"What's the current situation?" Finé asks as she briskly makes her way to the meeting room, with the Royal Guards keeping pace with her.

"The German escorts called our rescue division hours ago, but they've made no progress as well. They've asked for more manpower, but the Germans brought it up to their side to get in direct contact with us, unable to wait any longer."

Finé's eyebrows narrow. "So rescue squads are on-site already, but they are still unable to get him out? How stuck is he?"

"From the German reports, he started crawling into a passageway that got narrower and narrower. From our maps of the cave, we confirm that he should have went into a cavern that opens up where other cavers had explored before. But he must have made a wrong turn somewhere as the passageway never opened up. By the time he gave up going forward, he had wriggled deep into a crevice and is nearly completely upside-down."

The guard scrolls on her tablet, rereading the report. "Due to the cramped space, only one person can reach him at a time and the angles make it impossible for them to pull him out directly. All attempts have only lifted him up by inches and when they let go to catch their breath, the prince slips right back in to where he was."

Finé lets out a breath. "What is he even doing in there? I didn't even know he was in Eylstadt."

"Apparently, he came in as a tourist, just on vacation. He likes spelunking so when he heard about the cave nearby, he decided to go for it. His escorts urged him to not act on a whim, but he said they were taking out the excitement."

'So the Germans don't want to talk to us, but their prince came in for a holiday?' Finé shakes her head. "Okay, the Germans are probably confused as well, but we'll focus on getting him out first. Thank you for the report."

Finé opens the door to the meeting room to see that most of the other ministers have taken their seats already.

"Yes, but I believe in our men," her father affirms to the Germans on the other side of the screen, "They would have been trying their hardest from the get go. They don't need us breathing down their necks to get into gear. If they are still unable to make any progress at this point, then we need to ask the nearby countries for help. Any amount of expertise could shine a light on this matter."

The German king buries his head into his hand. "It's just a hole, how big of a deal does this need to be?!" he hisses, unhappy that more people would know that the Germans are asking for help after being snide to many of the smaller countries nearby. "Fine, just do it."

Finé sees that almost nobody is paying attention to her so she quickly makes her way to her seat.

"I can assure you sir," a man with blue dyed hair smiles while raising a hand speaks up, "They'll have your son out of there soon. It's just a little trickier than usual."

Finé notes that the man who just spoke is a new face and is sitting at a minister's seat. As she sits down beside her father, she whispers, "Who is he?"

"He's the new minister of search and rescue. He was supposed to be inaugurated later, but he wanted to start now," the king states without breaking eye contact with the Germans.

"Ah," Finé mouths as she nods to the maid who just poured her tea.

"Talk is cheap," the German king raises his head to eye the blue hair man, "Make it happen."

"Please excuse us for a while then," Finé's father cuts in, "We'll start asking our allies if they can provide any assistance. It would be helpful as well if you could reach out to your allies, even if it's just to ask if they have any prior experience they can share."

The German king grumbles, cutting off the connection soon after.

"He could have at least tried to sound nice," Finé brings her cup up, slightly obscuring her eyes while rolling them.

"You know how he is," her father resigns while leaning back into his chair. "Some people just have massive egos. It also doesn't help that he can't do anything while his son is trapped. Let's move past him for now and get started on calling on our nearby allies."

The king selects a neighbouring country on the screen, but stops before initiating the call. "How about you lead this one? You did sign a treaty with them recently."

"Oh yes," Finé puts down her cup with a smile. "I'd love to."

A rescuer tugs the rope against a pulley, making sure that it is secure. Letting out a breath, he drops the hefty drill with a thud. Getting onto his belly for the umpteenth time, he feels his sweat soaked clothes pressing against him as he crawls to the German prince. Although he can only see the feet of the prince, the rescuer still speaks, "Sir, the pulleys are in place. I'll tie the rope around your legs now."

"Yeah… Go ahead…" the prince mumbles with droopy eyes.

The two remain in silence as the rescuer ties firm but not constricting knots around the prince's legs.

"Hey…" the prince mutters, "If this doesn't work... what next?"

