Chapter 749 If It Wasn't For You...

Lee Seng wrapped an arm around Keng and pulled him close. He smiled and rubbed Keng's shoulder while staring at the sunrise. Both of them had suffered a lot without being by each other's side. Keng wiped his eyes as footsteps approached them from below.

"Hey! Food's ready." Calis called out to them. Lee Seng turned and nodded. Lee Seng looked at Keng and nodded with his head. "Let's go. Chin up. That's all behind us now. We're back together that's all that matters." Keng splashed some water onto himself as Lee Seng released his arm and jumped off the tree. Gravity wrapped around him, slowing him to a stop as he turned and walked back to camp.

The group sat off to the side with the heated food in the middle of them. Plates were already divvied out and Manny and Evan were drifting back into sleep while the others made small talk.

"They're comin'." Calis pointed behind him. He sat next to Ritsuka, who nodded at him. "Those two gonna be okay? I haven't seen them like this in a while."

"They're always like that." Liz yawned. "The first to be excited about anything and the last to fully wake up after a long day's journey."

"We're gonna do it all over today, too!" Olivia poked her head into Evan's view. Evan groaned, lifting his hand to try to push Olivia away with no luck. Lee Seng was the second to arrive after Calis.

"Mornin'. Y'all sleep well?" Lee Seng asked sitting down next to Manny. Manny slumped his head over onto Lee Seng and yawned. Lee Seng ruffled Manny's hair, knowing it would agitate him, but was surprised to see Manny not fight at all. "I guess you're wiped. You aren't fighting back."

"Gimme… five more minutes." Manny whispered. He smacked his lips and kept his eyes close as Keng arrived last. He looked at Calis, not giving much thought as he sat in between Calis and Lee Seng.

"Those two still not fully awake?" Keng asked.

"Nope." Ritsuka shook his head. Ritsuka pointed at Manny. "He's about to go back to sleep and Evan…" Olivia shook Evan, who jolted awake.

"I'm awake! I'm fine! We're fine!" Evan shouted.

"Dude, quiet!" Ritsuka hissed. Evan rubbed his eyes while Liz and Olivia laughed.

"Let's eat." Calis motioned. The group started to grab food as Lee Seng waited. Manny was actually falling asleep on his shoulder and it probably wouldn't be the last time.

"I'll grab food for you." Keng told Lee Seng. Lee Seng nodded his thanks and watched as Keng piled some food onto Lee Seng's plate and handed it to him.

"Thanks." Lee Seng whispered before grabbing it. He shook Manny with his shoulder. "Wake up. It's time to eat."

"Five more minutes…" Manny groaned, shifting to be more comfortable.

"C'mon, eat time. I got something to tell all of you."

Manny's eyes fluttered opened. He looked directly into Lee Seng's eyes, curious. Manny rubbed his eyes as Lee Seng managed to push Manny off of him.

"What is it?" Manny asked. The group turned to look at him. Lee Seng sighed and set his plate on the ground.

"I'm sure it was heavily hinted that I've been here before." Lee Seng started. "If you didn't know, now you know. I came here on accident the first couple of times, but when Keng and I separated for a while, I came here because of the Deimon that was inside of me. My body and my spirit were split. I was ordered to be a stone until it was time for me to leave, but the god of Limbo had other plans. Let's just say I have a long history even here… Even as short as it is…

"The past here doesn't really matter all that much, but the God of Limbo visited me yesterday." Lee Seng's eyes glanced over the group. Keng's and Calis's eyes were the most wide out of the group.

"What does that mean? Were we already found?" Olivia asked.

"Lord Cain's managed to find me every time I've stepped into this Realm. I wouldn't put it past him." Lee Seng sighed.

"What does that mean, then? W-what happened? Was he actually here? I-I thought it was just a dream!" Ritsuka looked around. Lee Seng waved and shook his head. He pulled the parchment paper out of his pocket and showed it to everyone.

"I told Ritsuka and Calis about this, briefly, but he visited me in a dream. He didn't actually come here. I owe Lord Cain a favor or two… Maybe more."

"What's the favor?" Evan asked.

