Chapter 20 Steady Yourself

The sound of seagulls cawed. Lee Seng's eyes fluttered open, the blazing sun blinded him. A beach umbrella was opened and blocking the sun and a mat was beneath him. The waves lapped onto the ocean and Lee Seng could hear people talking and playing. It was a nice day for a swim.

"Lee Seng?" A woman's voice called out. Lee Seng rubbed his eyes and looked at the woman to his right. She was a dress and her bikini bra strap wrapped around the back of her neck. Her hair was silky and wavy. She was holding sunglasses and her smile was warm. "Ah, baby, you woke up." Lee Seng nodded and stood up, crawling towards the woman.

"Ma," Lee Seng's young voice spoke. Mom smiled warmly at Lee Seng and grabbed him into a hug. Little Lee Seng squirmed trying to get out of her grasp. "Mom, stop it." Lee Seng complained. Mom laughed and quickly attacked him with kisses. Lee Seng squirmed and Mom finally released him. He began wiping her kisses away, angry that she was kissing him too much.

"C'mon, Lee, y'know you love it." Mom said. She moved forward into a crawl. Slowly coming towards Lee Seng who was already trying to back away. She quickly grabbed him and wrapped him in another hug with attacks of kisses.

"Mom, stop it!" Lee Seng shouted. He tried to push her away but with each kiss, he was starting to giggle more. Mom was laughing along with him. Little Lee Seng started to feel shaking. Mom was still kissing him and his laughter died down.

- - - -

"Hey, Lee, we're here." Akio shook Lee Seng awake. Lee Seng groggily groaned and opened his eyes. He rubbed them as he looked around. The car was idling in front of the lab and Akio was staring at him. "C'mon let's go. Alex has to park the car." Lee Seng nodded and opened the door, stepping out into the warm sunny weather. His eyes stung, moving his hand into his forehead to block the sun.

Lee Seng started towards the entrance of the lab, not waiting for Akio and Scarlet. He yawned as he passed security guards who waved at him. He reached the door and pulled it open. He took a step in and entered the cool building.

"Ah, you're back, Chang." The security guard behind the desk said. Lee Seng rubbed his eyes again and lowered his hand. He nodded.

"Yeah, just got back." He groggily answered. The security guard smiled. Lee Seng began to turn when the security guard stood up.

"Oh yeah, your Father is looking for you!" He shouted. Lee Seng nodded and waved as he continued down the hall. Lee Seng stretched his arms as he wandered down the hall towards the Creator's room. Akio and Scarlet trailed behind him. Akio was debriefing Scarlet on this mornings incident with the Goblin horde invasion.

"It was strange though. Lee Seng suddenly got pulled into the air." Akio told Scarlet. "I'm not sure why that happened. I haven't asked him since everything happened so fast."

"Well, the Creator's going to have to know so ask away then." Scarlet replied. She leaned in closer to Akio, keeping an eye on Lee Seng who was still waking up from his nap. "Aren't you worried for him? He acts like he's fine but you and I both know he's playing it off that way." Akio shrugged.

"I'm not sure what to expect from him. He told me he wants to go to the Academy even after he talked to his Father." Akio whispered. "I think he's trying to not be stuck under the Creator's watch, again. Y'know how it is now that the Lady is..."

Lee Seng stopped and turned towards the door. He glanced at Akio and Scarlet who were quietly talking about something and then turned back to the door.

"Let's get this outta the way." He groaned. He knocked on the door loudly three times and then waited a couple of seconds before opening the door.

"Yes, I've gotten the report from Number 10. Yes, I will look into this. Please hold any news reports from leaking this. Yes, thank you." The Creator spoke. He had a wireless earbud in his ear as the three stepped in. Lee Seng planted himself to the side near the entrance while the other two fully walked in, standing next to the island desk area. The Creator saw them and held a hand up. "Yes that would benefit us all. I will have to take my leave as the Numbers have returned with my son. Yes, have a good day, Director."

The Creator hung the door and stood up, pulling the ear piece out and setting it on the table. He clapped his hands together and smiled at the Numbers and his son.

"You've come back safely." He laughed. He made his way to the other side of the island and then poked his head to the side to see his son. "You can come forward too. No need to be shy." Lee Seng nodded and moved to stand next to Akio.

"So, the report," The Creator started. His eyes scanning the three before landing on Akio. "Debrief it for me. I want to hear from you, Mr. Kato." Akio nodded.

"At the intersection where 15th and Central meets, a Goblin horde had made their way into the city and staged an invasion. Lee Seng was with me when the attack happened. Because of the attack, I sprung into action." Akio began. "I dealt with the Direwolf Riders as those could potentially pass and cause more harm within the city. The situation was smooth and reinforcements came and we managed to kill the Goblins. The count of injured and dead aren't fully accounted for as of right now. Destruction to the city is bigger than I would've liked."

