Empty plates sat on the table as team Zephyr all leaned back, stuffed. Olivia and Liz quietly chatted while the boys grew sleepy. Lee Seng shook off the sleep and straightened himself out.
"I think it's time for sleep." Lee Seng yawned. "We should get y'all back to the hospital."
"Awh, I guess." Liz sighed, standing up. The group shuffled out of the tavern, leaving Lee Seng to pay for the food.
"Y'all done for the night?" Tae'in asked.
"Yeah. How much do I owe ya?" Lee Seng asked. Tae'in brushed Lee Seng off with a wave.
"Don't worry about it. It goes on the tab Elder Jyu'so's paying for." Tae'in replied.
"Oh, al-alright. I-I can really pay for it—"
"Don't worry, Lee Seng." Tae'in smiled. "I'm going to soak all of the money that Elder has for… He owes me that much after I helped him with a large investment in his village."
"A-alright. Thank you, again, Mr. Tae'in." Lee seng bowed.
"Don't forget curfew is at midnight. Don't be late!" Tae'in waved goodbye to Lee Seng who did the same. He stepped out and spotted his friends huddle off to the side, awaiting for his return.
"Man, when we're better, let's go to the noodle shop in the 2nd district! I'm craving Mr. Hong's noodles, again." Liz said.
"Mmm, meeting Mr. Hong after all those months of not stopping by would be nice." Manny agreed. Lee Seng stepped over and motioned for Manny to lead the way. "C'mon, Lee's here." The group headed back to the hospital, talking about what they were going to do once Ritsuka and Liz got out of the hospital.
"Noodles, shopping for new gear and some training?" Evan listed what they had made in the short walk. "Sounds like a lot of time."
"What're we gonna do with all this extra time now? Run job quests?" Ritsuka asked, standing next to the hospital entrance.
"Well, that's what I wanted to talk about, but there wasn't any room for that during dinner." Lee Seng scratched his head.
"What did you want to talk about?" Manny asked.
"Well…" Lee Seng's voice trailed off. "I want to go back to Capitol City."
"What?" Everyone but Lee Seng and Keng exclaimed.
"Why would you want to do that? They'll just kill you if they find out you're alive!" Manny shouted. He moved past the group and grabbed onto Lee Seng's shirt. He was obviously scared and frustrated that Lee Seng would even say something like that. "It hasn't been that long since you woke up. Shouldn't we take this easy?" Lee seng shook his head.
"Don't you want some closure on what's happening?" Lee Seng asked the question directed to the group, but kept his eye on Manny. Manny turned away and ruffled his hair.
"Let's… talk about this another time. After Liz and Ritsuka get out of the hospital." Manny suggested. The group stayed silent. They all knew the day would come when they would have to go back to Earth and see how everything was.
"Fine." Lee Seng took a step back. "Let's talk about it after everything's done with. Liz, Ritsuka, y'all rest and get better, alright? Keng and I might not be able to see you guys for a bit."
"Hm, why?" Evan asked. "You didn't mention anything about this yesterday."
"Yeah, I didn't know anything about this." Keng looked at Lee Seng. Lee Seng turned to Keng and frowned at him.
"We need to meet with Elder Jyu'so and Lady Vix'I at the Holy Village." Lee Seng informed them. "I need to talk to them about something."
"Why do I have to go with you…?" Keng asked.
"Do you have anything else to do?" Lee Seng asked. "It isn't a personal errand. It's for the team."
"It's for the team?" Manny asked. "What're you doing then?"
"It's a surprise." Lee Seng smiled. He looked over at Ritsuka and Liz. "Rest well. Hopefully you'll be discharged tomorrow since they allowed you guys to come out. We'll get going first!" Lee Seng waved goodbye and grabbed Keng and threw a portal open.
"We're going now?!?" Keng shouted as he was yanked through the portal.
The Holy village was exactly like Lee Seng remembered it to be. High wooden walls and guards all over the place. Keng yelped, alerting the guards as Lee Seng pulled Keng away from the portal. He swiped the portal and watched it disappear, releasing Keng from his grasp.
"Did we really have to go now?" Keng asked. "We could've gone tomorrow!"
"I wanted to get some more information about the dragon eyes and celestial fire. Should understand how it works to use it later, right?" Lee Seng answered with a question. Keng sighed and shook his head. He glanced over to the gate and tapped Lee Seng.
