D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Still with Bing

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Bing sighed. *So apparently Feng does have a way to make me doubt the path forward. I… hmm… no… but… maybe… is there a way to see if Bang is the real deal? Kat could probably tell if there is an illusion? Right? I'll ask her about it once we leave the vault. That should give us some closure. If Bang is also a fake, like we're assuming, and Kat talks to him before everyone starts fighting… that should be enough confirmation.

Even if it means we were a bit blind as children, and as teenagers, that's fine. Who expects to find out their parents hate them despite not being abusive or neglectful? Neither of us know what to look for when it comes to good parenting… we just know that our childhoods weren't BAD. Lian's parents provide ample examples for that. Which I guess means Lian will be coming with us. I mean, Meng said as much but…*

"Do you think we're ready to leave the sect?" asked Bing.

"What? Are you just trying to change the topic because you don't like the answers?" asked Feng.

"Oh, nah I thought my way through that. Kat can just tell us if Bang is also using an illusion, plus we'll be talking to him… so either he turns out to be cool, he turns out to be not using an illusion, or he just attacks us. You're at least right in the fact that we didn't notice… but while Bang may or may not like us… he's not a horrible parent. And I think I can live with that knowledge. You know?" explained Bing.

Feng tapped his finger against the floor as he thought it over. "It's… a sound line of thinking I guess. It's not really the way I'd like to look at things… but with Kat to check for illusions, and to give him a chance… I suppose things will be sorted out one way or another… unless Bang agrees to follow us and pretends to love us like Meng is doing," retorted Feng.

"Meng is NOT pretending Feng," insisted Bing.

Feng just shrugged as if it wasn't his problem anymore. Perhaps he was willing to simple let things play out before making a second, and final, judgement. Until then? Feng was going to treat Meng coldly, and watch her closely for signs that she's been lying about the depth of her feelings.

"Fine whatever," grumbled Bing when it became clear that Feng wasn't actually going to engage in the argument anymore. *Apparently trying to defend my mother's honour is something you don't want to allow Feng. Fine. Whatever. If that's how you want to play things I can deal. We'll see who comes out looking better when all this is over.* "Now, answer my question. Do you think we're ready to leave the sect? It's our home and… I'm just not sure,"

"It's too late to back out now," said Feng with a grumble. "Sure you might have Lian tagging along, but I've got to leave all my friends behind. It's too late to back out. Even if Bang happens to be our real father, and Meng was lying to us, it's too late. Kat already blew the whole thing wide open. She's really limited our options,"

"It's not Kat's fault this all happened," insisted Bing. "It's just unfortunate that it turned out this way,"

"Sure you say that now… but if she was hired to destroy our sect? This is the best way to do it. No matter what, Bang and Meng's time as our sect leaders is over. Meng for being a spy the whole time, and Bang for either being a spy, or not noticing his wife was a spy for decades. We might get let off, but only if we denounced both of our parents and agreed to some sort of concessions. I doubt we could ever get to Rank 4, let alone Rank 5. Heck, I might not even get to Rank 3. You're lucky you're so close to advancing, you might be able to break through… or they might shatter our cultivation and be done with us.

"Lian would probably be killed… or worse. So there's no escape for her. My friends? Well… I'm not too sure about them. I've never been as close to any of them as you are to Lian. Heren is probably my best mate… but I wouldn't want to live with the guy. He's such a slob when nobody is riding his ass about it, and his grandfather is on the council of elders. So he'll probably be fine if he stays…

"Look it's just not a great situation for me all around… and if Kat did want to do some damage, I don't think there's a single better way to drag our name through the mud. Not saying it's her fault… maybe she was ordered to do it maybe not… but the possibility is there…" explained Feng.

"She can't lie though, and she told me that her job was to guard Bodeir!" insisted Bing. "And this really wasn't what I wanted to get into. I wanted to discuss seeing the world, having less cultivation resources, less time to meditate and practice,"

Feng waved off Bing's defence, "True, that is clearly ONE of her orders. She might have more than one objective though,"

"Look, I think you're being stupid, and we can just ASK her," insisted Bing. "That will prove she's on our side,"

"Eh… I think 'on our side' is a bit of a stretch. At BEST she's on YOUR side not OURS. Besides, asking at all is a risk you know? What if she IS here to destroy us and now that we've forced her to answer she just attacks us?" said Feng.

"Meng will protect us," answered Bing without hesitation.

"Oh sure, the spy will protect us. I feel so safe. The spy that admitted to likely not being able to defeat Kat in a fight. Truly, I feel protected," said Feng with a shrug.

"Look Feng. I see you're trying to be an ass about this. I had some reasonable fears about leaving the sect behind. Meng will likely have plenty of stuff thrown into her spatial ring, and give us stuff to carry as well… but what if we get separated? What if we get caught? How are we going to make our money when that runs out? How long are we running? Can we deal with the pressure of running away for possibly years or decades? I don't know if I can, and I wanted you're support in dealing with those fears, but apparently you just want to look for potential issues with my mother, and my friend.

"And you know what? If that's what you want to do with your time I might as well just get some sleep. At least any nightmares I have will just be dreams. While I'm awake I have to listen to you spouting nonsense and deal with the fatigue I feel from fighting all day, then binding an artifact and then dealing with your nonsense after you destabilised my cultivation a bit, in case you've forgotten," ranted Bing.

Feng sucked in a deep breath, before saying, "Sorry for sharing my valid concerns with my beloved sister,"

"Oh go jump in a volcano you ass. You're concerns are barely valid, and easily solved. If you'd brought up most of them before entering this vault then they could be cleared up. They are not long term problems, they are minor speedbumps that you're insisting we go over," retorted Bing.

"That's only in your favoured version of events sis," Feng pointed out. "In fact, things could go very pear-shaped if even one of my concerns turns out to be valid,"

Bing glared at Feng but didn't deny the truth of the statement. *Still, it's adding ridiculous worries to a situation that's already tense. Why couldn't we have just talked about the dangers and risks of travel, or how to deal with the fatigue of being constantly on the run? I'm not looking forward to sleeping wherever we happen to stop for the night, or heck for the week.

When we first set off, we'll probably be forced to run as fast as we can, and then a bit more with Meng carrying us. The teams sent to capture us will have at least one Rank 4 on them… what a scary thought. I hope Meng knows how to run and avoid detection. She should have training for it… but she likely has no experience with… extras.*

"You know what Feng? Why don't you get some of that sleep you came here for. I don't want to talk anymore," said Bing.

"Oh? Don't want to talk ow that things aren't looking quite so great for you anymore?" asked Feng.

"No brother dear. I want to rest before I start to get annoyed with you. So far, you've only added to my worries instead of lessening them, and I need to calm down somehow. If we keep chatting, I'll sick Meng on you so I can get some peace and quiet," hissed Bing.