Chapter 345 Hearing Things

"So, you guys officially just became a team not too long ago?" Cai asked the group.

"Yup, we just finalized the house we'll be in today. We went to see the place with all the furniture and stuff in it." Manny answered.

"Ahh, that's exciting." Emma chimed in. "I remember when we first moved into that super techy house at First-Wayward. Man, it was so nice."

"Yeah, it was rigged to the T with tech. Too bad we're just in a small rustic home now." Ethan sighed. "I miss that place the most… Waterproof speakers in the shower. Ugh, the shower head was directly above and could pulse to your tunes."

"Nobody wants to know what you did in the shower, Ethan!" Emma pushed him.

"What? It was cool! Now we just have regular showers and regular rooms. The rustic vibes don't really fit well. And Fourth year housing is even more plain than what we're in now."

"Alright, enough bickering you two." Cai hushed his teammates. Ethan stuck a tongue out at Emma. Emma swung at him as Ethan tried to dodge out of the way, bumping into Evan.

"Be careful, Ethan!" Emma told him in a mocking tone. She stuck her tongue out as Cai roped her back.

"Enough." Cai sighed. "Sorry, these two can be a handful." Manny, Liz, and Evan chuckled.

"It's fine. You guys really get along well." Manny pointed out. "Three years of teamwork and getting used to each other's personalities. I hope my team can get along well, too."

"Alright, pizza's here. I'll set some on the table but leave the rest over here, Kay?" The server announced. They all grabbed pizzas and set them on their plates. The pizza was greasy and oozing with cheese.

"Could we get some ranch?" Liz asked.

"Already ahead of y'all. I leave a bottle on both sides." The server handed Liz a ranch bottle and moved to the opposite side where Garcia and Anna were and handed Anna a bottle of ranch. "Holler if you need anything. Enjoy your food."

"Thanks." The group told the server.

"So are you guys thinking of doing any Field group questing?" Anna asked Lee Seng, Ritsuka and Olivia.

"We're thinking about it." Olivia answered. "At least five of us might go ahead and start it. Lee Seng still has to take it easy for the next couple of weeks."

"I heard something happened to you back in November. Are you doing fine?" Anna asked Lee Seng. Lee Seng took a large piece of pepperoni pizza off and nodded.

"I'm fine." He answered. "They all insist I take it easy, especially the Creator and the billion doctors."

"Ahh, well it's good to see you're doing fine now." Anna told him.

"I heard you got pretty beat up." Ethan turned to join the conversation.

"Ethan! You're not supposed to say that!" Anna poked her head behind Garcia and hushed him.

"What? Aren't you interested in what happened?" Ethan asked Anna. Lee Seng could tell Garcia and his teammates were curious. They didn't want to be rude but Ethan didn't seem to have a filter when it came to this sort of thing. Anna straightened herself out from the spot behind Garcia and took a bite of her pizza.

"Sorry. He doesn't have a filter." Emma apologized, pulling Ethan towards her as she covered hisiuth. "Be polite." She whispered in his ear. He quickly pulled out of her grip and fixed himself.

"It's fine." Lee Seng brushed it off. The serious looks from his friends slowly faded as he simply brushed it off. "I would tell you what happened but I don't remember anything. I have amnesia from the event. I don't remember a lot from November. There's a chunk of time gone.

"I woke up in the hospital and started physical therapy right away because I was healing so fast. I can obviously walk and do stuff but the doctors all tell me to take it easy and not stress my body." Lee Seng explained.

"Why's that?" Ethan prodded for more information.

"Dude, you should take a hint and stop asking." Garcia elbowed Ethan.

"It's fine." Lee Seng waved. Garcia turned to look at him and nodded at him. Lee Seng shifted in his seat. "I had a power block for the last couple of months."

Garcia's group gasped. Everyone knew what power block was. They had studied it enough that they knew it was a serious condition. Power blocking only occured if the person exerted too much energy, going past their limits and depleting the Dark Matter energy within their systems. Ethan seemed to fold his lips in together like he almost regretted asking.

