Chapter 697 Worry... Or Something Else?

Lee Seng retold the story of meeting the gods. He hadn't explained it even tried to explain it to his friends. They all sat there, quietly, as Lee Seng retold it. He was the Golden Sun and Keng was the Silver Sun. They were floating in space and occasionally saw the moon come and go. When it felt like eternity, the gods had come and spoken to them.

"The gods said Keng used a forbidden Savior spell on me, and a lot of gods were mad. They wanted us punished for what 'we' did. For what Keng did, he was binded to me and… for whatever reason, I was relieved of my Fox Spirit powers… We worked hard for those seven tails and… It's just gone." Lee Seng sighed. "Lord Vox'su and Lord Rox'su told me the Deimons are infiltrating the Realms. More importantly, they're infiltrating Daros. How? I don't know. Why? I have no clue. What I do know is I've been tasked to figure out why and stop it. Only then, Keng can come back, and I can get my… Our powers."

Chimera and Halys simply nodded, digesting the information Lee Seng had given them. Manny, Liz, Evan, Ritsuka and Olivia looked at their friend. Lee Seng hadn't told them the whole story, and this was… A shock to them. They knew gods had taken away their friends' abilities, but hearing how trippy it was, made them almost doubt what they were hearing was false. They had brushed the gods aside before and were thinking about now, but Chimera and Halys nodded like they understood Lee Seng's position well.

"The other gods are probably scared a Fox Spirit is gaining too much power in a short time." Halys speculated. He looked over to Lee Seng and shifted in his seat. "This isn't the first time this has happened."

"What do you mean? I'm not the first to be punished like this?" Lee Seng asked.

"The gods punish accordingly. They always have and they will be depending on the severity of it, but Halys isn't referring to that. He's referring to the last person to gain so much power in a short time." Chimera answered.

"Who? Is it another Fox Spirit?" Lee Seng scooted forward in his seat.

"In all my time alive, I've seen the rise and fall of nations. I've seen people rise and people fall. I've seen countless wars, but this person was one of two that shook the entire Realm… Well, they shook entire Realms."

"Who were they? Are they Fox Spirits, too?"

"No." Chimera shook their head. "I honestly don't think you have anything to do with that. Gods are just scared of what may come. If the twin sun gods have punished you and your Spirit, you must repent for what was done. I understand it wasn't you who did it and you weren't in the best circumstances, but the gods do things we don't understand. You might not understand it now, but you will later.

"For now, I'd suggest figuring out what you're going to do. You have been given a Quest from not one, not two, but three gods, young Lee Seng. What will you do about the Deimons? Will you slay them and gain Keng back or will you do nothing?" Chimera asked.

"I really don't have a choice." Lee Seng shrugged. "I need those powers. If I don't get those powers back, I won't be able to fight the Deimons. I won't be able to gather intel on them either."

"You want to fight them?" Manny asked. "Why would you want to do that? You said they're strong, right? What if you die and they get what they want? That lady clearly wanted us dead and would pull a huge stunt like that to capture you. Are you crazy?!?" Manny rose and looked down onto Lee Seng with the fire of anger burning within him. "Nothing makes sense now! You should clearly get away and just live your life quietly. Move out of the limelight! You-you-you could move to wherever the Fox Spirits came from or out of the Captiol! Don't waste your time trying to fight something you can't clearly win!"

"That's enough, Manny. You don't have to be cruel." Liz stood up and grabbed his wrist.

"Cruel?" Manny looked at her. "I'm being nice. I'm telling him he should preserve his life and try to live a normal life away from his father! Away from the Creator and the Numbers and the Academy! He shouldn't have to walk on eggshells for the rest of his life, looking behind his shoulder to see if someone's here to kill him!"

"I should go back to being powerless?" Lee Seng asked. Manny turned and stared at Lee Seng in disbelief. Lee Seng looked up at him. His eyes glinted with tears welling up. "I guess being powerless wouldn't be enough to silence them. Maybe I should've died then. I could've been in a better place away from this shit hole." Lee Seng nodded.

"You should go somewhere—"

"No matter where I go, I'll be hunted down!" Lee Seng slammed his hand onto the table. He looked over at Manny. "I can't live a peaceful life! I never could and I never will!"

