Chapter 713 Trapped School III

Lee Seng, Jordan, and Lexie stood outside with the door cracked just enough for Lee Seng to lay eyes on them. He didn't know how the space would be manipulated, so he didn't want to take any chances. His arms were folded together as he looked at Jordan and Lexie. Jordan looked pissed.

'He definitely didn't want to run into me.' Lee Seng thought. Lee Seng glanced past Lexie and noticed Miss Emory had calmed the children down and were talking to them.

"You want us to help you?" Lexie broke the ice. She knew Jordan wouldn't want to initiate things and if Olivia's teammate did, he'd be even more against it. "Why should we help you guys? We told you we'd do this ourselves."

"I can't be the only one who looks after Miss Emory and the kids. I need help protecting them if anymore flaming purple skulls find us and still look for whatever's manipulating the school's space." Lee Seng answered. Jordan's fists were bundled. He didn't look like he wanted to help Lee Seng. Lexie, on the other hand, was harder to read.

"I don't want to help you. I'll take the free information while you be a hero and watch over those four." Jordan motioned at Miss Emory and the kids. Lexie sighed and folded her arms.

"Sadly, I have to agree with him. We told you guys to not get involved and you came straight here." Lexie said. Jordan turned to her and nodded at her.

"One thing we can agree on!" Jordan looked at Lee Seng with a grin.

"Okay." Lee Seng waved. He started into the art room as Jordan stepped in his way. "What?"

"Hm, I didn't think you'd give in so easily. You sounded like you actually need help."

"Our interests aligned, and I merely asked." Lee Seng brushed off Jordan's bait. "If you see any of my team members, tell them to figure out the problem. Thanks. Bye. Good luck." Lee Seng moved past Jordan and pushed the door open.

"Mr. Lee Seng is back!" Maggie exclaimed. The kids ran over to him as Miss Emory looked up.

"K-kids! D-don't swarm him!"

"Why'd you take so long? Aren't we going to find the hiders?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, we are. I just had to talk to some of the seekers." Lee Seng nodded at Jordan and Lexie. "They're not going to stay and play with us. They're going to split up and try to find people that way."

"Can I split up, too?" Ashley asked.

"What did Miss Emory say?" Lee Seng asked, slowly inching forwards as he closed the door.

"Miss Emory says no." Maggie answered.

"Then we have to listen to Miss Emory, right?"

"Yeah!" Reggie and Maggie exclaimed.

---

"Hello?" Olivia called out. She played with her gem necklace, hoping that someone would hear her. She had left Lee Seng after he had told her he was going to take the children and teacher to one of the nearby rooms near their meet point. "Hello, can anyone hear me?" Olivia lifted the necklace and peered at the fused multi-gems.

Olivia had gone through the information multiple times already. She needed to find the reason why the school was only affected, why her friends and the supposedly missing people were in different spaces of the school and to figure out where this small high school girl had gone.

Olivia rounded the corner and noticed the green dot. Evan had made his way over towards her. Liv stopped where she was and looked around. Evan was nowhere to be seen. Whatever spell was on this place was making it hard for her to even interact with her friends.

"Evan?" Olivia called out. She waited a moment and tried again. "Evan? Are you there? I see you on the map." She looked at the green dot. He was clearly moving left and right in front of her dot trying to get her attention. She licked her lips and scratched her head. Olivia stepped forward and walked straight into the green dot. She passed over it and ended up behind him. She turned around and noticed the window.

Olivia moved to the window and fogged it a bit. She started to write a question on it. Can you hear me? She watched Evan's dot move over to her and waited. A part of the window fogged, and Olivia gasped. She stepped off to the side and watched as Evan scrawled the words, "I can't hear you. What's happening? Do you see the floating skulls, too? There were five of them! Is Lee Seng okay?"

