Just as the two of them were about to scan themselves into the Guiding Division, a loud, long tone could be heard throughout the building. On the other side of the door, loud voices and footsteps could be heard, before the door was flung open, and Casper flew past them. Kellen was pretty sure he didn’t even register that Kellen and Brent were there.
Shortly after Casper left, another swarm of Guides left the Division, and Kellen and Brent waited for a second outside of the door, making sure they weren’t in anyone’s way, before stepping into the Division proper.
It was a ss. Whatever that warning was, it was serious, and had all of the older Guides freaking out. So of the younger ones seed worried, but not fully concerned. All except the little Guide that Kellen knew was Casper’s assistant simply because he was seated at a desk outside of Casper’s office, and was frantically answering phones like his life depended on it.
Kellen made his way towards him, knowing that if he was going to get answers, it was going to be from him. But, he also waited his turn. There was no need to stress the man out more by demanding answers when it was clear to him that Casper had ordered him to do sothing first. When he had hung up the phone with a slight frown on his face, he noticed Kellen and Brent finally. He flushed.
"Excuse , is everything alright?" Kellen asked him, and they seed stunned at the sight of Kellen. He swallowed thickly.
"O-Oh, well, I can’t just-" Kellen realised that the man probably didn’t recognise him without his uniform. He couldn’t bla him, he was probably pretty stressed. Fumbling with his pocket, Kellen pulled out his id card and showed his na, rank, and level of clearance to them. He relaxed imdiately. "I just tried to call the Field Departnt, but didn’t get an answer. Thank goodness it was because you were right in front of . Sorry for not recognising you Guide Woods, and Guide Jason." Brent smiled warmly at the panicked Guide.
"No worries, cutie. Can you tell us what’s going on?" Guide Anderson nodded.
"Lieutenant Casper is currently off dealing with an ergency situation that has broken out. It seems that there are a couple of Espers who are at dangerously low levels. That was what the alarm was. It is usually used when an Esper is near a surge, and apparently, there are several. He has several Guides nearby, but he shouted that I grabbed you two for him." Imdiately, Kellen felt alarm bells go in the back of his mind.
The whole conversation with Gwen ca to the forefront of his mind, and he had no doubt that was the reason Casper had asked for him as well. That, and both Brent and Kellen were also A Class Guides, the only other two in the Guild outside of Casper. If push ca to shove, Kellen would rather beg for forgiveness later, then ask for permission when it ca to saving soone’s life, and if the Captain knew him at all, he would understand that as well.
Kellen felt his jaw harden, hating that Gwen’s slight suggestion might be true, and Guide Anderson swallowed. "Uh, are you alright, Sir?" He asked, and Kellen shook himself. Even Brent was staring at Kellen, his eye brow raised. Kellen set a smile back on his face, but was sure neither one of them was soothed. They were both Guides, they knew the tricks.
"Can you tell where Casper wants us to go?" He nodded, while Kellen glanced around the room. The anxiety took on a completely different aning now that he knew that was the surge tone. The newer Guides lack of concern really made Kellen worried, while the older Guides were trying to take charge in the anti. They were continuing their sessions, because they didn’t need the potential of more surging Espers on their hands. They had to pretend that everything was okay.
But, one thing he noticed was that even though it was close to the ti he was supposed to pick up his trainees, there was no one here. Not even Bree. "I know this is slightly off topic, but where are the Guides we are supposed to start training today? I don’t see them." Guide Anderson’s shoulders slightly relaxed at being asked a question he could easily answer.
"Most are just finishing up guiding sessions, and the other half were doing a quick warm up a level up from the incident for your lesson, so Lieutenant Casper grabbed them to help him. He’s at the upper level Esper training room. Not the gym level, but the other room. It’s just above the obstacle course room." Kellen appreciated the simple, but easy to follow directions. He glanced at Brent, and Brent had been taking a sip of his drink. In fact, it looked like he was chugging it.
He was sure Brent had grasped the seriousness of the situation, and knew that Casper asking for our help after asking for a bunch of Guides to help him wasn’t a good sign. Sothing was clearly off, and they were the kind of people who would help out at any mont.
"Thank you for your directions, Guide Anderson." He blinked, having not expected Kellen to rember his na. His cheeks flushed, before he nodded.
