Chapter 418 Laughter For The Soul

'What would Momma say at a time like this?' Lily thought. She pressed her back onto the door as she nibbled on her nail. Mom had told Lily many things about this world and Earth. They were ultimately the same at the end of the day. This place just had different people.

"Do you miss him?" Lily asked. "Do you miss your partner? Like how I miss my brothers?" There was a pause. She could hear Keng crawling over to the door and leaning on it. The weight shifted just enough she could tell he was doing the same thing she was.

"Yeah." Keng nodded. His legs were sprayed out in front of him. The pants and shirt he wore were a bit tight and itchy. He laced his fingers together and stared at his palms. "I miss him a lot…"

"You'll get to see him again, right?" Lily asked.

"Mmmhm. Two years. Well, less than two years now I guess."

"Well, why are you here? I-I know Elder Jyu'so is keeping you here with some magical mark, but why are you staying here? What made you think of Daros?"

Lily's question was straightforward. She wanted to know he chose Daros, but even as straightforward of a question as it was, he still didn't know how to answer that.

'Strength? Grow stronger? Wasn't that my answer?' Keng thought. He let out a sigh and tilted his head to look up at the ceiling. 'I'm not sure. Why did I come here? I could've gone back to Lee Seng but I was…'

"Scared." Keng whispered. Lily turned to look at the door. Did she hear that right? "I was… scared… Scared of it. Scared of him. Scared I'm too weak. Ah, dammit." He glanced back at his hands. He unlaced his fingers and crumbled his hands into fists.

"I spent too much time being scared that I ignored a crucial point." Keng sighed.

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"I acted like the help I got would always be here. I acted like a douchebag."

"Spoosh bag? What's that?" Lily asked.

"Douchebag. D-O-U-C-H-E-B-A-G. Douchebag. It means I'm an asshole. A jerk." Keng told her. Lily nodded. She didn't know if that was a word but Keng seemed to understand what it meant.

"Douchebag. You could say you were just that." Lily nodded. Keng felt an arrow shoot into his chest. He grunted as he clutched the fake wound as Lily chuckled. "You did act like one. Like my brother Winn. He acted like one when he lost to my brother Victor in a game of football. The ball went past his legs and hit the sticks at the otherside, ha ha. He was so livid. Acted like a total jerk because he lost." Lily chuckled.

"You have a lot of brothers?" Keng asked.

"I have five older brothers. Winn is the third oldest. It's Isaac, Jacob, Winn, Bright, Philip, and me. Mom and Dad said they wanted a BIG family so they had all of us." Lily beamed at the mention of her parents. Keng could feel her happiness radiating through the door.

"How old are they compared to you if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, that's fine." Lily shook her head. "Isaac is 28. Jacob is 26. Winn and Bright are twins and they're 23. Then there's Philip who's 19."

"And you're, what, 13?"

"Gods no! I'm 14! I'm almost a woman! Practically a woman!" Lily shouted. She turned to beat the door but stopped when she heard Keng burst into laughter. "Why are you laughing? Are you trying to be a douchebag?!?"

"No, no." Keng spoke in between laughter. "I just thought you were younger. You still act like a child."

"And what's wrong with that?!?" Lily jiggled the door handle. "Open this? I'll prove to you I'm a woman! I may be small but my might is large! I might've not been able to learn Energy Sensory earlier like the others but that's because I had another destiny waiting for me!"

Keng's laughter filled the air as Lily continued to pound the door. She jiggled the door awhile longer until she saw Gorrum poking his head in.

"Oh, sir Gorrum!" Lily bowed at him. Keng's laughter died and he turned his head back to lean it against the door as he listened. Lily stepped away from the door and turned her attention to Gorrum. "What brings you here?"

"Well.. I wanted to check up on you and…" Gorrum pointed at the door. "Seems like you're doing fine."

"Oh yes." Lily nodded. She looked at the door for a moment and then looked at Gorrum.

