Chapter 824 Barracks Trip: What Am I?

Lee Seng swung his feet while he waited for the next beacon to come. Nixie had taken to one of the higher perches on the temple. The large temple doors were cracked open and the noises of chatter filled the space behind Lee Seng. They had gotten the first group out of the forest in time.

'That mage Orc, though…' Lee Seng thought as Keng stepped out of the temple and descended down towards Lee Seng. Lee Seng shifted and leaned backwards, peering at Keng.

"A mage orc, Keng." Lee Seng spoke aloud. Keng sat next to Lee Seng and swung his feet. Lee Seng readjusted himself and sighed. "The reports Zixin and his men did indicated there wasn't such a thing. There were orcs around, but nothing that powerful. I'm worried something is happening. Are the monsters adapting quicker than the reports are saying?"

"Don't worry about it so much." Keng replied. "Those reports are a week old. They didn't have time to come back and scour the area, again. Anything could've happened during that time. There were indications that some monsters, orcs included, were on the cusp of evolution. They could've pushed past that limit in the last week scouts were here looking around."

"What if—"

"No more what ifs." Keng put a finger up onto Lee Seng's mouth. "Let's just focus on our job right now, okay? We're to assist the soldiers of the Holy Village. That means we're all taking shifts. Since you and River went, I think you guys should rest."

"But I'm—"

"River needs rest." Keng interjected, again. Lee Seng stopped and nodded.

"You're right." Lee Seng bit his lip. "Ah, I wish we had more hands just in case things get out of hand…" Lee Seng played with his palms, tracing the marks and making himself itchy. He scratched himself while Keng shifted and looked up at Nixie.

"How long has it been since the first beacon?" Keng asked. "I think maybe a couple hours…?"

"Dunno. I guess?" Lee Seng shrugged.

"The next one that goes out, I'll go with Fae. If more come, you and Lily can go with Brother Zixin's members."

"I think we need more people. Can this many people handle multiple beacons? We have two younglings shadowing us." Lee Seng reminded Keng. "We can't be crazy like we normally are."

"Fae and River have trained enough to deal with whatever comes our way. If you're worried, you can contact Manny and the others for help."

"You're right… I could do that… but I think they should rest." Lee Seng stood up and stretched. "You guys have been working hard for the last two years. I should push myself with this opportunity with the Holy Village's soldiers."

"When it comes to them, you're suddenly not stressing?" Keng looked at Lee Seng. He gave Lee Seng a shit eating grin and Lee Seng pushed Keng away with his foot.

"Shut up." Lee Seng chuckled. "They should rest as much as possible before we go back to Capitol City."

"Speaking of that," Keng stood up and stretched with Lee Seng. "What's the plan anyways?" Lee Seng stopped stretching and straightened himself out. He tilted his head for a moment before continuing on with his stretches.

"I want to know why my Mom became the way she did. Who was the woman who was actually my mom…? What is the Creator even doing with the Deimon project? Everything I hear about Earth from whispers and rumors, makes me anxious about it. When we went after the Cup, there was weird things the people said that I can't get over…

"Did the Deimons really have to cut the people off after that woman died? Why did they do that and why did they turn the people into monsters? Is there a cure for them? I just want to find answers for all of these things… The sooner I figure all of this out, the sooner I can be done with all of this… Maybe I could settle somewhere nice and quiet."

"Do you really believe you'll get all of the answers if you go back to Capitol City?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng snapped out of it and turned, realizing he hadn't heard his friends come through the door. Olivia sighed and descended down to Lee Seng, standing two steps higher than him. "You want answers, I get it. I would want answers, too, if my whole life was a lie, but what if things don't go as planned? What do we do then?"

"We knew this day would come…" Ritsuka sighed. "It was only a matter of time before Lee brought it up. We should be lucky he's been patient like this."

"I don't think it's a good idea to go back, though." Liz shook her head. "We barely made it out two years ago, what will happen when we actually go back in?"

"Still…" Evan sighed. "I can't help but wonder what Deimons actually are and what secrets the Creator is holding… Don't you want to know?"

"It's not worth the risk of getting us all killed." Manny shook his head. "Trust me when I say we almost died two years ago, Lee. Trust us when we all say that. Do you really want to waste all of our efforts in getting away from there? Especially when all of us almost died?!?" It grew quiet. Keng watched from the corner of his eye as Nixie silently slipped back into the Temple, closing the door.

Lee Seng licked his lips and bundled his fists. He understood what Manny and Liz's worries were, but he couldn't help the pit in his heart. It was growing. It was yearning for answers.

'I just want to know who the fuck I am.' Lee Seng thought. He turned away from all of them. He let out a loud frustrated sigh and jumped off the edge onto the ground. Lee Seng began to walk. The others watched as he made it to the forest line before he stopped.

"AHHH!" Lee Seng screamed in frustration. Evan and Liz jumped whilst the others watched. Lee Seng stomped his foot on the ground and released a sonic boom. Tendrils grew out of his body and he whipped himself around. "What the fuck am I then? Am I just a monster? Am I just another experiment in my dad's eyes? What am I?!?"

Lee Seng's nose flared as he tried his best to hold his sobs in. Tears fell across his cheek as he bared his teeth, sucking in air. A sob came out as Lee Seng immediately looked up at the sky.

"You don't… None of you… You don't have to come with me…" Lee Seng spoke between sobs. "This… I'm not telling you you should come with me, I—" Lee Seng sucked in a sob, turning away.

"Lee…" Manny whispered. Keng sighed and started to move when Olivia moved down the steps and over to Lee Seng. Lee Seng's tails lifted up, trying to block whoever was coming towards him. He started to say something when Olivia snuck past his tails and managed to stand in front of him.

"Hey." Olivia spoke loudly. Lee Seng didn't look at her. He turned and Olivia sighed and moved in, grabbing his shirt and pulling him to a stop. The tendrils crawled around his body. They moved downwards to grab Olivia, who didn't budge. "No one's trying to stop you. We all knew this day would come where you would want to go back. To figure things out since they were tied with you… None of us thought it would be soon." Olivia pulled on Lee Seng's shirt. Lee Seng lowered his head and stared at her hand.

"Manny and Liz are concerned things will get bad." Olivia took a step closer. "The others don't know what to think about it. They want to see their families… I know I've been upset about things but I don't… How do I say this? I don't want anyone else to suffer because of me and my feelings." Olivia stepped closer to Lee Seng, looking straight into his eyes. "If you want to go, I will go with you."

It grew silent as the two stood so close. They could feel their body heats melding together. Lee Seng's tails covered them while his tendrils pulled back. Lee Seng's eyes melted away and for a moment, he didn't feel like a experiment. He felt himself. Olivia lifted a hand up. Lee Seng's heart pounded as she wiped his tears.

"I thought… you'd hate me the most…" Lee Seng whispered. Olivia smiled and shook her head. She wiped his tears while he snuck his hand up to wipe his snot.

"I don't hate you." Olivia answered back, quietly. "If anything… I thought about what everyone said… I thought about what you said to me… It made me realize that you and everyone else chose to come with me. You followed my selfish request… so why should I stop you?"