Despite being dragged back to Olympus during the night, I awoke with no negative emotions whatsoever. It was finally the day. We were going home.

The telltale sign that I was in for a good day came from the fact that I didn’t wake up to the iPhone alarm; Ethan had spared me. He was awake and dressed by the time I sat up in my bed, and all he was waiting for was for me to do the same.

He slapped my back as I walked to the bathroom to get changed, and I smirked at him.

‘Rise and shine,’ he taunted.

‘Don’t make me start the day in a bad mood,’ I mumbled, rubbing my eyes gently.

‘Not my fault,’ he replied simply, shrugging.

I scoffed as I shut the bathroom door behind me.

My mind was reeling. It was finally the day. We were going home. I don’t think it had quite hit me yet just how great that was.

When I left the bathroom after getting changed, I found Ethan standing a few feet away from the door to our room, practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

The most surprising thing, however, is that the beds were made and everything from the floor had been cleaned up. I presumed that he had put our things in our bags, ready for the journey. Speaking of which, he was holding said bags, both my own and his.

‘Well, aren’t you a perfect little maid?’ I teased.

He shrugged. ‘Don’t want them thinking we’re tramps.’

‘Oh, they know I’m not a tramp,’ I replied, smirking.

‘Oh, for the love of the Gods, shut up, we’ve gotta leave in the next half hour.’

‘What?’

‘Oh, yeah, you were asleep cuz you’re lazy,’ Ethan continued, grinning. ‘That girl that saw us training yesterday said that our flight leaves at ten past twelve. It’s eight o’clock.’

‘Hannah?’

‘If that’s her name then yeah.’

The two of us left our room after double and triple checking that we had everything. My stomach had turned into a mosh pit.

To our somewhat surprise, William was nowhere to be found outside our room. We had half expected him to be waiting for us or something, but I couldn’t blame him for not doing so.

‘There you are!’ came Hannah’s voice from my right.

My head swirled around and I saw her running towards us from the dining area a few metres away.

‘William has been waiting for ages!’ she continued.

‘So, this is Hannah?’ Ethan whispered. He evidently had not intended for Hannah to hear him, but she did.

‘Yes, I am Hannah,’ she said, smirking. ‘And I think it is time for your goodbyes.’

My stomach sank, and I was certain that Ethan’s face went a little slack.

Hannah ushered us toward the camp entrance. It felt strange. It was as though I were walking underwater. My movements felt sluggish and everyone sounded distant. A few people wished us luck and bid us farewell, but I could hardly make out their words, and all I could manage was a few weak nods.

William was waiting for us on the ledge. He had his back to the entrance, but he was there. As he stared out into the mountain range, it was clear that he was much calmer than when Ethan and I had found him at the peak.

‘Well, thanks for everything, sir,’ Ethan said quietly, causing William to turn to face us.

He looked strangely calm in the morning light and surprisingly gently breeze. His lips curled upward slightly as he looked at us. He looked proud.

‘Don’t mention it, my boy. I would do it a million times more if given the chance.’

‘Same to you,’ I said, grinning. ‘We’re really gonna miss you, sir.’

William chuckled. ‘Well, you’ll just have to come and visit sometime. You know, so we can spar.’

His eyes seemed to sparkle slightly as he said this.

‘It’d be an honour,’ Ethan replied, beaming.

‘Yeah, but be warned, saving the world may give us the advantage,’ I added sarcastically.

‘Oh, you’ll need the advantage,’ Hannah joked. ‘William’s no push-over.’

‘Yeah, of course,’ Ethan chimed in, ‘he’s the reason we’re so good now.’

‘And we won’t forget it,’ I said hastily. ‘Every time I land a hit on anyone, it’ll be you on my mind, sir.’

‘Just promise me that you’ll save the world, boys. There would be no greater thing to witness as your mentor,’ William said, sounding almost sad.

‘We’ll try, sir. As hard as we can.’

‘Promise,’ Ethan added, smirking. ‘And be sure to look out for Albert’s name in the papers. It’s gonna be in all the headlines when he saves the world, I bet.’

‘And for good reason,’ Hannah replied. ‘It’s not every day the world gets saved from a maniac that’s looking for genocide.’

‘I’ve done it before,’ I scoffed. ‘And that was before William’s teachings. I’m gonna kick ass like never before now.’

‘There is truly nobody better whom I could have taught,’ William said quietly.

He wiped his eye gently.

‘Sir?’ I said, smirking slightly. ‘You okay?’

‘Never better,’ he replied, smiling.

Ethan stepped forward and put his hand on William’s shoulder. ‘Good luck without us.’

William, Hannah, and I roared with laughter.

‘Good luck with him,’ William said to me, glancing at Ethan as he did so.

‘Oi!’ Ethan exclaimed in mock outrage. ‘He needs me!’

‘I don’t need that stupid alarm, though, I’ll tell you that,’ I teased.

