Chapter 96: A man and a paper

“Alright, it’s go time.” The nervous organiser said. Hill stiffened beside Kellen, but Kellen? He didn’t really care. Try to shoot him. He was excited for it. He tucked his paper into his jacket pocket, getting to his feet as the Espers from his Guild began to move. Hill stepped out from the shielded area first, then after scanning the area and letting two of the group step outside, she let Kellen move out of the protective fabric.

Kellen could already feel the pressure rise in the room. Even the Espers of the Nemesis Guild were tense. Kellen couldn’t exactly blame them. This was a rather serious situation.

Kellen shouldn’t feel his lips wanting to curl up into a smile, but he couldn’t help it. He hoped that this was enough of a distraction. He hoped the terrorists shit themselves thinking that Kellen was sitting at home, crying like a little baby over the fact that they were trying to take over his city and planning to kill his family again.

He would never sit back. Never.

It was a bit of a blur how he got to the stage, but he knew it was full of Hill holding onto his injured arm, ready to yank him in a safe direction. She was the one who pushed open the fabric printed with the Nemesis Guild logo, and she was the one who stood in front of him, even though he was taller than her, protective and fierce.

As soon as the crowd caught sight of him, a hush fell over them. He knew that they could tell he was a Guide from the Saturn Guild. He was sure that Sergei explained that, but it was clear from his eye patch and injured arm that they didn’t realise who he was. Kellen felt his lips curl up into a smile.

Hill wouldn’t let him go to the podium alone, and neither would Sergei. On his right was Sergei. Tall, pierced, intimidating and on his left was Hill. Short, strong, fast. It was a good protective unit, even if Kellen was a little bitter that he really needed them at his side.

“Forgive my current appearance. It’s been a rather rough few weeks.” Kellen joked into the microphone.

Then all hell broke loose.

Nothing dangerous happened, but the crowd lost their minds. The Espers braced for impact, thinking that the worst was going to happen. Instead, the public was horrified, outraged that Kellen, the man who had been projected as strong, indomitable, able to do the impossible, had returned injured.

Kellen didn’t think much of it, since getting injured after doing the impossible was normal to him. The public, however, never saw Guides injured. Never.

That was practically an industry secret, and those who did know were sworn to secrecy. After all, even if Guides were being killed in the damn streets, no one saw it. No one was allowed to see the horror of it. These precious beings who had been created to heal the minds of the ’more powerful’ Espers. To bring hope to the civilians, to bring hope to everyone, they couldn’t be seen injured.

Once again, Kellen was smashing the illusions that society had placed upon him and his people, and he wasn’t even aware of it.

It took the public a long time to settle, so long in fact that Hill almost wanted to send Kellen back into the safety of the Guild building, but Kellen fought her on it. Sergei even backed Kellen up.

It wouldn’t do anyone any good if they tucked him away. He was supposed to be a distraction, and that was what he was doing. Being distracting. If they tucked him away too soon those foolish enough to attempt to harm in a spur of the moment attack of opportunity would tuck tail and run.

So, Kellen remained there, Hill nervous and glaring and Sergei stoic. Silent. Watching.

Eventually, those members who had been spread out into the crowd were able to calm the people down enough that Kellen could continue, and when he did, he was sure that they would continue to be shocked.

“As I am sure some of you have grasped, I am indeed that Kellen Woods, son of Eleanor and Henry Woods and partner of Rhys Thatcher, the Captain of the Saturn Guild. I also happen to be an active Field Guide and with the best option missing, I was the one who was dispatched into the poison gate when our members were sucked inside.” Kellen had asked Rhys if it was okay to reveal that and Rhys had agreed.

No point in hiding it since the Saturn Guild was the only Guild holding a funeral. At least this way everyone would understand why.

“While I would like to say that we had many volunteers that would love to face such a challenge, in the end, it was only me.” Kellen’s smile was bitter, tinged with a bit of anger and a bit of regret. “After all, it was not certain that I would be able to succeed, and the last group that had gone in left in pieces.” A grim joke, a grim reminder that things on the front lines were dire. They might behave like that wasn’t the case, but it was the truth.

Kellen raised his injured arm, still in a sling with a small smile.

“This is actually a rather minor injury in the grand scheme of things. Several of my people lost their lives after being sucked into the gate, including a few of my own students. Brave men and women who didn’t deserve such a dishonourable end. They fought well against their surroundings, but in the end, the enemy was greater than them. It was through their sacrifices that I am able to be here, that we are able to say that the gate is stabilized, and that we are able to help others who might have their own poison gate open on their front lines. Maybe even in their own city.” That brought horror and terror to the people before him, but Kellen just smiled.

With his eye covered, it was a rather severe thing, hiding the handsome features that Kellen normally displayed when he smiled. He looked wiser beyond his years, a man who had seen something others couldn’t even comprehend and had come out in one piece, relatively.

