"Why'd you have to go and say that?" Liz asked Manny. She stood with her arms crossed, looking at Manny as he collected himself. His eyes lingered on Abby's head. Lee Seng had killed her and even if she was a Deimon, it was still hard to process and accept that fact. Liz sighed and muttered something about 'this not being the time.'
"What should we do now?" Evan asked moving over to join the women. Olivia stared at the exit. She wanted to run after Lee Seng. She wanted to catch up to him and tell him everything would be alright. She wanted to tell him even if everyone turns on him, she'd be there.
"Dunno. It looks like he wants us to go back to Daros." Manny answered. He slowly stood up and looked at the portal. It was nighttime in Daros. The portal led directly into the Saviors' Tomb. Nothing moved in the portal. The Tomb was dark indicating everyone was either sleeping or nobody was there. "Maybe we should go."
"After what you said?" Liz glanced at Manny. "I don't think you deserve to be there."
"What? You want me to act like he was in the right? You guys don't even know what you saw! How am I supposed to just accept Number 7 died! He left her right there!" Manny's voice rose and Liz sighed in frustration. She rubbed her eyes as Evan and Olivia awkwardly stood there, wondering what to do.
"I know it looks bad."
"It's more than bad! It's murder!"
"We've had to do things in order to survive! This is one of those moments!"
"Those guys are bad guys! This is a good person! An auntie! Someone who watched me, raised me, told horrible jokes! How could he do that to someone like that? She wasn't the closest to him, either, but she was still there! It's not fair!"
"So is Lee Seng good or bad in your eyes?" Olivia turned to face Manny and the others.
"And we're doing this…" Evan whispered, turning to look at Manny.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Manny asked. He motioned over to the dead body. "What do you think?"
"It's more complicated than what it seems." Olivia answered. "And if you weren't grieving and saw past your own emotions, you'd actually see Lee Seng was on the verge of a panic attack."
"I'm the bad guy? He's the one who killed her! HE's the one who told us to go on this journey! To right his wrongs!"
"And we willingly agreed to do it together." Evan cut in. "Don't act like you didn't have a choice. Lee Seng asked multiple times if we were okay with going on this journey with him. We all asked the same question multiple times throughout the two years he was in a coma. You don't get to play that card, Valentin."
Manny's own teammates' eyes looked at him like he was some sort of outcast now. He was the bad guy… Manny shook his head and brushed them off. "You don't understand anything. I have a right to feel what I feel and I think Lee Seng is wrong now!"
"So what're you gonna do about it?" Ritsuka's voice cut through the air. Manny and the others turned their attention to the door. Ritsuka stepped through the door while Jiro stepped aside. "While we're all debating on who is right and wrong, he's out there doing this alone."
"Keng's with him." Liz added.
"You're supposed to be our leader, but you're the one who's hesitating the most." Ritsuka came to a stop right in front of Manny. Manny's eyes narrowed. He puffed his chest up and pushed Ritsuka backwards.
"Let's not do this here." Evan moved in between the men. He separated them and looked between both of them. "This isn't the time or place. Lee Seng needs us, right?" Evan found himself looking at Ritsuka. Ritsuka had grown the closest to Lee Seng in the shortest amount of time despite Manny's history. "Let's go to Lee Seng, hm?"
Evan shook Ritsuka's shoulder and watched as Ritsuka slowly backed off, eyes staying on Manny until he was near Olivia. He slowly turned, closing his eyes and letting out air through his nose. Evan was right. Now wasn't the time.
"C'mon, let's go." Evan motioned. Ritsuka was the first to leave the room followed by Olivia and Evan. Liz lingered looking at Manny. Manny looked at her like she had two choices: stay with him or betray him. Liz sighed and shook her head. She walked over to Manny and stood in front of him.
'The Manny I know… is staring at me right now.' Liz thought. 'Unsure what he should do. Someone close to him died at the hands of another person he holds dearly in his heart… I don't understand it. I don't understand either of them.' She reached up and put her hand on Manny's cheek. She looked at him with sadness.
"Grieve for the dead." Liz whispered. "When you're ready, come get answers." She gave Manny a weak smile before turning away. It was a constant thing Manny saw. Everyone eventually turned away from him and left him, but it was up to him to decide how this would play out.
