Izetta crawled quickly through the ventilation shafts, careful not to make a lot of noise while covering ground. She had increased the amount of magic she was using to light up her body as well, allowing her to see as she scrambled through. Another source of light shone from below to reveal a vent. Izetta stopped right before it and took a peek.
There was nobody around. 'That's odd… I've past so many vents already and yet I still haven't seen nor heard anybody… Am I in the wrong area? Should I go faster to the next area then?'
Hysterical screams broke Izetta out of her thoughts. Her eyes narrowed as she clambered towards the noise. When the screams did not die down, Izetta picked up the pace. The shrieks would mask the clangs that her limbs were making anyway.
A ruckus is heard and then silence covered the area. Izetta, unsure of what to make of the situation, decided to slow down. She remembered where the sound came from and continued to make her way over there.
Izetta began to hear crying. It got louder and louder as Izetta got closer and closer to the source. She hoped a vent would show up soon so that she could see what the situation was.
"Help! Please!" a girl's voice howled.
'That's right under me!'
"I don't want to die!"
'I have to go now!'
The screech of metal tearing reverberates throughout the room. The guards, scientists and children snap their heads up in shock towards the sound. A figure in black had burst through the vent, his fist glowing green.
The figure was the first to react and did so at lightning speed. He spun his head around, taking in everybody in the room. Then his hands flew out in arcs.
The guards had just started to raise their guns when a green knife struck each and every one of them. Their eyes had barely registered that the knives were coming at them from the figure. Their mouths had barely opened to scream as the scientists were struck next.
The adults crumple to the floor while yelling in pain. The figure lands deftly on his feet and spins around with both hands armed with a knife, seeing if any of them show signs of fighting back. His first volley had hit their mark though as the adults soon pass out from the pain.
Finé stands still in shock. The figure stops turning as he faces her, staring in silence. Finé's clothes are tattered, her face is shrivelled and there are still visible bruises on her body. The faintest green light starts to emit from the figure.
"What…" Finé trembles as she recovers from the shock of what just happened. "Who…? Did you…?"
The figure unclenches his hands, causing the blades and the light to disappear. He straightens himself as his body relaxes. "No, I aimed to take them down, not kill them. I do need to know one thing before we talk more though," the figure answers, turning to the group of children in the corner. "Are all of you here? Was anybody not put in this room?"
The children look at each other. They start mumbling. The children that were being dragged earlier creep back towards the group as they eye the figure warily. The figure stands still in response, not moving a muscle.
"We're all here," Finé speaks up. The mumbling is replaced by silence. "Just who are you though?"
The figure presses a button on his sternum. His black suit turns to white. "I'm the White Agent. I'm here to save all of you."
Gasps escape from the children's mouths. Tears stream down their faces. Then cheers erupt and some of them hug each other, jumping up and down.
Izetta, who was the figure all along, turns to face the door. She taps the side of her helmet, "White Agent to Janitor."
"Janitor here. Go ahead White Agent," a voice in her helmet crackles back.
"I have all the children with me. The number matches exactly with no extras. Can you direct me to the main entrance now?"
"Hang on, let me see your tracker." A few moments go by as the children continue to celebrate. Then directions are given to Izetta.
"Copy that. I'll get them out and then come back for you."
"Don't worry about me. I've been undercover for months. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Just focus on your task, it can't be easy."
"Understood. I'll head out now."
"Wait, the alarms haven't gone off yet."
"Even with all this noise?" Izetta turns back to look at the children who are still celebrating. Izetta taps another button on her helmet but all she hears is static. "You can't contact the other side either, right?" she asks as she goes over to a fallen guard.
"No, the jammer is still active. We can't tell the outside to begin the attack through our communicators."
Izetta opens the door with a rifle that she picked up off the fallen guard. She aims at the air with her finger curling around the trigger. Gunshots ring out, silencing the children as they whip their heads towards the source of the sound. Footsteps start to ring out against the metal floors.
"I see guards moving towards you. They should be setting off the alarm the moment they see you," Janitor reports to Izetta. "I'll get moving then. Good luck sir. Janitor out."
"You too. White Agent out," Izetta acknowledges as she tosses the gun to the side. She turns to the children who are staring at her with wide eyes. "I need all of you to pull through one more time. There are too many of you for me to carry at once so I need you to all run as a group. Can you all do that for me?"
Several children nod.
"Is there anybody who really cannot run?"
Nobody responds.
Two guards appear at the door. Izetta sees them at the corner of her eyes and turns towards them before they can even say a word. One of them raises his rifle at Izetta.
