Chapter 227 The Other Side Of The Coin

'I'm in control.' He thought, repeatedly. The armor shifted as the roots held him tightly.

'His energy has shifted, again.' Halys noticed. 'Should I let him go?' There was a pause. Halys weighed his options while the celestial fox's form shimmered. The stars pulled back into the foxes body and Lady Vix'i revealed herself to Lee Seng.

"Let him go." Lady Vix'i told Halys.

"What if he's–" A Family member began to speak when Lady Vix'i threw her hand up. Halys slowly pulled back. Lee Seng felt the roots pulling out of his body and with a plop, he fell onto the ground. He groaned and laid in the pool of his own Dark Matter and blood. He watched as his body began to repair itself.

'This is gonna take forever.' Lee Seng thought. He started to move his hands to the wound when Keng's hands pressed itself onto the wounds.

"Keng?" Lee Seng looked up. He hadn't realized Keng had come back. "Weren't you just…?"

"Shut up and let me handle this." Blood soaked Keng's hands as his hands started to light up in silver light. He watched the wound closely while the others muttered about Lee Seng behind him. "I tried to tell you to cool off, but you didn't listen. He was obviously trying to pull you into your Protocol." Keng whispered.

"I…" Lee Seng was cut off with Keng pressing on his wounds. He began to yelp and Keng's serious eyes met Lee Seng's.

"You're such a handful, you know that? You have so many things you need to get under control. Learning how to use your gravity powers while also balancing the Protocol and the Fox Spirit form. You like to put your eggs in too many baskets." Keng was actually complaining to Lee Seng. Lee Seng hadn't ever heard the Fox Spirit complain before. The wounds closed as he tried to grunt quietly.

"The last time something like this happened, you almost shattered any of your chances of moving forward." Keng whispered. "I pulled you out of that darkness and you managed well for months. I feel your emotions. I know your memories, but y'know what I don't feel? That Protocol within you. It's foreign to me. It's a secret I don't know anything about. Whatever happened when you got pulled into your Spirit World, I don't know what happened." Keng became silent. He held his emotions better than Lee Seng did. He focused on the task in front of him and when the wounds fully healed, you removed his hands.

"Keng…" Lee Seng grabbed his hand. Keng's eyes shook. Lee Seng gulped. No words came out and Keng eventually pulled away and stood up.

"Zixin, I can heal you if you need it." Keng told him. Zixin hesitantly nodded. They were all staring at Lee Seng. The foxes continued to whisper amongst each other. Lee Seng removed his propped up arms and stared at the sky. The Dark Matter suit stuck onto his body. The two suns weren't as close. They were far enough from each other. The Silver Sun hung to the left of the sky while the Golden Sun hung on the right side. Their lights mixed and shimmered as one.

Sounds of footsteps approaching forced Lee Seng out of his clouded thoughts. The footsteps stopped at his feet and he rose just enough to see General Halys and Lady Vix'i were standing there. Lee Seng sat up and glanced at Halys before setting his eyes on Lady Vix'i.

"His form does remind me of Eshra." Lady Vix'i finally spoke after the long pause. They were studying him. It reminded Lee Seng of the Creator and his employees watching him. He felt uncomfortable. "But it differs so much. He's more…"

"Destructive." Halys finished the sentence. Lee Seng's looked at Halys. He didn't remove his earth form. He stayed in the form. "It's like Eshra's but it's completely different. I think it suits the Capturer. He created a destructive power that's too much for the boy." Halys and Lady Vix'i became quiet after that. They seemed to have a mental conversation and Lee Seng took another gulp.

"Screw this." He spoke. He stood up and took one last look at the two older Foxes before turning around.

"Where are you going?" Halys asked. The ground erupted in roots in front of Lee Seng. Lee Seng watched the roots rise and sway side to side.

"To blow off steam." Lee Seng told him.

"Just let him go." Keng loudly told them. "Nothing's gonna get through his head if he can't have space." Halys looked at Lady Vix'i, who simply nodded. The roots removed themselves in front of Lee Seng and Lee Seng started off in a random direction.

Keng removed his hands from Zixin and nodded.

"Should be all good now." Keng managed to smile.

"Thanks, kid." Zixin gave a small smile. Keng nodded and turned to look at Lee Seng.

"He really is just going." Keng whispered. The disappointment in his eyes grew. "I really don't know what you're thinking."

"What if the other one is like him? Should we allow them to stay with us?" A Family member spoke.

"That vessel is dangerous! Of course we shouldn't allow them to stay!" Another loudly spoke. They began to repeat the same things.

"Enough!" Zixin turned to face the Family. "It was an accident. General Halys was only testing them."

"Testing them? General Halys must've known about the human's secrets and wanted to know if he could control it or not! He isn't able to and he's a danger to us all! They're both dangerous!" A FAmily member spoke out. Zixin pushed through the crowd and grabbed the Fox and glared.

"You're abandoning a Fox Spirit?"

"We're abandoning a human!"

Zixin whipped at punch straight int othe Fox's face. The crowd gasped as Nabi moved over and grabbed at Zixin.

"Zixin, stop!" Nabi tried to pull him away.

"Let me go, Nabi! They think being human is lower than them!" Zixin ripped himself off of Nabi's grasp and began to pummel the Fox with punches.

"Stop it!" Keng ripped Zixin away and tossed him into the ground. He stood in between the crowd and Zixin. Keng glared at Zixin before turning to the one that spoke out against Lee Seng. He took a step forward, his energy becoming heavy. The Foxes gasped as they tried to take a step back. The weight of gravity pushed onto all of them. "You don't even know him and yet you slander him? What do you know, huh?!? You all don't know how hard he's lived and you stand there comfortably slandering one of the many humans among your Family?"

The gravity pushed harder and Nabi reached out and put a hand on Keng's shoulder.

"Stop. You're going to make some of them pass out." Nabi calmly spoke. Keng's teeth tightened as he released the Fox and the gravity.

"I guess you can't be grateful for the ones who are bringing your brethren home." Keng turned and moved past Zixin to General Halys. He stopped in his place and looked up at General Halys. "And you! Just because you're some well known and well-respected General doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. You don't know a thing when it comes to him and that form." Keng pointed at Lee Seng in the distance. He pushed past General Halys and followed after Lee Seng.

"Keng." Lady Vix'i turned. Keng continued walking, waving goodbye. Lady Vix'i watched Keng move into a jog. She turned to look at General Halys and shook her head. "Everyone, get back to the Village." The Family members started to turn around and move. General Halys waited for Lady Vix'i. She turned and faced him. "What did that tell you about the boy? Did you get what you wanted?"

There was a long pause. Halys watched the others move back to the Village. It wasn't until they started filtering into the Village, he spoke.

"I did what Chimera ordered."

"And what exactly did that answer?" Lady Vix'i asked. "The Eldest always have a point when they do things like this, but I would like to not be kept in the dark about this."

"That leads me to the next thing, m'lady." Halys stood up straight and looked at Lady Vix'i. She raised her eyebrows at him.

"What's that?"

"The Commander should be coming through the Realm Gate over yonder." He pointed to the right.

"Chimera is coming back? Why?" Lady Vix'i asked. "Why would Eldest come back here? Didn't God King tell them to stay in the Human Realm?"

"The Commander only told me to put the vessel into that state. The rest is up to the Commander."

"Why would Chimera go this far to test the boy…?" Lady Vix'i mumbled.

"I should prepare for the Commander's return. I will head out to meet the Commander and the group." Halys bowed to Lady Vix'i before heading off in the direction he pointed at.

'Eldest is back. That means whatever is going to happen, it'll produce results. I should prepare the Village for their return.'