Chapter 24 Power Training (2)

Thirty Minutes Later

Lee Seng flexed his fingers and shook his hands. Akio had come and gone, setting up some wooden melee weapons. He clapped his hands together, getting the dust off of his hands.

"And I'm back to normal," Lee Seng beamed. He wiggled his fingers happily. With each negative out on him, he slowly began to ease up on it. A wooden sword flew at Lee Seng. He snatched it out of the air and spun it around before holding the handle.

"Oh, we're using bokkens?" Lee Seng asked. He glanced at Akio who was already twirling another bokken. Akio pointed it directly at Lee Seng and grinned.

"Don't get the wrong idea, kid. We're here to see if you can infuse your power into the blade." Akio explained. "Fighters typically are used through melee fighting styles such as weapons or hand to hand combat. We are first going to go through the first step. You must take the familiar feeling you get when you activate your power.

"In this case, you're going to feel the Dark Matter vibrating and then you want to move it into the bokken. Hold the feeling in your hand and the bokken for as long as you can. You should be able to hold it for at least 15 minutes for the entrance exam." Akio explained.

Lee Seng glanced at his bokken and bit his lip. He held the sword with his left hand and took a breath. He began to imagine the Dark Matter vibrating in his hand and climbing up to cover the sword. His hand began to vibrate and Lee Seng could feel the Dark Matter energy climbing up the sword handle. The Dark Matter began to climb past the handle when the sword began to visibly start to shake.

"Hold it there," Akio moved closer. He pointed at the spot where the sword started to shake. "Your Dark Matter vibrates, so applying an uneven amount may cause the sword to shatter if you don't have an even control over it." Lee Seng pulled the Dark Matter back. The sword stopped shaking and he held it at the handle. His staggered breaths began to ease and the sweat and his brow finally fell.

"Let's see what 'even' or 'steady' even feels like." Lee Seng whispered. He closed his eyes and focused on the feeling. The Dark Matter quietly vibrated. Lee Seng envisioned the monochrome colors swirling around the handle. The colors swirled together were equally dispersed. The colors began to slowly spill into the blade of the sword. The colors spilled like a river running to its next destination. It became more chaotic and uneven. Lee Seng imagined a running river. It continuously ran down towards its end destination but it was always filled with the same amount of water.

'How did it always stay steady?' Lee Seng thought. The bokken began to shake violently. Lee Seng's uneven breaths started to pick up. Lee Seng's body felt hot and the Dark Matter ocean inside him wanted out. Lee Seng opened his eyes and Akio was talking. He couldn't hear anything Akio was saying. Lee Seng's eyes went red and blue and the white aura started to climb Lee Seng.

'C'mon, Lee Seng! You can do it!' Keng cheered. 'Steady the flow, steady it!' Lee Seng grinned. The monochrome Dark Matter river hit the end of the blade and started to push backwards. Lee Seng imagined the river evening out and becoming still like a lake. The sword began to shake more violently, cracking. Lee Seng grunted and held it in place.

"C'mon..." Lee Seng grunted. Lee Seng's grip tightened and in an instant the sword splintered into many pieces. Akio turned away as the sword splintered. Lee Seng could feel his lungs gasp for air. His body shook and he fell to his knees. The white aura hugged him as he coughed.

"Lee!" Akio shouted. His deliberate heavy footsteps came rushing over to him. Akio knelt down and put a worried hand on Lee Seng's back. "Are you okay?" Lee Seng nodded, gasping for air.

"I-I'm fine." Lee Seng coughed. He lifted his head and Akio's eyes widened.

"Your eyes." Akio felt a pull towards Lee Seng. He slowly came closer to study it when Lee Seng shoved Akio away onto his butt. Akio snapped out of it and in an instant the white aura dissipated, leaving Lee Seng's eyes red and blue.

"Why are you getting so close?" Lee Seng asked. He felt his agitation growing. He didn't understand why he was agitated but Akio did something he wouldn't normally care about.

'What the hell is happening to me?' Lee Seng shook his head. Akio lifted his hand to his eyes and then pointed towards Lee Seng's eyes.

"Y-your eyes... they're red and blue." Akio said. Lee Seng tilted his head. His agitation grew bigger and before he could realize what he was standing and running towards a reflective surface. "Lee!" Akio shouted. He scrambled after Lee Seng. Lee Seng quickly made it to the window near the entrance of the gym.

"Room, reflective window!" Lee Seng shouted. The window shimmered and became a mirror. Lee Seng moved his face closer and realized his eyes were red and blue. "They're... what the..." Lee Seng stumbled backwards.

"Lee!" Akio shouted. Lee Seng kept his eyes on the mirror. He could see Akio coming closer and he shook his head. Lee Seng's anger grew. He didn't know what to do with this. His body began to glow a faint white aura that intensified and Lee Seng turned and swung. He punched the air, screaming. A huge burst of energy shook the air between Lee Seng and Akio.

"Why am I angry?" Lee Seng growled. He jabbed the air many times. The anger wasn't dissipating. It felt like it was growing.

"You need to steady your Dark Matter! It's influencing you!" Akio shouted. Lee Seng quickly lifted his gaze towards Akio. Something was pushing him towards Akio. He dashed forward and swung at Akio. Akio quickly blocked the attack. An aftershock burst shot him backwards. Akio quickly flipped himself in the air and landed on his feet. Lee Seng was already making his way towards him.