"It will work," the rescuer affirms. "People from multiple countries have all gathered and come up with this plan. I know you can't see them, but the numerous pulleys we've drilled into the rocks will allow the team up there to slowly pull you out. It's been an incredibly long night, but just hang in there a little longer. We'll get you out of here."

The prince adjusts what little he can, trying to ease his breathing that had become laborious after being stuck upside-down for so long. "Okay… Thank you…"

The rescuer gives one last tug on the knots. "Alright, you're secure. Now, hold your breath as much as you can and I'll tell them to pull."

The prince closes his eyes as he sucks in air. By holding his breath, he makes himself ever so slightly thinner, giving the rescuers more leeway to heave him out of the crevice. The rescuer near him immediately signals to the team of numerous people waiting above to pull.

The prince inches upwards and the rescuer guides his body to not rub against the other rock formations.

"Argh!" the prince gasps and starts squirming, his worn out legs unable to bear being dragged upwards.

"Hold!" the rescuer tells the team through his communicator and the rope stops tugging, but remains taut. "Sir, we can hold you in place here while you rest against some rocks. When you feel ready again, just tell me and we can continue."

"Right… Just…" the prince pants, "Give me… a moment…"

After a brief respite, the prince asks them to continue. The rescue squad tugs cautiously, ready to stop at a moment's notice from the rescuer near the prince. When the prince needs a break, the other rescuers rotate in pulling the rope as well, allowing everybody to rest. With each cycle, they make make slow but steady progress.

Eventually, the prince is pulled up enough that he can make eye contact with the rescuer next to him. "Hey…" he greets with red eyes and dirt plastered all over him.

"Heya," the rescuer grins. "Just hang in there a bit more. One more tug and then we can turn you right side up. From there it'll be smooth sailing."

"Great…" the prince smiles, seeing the literal light at the end of the tunnel.

Then an ear-splitting shatter resounds throughout the cave. The squad above falls backward as the tension in the rope disappears. One immediately taps into his communicator, asking for the rescuer down there to respond while others run to look down the hole to see if they can discern what happened.

"...Shit!" the rescuer snarls, "Everything's wasted!"

The prince groans, still discombobulated from what just happened. But his whimpers are muffled for they are coming from the crevice.

"The rock above broke!" the rescuer reports as he waves the residue dust away in frustration, "It couldn't take the stress from the pulley! It took over two hours to drill that one in! Now everything has been for naught, the prince has fallen back in to where he started!"

"Bullshit!" the German king curses as he slams his fist on the table. "You're telling me after all that, he's right back to where he was?! What good was this?!"

Both sides, Eylstadt and German, are deathly silent. Despite his anger, the German king was right. They had called upon numerous countries to share any information on how to extract somebody deeply wedged in a crevice, as well as getting many reinforcements on site. Yet now they have made no progress and only increased the suffering of the prince.

"U-Uh," the man with blue hair clears his throat, "Sir, at least-"

"Enough of this farce," the German king cuts in. "I'm calling in the White Agent."

Finé jumps in her seat. "W-What?" she blurts out.

"Nobody else seems to be able to do anything." He takes a moment to nod to his agents and they stride out of the room. "If this is not an emergency for him to handle, then what is?"

Finé clenches her hands underneath the table. The image of Izetta tucked snugly under the covers of their bed flashes across her mind. Izetta always had incredibly high standards for herself, even for a witch. She had deemed that her daily life was luxurious enough that she should be ready for anything. Whenever an opportunity arose for Izetta to help Finé, she would get wound up and antsy to do it. Because she rested everyday, she saw any further protests that her body put up as her being weak or that she had gotten soft.

Now Izetta had finally eased up and let her tired and sore body get the quality rest it needs, yet she is about to be rudely woken up. Furthermore, she is going to be sent off on a mission so immensely difficult that the combined strength of nations could not even make any progress on it. Finé can only imagine the look of resignation Izetta would have, that despite all of Finé's assurances that Izetta does not have to take on everything upon herself, she still has to go because nobody else can.

Finé bites her lip. Then she pushes her chair out and stands up. "I'll be right back," she absent-mindedly says as she turns for the door.

