Biohuman

Lee Seng lagged behind the group with Liz. They had told him to take it easy and to not push himself. They had fought a couple of groups of monsters while heading towards the cup and Lee Seng simply watched from the back. Lee Seng observed the group had grown better at fighting as a group. Keng easily fit into their tempo and Calis seemed well-versed with their tactics.

The sun was starting to quickly set and there was still seventy-ish more miles to go. They had slowed because of the heat that came from nowhere. The black and white Realmscape felt odd to be in, again. It pulled Lee Seng's head away from walking as he wondered about the Realm. Had the people in it forgotten about him like he had almost forgotten them?

Lee Seng began to sigh when something caught his attention. He stopped and turned to look behind them. Traces of strange energy fluttered in the air like it was vanishing. He scanned his surroundings, only to be noticed by Liz.

'Tired?' Liz telepathically asked Lee Seng. She threw a hand up at the others, who stopped. She made her way over to Lee Seng and looked at the golden accented mask of Lee Seng. f𝓇𝘦e𝑤𝘦𝚋𝒏૦ѵℯ𝒍.c𝐨𝒎

'No.' Lee Seng answered. 'Do you see what I see, Keng?' He turned and looked at the silver accented mask that was Keng. Keng broke away from the group and looked around.

'No, I don't see anything. Did you sense something?' Keng asked. Lee Seng returned his gaze back to where the energy was and saw nothing. He scanned the trees to the left and then the trees to the right. Lee Seng scanned every branch near them and noticed nothing out of the sorts.

'Maybe I'm just seeing things.' Lee Seng unconvincingly told himself. He turned and looked at Keng and Liz. 'We can go.'

'Let's get a couple more miles in before its dark.' Manny waved. 'I hope you guys aren't tired yet.'

'Ugh, if it weren't for the heat, I think we could've done thirty miles easy.' Calis complained. He fanned himself as his mask let out a pulse. It was made to give him a source of seawater, so he could sustain himself and use it when they were fighting.

The group moved forward for another two miles before it quickly got dark. They settled in for the night, setting up a pseudo-camp with their sleeping bags. Lee Seng sat at the edge of the campfire, rolling a rock in between his fingers. The strange feeling hadn't gone away ever since he noticed it. It lingered just out of his range. Occasionally, the thing would draw his attention like it was toying with him.

'What could it be?' Lee Seng asked himself. 'It couldn't be those two… could it?' He turned, feeling something creep over him for a second before it pulled back into the shadows where he couldn't detect anything.

"Something wrong?" Keng asked. Lee Seng looked up and noticed Keng was standing in front of him. Lee Seng shook his head and set the rock on the ground.

"No." Lee Seng answered. His eyes drifted to look behind him. "I think I'm just tired from walking around all day. Nerves are high."

'I think there's someone following us.' Lee Seng told Keng telepathically.

"You should get some rest then." Keng stepped forward and put a hand on Lee Seng. "Get by the fire and stay warm, hm? I'll take first watch." The two gave each other knowing looks before Keng helped Lee Seng up. Lee Seng's body cracked as he let out a sigh of relief. Lee Seng and Keng joined the rest of the group near the fire. Most were getting ready for bed. Calis and Manny made small talk while Liz read a book and Olivia journaled. Evan took time to meditate while Ritsuka's mind drifted off elsewhere.

"I think we should be able to make at least twenty-five miles tomorrow." Manny pointed. Calis nodded and moved the map around a bit.

"I think we're coming up on some city ruins?" Calis asked.

"Dunno." Manny looked over at Lee Seng and Keng. "Lee, c'mere for a sec. Are these ruins?" Lee Seng wandered past the daydreaming Ritsuka and meditating Evan and squatted behind Calis and Manny.

"That looks like a city." Lee Seng replied. He pulled his map up and looked at it. His map was slightly altered since he had been here. "I haven't been anywhere near this one, though."

"Since you've been in this Realm before, do we have to be wary of any cities?" Calis asked.

"Mmm, there's usually monsters in them." Lee Seng swiped his map away. "If we have to go through it, let's make sure to take the fastest path through it. One of the worst-case scenarios is meeting some unruly Bios stuck in Limbo. We should be efficient until we get to the cup."

Manny and Calis nodded. They turned their attention back onto the map and began to draw some quick lines into the map.

"What if we just did that?" Calis asked. He had drawn a straight line through it from their path. Manny shook his head.

