Chapter 334: Not everyone gets beaten up

Kellen was woken up several times during the night to guide his people. He never asked questions, and never judged. They did come to him relatively clean, and Kellen didn’t care either. What they were doing was none of his business beyond his offer of help.

He didn’t see Sergei, which meant that he was probably staying with Brent. Good. Kellen was glad for it. His friend, while strong and courageous, probably needed a little extra support.

It wasn’t until the morning when Kellen was told that yes, they had punished Colby, but they had also taken the time to speak to the woman who attempted to kidnap Kellen. Speak with her was a rather loose term, since Kellen felt that his Mom would have wanted very little to do with talking given how angry she had been when she’d heard about what she had done.

Nevertheless, talk to her they did, and they found out that much like Elder Ellis, she had been reached out to by the E.A.G. Unlike Elder Ellis, she had been rather resistant for a long time and had only humoured them this last time. She hadn’t thought that there was anything wrong with giving them a bit of information, especially if it didn’t involve Guides.

It was amazing that she had thought it wouldn’t be harmful to them or anyone she cared about, but, given that Kellen knew that like Elder Ellis she had a hard time with guiding, she probably wasn’t thinking clearly. It wasn’t an excuse, it just helped explain a few things.

It seemed, as was told to Kellen while he was upstairs eating breakfast with the others, Rhys at his side but Brent and Sergei still asleep, that Aunt Dina, much to his Mom’s protests, had found a Guide who would be able to take care of the woman properly before they spoke. Kellen’s Mom was greatly opposed to that, a bit blinded by her double anger at the woman.

One, for attacking her son, and two, for bringing disgrace to the Esper power that they shared. However, Aunt Dina was able to see things a little clearer, and she didn’t want to just harm the woman and punish her without her being able to understand exactly what she had done wrong.

As soon as she had reached a certain level of balance in her body, something seemed to overcome her. Especially because it wasn’t just Kellen who was able to Guide her safely, it seemed like something inside of her broke.

Aunt Dina had been keeping this quiet from the others, not because she was hiding it from them, but because she was trying to get as much information as she could out of her.

It seemed that she knew that there were other people who had been attending that the E.A.G. had been courting, but that she was unaware of who they were. Identities had not been revealed to her, which had made her more on edge. She had no idea what they were going to disclose and she had been humming and hawing about if she was actually going to tell them anything, up until Kellen had come forward and explained everything.

Things had only gotten worse when Kellen had guided her and she had felt relief for the first time in years. She had been under the impression that there was just something wrong with her, and that the initial mission of the E.A.G. wasn’t horrible since they were just looking for relief and understanding for Espers. She had only been able to see things through an Esper lens because she was an Esper and her mind had been plagued because of her powers.

That brief moment of light, of relief, and flipped something for the worse inside of her and she’d gotten possessive. She had never considered that she would be that person. She’d avoided it her whole life up until that point and she was deeply, deeply apologetic for her actions.

She knew that they could never forgive her. She didn’t even want her forgiveness, and she seemed to be completely ready to die for the transgressions she’d committed. Aunt Dina revealed all of this before explaining what had happened after they were finished with Colby.

Kellen’s Mom looked sheepish, if not a little bitter. It appeared as if she had wanted to harm the Esper too much. Kellen, who hadn’t really seen this side of her before, was shocked, and then worried if his Mom wasn’t being guided enough.

When he looked over at his father, he looked thin. Not unhealthy, but thin. It was clear that his Dad was taking his guiding duties very seriously, his Mom just seemed out for blood for this woman. Kellen had no idea why when even Rhys wasn’t breathing down her neck, trying to take her life.

It was Aunt Dina who had kept his Mom off of the other woman, protecting her from Kellen’s Mom and protecting her Guild as well. Kellen was stunned, but kept his mouth shut as Aunt Dina explained further.

The information they had gotten out of her after they’d brought her to the bloody room hadn’t been extensive. They also had made no effort to clean up their mess after Colby. Part intimidation tactic, part laziness. Kellen was already in charge of guiding all of them at that moment and they hadn’t wanted to stretch him further.

She’d explained that she was ready to face any punishment, but how she was also ready to be a double agent. She would accept anything they handed down to her, she was just grateful that they had provided a Guide with the same abilities as Kellen before she died.

It wasn’t truly intentional on Aunt Dina’s side, she had just remembered a passing remark Kellen had made about one of the Guides she had called in to help with the S Classes that were staying in the Guild building.

How Kellen had, without much thought, mentioned that one of the Guides had reminded him of himself. Kellen hadn’t even remembered making that comment, probably thinking about Carlos, Isabelle, and in turn, his sister, but Aunt Dina had stored that away.