"H-Huh?" the man with blue hair blinks as he sees Finé walk towards the door. "W-Wait, P-Princess, p-please," he blurts out while stumbling towards her with an outstretched hand.

"What?" Finé almost snaps with both her voice and her head to look at him.

"I-I know it looks bad, but my department will think of a solution soon."

"This isn't about your department," Finé dismisses, "I want to check something else while we're waiting for the White Agent," she turns and starts walking out again.

"Wait!" the man shouts while grabbing onto Finé.

Finé feels the tug back and turns her head slowly to look at the source.

The guards jump forward, drawing their batons. "Sir! Unhand the princess right now!"

Finé's eyes go wide as she stares at the hand on her arm. Her pupils dilate and shake, memories of her being kidnapped flashing across her mind.

"I just want her to see the breakthrough the rescue division is about to have!" the man insists, "You don't have to feel shameful about us!"

Finé remains blank, not reacting to the ongoing argument. Her breathing becomes erratic, her mind dredging up the other time when that hostile man also grabbed her, wanting to take her away as well.

"I am ordering you," Finé's father clenches his hand, "To unhand my daughter. Right now!"

"If you do not do so in the next five seconds," the guards warn while raising their batons, "We will use force!"

Then Finé remembers how Izetta was there for her. How Izetta closely held her in her arms and carried her all the way home. How she remained by Finé's side and cared for her the whole time. She did it all without a word of complaint, and even assured Finé that she would do it all over again, for as many times as Finé needed her to. Her selfless girlfriend was hurt now, yet Finé was unable to let her rest, for the world had to ask for Izetta again.

Finé lets out an audible breath. She puts up a hand to the guards and her father. "It's okay." She taps the trembling man's hand with her other hand, "You'll let go, right?"

"Y-Yes…" he shakily unclenches his hand and retracts it slowly, his eyes darting around the guards who are approaching him with raised batons.

"Thank you," Finé steps away from him. "I'm going to double check the library if there are any archives of others being this stuck since the cave is near Eylstadt. If there's something we can do to help the White Agent, we should. This isn't about who does it. What matters is getting the German prince out safely, and I suggest you start being a team player instead of continously seeking recognition."

The man with blue hair hangs his head in silence. The other ministers, who had moved away from the commotion, warily shuffle back into their seats. With no other objections, Finé strides out of the room and a group of guards following her. As soon as the door closes, Finé sprints off.

"Pardon us for that," the king refocuses to the Germans who are flabbergasted by the sudden argument. "I will make sure people are clear," he looks pointedly at the blue hair man being escorted back to his seat, "On the etiquette we are supposed to observe here."

All but two of the guards following Finé break off from her, turning to the library to do what she claimed she was going to do. They knew that Finé wanted nothing more than to check on Izetta, so they wordlessly followed to cover for her.

Finé rounds the corner to see the White Agent bolting out of their room, running the other way to go to the pod station.

"Izetta!" Finé calls out.

Izetta slams a foot down to stop herself, pivoting to face the voice. "F-Finé?! What are you doing here?"

Finé slows down to a jog, but still goes towards Izetta. "I…" she pants, catching her breath, "I want, no, need… to apologise to you…"

Finé comes to a stop at an arm's length from Izetta. "I'm so, so sorry…" she laments, "After all that talk about letting you enjoy yourself, that you can rest as much as you want…" A hand goes to Finé's head as she sucks in a deep breath, "Yet we have to call you in anyway. You don't deserve this…"

Izetta smiles under the helmet. She steps forward, placing her hands on Finé's shoulders. "It's not your fault," she assures while rubbing them. "Nobody's to blame for this. It's unfortunate that nobody else can do it, but it's what I've been training for."

"But you're hurt and tired…" Finé weeps, her other hand covering the other half of her face as tears start to form. "You shouldn't have to do this... There have to be other measures we can take… You should tell them you don't want to go, or that you can't..."

Izetta looks down. Her fatigue is washed away due to her magic being active, but she knows that it has only recovered a limited amount. Even as she was running, she could feel faint dull sensations of pain from her bruises.

