The only noise came from the crackling candle in the far corner of the room. It cast a dim light across the two of us, who stared at each other in cold silence. A single candle. A single candle was sculpting the entire atmosphere of the room.

His medium-length brown hair had grown out a bit since the last time we had seen each other; it now nearly reached his shoulders. The flame illuminated his dark brown eyes and reflected off of the surface of his glasses, making him very intimidating. I was studying him. The way his jaw twitched every so often, the way his eyes stared at me, the way he held himself. He towered over me now, but the two of us had remained good friends, so I knew I could count on him, no matter how often he sent a shiver down my spine.

‘It’s been a while, hasn’t it?’ I said plainly.

‘It has,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s good to see you, Maltor.’

‘It’s good to be back,’ I replied. Even though my words may have looked friendly and welcoming to the eye, the corners of my mouth stayed perfectly still. ‘And I’m better than ever.’

‘I can tell. You won twice.’

I smirked. ‘And he thinks that this is the end. He thinks this is all I’m gonna do. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I launch the real attack.’

A dark look suddenly coated his face, which was strange considering the fact that the candle had been illuminating it quite well. He knew something.

‘What? What happened?’ I asked quickly. ‘What’s he done?’

‘Maltor,’ he said, his voice low, ‘he’s gone to Switzerland. To train. Apparently, there’s a man called William Johnson in the Alps who is gonna train them. He’s a son of Titan.’

‘What?’ I spat. ‘Another son of Titan?’

He nodded slowly. ‘Piz Vadret, I think the mountain is called.’

‘Why would he go- Wait. You said ‘them’. Who are ‘they’?’

‘Ethan’s gone with him, Maltor,’ he said glumly. ‘I don’t know how long they’re gonna be gone, and neither do they. But they’ve both gone to train.’

I swore loudly. ‘All the way to the Alps? Just for me?’

‘Now we’re left with a tough choice,’ he said, glancing at me. ‘We can attack the city while he’s gone. Or we wait until he returns.’

‘We wait until he returns,’ I said plainly. ‘For starters, the lack of an attack might lure the city into a false sense of security. And second, I want to take the city from him, not just swoop in whilst he’s gone. I want to wrench it from his hands.’

‘That’s perfectly understandable,’ he replied calmly. ‘We need to do anything we can to make the world right.'

'He doesn’t know about this, does he?’ I asked. I had to make sure. ‘He has no clue that you’re on my side, right?’

‘Absolutely no idea,’ he said, smirking. ‘And I believe we may be able to use somebody else to get close to him.’

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The candle in the corner of the room shone brighter for a moment. His face was still being illuminated in a very intimidating way. Even though I knew he would listen to everything I said, I felt a slight shiver make its way down my spine as I looked at him.

‘What do you mean?’

‘There’s a girl,’ he said confidently, and I tried not to smirk. ‘She’s one of his closest friends. She’ll be able to get any plans out of him and to us. And if we intend on fighting a psychological war, she will definitely be of use.’

‘A girl, huh?’ I said ominously. ‘She will definitely be of use. Make sure that the two of them are as close as possible before we make her do anything.’

‘Of course, Maltor,’ he replied, just as ominously. ‘The two of us are friends as it is, so it should be easy enough for me to sway her.’

‘In the meantime,’ I said, changing the subject, ‘whilst we wait for him to return, I suggest we hone our forces. Make sure they are combat-ready.’

‘Yes, that’s another good idea,’ he murmured. ‘Do you want me to start the preparations?’

‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ I said. ‘And with that, you can go now, if you wish.’

He turned and opened the door behind him. It creaked loudly and he tapped the doorframe as it opened.

‘See you, Maltor.’

Then he left. I stood completely still for a moment, barely even breathing. Listening intently to the small noises of the candle, I began to think, which was something I hadn’t really done in a while. Something about the traditionally villainous atmosphere made my mind run free.

Albert had been my best friend. We had been tortured together for seven years. Fought together for seven years. Part of me almost didn’t want to fight him. I had to continuously remind myself of the things he had done so that I had the extra fuel to follow through with the things I had already started.

The one that I always had to remind myself of was the moment that he left me. Sure, it may have been partially my fault for touching his Instinct Point. But I had just wanted to keep him safe. Neither of us were thinking in that moment. It seemed naturally right to get Albert to safety before myself. I suppose part of me had expected him to stay even after the Point had been touched. As though his instincts would have been telling him to stay. Of course, they wouldn’t have been; nobody would’ve wanted to stay anywhere near that place longer than they had to.

The two of us had promised to never use our Powers ever since getting them. We knew how dangerous they were. The only reason I had used it on the night we had escaped was as a last resort. I wouldn’t have survived if it weren’t for that thing. But I hadn’t used it since. Willingly, at least. There were times when I got overwhelmed and couldn’t hold it back. During the war with Amy, the forest had always been my go-to place to let it out, and I know Albert had done the same.

And I was certain that I would not use my Power in this war, either. Sure, it would most likely make for a quick end, but we had promised. Those things were too dangerous to ever be let out. They could kill hundreds, most likely thousands, of people. They had to be kept away.

Then there was of course the big moment. The moment he ‘killed’ me. It was the thing that everybody had least expected him to do. He had even said that we could talk it over, that I could be forgiven. He had insisted that I was just tired and needed rest. But then he had gone silent. He hadn’t said another word. He just unsheathed his sword and ploughed it through my stomach. The only thing that changed was his eyes; they did not look like his eyes. A strange look had come over them, almost as though he did not want to do what he was doing, but more so felt like he had to.

I swore loudly. I had set things in motion that could not be stopped. Who knew how many lives would be lost because of me?

Actually, I didn’t care. I would take as many lives as I had to in order to make the world right. It was the correct thing to do. Sacrifices had to be made for the greater good.

Glancing at the candle in the corner, the image of Albert’s blazing sword flashed through my mind. I thought back to that day, when the two of us had double-teamed Amy. Together. We had brought one of the most powerful witches on the planet to a point where she felt that fleeing was safer than continuing to fight. Us. We had done that.

I calmly walked over to the candle and blew it out harshly. Darkness descended onto the room, and I was left in complete nothingness.

I had to do it. It was for the greater good. I was going to save the world. I was going to make everything right. And if I had to take Albert’s head to do so, I would.