‘Sir,’ I heard Hannah murmur. ‘It’s time for them to leave.’

My head turned so fast that my neck clicked.

‘What?’ I breathed.

William and Hannah stared at me. Evidently, they had not expected me to hear what Hannah had said.

‘What? What’s happening?’ Ethan asked quickly. But he realised just as fast. ‘No.’

William stepped forward and put an arm around me and Ethan each. ‘See you soon, boys. And have fun saving the world.’

I patted his back slowly. ‘Wouldn’t be possible without you, sir.’

Ethan nodded. ‘We’ll make sure everyone knows we’re only where we are cuz of you, sir.’

‘Oh, please, I’m not after fame,’ William said, watching me as I slowly began to walk to the edge of the ledge.

Ethan and Hannah followed his gaze, and soon enough, everyone’s eyes were on me.

‘Don’t tell me you forgot,’ I said, grinning at Ethan. ‘We’ve gotta get to the road. I’ve gotta carry you in my arms again.’

Ethan groaned loudly as I ran across the length of the ledge. Right before I got to the other side, I leapt upwards, unfurling my huge wings, which were about seven and a half feet long each. I gave a great flap downward, soaring up and feeling the wind rush against my face.

I shook my wings slightly in the breeze, adjusting to the air. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath in, I dived downwards quickly; I had to test myself. I zigzagged through the air a bit before finally flying back up to the ledge.

‘Okay, I’m ready,’ I said, hovering a few feet behind Ethan. ‘You sure you’re okay carrying the bags?’

‘One hundred per cent.’

I swooped forward, wrapping my arms under Ethan’s. Tilting my body slightly to the left, I circled around so that the two of us were facing William and Hannah again.

‘Thank you so much for everything, sir!’ I called.

‘When we save the world, just know that you got us there!’ Ethan added.

William beamed at the two of us. ‘Good luck, boys. And, remember, keep your breathing steady!’

Ethan and I nodded, our smiles practically ear-to-ear.

My gaze met Hannah’s for a moment, and she nodded slightly.

‘Get that girl,’ she mouthed, in German.

I grinned at her.

‘Here we go,’ I said quietly to Ethan. ‘We’re going home.’

With a great flap of my wings, I zoomed forward, away from Piz Vadret.

‘Aren’t you gonna look back and wave?’ Ethan asked quietly.

‘Don’t have the heart to,’ I mumbled back. ‘I don’t wanna risk giving in to the urge to go back there.’

I stared straight ahead as I glided effortlessly through the Alps. The wind was blowing in just the right direction, meaning that I barely had to put effort into our flight. I wondered for a moment about whether or not that was William’s doing. I wouldn’t have put it past him.

Feeling the cold December air of the Alps encompass my entire body as we flew was a feeling like no other. It was so different to flying around RoCity. Of course, the air was thinner, and there was less oxygen, but I had hardly expected those factors to make such a large difference.

I couldn’t wait to fly around RoCity again, more specifically the forest. Zipping through the narrow gaps between the trees and rolling through the air was one of the most exhilarating things I had ever had the pleasure to experience.

‘Hey, Albert?’ Ethan said slowly. ‘You flew past the car.’

‘Damn!’ I hissed in return.

He was right. Glancing down, I saw the driver at the end of the thin road behind us. He was watching us, waiting for us to come down.

‘Hold on tight,’ I said quietly to Ethan.

‘To what? The bags? I already am, dumbass. Look how high up we are.’

‘To your gut.’

‘Wha-’

His word was cut off, presumably because I had begun a steep dive downward. I knew exactly what I was doing, obviously Ethan was safe, but he didn’t think that.

And, Gods, he was screaming. Such an unearthly noise left his mouth as we descended that I almost dropped him. Not accidentally, either.

‘What in Titan’s name are you doing?’ he roared over the wind, before hurriedly shutting his mouth as though he was about to be sick.

I didn’t respond. To put it simply, I was having too much fun.

As we were about twenty metres from the ground, I levelled out my body, causing our decline to halt. I slowly circled the car for a moment before slowly descending.

‘Open your eyes, you little wuss,’ I said to Ethan, grinning. ‘I’d rather you land on your feet when I drop you.’

‘Wha-’

I let go. No, we were not still twenty metres in the air. We were about five feet up.

Ethan landed on the floor with a slight yelp, but at least he was alive and safe. He glowered up at me as I landed, and for the life of me I could not see why.

‘Did you enjoy that, sweetie?’ I taunted. ‘I pulled off my best tricks for you.’

‘After you kick Maltor’s ass I’m gonna kick yours,’ he snarled.

I scoffed. ‘Some people are just so ungrateful.’

‘I’m ready to go when you are, sir,’ the driver said as I turned to him. His lifeless blue eyes bored into mine.

‘Yeah, we’ll be ready as soon as we get in the car,’ I replied with as much formality as I could conjure. ‘And thank you, by the way. For driving us both times.’

‘No need to thank me, sir,’ he said, smirking. ‘It is an honour. And, I must say, the two of you do look quite different from the last time I saw you.’

‘You think so?’

‘Look at the size of the two of you! All packed with muscle and fight now, aren’t you?’

I smiled sheepishly. ‘Thanks?’

The driver laughed, patting my shoulder. He got into the car and turned on the engine.

‘Come on,’ I said to Ethan. ‘We’ve gotta get home.’

‘What’d the driver say?’

‘That we’re jacked, basically.’

Ethan straightened his back slightly. ‘Oh, yeah?’

I scoffed at him, smirking.

The two of us climbed into the back seats. And, before we knew it, we were off.

I gazed out of the window for a moment, watching the scenery fly by. It was finally time. After everything, we were actually going home.

‘You haven’t forgotten our little deal, have you?’ Ethan murmured, yanking me into reality before I even had a chance to escape it.

‘Wha- Oh.’

He beamed at me. ‘Yeah, you haven’t forgotten.’

I thought back to my dream. The one that Maltor had interrupted. My stomach sank at just the memory. What if that became reality? What if I tried to tell Emma how I felt and he ruined it?

‘Oh, don’t give me that look,’ Ethan continued. ‘You can’t get cold feet now.’

‘My feet are perfectly warm,’ I replied blankly.

Ethan was evidently fighting the urge to roll his eyes. ‘If someone has cold feet it means they’re backing out of something.’

I thought for a moment. Out of all the strange phrases I’d heard, that was definitely up there.

‘No, I still wanna tell her,’ I mumbled. ‘I’m just-’

‘Scared it’s gonna go wrong, yeah, I understand,’ Ethan said, in the least understanding voice he’d ever put on. ‘Trust me. I am a master when it comes to women. She’s gonna say yes if you ask her.’

‘What the hell do you mean ‘ask her’?’ I said, appalled. ‘I thought I was just gonna tell her.’

‘And that’d be the end of it? Gods, you actually are a dumbass.’

I leaned closer to him so he could hear me whisper. ‘What? Am I supposed to ask her on a date or something as well?’

Ethan actually smacked his forehead. Like he was in a film or something.

‘Albert, come on. You’ve gotta ask her to be your girlfriend.’

My face grew red hot.

‘Shut up.’

He didn’t even smirk, even though I had expected him to. He stared at me for a moment, as though trying to get a read on me.

‘Holy Mother of Titan, you’re being serious.’

‘I wouldn’t joke in this sort of situation!’ I replied, outraged.

Ethan sighed. ‘Look, man, listen to me. I reckon you should tell her how you feel. Then, if she says she feels the same, which she probably will, you can ask her to be your girlfriend. It’s a flawless plan.’

I stared at him blankly. Surely he wasn’t serious. Who did he think I was? I wasn’t some film star that could get the girl of his dreams. Telling her how I felt was one thing, asking her to make it official was another entirely.

‘We’ll see how confident I’m feeling when we get there,’ I grumbled.

He sank his head into his hands. ‘You can’t confess and leave it at that, trust me.’

We rode in silence for a while before he struck up conversation again.

‘Ready to kick ass?’

I sighed, smirking.

‘As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. I’m most looking forward to seeing the look on Maltor’s face when he sees how much stronger I am.’

Ethan grinned. ‘Give him Tartarus, yeah?’

‘Definitely.’

He paused for a moment, and I could tell that he was debating whether or not to speak the words on his mind.

‘Hey, Albert?’

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‘Yeah?’

‘Sorry if it sounds rude, but are you actually in that mindset now? You reckon you can actually kill him?’

I thought back to my dream. The dream in which I had throttled Maltor and damn near killed him. That was all I needed to make up my mind.

‘Yes.’

All Ethan did was stare at me blankly, so I continued.

‘I’ll send his sorry ass flying. Nobody is ready for how hard I’m gonna beat him.’

It was partially true that I did want a few answers out of Maltor. I wanted to know how he’d come back to life. I wanted to know why exactly he wanted the death of all non-Mutants, or, to be more precise, the lies he’d told himself to make it okay.

I gritted my teeth. I could wrench those answers out of him with a sword to his throat, I was sure. Even if the last time I had tried getting answers out of someone had resulted in them getting away by the skin of their teeth.

Ethan relaxed a little. ‘That’s reassuring. And, hey, anything to save the world, right?’

I smirked. ‘As I said, I’ve done it once before. I can definitely do it again.’

We kept up casual chatter throughout the rest of the journey, only stopping as the car came to a halt.

Once I stepped outside onto the pavement, I gave the driver a firm handshake.

‘Thanks again, sir.’

‘Do not worry about it. The best thing you could do to truly thank me would be to save the world. I’d like to know that I helped, at least a little bit.’

‘Couldn’t have got there without you.’

The two of us stared at each other for a moment, smirks slowly growing on our faces.

The driver patted my shoulder, grinning.

‘You’re a funny young man, you are. Have a safe journey.’

Ethan and I thanked him, Ethan only able to do so once I had translated for him.

He smiled and waved at the two of us as we headed through the airport doors.

‘It’s time!’ Ethan practically squealed. ‘We’re going home!’

‘You sound like a little girl.’

That shut him up.

As the airport was only small, we got through customs quite quickly and spent the majority of our time there waiting at the gate for our plane.

The entire time, Ethan kept detailing how he couldn’t wait to go home. It was nice to hear him so happy. I doubted the happiness would last once Maltor showed up again, so I had to cherish the moment while I had it.

In a way, it also kept me from falling into the rabbit hole of my own thoughts, which was always a positive.

‘I wonder if any of them have gone through some huge appearance change or anything,’ Ethan said. ‘You know, it’s been six months.’

‘I bet you Asbel still hasn’t had a haircut,’ I replied, smirking.

‘He does look good with a man bun, though.’

‘He does indeed.’

I listened to everything he had to say, only chiming in when it seemed appropriate. On the inside, I was longing for the announcement that our flight was ready.

And, Gods, I don’t think I ever could’ve been prepared for when that announcement finally came.

A young lady with light brown hair and eyes of the same colour walked over to us.

‘Albert Santrrer and Ethan Brown?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘You’re English, yes?’

I nodded. Although she had asked, I hadn’t really expected her to speak English.

‘Well, Ethan and Albert, your flight is ready.’

It felt as though my entire body had shut down. Ethan, however, apparently felt the opposite.

He shot to his feet faster than I could think. As I sat there, staring at my shoes, he frantically thanked the lady for…I actually don’t know. Giving us the news?

‘Come on, man!’ Ethan yelled, grabbing the bags and then dragging me to my feet. ‘We’re going home!’

‘Is it really ready?’ I said quietly to the lady.

She nodded. ‘Are you not?’

‘No, no, don’t worry, I’m more than ready,’ I said, still quiet. ‘Thank you for letting us know, ma’am.’

Ethan practically ran onto the plane, and I was a few feet behind, following him slowly. It felt surreal. My stomach was flipping with every step.

Everything was a blur right up until I took my seat next to Ethan, who, of course, had already taken the window seat. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him bouncing up and down with excitement in his chair.

The seats themselves were made of red cushion, which was a lot more comfortable than I had originally anticipated. I practically sank into the chair as I sat down, which made my heart skip a beat.

The only thing that got him to stop bouncing was the takeoff, which he sat completely still for. I didn’t blame him. The takeoff was by far the worst bit of any flight in a plane.

It was rather strange how much I hated planes. One would expect that I at least wouldn’t mind them, given the fact that I could fly myself, but I despised flying in them with every bit of my soul.

Something about the feeling of being trapped in a metal tube was so unsettling to me. And it was unnatural how something so big and heavy could fly, but I was in no place to comment on how unnatural something was.

Once I’d gotten through the lip-biting, eye-closing takeoff, however, I found myself quite calm in my chair. Ethan evidently felt the same. By that, I mean he fell asleep the moment we hit our cruising altitude.

At first, I thought he was joking, as he rested his head on my shoulder, but upon shoving him off and finding that he didn’t even stir, I realised that he was knocked out cold. I wished I could fall asleep that easily.

Now that I did not have Ethan constantly buzzing in my ear, I found that my thoughts could run amok. That could either be a good thing or a terribly bad one.

Weirdly enough, the first person to cross my mind was not Emma. It wasn’t even any of my friends, depending on how you looked at it. The first person that crossed my mind was Maltor himself.

I really did think I could kill him. In your average moment, I did not actively want to, but I was certain that when we next came face to face, he would do something to make me want that more than anything else. He had done that in a dream, so I was certain he would do it in real life.

I was pretty sure that the memory of what he’d done in my dream would be enough to set me off when I saw him next. I would charge at him with unprecedented speeds, catch him unaware, and end this all before it could even properly begin.

The look on his face when he saw how much better I was would be priceless. Two-nil my ass. I hadn’t lost. At least the first time. It was debatable whether or not I had lost the second time, but the first time was easily a draw. Hell, you could say I won, seeing as he fled.

And the second time, I had done infinitely more damage than the first. Sure, he had left me bleeding and missing a few body parts, but I had done the exact same to him. Gods, he’d be in a far worse condition when I was done with him now. There would have to be separate funerals for all the bits of his body.

If I ever found myself losing against him, all it would take was a Destructive Art and he’d be finished. There was no way he could protect himself from one of those. I wasn’t even sure if I could. Maybe if I knew it was coming. Maybe.

The more I thought about the dreams he’d interrupted, the more my anger grew. He had interrupted the two best dreams I’d possibly ever had. And the first one had been plain disrespectful. I had been speaking to my dead parents, and he hadn’t even had the decency to let me do that.

