the bathroom and grabbed some toilet paper for her brother to clean himself.

"What's wrong?" Akali asked. "Why aren't you healing him?"

"You can heal?" Akio asked with his raw vocal cords. A rune lit up on Keng's hand as he plunged it into the empty space. It distorted, opening a gate of the same rune. He stuffed his whole arm in and grabbed a book and pulled it out.

"W-what is that?" The twins asked in unison.

"A book of Curses." Keng answered, flipping through the book. "I think I saw something like this in this volume…"

"No, how did you do that? Th-that thing." Akali pointed at the empty space.

"It's a Fox rune. I engraved the rune onto the back of my hand with Energy. Whenever I need to open the Void Storage, it triggers." Keng replied flipping through the book. He stopped and looked up at the wound. The twins were staring at him in disbelief. "What? It's not like you haven't seen this kind of thing before. I'm pretty sure runic users can do the same thing."

"Yeah, but I thought a rune like that was…" Akio's voice trailed off.

"It's a Fox rune for a reason. Fox Spirits can cast runes from our language." Keng explained.

"Any rune?" Akali asked. Keng nodded as he tapped the page. He handed it to Akio and Akali.

"What's this?" Akio asked.

"I thought this looked familiar…" Keng sighed, rubbing his neck. "Thankfully you don't have the annoying territorial Curses on you. You just have a Curse effect put on you. A nasty Energy draining one, I think." Keng moved his hand towards it and Akio immediately swatted.

"What're you doing?" Akio asked.

"I need to inspect it." Keng pointed at it.

"Just let him do it." Akali told her brother as she flipped the pages. "I can't read any of this."

"Oh crap. I forgot it's in Fox script." Keng sighed. "There's a picture of what's happening to Akio. All I got to do is make sure the wound isn't infected and is healed then I scavenge for some ingredients to help you clear this thing up."

"That's it?" Akio asked.

"Yup. So can I touch your… Nasty wound?" Keng looked at Akio. Akio sighed and nodded. Keng touched the wound as his irises lit up in Silver light. They looked like two burning halos inside of his eyes. It took Keng awhile, but he finally let his hand light up. Akio and Akali watched in amazement as Keng closed the wound. The black substance pulsed and writhed, burning small parts of it away as he pulled away.

"Where did you encounter this, again?" Keng asked looking at Akali.

"In the South — In Tennessee." Akali answered.

"I wish I could go there…" Keng sighed.

"Why? It's nothing but corruption there." Akio told him.

"Having a fresh sample from there would help with the process, but I can make do with scrapping some of this off your side." Keng pointed.

"What do you need?" Akali asked.

"Give me the book, please." Keng motioned. Akali handed him the book and he flipped the next page. "A sample of the Curse, three cloves, salt water, and Hydran's vines."

"What?" Akali and Akio asked in unison. Keng closed the book.

"I need a phone." Keng looked at them.

"For what?" Akali asked.

"To call someone, duh."

"Who are you calling? Are they trustworthy?" Akali asked. Keng sighed and put the book back into Void Storage.

"They came with me to Earth to 'watch' me… So I guess they're trustworthy."

"Wait, you came with someone else? C-can others do the same as you?" Akio asked.

"Maybe." Keng shrugged. "I need to contact him. He's been waiting for me and we were supposed to meet…" Keng looked at his watch. "Two hours ago and he's probably annoyed with me. It's better to call him and get him here so he doesn't think I went AWOL on him."

"Who is he?" Akali asked.

"An ally." Keng told her. "Nothing more. I need him to get Hydran's vine from me. He'll know exactly where to get that and be back in a jiffy."

"Can we trust him?"

"If you want Akio to get rid of that annoying baby Curse then yes. How long has that stayed on him by the way?"

"A week." Akio answered.

"Mmmm, we don't have time to debate then." Keng shook his head.

"Why?" Akio asked more scared. Keng looked at him and looked down at the black mass on him. Akio looked down at it and then back to Keng. "Why?"

"Have you been feeling any other effects besides the pain? Say, maybe, tired or fatigued. More hungry than usual? Maybe even a bit more horny than usual?" Keng asked.

"What?" Akali blurted out without thinking. Akali looked at her brother who was pulling blankets over his crotch.

"Mmm… Yes." Akio nodded. "Take my phone. It's in the drawer there." He pointed at the night stand next to him. Keng nodded and wandered over to the draw and pulled it open. The phone appeared before him as he grabbed it and unlocked it.

"Mr. Akio, you should really heed Lee Seng's advice and put a lock on this." Keng told him. He dialed the phone number and hit call. He lifted the phone up to the side of his head as the two looked at him weird. "I can hear from here. It's a habit."

"Hello? Who's this?" Calis's voice asked.

"Calis, it's me. Keng." Keng answered.

"Where are you?!? We were supposed to meet at the square two hours ago?" Calis's voice seemed shocked and a more than peeved. He sounded angry at him.

"I'm gonna send you a mark of where I am. I need you to do me a favor though." Keng told him.

"What? What do I need to do?" Calis asked.

"I need Hydran Vines." Keng told him.

"Why? Something wrong?"

"Lee Seng's brother has an infliction of Jester's Sap. I need some Hydran Vines to do the trick." Keng told him.

"Jester's Sap?" Calis asked in Merfolk. "How is that possible? They have that here?" Keng looked at Akali and Akio. He turned and walked out of the room.

"What language are they speaking?" Akio whispered.

"Which symptom do you have?" Akali asked looking at the sheets. "Are you feeling more horny than usual?" Akio gulped, looking away. "Why is that a symptom?"

"Yeah, that's the address." Keng nodded coming back into the room. "Bring some Hydran vines with you…" He pulld the phone away, putting it on his chest as he addressed the Numbers. "You guys have cloves and salt?"

"Yes." Akio nodded. Keng moved the phone to the side of his head.

"That's it." Keng answered.

"I'll be there in a couple of hours." Calis told him. Keng groaned and nodded.

"Fine. Hurry up, you don't want to keep your bosses waiting." Keng told him.

"Huh, what?"

Click. Keng smiled as he handed the phone to Akio.

"What do you mean by that?" Akali asked.

"He works for the Creator so you're technically his boss." Keng answered with a smile. "He's probably panicking now that I told him that. Serves him right, ahah."