“To explain what happened inside the gate is actually quite simple, but quite hard. Funny, that once we had mocked Captain Sakura on her advancements when it came to her new suits, but it was the newest suit and mask combo that made it possible for me to save as many people as I did. The air itself was toxic, using a neurotoxin to make those who came in contact with it slowly lose their minds. It eventually would knock them unconscious and they would be unable to wake up. A peaceful way to go if the monsters inside didn’t get to you first.”

Kellen then went on to explain the monsters that he’d encountered, the strange beings that weren’t human, but tried to pretend, the pitcher plants, the vine creatures. Everything that he had seen without the actual horror of it. It had been therapeutic for Kellen to write it down, and seeing the expressions of those around him, including Hill and Sergei, it was nice to know that Kellen wasn’t wrong in feeling it was a horrible situation.

Kellen then got to the point where he had to explain how to close a gate, and the difference between that. Kellen wasn’t sure how much to reveal, and he’d been humming and hawing about this for a long time. Did he reveal his sister had been sucked into the gate? Did he reveal that she had sacrificed herself for the gate?

In the end, Kellen decided that he wouldn’t take that choice from her. He kept her anonymous, explaining that a gate could be stabilized if the core was touched, and closed if the boss monster was defeated. The public seemed interested in Kellen’s explanation, and it was only near the end that Kellen let his anger and vitriol free in his tone.

“While things of this magnitude can never be predicted, our systems that failed us can be improved upon in the wake of these living nightmares.” Kellen began. Hill exhaled low and slow beside him while Kellen heard Sergei give a short chuckle. “I had to act on my own, without the support of our city, to save our people.” Kellen said. He shook his head slowly. “While I was also the one to advise against the Saturn Guild taking responsibility of the poison gate, I thought that I was doing the right thing by letting the D.E.C., our city’s protective unit, take control. After all, a gate of this magnitude should be in control of our city. Right?” Kellen’s jaw hardened, his eye bright with his power.

Kellen was unaware, as per usual, what a striking image that was to the public.

“I was wrong. The people I had trusted most of my life failed me. As our people were sucked into not our gate, their gate, they refused to ask for help. They refused to send out the call to the Guilds all over the world. They refused to do a goddamn thing. Instead, I had to sneak onto the front lines like some kind of criminal and go into the gate on my own. Barely anyone to support me, barely anyone to watch my back. All because of their fucking pride.” Kellen snarled, spitting, angry. Pissed. “I had to get my damn hands dirty because of one man’s useless pride.” Hill let out a harsh exhale and the podium under Kellen’s hand groaned.

A little surprised, Kellen loosened his grip, flustered. He hadn’t lost control of his strength like that in, well, forever.

“There is a reason that for a long time you haven’t seen Captain Tom, or the man I used to call Uncle Tom. Whether it is true that he has betrayed us and sold us out to the E.A.G. or not is still under investigation, but I want to make it known. No matter if that allegation is true or not, he failed us. He failed our people, and in doing so, he nearly damned us all.” Kellen’s words hung in the air, hard and heavy. “Captain Sergei, Captain Thatcher and Captain Sakura are in agreement on this, and collectively, while it is not our place to take your voice away, we have raised Lieutenant Fisher to the tentative position of Captain of the D.E.C. until there is a time to have an election.” Kellen spoke confidently, angrily.

He could see the confusion on their faces, the anger, the frustration. Kellen could sympathize with them. He was still upset about this, still angry, still pissed.

“We, as Espers and Guides, have failed you. I won’t lie and say that we didn’t think that you, those who have not awoken, wouldn’t be able to understand our struggles. That you wouldn’t be able to relate to the pain and sorrow that we feel, but I fear that while we got caught up in our own stupid politics, we forgot the most important thing. Survival.” Kellen swallowed, glancing down at the words he’d written down.

They felt silly on paper. Foolish even, but he meant each word.

“We are a unit. We are a people. We are here to protect you. We were granted these special privileges so that we could keep all of us safe, and keeping you in the dark isn’t going to help anyone. I can’t speak for situations I don’t know, but I know that for the last few weeks, hell, the last few months, I’ve been scared and angry.” Kellen glanced around the crowd, scanning the area, meeting people’s eyes.

“I hate knowing that others are trying to ruin this town. Trying to ruin what not just Captain Sergei, Captain Sakura and Captain Thatcher have been protecting. What I have been protecting. What we’ve all been protecting. I hate that a group who knows nothing about us but spits hatred so easily thinks that they can come in and tear us apart. Hurting people I care about, hurting people that I know you care about. Blowing up buildings? Attacks? Assassinations? How dare they attempt to hurt us this way. How dare they think so little of us. On top of the hell we’re already living through with this damn poison gate. I won’t stand for it! I won’t let them get away with it, either! The E.A.G. has no home in this city, no foot to stand on, and I will do my best to root them out of every other city as well!” It was an impassioned plea, straight from Kellen’s heart.

Kellen just hoped that it worked. That it moved those who listened.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep