Chapter 706 Disappearing Act

Lee Seng stepped out of the dirt path, entering the cemented village grounds, again. He brushed the dirt off of him and looked behind him. The black mist guard's warning replaying in his mind.

"Watch yourself, Number 11. He will have his Eleventh warrior… One way or another."

Lee Seng scoffed at that and shook his head. He didn't think the Creator's power would stretch so far, but that was just ignorant of him. His phone buzzed and a voice began to alert him of a call.

"Call from Manny Valentin." The voice spoke. Lee Seng double tapped the earbuds and listened to the phone click.

"Yo, where are you? Did you decide to run a marathon? I thought you'd be back by now." Manny asked. Lee Seng turned and started his way back towards Olivia's house. "Grandma Ok's made breakfast and asked where you were. She wants her future 'son-in-law' to come and eat."

"That's not what she said, dipshit!" Olivia shouted. Manny screamed in pain as a loud 'thunk' noise was heard.

"I'm coming back now. Ran into something interesting." Lee Seng told him. He picked up speed, catching more looks from the villagers as he passed.

"You ran into something? What?" Manny asked.

"I think the Creator's reach is further than I ignorantly gave it. I just ran into someone who threatened me. The Creator and those Deimons would be coming for me."

"Really?" Manny whispered. "A-are you okay? Did anything happen?"

"He just lured my curiosity out from prying eyes." Lee Seng answered. "Nothing more… I don't think I've seen something like him before. He turned into black mist. He must've known I could see his aura."

"So they know you can see auras and energies? Isn't that dangerous? One of your cards is known by them. What are you gonna do if they get anything from this interaction?" Manny asked.

"They won't. Trust me. I'm almost at the house. I'll be there soon. We can talk about this after breakfast."

Lee Seng slowed to a stop as he neared the Ok residence. Ritsuka and Evan were sitting on the porch, chatting as they spotted Lee Seng.

"Hey, you're back." Ritsuka waved.

"Why do you look dirty?" Evan asked as Ritsuka and Evan stood up. Ritsuka furrowed his brows, noticing how dirty Lee Seng was. Lee Seng sighed and flexed his wrist. A cloud of dirt flew off of him as he spun around.

"How 'bout now?" Lee Seng asked.

"You're good." Evan gave a thumbs up. "We're just waiting for you. Food just finished."

"Manny made it sound like y'all were waiting ages for me." Lee Seng told them as he climbed the steps.

"You know how he is. Hungry." Ritsuka chuckled. Ritsuka opened the door and roped an arm around Lee Seng and brought him inside. "Look who decided to show up?"

"Ah, there you are! We were about to eat!" Grandma Ok exclaimed. "Come, come. Let's eat. I'm sure all of you want to do some sightseeing in whatever this place holds." She ushered the teenagers over to the dinner table and motioned for them to sit. They all took their spots with Olivia sitting next to Grandma. "Dig in. It's not much, but I wanted to give you a warm welcome."

The group of students dug in. All taking a bit of everything as they conversed with one-another. By the time they finished, Grandma was already moving to do dishes.

"Oh, do you want help, Grandma?" Olivia asked, standing up to take her plate over to the sink.

"It's alright, dear." Grandma told Olivia. "You should take your friends to see the village. It isn't much to see, but at least you can share a bit of your home with them."

"Are you sure?" Olivia asked.

"We can help, Grandma. You should rest." Ritsuka insisted.

"Don't worry about an old woman like me. I still have much to do! Do not underestimate me! I'm the doctor of Maus!" Grandma Ok smiled, giving a small chuckle. "Go and enjoy the village. Olivia, you should go say hi to your friends! They'll be ecstatic to see you!"

"Sure. If you'll really be fine." Olivia set her plate in the sink. Grandma turned to her and nodded.

"Don't worry about me. Bring your friends plates over here and I'll handle everything else. Just be back in time for lunch!"

"Alright." Olivia gathered everyone's empty plates and finished cups and set them in the sink.

