Chapter 304: Brent, the runner up

"You’re up, kid." Aunt Dina said, getting to her feet with a groan. "Unless you want Rhys to keep monologuing about your deep, deep friendship?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, and Brent shuddered.

"Absolutely not. I do not need Kellen beating me to within an inch of my life. Nor do I want Sergei to do the same to Rhys." Brent muttered, getting to his own feet. He dusted himself off, catching the way she was smiling out of the corner of his eye, but when he glanced up her face was flat.

"Alright. Let’s go, then." She said, nodding towards the door. Brent glanced towards Mr. Caulder, seeing how he was hovering a bit anxiously near the door. Brent smiled at him, nodded, and knew that he was a pretty accurate representation of how Brent was feeling on the inside right now.

Nervous, but not able to do anything about the situation he found himself in.

Brent just had to put his life in the hands of Kellen, Rhys, and Sergei. And the dozen or so other S Classes that had stuck around just to give a middle finger to the E.A.G. That should have sounded soothing, but it felt like a weight had been placed on Brent’s shoulders, not taken off.

Brent followed Aunt Dina out of the small room and into the lobby. They’d just been in a converted storage room off of the coffee shop on the main floor. No one would have suspected that they were there, and as the lobby was full of Phoenix Guild members, no one would.

As they approached the front doors, Brent let out a low, heavy sigh.

"Do you think they’ll make it quick?" Brent asked, and Aunt Dina turned and scowled at him.

"Don’t even joke about that." She warned, her eyes going fiery bright. "That’s not funny, Brent." Brent had been so worried about his own situation that he had forgotten what it must be like for her. Brent softened immediately, his own concerns gone.

"I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking, I just-I was just wondering if Rhys had provoked them enough." Brent tried to cover but Aunt Dina wasn’t buying it.

"As much as I have faith in Kellen and that Esper, that does not mean you should joke about those who are after your life, Brent. Never. You hear me? I have protected you long enough, prevented any attacks against you, you do not joke about that." Her voice trembled slightly and Brent, feeling like an asshole, reached out with his hand and squeezed hers.

"I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me." Brent apologised. They stood in the doorway of the Guild and Brent knew in the back of his mind that this was not the best place for them to stand. However, he needed to apologise to Aunt Dina. He could not leave with her angry.

She huffed, her eyes softening as Brent squeezed her hand again.

"I would ruffle your hair if I didn’t know that you had an important speech to make. Don’t worry, I’m not mad. Now come on." She said, tugging on his hand and opening the door. She released his hand as soon as they both stepped out, her face falling into a rather professional expression as they crossed the grounds.

Brent nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight before him. He hadn’t realised what he was about to walk into when he’d seen it from the audience’s perspective, but now that he was on the other side, he felt ill.

There was a good reason that a row of stone-faced Espers were guarding the area since rows upon rows of reporters were pushing against what appeared to be an invisible line. The Espers had to be doing that, probably Sergei if Brent was realistic with himself. The man wasn’t as obvious as Rhys was, but he clearly would not let anyone else step in.

Well, anyone but Kellen.

At this point, Brent wondered who could stop Kellen since Rhys...Rhys wasn’t going to do it.

A long red carpet was rolled out, leading to the stage steps. Brent hadn’t been aware of it for some reason, or maybe he just hadn’t been looking at Rhys’ feet when he walked out. In Brent’s case, he was glad that there was an easy to follow line that he could follow directly to the stage.

He was practically shaking in his leather shoes, even if his face was calm, neutral. He was about as afraid as he had been before he’d started teaching. That first class? He was a mess inside. He just hoped he faked it as well as he had back then.

Aunt Dina was leading the way, lights were flashing from the audience of reporters, and the cameras that Brent had been watching Rhys on were hovering over the crowd. He hadn’t realised that people weren’t directing them, or at least not several people. Instead it had to be a telekinetic or several controlling the vantage point and angle. It was kind of impressive, if Brent was honest with himself.

Not impressive enough to distract him from where he was placing his feet as he walked, but almost.

He could hear the chattering amongst the crowd, and he was certain that the camera could pick out distinct words and phrases, but Brent felt deaf to their words. His own heart was trying to strangle him, his pulse loud in his ears. He couldn’t hear anything outside of his own breathing and the racing heart in his chest.

"Brent, I’ll speak first." Aunt Dina whispered and Brent nodded. She’d spoken just loud enough that Brent could hear her, and said his name so that he knew she was talking to him. He wondered if that told her that he wasn’t doing as well as he thought. Brent didn’t care. He just followed her lead up the steps and stood behind her and to the left side when she got to the podium.