"I think you just spooked the entire guard force… They're looking at us oddly."
Lee Seng looked behind him and realized the guards were looking at them oddly.
"C'mon." Lee Seng motioned. The twins moved over to the guards, who were attentive to both of them.
"Halt." A guard ordered, raising a hand up. "State your business."
"Lee Seng and Keng. Here to talk to Elder Jyu'so and Lady Vix'I about something personal. "Lee Seng smiled. The guard narrowed his eyes and noticed Lee Seng's pupils. He immediately raised his spear and pointed it at Lee Seng.
"Your shapeshifting illusion is no match for me, beast. Go away or you'll be killed right here!" The guard shouted.
"H-hey, he isn't a reptilian shifter. He's a Fox Spirit." Keng defended Lee Seng.
"You must be his lackey!" Guard 2 shouted, pointing her sword at him. Lee Seng and Keng threw their hands up. Lee Seng's tails bounced up and down. Six archers, four guards and all with the potential to use magic to take them down, too.
"Get lost! Everyone knows there's no Fox Spirit that can travel with such strange magic! Begone!" Guard 1 shouted. The guards pushed Lee Seng and Keng backwards. Lee Seng sighed and listened to his orders.
"Where you going? Aren't we supposed to talk to the Elder and the Lady?" Keng asked.
"They aren't going to let us in because I look like this." Lee Seng motioned at his eyes.
"You didn't even try that hard!" Keng shouted as Lee Seng moved away. He rolled his eyes and turned around.
'I know what to do here…' Keng thought. He cleared his throat and stepped forward. The guards moved to block his way and Keng threw his arms up.
"Brother Zixin here?" Keng asked. Guard 2 narrowed her eyes.
'How could a fake know a powerful soldier?' The guard thought.
"No, he isn't." Guard 1 answered. "Get lost."
"Brother Zixin!" Keng shouted, loudly. "It's me, your brother, Keng! The guards won't let me or Brother Lee Seng in because they think we're reptilians trying to infiltrate the Holy City!"
"I told you he isn't here, fake!" Guard 2 swung her sword and Keng smiled. The guards watched the blade swing straight through Keng before disappearing. Keng appeared two blade lengths away from the guards, rubbing his chest.
"That was close." Keng whispered.
"Tch!" Guard 2 lunged forward, thrusting the sword straight for Keng's heart. The four-tailed Fox Spirit thought she was clever, but Keng simply dodged out of the way, allowing the guard to move past him. Eight tails sprawled out for all to see and an archer widened his eyes.
"Wait, I know that Fox Spirit!" Guard Archer 1 spoke. "I-I think we're going to be in huge trouble if we don't stop them!"
"Stop them then!" Guard Archer 2 shouted. Guard Archer 3 released an arrow at Keng who glanced up at him.
"H-hey, st—" Guard Archer 1 began to say when Keng appeared in front of the three-tailed Fox Spirit.
"Boo!" Keng shouted. The archer screamed, flying off his feet and onto his ass. Keng laughed and looked over at the rest of the archers. The archers readied their weapons as Guard Archer 1 stepped over.
"I order you to stop at once! All of you!" Guard Archer shouted. They were six-tails. They naturally outranked the others. "This is the Twin Savior Spirit Keng! The other one is his Vessel—"
"I told you not to say Vessel." A cold blooded aura rushed at the Guard Archer. The Guard Archer stuttered and gulped while the rest dropped their weapons. "He's my brother. Say it right."
"I-I… Twin Spirit… I didn't mean to…" Guard Archer stuttered. "I'm sorry." Keng's coldblooded aura disappeared and he smiled.
"What is he doing now?" Lee Seng asked. He stopped and turned around. He had cleared maybe sixty to seventy feet of distance and could see everything sharply. "What the hell is he doing up there? Ugh, he's going to get us into trouble!" Lee Seng blinked and reappeared back in his original spot. "What're you doing?!? I thought you heard them clearly! We're not going to make a scene!"
"I'm not the one who attacked first." Keng replied. He jumped off the ledge and landed next to Lee Seng. "They attacked me first."
"You're still making a scene" Lee Seng motioned. He grabbed Keng and pulled him backwards. "Don't make this worse for us. We're really close to the God King… We could be struck with lightning from this distance."
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