"You're right…" Izetta concedes, "I would very much prefer to be in our bed now. But if I don't do this, somebody will die. Only I have this power to save him. I have to go."

Finé shakes her head, causing tears to drip down her face and dampen her hands.

"But Finé," Izetta raises her head, "I'll probably be really exhausted when I come back, so..." Izetta makes eye contact with Finé who lowers her hands, "Can you pamper me some more when I get back?"

"Of course!" Finé holds Izetta's arms, "Anything you want, consider it done. Ten, a hundred, or a thousand things, it doesn't matter! You only have to ask."

Izetta brings Finé into her arms. "Thank you, but I just want you." Embracing her tightly, Izetta continues, "I have something else that nobody else does, and that's your love for me. I can work a little harder, because I know that I can return home to you after all is said and done."

Finé gasps. Then her arms wrap around Izetta and rubs her back. "Mmm… I'll be waiting for you." Sniffling a little, Finé clears her voice, "Go show them why you're the best."

The couple separate and Izetta nods, "I'll be off then, Finé."

With that, Izetta spins around and sprints down the hallway.

"And that's how you'll be extracting him," Command ends off. "Are there any questions?"

Izetta scans the diagram on the screen once again. "No, I understand."

"Do note that if you deem fit to act otherwise, do so at will. Even the Eylstadt archives had nothing on somebody being this stuck so we don't have a clear plan either."

"Understood." Izetta sees the crowd of people get larger as her pod nears the crevice. "White Agent out."

"Command out. ...And, sorry. Do have a nice long rest after this."

Izetta looks to the side of her helmet as the pod comes to a stop. Taking a deep breath, she presses the button to retract the hood and jumps out.

"They're down there?!" Izetta shouts as she runs towards the hole.

"Yes!" a rescuer yells back. "Follow the rope down and that rescuer will be shining his torchlight! Here's yours!"

Izetta catches the lobbed torchlight as well as a belt with a latch to hold it. Whipping the belt and its attached rope around her, she turns on the light and locks it in place. "Got it, I'll go in then!"

Taking one last look at the hole, Izetta's body emits a faint green light and plunges in head-first. Usually she would have increased the strength of her shield to shine brightly and keep out dust, but she needed to ration her magic. So she only puts up enough to protect her against the protruding rocks. With the helmet filtering out the dust as well, breathing would not be a problem as Izetta quickly clambers down to the prince.

Soon Izetta sees another light shining around below. She puts in another burst of speed and the light moves upwards from hearing her scrambling about.

"Sir! The White Agent is here!" the rescuer reports while still out of sight. "I'll be moving away for a bit to let him in!"

Hearing a soft groan from the prince, the rescuer crawls back out to meet Izetta further back where there is more space.

"His breathing's shallow. He's fading," the rescuer relays grimly, "I know you just got called here, but we really need you to pull through now. I don't know how you're supposed to do all that in the plan, but you're our last hope."

"Don't worry. I got this," Izetta nods before slithering ahead to the prince.

Izetta stops as her hands get near the pair of feet that are surrounded by the rock formations, making her unable to see any more of the prince. "Sir, I'm going to start grinding away the walls," Izetta calls out as she shifts into position, "If you inhale any dust just squirm or make a noise and I'll adjust."

"Please… do whatever…"

Izetta's hand shines bright green as her magic builds up, illuminating the dark area in addition to the torchlight on her hip. Taking a deep breath, Izetta brings her charged palm to the rock formation. With her magic that slices through steel easily, it tears through the rocks that took the rescuers hours to drill through. But Izetta is not merely cutting a hole, she has to grind the whole rock down enough that the prince would be given more wriggle room. Furthermore, she has to be careful not to touch the prince with her magic or it would shred him as well.

So Izetta proceeds with caution, but still grimly keeps in mind how much rock she has to get through. After grinding a chunk out, she cuts off the magic to her hand and shakes it, trying to dissipate the heat that accumulated. With another exhale, she places it back down to balance herself. Trying not to think about the creeping toll she feels from using such a high concentration of magic for a long time, she powers up the other hand to work from the other side.

