Nature had taken more of the city than Lee Seng remembered. More trees sprouted out in odd places, flowers and grass gathered inside buildings with light shining down onto them and small roots would weave in and out of the ground. The sun beat down on the group with a gentle Spring wind blowing through. Lee Seng kept the map up, occasionally checking it off to his side as he kept up the seismic sensing. Keng stuck out his hand and grabbed Lee Seng.
'I hear something.' Keng telepathically told the group. Lee Seng and Keng scanned the area. They were making their way through one of the old buildings because the street was blocked with debris. A door clicked and the twins turned in unison. A door groaned loud enough to catch the attention of the rest.
'What's that?' Evan asked. Lee Seng let out another blip. The sensing filled in extra things his eyes couldn't see. There was quiet movement going up the stairs. Lee Seng broke off from the group and raised his finger to his lips. Ritsuka and Calis were already wielding their weapons, ready for an attack while Keng turned his head towards the direction they were heading.
'Another one.' Keng told them.
'One, two, three four…' Lee Seng counted in his head. Lee Seng inched forward thirty feet before he stopped. He looked down at the floor. It was a normal floor to his eyes, but his seismic sensing was telling him otherwise. A snap followed by the sound of rope going caught everyone's attention. Lee Seng watched as a large boulder flew straight down for him while two large stones flew straight for the group.
Lee Seng stared at the rock and watched it come to a stop as Keng threw his hands up and blocked the rocks from hitting the group. The group scrunched together while Lee Seng moved far back enough before lowering the rock.
'A trap? Here?' Olivia asked. 'S-someone lives here?' Lee Seng let go of the rock and triggered the false floor. The rock flew straight into the ground and more noises grew. Doors flew open and walls uncovered as people rushed out. They screamed as Keng launched one of the large stones at them. One of the people lit the end of their spear up and slashed the boulder in half. The room was filled with people, pointing their weapons at Lee Seng and the group.
"Put the stone down before we kill you!" A man shouted at Keng. Keng eyed him as he held the stone in place. A woman flew at Lee Seng with a spear. Lee Seng quickly dodged to the side as the spear abruptly whacked him in the face. The spear snapped in half before Lee Seng lifted his hand and hit the woman backwards. She flew straight towards the pit trap and howled as a gust of wind pulled her onto the other side.
"Ouch." Lee Seng rubbed his head.
"Are they wearing fox masks?" Another man asked.
"Are they enemies?" A woman asked.
"Of course they are. Why would they hide their faces other than to try not to look suspicious?" The first man answered. "I won't say it again, put the stone down or else we will attack." The group pulled their weapons out and the large group stomped forward.
"Put 'em down now, monsters!" Group B shouted. Lee Seng looked to the right and sighed while Group A, the group to the left of him, lit their weapons up in the strange light the man had used to cut the stone. Group C, on the other side of the pit trap, readied their range weapons and abilities.
"Wait." Lee Seng spoke aloud. He raised his hands up and moved his right hand to pluck his mask off when an arrow sailed through the air. Lee Seng didn't flinch as the arrow froze in the air.
"H-he blocked it?" An archer asked in Group C. Lee Seng grabbed the edge of his mask and looked at Group A. He looked at the man who had spoken first.
"I'm only going to take my mask off. We mean you no harm." Lee Seng told them. The man studied Lee Seng's eyes and then nodded.
"Slowly." The man answered. Lee Seng nodded and slowly pulled his mask off. Strands of hair fell back into place. Lee Seng's body suit pulsed as he held his mask up. The people studied him and a blast of fire flew at him.
'Lee!' Keng shouted telepathically. A wave of water arced from behind the group and slammed in front of Lee Seng. Calis was there in a second, blocking the attack. The groups began to grow loud as Calis protectively stood in front of Lee Seng.
"Hold it." Lee Seng told them. Team Zephyr anxiously looked at Lee Seng.
"They attacked you!" Manny told him, aloud. "Clearly that means they don't like us." Lee Seng looked at Calis. He had a serious face on.
'What?' Lee Seng asked Calis telepathically. 'What's wrong?'
'They were ready to attack you as you took your mask off. I can smell it. They want to attack you even more now.' Calis told him.
"Do you know me or something?" Lee Seng asked the man to the left. "Does my face… look familiar to you?"
"You're the Deimon that ruined our home!" A member shouted from Group C.
"You killed many people! You have the audacity to show back up! The Deimons killed our brethren after what you did!" Another shouted from Group B.
"You are a murderer! You should burn for what you did!" Someone from Group A shouted. The man in Group A held his hand up and studied Lee Seng while Calis and the others defensively held their positions. None of them liked what was happening and clearly the man had ill feelings towards Lee Seng.
"You came back here… After your kind punished and killed our people? You left us to die, and you come back?" The man asked. He stepped forward, spear glowing brighter. The light wrapped around the man as a sign of corruption appeared on him. The man stood at least six foot tall. He had dark brown hair and had a five o'clock shadow. He wore leather armor without sleeves that made his arms more pronounced. His face was afflicted with a strange purple scar near his right eye. The eye glowed a soft blue color as the man came to a stop.
"We've been waiting for this day for years." The scarred man growled. His grip tightened on his spear as he narrowed his eyes onto Lee Seng. "We hunted your kind down and now you've come to claim what is yours?"
'Claim?' Lee Seng thought.
'Do they have the Cup?' Calis asked.
Lee Seng tilted his head and turned slightly towards the man. "What do you mean my kind?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." The man growled as he stepped forward. He pushed each word out like a knife stabbing flesh. "The ones who told us they would save us from this mess! They would make us stronger! You're kind!"
"Deimons." Lee Seng answered after thinking for a moment.
"So you admit it!" A voice shouted from the right side. "You're admitting what you've done!"
"The rest of them are Deimons, too!" Another voice shouted. The groups grew in a cacophony of loud noises. Lee Seng sighed and flipped his mask, making it disappear. The silence came so quickly. The energy in the room grew, coursing through Lee Seng's body and raising the hairs on his arms. The man lifted his and slammed the wooden end on the ground. The building rattled loudly as weapons raised up.
"You will die where you stand today, Deimon!" The man shouted.
"W-wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Lee Seng threw his hands up. "I'm not a Deimon! It's actually really complicated!" The man's arm raised, and Lee Seng shook his hand even more. "I killed the Deimon that was possessing my body!"
"You tell lies!" The man shouted. "Att—"
"I swear on all of my friends' lives!" Lee Seng shouted, squeezing his eyes shut. "The person you know is dead! I killed him myself and it resulted in more hell to break loose!" The man folded his open hand, and everyone held their pointed weapons. Lee Seng gritted his teeth and opened his eyes, looking up at the man. "You must've heard since years have gone by! Surely!"
"E-exactly!" Manny piped up. The stares all moved to Manny who pushed through the crowd and kept his hands up. "The Deimons… They've announced themselves to the world!"
"And this is going to sway me how?" The man asked. Manny's eyes rolled as he thought.
"The Deimons came out because they lost someone pivotal to their cause!" Olivia flat out lied. She and the group didn't know why the Deimons even appeared, but the biggest theory was because of what they did that day in her village.
"We killed a Deimon and they didn't like that." Lee Seng continued. "All of us did!"
"You killed the Deimon that possessed you?" A woman asked.
"No, another one!" Lee Seng turned to answer her. He returned his attention back onto the man. He knelt on the ground and bowed. "We killed another one after she said something about how I'm special! I swear!"
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