Chapter 53

"Why did you have to instigate him?" Tai asked while his three eyed crow perched upon his shoulder watching Zeal. The both of them were making rounds throughout the castle in order to make sure there were no problems with the people they had brought.

"When have I ever instigated that man?" Zeal scoffed slightly at the thought of purposely starting a fight with Tyson. His entire body ached from the beating that Tyson had given him earlier. They were both working together under Tyson's planning but the thought of pushing Tyson too far could still lead to his own death if he wasn't careful. Over the years he had seen the man come out on top from things more frightening then himself and he was not willing to deny that.

"You clearly could have stopped Chi from wandering off and getting himself hurt but you let him go knowing he was one of those newbies that he was caring for. Either you did it deliberately or.." Tai turned his head towards Zeal even though his head could not see in order to fake a shocked expression before continuing. "Zeal! Are you really a masochist?"

"Tai, you bastard! I will kill you if you talk shit about me like that!" Zeal scolded the man as he slugged him right in his shoulder.

"Hahahah!" Tai burst out laughing at the sight of Zeal getting frustrated with him. His shoulder slightly stinging from how hard Zeal had slugged him for his joke.

"Hey, ain't that-?" Not finishing his own words Zeal stared off into the distance at the figure of Tyson coming in their direction. He could feel himself getting goosebumps instinctively from the thought that Tyson could still be angry with him. The only thing he could manage to do was muster up a kind smile and call out to him with a wave. His own actions making him feel like an idiot.

"Zeal, if you have time to play around I assume there are no problems within the castle's territory?" Tyson asked the man. With his golden eyes staring Zeal down they gave off an air that he wanted to snap Zeal's neck still over what had happened.

"Are you insane? No problems? Of course we have problems!" Zeal blurted out as the question seemed to pull him back to the reality of their situation. As afraid as he was when it came to Tyson he still could not allow himself to waver from his duty. They were planning a revolt against Numen's own dimension so the mere possibility of there being nothing to worry about was impossible. He was certain he could name a few dozen things that would cause them problems.

"What's the problem most relevant.. I don't need every single thing that bothers you personally." Tyson did not want to hear every small detail that bothered Zeal. As long as he could manage to see his goal accomplished he was willing to trudge through the entire mountain alone if he had to, regardless of risk to his own life.

"We're being watched.. or to be more precise.. I saw signs of someone lurking within the castle." Zeal did not like to say it but he could not pin the location of the intruder. He only knew he was certain that they were within the boundary of Sobek's Castle. The intent behind whoever was lurking behind them was completely unknown to Zeal but the fact that they hid themselves well was something that made him feel uneasy.

"Got it. Keep alert in case they show themselves. I have an idea on who it is but you don't need to worry about that for now." Tyson said as he turned to walk away from the both of them. Until he had verified his own suspicion he had no interest in telling Zeal anything. Having sensed the person before Zeal's warning he had already been carefully watching as he awaited the person's intent to take action. They still weren't taking any against him as far as he could tell.

"Right, you're not going to tell me because at the least I will only die unaware of who's tailing us." Zeal said muttered under his breath. He could see from the way that Tyson halted his steps that he heard the words he'd said. Expecting Tyson to turn around and go after him he instinctively took a stance to defend himself against any surprise attacks. Though no attack seemed to come in his direction leaving the man slightly puzzled with a sense of relief.

"If they are who I suspect it wont matter if I warn you. If they want you dead you will be whether you know their name or not." Tyson stated with a slight turn of his head.

"You don't mean-?" Zeal pondered over the words long and hard. There was only a small number of people who would be capable of killing someone regardless of being warned in advance.

"When one domino falls the rest tend to do the same. Watch carefully, Zeal, because I believe.." Tyson did not need to finish his words for Zeal and Tai to understand.

"You mean.. another top ten survivor is among us." Tai was the one who broke the silence between the three of them. Each one of them glancing at each other in agreement with the idea. The thought made sense to them given how hard the loyalty of a top survivor was hard to break once formed over the years unless the person's will was strong enough to hold on to their humanity. Not one of them could come to the conclusion though of what the other survivor was after.

"If they haven't attacked us yet they must be simply supervising our movements. What are they after?" Zeal thought for a moment before getting a sudden idea. "Could they be.."

"If they haven't acted yet they are clearly working with another." Tyson quickly said before leaving both Zeal and Tai to their own thoughts about the situation.

The more that Zeal and Tai thought about it the more it made sense to them. The person who was getting up close to their group would not want to act rashly when there were so many of them able to fight back against one man on his own. To act rashly would be him forfeiting his own life to their hands. They were surely bound to be working with others in order to tail their group in order to minimize the risk until they found the proper timing to act as a group with whoever was working with them.