"It’s my pleasure." He muttered as Brent finished his drink and tossed it into the trashcan behind Guide Anderson.
"May I ask that when the others finish their guiding sessions that you have them wait here and we’ll co get them? If you let them know we’re helping out with the incident, and that might eat into our first lesson, they will hopefully understand." Kellen told him with his best Guide smile. Guide Anderson nodded. "If they complain, tell them that we’ll punish them when we get back." He froze, before glancing at the two Guides cloaked in all black. He swallowed thickly before nodding again. Kellen smiled, before he spun on his heel and headed for the door, Brent following after him.
He really, truly, hoped that he, Gwen and Casper were wrong. It would be a nightmare scenario if this was true. Guides were integral to keeping Espers sane. Everyone knew that, and it had taken years to get Espers to trust them wholeheartedly without chains and other awful controlling devices. Kellen could have forgiven them if they were running away from their duties. He would have hated them, but he could at least forgive and understand. It was a lot of pressure to put on a person. But to be hired for a job, and not do it? That was a whole different fucking story.
Brent didn’t ask any questions, keeping pace with Kellen as they stord out of the Guiding Division and moved quickly towards the elevators. Kellen briefly thought about taking the stairs, but the elevator arrived before he toyed with that thought for too long. Since Brent had already finished his drink, Kellen worked on finishing his own. Brent used his card to get them to the level above the obstacle course room, but both remained silent for the ride up. Brent only cast a look at Kellen once, and from the hard set of his jaw, it was clear Brent knew sothing was wrong internally.
Just like Kellen, Brent hated when others did a piss poor job.
The elevator doors opened, and Kellen tossed his empty cup into the garbage there while he let Brent take the lead. Like most A Class Guides, he was able to sense power fluctuations in the air from Espers. He kept his pace quick, while Kellen followed behind him.
Kellen took this ti to look around this level. He had been here briefly during his initial guide around the tower, but he hadn’t gone too deep here. Where the hallways here were normally mostly empty, they were teeming with people now. Several of the people were wearing the logo of the dical team, and Kellen even recognised one of them as a healing Esper. Brent kept rushing down the hallway, and Kellen found that several of the doors they passed were open. The rooms were empty, but it was clear that the dical team had set them up for the Espers who were in danger. Kellen swallowed, his anger rising.
At least it was clear that everyone was frantic, but no one was surging yet, even if so were close. Kellen was worried about how many Espers were in danger, and who they were. He hoped it wasn’t anyone he knew, or Gwen knew.
Brent took a sharp turn into a large double doorway, where both doors were held open. This was where most of the people were congregated, and they stared at the duo as they passed them. The room itself was huge on the inside, and was clearly used for sparring or weapon training because of the mats on the floor, and the weapon racks lined up against the wall on the left hand side.
Kellen’s eyes would have taken in more of the room if he hadn’t spotted Casper, with a rather grim look on his face, surrounded by several of the A Class Espers he normally saw working out in the gym either early in the morning, or after working hours. Everyone had similar grim expressions on their faces, and he was sure that he and Brent matched the mood.
On the ground in a row were six Espers who were being held down by the powers of one of the A Class Espers. Casper was barking orders out to the Guides there, including Bree and Kellen glanced at Brent. Brent didn’t need Kellen’s guidance, or his permission, and he went directly to the worst off Esper. He bent down, kissing the man, and began guiding him imdiately.
Casper jerked, surprised by their sudden appearance, and glanced at the both of them. He seed slightly relieved to see them, but Kellen ignored him in favour of getting to work. He recognised one of the Espers as soone who had helped him at the beginning of his training. Since he knew that their compatibility wasn’t shit, he went to help him. Opening his shirt, and ignoring all of the Guides around him, he placed his hand on his chest and guided him.
He was in an awful state. He was very close to surging. He glanced at the several Guides around them, around him, and a new wave of anger and rage filled him. What the fuck were the Guides here doing? Because this? It wasn’t Guiding.
"Casper, check the Espers." Kellen ordered, his eyes closed, and even though Casper was his superior, he did as Kellen asked. Sothing that wasn’t ntioned often was the fact that once you reached A Class level as a Guide, you could then begin to sense the powers of others who were Guides. It didn’t work if they were the sa Class or higher then you, but it was the reason you had to be at least A Class to hold the position that Casper held in the Guild. So that you could check up on the Guides to make sure there weren’t any slip ups happening in the Guild.