"If there isn't debris in the way." Manny replied. "How bad are the ruined cities usually, Lee?" He looked up at Lee Seng, who stood up.

"Bad enough to get turned around enough times." Lee Seng answered. "And we can't fly, either."

"Why?" Calis asked.

"There's flying monsters. Be best to avoid them. Any more questions?"

"Nah, I think we get the idea. Thanks. You can sleep. Keng's taking first watch." Manny shook his head. Lee Seng nodded and moved over to his sleeping bag and tucked himself in it. He settled in as Keng's voice entered his head.

'Don't worry about anything happening. We'll all rest well." Keng reassured Lee Seng. Lee Seng smacked his lips and nodded. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

'I'll try not to. Be alert.' Lee Seng told Keng. fre𝑒𝘸𝚎𝚋n૦ѵℯl.c𝒐𝘮

Lee Seng woke to a strange presence. He jolted himself up into a sitting position and looked around. The embers of the fire were dead, and everyone was asleep.

'Who's on watch?' Lee Seng asked himself. He unzipped himself and stood up. He turned, noticing the strange feeling. It was growing stronger. The leaves rustled in the distance, drawing Lee Seng's attention to it. He adjusted his mask and slowly moved around the sleeping bodies of his friends.

Lee Seng went about sixty feet away, when he felt it. Whatever it was, it was standing behind him. He whipped around and before he could do anything, a low familiar voice came from the darkness in front of him.

"Didn't I tell you if you came back, you'd die?" The darkness materialized into a pale, tall handsome man. It was Lord Cain. Blood shot outwards, wrapping around Lee Seng and lifting him off the ground. Cain pulled Lee Seng close and gave a perturbed smile. "You left this place and now I have more things to deal with because of you." The blood squeezed Lee seng. He gasped as his legs flailed below him.

"I should just kill you." Cain snarled. "You've yet to pay the price."

"I… followed your rules… and failed… so you… tortured me… until I left…" Lee Seng spoke between gasps. "You… didn't even… turn me… into a stone…!" Lord Cain's eyes narrowed as the blood squeezed Lee Seng harder. Lee Seng croaked as he tried to release himself. Cain dropped the boy on the ground and turned slightly away. Lee Seng coughed, loudly, hoping his friends would awaken and force Lord Cain away from him, but no one came.

Lee Seng rubbed his neck, sucking in air and coughing it out. He looked up at Lord Cain who was stiff as a board. He turned and looked down upon Lee Seng and pulled something out of his pocket. He threw the parchment and turned to leave.

"W-what's this?" Lee Seng asked picking the parchment up.

"You have eyes. Read it." Lord Cain responded. He had enough sass in him to be 'amusing' towards Lee Seng. He stopped in his place and waited for Lee Seng to read the note. Lee Seng rubbed his eyes and looked at the note. It read:

Your gods might be watching, but they will not save you here. For if they intervene, things will go awry. I suggest to you, Lee Seng Chang, if you want to get whatever you came here for, right your wrongs first.

"Right my wrongs?" Lee Seng whispered. He looked up at Lord Cain who was looking at him. Lee Seng crumpled the paper as he forced himself up. He staggered and grabbed his mask. He lifted it up, revealing his ruby and sapphire eyes. "What more do I have to do? If you haven't noticed, Lord Cain, Earth is in deep sh—"

"My Realm is in deep shit because of what happened. I don't know how they got their information, but they've traversed into my Realm and I need you to kill one of them and bring them to me. Only then, will you be able to look for your so-called 'cup'." Lord Cain turned and continued walking. Lee Seng cocked his head and stuffed the paper in his pocket and followed after Lord Cain.

"How's it my problem? You can evaporate literally anything if you wanted to! I-I got bigger things to worry about! People to save!" Lee Seng retorted.

"And how is that my problem?" Lord Cain whipped himself around and stuck his face in front of Lee Seng's. "You make more enemies than you do friends, Lee Seng Chang. Do not make this worst for your friends who silently sleep over there." Lord Cain motioned. Lee Seng's eyes moved past Lord Cain and watched his friends quietly sleep. He could feel the presence of something else. Something sinister near his friends. Lee Seng began to move aside to check on his friends when Lord Cain stuck his hand out, another parchment in hand.

"Take it." Lord Cain ordered. Lee Seng hesitated. "Before I release the thing that's with me!" Lee Seng snatched it and sighed. "You will find what you need to know on that parchment. I hope you make the right choice or… I'll send some unwanted faces your way."