Chapter 350: Captain Sakura and Gunther to the rescue

Captain Sakura stared at the looping feed, her mind racing as the others around her scrambled in the Saturn Guild’s conference room.

"How long has this been going on?" She asked for the second time, the situation so alarming that she just needed to hear it again.

"Three hours, Captain." Hill clarified, looking as grim as the situation felt. She’d originally was supposed to be in the call as well, but something had come up with Carlos as she’d had to divert and speak to him first. Veronica had been sitting in for her until she arrived, but it was also Veronica who had called for her, telling her that something was terribly wrong.

Sakura was clearly getting there late, and from the panicked, concerned looks on everyone’s face in the conference room, this was not a joke.

"Is this a looping image?" She asked. She could tell that the question frustrated the others, but she was walking into this blind. There were a few things that she was going to ask that were probably going to frustrate them. Hill shifted on her feet, while the Head Healer, Ms. Green, looked pissed and ill at the same time.

Carlos only had good things to say about her, and she was friends with Kellen at the same school that Sakura had gone to, but she didn’t know the girl well. Carlos’ endorsement of her did make her wary of the woman.

"We don’t think so." Hill told her. Her eyes weren’t brown, but the rich, bright orange colours of her powers. She was worked up, but remarkably calm outside of her eye colour change. It made sense. They all worked with a damn freak of an S Class, and Kellen, so they had to have cool heads in strange situations.

"You don’t think so? How can you be so sure?" She asked and movement drew her attention. It was a rather small man, nervous and nerdy, who raised his hand while he spun in his chair to draw her attention.

"I’ve examined the image and while it looks like there is no change, there are minor ones. There was also the period of time when Captain Thatcher was also in the frame and then...he left." Sakura frowned.

"Do you have that footage saved? Can we review it without bothering the livestream?" She asked and Hill nodded.

"Thankfully, our team is skilled and Captain Thatcher gave me a reasonable budget when it came to getting equipment. We’ve also looked it over and it’s...it only leaves more questions, then answers, Captain Sakura." Sakura frowned at Hill’s serious voice. She didn’t like hearing the fun-loving woman so drawn and focused. That only told Sakura how serious this was to them, and from the looks Veronica was giving her, she thought this was a rather strange situation as well.

Hill had another person bring up the footage in question, and Sakura watched. At first, the footage looked the same as to what was repeating on the big screen. That was until she realised that Rhys was in it.

He wasn’t...looping like the others, either. It was subtle, but it honestly looked like...he was lost in thought? Focused on something else? He wasn’t paying attention to what the others were saying, that much was clear.

"I’ll fast forward a few minutes." Hill muttered softly, and Sakura nodded.

They watched together, everyone holding their breath as the minutes slipped by until Rhys seemed to suddenly become aware of what was going on. He looked around the room, his face scrunching up as he realised something wasn’t quite right. The camera on their side was fixed facing away from their screen so when he stood up and approached them she frowned. Then she heard something strange, like he was attempting to break down the door.

"Why would he need to do that?" She muttered and Hill sighed.

"That’s what I mean. This isn’t just a looping image if he was able to just get up and leave, which begs the question,"

"Why was he able to do that?" Sakura finished, pulling up to her full height, even more confused now. "They can’t hear us?" She asked and Hill nodded.

"We’ve tried several times, over and over, to speak out. Even when Captain Thatcher was moving about, but he seemed unable to hear us. Something is clearly interfering, I just don’t know what." Hill hesitated. "We also can’t get into contact with anyone. Kellen, Captain Thatcher, Captain Sergei, Brent, none of the other Espers that we could reach out to as well." Hill explained.

"That we have numbers to." Ms. Green clarified, then cleared her throat awkwardly. Sakura nodded, taking their words for what they were worth. They were clearly calling Sakura here to see if she had more contacts outside of the Phoenix Guild, which she did. However, she had a few questions before she reached out.

"Can Rhys do something like this?" She asked, clearly seeing the connection. "If this isn’t a looping image, is this something that Rhys can do?" Sakura asked.

The room grew uncomfortably silent and Gunther, the right hand man of Rhys, stood up from where he’d been sitting. He’d been silent until now, his expression rather tense and tight, but at Sakura’s question, he knew he had to give his two cents.