After a few long minutes, Izetta lets out a loud huff. Her magic fades out as she thumps her hands on the ground and pants continuously. Slowly bringing up her trembling hands, she clenches them repeatedly and shakes them, willing for them to recover faster.

"What's…" the prince's legs squirm, "Wrong…?"

"...Sorry. Just give me a second... to catch my breath."

"...Please…" the prince hesitantly mutters, not wanting rush the only person who could save him now, but also terrified that he is still stuck after so long and that even the White Agent is having trouble.

Izetta sucks in deep breaths, squares her shoulders and leans in again. Green light flares to life again, her hand ready to grind through the solid rock again. The prince lets out the breath he was holding unknowingly, but quickly holds his breath again, not wanting to inhale dust and make the White Agent stop.

Izetta's hand eventually stretches its full length. The green light fizzles out and Izetta retracts it while heaving. "...Okay… I'm done with this… I'll get the other guy now…" she wheezes, slinking back to where the rescuer is waiting.

"Thank you…" the prince musters his voice while still being upside down. Although Izetta had shaved the rock a lot, it was not enough to get the prince upright from that position. He did have a lot more room to move about, and would be able to crawl back out if he still had strength.

The rescuer scurries back in as soon as Izetta comes out. Backing into a wall, Izetta leans on it as she continues to heave. Tilting the torchlight at her hip and bringing up her shaky hands, she clenches and stretches her fingers to inspect them. The suit still remained intact, so at least she did not burn through it but her hands were feeling numb from exertion. She plops her hands back down to her lap and looks to where the prince is while still trying to catch her breath.

"Argh," she hears the rescuer, "Sorry White Agent, I can't pull him out myself. We'll have to use the rope with you as a makeshift pulley. You remember that backup plan?"

"Yeah…" Izetta exhales as she stands up and swings her hands up and down. As she curls her fingers in preparation, she sees the rope stir about, a sign that the rescuer is tying it around the prince's waist with the extra space she just made. Even with Izetta's magic, she had no knowledge or experience on how to free somebody stuck like that so they deemed it would be safer for a rescuer to be at the extraction point while she provides the raw power.

"Okay," the rescuer calls out, "I'm done tying it around him. Whenever you're ready, just tell me when you're going to start pulling. The squad up there is already on standby to support you."

"Give me a second," Izetta breathes out as she reaches for the rope on the ground. Since she would be pulling from a different location and angle from their previous try, she could not simply jam the pulley into the rock and nail it in with her knifes. There would be too much friction from the rope rubbing against the rocks for the rescue squad to be able to muster enough force, which is why they installed multiple pulleys before to weave around the rock formations.

Fortunately the other pulleys are still in place, so Izetta would only have to compensate for the one that fell earlier with her superhuman strength. Taking a deep breath, she grips the rope tightly and pivots her feet. "Okay, I'm pulling it now."

The rope behind Izetta turns taut as the rescue squad tugs as well, but not at full force. They are more concerned with keeping the rope in place so that even if Izetta stops or lets go, the prince would still be kept in place and not fall back to where he started. With a grunt, Izetta lugs the rope towards her, feeling the strain of having to drag the rope across the rocky ground and her magic running low.

The rescuer guides the prince's body as he is being hauled up, guiding his body so that it does not rub against the rocks. Due to Izetta grinding away the rocks, the job is much simpler and the prince does not feel so much strain by having the rope tied around his waist rather than his legs. Still, the rescuer keeps an eye out for when Izetta should pull faster or slower, and hears for when she needs a break and adjusts accordingly.

Finally, the prince is towed out onto a more spacious area. The rescuer swiftly turns him right side up and places him on the ground. "White Agent! It's done! You can let go!"

Izetta eyes her hands. Then she slowly releases one. Seeing the rope remain taut, she lets go of the other hand and stumbles back into the wall. Leaning into it, her body slides down until she is sitting on the ground with a slouch. With her arms on her knees, she sees the dirt and dust plastered all over her. Through her laboured breathing, she feels sweat dripping down her face and get soaked up by the helmet's interior.