—
Lee Seng didn't go too far from the gym. He thought everything would be alright if he just kept one foot in front of the other, but Abby's death was something unexpected. Something he didn't want to do and now he was paying the price for it.
'They're all gonna leave me.' Lee Seng thought. 'No one's going to be here for me.'
'That's not true.' Keng responded. Lee Seng fiddled with the comm device. He had shut it off on the way out and didn't know what to do. 'You'll have me.'
"Yeah, but…" Lee Seng hiccuped. He wiped his tears and pulled the comm device off, tossing it aside. "We're always meant to be together. You're me and I'm you."
"And what's so wrong with that, hm?" Keng conjured himself in front of Lee Seng. He was knelt in front of Lee Seng, smiling as he put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll walk to Hell and back with you. If you are sad, I will carry your sadness. If you are happy, I will be happy. I am you and you are me. We share one soul. What you feel is what I feel?"
"Yeah, but…"
"Lee Seng." Keng pulled Lee Seng in for a hug. He let Lee Seng nestle in his shoulder as he squeezed him. "From the very day you made a pact with the God King, I was always by your side. I knew very early on, you were struggling to make meaningful connections because of your dad, the situation you were in, and the world putting you in a horrible light. I decided on my own that I would become the voice of reason within you - that voice you kept quiet for so long… I want you to always feel like you have someone there. Despite everything that's happened in the two years, I knew your suffering the best.
"Two years ago when you fell, I felt a part of myself start to die. My existence was starting to fade, but I pushed myself to be strong. Someone had to be strong for you even if that meant crumbling to nothing. When I and the others were told you'd be in a coma for who knows long, my heart broke. I would have to bear this burden for as long as I could…" Keng's voice shook.
"I tried my best. It was hard. Really hard. Everyone tried their best to comfort me, but the comfort I had known for so long, my very own vessel, my brother - was asleep… I spent much of that time wondering when you'd wake up, but I felt too guilty about you. I had failed to be there when you needed me most and lost myself to the darkness. If it wasn't for Calis, I would've never gotten out of that depression." Keng pulled away and wiped Lee Seng's tears away. He smiled at Lee Seng with a bright aura. Something Lee Seng almost found foreign.
"But you woke up. You got better and now we're here. I know Abby told you to kill her and you desperately wanted to save her from the Deimon, but that was the best you could do. Don't beat yourself up over it. Don't let Manny's grief get to you, too. You overcame the Deimon even in the horrible events of the Fox Demon taking over… You prevailed." Keng smiled.
"But she didn't… Other's won't." Lee Seng looked down. Keng grabbed a hand from Lee Seng and put it on his chest.
"There might not be a way to save them now, but it doesn't mean we can't save them later, no?" Keng switched to Fox tongue. Lee Seng looked at Keng. He could feel Keng's heart beat. It was something odd and strange to him. Keng was a spirit who merged with his own soul. Keng was someone who he always dreamed of and now that he was in front of him, he was a mess.
"I'm everything they say about me. I'm irresponsible. I make too many mistakes. I even had to… kill Abby." Lee Seng grew into a small whisper. "I'm everything my dad said I'd be… A monster."
"You're no monster." Keng lifted his hand up to Lee Seng's cheek and lit him up into pure gold energy. "You're Lee Seng. You're my Vessel. You're my Brother. You're… you." Lee Seng looked up at Keng. The surge of energy from Lee Seng had stirred something in both of them.
[The Golden Protocol is shaking violently.]
"Let's get ready for the last leg of our journey, hm?" Keng stood up and stuck a hand out to his brother.
[The Soul Harvest Festival is beginning… Another Nine Tail Fox Spirit shall soon appear.]
"Let's push away every thought we have about ourselves and hunt. Let's hunt and find where that Deimon went off to, 'kay?" Keng smiled at Lee Seng.
'Keng's right.' Lee Seng grabbed Keng's hand and stood up. 'Let's temporarily push away my grief… The fact is… the Deimons are wreaking havoc on Captiol City and someone has to stop it.'
"Ready?" Keng asked. Lee Seng lifted his hand to the side and the comm device flew back onto him.
"Let's hunt."
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