'We exist in the same space, technically. The building itself is the same but the people aren't… What if…' Olivia moved over and responded to Evan. "Lee Seng's fine. He found some people trapped in the school. Meet me in the art room – room 142. I'll explain everything there." She waited a moment and a simple 'ok' appeared on the window. Olivia quickly made her way over to the art room where Lee Seng was staying.

"We have a chance to communicate with everyone!" Olivia smiled. Olivia rounded the corner as she noticed a fireball flying at her. Olivia flew backwards hitting the wall with a loud thump as the flames scattered across the floor and wall.

"It's our lucky day, Alex!" Hayley's lips curled. "We found Liv!" Olivia patted the flames away. Hayley stood slightly behind Alex whose eyes were glowing gold. Hayley kept a conjured fireball as she took a step forward. "We weren't finished with our conversation, Liv. You and your friends were pretty rude. You should've kept your nose out of it."

"Out of it?" Olivia chuckled. Part of her hair fell in her face as she blew it aside. She looked up at Hayley with excited eyes. A foggy breath came from behind her. Evan was near her. She could hear the scribbling of writing as she turned and took a glance.

"What? Are you scared because your new friends aren't here? You can't be protected anymore, Disassembler." Hayley smirked. She took a large step over as Olivia read the message.

"What happened?" Evan wrote. Olivia jumped to the side as a fireball slammed into the wall, erasing the message. Olivia rolled onto her feet and reached for the dagger behind her jacket.

"Are you still running around with random parts? Do you think you have a chance with Alex, here?" Hayley asked. "Anything you decide to do will be detected by Alex. I have the advantage."

'C'mon… Pick up my thoughts.' Olivia thought.

"L-Liv, what's wrong?" Evan's voice came through. "Are you okay? Why's the glass so hot?"

'The people you saw earlier are here.' Olivia told him. 'Unluckily for me, Hayley's with Alex. Alex's senses are crazy strong with his power. He'll notice what I'm doing before I even move.'

"What should we do? Should I get help?" Evan asked.

"You know better." Hayley frowned. "That isn't fun." She tossed another fireball at Olivia, who pulled the dagger out and swiped at it. The flames sucked in as the dagger crackled, releasing a hiss as the magnetic blade pushed apart.

"A new toy?" Alex asked. Olivia raised it up and smiled.

"Of course. I spent all my savings and side hustles on this." Olivia smiled.

"What do I do? How do I help you if we can't see each other?" Evan asked.

'The building, itself, is the same. That's why we can see what we write to each other. You've been working on a new defensive move, right?' Olivia asked.

"Y-yeah… It's not perfect." Evan responded.

'Do it on the wall, where you wrote earlier. Point it down the hall!'

"W-why?"

'It'll get them. How much time do you need to set it up?'

"What're you scheming with that? Just because you have a fancy weapon now, doesn't mean it'll hurt me." Hayley commented. Olivia whipped the dagger forward as Alex moved him and Hayley out of the way. The magnetized dagger whip slashed against the ground. The magnets pulled back as a colorful shield grew on the wall.

"Now!" Olivia shouted. A rainbow blast of energy flew down the hall. Hayley and Alex screamed in pain, clutching at their eyes as Evan's attack had successfully blinded them.

'Run!' Olivia sprinted past the blinded Hayley and Alex.

"Did I just do something?" Evan asked.

"Yeah, you blinded them for me! It worked!" Olivia replied. "Get to the room! Hopefully I'll lose them."

"If you don't?"

"Lee Seng's there. There should be paper and pencils. Write to him and let him know we can communicate through the school space even if we're physically not there. I'll pull these guys' attention towards the gym in the meantime!"

"Roger! Good luck!" Evan shouted.

"Don't die!"

Hayley screamed as the blinding effect faded. Alex was still rolling on the floor, groaning in pain. His power's may have boosted his senses, but it also made him extremely sensitive to anything while he was using his sensory powers. Hayley pulled Alex up, who groaned as he covered his eyes.

"She's running away! Let's go!" Hayley shouted.