"Deimons have somehow infiltrated this Realm, too." Lee Seng told them. "We have to use this paper and put it on a Deimon - alive or not - and send it to him before we can search for the Cup."

"T-that slows us down a lot." Manny spoke up. "W-we haven't fought a Deimon before. We've avoided them, narrowly."

"Even when we did try to fight one…" Liz's voice trailed off. It grew uncomfortably quiet. Lee Seng's eyes scanned around, lowering the paper back to its spot in his pocket.

"What? Ritsuka mentioned it earlier, but stopped himself." Lee Seng asked. "What happened? Did you guys really fight a Deimon?" He turned to Keng who was the most quiet.  Lee Seng reached up and shook Keng. Keng didn't dare look up. They were all hiding something.

"Was it bad enough to scare all of you like this?" Lee Seng asked.

"Lee Seng… W-we aren't equipped for that sort of thing." Calis answered. "Well, I guess then? Y'see…"

"We haven't been back to Earth in years because we came across a Deimon." Olivia spoke up. She pulled her collar down a bit, revealing a strange purple scar. "I was filled with rage when my home was attacked. We fled and I wanted revenge for what… What happened. We went back and who know they could've easily torn that place down and rebuilt it so fast?

"I tried to search for answers. I tried to search for any survivors but their were none! They took everyone away. Those who weren't fit were dead… My grandma…" Olivia's voice shook as tears fell. "S-she… she died trying to protect us…! A-and this is the reminder I have of that day! The pain burned in me! In all of us because I didn't listen!"

"H-hey." Liz tried to comfort Olivia. Olivia pulled away and set her plate on the ground and stood up. Olivia looked at Lee Seng and didn't move as the pain surged throughout her body.

"If we didn't do what we did all those years ago… Maybe they'd all be alive. Why did we have to kill a Deimon and her lackeys? My grandmother is dead because of our actions!" Olivia screamed.

"Olivia!" Ritsuka shouted, standing. Evan turned to and began to stand as the others turned away. "Olivia!" Ritsuka followed after Olivia, leaving the group to themselves. Lee Seng gulped and turned to look at Manny.

"Everything Lily told me is true, then." Lee Seng sighed. "Was I… the reason for all of this?" Manny's face froze. Keng began to turn to answer when Manny forced himself to not look at Lee Seng. Lee Seng sighed and stood up. "If we didn't kill her then, maybe that village would still be there… Ah, I… I need to go." Lee Seng stood up and turned the opposite direction Ritsuka and Olivia had left and moved.

"Found you~" A female voice whispered.

"Lee Seng!" Keng shouted. He began to scramble onto his feet when a mercury portal opened. Lee Seng hesitated for a milli-second before stepping inside of it. "Lee!" Keng sprinted to the spot Lee Seng had just vanished from.

"What was that?" Liz asked.

"What?" Evan asked turning back.

"Lee Seng vanished through a red portal!" Liz pointed. Manny whipped his head around and looked. There was no sight of Lee Seng.

"What could that mean?" Evan asked.

"Did he really…? How?" Manny asked, standing. The group was on their feet at this point and looking around. "What do we do? We just lost… ARGH!"

"You guys stay here." Calis spoke up. "I'll go look for Ritsuka and Olivia. If everything Lee Seng said was true, the people in this Realm won't be ecstatic to see him."

"Ah, why did the story have to be brought up!?!" Keng complained in Fox tongue. "What am I going to do now? What are we going to do?"

"Olivia!" Ritsuka ran after Olivia. Olivia moved through the forest at random. She just wanted to get away from everything. Her anger, her sadness, everything had come out and she had put it on the person whom she thought was the cause of it all. "Olivia! C'mon, we can talk this out! This is a good opportunity to—"

"I don't want to talk! Leave me alone!" Olivia shouted. She lifted her hand up and the trees and the earth ripped apart. She formed a large wall in between Ritsuka and her. "I want to be alone!"

"C'mon! You have to talk this out with him! Y'know he isn't the—"

"He is the problem! MY life would be way better if I hadn't met him! MY life would be much better if I didn't find him interesting! My grandmother would still be alive!" Olivia screamed.