Chapter 638 Olivia’s Worry

"Y-you're gonna leave us to traverse this place alone?" Liz stuttered. Keng nodded. She bit his lip as she looked at Ritsuka and the others. "Do you think this is a smart choice? What if we come across the ants, again?"

"We should be fine." Ritsuka hoisted Manny into his arms. "The bigger problem is how are we going to keep this guy out of my arms in case I have to fight?"

"I can bind him to you but if the binding gets hit, it's your problem." Keng crossed his arms.

"How?" Evan asked. "You have more powers?" Keng walked over to Ritsuka and tapped Manny. Manny hovered out of Ritsuka's arms and they watched as Keng scribbled something on Ritsuka's back.

"Attraction." Keng whispered in Fox tongue. He pulled Manny over and stuck him on Ritsuka's back. "Is this okay?" Keng asked in English.

"Ah, it's kind of weird." Ritsuka answered. Keng adjusted Manny until Ritsuka was satisfied with it. "That's good." Keng stepped around Ritsuka and the sick Manny and nodded.

"How long will it take?" Olivia asked. She clutched her head, shaking off the fading migraine. "I'm not at my best, so… I don't want to be another reason I hold the team down."

"I'm not sure." Keng honestly answered. "I've only done possession twice."

"Possession?!?" Liz spoke loudly. "T-that's possession? W-what were you going to do with me? Forcefully make me remember?"

"I already told you." Keng gave a playful pout. "I only entered your Soul to find the spell. Luckily it showed itself or else I would've never found it."

"Y-you dug through my memories! I-isn't that an invasion of privacy?" Liz looked at him a bit creeped out. Keng shrugged and looked over at Ritsuka.

"You guys just try to figure a way out." Keng told them. "I honestly didn't think it would be this… in-depth…"

'ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ Novel(B) in.ᴄᴏᴍ ᴛᴏ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇ ꜰᴀsᴛᴇʀ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ sᴘᴇᴇᴅ.',

"Maybe there's an ant queen down here." Evan commented. "Maybe that's the boss?"

"Could be." Keng shrugged. His eyes landed on Manny, lighting up. "Good luck."

"You too." Ritsuka nodded. Keng's body vanished, leaving the faded silver lights with the group. Ritsuka readjusted Manny and licked his lips. "I guess we should go."

The group moved down the huge tunnel for awhile without much effort. The lingering smell of acid floated in the air as Ritsuka, Evan, Liz and Olivia trekked along the unknown path. The faded silver lights followed after them, lighting up the way as Liz held a conjured lightning ball in her hands. The crackle of lightning sparked out, hitting a Silver light. It mixed with the light, intensifying for a moment before fading back to its faded setting.

"How long has he been gone?" Evan asked. He stayed behind Ritsuka and Liz. Olivia followed next to him, staring ahead as she rubbed her forehead. Evan pulled his phone. "It's been like twenty minutes! Wasn't he in and out of Liz in like a blink of an eye?"

"Don't say it like that!" Liz turned and shouted. She grew embarrassed, cheeks red as she turned away just as quick as she had shouted. "I-it wasn't like that."

"Mmm, I'm pretty sure it was quick." Ritsuka answered. "Maybe it's more complex than he thought it was."

"Ritsuka." Olivia quietly spoke up. Ritsuka glanced over his shoulder at her. Olivia's head was slightly looking at the ground as she pulled her hand away from her head. "Can we really trust him? Is Lee Seng really gone?" The sounds of lightning sparking filled the silence as Ritsuka turned to look ahead. "I only ask this because I'm curious. I don't want anything else to happen to us… I… Don't do well in situations like this."

The guilt ate at Olivia. She had revealed a core piece about herself she desperately wanted to hide. She was from outside the city, so she didn't see things the same way as the city kids. She gulped and looked up.