Like what was happening right now.
Kellen opened his eyes in ti to see Casper’s go sky blue and the Guides around them began to pale. All except Bree, and a few others. Kellen turned his attention back to the poor Esper. Kellen was pouring his Guiding into him, trying to get him to a stable state. The feeling he gave Kellen was one where he was pouring buckets of water into a bathtub that was slowly draining. Kellen removed his hand as soon as he felt that the tub was filling up and the plug was working again. When he opened his eyes, he found that Brent had moved onto another Esper and the dical team was on the one he had just finished. Kellen got to his feet.
Casper was shaking. His normally calm deanor was shattered. With his spiked hair, and glowing blue eyes behind his silver rimd glasses, he looked like a madman. He was vibrating. "Who?" Kellen asked, and he pointed them out.
Kellen didn’t hesitate. He yanked the stupid Guides up off the floor and threw them into the middle of the training room, away from the doors. They yelled in pain and protest, but soon shut up after looking into Kellen’s furious face. He continued to round up the Guides until most of them were in the middle of the room, with the exception of a few who remained trying to guide the dangerously close to surging Espers.
Kellen stood fuming over them, and one of the A Class Espers approached. She was one of the few that Kellen recognised. She was famous for her telekinesis, and was probably the one who had been holding down the Espers so that they didn’t endanger anyone around them. Her red hair was pulled into a ponytail and she wore the gym workout outfit. Kellen couldn’t rember what colour her eyes were when they weren’t glowing the silver colour of her powers in use.
"What’s going on? Why are the three of you so pissed?" She wasn’t upset at what Kellen was doing, but was clearly upset at being out of the loop. Kellen, even if he was furious, was able to keep a relatively level head. He glanced at Casper, who was still vibrating. Casper pointed out another Guide and Kellen went over and hauled them away from the Espers and tossed them in with the rest of the failures.
In total, of the 15 Guides that Casper had brought up to help deal with this situation, only 5 of them had actually tried to help, including Bree. In the ti that Kellen had begun to clean up this ss, Brent had gone around cleaning up in a different way.
He looked visibly weaker and thin, his face was gaunt, but his eyes were determined as he stood up from the last Esper. How the man had managed to Guide 5 nearly surging Espers into a stable state was a testant to his capabilities as an A Class Guide, and proof that he was good at his job.
The dical team were checking up on the other Espers now that they were stable, and approached all the Guides who had done their jobs with shakes. Brent took the offered bottles with a calm fury, pouring them into his mouth in the sa way that Kellen had done when he had helped the Captain previously. The dical staff approached Casper and Kellen, and they both accepted the shakes as they watched over the scene before them.
All three of the A Class Guides were wound up, and the Espers in the room could tell sothing was seriously, dangerously wrong. The redheaded Esper who had followed Kellen stayed by his side. She clearly thought he was in danger of so sort, and was acting as a bouncer of sorts. She was not expecting the words that ca out of his mouth.
"They weren’t guiding at all. They were faking it." He told her when they had finally finished their shakes. She didn’t even know how to react to the news. Kellen handed his empty shake bottles to the kind mber of the dical team who stood by, waiting for them to do so. Kellen glanced at the Esper. "No one is to leave this room, especially the Guides. In fact, make sure to record this. Casper, am I allowed to tear into them?" Kellen asked permission, but he wasn’t going to stop if Casper said no. Casper’s face was grim, and he pushed up his glasses.
"I would never stop you. I’ll hold the phone." He pulled out his phone as Kellen took a deep breath in, before exhaling. He glanced over at Brent, who was whispering to so of the Guides who had been working. They looked just as drained as Brent, and it was clear he was soothing them. His jaw was still rock hard though, and it was clear that he wanted to help with the punishnt, but he held back. Kellen turned to the offenders.
In the ten minutes or so since Brent had finished his guiding, they had barely spoken to each other. Clearly, they understood that they were in trouble, at least, most of them did. So of them, however, appeared unaffected by the whole situation.
Kellen felt his blood boil.
He slightly regretted telling Casper to record this, but at the sa ti, he needed sothing to hold onto. This felt too surreal, and he wanted to have sothing to look back on to prove that these idiots had really existed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)