"Are you okay now?" Cai asked. Lee Seng turned and nodded.

"I'm fine now. I got clearance to use my powers but to 'take it slow.' The doctors at Chang Laboratories think it happened during the Field group test. I dunno if I can believe that because I haven't heard of people losing their powers due to an event like that."

"Maybe you should've come back after you were sure it's fine." Anna suggested. "Aren't you worried about something…"

"Something worse might happen?" Garcia finished her sentence. Lee Seng had definitely thought about it and shook his head.

"I don't like being cooped up in that lab. If they said I was cleared for school, I'm gonna go to school. I'll take it slow with my powers but I don't want to be bored." Lee Seng chuckled. He picked up his pizza and started to take another bite. He continued to eat, letting the group shift the subject elsewhere. Lee Seng's mind wandered, wondering if he had made the right choice or not.

'They did tell me I was cleared to go back. I just have to be careful but I feel like I'm not being careful by doing that…' Lee Seng thought. 'But I did insist on coming back. Why am I acting like I made the wrong choice?' He grabbed his drink and took a sip out of it.

'Why are your eyes like that?' The strange red and blue eyes stared back at him. He set his cup down and looked around. Everyone was making conversation while he and Garcia were the only ones who were being quiet. 'You do hear me, right? Our connection shouldn't have been cut… What the hell happened to you?'

"Huh?" Lee Seng muttered. Garcia caught Lee Seng looking around like he was looking for something.

"You okay?" Garcia asked.

"Huh?" Lee Seng looked over at him. "I'm fine… Do you…" He cut himself off.

'I would sound crazy if I said something like that…'

"Do I…?" Garcia raised an eyebrow as he took a bite of pizza.

"N-nothing." Lee Seng brushed it off.

'You definitely hear me but something… seems wrong with you.' The voice said in his head. He started to feel his vision blurring. He clutched his pants as he slightly moved forwards.

'What's… happening to me?' Lee Seng wondered.

"Lee?!?" Ritsuka shook him. Lee Seng gasped for air as his vision continued to blur.

"Lee!" Liz shouted. He could feel the two of them trying to pull him up.

'What's happening… to me?' Lee Seng asked, again. The Number Mark on his chest began to burn as he clutched his chest.

'Its been 2, almost 3 months? Was I asleep for that long?' The strange voice asked. Lee Seng's vision darkened and his body moved backwards, landing on the back of the chair as his eyelids closed and head rolled off to the side.

Black, white, silver, gold, red and blue swirled around Lee Seng as he popped out of the strange water. He didn't feel wet yet heard the sloshing of water as he climbed out of it.

"Where am I?" Lee Seng asked. He naturally looked around, taking in the space. In front of him, about thirty feet away, was an exact replica of him. The replica moved closer, tilting his head. His red and blue eyes studied Lee Sent as Lee Seng's eyes went straight to the three tails behind the replica version of him.

"Three tails and your ears…" Lee Seng muttered. He touched the spots where the ears were on his head. "W-who are you?" The replica version of him frowned when he said that.

"You don't remember me, Lee?" The replica version of him asked. "It's me, Keng. Your Fox Spirit. What happened to you? Was I asleep for too long after what happened in the cave?"

Keng looked around and scratched his head. His white tails with silver and gold casually did their thing as Lee Seng glued his eyes at them. He took a step back entering the oasis water behind him as Keng realized Lee Seng had entered it, again.

"You–" Keng's eyes widened. "You're not disappearing… Strange." He moved closer to Lee Seng who scrambled backwards, into the Oasis.

"S-stay away!" Lee Seng shouted. He could feel the burning sensation growing. He groaned in pain, losing his balance as the pain flared. "Argh!"

"Lee!" Keng shouted. He quickly appeared at Lee Seng's side and grabbed him and jumped out of the Oasis and onto dry land. He clutched Lee Seng in his arms, watching Lee Seng claw at his chest.

"Argh!" Lee Seng screamed in pain.