Keng hung his head low. What was he supposed to say to that? Winn was right to be angry. Keng did basically leave his brother to die because he's imcompetent.
"That's enough, Winn!" Fan'r shouted. Winn turned away, angry.
"I can't stay in the same room with an incompetent Savior leader." Winn bluntly spoke. He started to move when Keng cleared his throat and sighed.
"I know what I did was wrong, but give me some slack." Keng spoke at Winn.
"Give you slack?" Winn turned. "Why should any of us give you slack? It's your job to eradicate Curses. You couldn't even do it and your so-called 'Light' went out. What's that even supposed to mean? Why should I believe Philip's story? He's afflicted with a sickness that keeps him asleep for most of the time! WHY SHOULD WE TRUST YOU?"
"Who else is gonna do it?" Keng bluntly asked.
"What did you say?" Winn stepped closer.
"Enough!" Fan'r shouted. Keng and Winn ignored him as the two stepped closer.
"Should we have your dear sister do it? She's a Savior. It's her job, right?"
"You little prick. Watch what you say or else I'll cave that fat head of yours in." Winn growled. Keng smiled. Everything he wanted to say went out the door.
"I will make things right." Keng quietly spoke. "I don't care if you're mad at me. I don't care if you don't like me. I fucking don't care if you want to kill me. Let me make this clear." Keng turned. "Any of you get in my way of trying to fix what I did wrong, will be punished." His eyes looked at Winn as he boiled in anger.
"Keng." Gorrum's voice broke through the tense situation. "Watch what you say."
"Watch what you say, Keng. Why did you do that Keng? We can't trust you because you did this, Keng. We can't trust you because your Vessel did that, Keng. It's always watch what I do, I say, Lee Seng's actions, blah blah blah. Can you all just do one thing for me and not get in the way? Is that so hard?"
"YOU BITCH!" Winn swung straight at Keng. The fist connected and Keng's head turned to look at Lily and Fan'r. Lily watched in fear while Fan'r did well to conceal his emotions. Keng could tell from Fan'r's eyes that he wanted to say something but didn't. "You dare say that when we're the ones suffering?!? You almost got Philip killed because you were incompetent! How dare you fucking come in here and say all that bullshit!"
Winn continued to swing at Keng as Bright and Jacob were forced to pull Winn and Keng from each other. Keng's wounds healed. He didn't want them to heal. He wanted the pain to remain. He wanted their anger to be put onto him. He already felt bad for what happened and now he was bullshitting his way to doing his work.
"Enough." Elder Jyu'so calmly spoke. "You come in here with the intention to disrespect Fan'r's family and make enemies, Keng. That's not the way of—"
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!?" Keng shouted. He pushed Jacob off of him and turned. He pounded his chest as his eyes welled up with tears. "You don't know how I feel. None of you do! Philip should've died for doing what he did because of my incompetence. I didn't know what Curse we were fighting and it could've killed both of us and evolved into something MUCH more sinister. Philip sacrificed himself to save this village and what? Lee Seng randomly shows up and 'fixes' everything?!? How do you think I feel, huh?!? I wish I could've been smart enough. Educated well enough to know what to do in the situation!"
"It doesn't matter how you feel right now!" Elder Jyu'so shouted standing. "You are in the presence of the people who are worried about that boy! You clearly do not know what it means to be a leader!"
"I DON'T!" Keng screamed. Tears fell down his face as he turned to look at Winn. "I don't know what the fuck it means to be a leader! You think I have time to worry about this?!? My Vessel and I don't have time! I don't have time to make things right! If I'm not back by his side and I don't kill that demon you saw, we'll both turn into demons!"
The room grew quiet as Keng turned away. Elder Jyu'so, Gorrum and Lily were surprised at Keng's outburst. They had known something was wrong with Keng and Lee Seng but never understood why he always asked and brought up going to Lee Seng as soon as possible.
"What do you mean?" Lily's quiet voice asked. "What happened?" Keng sniffed, wiping his snot and tears away.