"Freeze you-" the other guard is cut off as the first guard screams in agony, slumping to the floor with a knife embedded into his shoulder. The other guard's eyes slowly creep back to Izetta, his pupils shaking wildly. Izetta steps to the side, showing him the other downed guards in the room.
The guard squeals as he takes off. "There's an intruder! He's taken out a whole squad by himself!" he cries into his walkie-talkie. Sirens blare soon afterward.
Izetta turns back to the children. Slightly raising her voice, she instructs, "Follow my directions and run together. I'll take out anybody that shows up. Let's get out of here together."
The group of children run through the hallways with Izetta behind them. As guards show up in front of them, Izetta swiftly takes them out with a volley of knives. Izetta turns her head every few seconds to check behind them, eliminating any guards that appear from behind in a similar fashion.
They approach a corner and Izetta commands, "Wait!" The children hold and keep close to the wall as Izetta dashes ahead.
A group of guards are around the corner waiting to ambush the intruder. The guard in front sees motion and swings his knife at it.
Izetta instantly grips the inside of his wrist and slams it into her knee, causing a crack to resound. The other guards barely register the first writhing in pain before they get struck by knives and collapse themselves. The first guard is on his knees, clutching his wrist. His thoughts of how this person could have known that they were there are robbed as Izetta clocks him in the temple.
She had never known in advance and was genuinely checking ahead for enemies. With magic enhancing her reflexes, she could react with inhuman speed and neutralize any ambushers the moment they appeared.
"It's clear, go!" The children run down the hallway again with Izetta keeping an eye on both sections of the hallway, joining the back of the group once the last child passes.
They continue running down the hallways. They cover a long stretch before the children have to clamber over another fallen guard.
'There aren't that many guards showing up now. Did I thin them out? Are they responding to the outside instead? Or is something else happening?' Izetta wonders to herself.
Another corner appears so the children stay near the wall as Izetta goes ahead again. She sees the exit down the long corridor in front. However, it is an open area with many floors all in view of each other. Izetta catches a glimpse of the horde of guards on every floor and backs up. 'I see, they're mounting a last defense to either stop us from getting out or stop the outside from getting in.'
"Stay close to the wall and do not move. If somebody comes from behind, scream as loud as you can and I'll come back. This may take a while," Izetta tells the children who nod in response. Izetta walks into the corridor, a knife in each gap between her fingers.
The barrage of knives flies out first, striking a multitude of guards. Even with magic augmenting Izetta's speed, there are too many guards for her to take down with pin-point accuracy before they can retaliate. All the guns turn to her and the explosion of gunfire ensues.
Izetta sidesteps immediately, dodging the initial burst of bullets. She continues to bob and weave, every swift motion avoiding the brunt of the attack. Even so, there is an overwhelming number of bullets coming at Izetta. A few manage to make it past her reflexes and would have hit her, only to ricochet off her harmlessly. Earlier Izetta's shield diverted water away from her and filtered out harmful gases from getting to her. Now that shield is protecting her from the gunfire, doing its job to keep dangerous objects out.
The guards can only watch in despair as the thousands of bullets they sink into one target do nothing. Furthermore, green blades continuously streak out from the chaos, dwindling the guards' numbers relentlessly.
Eventually the last guard goes down. Izetta takes a few breaths as she watches for any more movement. When nothing happens, she jogs back to the children who are huddled up and covering their ears.
"Sorry, there were more than I expected," Izetta apologises as she half squats.
The children slowly unclasp their ears with murmurings of assurance.
"Okay, let's go then. One last stretch." Izetta motions to the door with a hand.
The children scramble to their feet and sprint towards the door. This time Izetta stays by the side of the group, cautious of any guards that may suddenly appear from the other floors. They approach the door.
"Stand back and let me check ahead. Watch behind me for anybody that shows up," Izetta commands calmly.
The children move aside to let Izetta near the door. There are no visible locks or handles. There are two reinforced doors that slide open. Since the doors themselves do not have any mechanisms to operate them, Izetta concludes that they must be electronically operated. 'I could search for the control room, but I don't want to extend our stay here for their sake,' she dwells as she looks at the children in the corner of her eyes.
Two knives appear in Izetta's hands. She squats and jams the blades into the bottom middle of the doors, ripping through them with ease. Izetta slices upwards as she stands, creating a cut that is bigger than her and spans between both doors. The knives disappear as Izetta pushes one side slowly, sticking her head out through the hole created.
