"Beck? Is that really you?" Tayne asked the boy again.
"Yeah, it's me, what proof do you want me to do, huh?" the boy holds his neck "You should have been a bit more gentle you know, now I'm a mess" he fixes his red hair.
A surging of emotions comes into her and hugs the young lad.
"Oh! Beck! It's good to see you, look at you, your all grown up!" she cries
"Hey, keep quiet will you, they might hear us"
Allen who was looking at the two got perplexed, he wasn't following about what's going on and Tayne notices that.
"I'm sorry, Sir Allen, this is Beck, he's the same age as you and also he's a good friend of mine, Beck this is Allen, he's a co-worker" she introduces the two to each other
"I-I s-see, if I may ask Sir Beck.."
"Beck, please call me Beck, that Sir stuff grosses me"
"Sorry, then, Beck, may I ask what brings you here? Those people there are bandits and kidnapped kids in a nearby City, if you're here then you must be"
"No" Beck answers bluntly
"I'm not one of them..."
"Then why?"
"The same reason you're here, one of those kids inside is someone I know and I was about to rescue him"
"Him? Kid?" Tayne gasp "Don't tell me it's--"
Beck nods "Yes, it's Deck, my little brother, he's inside"
"But why are you guys in this Kingdom anyway?"
"We were on a mi--" Beck was about to explain and sees Tayne glare into him, he finds Allen was listening
"What? Please continue" the young guard requests
"We have heard a colorful city exists here in Saveria and my little brother wanted to take a visit, were from a small country outside you know, so, after I finally got to save enough money for a trip here, we immediately traveled and just our luck those bandits arrived"
Beck looks at Allen's expression, the lad got sad "That's so unfortunate"
"He got kidnapped along with the other kids thinking he might be a citizen. I've been tracking them down and led me here, I was about to go save him tonight that's when I saw you two sneaking in"
"Then let's go inside together" suggested Tayne
"W-wait! Shouldn't we plan or something? I don't see soldiers anywhere that was sent by the mayor" Allen interrupts
"There were no soldiers Allen, he said that to not scare you"
"What? No"
"Don't worry Allen, we got your back" Tayne pats his shoulder
Beck agrees. Allen took a deep breath and readied his guns "Okay, let's go"
The bandits guarding outside were heavily armed but they were not aware of their presence.
"Okay" Tayne stand up and unzips her bag out came a massive black sword. Allen jaws drop when he saw it. "Let's save those kids"
Finally showing themselves in front of the bandits, the enemies start firing their weapons but Tayne was faster than them. She swings her sword and a gust of wind blinds them for the meantime and that's when she counter attacks.
"Well, if she's with us, we have no problem fighting them," said Beck preparing his small daggers on both his hands
Allen who just witnessed his superior fights stirs something in him. "She's amazing" he commended
"Haha, I know, right? That's Tayne for you, c'mon" Beck runs and Allen followed.
Beck was a surprise as well when he swiftly moves from left to right jumping in front of the enemies stabbing them.
[What the hell are these two friends for?] Allen thought. He was doing his share of the battle with the correct timing he hits the bandits leg making them incapable to fight back.
"Nice aim" Beck praises.
While only a few bandits were left outside, Tayne breaks inside the building and sees another group of bandits, another ten of them. They were caught off guard and starts shooting at her
[These bandits are amateurs] Tayne thought. She looks around and finally had a vision of the kids. It got her pumped and counter attacks the enemy. Once Beck and Allen were done outside they followed her.
"Brother" Deck cries out when he sees Beck.
"Get them out!" Tayne ordered and the two boys carried the smallest of the kids each, there were six in total including the mayor's daughter.
"Can you walk? You're not hurt right?" Allen asked her
Riel shakes her head.
"Good. Because I need you to guide the other kids outside"
Riel gives him a nod and all together went outside the building leaving Tayne. Succeeding the rescue, Tayne finally got a chance to go wild and with her sword jumps forward and stabs the ground making a short earthquake that made the remaining bandits tumble. As soon as they were out of their balance she maneuvers herself swiftly to their sides and instantly kills them.
The battle didn't take long to finish so when the coast was clear she heard a glass breaks and fire goes straight to her, the building was filled with gas - and the entire structure exploded while she was inside.
"No! Miss Tayne!" Allen screams
They put the kids into safety far away from the fire and look at the casualty in front.
"No, no, no" he runs towards the fire but was stop by Beck.
"Let me go, we must save her!"
Beck smiled at him "Don't worry, she's fine"
"What?"
"She's fine, look" he pointed at the fire, and a figure comes out from the flames, it was Tayne carrying her sword.
"That was close," she said, "How are the kids?"
She sees Allen a bit teary-eyed and his face was red "What happened to you?"
"I- I-"
"He's just so happy we rescued the kids" Beck answered for him and give Allen a wink.
Tayne approaches them "Wow, your so emotional, Sir Allen, hahaha!"
"Tayne!" Deck runs to her "It's really you!"
"Yes it's me, my how you've grown"
The other children did the same and rush to her, they must have felt overwhelmed to see a woman fighting.
"Thank you Miss" Riel thanked her
"Nah, it's good, you should thank your father. He gave us quite a laugh you know"
"He did?"