Scampering is heard and Izetta looks up to see the rescuer's back clambering into the area. Then the prince's head pops into view up, the rescuer helping him to navigate along with the rope supporting his weight.

"Alright…" the rescuer huffs as he lets the prince down onto the ground. "I'm going to swap out with my colleagues. They'll get you out as soon as you're ready. White Agent, do look after him."

Izetta nods wordlessly, still reeling from before.

"Thank you…" the prince sobs, causing the rescuer that was heading up to turn around. "Thank you all so much… I'll never do such a stupid thing again… but I'll make sure all of you get handsomely rewarded… for doing so much for me…"

The rescuer steps back down and looks directly at the prince. "Sir, that doesn't matter. What does is getting you out of here safe and sound. Just hang in there a little longer."

The prince bows his head and sniffs. The rescuer gives one last nod to Izetta before climbing up.

"...You especially," the prince blubbers to Izetta, "You were called out of nowhere… And then had to do so much… If even you were having trouble, I would have definitely died there…"

Izetta takes a deep breath to stabilise her voice. "Sir, please save your strength. We can talk when you've recovered."

"Mmm…"

The sound of two rescuers scrambling down breaks the relatively quiet moment. One of them goes to the prince to strap more rope to him while the other gets ready near the entrance to the surface. They swiftly finish preparations and wait patiently for the prince to give the go ahead.

"...Alright, I'm ready," the prince slowly lifts his body off the ground. "Please, get me out."

The rescuers affirm that they will and help him move along, with one at the front and one at the back. As they reach the path upwards, one turns to Izetta.

"White Agent, do you want to wait here? We can handle bringing him up and can come back for you afterwards."

"No," Izetta shakes her head and pushes herself up. "I'll follow behind, just in case anything goes wrong."

"Alright, we'll tell them to help hold your rope steady as well. If you want to stop and rest somewhere, just let us know."

"Got it, let's go," Izetta nods.

The rescuers maintain their formation as they go up, helping the prince manoeuvre around the rocky formations as most of his weight is hoisted up by the squad above. Izetta silently trails behind, keeping an eye out for any sudden movements as well as concentrating on gathering the little magic she has left.

After an uneventful journey, the front rescuer's legs pop out of the hole. Then the rest of his body follows and so does the prince. Many other nearby rescuers grab onto the prince, lifting him the rest of the way up. As they place him onto the stretcher to be loaded into a helicopter, he passes out with a smile.

Then the back rescuer comes out head-first. He takes a look behind to see Izetta right behind him. Making way for her, Izetta finally comes out of the hole.

The rescuers help to heave Izetta up, leaving her on the ground on all fours. As they detach the belt from her, many pat her on the back and rub her shoulders. As Izetta catches her breath, she gradually gets to her feet.

The numerous rescuers give her a standing ovation, causing her to look around and take in just how many of them there are. Exhaling in relief, she takes a bow.

"Thank you all, but I really could not have done this myself. Each and every one of you contributed to the success of this mission, and I would have failed by myself. This is a win for all of us."

The applause gets louder, several people cheering among themselves now. As Izetta turns away and steps towards her pod, a rescuer comes up to her.

"Sir, are you… okay? You look tired. Can we do anything for you?"

Izetta looks to the ground for a moment. "Yeah, I am tired. But all I really want now is to go home."

The White Agent shifts forward as the pod comes to a stop, his head falling back into the seat soon after. With a groan, Izetta heavily steps out of the pod to see Royal Maids waiting around her.

"Lady Izetta, we'll clean up for you, so please go ahead and rest," one bows to her as the others go to the pod.

Izetta turns around and her face winces. 'Ugh, there's so much dirt in the pod. I knew I was dirty, but not this much...'

"Right… Thank you…" she mutters as she plods towards the stairs heading up to the palace.

As Izetta trudges up, she barely notices the two maids following her, ready to catch her if she falters. But at the end of the corridor, she sees a familiar figure running towards her. Although her body feels like lead and she can no longer stand straight, she cannot help but smile at the sight of who is coming to her with outstretched arms.

"Finé..."

A/N: The incident in the crevice/cave was inspired by the 'Nutty Putty Cave Accident' that happened in real life.