There were quite a few mixed reactions among my friends when they heard of my decision, and I couldn’t blame them.

Jay and Ethan were on board right from the start, but Natasha, Peter, and Isaac were all a bit unsure. They could all understand why I was so desperate to go, but they were definitely sceptical about bringing kids into it.

‘If we, as kids, are gonna fight, then we can’t stop other kids from doing the same,’ Jay argued.

‘It’s still wrong,’ Natasha had countered. ‘It feels like we’re bringing them here for the sole purpose of dying.’

When Stephen and Ali had heard, the two of them had seemed very much okay with it. Ali had at first been a bit hesitant, but after hearing how passionate Stephen appeared to be, his enthusiasm skyrocketed.

It was kinda funny. This one thing was showing me more about my friends than I probably ever would’ve even found out. Just from their reactions to my decision, the types of people that they were became clear as crystal.

We were set to fly out to Apercaput on that night, the seventh of January, at around eleven o’clock at night, which meant we’d get there at around one in the afternoon on the eighth. So, whilst the rest of our friends were at school, Asbel and I were frantically making the last checks needed before the flight out.

Just the day before, Joseph and Kelly had presented to me the test that the kids would have to pass before they were allowed on the battlefield. It was most definitely adequate. I was by no means the best when it came to magic, partially because I no longer had a wand, but even I knew that I’d find some of that stuff pretty difficult.

I hoped that Harvey would pass the test. It would be one of the greatest feelings ever if the two of us charged into battle together. Two Santrrers, two descendants of Titan, two fierce warriors ready to kick ass.

Just after lunch, Asbel ran me through how to drive Rex Aquarum. At first, it sounded as though he were speaking gibberish, and I wasn’t sure I’d even finish learning by the end of the day, but the more he spoke, the more my confidence grew.

‘So, the lever on the right is the speed,’ I repeated. ‘Push it all the way forward for max speed, and pull it backwards to brake. The one closest to the steering wheel on the left is for when we’re flying, it dictates how steeply we ascend. And the other one on the left is to change the mode of transport. Yeah?’

‘Perfect,’ Asbel said, his eyes gleaming. ‘Which way do we push the lever for the different modes, though?’

‘Forward for flight, back if we’re travelling over water.’

He thumped my back. ‘I knew you’d get it quick!’

I smiled at him, and he continued.

‘You don’t mind taking it in turns tonight when we fly, do you?’

‘Of course not,’ I replied defiantly. ‘We’re beginning flight at nearly midnight, obviously you’re not gonna be able to fly for thirteen hours straight. I couldn’t even do it if we began at noon.’

‘Yeah, and we’re the only two that know how to pilot it,’ he said quietly. ‘So if I start as you head to bed on the ship, I’ll be good to fly for a few hours. I’ll come wake you up when my shift is done, and then you take over for a bit. But, you know, feel free to wake me whenever you need.’

‘Sounds good to me. I’m pretty excited to fly it, now that I think about it.’

‘You and me both. We only tested him briefly; this’ll be his first proper journey.’

‘Thanks, by the way,’ I murmured. ‘For going along with this.’

‘My pleasure,’ he said, grinning. ‘And, hey, if it helps the war effort and you get to see your cousin, that’s more than enough thanks for me.’

‘How long’s the journey again? Like, in miles.’

‘About three-hundred-and-forty. I reckon Koning van de wateren can do it, though, so don’t worry.’

He talked me through a few of the more important buttons on the dashboard and I was slowly beginning to feel like I could actually fly it.

‘If it gets too dark for your bird eyes, flick that and headlights come on at the front.’

I chuckled. ‘‘My bird eyes’, yeah?’

He smirked at me. ‘Or whatever you wanna call ‘em.’

‘Won’t the lights alert anyone that might be watching us?’

‘I worried about that. Apparently, with later improvements, there might be something we can do so that you can only see the lights if you’re within a certain radius of the ship.’

‘That’s so cool,’ I breathed.

‘I know, man. But, for now, it’ll have to do. I doubt Maltor expects us to take a flying boat to Apercaput.’

‘There’s no way he knows we’re going anyway. I made the decision after Quinn betrayed us, so he can’t have told Maltor anything.’