"You don't know unless you've tried! Aren't you tired of being attacked?!? I would be!" Manny shouted. "I'm already tired! Everything that's happened as of this whole school year has been tiring! I feel weighed down! Don't you feel weighed down by the constant teetering of whether or not you'll actually die or not?" The room began to groan as Lee Seng's hands bundled into fists.

"You always do this." Lee Seng pointed at Manny. "You confuse me so much. You want what's best for me, but you don't ask me what I want. You just decide it because it would calm your guilty conscience. 'Maybe if I fight for what's best for him then the pain I feel inside will disappear.' It won't disappear just like you disappeared one me!" The room shook, pushing onto Manny. Lee Seng turned, releasing the hold and sitting in his chair. "You only want what's best for yourself, Damion. You never wanted me to do what I wanted to do. You wanted to tell me what to do… And when I got that serum injection, you were ecstatic because you could finally be that person. Be the dictator."

Manny's fists squeezed. He started forward, only to stop as Lee Seng continued.

"Are we even friends?" Lee Seng asked, quietly. "I didn't want to be roommates with you. I didn't want to be on a team with you. I didn't like the fact I was forced to do everything. I didn't like the fact I was attacked countless times; Sara and you were at the Academy and the fact I had to share the friends I made with you. Do you like being in control so much? Do you like being in my life because you feel the need to be a parasite? You're the one who did everything behind my back. You reported to the Creator, my damn father, about me!"

Lee Seng looked up at Manny. Manny's fists squeezed so tightly; Lee Seng could almost hear it. Tears fell down Lee Seng's cheek as he quickly wiped them away. He stood up and turned to face the Commander and General.

"I'm sorry you had to see and hear all that. Our personal problems are the least of your concerns." Lee Seng apologized. "I don't know what I'm going to do, but I don't want to run away. I'm… lacking something I can't see and… I don't have my best friend with me. He's locked up inside." Lee Seng tapped his chest. "Just… gimme some time. We'll go to Daros if we must, but I need to think of how I can gather more information on the Deimons and fix things. If you'll excuse me." Lee Seng bowed before turning to leave.

"Lee." Olivia stood up with Ritsuka and Evan.

"Lee." Ritsuka called out. Lee Seng stopped at the door, wiping his snot and tears.

"Don't worry. I won't wander off again. I just… need to think." Lee Seng forced such a sad smile at them. He opened the door and excused himself, leaving his friends and the other Fox Spirits with them.

"Lee!" Olivia stepped away from the table and followed. Ritsuka sighed and turned to look at the Commander and General. They were looking at each other like they were having a silent conversation.

"Alright." General Halys nodded. His eyes focused on Ritsuka and the others. "The Commander and I will ask around for some information about the Deimons. For now, stay here. If push comes to shove, we'll have you guess transported to Daros."

"We aren't going to do anything?" Liz asked. "I-I thought we came here to figure that out."

"The person who needs to figure this out has walked out." General Halys replied. "Lee Seng is a bright young man. He just needs time to think things through."

"How would you know?" Manny asked. "You don't even know him."

"You're right." Halys stood up. "I may have not known him as long as you have, but I know one thing for sure, Valentin – Lee Seng doesn't like to quit. He hates quitting and losing. He desperately fights to win and prove people right. And the way I see it, he's trying to tell you that."

"You—" Manny kicked the chair over, marching over to General Halys. Shang and Valen moved from their spots to intercept him as Commander Chimera's hand went up. Manny continued forward as Li shouted for him, trying to grab him. "You wouldn't know a single thing about him! I've known him for my whole life!" Manny raised his fist and swung at Halys. In a mere moment, a blast of purple electricity flew out of Liz's hand, hitting Manny in the back. Manny flew into Halys, who calmly caught him and set him in the chair behind him.

"Let's go." Commander Chimera ordered, standing up. "We shall be back with options when young Lee Seng is ready. For now, make yourselves comfortable and if you need anything, ask Valen and Shang as well as Felicity and Chrono."

"Sir." The Fox Spirits saluted. General Halys sighed and turned to face Manny.

"Eta ejan lwjo." General Halys spoke in a language the group didn't understand. Halys shook his head and followed the Commander, leaving Valen and Shang with the Biohumans.