He scanned the audience, wondering if anyone had attempted to show up and kill him the old fashioned way but between the flashing lights and his own anxiety getting the better of him, he couldn’t pick out faces. Would he even recognise the faces of his siblings and cousins at this point? That was a bigger, and better question.

"Welcome, everyone. I thought it was prudent that I said a few words before Mr. James decided to speak." She said, and a hush fell over the crowd. "We wanted to thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedules to hear our joint message, in tandem with Mr. James, and how we plan to move towards a better future going forward." Aunt Dina said.

If Rhys was good at public speaking, she was no slouch either. They were going to make Brent look inept. Had they no care for his delicate heart and ego?

"I would like to say that it has been a pleasure to have Mr. James stay with us during his time back home. After the tragic passing of his grandfather, he made the trek back to the city through no means of his own to hear the reading of the will. We were lucky enough to rescue him from a situation with the police after an incident occurred with the E.A.G., but I doubt anyone here has heard about that." She gave a small smirk, digging into the city’s police while she was at it. "If you would like further details on that messy situation and how a civilian died and the police covered it up, feel free to contact our support team." Aunt Dina added.

"With that said, I would personally like to endorse Mr. James as the next head of the James family. I see a bright future, built on respect, understanding, and a kindness we haven’t seen from the James family in the last 15 years since his older brother took over the family and the Chronos Guild without permission from his grandfather. Mr. James would never do such a thing." Aunt Dina said. "Whatever rumours you’ve heard about him are wrong. I have read the same papers as you, watched the same programs, and saw the same slander. I promise you, the man that we’ve been told about and the man that is before you is not the same. Please welcome, Mr. Brent James." She stepped to the right, making a wide gesture for Brent to step forward.

Brent did, swallowing thickly, his eyes glancing around as he stepped towards the podium. He gave a soft, timid smile, scanning the audience as the cameras flashed and Aunt Dina gave his shoulder a squeeze. Brent glanced at her, noticed the slight hesitation in leaving him there alone, but Brent nodded. It would be okay.

Kellen was behind him. Brent could feel it. Whatever he was doing, he wasn’t hiding it from Brent. He hadn’t felt it immediately, but his guide senses would never lie to him and Kellen? Kellen was making sure that whatever happened next would not be the end of Brent Jameson.

That’s all Brent needed to know.

"Thank you, Captain Dina and Captain Thatcher. I feel like I have rather large shoes to fill after both of you have given such stirring speeches." Brent said, his smile freezing on his face as he caught the bright red light of a camera on his face. Fuck, fuck! Get it together, Brent!

"I’ll apologise upfront, I’m not as great of a speaker as either of them. For most of my life I’ve tended to let others speak for me, as I’m sure you’ve noticed." Brent gave a small, self-deprecating smile. "And I’ve been fine with that. Until my grandfather passed." Brent sighed. He reached for the podium, grabbing hold of it so that his hand didn’t shake. "I won’t get into the nitty gritty of my only family drama, as I feel most families have their own issues, but suffice to say, my grandfather was a complicated man. I would never call him a good man by no stretch of the world, but he realised what he had done wrong by the time I hit adulthood, or just before." Brent let out a shaky breath. "He realised that handing his legacy over to fucking psychopaths wasn’t what he wanted." Brent winced as he swore, but what else could he do?

He’d already apologised.

"So, here I am. The most sane member of the James family. Crazy, isn’t it? How did the man with one arm end up being the normal one, right?" Brent laughed and no one else laughed with him. Tough fucking crowd. When the hell was Colby going to get here?

"Well, the short answer is that I wasn’t. Not at first, anyways. Getting away from the city gave me a new lease on life, and a new perspective. I saw how they lived in a different part of the world and it really got me thinking. How was it that we decided the way that we’re currently living is the right way? With corruption and greed behind every closed door? Where strangers and neighbours turn a blind eye to those in need? We’re humans at the end of the day, and just because I happened to be born with more powers then someone else does not mean I have a right to treat them differently. How much money I have in my pocket doesn’t dictate that I can be an asshole to some random guy or girl on the street." Brent felt he was rambling.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. The silence that filled the air as he attempted to calm himself made Brent want to vomit. They were waiting for him to continue, waiting for him to speak. He never wanted to do this shit again.

"Which is why, when I found out that I was the actual official head of the James family from my grandfather’s lawyer, I knew it was only a matter of time before-" Brent didn’t get to finish his sentence, Colby having impeccable timing when it came to protecting his brother’s name. Brent was just about to say that he was the one who had tried to kill him when Colby blinked into existence beside him.

The audience didn’t even have time to react, but neither did Colby. There was only one person who was quick, and that person was named Kellen Woods.