‘Yeah, but they know about Koning van de wateren itself, so Maltor probably does, too.’

‘All that matters is that he doesn’t know that we’re going to Apercaput. If he’s unaware of that then we have nothing to worry about.’

‘I hope you’re right.’

Later on in the day, Asbel said it’d be wise to move anything that I wanted for the journey to the ship before everyone else finished school so that there wasn’t a huge crowd rush later. As I did so, he informed me that he was going home to sleep before the journey.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

I wasn’t quite sure what to put on the ship anyway. Pretty much everything I needed was in my belt. It had my swords, the two smoke balls, and the three explosive balls. And I could store pretty much anything else in its pockets, too.

However, I did quickly fly over to The Tower to grab a spare change of clothes to change into. I didn’t want to meet my cousin wearing dirty clothes.

As I was hanging them in the wardrobe that was conveniently in my room, it struck me just how much luxury Rex Aquarum’s inhabitants would be living in. All of the rooms had an en suite bathroom, windows to the outside, a desk, and a shelf on the wall, and could of course be decorated however the occupant pleased.

Speaking of the rooms, my room was at the far end of the corridor on the right. The room opposite was empty, but Ethan’s room was next to mine. Opposite him was Jay’s room, and Peter was Ethan’s other neighbour. After Peter, it was Ali’s room, then Stephen’s, then Natasha’s. From Jay, it was Isaac’s room, two empty rooms, and then Asbel’s. The two empty rooms were supposed to have been Quinn’s and Emma’s.

After I was done hanging up my clothes, I sat on my surprisingly comfortable bed, staring out of the window on my right. Workers hurried about the hangar, carrying out their daily duties. Every so often, someone ran over to Rex Aquarum, presumably completing a check or two.

I slowly turned my head, looking around my room itself. It was simply amazing how above and beyond Asbel had gone. There was no one like him.

There was even a clock in my room. Glancing at it, I saw that it was about three o’clock. In under twenty-four hours, there was a chance that I’d meet my cousin.

Butterflies were running rampant in my stomach, turning it into a mosh pit. He was the only relative I had left. It would’ve been an understatement to say that this was a big deal.

I suddenly realised that it must be he who was next in line for the spot as RoCity’s Prime Minister after me. If I were to die in this war, he would take over. Just another reason for me to stay alive. I couldn’t thrust my job onto someone I didn’t even know.

Although it didn’t feel like I’d been sitting on my bed for ages, when I stepped outside my room, I found Isaac carrying a backpack to his room.

‘Gods, what time is it?’ I asked him.

He stuck his head through his door, presumably checking his clock, before responding, ‘Half four.’

‘Damn, I’ve been here for ages,’ I breathed. ‘Has everyone else brought their things?’

‘Yeah, Peter and I are the last ones,’ he replied, throwing his bag through his door and then facing me. ‘You all done?’

‘All I did was put a change of clothes in my wardrobe.’

He smirked. ‘No toothbrush or anything?’

‘Forgot. I’ll do it in a sec, don’t worry.’

‘Careful leaving the ship,’ he warned. ‘There’s loads of people up there.’

‘What?’

‘Oh, just the mechanics and stuff running through the final checks. We leave in a little over six hours and they’re acting like we’re taking off now.’

I bid him farewell and made my way up the stairs, where I ran into Peter.

‘Is Isaac down there?’ he asked frantically.

‘Yeah, why?’

‘He’s a dumbass. He forgot his toothbrush.’

I laughed. ‘Are you packing now?’

He patted the bag on his back. ‘Yeah, this is the last of what I’m bringing.’

‘‘The last of’? How much stuff are you bringing?’

‘Not much, about two bags full.’

‘I only brought spare clothes.’

He shrugged, smirking. ‘I did the same and then kept remembering things as I went. Anyway, see you.’

‘See you,’ I said, patting his shoulder as he passed.

I was now starting to panic. I definitely did not want to be halfway to Apercaput only to find that I’d forgotten something wildly important. I’d have to raid my room at The Tower to make sure that didn’t happen.

