Chapter 45: A worst case scenario
As they got closer, Kellen and Hill were able to see the destruction up close and personal. From their aerial view, they could see that the damage was far worse than the video showed. The explosion radiated from one particular point and fanned out in a three block radius. Kellen and Hill could see that there worst of it was being held in suspension, while the silvery blue powers of telekinetics could be seen at work in the least damaged areas. Given how quickly this had happened, Kellen had no doubt who was wielding that power. His suspicions were confirmed when Hill landed them amongst the emergency responders, further away from the blast radius.
People were already working on recovery, and Kellen could tell most of them were from the Nemesis Guild. It made sense, since the Nemesis Guild was closer to Guiding Center A compared to the Saturn Guild, but Kellen knew that was only for now. Soon, this area would be flooded with the emergency responders from all three of the major Guilds in the city.
No one stopped Hill as she made her way towards the cordoned off area, even as she held a Guide in her arms. Both were filled with worry for the Captain, and as soon as Kellen noticed the red and black of the Nemesis Guild, Kellen pointed. Unspoken, Hill took off until the two of them stood before the powerful Telekinetic. Captain Sergei was busy holding up the debris of a collapsed building while his team worked on getting survivors out. As much as the two were impatient to find their own Captain, they waited their turn.
The Captain of the Nemesis Guild was a rather tall and slender man, with cropped brown hair and blue eyes. He had several piercings that covered his ears and face, mostly focusing on his eyebrow, ears, and lips. His skin was pale in colour, almost translucent, and he gave off the feeling that he hadn’t slept in months. It didn’t matter if that was the case or not. The black and red of his Esper uniform brought his pale features into sharp contrast. He was a strong Esper though, and despite the outward appearance of negligence and uncaring, he took very good care of those who he considered loyal to him. Kellen had been on the receiving end of that kindness through the several contracts he’d done with him. Although Captain Sergei wasn’t a talkative person, he let his actions speak louder for himself. Often, when other Guilds or Espers had contracted Kellen and Brent out, they would assume that the Field Guides would pay for the equipment needed to keep the team safe. Captain Sergei had gone out of his way to make sure it was written in contract that the Nemesis Guild would provide only the best equipment for them, and that the Field Guide’s would be able to keep it after the contract was over.
Hill waited until the survivors had escaped before speaking. "Captain Sergei, have you seen Captain Thatcher?" He didn’t show any surprise at the new members joining this rescue. His silvery blue eyes, taken over with the strength of his powers, glanced at the two.
"He raced off before us, so I haven’t seen him. My guess would be that he’s near the epicenter. I’ve been reaching out to check on him, and that’s where I can get the sense for him." His eyes slid to Kellen exclusively. "Good luck. He’s been holding out for a team to be organized to find out what caused this, and if there are more." Kellen felt the warning like a stone in his gut. He swallowed, before nodding. They didn’t wait to thank him, and instead bolted off in the direction he suggested.
That was where they found him.
Like Captain Sergei had said, the Captain was near where the video had been shot. The Captain stood in the middle of an circular impression into the street, crumbling the road and making it treacherous to move on. An invisible wind whipped around him, tossing his clothes and hair around him violently. His eyes were bright yellow as he stared in the direction of the building he held in stasis. Even from here, Kellen could tell sweat was rolling down his forehead.
Kellen slapped Hill’s shoulder, forcing her to halt in her steps. Jumping out of her arms, he loudly approached the Captain from the side. He didn’t want to startle him, especially since he was doing such important work. Kellen moved down the incline, surprised by how deep it was before he got closer to the Captain, alone.