"I have, maybe, a month and a half to deal with this Curse and the Merfolk problem. Things that I didn't want to happen. Things I wish didn't happen! Lee Seng and I could become Demon Foxes and then what? We're just proving to everyone Twin Spirits are just monsters." Keng scanned the room. Winn fought to push his anger down. His face was telling Keng he was regretting what he did as Keng shook his head.
"Why do you think I'm always asking for a way back, Elder?" Keng quietly asked. "It's because I really don't have time. Please give me the book. I will follow Lord B'haru's instructions and make sure the Curse is contained until I do the Impurity Cleanse Ritual on myself. I will deal with this problem and after Lily is done here, we can go deal with the Merfolk problem."
He moved over to Elder Jyu'so and stuck his hand out as he hung his head low. Elder Jyu'so pulled the book out of his Void Storage and handed it to Keng. He held the book tightly as Keng didn't even try to pull it out of his grasp. Frustration and sadness were very apparent by the way Keng was acting.
"Go." Elder Jyu'so motioned with his head. Keng nodded and tried to take the book. The Elder's grip wasn't even that tight. Keng's humiliating childish outburst kept him from moving. Elder Jyu'so released the book and motioned. "Deal with sectioning it off first. Got it?"Keng nodded as he moved past Elder Jyu'so and Gorrum. Just as he was about to turn he turned around.
"I'm sorry for my outburst. I hope I can make things right for your son, Sir Fan'r." Keng bowed, deeply. "I'll do what I must. I'm sorry about your son's condition. I'm sorry Lee Seng couldn't fully help you. I will do my best to fix our mistakes and allow you to give your daughter to me for a few weeks… I'm really sorry." He bowed a couple more times, each bow getting deeper than the last.
If Keng was paying attention, he would've seen the pain in Lily and her brothers' eyes. Keng was a hot topic yet held so much mystery to him. His actions weren't matching with what his body language and facial expressions were saying. He didn't match up with his outburst either.
Keng hung his head low and gave a small bow before leaving. He shut the door behind him and let out a frustrated sigh.
'Bite your tongue and don't say or do anything like that, again.' Keng told himself. He started to walk toward the nearest exit. 'It's immature and not their faults that you have Lee Seng to worry about, too. Let's just do what I'm supposed to do and figure out a way to wake up Philip.'
"May I ask something from you, Elder?" Fan'r asked after Keng left. Fan'r's boys sat down and let out a sigh.
"Yes?" Jyu'so asked.
"How long have you known about that boy and his Vessel? Why do they act like that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Fan'r shifted in his seat. "Lee Seng healed my son from his deathly injuries and even removed the Curse. The Curse sickness afflicts him but for the most part, he is fine. Why did Lee Seng randomly run earlier today? Why does Keng act the way he acts? Aren't these two supposed to be young adult humans?"
"I'm unsure of it, myself, Fan'r." Jyu'so truthfully spoke. "From what I've observed while taking care of Keng, it's that he doesn't mean to act the way he does. He doesn't know how to filter himself. He doesn't know how to deal with emotions. He doesn't know many things because he's simply learning everything for the first time. He didn't connect to Lee Seng enough and the connection isn't the best as you can tell.
"I didn't know they had a limited time to do things. I thought he had two years here before he had to leave. It changed from two years to a couple months. I don't know the full story but what I do know is Keng very much loves Lee Seng. He very much cares about Lee Seng like how you and your children care for your sick son." Elder Jyu'so explained. He turned his eyes onto Winn. "So don't hate him for what he did. He simply doesn't know what to do because there's no one to lead him. He's learning everything on his own without the one person he truly cares about. He understands his position as the Leader of the Saviors. As the Leader to your dear sister and daughter, Lily.
p
"I-it took away his Light?" Winn stuttered.
"Mmm," Elder Jyu'so nodded. "Keng's Light has been locked behind a Darkness that uses his insecurities, his fears, his goals against him. That's why he must purify himself of the Impurities within."
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