"And why was that?" The Creator turned to look at Lee Seng. Akio began to speak but the Creator lifted his hand. "Lee Seng, anything to add?" He stared daggers at him and Lee Seng shifted in his spot.

"I helped handle some Goblins." Lee Seng answered. The Creator turned towards Lee Seng with a frown. Akio moved uncomfortably in his spot, watching the Father and Son duo. "Akio told me to wait in the car but the Goblins had already swarmed behind the car to others. I didn't want more casualties so I stepped in."

? "Why would you do that? Do I have to remind you, you're unauthorized to do anything? You broke the law!" The Creator shouted. Lee Seng gritted his teeth and let out a long breath. "You broke the law and didn't listen to Number 10. You're breaking rules whenever you want now? Not to mention destruction to public property in the park!" The Creator slammed his hand on the table and Lee Seng let out another sigh.

"Yes, I broke rules." Lee Seng admitted. "I guess you would just want me to not do anything and follow rules. Let others die! Or even just let your son die so you don't have to be burdened by me!" Lee Seng angrily shouted. The Creator wrapped around the desk quicky and slapped Lee Seng.

"Don't you raise your voice at me!" The Creator shouted. Lee Seng laughed and turned to his father. Akio and Scarlet felt the charge in the air. Akio wanted to stop it but he knew his place. Lee Seng stepped closer to his Father with a smirk.

"Whatever I do you aren't satisfied. You'll never be satisfied with it, so do what you did with Mom and--"

"Enough you insolent boy!" The Creator screamed. He grabbed Lee Seng by the collar and pulled him closer to him. Lee Seng could feel his Father's anger radiating from him. "Don't you dare bring up your Mother! She has nothing to do with this!" He shook Lee Seng. Lee Seng grabbed his Father's arms and pried them off.

Lee Seng nodded and started to walk backwards, staring at his Father. He wanted to punch the lights out of his own Father but what would that do? He knew his Father would just hate him more. Lee Seng rolled his eyes and turned."Where are you going?!? We're not done!"

"The device turned yellow when Scarlet scanned me." Lee Seng told him. He stopped near the door and didn't look back at his Father who was pointing at him. "Remember what I said about the Academy? I've pulled some favors and got into the Entrance Exam. You'll get a confirmation in a couple of days. I need to train for that so don't bother me. Don't force me to not go. It won't look good on you, Creator. It'll just look like you forced your Son to die just like you did to Mom."

Lee Seng finally turned his head to look at his Father with a somber smile. The Creator was fuming and Lee Seng knew Akio and Scarlet we're in the misfire of it all.

"The Numbers did their jobs well like usual." Lee Seng mentioned. He wave good bye as his Father began to yell for him. Lee Seng watched as the door opened and he quicky stepped out, manually shutting the door behind him. Lee Seng let out a sigh and ruffled his hair.

'Why did I dream of Mom?' Lee Seng pondered. He hadn't dreamed of his Mother in a long time. She wasn't someone he dreamed of often. Lee Seng felt his heart swelling and he quickly rubbed his eyes.

"Mom, if you're watching from Heaven, please help me through this. Ease his heart or something, I don't know... Help me, please." Lee Seng muttered. He let out a sniffle and rubbed his eyes and nose before jumping. "Guess I should figure out how powerful this power is and get to training."

Lee Seng pulled his phone out and dialed a number. The phone rang for awhile before someone picked up.

"Hello?" Zoe said. Lee Seng cracked a smile.

"Hey, Z, it's me. Could we test my power capabilities?" Lee Seng asked.

"Oh, we could." She said. "Didn't you just get back? Don't you need rest? Are you okay?" Her barrage of questions and concerns made Lee Seng feel better.

"I'm fine. Got healed by Manny before I came back. Y'know how good he is." Lee Seng answered. Zoe paused for a moment before continuing.

"You got healed by Manny? I thought you two weren't... on good terms?"

"We aren't but he's inserting himself again." Lee Seng sighed. "Can we figure out power ratings and what my potential Class could be?"

"We could do the power rating now but the Class stuff you need to schedule. I could schedule it for you if you really want to know." Zoe happily said. Lee Seng nodded and started forwards.

"Yeah, do that for me, Z. I'll meet you soon then."

"'Kay, Lee." Zoe said. "Oh, you better not have pissed your Father off."

"Why would I do that?" Lee Seng sarcastically said with a grin. Zoe groaned.

"Ughhhhhh, Lee! " She screamed. "Nevermind just get your butt over here before I decide I'm not going to test you!" Zoe hung the phone up and Lee seeing chuckled.