And it was just unfair that he could enter my dreams at will. He was, in every sense of the word, powerful. Having access to someone’s dreams gave you unlimited options, even if you couldn’t influence them. Maltor had said that he could not control what I was dreaming about, nor what happened in them whilst he was there, but he could simply enter and exit them at will. Either way, it was a terrifying ability.

I wondered, for a moment, whether I’d be able to enter and exit his dreams at will. It would only make sense. If we had a mysterious link that allowed him to do it to me, surely it worked in reverse, too.

I wasn’t even entirely sure what I’d do if I could enter his dreams. I didn’t even know if I wanted to know what he dreamt about. If I entered and found him dreaming about sleeping on a pile of dead non-Mutants, it’d probably traumatise me.

I wasn’t prepared to try, either. I wasn’t sure how he’d done it to me, and I doubted that he’d tell me if I asked. It was probably done in a similar way that one would lucid dream, which I was also too scared to try.

The question of how we even had the link in the first place then crossed my mind. It had to be something to do with The School. There was simply no way they hadn’t influenced this power of his.

No ordinary human could enter another one’s dreams. The difference between me and Maltor and ordinary humans? Ordinary humans hadn’t been experimented on and tortured for seven years.

The School had done some bizarre things, that was for sure. Namely, you know, fusing human DNA with that of animals. But it seemed simply supernatural that they could create a telepathic or even a spiritual link between two people.

How had Maltor even found out about the link? He had implied that he’d been trying for a while, and only the Gods knew just how long that was.

Maybe he had a link with someone, just as I did with Alfonso. Maybe he had seen through them how to do it. If Alfonso was aware of me, then surely anyone Maltor had the same link with would be aware of him. They could’ve let him know that we had the link, and how to use it.

A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of what Maltor could possibly do with a telepathic link with me. Maybe it didn’t stop at entering dreams.

I thought about Alfonso very briefly. Our link was simply weird. I did not know how we had it, or who exactly he even was, but I did want to find him. He was there the night my parents died, and I wanted to know what had happened.

And after a period during which it felt as though I had no thoughts at all, the inevitable crossed my mind again. Her. Emma Hyde.

Gods, I was dying to see her. The six months of training had helped me realise just how much she meant to me. Whenever she had crossed my mind, which had been on very many occasions, it had been a painful reminder that I had ages to go until I could see her again.

But that waiting period was over. In what could literally have been only another hour, I could be wrapped in her arms, whispering in her ear how much I’d missed her. My heart was going wild at just the thought.

And I was going to tell her how I felt, that was for certain. Whether or not I’d actually ask her to be my girlfriend was a different story.

Thinking about having a girlfriend felt alien. It felt like something only real people did. Like Henry and Charlotte. I wasn’t too sure whether the two of them had actually been in a relationship, but something had definitely been going on between the two of them.

I smiled gently as I remembered how happy the two of them had looked together. On the day that Maltor had betrayed us, I had found the two of them on a date of sorts. And of course, when we’d all been in that pathetic little hall later that day, Henry had had his arm around Charlotte’s shoulders. I missed him.

I didn’t even know if I was ready. People in relationships were supposed to share things with each other, right? I didn’t think I could be as open with Emma as I was with Ethan or even Hannah.

And, if we were together, she’d have to be my priority, right? Well, that wasn’t even a bad thought. I liked to think she was my priority even now, even ahead of saving the world.

But would I be expected to take her on dates? Take her to dinner for Valentine’s Day? That would definitely be difficult when saving the world was also on my agenda.

And then there was the whole other worry about whether or not she’d be safe being my girlfriend. Who knew how far Maltor was prepared to go? If I started dating Emma and then failed to kill Maltor, who knew what he’d do to her just for the sake of hurting me?

My stomach churned at the thought. Surely he wouldn’t go that far.

The publicity she’d get from it would be absurd, too. If we did make it official, there was no doubt that we’d have to keep it as secret as possible. But that would almost certainly harm us. There were cameras on me almost any time I was in public, and if I couldn’t take Emma out anywhere, it would probably put the two of us under the ‘unhealthy relationship’ category.

I let out a deep sigh. Why in the name of Titan had things become so difficult all of a sudden?

My friends would probably go berserk, too, especially Jay and Isaac. They’d practically implode if they found out I was actually dating a girl.

That thought led my mind to a much safer place. My friends.

Gods, I missed them all, too. It felt weird to think about, but it was true. All of them, every last one, meant absolutely loads to me, and I simply couldn’t wait to see them all again.

I couldn’t wait for my English lessons with Peter, either. They were always immensely fun. The two of us would practically burst our kidneys laughing every lesson.

I wondered for a moment whether Asbel had made anything whilst we’d been away. He most definitely had. And even if it were only the size of my smallest fingernail, it would definitely be one of the most useful things anyone had ever created.