"Go! Go! Go be teenagers! You don't have a lot of time left before you're studying hard for your careers!" Grandma waved the teenagers out of her house, practically pushing them all out. "Your friends will be so surprised! Have fun!" The door slammed in Olivia's face, leaving the group to themselves.

"You don't come home for half a year and she practically pushes you out of the house." Manny chuckled. "She must really love you." Olivia spun around and swatted Manny in the shoulder. She shook her head at him and moved down the steps.

"Shut up." Olivia told him. "She must have something important to do. She only pushes me out when she needs to do something…"

"So we're getting a tour of the place?" Ritsuka asked. Olivia turned and nodded.

"Come on. I'll show you my favorite spots. Maybe we'll get lucky and Ja's Coffee Shop might be open."

Olivia took the scenic route to Maus Square - the same route Lee Seng had taken on his jog earlier. She didn't really give any historical information on things. She would point to different buildings and share memories of that place.

"Oh," Olivia chuckled, turning her head to look at her friends as she pointed at an overgrown brick building. "This one used to be in use. My friends and I snuck in here for some alcohol a couple of times. We didn't get caught the first few times, but the fourth time we came in, the old man caught us! Hahaha, I can't believe Tiffy actually got caught! She was the one who was EXTRA sure we wouldn't be caught!"

"Why is it rundown now?" Lee Seng asked.

"The owner decided to retire. The old man couldn't really continue making alcohol since his daughters and sons all kinda… passed. The old man ran it as long as he could but couldn't keep it going."

"So, who sells alcohol in this place then?" Manny asked.

"Of course, you'd like to know." Liz jabbed him in the side. Manny sarcastically winced at her job and rubbed it. It only agitated Liz even more and made her put in extra effort to make him feel pain.

"Ow!" Manny yelped. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Asshole."

"He taught the general store owner's son how to make some. They make batches and sell them when they've aged enough. It's very little but at least they have a sip of it around." Olivia answered Manny's question. "Come on, the coffee shop isn't too far form here. It's by the fountain!" Olivia led her friends down the hill and into the square.

"Woah! That fountain is in pristine condition!" Liz excitedly ran forward. "The one in the North district doesn't even compare to something this great! How'd you guys even keep up with this?"

"Well… There's someone who maintains it, I guess?" Olivia shrugged. Team Zephyr joined the excited Liz who was circling the fountain. "Should we take a pic?"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Liz instantly agreed. She ran over to the group and roped them together. "We should remember this moment, right?"

"Is it a smart idea to even use our phones?" Evan asked.

"It's not a phone! It's this!" Liz pulled a camera out of her bag and showed it to everyone. "It can take a photos for us! I'll set it up, quickly!" Liz clicked a few buttons and the group watched the camera lift off of Liz's hand and move over to the perfect point. "Say cheese!"

"Cheese!" The group all posed and smiled. The camera took a couple of pics and afterwards, the camera floated back to Liz.

"Let's check!" Liz told the group. She scrolled through the pictures with the group hovering behind her as they looked at the photos.

"They came out nice." Evan commented.

"Yeah, they came out great." Olivia agreed. Liz smiled and turned the camera off and set it back in the bag.

"Let's grab something to drink now!" Liz happily told the group. "I can't wait to meet your friends, Liv. They must be interesting people!"

"I wouldn't say interesting… More like… Strange." Olivia awkwardly chuckled. "C'mon," she waved at the group. "Let's go. The shop doesn't have much but everything's homegrown by Ja and his partner!"

"Oooo, Maus is like organic. I've always wanted to try organic things." Ritsuka commented. Olivia led the group into the establishment. A bell rang and a dark-skinned man looked up.

"Oh? Am I seeing things, love?" The dark-skinned man asked. He rubbed his eyes and looked, again. "Is that our little heroine, Olivia Ok?"

"I think it is, Ja." A pale man answered, barely peeking from behind the counter. He stood up and towered at least five inches from Ja. "Heroine, you've returned home. How have you been?"