Chapter 345: Eager to get to the others

The two Wind Espers came back, without masks, and looked relieved.

"Thankfully, opening the windows was a great help and the fresh air naturally helped cycle out the poison. We did a lap of each floor to make sure that we could walk through without our masks, but it seems, just like when we first entered this floor, the next three might be poisoned as well." The Wind Esper said. That had Kellen frowning, but Zaria looked excited.

"Now that you have more Espers here and on your side, this should help." She said excitedly. "We’ll be able to clear areas faster. With six masks, that’s twice as fast. Plus, if the safe room is safe, that’s a place where all of the Guides can rest without worry." She added. "The lower floors are cleared, the elevators are still shut down, no one will be able to get to anyone without our permission." She said.

Kellen wanted to believe her, he did, but that damn sneaking suspicion kept him from being positive.

"We have to check the safe room first before we can agree. At the very least, the injured and unconscious Guides should go there." Kellen agreed and Lieutenant Zaria nodded. Sergei and the other S Class’ agreed and so, the group began to move.

They all moved to the safe room, the Espers helping carry the injured Guide on a makeshift stretcher up the flight of stairs. Of course, everyone was cautious, keeping an eye out in case things had suddenly changed and more intruders were coming down to attack. Thankfully, they didn’t run into anyone and they made it to the next floor with ease.

Kellen, Brent and Zaria led the way, Sergei and the other Telekinetic hanging back a bit because they could use their powers from a distance. The other Espers and Guides were in the center, protected but cautious as they moved towards the safe room. Kellen let Zaria take the lead since she would know the code off by heart, and he was right.

She led them into a small room, similar to where the other safe room was, and flipped a panel before she began typing in the code.

Kellen held his breath as he waited for the door to open and when it did, the sound of a pressure release almost made Kellen relax. When the door opened, it wasn’t to find the bodies of six more people, but instead to find the panicked, worried gazes of six civilians.

"Lieutenant Zaria?" They called. "Is it over?" The one at the front asked. Kellen scanned them, taking in their general health and the size of the safe room. This one was bigger than the previous, probably due to the fact that there normally were people working on this level. Zaria sighed.

"No. In fact, we’re here to add more people to this safe room, if that’s alright with you." Zaria told them and watched their faces fall.

"Oh no. How much longer?" One of the other civilians asked. "My research is very important." They said and Kellen felt his lips twitch. Figures that they were in a rather dangerous situation and they were worried about their research.

"Your safety comes before your research." Kellen said, interrupting. "However, we are working on fixing this issue as fast as we possibly can. Please have patience, and please, when we close this door, do not open it for anyone who is knocking. They have to put the code in first." Kellen warned.

He didn’t know where he spoke that from, but they just nodded.

"O-Okay." They agreed.

They then switched spots with the Guides, letting them pour into the space and there were emergency beds for the injured already set up. Sergei along with two others went up and gathered the unconscious Guides. They were brought down in record time and then two Espers elected to stay back with the Guides. The Fire and one of the Physical strength Espers. Both were originally Espers of the Phoenix Guild and so Kellen and Zaria felt better leaving them behind.

Just to be safe, Kellen gave them a thorough scan. Did he know if that would work for his powers? Absolutely not, but he wasn’t about to not give it a try. Things seemed okay, so after waving goodbye to the others, the group closed the door and made it look like they hadn’t been there.

Kellen was so, so grateful that it had a seal on the door. Even Zaria looked relieved.

"I knew of it, but I wasn’t sure if it would work." She admitted quietly once they were far enough from the safe room. "I just prayed that it worked." She said. Kellen nodded, grateful that it worked too.

Quietly, the group climbed to the top floor again, checking to make sure that the trio that they had knocked unconscious were still that, along with the other bad guys that they had gathered. Kellen found that Sergei and the others had ’tied’ them up more, and Kellen wasn’t upset about it. It was a genius way to make sure that they couldn’t run away, and if someone wanted to play with the pinatas, Kellen wasn’t going to argue.

Kellen removed his mask as they approached the next steps to confirm what the others had said, and they were right. There was poison.

