An Unexpected Sanctuary
Amy's house. My jaw dropped at the reenactment of that day's events. As my body froze in panic, I felt Shine tightly squeeze my hand.
Amy sprang from her seat, dropping into a combat stance. A current of white light surged around her, wrapping her entire body like a shroud.
"So there really is a mole inside?"
"It has been a while since we last weeded them out."
The two of them exchanged words with terrifying casualness.
"Rain! Rain!" Aghast at their nonchalance, I shook the limp Rain in an attempt to wake her.
Rain's floppy limbs swung back and forth with my frantic shaking. Drool was pooling at the corner of her slack, open mouth.
"Nngh, ugh..." Groaning a bizarre sound, Rain slowly began to sit up.
"What is it...?"
"Look outside!"
Rubbing her eyes, Rain followed my pointing finger and peered out the window.
"Gasp!" The moment her eyes locked onto the swarm of helicopters filling the sky, she practically leaped out of her skin. Her golden hair whipped wildly in every direction.
"Rain."
"Ah. Right."
Victor, who had been calmly observing the outside, called her name. As if long accustomed to his commands, Rain scrambled down from her seat and approached him. I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up as well.
"Jeff."
"Yes?"
Crackle— Just as I spread my hands to summon my power, Amy tore her gaze away from the window and looked at me.
"It probably won't work."
"Huh?"
What wouldn't work? Surely not my power? Anxiety creeping in, I channeled my energy even harder.
Crackle, snap. The blue currents dancing across my hands flared with greater intensity. I recalled the sensation from before. Using my current position as the epicenter, I tried to read the flow of energy in all directions. The wide electromagnetic field expanding from my body mapped out the surroundings in my mind.
But it was blurry. I knew for certain that things were flying outside, but I couldn't sense how many people were aboard, nor could I read the electrical currents generated by the operating helicopters.
No way. Gritting my teeth against the mounting dread, I clapped my hands together.
Clap! The blue light wrapped around my palms erupted, shooting outward. Go! Go! I stared out the window, watching the trajectory of my azure sparks.
But my confidence was misplaced. My choice was the wrong one. The blue currents spreading through the air suddenly lost their momentum and dissolved into nothingness, as if someone were deliberately jamming them.
"Ah!" Panic-stricken, I spread my hands wide once more and repeated the motion.
Clap! I struck my palms together so hard they stung. Simultaneously, a fresh wave of blue electricity rippled outward. I could almost visualize the currents surging across the sky.
But the moment the blue currents neared the surrounding helicopters, they shattered like glass. My face fell into a pout.
"Amy..."
At my dejected voice, Amy offered a small, reassuring smile.
"It's alright."
Nodding at her gentle reassurance, I slumped back into my seat. Shine squeezed my hand with an unbothered expression. My anxiety dissipated as quickly as it had come. After all, I was the only one in this cabin looking worried.
"Rain. We're starting."
"Okay!"
As Victor spoke, his eyes fixed on the window, Rain nodded and raised both hands. Seeing that she was ready, Victor turned his attention to Amy.
"Amy."
"It's been a while since we fought like this."
With those words, Amy stomped her foot hard against the floor.
Thud! The helicopter shuddered slightly as the white aura enveloping her body began to spread throughout the entire cabin.
The white energy—her Baekwang—completely blanketed the helicopter. A pale, shimmering veil blurred the view outside the windows.
"Here I go!" Rain shouted, waving her hands. At her gesture, the surrounding clouds began to churn in bizarre patterns. The peaceful, fluffy white clouds dyed themselves a pitch-black hue in an instant.
At the same time, my hair stood on end. Static electricity. A powerful electrostatic charge surged through my entire body. The same was happening to Victor; his gray hair began to rise toward the ceiling.
Boom! A violent explosion rocked the air. The moment the surrounding clouds changed color, the enemy helicopters unleashed a barrage of attacks. Flashes of blue and red light strobed outside, but none of them could pierce Amy's Baekwang.
Thump! In sync with my heartbeat, a strange resonance echoed from outside. Ah. I understood. This was the thunder Rain had summoned.
Thump! Once more. The thunder seemed to call out to me. My heart hammered against my ribs. I felt like I could grasp that sensation again—the exhilarating rush of all my senses expanding to their absolute limits.
Thump! Yet again. I wasn't the only one feeling it; Victor's expression was undergoing a subtle, intense transformation.
"Jeff."
"Yes?"
"Stay still."
At Victor's command, I looked down at myself. My legs were twitching, and my hips were shifting. My body, utterly thrilled and ready to charge forward, was moving entirely on its own.
"Oops."
"Because even I am having a hard time holding back."
Victor smirked, a fierce, almost villainous grin spreading across his face. It was a side of him he never showed during our usual training sessions.
Victor raised a hand wrapped in blue electricity. A colossal power, incomparable to my own, radiated outward.
Snap— Victor flicked his fingers in the air. Instantly, a blinding blue light erupted.
Flash—! The light filled my vision, forcing my eyes shut. Every sound in the world vanished. The rumbling thunder, the thrumming of the helicopters, even the heartbeat of Shine sitting right beside me—all of it was gone. It felt as though I had been cast into a void of pure, silent white.
