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THIRTY-EIGHT- Rogue

BLINDING lights flicker back on, and we find ourselves back in the enormous white room. I do my best not to stare at the figure standing before me.

I'm still planted on the hard ground with no plans of getting up anytime soon. My shaky fingers trace the sick feeling of Levi's forceful grip around my neck.

I saw it in his eyes, and felt it in his touch. The rage, the pain. The sorrow. And what sends chills down my spine the most is the memory of pure fear engulfing my body as I realised the full potential of such bloodlust.

Airis' shoes click in a steady pattern, alongside the humming rhythm of the generators concealed within the walls. Already feeling safer with the presence of another soul in the room, I breathe a deep sigh of relief.

I can't get myself to look up, though.

My breath is ragged and hoarse, and tremors of fear shake through my body. That's when I realize how vulnerable I really am, and here I thought the government fully trained me into an indestructible being. But there's always someone better. Stronger. Faster. And I know as long as Levi is still here, I'm not safe.

But a gentle hand catches my peripherals, offering to help me up. I stare at it cautiously, and finally look up to see Levi's grim smile. Disbelief etches across my face. This is definitely something foreign to me. It's like he's a completely different person.

I hesitantly touch his hand, only to recoil on instinct, suddenly afraid. His hand doesn't move away. Instead, it finds mine and tenderly helps me up. "Thank you," I gratefully whisper, but I don't think he hears.

Airis then finally arrives in front of us. "Nicely done, Levi," he abruptly says. He claps, and his eyes land on mine. "As for you Number 33, you had a decent first try. Not quite as bad as I had expected."

I purse my lips, knowing better than to speak up.

Airis leads us towards the centre of the room, and I can sense we're not done with this training session yet. In fact, it has only begun.

Airis straightens himself up and looks us both in the eye. I mentally groan when I hear what he says next.

"Now, we're moving on to training your sense of sight."

Something silver catches my attention as Airis pulls a sharp dagger from his pants' left pocket. What happens next just catches me completely off-guard. He throws the weapon, directing his aim straight towards Levi. I stare in pure shock as Levi manages to stop the dagger centimeters from his face before it makes a splitting impact.

My jaw drops open.

"You'll learn how to do that sooner or later. And shut your mouth before something flies in, Rogue," Airis casually notes as I feel blood climbing up my cheeks. "You have today, and tomorrow left to train for your Battlefield Mission. I know improvements will start to surface once we work on your weak points but..." he trails off.

Airis opens his mouth again, but no words come out. Instead, his facial expression changes into a contorted look as his hand reaches up to his earpiece, listening intently. Levi and I glance at each other, but we both wear the same face of confusion. From the way Airis' eyebrows lock together, we judge that the voice on the other side of the line is giving a serious report.

Suddenly the floor starts to vibrate. The vibration slowly increases in magnitude, and before I know it, the white cement floor begins to slightly split open in numerous areas. The cracks quickly ride up in different directions, extending longer and broader by the second. All of a sudden, a loud boom resounds from within the white walls, causing the whole room to shake. Some pieces of the broken ceiling fall in loud thuds to the ground. And without a warning, another thundering blast violently knocks us off our feet. I nearly fall to the ground, but Levi manages to catch me by the waist in the nick of time.

"What's going on?" I slowly ask with fear plummeting through my system. We all steady ourselves before any of us makes another move.

Once the vicious quaking stops, Airis' eyes widen shock, as another message is being delivered to him. He listens attentively and he presses a small button firmly on his ear piece when the message is over. "Copy that," he mutters. Then he turns to us with a grave expression.

A lump of fright juts out of my throat, and my stomach starts to feel queasy.

"What is it? What's going on?" I ask, trying to ignore the feeling of blood draining from my face.

"We have to go," he says, leaving my hanging questions unanswered. Unlike me, Levi doesn't need to push any further. Taking me by my arm, he pushes me towards the door, following orders. I flinch in retaliation, but he remains calm and composed. His grip on my arm is also as steady as ever.

Sounds of bombings and explosions ring from the distance as we step out of the room, and I can't help but cower in my own panic and alarm.

"What's happening?" I inquire, but no one pays any attention to me. Confusion and panic explode into a terrifying frenzy until I know I'm just not thinking straight anymore.

I look around to see the beautiful palace crumbling to pieces. We step over broken vases and cracked mirrors, ceiling masts and shattered portraits.

"To the Shelters! Make it quick," Airis says walking briskly in long strides. Even Airis looks alarmed, and that makes me worry even more.

"What? Why?" I frantically ask, as we squeeze in between a narrow hallway, tight with broken wall chunks. Electric wires and circuits dangle overhead from the naked ceiling.

Airis simply shrugs me off and mutters several codes and orders to different contacts through his earpiece.

"Damn it, port three is down," Airis informs Levi, who just nods in response and looks ahead. I look up at him, and there is not a trace of fear or curiosity in his gray eyes either. He's so calm it's almost... comforting.

He continues to lead me on ahead, and the look on his face is unfazed, like everything is under control.

"Do you know what's going on?"

He doesn't bother to acknowledge me.

Airis answers for him, finally stopping in front of a shattered window. I watch the horrified look on my face being reflected in
different angles of the mirror's shards. Giving me a stern look while he soothes his temples, he says, "Let's just say, there has been a change of plans."

A scowl smears my face. "In what?"

"Your Battlefield Mission isn't in two days."

Airis rapidly presses several hidden buttons on the side of the dilapidated window, and a hidden door slides open. Several lights blink on the floor, highlighting a small pathway. An escape route.

I'm still as confused and panicked as ever, but the fear of what might come next bubbles in my throat.

"You leave tonight."