The smoke balls he’d made all the way back in the first war were petite, but they had been a huge help in rescuing Jay. If it weren’t for them, Eric would probably still be alive.

Thinking of the war with Amy made me remember who we’d lost. I wondered, just for a brief moment, what Grandad would do in my situation.

That thought was only short, however, as it was immediately replaced by another, much worse, one.

I questioned whether or not he’d be proud of me.

He would definitely have been doing a much better job if he were still alive. I could never even hope of becoming the man he had been. He had simply been…different. Nobody had been like him, and nobody could ever be.

I wondered whether he’d disapprove of my mindset. I mean, it probably wouldn’t have been nice to have a grandson that wanted to murder someone. But he would’ve wanted me to do what’s right, right? Whatever it was I was doing, if it meant the world would be saved, I’m sure he could at least go along with it.

My throat began to burn, so I turned my mind to Henry, who would not have been Prime Minister. He would most definitely have been one of the first on the field if Maltor brought a proper force to RoCity, even with one eye and a missing hand.

I smirked as I remembered that he had brought a hook to sit in place of his missing hand. He, too, had been just different from everyone else. And I missed that different. I needed that different.

Henry would’ve most definitely been on board with me training, and he would’ve been excited to see what I could do once I got back. I smiled at the thought of what could’ve been. I could be going back to see him, and he would’ve grinned at me as I got off the plane, eager to learn about what I’d done.

He probably would’ve been on board with me getting a girlfriend, too, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. Either way, he would’ve been over the moon at who I was now.

I was rocked back into the real world as the plane jolted. We had begun our descent.

The movement woke Ethan, too, who frantically began rubbing his eyes as he stared out of the window.

‘I see it!’ he yelled excitedly. ‘We’re home, Albert!’

He turned in his seat to stare at me. I must have looked horrible, and he thought he was a genius for the method he came up with for cheering me up.

‘Think of Emma, man. She could literally be right below us.’

It worked.

I sat a little straighter in my seat, trying to wipe my mind of grief. Yes, it was painful that they were gone, but I doubted that they would want me to let my grief affect what should’ve been a happy occasion.

‘Gods, I hate plane landings,’ I murmured as my stomach flipped again.

‘You and me both,’ Ethan replied, but he seemed to be struggling a lot less than I was, as he was still captivated by the view outside of the window.

‘Where did they say they were meeting us?’

‘Outside the front of the airport. I’m so damn excited, Albert. Asbel’s probably extended The Tower by three hundred metres while we’ve been gone.’

‘He is great like that, isn’t he?’ I scoffed.

‘‘Great’, huh?’ Ethan replied, smirking. ‘I reckon ‘unconventional’ fits better.’

The two of us laughed, but we stopped abruptly due to the sharp jolt that was a result of the plane's wheels hitting the runway.

It was finally time. We were home.

The plane zoomed down the runway, and Ethan and I were pressed back against our seats. The cabin was making horrifying rattling sounds, and I wondered whether it was possible for the plane to just break.

‘We’re actually here,’ Ethan murmured in disbelief as the plane stopped.

‘Come on,’ I breathed, feeling almost sick. ‘We don’t wanna keep them waiting.’

Ethan smirked. ‘You just wanna get to Emma. And you’re telling her how you feel, right?’

I thought for a moment. ‘We’ll see.’

Ethan rolled his eyes as he stood up.

Exiting the plane felt surreal. Everything was a blur. I couldn’t form any coherent thoughts.

As we walked through the airport, I found myself looking around at everything, trying to take it all in. It was a lot larger than Samedan Airport, that was for sure.

People were glancing at us as we passed, but I couldn’t have paid attention to them if I tried. Ethan, too, was ignoring them as best as he could, but that proved to be immensely difficult. Christmas was always a busy travel time, but neither of us realised just how busy until now.

Nevertheless, we got through the airport with relative ease, only stopping right as we got to the front doors.

‘They’re just past here,’ Ethan breathed, staring at the doors as crowds of people hurried past us.

‘Yeah,’ I replied slowly. ‘We’ve just gotta take a few more steps forward, right? They’re right there.’

‘Yeah, it’s not like they’re new people. It’s the same old friends we’ve always had.’

The two of us took a deep breath before striding out into the outside world.

The cold air of RoCity felt welcoming after spending six months on a mountain peak. A few snowflakes gently fell to the ground, making the busy airport scene look somewhat beautiful. Even the way the rays of sunlight shone through the clouds made me feel warm. It was home.

Someone dived at me from my left. I felt those familiar arms wrap around my torso and that strangely unique smell hit my nose.

Natasha wordlessly hugged me tighter than ever before. As usual, all I could muster in return was awkwardly patting her back.

‘You took your time, didn’t you?’ came Asbel’s voice from my left.

‘Yeah, it’s been a while,’ I said, smirking at him.

