章 112: Chapter 33.1
"Hey, Selly," Katherine asked while taking a sip of some whiskey from a glass. "What does Jason do for a living?"
Currently, the two were at RogueTech's building, in the CEO's office. Selena had offered Katherine a drink and the two were looking out at the large window behind Selena's desk. Katherine was sitting on Selena's desk while Selena was leaning on her chair, drinking away the agitated feeling she had since leaving Jason.
"He was - is - a mercenary," Selena answered after shaking away her thoughts. She still couldn't believe that Jason had a child, how old would he have been to conceive her?
"A mercenary? Huh, interesting," Katherine muttered while taking a sip. She could vaguely remember how he was so good at being a Drifter in her previous life. He joked about being experienced in such works and she had assumed that it meant about the time he spent in the other world. But now, she realized that perhaps he may have been a mercenary even in that timeline. [1]
Jesus. It's like I barely knew the guy, Katherine thought before looking at Selena. All those years …
"Still down about Jay?" Katherine asked Selena who shook her head.
"Nope," she denied quickly but Katherine was able to tell otherwise.
"Selena," Katherine sighed as she put her glass down.
"Uh-oh, it's always bad when you say my name so seriously," Selena whispered to herself and Katherine smiled wryly.
"That's because this is serious," Katherine said as her smile faded. "You need to forget about Jason. I know hi- I've known men like him and trust me, it won't end well."
"I know, it's just -" the rest of Selena's words were drowned when an explosion occurred at a distant building.
Katherine and Selena stood up immediately as they saw the flames devouring the building while debris rained down from the area of impact.
After a stunned moment, Katherine turned back to Selena. "I thought you said this city was safe?"
"I … this hasn't happened in years … there's only been small attacks, none this severe," Selena answered blankly. She refocused her eyes and quickly opened a comm. "You saw the attack? Have every security guard and hired medics rush to the site and help the injured. Go now!"
"Well, this sure is one hell of a day," Katherine muttered as she looked out the window. She had a feeling that there wouldn't be a dull moment during her stay in Sanctuary.
***
Feeling stuffy inside the Baron, Alina took Alice out the car and stretched her legs. That strange feeling she had been having since morning grew stronger the longer Jason was away, causing her to anxiously walk back and forth, while a bemused Alice watched her silently. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was a sense she developed after training with Jason for two years.
Something's wrong, Alina thought. She turned to Alice and smiled at her.
"Alice, I'm gonna go upstairs and check on Jason. Wanna come?" Alina asked Alice gently. For a moment, Alice seemed eager but suddenly she frowned and shook her head. Alina nodded before continuing. "Then go back in the car and wait for me to return, I'll be back soon."
Alina prepared to walk over to the building when Alice grabbed her hoodie.
"Don't go," Alice pleaded and Alina's heart softened.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon," Alina reassured Alice but the latter shook her head again.
"Don't go there. It's not safe," Alice repeated again while holding Alina back.
"Not safe - ?" Before Alina could finish mulling over Alice's words, an explosion rocked the entire street. Screams and cries of shock ran through as people ran away in every direction while Alina narrowed her eyes.
"Watch out! From above!" A voice nearby cried out and people ran for cover as flaming debris came crashing down from above.
"JASON!" Alina screamed when she looked up and noticed that the center of the explosion was the penthouse.
She grabbed Alice and dodged a large chunk of concrete that came barreling down at them. The concrete debris slammed into the Baron, flattening it like a pancake while Alina used an electromagnetic field to stop any shrapnel from harming her and Alice. The field also protected the people who were hiding in a cafe behind her, their eyes wide with astonishment when they saw the purple field of arcing electricity freezing any and all fragments that would've otherwise harmed them. Alina then grabbed Alice and shoved her inside the cafe before she rushed out again.
"Look after her!" She shouted to the waitress who grabbed Alice's hand. The waitress was grateful to Alina and took her duty seriously while the people inside the cafe also talked and tried to calm down a panicking Alice.
Goddamnit! Alina thought as she looked around. Many people were unfortunate and were hit by either the falling debris or the stampede of people attempting to escape the disaster. I can't hold back, not when -
Alina was preparing to unleash her full power to help the wounded when she looked up at the sky. A speck that was falling among the debris had her heart jump to her throat.
Jason!
Alina could tell it was Jason falling from the sky and she immediately released the suppression she had over her Practitioner abilities. Her strength, speed, and vitality multiplied by over ten times as she buckled her knees and clenched her fists. Right after, she launched herself skywards like a superhero, the jump sending her nearly thirty stories up high before she began to descend. Using her Esper powers, she created a magnetic field that helped her attach her feet to the building and she began running upwards, towards Jason who was unconscious.
"Alina!" Alice screamed as she slipped out of the waitress's grasp and rushed out of the cafe. She began running towards the building with all her might, as fast as her tiny legs allowed her, when a hooded figure grabbed her and held her back.
"Don't," the figure said quietly while casually sidestepping them both away from a piece of falling debris.
"Mommy?! When - but -" Alice was surprised when she saw the person holding her. It was Katelyn, her mother.
"No buts," Katelyn said severely before her voice softened. "And I've always been here."
Alice didn't reply but looked up through her tear blurred eyes with worry as she saw Alina scaling the building while avoiding the debris and melting glass.
"They'll both be fine," Katelyn assured Alice who merely glared back.
"Why? Why Mommy? They -" Alice asked Katelyn sobbingly when Katelyn interrupted her.
"We - I don't want this either but there's no choice," Katelyn whispered. She put Alice down and moved away so quickly, it was as though she teleported. "Stay there and wait for them."
Alice wiped her tear away as her mother's voice slowly faded. Screams and cries of terror and panic engulfed her and she quickly kneeled down to the ground while clutching her ears in a desperate attempt to block the wails surrounding her. Seconds seemed to last minutes before the waitress retrieved Alice and the two remained just beside the entrance of the cafe.
[1] The term Drifter here is equivalent to Adventurers. Basically, in the other world, you have people that always move from place to place while doing odd jobs (not unlike drifters seen in North America) like escorting, hunting, or assassinating. Drifters were part of a large Association that had 4 branches: the Dragon Branch, the Phoenix Branch, the Tortoise Branch, and the TIger Branch. Each Branch had a specialty that made them unique, and Jason was part of the Dragon Branch while Katherine trained in the Phoenix Branch. The origins of this Association had a connection to the Four Great Guardians of that world, which is why Jason and Katherine were able to inherit their respective Formulae that eventually evolved them into something more than just human, hence the constant Dragon and Phoenix comparisons I give to the two (although in this timeline, Jason isn't part of the Dragon Branch.)
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