Chapter 243: Don’t relax because this got easier to explain

It took a full half an hour of guiding, rest, and then another 15 minutes before the damn S Classes were anywhere near where Kellen considered stable. They also had to rotate who they were guiding so that Brent could manage himself better. Kellen could tell it was a bit of a shell shock that Kellen could hold his own to Brent, but he wasn’t upset.

He was too much of a professional to let it bother him at the moment, and at the end of the grueling hour, he seemed quite happy about it. It was a shame that Kellen and Brent hadn’t eaten lunch like everyone else had. They hadn’t thought that they would need the extra fuel, but he didn’t have to worry about it.

His Dad was on it.

Kellen could smell the fragrant, alluring smell of deep fried chicken. It was Kellen’s go to meal when he had guided too much, and he was grateful for his Dad for remembering. However, he had a much bigger issue to deal with.

The Espers who had waltzed into the city without the proper precautions, and who Kellen now had to deal with. Kellen was also excited to hear what their excuses were, because at this point, he had given a lot of himself to heal them and he was owed an apology, whether they understood that or not.

He also had saved their lives, and if they couldn’t recognise that either, well, they were clearly worse than Jax or Jules.

Rhys and Sergei had stayed by the Field Guides’ sides the whole time. Whether it was to tend to them or to make sure that they didn’t push themselves too hard for people who weren’t worth it, or claim their territory, Kellen wasn’t sure. He had a suspicious feeling that it was the latter, but it could have been a healthy mix.

It didn’t matter, since at the end of it all, Kellen and Brent’s clothes felt significantly looser, and Kellen’s eye was far sharper as he scanned the two S Class Espers. Now that the worst of the situation had been handled, Kellen could actually look over the fools.

As Kellen gave them a true once over, he noticed a few discrepancies. For one, his Aunt Dina would never house people who had so much disrespect for Guides. That is just not something she would tolerate, as she had become friends with Kellen’s Dad first, and then his Mom after. Two, they did look a little roughed up. Kellen hadn’t noticed it in the moment since he was sure anger had tinted his vision, but their clothes weren’t pristine. They looked like they had been in a fight, or several.

They also weren’t clean. They didn’t smell, but dirt and other things had clearly been on their skin but had been cleaned off, but not well enough. Given how badly they were before they got here, Kellen could only come to one grim conclusion, and the words of the man confirmed it.

"I am so sorry for what we’ve said." He sounded gutted. Truly, horribly gutted. His eyes, now not the shade of blue of his powers, were the deep, dark black that usually came with water users. They were like Gunther’s, and it was a bit jarring to see it in the face of a man who Kellen was still angry with.

His hair was all over the place, black to match his eyes, and he only had the beginning of a few wrinkles beginning on his skin. Corners of his mouth, around his eyes, things that told Kellen that he could have a good disposition.

"Good. So you know that you did something wrong." Kellen said, and watched as they both winced. The woman looked even more hollow. Her eyes were brown normally, her hair in two very messy brown braids. Her skin, now healthier, had a darker hint to it, and that told Kellen that they had truly been in a rough spot. Kellen didn’t need to water the wilting flower garden inside of her to know that if he had seen her before now.

"I-I have no excuse. I am so, so sorry. I have never-I would never-" she seemed in shock at what they had said, and Kellen could only think of it as a good sign. It wasn’t going to smooth everything over, but it did make it better.

"I have no idea what you said before we arrived, but all I can tell is that it was a good thing that we did. Come, if you’re able to feel remorseful, then you can reimburse my parents for how much food I am about to consume." Kellen told them coldly, and the Espers got up and nodded immediately.

"Anything you need. Of course." The man gushed, and Kellen almost smiled. He could tell that they hadn’t fully registered what had been said, or who Kellen and the others were. They just knew that they had said terrible things about the two people who had helped them. They had to be apologetic. He wondered how big of a reaction he would get once they realised what exactly they had done.

~

Rhys was at the back, Sergei at the front while Kellen and Brent were in between them as they came back into the meeting room that they had left. Kellen was right about what he had been smelling, and his shoulders relaxed. Was he that excited that he was going to have to chew as much as he needed to to recover? No, but that was fine. He could at least enjoy it.

He was severely missing Taylor’s creation at this moment, and he slid a look towards Brent. Brent also looked excited, and a bit...tired. Like Kellen. The table was covered and set invitingly for just two people. Two plates, two sets of cutlery, two piles of napkins. Kellen was almost stunned until he felt a gentle hand on the middle of his back. A careful nudge.

"Go on." Rhys’ voice had an edge to it that Kellen couldn’t quite place, but Kellen nodded. Kellen’s parents and Aunt Dina were at the end of the room, expressions clouded over, anger still ripe and fresh in the air. It was a strange combo, anger and fried chicken, but Kellen didn’t mind.

He’d eaten in worse conditions before.