He strode past me and began talking to Ethan.

‘What in Titan’s name happened to you two?’ Jay roared from my left.

‘What?’ Ethan said, smirking at him as Natasha pulled away from me.

‘Don’t feign innocence!’ Jay continued. ‘Natasha probably thinks she’s hugging clones of The Rock!’

Ethan and I awkwardly laughed, glancing at each other as we did so.

Someone put their arm around me and I realised quickly that it was Isaac. His dark brown eyes sparkled as he looked at me.

‘Good to have you back, man,’ he said, slapping my chest. ‘Everyone’s missed you, but don’t tell ‘em I said that.’

‘I’ll try and keep it to myself,’ I replied, grinning.

Then I saw Peter. He had hung back a bit, but he was watching the whole scene smirking.

I exclaimed his name and pulled him into a bear hug.

‘We’ve still got Mr Lloyd for English, yeah?’ I said, smirking, as I pulled away.

‘Yeah, and he says he should be teaching us all the way til the end of Year 11,’ he responded, smirking back at me.

Someone slammed their hands onto my shoulders and screamed ‘Boo!’ as they did so. Now, I may have spent six months on top of a mountain training, but whoever it was made me jump about three feet upward.

I turned around quickly, my heart racing.

‘Quinn?’

He grinned at me.

‘It feels like it’s been ages, man,’ I continued, trying not to let my mouth hang open.

He smirked. ‘Yeah, it does, doesn’t it? Dunno how that happened.’

‘Might be cuz I’ve been in Switzerland. Just saying.’

The two of us grinned at each other. I felt a strange warm feeling towards Quinn. He wasn’t my best friend by any means, but the two of us had a strange connection. We just worked.

Before I could get too familiar with the huge crowd now swarming me and Ethan, a crack pierced the air.

‘Sorry, am I late?’ Charlotte said from behind me.

It felt like all I’d done since exiting the airport was turn and spin around to see people. Even so, I whirled on the spot to face Charlotte.

‘How was it?’ she asked, beaming at me.

‘Can’t put it into words,’ I said simply. ‘But Maltor’s getting his ass whooped when I see him next.’

‘That’s what we like to hear!’ Asbel chimed in from a few feet to my right.

We all laughed together.

‘Oi, Asbel, have you had a haircut yet?’ Ethan teased. ‘We had one in a cave so you have no excuses now.’

‘A cave?’ Jay whispered to Natasha, who merely raised an eyebrow at Ethan.

‘Listen, man!’ Asbel countered quickly. ‘I like my hair better long!’

‘It does look good on you,’ I added, and then I turned to Quinn. ‘Your hair looks great long, too, you know. Makes you look like a model.’

He scoffed. ‘As if. I don’t have what it takes to be a model. I’m stuck with these lifeless son-of-Hades eyes.’

The two of us smirked at each other, but then I noticed that two people were watching this whole scene from a few feet away. I had just been getting somewhat used to the huge crowd, and now it was growing even further.

They appeared to be about our age. The one on the left was tall, alarmingly so. He had to have been five feet eleven, pushing for six feet. He had light brown hair that was much longer on the top than the sides and eyes that were just a few shades darker. He was lanky, too, with long arms, legs, and a thin neck. His jawline was strangely defined, too, even more so than Ethan’s.

The boy on the right was about my height. Just like his accomplice, his hair was styled to the side and was longer on the top, but his hair was black rather than brown. He wore glasses, but his were nowhere near as square-framed as Ethan’s. The eyes behind them were a very light shade of brown, only a tad darker than his skin, which was a very light beige.

‘Can I help you?’ I asked quietly.

‘Oh, that’s right!’ Asbel said, hurrying over. ‘You won’t know Stephen and Ali!’

‘Stephen?’ I breathed.

‘Yeah, he’s the tall one on the left. Ali’s the one on the right. We met them while you were gone. Ali sits next to you in English.’

‘Nice to meet you?’ Ali tried awkwardly.

I tried to smile warmly.

‘Yeah,’ Jay added, ‘and Stephen’s a son of Poseidon.’

I raised an eyebrow at Ali, who immediately became flustered.

‘Gods, we’re one powerful friend group, aren’t we?’ Ethan said quietly. ‘Two descendants of Titan, a son of Hades, son of Zeus, son of Poseidon, and that’s not even mentioning you lot.’

‘You say that like Aphrodite can compare to Titan,’ Natasha replied, smirking.

‘Oi, Albert,’ Quinn whispered, elbowing me. ‘She’s over there.’

The question of Emma had been at the back of my mind ever since Natasha had hugged me, and I thanked the Gods that Quinn could see through the crowd better than I could. He pointed a few feet ahead of where we were standing, and he was right, there she was.

She was watching the whole thing strangely, but her face changed when our eyes met. I weaselled my way through the crowd until I got to her. Now was the time. Now or never, right?