RUUUMBLE—! The delayed sound wave finally hit. The deafening roar slammed into my ears, and I clamped my hands over them. My ears rang painfully, and my vision had yet to return. A sharp, high-pitched buzz echoed inside my skull.
How much time had passed? Slowly, my vision cleared, and my surroundings came back into focus. My arms and legs were intact. And my hand was still being held by a smaller one. I turned to look at Shine. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she was trembling as she clung to me.
"Shine." At my voice, her eyes snapped open. A faint trace of anxiety flickered across her white irises, only to vanish in an instant—as if she didn't want me to notice it.
I pulled her into an embrace. Shine gasped slightly in surprise, but her expression soon softened, and she leaned comfortably against me.
"Is it over?"
"Yeah. I think so."
Silence reigned. The roar of the helicopters that had filled the sky, the crackle of the lightning dragons that had roamed the storm clouds—all of it had vanished.
"Is it really over?" Rain chirped, hopping up to press herself against the glass to check. Her short legs dangled and swung in the air.
Crackle— Victor nodded, hiding his trembling hand behind his back. Stray blue sparks still flickered across his body.
"Do we... need to move to a new place?"
"Most likely. I don't know how long they've had a mole inside, but seeing this..."
Amy let out a soft sigh and pulled out her phone. Her face instantly hardened as she looked at the screen.
"Turn around."
"Pardon?"
Startled by Amy's sudden command, the pilot stammered.
"We can't go where we were heading. You need to change course."
"T-Then, where should I fly?"
At the pilot's bewildered question, Amy sighed deeply.
"We're going to my house. I'll send you the coordinates. Head there."
"Understood!"
After Amy tapped her phone to send the coordinates, the helicopter veered in a new direction.
"Rain, you still have energy?"
"Yep!"
"Then, can you shroud the helicopter in clouds?"
"The helicopter?"
"Yes. We need to minimize our exposure as much as possible."
"That's easy peasy."
Rain waved her arms cutely at Amy's request. Then, her small feet tapped a cheerful rhythm against the cabin floor. Instantly, the clouds outside began to gather. Swarming to swallow the aircraft whole, the vapor wrapped around the helicopter in a soft, spherical cocoon. It felt like we were riding inside a giant hamster ball.
Amy's expression remained grim. With a tense face, she kept tapping furiously on her phone screen.
"How is Jean?"
"He's fine."
"And headquarters?"
"We can't go there right now."
"What's the situation?"
"The government raided the place in full force."
"Isn't that a disaster?"
"For Jean?"
"No, for the people living there. They don't even have citizenship."
Amy didn't reply to Victor's concern. Her lips remained tightly sealed, and she didn't utter another word until the helicopter finally came to a halt.
The helicopter carrying us touched down at its destination. As the cloud hamster ball slowly dispersed, the surrounding scenery came into view.
A massive castle. Endless gardens stretching into the horizon, and guards standing watch like sentinels. A crowd of people had gathered around the landing pad, as if they had been waiting for Amy's arrival.
Overwhelmed by the breathtaking sight, I pressed myself against the window and asked,
"Is this Amy's house?"
"Yes."
"Whoa..."
The castle, with its clean yet antique architecture, looked like something straight out of a fantasy movie. The sheer presence of the building was awe-inspiring.
As the hovering helicopter slowly settled onto the ground, Amy and Victor prepared to disembark. Shine and I stood up from our seats as well.
Outside the window stood a middle-aged man with a sharp, stern expression. He radiated an undeniable aura of leadership, clearly the one in charge of the crowd.
The helicopter door slid open. Amy stepped out and spoke to the sharp-faced man.
"I'm home, Father."
F-Father? As I stepped down alongside Amy and clung tightly to the back of her leg, the middle-aged man's gaze locked onto me. It felt as if a razor-sharp blade had been pressed right against my forehead. The sheer pressure made my body tremble, fearing I would be cut to pieces if I made even the slightest wrong move.
"Father!" Sensing my trembling through her leg, Amy shouted firmly and stepped in front of me, shielding me from his view. A white aura flared defensively behind her back.
"What are their abilities?"
Amy didn't answer. An uncomfortable silence settled over us. As everyone hesitated to speak, only the whistling of the cold wind brushed past our ears.
Then, breaking the silence, Victor spoke up.
"They are electrokinetics."
"It has been a while, Victor."
"Yes, sir."
"Victor!" Amy scowled, clearly displeased that he had answered, but Victor remained unfazed.
"You know how your father is."
"That's..." Amy bit her lower lip at Victor's words.
"Both are electrokinetics? What are their limits?"
"I believe they will surpass me."
"Oh...? Surpass you?"
"Yes."
At Victor's words, the middle-aged man's expression began to soften. A faint smile graced his previously rigid face, and the razor-sharp intensity in his eyes vanished.
"Their names?"
His gaze shifted to Shine and me. Finding his attention far too overwhelming, I shrank back, hiding further behind Amy's leg.
"I'm Shine. And this is Jeff."
Unlike me, however, Shine stepped forward and boldly introduced us. The man's eyebrows twitched at her audacity.
"Don't glare at Jeff."
Shine was clearly displeased.