"Understood." Kellen said, focused on his own body’s health over everything else in the moment. He had to be at his peak, especially right now. He was still healing, people wanted Brent and Kellen dead, and he had to encounter more S Classes like these two. If something suspicious was going on, Kellen would need to help more ungrateful S Classes in the future.

Not that he could blame them. He’d barely had his hint of insanity, and these were well seasoned and surprised veterans. Kellen, unlike them, had slowly and carefully jumped levels. He had meandered into his insanity, to the point that he needed someone else to tell him about it. Kellen could give them a little bit a leeway where he couldn’t before. Kellen could have some sympathy where before he had none. See? Kellen was growing as a person.

Kellen moved towards the piles of food and containers, Rhys pulling out his chair for him before pushing Kellen closer to the table. When Kellen glanced over, he noticed that Sergei was attempting to do the same for Brent and Brent’s cheeks were pink. It was cute, even as his skin was a paler shade and his cheeks were sunken in. ℴ

Sergei’s expression was hard, his eyes still the silvery colour of his powers. Kellen wondered if Rhys’ expression was the same, so he checked. He turned his head, glancing back at the man who had guided him to his seat and pushed him in with a gentle hand on the middle of his back and found a beast staring back at him.

Rhys wasn’t angry like the others. There was something deeper, more to his anger that Kellen couldn’t put a finger on. The two Espers? The ones who had been placed near the angry man were silent, quiet, and on their best behaviour now as they watched the others take care of the Guides who had essentially saved their lives.

Kellen wondered what he could say to soothe him, calm him down, but he didn’t think he could at the moment. Kellen had a feeling, a suspicious one that might have come from his newfound powers, or from his growing knowledge of Rhys, that the man wouldn’t be okay until he saw Kellen fuller, better. Healthy once more.

"Can you introduce yourselves and explain what happened while we eat?" Kellen asked, directing his words towards the Espers, but not looking at them. That meant it took them a second to realise what Kellen had asked of them, and the male jerked. He was the far more jumpy and nervous of the two, which did make a bit of sense. Powers did tend to affect Espers as time went on. Especially the elemental types. Gunther was usually calmer, Miro was more grounded, his Aunt had a fiery temper, and he chose not to know that many air types because he wasn’t compatible with them.

"Uh, yes, we can." He looked embarrassed, as he should, Kellen thought. This was an embarrassing thing to have done and had to experience. Being treated like a criminal because you kind of are, while others eat because your state has sucked the literal life out of them. "I’m Captain Tyler Mckay of the Wilden region and this is Captain Winnie Gordson representing the Elder region." Those were two of the smaller, but oldest regions that were still left after the first gates came into the world.

Kellen ripped into a box, dragging it closer. He looked at his glove, wondering if it was okay to get it covered in chicken grease. It was as he was thinking this that two hands came from behind him and began to tear the chicken apart, placing it on the plate. Kellen glanced up and realised, much to Brent’s pink face, that Sergei was doing the same. Kellen turned to Rhys and smiled.

"Thank you, darling." Rhys paused, as did Sergei for a brief second, but the room felt less tense after Kellen thanked Rhys. "You’ve come from a pretty far distance." Kellen commented, turning back to the two Captains. They both nodded.

"We left early because we were anxious to see some of our friends." Captain Gordson said, before she blushed. "We had no idea...what we would encounter and how poorly we would act after." It sounded like it was exactly as Kellen had feared.

"Were you attacked?" His Aunt asked, and both Captains nodded, shifting awkwardly on their feet.

"We were, which was quite surprising. We did several scans before we left, made sure that there were no discrepancies within our own front lines, and put many, many failsafe’s in place before we left. If Captain Mckay hadn’t arrived when he had...I might have made a bigger mess of everything then I already have." She muttered, looking almost broken. She raised her gaze to Kellen, and to Brent. "I am so sorry. I have no excuses for my behaviour even if I was nearly insane from using my powers." Kellen and Brent both relaxed. They knew what that kind of loss did to someone.

They were Field Guides, after all. They dealt with this quite a bit.

"It’s forgiven if you tell us more information about what happened." Kellen told her, and watched as she stared at them in surprise. Kellen gave a knowing smile. "We’re Field Guides, captains. We, of all people, would understand something like this. If you put all the planning into place and still something happened, we can forgive you. However, I don’t think the other Espers are as forgiving." Kellen gestured to the two men hovering around Brent and Kellen, and then the three looming at the end of the table. The list didn’t even include the Lieutenants, and Kellen had included his Dad as part of the group.

From the way that he was glaring at the Espers, it wasn’t far off to suggest it either.

They both nodded, but Kellen could tell that they had relaxed a bit at hearing that they were Field Guides.

"My apologies, again. While you two are Field Guides, that only means you weren’t as afraid of us. You two must be greatly skilled if you were able to rotate between two S Classes." Captain Mckay said. Kellen chuckled.

"I would say so." Kellen agreed, but gave nothing else up. It was a clear fishing attempt, but even Kellen wasn’t so foolish to reveal their Classes right now. He knew they were S Classes, they didn’t know what they were.