The two of us stared at each other for a moment before she slowly opened her arms, inviting me in for a hug. And, Gods, I accepted.

I wrapped her so tightly in my arms that I worried for a moment that I’d break her back. She did hug me back, but I noticed that she was a lot less enthusiastic than she had been when she had last hugged me.

‘Don’t tell them this,’ I whispered, ‘but you’re the one I’ve missed most.’

‘Really?’ she murmured back, sending a shiver down my spine.

‘Definitely. Don’t even ask Ethan how much I talked about you.’

‘You’ve gotten bigger,’ she said, disregarding my statement. ‘I don’t mean it like that! You’re like taller and more muscly now.’

I chuckled gently. ‘You should’ve seen Jay’s reaction when he saw us.’

‘Oh, no, I saw,’ she said blankly. ‘I’ve been here the whole time, I just didn’t know when to intervene.’

She saw me hug Natasha.

‘Sorry I didn’t come over sooner, it’s hard to see through the crowd,’ I tried awkwardly. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’

She eased out of the hug. ‘Don’t worry about it, Albert, really. You were having fun.’

I smiled at her. ‘You’re great.’

My heart was pounding against my ribcage. Now was the ideal moment. It was just the two of us. Everyone else seemed miles away. It was just me and her, staring deeply into each other's eyes. I had to tell her.

But then I remembered my dream. And how much my feelings meant to Maltor. I got what Ethan would describe as ‘cold feet’.

‘Em-’

‘Oi, Albert!’ Jay called. ‘Get here!’

Emma and I stared at each other.

‘Come on,’ she said quietly, taking me by the wrist and leading me over to my friends.

Ethan and Natasha watched the two of us, and if Ethan were trying to hide his smirk then he was most definitely failing.

‘Ethan said Maltor saw you in a dream,’ Jay continued, his eyebrow raised.

My heart and stomach plummeted a lot further than what should have been possible.

‘What?’ I breathed.

‘Yeah, he said something about Maltor entering your dream or something?’ Asbel added. ‘What happened? If you wanna say, of course.’

I stared at my feet. ‘You could kinda say that, I guess.’

I could feel everybody’s eyes pressing into me.

‘It’s hard to describe,’ I sighed. ‘Maltor has gained the power to enter and exit my dreams as he pleases. He cannot influence what I dream about in any way, but he can be present in them.’

Nobody said a word, so I continued.

‘A few days ago, he entered my dream and said some alarming things. For one, I can now tell you with complete confidence that Maltor wants to kill all non-Mutants. And, well, he implied that he would attack RoCity soon.’

‘Oh, that reminds me!’ Ethan exclaimed. ‘He didn’t attack while we were gone, did he?’

‘Nah, don’t worry,’ Quinn said quietly. ‘But if he’s gonna attack soon, I doubt he’d come alone.’

Nobody said a word, except Asbel.

‘I’d like to see him try. He’s a teenager and we have a uniformed military and official government. Even if he somehow manages to outnumber our forces, we can outsmart him easily. He cannot win.’

‘Yeah, and just you wait,’ Ethan added cockily. ‘Albert is gonna kick his ass. Just wait til you see how much better he can fight now.’

‘Oh, yeah?’ Emma murmured so that only I could hear, which put a smirk on my face.

‘You could say I’ve gotten a bit better,’ I teased quietly.

She squeezed my wrist ever so slightly, and my heart felt as though it was about to explode.

After a while of casual banter, the group slowly dispersed as we all had our own places to be, and it was eventually just me, Natasha, and Ali.

‘So,’ Natasha said, smirking, elbowing my ribs, ‘something’s going on between you and Emma.’

My face became hot. ‘No. Nothing’s going on.’

‘Even I noticed,’ Ali tried, ‘and I’ve never spoken to either of you before.’

‘What, can I not speak to girls?’ I countered. ‘Emma’s my friend.’

‘That you hug for an abnormally long time,’ Natasha said innocently.

‘And blush whenever someone mentions her name,’ was Ali’s input.

The next five minutes were a constant back and forth, and everything they said was harder to counter than the last.

‘I’ve gotta go,’ I said, coincidentally right after Natasha had asked me if I was going to tell Emma how I felt. ‘See you both later.’

I unfolded my wings through the holes in my shirt and flew upwards. I knew where I was going. Ever since getting on the plane to come home, I had been dying to visit. After all, I hadn’t done it in six months.

As I got closer to my destination, my heart began to beat ever-so-slightly faster. I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to see him.

It was only a short flight to the graveyard, so I was there in what felt like no time. I swooped down effortlessly, landing perfectly in front of Grandad’s grave.

A thin layer of snow sat on top of the headstone, but it still seemed to sparkle in the cold rays of the sun.

I gently brushed the snow from the top.

‘It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?’ I said quietly, smiling at the headstone. ‘There’s so much I’ve gotta tell you.’