"He said he wouldn’t do something like this ever again." Gunther said slowly, seeming to surprise some of his staff, but not his fellow Lieutenants. Even Ms. Green didn’t seem surprised. Sakura stared at him, meeting the dark, unfathomable gaze of the Water Esper.

"But he has done this before?" She asked. Gunther nodded.

"When we were first captured by the D.E.C. and the powers that be. On much smaller scales, but he was forced to do something like this." Gunther explained. Sakura felt her own mouth water, bile rising up in her throat at his words.

Saying they were captured was a good way to put it. It was how she had felt when the D.E.C. had gotten their grimy little hands on her. Especially that damn Tom.

The humiliation she had suffered at his hands would not, could not, be forgotten. There were so many things that had happened that listing them felt meaningless. However, there was one thing she could agree with. It was a shame that Rhys and Gunther had gone through what she had, even marginally.

"So not something exactly like this? To be clear, I’m not accusing Rhys of anything, but I am seeing a Time phenomenon and I’m just trying to understand the situation." Sakura said as she felt the room tense. Gunther didn’t react, his eyes steady as he looked at her. They weren’t even glowing blue.

"I think it’s a Time phenomenon, but there is no way that it’s Rhys. There is also a rather low chance that whoever did this is alive, sane, or both." Gunther explained plainly. Sakura frowned.

"What do you mean?" She asked and Gunther huffed.

"Rhys is the kind of man who saw what being an SS Class would do to him and said no thanks in the split second he could make a choice with his newfound powers. I already told you he hasn’t done something on this scale and yet you’re seeing something that is not only affecting their building, but ours to some degree. He’s an S Class Time Esper, probably the only of his kind, but maybe not after seeing this footage. If he couldn’t remain sane while doing what he’d done with the D.E.C., who else could?"

That was a big secret for Gunther to expose. That Rhys had lost his sanity at any point.

Or, maybe it wasn’t, given how it was only the outsiders like Sakura and Veronica, that seemed to find that information shocking.

"So, what you’re saying is that there are probably other Time Espers out there, but that they either died doing this, or have lost all of their sanity?" She clarified, and Gunther nodded.

"That’s what my guess is, and that the reason why Rhys isn’t affected by it is because he is a Time Esper and can move independently through something like this. I wish we had more views of what was going on, but that seems like wishful thinking." Gunther said sadly. Sakura stared at Gunther, processing what he had said, before she sighed and pulled out her phone.

She tossed it to Veronica, knowing that she would be far quicker at doing anything then Sakura ever would. Veronica didn’t miss a step. She was marching over to Hill’s side in a heartbeat, already pulling up the first contact.

"I hope that it isn’t what you’re thinking, Gunther." Sakura said, coming to join him at his side. Gunther nodded, his hands behind his back, but she could see how tightly he was holding himself. He was panicking, but he was doing his best to put on a brave face for even his own team.

Of course he would. This was the same man who had taken on a bunch of hate for ’leaving’ the Guild after a blowout fight with Rhys. He would do anything for them, for the Guild. For Rhys.

"Were you ever in love with Rhys?" Sakura asked. Gunther froze.

"What?" He asked, horrified. Sakura shrugged.

"What? I think it’s a valid question. This kind of devotion usually comes with a kind of a cost. I don’t think it’s that out of line to ask." Sakura muttered. Gunther turned away from her, scoffing loudly.

"If you ever ask me that again I’m going to dunk you in a body of water." Gunther threatened. It was a valid threat.

"Noted." Sakura said, holding her tongue. After a long, heavy pause, Gunther sighed.

"No. He was more like a big brother to me." Gunther admitted. "We’re the same age, but...he was always mature, even as a kid. Of course I’d be devoted to my big bro." Gunther sounded embarrassed, his cheeks slightly pink, and Sakura was delighted to learn a little bit more about this weird Guild.

"Thank you for answering the question." Sakura said, before hesitating. "I have a relatively similar, but not quite the same platonic love for Kellen." She told him. Gunther gave a small nod, and neither spoke of it again.

Sakura watched over the crew, hopeful that they would get something, anything out of the long list of contacts that Sakura had. Hopefully, they would be able to get more information about what was going on.