"Ah fuck," Akio muttered. He moved his hand and felt the pain. "This isn't the time to whine. I think something triggered when he--" Lee Seng lashed out punch after punch at Akio. Akio began to dodge back and forth, only blocking the attacks when he had to. On fighting instinct, Akio infused himself with his Shadows and lashed a kick out onto Lee Seng, sending him flying.

Lee Seng spun, skittering onto the floor. He quickly planted his hands and feet on to the ground, sliding. Akio noticed his own form and cursed in disappointment.

'I need to get him back to his senses. Maybe that form is disrupting him?' Akio thought. Lee Seng started running on all fours and quickly picked up speed, disappearing from thin air. 'Where'd he go?' Akio thought. He closed his eyes and extended the shadows further. The gym became quiet and in an instant the shadows to his right moved. Lee Seng appeared a couple feet and spun towards Akio.

Akio quickly lashed a tendril out, grabbing Lee Seng. Lee Seng's balance became uneven and he switched to a kick. The kick landed onto Akio shoulder and Akio slid. Lee Seng started to spin around the tendril, trying to rip out of its grasp. Akio lashed out more tendrils, grabbing onto Lee Seng. Lee Seng thrashed, trying to pull the tendrils away. His head raced with hundreds of thoughts.

'Why?' He thought to himself. 'Why am I like this? Why? Why?'

"WHY?!?" He screamed. He ripped himself free of the tendrils, falling into the dark abyss beneath him, landing on the ground. Lee Seng curled himself, the anger still there. "WHY?!?" He thrashed around in the shadowy floor. His eyes welled up with tears. His chest felt like a bottle that was shaken and opened. Everything was spilling. He couldn't control it.

"Why am I like this?" He screamed. Lee Seng felt a disconnect from the world. The three men popped in his head and their harsh words echoed in his mind.

"Monster." They called him. "Why does a monster belong here?"

Was that really all it was? Was that what this meant for him? How sure could he be about it? Lee Seng's pain went deeper than being a so-called "monster." His eyes stayed red and blue. They never left him and did it bother him? Maybe. All of these emotions spilled and he could only continue to ask the same question.

Akio watched Lee Seng scream in anger. He slowly pulled the shadows back into him and stood watching silent. He knew what Lee Seng was going through. He understood his pain, his anger, his sadness, everything and yet he felt like the distance was growing wider and longer. Akio acknowledged his was part to blame in all of this, but he didn't want to distance himself anymore.

Akio came towards Lee Seng who kept on muttering "why" to himself. The anger in voice never died down. It never stopped. Akio made his way towards Lee Seng and sat besides him. Lee Seng kept on asking the same question and with it came tears. Akio sighed and reached out and held his hand out. He turned to look at Lee Seng and sat there.

'Enough.' Keng shouted. Lee Seng ignored him. How could anyone care about him? Lee Seng felt a twist of energy inside him. 'Enough, Lee.' Lee Seng stopped reapeating the same question and sniffed his snot. He turned wiping his eyes, back towards Akio.

'Enough of the pity, the anger, the sadness. Enough of your bullshit.' Keng growled. Lee Seng felt an energy pull out of him and there sat Keng the white fox in front of him. Lee Seng's eyes widened and he started to sit up.

"How are you...?" Lee Seng stuttered. He pointed at Keng. Keng stood on all fours and walked to take a look at Akio who was facing Lee Seng. He seemed to be paying attention. Keng sighed and pranced back to Lee Seng and wagged his bushy tail.

"You and I are connected. Those eyes--"

"What about these eyes?" Lee Seng said loudly. Keng shook his head and sat again.

"You've tied your emotions to those eyes ever since you've used them. The hate you-- ahh, no." Keng shook his head and looked up at Lee Seng. "The hate WE get is based in fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of difference. So what if you're different? So what if you don't understand fully why you snapped like that? Why you're angry? Our eyes are connected because we have a connection. You and I are one. You and I share these eyes as well as the same energy.

"I know the last week has caused you a lot of pain, a lot of misery. You had to face the Creator, your Father, which you don't want to see again. But, have you ever considered you're avoiding all of this because you're scared? Scared that these differences will only pull us closer to the Creator?" Keng moved closer and put a paw onto Lee Seng's leg. Lee Seng's heart sunk and Keng scoffed at it like he knew.

"I know you don't want the attention or the titles or the responsibilities that come with it, but it's there. You don't need to own up to it now. You don't need to claim them as yours. We can create something better. I just need you to say it. Take a leap of faith. Take that first step and soon you'll realize you're walking with me." Keng tilted his head.

Keng was asking a lot from Lee Seng. Lee Seng didn't like where this was going. He wanted to run. He wanted to be anywhere but in this space, but no matter how hard he tried to avoid Keng, he felt himself being pulled towards him more. Lee Seng gritted his teeth and tapped his knuckles on his thigh.

"What if it's too hard?" Lee Seng whispered. Keng jumped onto Lee Seng's thighs and nuzzled his head into his stomach.

"We'll deal with it together. I know everything about you. I will go with you all the way." Keng said. Lee Seng could feel Keng's warmth. For the first time, he could feel the warmth of someone believing him. Someone who wasn't just trustworthy, but someone who was giving themselves to walk the same path. Lee Seng smiled.

"If I fall... If I fail--"

"We fall and we fail together. I'll pick you back up. One step at a time." Keng interjected. Lee Seng felt his anger die. Lee Seng and Keng's eyes were a symbol of that. He was reminded of their oath inside his soul.