That was the Guide who had helped this Esper, and had in turn, saved her enough to repent her actions. It was a disturbing trend, Kellen noticed. One that he was sure the others hadn’t missed as well.

Everyone knew that Guides were the life force that kept Espers sane.

It appeared, however, with the emergence of Guiding Centers and Field Guides, some Espers might have forgotten how dangerous it was for Espers to live in a state where their powers were pressing down on their brains and harming them.

When Aunt Dina spoke of that, Kellen’s Mom dropped her head, and his Dad pulled her closer. Kellen watched, surprised, but then stopped himself. He shouldn’t be surprised. His Mom was imprinted. She knew how dangerous it was to be unguided, but she hadn’t had to worry about that for almost 30 years now. She’d been taken care of by her husband this whole time and that might have clouded her perception on some of the finer details.

Kellen didn’t speak on any of this, but he did subtly look at Elder Ellis, who was sitting at the table quietly. Rhys and Kellen were the only two at the table who knew how he’d almost completely betrayed them, worse than how the Esper in the jail had done.

Sure, she’d attacked Kellen, but it wasn’t to kill him. She had wanted to monopolize him, which after having to deal with Colby and the other attempts on Brent’s life, made Kellen want to laugh. She was the lesser of two evils, who had also confessed that there were more people that the E.A.G. had been courting.

He just sat calmly, not making it obvious if these words affected him, and Kellen sighed.

Aunt Dina ended her debrief of the situation by explaining that she wanted to take her up on her offer. Have her act as a confirmed spy by them, feed her a different story compared to the one that was publicly announced the day prior, and see what happened. Kellen was surprised by his Aunt’s words, but Rhys wasn’t.

He was actually nodding along. Rhys was on the side of doing this, of having her act as a double agent because he wanted to sow discord between the spies. He wanted them to be confused. He wanted them to feel cocky, and then fall. He had no sympathy with people who had infiltrated their own ranks to harm his people. He instead wanted to make them suffer, make them feel doubtful and full of fear.

He was willing to be understanding up to a point, but if they were still on the E.A.G.’s side after what Kellen explained that they were doing? No, he didn’t need to feel sympathy for them anymore. If the woman had acted simply because she’d felt a glimmer of hope, how could Rhys judge her? He’d done the same.

Kellen had wanted to argue with that, but Rhys wouldn’t let him. After all, Rhys had drained Kellen of all of his powers and started this mess. There was no way that Rhys would ever be able to say anything in the face of that truth.

Kellen, annoyed that he brought it up like that when Kellen only saw it positively, was ready to argue when Aunt Dina piped up, trying to prevent any arguments at the table.

She was glad that Rhys was on her side. She had also spoken to the Esper as well and they were happy to be of service. Even if it meant that her name would be tarnished, that was fine. If it meant that more Guides like Kellen and the Guide who had helped her survived, she was happy to be the sacrifice. She wanted to be able to fuck with the E.A.G. even more, mess up their plans, and have Kellen and his people be able to behave however they wanted.

That was what Aunt Dina said, at least.

Kellen was banned from speaking to this woman. From everyone at the table, including Elder Ellis. It was one thing for her to say that she was better, she was content, she felt at peace. They had no idea if that would be the case if she saw Kellen after everything. She might say she was fine, but the others didn’t seem convinced.

Kellen thought they were being ridiculous, but Rhys and Kellen’s Mom? They were positive that the woman would react strongly to the sight of Kellen. He just took their word for it. It wasn’t a battle he needed to fight, after all.

So, the breakfast meeting ended, with two things being decided. Colby would be kept alive, barely, in the jail in the basement in a better secured room. They hadn’t killed him simply because he might be a bargaining chip later down the line. Kellen wasn’t sure if that was possible, but with Brent not here to argue with them, it was left as it was.

The woman would be released after being fed false information, and she would be messed up in a way that made it seem like she was able to escape. They would even set it up so that it was believable, because, after all, she was an Invisibility Esper.

She could be able to escape if the right conditions were met.

When that would happen? After the first phase of their investigation plan was put forward, the escape would also be planned around that time as well. Have the two coincide since there would be ’less Espers’ keeping an eye on the jail. It was an easy excuse, but a believable one. Too easy, but sometimes that was all you needed.

With time inching closer and closer to that date, Kellen could only sit back and wait. They’d spent so long filled with anger and rage towards this group that it actually felt nice to know more about how they were able to get under other’s skin, and know that with a few acts of kindness, some people could be saved.

However, Kellen was very much his Mother’s child, and the burning desire to punish those who had hurt him and his people wouldn’t leave. He hoped this plan truly fucked up the E.A.G.’s plan.