"Yeah, it was something about testing us or I don't know"
"And you laughed?"
"Very much! That guy over there was red as a tomato!" Tayne points to Allen
"I didn't laugh like you!"
"Whatever, you were about to anyway!"
Everyone was laughing seeing how the two were acting like kids. Beck was watching as well and saw a few cars coming their way.
"Tayne" he calls to her.
Tayne goes near him carrying deck "Thanks, Beck, with you guiding Allen, he has forgotten his fear of fighting"
"He's a good fighter, hey, I need to tell you something and fast because we don't want the Royal Secret Service seeing us together you know"
Tayne nods.
"Something is going on in this Kingdom, something sinister, I was sent here to search for someone so we'll be here for a while"
"Someone?"
"Yes, Darvan got a hold of information that a certain Victoria knows everything that's been going on"
"Victoria?"
The cars finally arrive and came out a few guards, Tseng and Claude.
"I got to go, see you again Tayne!" Beck holds his brother as they walk into the darkness.
Tayne was left muddled by the sudden information she got. [Maybe we're searching for the same answers] she thought.
"What are you doing here brat?" Claude asked her
"Your Majesty! Surprise to see you here?"
Claude looks at the environment, dead bandits, about three were barely alive, a group of kidnapped kids almost in tears and a building on fire. What catches his attention was the burning black flag on the roof.
"Caleb received a call from a certain Allen that your surveillance mission just turned to rescue. He was told to stay put but seeing how things happened here you both didn't"
"The kids could have died!"
"I wasn't angry, brat."
Tayne was shut down.
"Let's go back to the city and return these kids then we'll talk"
It was already dawn they got back to the city and the kids were returned to their worried families.
"Riel!" Readick came running to the car and hugs her daughter
"My daughter! Oh, my daughter! Are you hurt?"
"No, daddy, that woman, and Sir Allen saved me" she points to the two guards
Readick who was still wearing his mix and match purple and green clothes approach the two guards and greet the King.
"Your Majesty" he bows
Claude looks at him from head to foot and with a furrowed brow asked him straightforward "Do you always wear clothes like that every day?"
Claude can hear Tayne laughing loudly behind him and Allen was keeping his in. Riel and the other kids joined the laughter and the overwhelmed Readick gave in and laugh as well. Claude was confused about what's going on. He was the only one who did not laugh [Was my question funny?]
"Your Majesty, thank you so much for saving my daughter and the other kids... everyone here is grateful"
"Thank you, your majesty" Riel curtsied in front of him
"It's fine"
Claude signaled the two guards to go back to the palace and they followed. When they were inside the car, Readick goes close to them.
"Sir Allen, I wanted to apologize for lying to you"
"It's fine Sir Readick, I'm not angry if we didn't go there as soon as possible who knows what will happen to the kids"
Readick smiles "Please visit us during your day-offs, we will surely tour you around our colorful city!"
"We'll take you up on that offer old man!" Tayne who was in the driver seat waves him goodbye.
When the King and the rest of the guards left for the palace, Riel holds his father's hands.
"Thank you, daddy."
"For what? I wasn't the one who saved you.
"No, not that"
"Huh? Did I do something to be thanked for?"
"Yes! Thank you for always bringing us laughter despite the situation" Riel kissed her father on the cheek.
"I just thought I was lucky, it was them that came," said Readick
----
On their way back to the palace, Allen just realized he's been missing something.
"Beck! I didn't saw Beck and his brother!"
"It's fine, they already left before the King arrived"
The two became quiet "Hey, Allen.. can I ask you for a huge favor?"
"What is it? Miss Tayne?"
"Can you not mention Beck and Deck on your report? I don't want them to be involved in the palace"
"Ah, I see. Miss Tayne, I know this is a personal question but how are the two of you related?"
Tayne looks at him.
"The way he fights is exemplary as if he's been doing it for a long time. That's how I felt when I saw you as well, I'm sorry, maybe he's a soldier or something I don't know"
"He was"
"What?"
"He was a soldier, we both were actually, that's how we met but I quit being one and got a job here. While Beck, I'm pretty sure he's been traveling with his brother"
"Ah, that explains why..." Allen smiled while he thought about what happened "Okay, you can trust me, I won't include them on my report"
"Thank You!"
The two became quiet again but this time Allen was the to talk first.
"I wasn't planning to go with you, you know, I called Sir Caleb back then telling him about the situation and I even called you nuts"
"Eh? That's mean.. hehehe" Tayne chuckles as she continued driving "But what changed your mind?"
"Sir Caleb said to trust you...he said I'd be better off with you than waiting for reinforcements"
"Oh, he did?"
"Yeah, when I saw you carry that big sword and swung it easily in front of your enemies, I was so amazed and told my self Sir Caleb was telling the truth, I'm glad I got the courage to trust you.."
"So cheesy but I'm happy you did Allen. Congrats on your first mission!"
"Thank you!"
---
Allen went separately when they arrived at the palace, he was in a hurry to make a report per instruction of Caleb.
"Hey brat" Claude calls her
"Did you find some new leads?"
Tayne immediately got serious and faces him.
"Your Majesty, do you know someone go by the name Victoria?"
Claude and Tseng look at each other surprised.
--- End Of The Chapter.