Asura gave a sinister smile as he dropped down one step from the edge of the throne platform. He cocked his head and the lava rock-skinned man brimmed with heat.
"If it weren't for you, Earth would be—"
"Asura, now's not the time and place." God King called the fire god back. Asura turned and climbed up the steps, taking his spot. "Hydran, you were saying." Hydran nodded at the God King and continued. The watery image grew dark, showing a map of Limbo. The map zoomed in until it hit a blinking dot.
"The last coordinates of the cup were in this spot. This was as best as my people could do before they went silent. No one would get in touch with them, so the Merfolk deliberated amongst themselves and concluded they'll need your help finding it." Hydran explained. The water fell back into the oasis and Hydran put her hands together in front of her.
"Of course, the Merfolk have a condition. One you're very familiar with." Hydran motioned to the right and a large water portal opened. Calis stepped through the portal and looked around. His mouth was agape as he took in God King's Oasis. When he saw the gods, he immediately dropped to one knee and bowed.
"Gods, I greet you all!" Calis spoke way too formal. Lee Seng and Keng could tell he was nervous. He kept his head lowered as Lady Hydran smiled at him.
"Rise, child." Hydran motioned. Calis nodded and slowly rose, keeping his head down.
"You may gaze upon us, child of the sea." God King spoke. Calis gulped and raised his head.
"You will be leaving with the Merman you've spent much time with." Hydran motioned at Calis. Calis turned and greeted the group with small head nods. The group greeted him and returned their attention onto Hydran. "Lee Seng has been in Limbo for some time. He can guide you best. You'll need to take these while you're there." Fox masks appeared in the air in front of Hyran. They were similar designs with different colors. "These will mask you from any unwanted attention. Communication will be easy with these masks, and you can access a map to know where to go. Any questions?"
The group looked around and shook their heads. Hydran nodded and turned to the God King.
"Good." God King nodded. "Return with the cup and then I'll allow you to go to Earth. Under no circumstances can you abandon this quest. If you do, I shall know. Do not be fooled while you are in Limbo. It is a dangerous place. That is all for today. You may leave." The God King waved his hand and a portal opened near the group. The masks split off to their perspective owners and hovered in front of them.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Goodbye." Keng bowed.
"G-goodbye." The rest of the group followed. They all turned to the portal and noticed it was… much bleaker than any place they had been to before. Lee Seng slipped his mask on and looked at the others.
"Put 'em on. The last thing you need is for someone to know who you are down there." Lee Seng instructed. The group slipped their masks on and followed Lee Seng through the portal. The monotone colors appeared all around them as they exited the portal. The portal the God King had made had landed them in a vast forest of sorts.
There were no sounds of life. The sky was black which would've made it harder to see if it weren't for the help of the masks. Keng immediately pulled up the map and took a look at where they were. He pinched the air five times before seeing the dot on the map. They were far away.
"It looks like we're at least a hundred miles away." Keng informed the group. "We have to go North."
"Will we even have enough food for that long?" Olivia asked. "We only packed for a couple days."
"There's food here." Lee Seng replied. His eyes were scanning their surroundings. They were now on odd Limbo time. "If we're lucky we'll find something easy to kill and eat."
"Is anything in Limbo even edible?" Ritsuka asked. "It's the land between life and death, would there be anything to eat?"
"There're monsters that reside here. I've killed enough to know you can harvest meat out of them."
"Is it even tasty?" Manny asked. Lee Seng started walking. He didn't want to tell them his experience of eating meat he couldn't remember. The forest grew dark as the group moved through the forest. The grass and twigs crunched underneath Lee Seng pushed some twigs past, holding it while the others.
"Is this place always like this?" Evan asked.
"Yeah… The only other color is the red sun." Lee Seng pointed up at the sky.
"Black, white and red?"
"Gray in between, but yeah… Not much to see. C'mon, we got a lot of walking to do." Lee Seng and Evan followed the group. Evan looked around like a kid in a candy shop. He occasionally drifted off the path, forcing Lee Seng to follow him and drag him back onto the path.
The group walked until the sun began to rise. The forest began to shift and change. The leaves danced in the wind, bringing the scent of rot. Manny turned to look at the others while Ritsuka kept his eyes forward.
'You smell that?' Manny asked telepathically. The group nodded turning their attention to the front. Lee Seng and Keng's heads whipped in opposite directions.
'They're coming!' Lee Seng and Keng unanimously said at the same time. Flesh fell off of the quadrupedal beast. It's skin was dark while strange liquid poured out of its falling flesh.
'Get ready!' Manny shouted. 'They're coming!'
'You're coming in between us!' Evan pulled Lee Seng. The rotten beasts jumped out of the shadows, surrounding the group. Liz's body lit up. Her form turned bright as she threw her hand out. The lightning hit a beast, jumping to the next one as Olivia slammed her hand on the ground. The earth erupted, growing into a large ball of rock as it flew straight for a rotten beast.
The beast splat as Ritsuka and Manny rushed forward. Keng turned, summoning Hydrosphere. Keng flew forward, water wrapping around his arms as he released a slash of water. The water flew outwards, hitting the ground as the rotten beast jumped out of the way. It's jaw dropped, releasing a blast of acid.
"Keng!" Lee Seng lifted his hand, starting to produce a gravity shield when Evan appeared in front of Keng. The acid splashed on the kinetic shield as Evan's entire body began to glow brighter. Runes grew in the air as Keng threw his hand towards the ground. The runes exploded, releasing a barrage of fire and water balls.
"Ah!" Ritsuka shouted. Obsidian Glass flew straight through a rotten beast, releasing the liquids inside of it. The group finished the beasts within seconds. The dead bodies littered the floor as rotten acid sizzled.
"Woah." Lee Seng gasped in surprise. "You guys… are quick."
"That's what years of working together will do to you." Keng replied, making Hydrosphere disappear. He turned and checked on everyone. "Doin' okay, Lee?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Y-yeah… You guys really… Got stronger." Lee Seng complimented. The group settled back into formation as Lee Seng turned.
"C'mon, we got a bit. Let's try to go until the sun's highest and then we can eat." Manny motioned. The group continued, in sync, leaving Lee Seng to be pushed by Keng.
"C'mon, dude!" Keng patted Lee Seng.
The monochrome colors continued, slowly changing as the sun quickly rose to its highest point. Lee Seng flicked his map on and noticed they done about twenty miles.
'Still got a long way to go.' Lee Seng swished the map away. His stomach growled, turning his friend's attention onto him.
"It's about afternoon, right?" Liz asked.
"Yeah." Manny nodded. "Let's eat." The group moved off the path a bit and sat. They all let out comfortable sighs as Keng summoned the Void Gate and pulled out their food. He sat it around the group and lifted his hands up.
"Lee." Keng nudged Lee Seng. "Help me warm them up."
"Light is technically a form of heat so y'all should be able to light it up." Olivia commented. Lee Seng lifted his hands up and watched as the gold and shined down onto the food. Lee Seng and Keng did this for awhile until Olivia gave the okay. They stopped and divvied out the plates and began to dig in.
"What were those rotten things anyways?" Evan asked. "They smell like undead, ugh! I hope we don't run any undead while we're here."
"You say that while we're in the place where that could possibly be the case." Olivia nudged Evan.
"What? I just don't want to smell like death."
"You smell like it either way. Did you even clean yourself off yesterday?" Ritsuka asked, pinching his nose. Evan lifted his arm and sniffed his armpit.
"I smell fine! It's not… Okay, maybe it is a bit." Evan frowned. Olivia scooted away while Keng stayed in his spot. He continued to munch on his food while more teasing was had.