Three hours had passed since Lee Seng entered the city and was dumped in a dampening room. He had figured enough out about this room to know what was happening. The room dampened his Biohuman powers, but it didn't dampen his Fox Spirit abilities. The skintight suit had disappeared and was replaced with a more 'human' form. The runic clock ticked as Lee Seng swiped it away.
The door opened, drawing Lee Seng's attention. People were flooding the room with their weapons pointed at him. They circled the entire room until the spearman appeared before Lee Seng. He stepped off to the side and a strange woman stepped in. The door shut behind her as she looked at James.
"This is him?" Aurora asked. James nodded as one of the guards ran over to Lee Seng and grabbed him.
"Up!" The guard pulled. Lee Seng stood up and shook the guard off him. The guard whacked Lee Seng in the gut before raising his weapon and hitting Lee Seng with it. Lee Seng slammed against the floor and groaned. "Up!"
Lee Seng pushed himself up and wiped his mouth. He stood up and turned to look at the guard.
"You want another one?!?" The guard shouted raising his weapon, again.
"Enough. Back off." James ordered. The guard stopped and took three steps back. Everyone looked at Lee Seng like he was some murderer. He looked to Aurora, who was dressed more… Regally, if a wooden crown with twigs on her head counted as 'regal.'
"This is the one you were talking about." Aurora looked at James. She walked forward as James and another guard followed. She came about fifteen feet away and studied Lee Seng. The wound he had just taken healed in front of her eyes. "You heal quick."
"Quicker than most." Lee Seng nodded.
"Were you permitted to talk?!?" The guard to Aurora's left asked. They stepped out and began to move forward to discipline Lee Seng when Aurora stopped them.
"Enough." Aurora ordered.
"But, my lady!" The guard protested.
"James tells me you aren't the same person who came and ruined our homes. Took away the lives of many all those years ago." Aurora switched subjects. "Is that true?"
"It's complicated…" Lee Seng bit his lip. The guard moved and Aurora stuck her hand up, again. "But, yes."
"Complicated? What was so complicated about that? You came with that butler of a man and he left you alone here after you whisked away someone. You caused trouble and ended up fighting our leader. You killed her. You tell me it's complicated? What part is complicated?"
"When you put it like that… I can see how it's not complicated." Lee Seng whispered. He cleared his throat and kept a serious face. "Lady… Do you believe in spirits?"
"What is this guy talking about?" A guard whispered.
"Is he crazy?"
"Silence." James slammed his spear down.
"I am Druidess. Nature and life go hand and hand do they not? I believe the spirits you took won't fully be rested until you are dealt with. Why do you bring this up?" Druidess Aurora asked.
"I was there when you saw my body fighting the Leader." Lee Seng responded.
"What bullshit story is this?" The guard moved up and grabbed Lee Seng. "You want us to believe you saw yourself kill her?!? What were you doin' then, huh? There was no one there!" Lee Seng turned and noticed one of the guards was watching him with a surprised face.
"You saw it." Lee Seng called to the surprised guard. "You see spirits, don't you?"
"Enough of your bullshit tales! We should just kill this one!" The guard shoved Lee SEng onto the floor and stood over him. He raised his fist and started to punch Lee Seng. Lee Seng's form shimmered and a tail blocked the attack. The entire room gasped as they raised their weapons.
"Back off, shit head!" Lee Seng cursed in Fox tongue. "You're really driving my patience up a wall! I'm telling the truth!" He pushed the guard away from him as his tail swept back into place with the other tails.
"What is this creature?!?" A guard shouted.
"Do we shoot it? It's a monster!" Another guard panicked. A javelin sailed through the air and Lee Seng quickly flicked the weapon in the air and embedded it into the ground.
"I'm not a monster!" Lee Seng shouted in English. He turned and looked at James. He was shocked by Lee Seng's appearance. "Why do I wear a fox mask? You wanted to know, right?" Lee Seng pushed himself up onto this feet. He grabbed the javelin towards him and grabbed it. He tossed the javelin onto the floor in front of Aurora and James and locked eyes with James.