"I, uh… We'll be going back to the Capitol since… Elder Jyu'so doesn't want to bother Keng. We'll listen to his request and respect his decision."

Ah, well…" Lily gulped. The door unlocked and Keng stepped out of it.

"You guys can stay." Keng spoke. He turned right and walked to the bathroom. The door closing behind.

"Um…" Lily looked at Keng as he entered the bathroom. She turned back and saw the Elder and Gorrum standing there now.

"You heard him." Jyu'so spoke. "Let's stay." He walked over to the dining room and sat. Gorrum stepped out from his spot and wandered over to Lily, looking at the bathroom.

"What were you two laughing about?" Gorrum asked. "I don't think I've heard him laugh like that, ever."

"Oh, that?" Lily pointed. "He thought I was a child."

"Ah." Gorrum nodded. "I can see why he would mistake you as one. You are… quite firecr little lady." Lily glared at him as Gorrum gave out weak chuckles.

"Gorrum, I don't think there's food here. Let's go hunting." Jyu'so motioned. Jyu'so jumped off the chair and landed quietly. "Something delectable."

"B-but we have–" Gorrum began to say when Jyu'so shushed him. The bathroom door opened and Keng wandered over to Lily and Gorrum.

"Come. Let's hunt." Jyu'so motioned, leaving.

"E-elder!" Gorrum shouted. He watched Jyu'so leave and then took a couple steps towards the exit before remembering Lily and Keng. "W-we'll be back. Thank you for letting us stay."

Lily turned to look at Keng. She couldn't read his body language. Keng stood there for a moment before wandering over to the couch and planting his butt on it. He let out a sigh and looked at Lily.

"I hope you can forgive me though." Keng spoke. The sentence had drawn her to Keng.

"Huh?" Lily asked. She reacted the way people did when they didn't hear the sentence that they definitely heard. Her brain pulled forward and she finally registered what Keng had said.

"I said I hope you can forgive me. For the Feral Madness thing. I didn't know staying in it could actually… Y'know, make me attack anything and everything." Keng watched Lily walk over to the couch and plop a seat in the armchair to his left. He lifted his head and adjusted himself so he could pay attention to the teenager.

"Mmm, I forgive you." Lily smiled. "It's not the first time I've experienced a Feral Madness lashing like that."

'Not your first one?' Keng raised an eyebrow at the teenager. She nodded like she heard the question in his head.

"I almost had a scar run across my chest." She clawed her chest diagonally. "But Philip took the hit for me and… Well…" Her expression grew dark.

"He has a scar?" Keng finished. Lily nodded.

"He said anyone in the family would've protected me from that sort of thing. It was just wrong place, wrong time… Phi says it's okay. The scar gives him 'character depth.' Whatever that means." Lily chuckled. Her eyes seemed to water and Keng turned away, giving her a moment to wipe her eyes and recollect herself.

"Sounds like you got a good family." Keng smiled at her.

"Why do you say that? You technically don't have a family and do have a family."

"Just off of what Lee Seng's memories tell me Y'see he's the only child. He really wanted siblings. He technically got it with some of the Numbers, but they aren't his real family. I guess that's why he treats me like a brother. I mean, we do look exactly alike!"

"Having five older brothers who are all protective of you like your dad is annoying." Lily 's face shrunk into a pout. "They're always trying to look out for me and always baby me around. I can do so much! I'm Blessed by Lord Rox'su and Lady Tear'a!" She stood up and started to pace around the armchair. "I know I'm only fourteen, but I want to see the world!"

"Well, you could see the world with me, y'know." Keng wiggled his eyebrows. Lily turned to look at him in disbelief. "I wanna see what's in Daros until I have to leave for Earth, but we could both train real hard in the mean time! Win-win!"

"Yeah, but my parents aren't going to let me run off with some boy they haven't met yet. Plus, if you hear what circulates around the village, you'd be suspicious about yourself too!" Lily stopped in front of Keng and leaned forward.