"I'm not from the city… You guys know that. When someone close betrays me, it's just a lot of pain and suffering everyone else has to endure." Olivia continued. "I don't want to lose people if I don't have to… Y-Y'see, Lee Seng was actually… The first person I willingly talked to when I entered the city. I didn't even talk to the guy who took me to the city… So I…"

"Hey." Ritsuka stopped and turned. Olivia almost ran into Ritsuka. She looked up and managed to catch herself as Ritsuka smiled at her. It felt weird to her that Ritsuka smiled at her. He was usually smiling and cracking jokes, but he never smiled at her. "I swear on my life Keng's an ally. He's the closest ally we got. When we met Lee Seng, we also met Keng."

"W-what do you mean by that?" Confusion grew on all of Ritsuka's friends' faces. "We never met Keng until now… so how could we have met him… then?"

"Keng said it himself. 'I was implanted into Lee Seng when my Father made a deal with him. In exchange for my Father giving Lee Seng power, Lee Seng had to let my Father do something in return.' That's what he said. Keng was the catalyst that resulted in the way Lee Seng really looks. Fox ears and, back then, a tail and all. He was always there, watching, observing. Why do you think Keng acts so human?

"If you're worried we'll betray you, I can at least say for myself and Keng, we would never betray you. I'm all about sticking my guns to the people I care about." Ritsuka smiled at her. He patted her on the shoulder before turning.

'ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovelB(i)n. ᴄᴏᴍ',

"What about Manny? Will he forgive me for what I did? I… I don't know…" Olivia's voice quieted to an all time low. She fought back the tears as she switched to Korean. She seemed to speak for awhile before wiping away a stray tear or two. "Never mind," Olivia spoke in English. "Maybe I'm just paranoid."

"Liv." Liz moved over to Olivia. She smiled at her and pulled her in for a hug. "It's okay to have doubts… Would you believe me if I said I'm extremely anxious to get out of here? I really want all of us to live another day… And it hurts to see fighting amongst us but how are we going to get to know each other if we don't fight a bit?"

"But… I could've…"

"You didn't, though." Liz pulled away. There it was, again. Another smile. Another person Olivia decided to be around and ended up friending. Liz wiped away Olivia's tears and hugged her again. "Losing your head is natural. Learning why you did it and what you can do to not have it happen is what's key."

"I… I really don't know how to socialize." Olivia laughed. "I… I guess that's what it means to be a village bumpkin like they all say…"

"Hey!" Liz shook her head. "Don't say that. Don't listen to what they say, Liv. You are find just the way you are. Just cause you came from further out than the rest of us doesn't mean you should be excluded."

"True." Evan nodded, turning to look at Olivia. "You have so many stories of all the trouble you caused in your village. You got to play in actual woods! You got to go to an actual natural lake! Every lake I've been to has been man made!"

"Our experiences may be different but that doesn't mean we can't come together and grow together. What would humans be if we all thought and acted the same way?" Liz raised an eyebrow. Liz pulled in Olivia and hugged her.

'Grandma always told me the same thing…' Olivia thought. The two girls hugged for a while before Liz pulled away, again.

"Feeling better?" Liz asked. Olivia nodded, wiping her tears away. "C'mon, we should keep going. Keng will come out when he's done with whatever's happening with Manny."

"Remember, Olivia…" Grandma Ok's voice whispered in Korean. "One day you will also leave this village behind. You will travel to wherever your heart desires… Well, I guess wherever destiny takes you and you will be tested and tried a lot! You must always be willing to learn and adapt. To understand that even you make mistakes. This little village is just a small slice of what life is like.

"Beyond these guarded walls, there's forests, deserts, water as far as the eye can see and cities with buildings climbing to the skies! You'll meet people who want to befriend you and you'll also meet people who don't like you… It's unfortunate you had nobody to play with on a daily basis. Kids came and went and I wish you could've gotten that more… I wish I pushed you to go spend time with kids, but you stuck inside with me, doing whatever I did…

"I hope you'll venture out and find someone who takes a genuine interest in you. Maybe that'll teach you the one thing I and the rest of the adults couldn't, dear."

Olivia sniffed as they trudged forward. 'Are they really okay with what I did? I… I almost killed a… F… Friend.'