"White Agent, sir," a soldier with stripes on his shoulder greets her. The other soldiers surrounding them point their guns away from the door once they see the White Agent instead of enemy guards. They thread backwards, aiming their sights at the outer walls while forming a border.
"I take it your mission was a success?" the commander asks.
Izetta turns her head back to the children. After a quick headcount she answers, "Yes, all of them are behind me. How about your side?"
"The perimeter is secured." The commander rubs the back of his head as he continues in awe, "I didn't believe it when you said that you would draw all the attention to yourself, making capturing the island easy. And yet here we are. You even stormed the area singlehandedly, unbelievable."
"We can talk about it some other time," Izetta reminds him as she pushes the cut areas of the doors down. The commander nods and heads back to the front of the squad.
Izetta faces the children. "Alright, all that's left is to follow that group of people," she coaxes with a wave of her hand. "They'll protect you on the way to the helicopter where you'll be flown out to safety."
The children fidget about, some of them staring blankly at Izetta. None of them take big steps towards the soldiers outside.
Izetta's hand falls to her side. "I know you've all been hurt a lot, by people that look like them," she soothes. "But I will be right behind you. These people are with me and we just want to help you."
Footsteps softly ring out as a girl walks forward. Izetta feels herself straighten up even more as she sees Finé approach her.
"I trust you," Finé declares. "You've done so much already, but please…" She gulps as her voice quavers, "Take us home."
Izetta nods. "We will. It may take some time for you to recover enough for the long flight back, but I promise each and every one of you, you will get back to your families safe and sound. That is what I am here for."
Finé smiles as she wipes a tear in her eye. "Thank you." She strides forward towards the soldiers outside. Bit by bit the other children follow her until all the children are surrounded by the soldiers. Izetta fills in the last spot at the back and the group proceeds, the soldiers and Izetta keeping a lookout.
The group of soldiers and children make it to the transport helicopter without any incidents. The soldiers break away to let the children board the helicopter. The medics on board bring them to makeshift beds, treating the visible wounds and giving them food and water. Some children break down as relief finally sinks in while some others collapse and sleep like logs.
The last child makes it up. Izetta pokes her head into the helicopter, facing the pilot. "That's all of them. You're clear to take off."
The pilot salutes Izetta who returns the gesture. Izetta steps back and puts her hand on the door's handle. She is about to close the sliding door as Finé scrambles towards her.
"Wait!" Finé cries.
Izetta pauses and looks at Finé who is right in front of her.
"I haven't thanked you properly. No, you've earned much more than that. I'll be sure to meet you in person later to give you what you deserve. You said that you're the White Agent?"
Izetta smiles underneath her helmet. She puts a hand on Finé's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Your Highness. Just take it easy and rest now."
Finé's eyes widen slightly at how the White Agent addressed her. The door slides slowly and when nobody interrupts, it slams shut. The blades rev up, filling the air with the roar of the helicopter taking off.
The soldiers head back to the fortress. Izetta watches the helicopter ascend. Once it starts to fly forward, she turns back to the fortress and taps her helmet. "White Agent to Command."
"Command here. Go ahead White Agent."
"I've brought the royal children to the heli. What are my next orders?"
"There's a jet north of your current position. We've told the pilot to hold until you get in the back seat."
Izetta turns to see a lone jet up ahead. There are other jets in the air, circling around the transport helicopter with the children. Izetta jogs towards the jet, not going too fast so she can still talk to Command, "Where am I needed?"
"Just take a breather as the jets escort the heli. When the heli lands at the hospital, your jet will also land to drop you off."
Izetta slows down as her eyebrows furrow. "I can keep going. There may be stragglers back at the fortress. I can go back and search for them."
"You've done enough," the voice softens as it tries to ease her. "Everybody is astounded that you took out almost the entire island's forces by yourself. We thought that we'd have to barge into the fortress when a significant amount of enemies left the outer wall to go in the moment the alarm sounded. You've demonstrated your overwhelming power very clearly. That's also a reason why we want you to join the escort jets. In the absolute worst case where the heli is attacked and the jets can't protect it, you'll be there."
Izetta breathes out, her body relaxing ever so slightly as a little tension leaves her. She picks up the pace towards the jet. "Copy that. White Agent out."
"Oh, one last thing. You must be worried for the children that you've rescued. When the jet drops you off, you can see how they're doing at the hospital." Silence creeps in between the two parties. "You may be this super powerful being, but you're still human. We know how it feels," Command comforts.
Izetta continues jogging with her hand lingering on her helmet. After a while, she taps the button and manages to reply with the only words she can think of. "Thank you."