Zaria hissed, grabbing Kellen’s arm and pulling him back and out of danger.

"Kellen Woods! Are you insane? That’s-"

"Not strong enough to even hurt me." Kellen said. "It’s like a mosquito bite. It’ll hurt you, but not me." Kellen told her boldly. Zaria didn’t look like she believed him, but when she turned to Brent and Sergei for help, neither of them had anything they could say. Nor could the other Wind Esper.

"Come on. It’s not time to argue. You can create a bubble to protect us as we go up. I don’t want to break a window to drain the area yet until we know what we’re faced with.

~

Much like the floors that they had just cleared, there were intruders. Kellen shot first, asked questions after, switched out their weapons for fresh ones, and got more masks for the others so that everyone was safely equipped to clear the poison levels.

There were six more intruders, and these floors were mostly used for Guides so they were empty. That was a small blessing in Kellen’s mind and seemed to make Zaria relax as well. They were getting closer to the more occupied rooms, and that had Zaria on fucking edge. Kellen too.

He couldn’t begin to imagine how much danger or damage could have been inflicted on the Guild by now.

Unfortunately, Rhys and the others hadn’t come down yet. There had been no sign of them, which fed into Kellen’s belief that something was blocking interference with them. It worried Kellen, since they were S Classes, but he kept his worries to himself now. He didn’t want to give the others anything to worry about, or feed into their own worries. For now, it was best to keep these thoughts to himself and push on.

He knew he could work though his fears, he wasn’t sure if everyone else could. They were S Classes, not gods.

They cleared each floor, finding the gas bombs and while Zaria and Kellen went up to the next floor, the other Wind Esper hung back with Brent and a few of the other Espers and began to clear out the floor below.

It was a thorough, important clearing, and instead of breaking a window, Kellen tossed the bombs out of the windows that they could open. It was a lot more efficient and didn’t send the Espers around him into a panic.

By the time they got to the next floor and stairwell, everyone was on edge, exhausted, and the stress was getting to everyone. Kellen was a little hungry, but if they continued at this rate, they would be getting to kitchens and living spaces soon.

That terrified Kellen, and terrified the others as well. Unlike at the Saturn Guild, they had one elevator or one elevator bay that went through the whole building. They didn’t break it off, and Kellen could see it in Zaria’s body that she was panicking about that.

He felt that a lot of things would change after they got through this.

The group waited at the top floor, Zaria going back down to help speed up the clearing process, while Kellen and the others stood around, waiting. Kellen kept his eyes trained on the next door, always watchful, always on guard.

Sergei stayed with him, also on alert.

"Sense anything?" He asked, barely audible. Kellen shook his head briefly. Sergei exhaled. "Annoying." He muttered and Kellen let out a bark of a laugh.

"Tell me about it. I wish I was like Rhys and able to see all futures and select which one I want." Kellen muttered. Sergei chuckled.

"I think we’d all like to be able to do that, but Rhys also shows me what the cost of that is." Sergei replied. Kellen frowned. Didn’t he know it.

"I just can’t believe that he hasn’t come looking yet." Kellen muttered, a little annoyed himself. Sergei placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It’s only because I’m here." Sergei said. Kellen, curious, turned to look at him.

"You sound confident about that." Kellen said, suspicious and Sergei gave a small grin.

"We talked about it. It’s why Brent is always subtly with you and Rhys whenever I’m busy. A bond of sorts." Wow. Just...wow. And neither man thought to discuss it with Brent or Kellen?

"You’re both getting a tongue-lashing after this." Kellen muttered quietly. Sergei chuckled.

"I’m sure neither of us will mind, as long as Brent does mine, and you do his." Sergei said. Kellen should have expected something like this. They fought like cats and dogs sometimes, but the two were oddly in sync where it mattered. Like protecting those that were close to them and the places that mattered to them.

Kellen wanted to grumble about it more, but he didn’t. He held his tongue, even as he gave Sergei a bit of a glare. Sergei nodded in response, both men turning to stare at the door to the next stairwell.

Kellen just hoped that things went smoother as they went up, not harder.