"It's because I was traversing between Life and Death." Lee Seng told them. "The mask is connected to my people, all right?"
"That's a sentient monster! We captured a sentient monster! We should kill it!" The guards shouted. Lee Seng sighed and shrunk his tails back in.
"It can shapeshift? How?" A guard asked behind Aurora. "This place dampens all abilities! We can't use anything but weapons in here!" James stepped forward and raised his spear. He pointed it straight at Lee Seng's heart, hoping the strange creature would move. When Lee Seng didn't move, James grew even more suspicious.
"You are not afraid of death." James spoke. Lee Seng lifted his hand and grabbed the spear. He pulled it a bit closer, spooking James. The spear penetrated Lee Seng's skin just enough to draw blood.
"I retrieved my body and fled after your Leader tried to intervene with the Deimon that was inside my body." Lee Seng told them. "She died trying to fend him off as he decided she wasn't worth it. She died before I could give her spouse's belonging to her. That's why I came here. I found my body and I took it back at the cost of your Leader… But I tried damn well to make sure people weren't going to needlessly die. If death can be avoided, let it be avoided. There's no need for death when we're already in a hard world full of unknown things." Lee Seng pushed the spear away and lowered his wounded hand.
"My name is Lee Seng Chang. I'm not sure if you know who I am but I come from the largest fortress city near here. I wouldn't have come back here if it weren't for the circumstances of my team's current mission." Lee Seng explained.
"And what's that exactly?" Aurora asked. "To kill more innocents?" Lee Seng danced with the idea of telling them why he was here.
'Maybe they know.' Lee Seng thought. 'But it's already too risky with what I've shown them. They could get into more trouble knowing.'
"To find something. That's as much as I can share." Lee Seng answered.
"Tell her everything." The annoying guard barked. He moved up and Lee Seng simply turned and looked at them. His death stare was enough to spook the guard into hiding between his tails.
"And that something is… in this city?" Aurora asked.
"Yes, Druidess." Lee Seng nodded, turning his attention back onto her. "I don't know where it is within your city, but my companions and I are only here for it. If I must redeem myself and gain your trust somehow, I will do it. The spearman, here, said I would need to do you a favor. What is it if I may ask?"
"There's a strange affliction affecting the lands around the city." Druidess Aurora folded her hands together. "North of our walls and slowly spreading to the East and West. The strange affliction cannot be healed by normal means of Druidic work. Our nature magic is strong, but something happened recently that… has affected life all around us. Anyone who has gone to investigate has either been found dead or has come back crazy. I need you to figure out what it is."
"Affliction…?" Lee Seng whispered. He cleared his throat and spoke up. "Druidess, is there any strange coloration differences with this affliction?"
"You cannot tell the difference. None of my people could tell and they all ended up horribly scarred or dead." Aurora shook her head. "Do you have any ideas on what this may be… Fox?"
"Maybe. I can try to figure this out, but if it's what I think it is, my brother would be better suited for this kind of thing." Lee Seng told her truthfully. "I'm not too familiar with dealing with these kinds of thing."
"You must figure it out alone." James interjected. "Only you. No one else. Your friends cannot help you. If we allow that, we're basically allowing the enemy to run under our noses. I won't allow that." He tapped the end of his spear on the ground twice and the other spear and javelin users did the same.
"It is like James has said." Druidess Aruroa sighed. "Only you will go out. You have my word your companions will be looked after until you finish your task."
"Three days." James stuck his fingers out. "You'll figure this out in three days or your friends and you will die."
"A small group of warriors will travel with you. They'll make sure you're actually doing your job." Aurora continued. "I will personally let James follow you since he brought this idea up himself. Figure out what strange affliction is plaguing our lands and get rid of it. If you can do that, I'll let you roam the city freely and you may search for whatever you're searching for. Deal?"
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