As I got to the deck, I understood Isaac’s warning. About two dozen workers were hurrying around, frantically checking everything in sight. Roughly five of them were crowding around the steering wheel, which was either incredibly bad or nothing to worry about.

Through the storm of them all, I could make out Charlotte. She was gently waving her wand about, seemingly doing something that a worker had asked her to do.

‘Charlotte?’ I said after wandering over. ‘What’re you doing here?’

‘Oh, did you think I wasn’t coming?’ she replied, smirking. ‘I hope you don’t mind.’

‘Nah, not at all. Where are you gonna sleep?’

‘Asbel said I could have the room next to his for now. I’m only coming so that it’s not just a group of kids showing up.’

‘Aren’t my Aid coming?’

‘It still only makes six adults. Six adults and only the Gods know how many kids. It’s gonna be wild.’

‘Thanks, I guess?’ I said, beaming. ‘Glad to have you on board.’

‘Glad to be on board. And I couldn’t miss you meeting your cousin, now, could I?’

‘Guess not,’ I said, my beam growing. ‘But, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta go and grab some stuff from The Tower.’

‘Oh, wait, Albert, before you go!’ Charlotte said quickly as I turned away. ‘Joseph’s brought Midnight on board; he’s in the stables.’

‘If I don’t see him, would you mind thanking him for me?’ I replied, looking back and grinning. ‘Where would I be without that man?’

‘Only the Gods know.’

The two of us grinned at each other.

I hurriedly ran off the ship and made my way quickly through the hangar. On my way out, I passed Joseph and Angela. Angela smiled at me as she passed. Joseph did not.

My feet clanged against the metal floor of the hangar as I ran. I breezed past dozens of workers, none of whom even tossed me a glance as I did so. I made my way out rapidly, and the sound of my feet colliding with the ground outside was a lot duller than that on the inside, which hadn’t exactly been vibrant.

The flight to The Tower was always a short one, so I found myself in my room in no time. The thing that took a while was the absolute havoc I unleashed on my room in search of anything I could possibly need.

I stuffed my toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, flannel, and all the other bathroom supplies in my bag. But, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t think of anything else that I would need. I did grab my knife from under my bed, just in case, but I doubted that I’d need it. Not unless my swords were dropped over the Scottish Highlands.

Just as I was about to lock the door to my room, I realised that I might want to bring more than one change of clothes. You know, in case we got into a fight on the way there or back.

Whilst I was getting more sets of clothes and pyjamas, I grabbed a photo of my parents from my bedside table. Even if we weren’t on the ship for ages, it would be nice to have it for the journey.

I gazed at it for a moment. The two of them were only young, mid-twenties at most. And, even in picture form, Dad’s hazel eyes twinkled through the frame at me, and Mom’s warm smile made me feel warm inside. I smiled faintly at what could have been.

Trying to suppress the sudden urge to shut down, I finally stepped outside of my room and locked the door. I stuffed the key in my pocket and made my way down to the lobby. From there, I made my way outside and began my flight towards Rex Aquarum.

The air felt warmer on the flight back. The sun seemed just that little bit brighter. I felt just that little bit happier.

Everybody other than Jay was already on the ship when I arrived. All of them were standing around the deck, which now only had about three workers on it, engaged in conversation. After putting my things in my room, I joined them, and Jay was there, too.

Asbel said that we still had a while before we left, so we should find ourselves some entertainment. Immediately, Isaac looked at me and smirked. We both knew what to do. The two of us headed down to the games room and immediately began playing pool.

Isaac played well, but it was clear who was the better player right from the first game. It was kinda like a fun competition. We feigned anger whenever the other potted a ball, and taunted each other if we fouled. Nevertheless, we had grins on our faces practically the entire time.

When the score was three-one to me, Asbel’s voice rang from speakers in the corners of the room, which I didn’t even know were there.

‘Attention, all passengers. Please make your way to the deck immediately. Takeoff is in five minutes.’

We didn’t need to be told twice.

All of us left the games room hurriedly and were on the deck at once.

My heart was pounding desperately against my chest. Now was finally the time. I was gonna meet Harvey. My cousin.

Asbel turned and smirked at us. ‘You all ready?’

Everyone nodded, smiling.

‘Then away we go!’