It was so cruel. I had been having the best few days of my life just for something so wildly extreme to happen. No matter how hard I tried, I could not fathom what could have gone so wrong for my week to be ruined so horrendously.

It had been two days since my first day back, and, for the most part, it was a normal Wednesday. I was sat in my seat in my History class of Period 3 that Wednesday morning. My teacher, a man with a shining head and bored brown eyes, was talking about Hippocrates, and his impact on ancient medicine. I found the topic genuinely interesting, and am quite disappointed that Charlotte didn’t choose another lesson to interrupt.

History was a subject that I was exceptionally good at. Asbel was in my class, and I was as good as him, if not better. It was common for the lessons to turn into silent competitions between the two of us as we tried to outdo each other.

Then there was that knock at the door. I could see who it was through the door’s window, and so could Asbel. The two of us shot worried glances at each other from across the room as the teacher opened the door for Charlotte.

Her long black hair flowed tidily over her shoulders, which would give one the impression that she was composed in that moment. Her green eyes told a different story. They usually sparkled warmly in whatever light, but they were flooded with worry as she stared at me from the front of the room.

‘Can Albert Santrrer please make his way to reception?’ she said quietly.

Every. Single. Pair. Of. Eyes. My stomach sank as every single head in the room rotated slowly to stare straight at me. The only person that seemed to show any sort of emotion was Asbel, whose eyes were wild with fear.

‘Of course he can,’ was the teacher’s response. ‘Leave your book there, Albert; I’m sure you’ll be back.’

He clearly could not read Charlotte’s expression. I would not be returning.

Annoyance began to rise in my body alongside a new feeling of anger. I had been happy. Once again, I had just started to feel joy for once in my damned life, and something had come along to ruin it. And by the look on Charlotte’s face, it was not something light, either.

I angrily grabbed my bag from under the table and strode over to the front of the room where Charlotte was waiting. I tried not to appear too annoyed, but I didn’t give a damn whether I did or not.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlotte awkwardly smile at my teacher before gently shutting the door behind us. And she didn’t even give me a chance to speak.

‘Did you watch the news this morning?’

I stared blankly at her. ‘It’s the first morning in a while that I haven’t. Why?’

‘No reason. It just means that this will be a heavier blow.'

My eyes widened. ‘What are you-’

Her hand descended onto my shoulder and she Dis-Apparated. Dis-Apparation felt very much like being pulled into a spinning washing machine by your belly button. That was the only description that came to mind.

Within the blink of an eye, I found myself in my office at The Tower. Two bookshelves sat in the corners of the room, littered untidily with numerous documents and other assorted papers. The crimson wooden desk with my nameplate sat in the centre of the back wall and the photo of my grandparents and their children still hung on the wall.

It wasn’t just me and Charlotte in the office, however. The entirety of my Aid was also in the room. Joseph Roberts, Angela Rees, Beth White, Kelly Hill, and Matthew Hawkins.

Joseph was a man of average build with close-cropped black hair and warm brown eyes. His friendly appearance differed wildly from Angela’s, who always looked serious with her long, tidy black hair and stabbing blue eyes. Beth was a tad shorter than me, with dark blonde hair that stopped before her shoulders and complimented her navy blue eyes marvellously. Kelly also had dark blonde hair, but it was slightly curled at the ends and had two dark purple streaks running through it that weirdly matched her dark green eyes. Finally, Matthew. He had black hair cut into a buzz cut, and brown eyes that seemingly could only convey the emotion of boredom. He was huge; at least six-foot-three.

‘Holy shit,’ I murmured. ‘What’s happened now?’

‘I’m not telling him,’ Kelly said immediately.

I stared at all of them. Every last one of them, even Charlotte, suddenly had quite an awkward expression coating their face.

‘Sir,’ Joseph began slowly. ‘I take it you’ve seen the news recently?’

‘I just finished telling Charlotte that I didn’t watch it this morning. So no.’

‘You’ve watched it in the past week, though, correct?’

‘Of course I have,’ I spat, not meaning to sound so vile. ‘I pretty much have to.’

‘Then you’ve seen about all the political trouble across the Channel?’

I stared at him in complete silence for a moment before responding. ‘Yes.’

Joseph sighed. ‘And you’re aware that we believed Maltor was behind it?’

‘Yes.’

For the past few weeks, saying that France had been undergoing ‘political trouble’ would be an understatement. Riots in the streets, major political assassination attempts, a spike in crime, death threats, and more only started the list of things that had been going on as the nicest.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Just like the United Kingdom, France had a large Mutant population. The difference between the two countries, however, was that Mutants were treated a lot better in France. By that, I mean that they were allowed to mix with the general populous and places like RoCity were not needed nearly as much, although a few similar places did exist.

Recently, however, the divide between Mutants and normal people had become more apparent due to the rise of one man. And that man was Jason Vil. He was a rising politician that was a major threat to the rule of Emmanuel Macron, the current French President. Jason wanted to make some changes to the way the country was run, and they were great for the most part, but some things were definitely suspicious.

The most notable suspicious aspect of his character was how he refused to elaborate on his main goal, which was to ‘improve the lives of French Mutants.’ It wouldn’t take a genius to realise how not elaborating on such a topic would be suspicious while a neighbouring country is fighting someone like Maltor.

Secondly, he seemed to be all for the riots in the streets. Why? Because they all supported him. He did not step out and request that the protestors stop, and some leaked recordings had even shown him outright saying he wanted them to continue.

The riots were another issue on their own. Over ninety per cent of the protestors were Mutants. The normal population of France didn’t seem to care for Vil that much, but the Mutants definitely did.

In RoCity, everybody had been silently hoping that Macron would keep his power. To have a country so close have someone as suspicious as Jason Vil in charge was immensely dangerous.

‘Well, Jason Vil forcefully took power last night,’ Joseph said cautiously. ‘We were waiting for confirmation of the news and got it at about one in the morning. Macron has been arrested and Vil is in.’

‘Shit!’ I yelled. ‘Do we know what he wants?’

‘Depends on how you take the next bit,’ Angela said quietly.

‘Surely there can’t be any more. No chance. What’s he done?’

‘France has declared war on RoCity.’

‘You’ve got to be taking the fucking piss,’ I breathed. ‘Tell me right now that you’re taking the piss, Angela.’

My entire body had gone completely numb. That confirmed it. Maltor had been behind the scheme all along. There was no reason for France to bring themselves into this otherwise.

An entire country. Things had just gotten so much worse. We had gone from having to worry about whatever scraps of Amy’s army Maltor had, to having to strategise against the entire might of the French military.

All this because I stabbed him in the stomach, huh? Now we were on the verge of starting the Third World War.

Everybody’s faces were solemn.

‘Unfortunately not, sir,’ Angela murmured.

‘It confirms that Maltor was behind it, however,’ Matthew said in his deep voice. ‘He’s pulling the strings from behind the scenes.’

‘And we don’t have the UK military backing us, do we?’ I mumbled.

‘No,’ Joseph explained. ‘RoCity has a separate identity from the United Kingdom. Declaring war on one does not mean declaring war on the other. France isn’t like that. There is no Mutant safehouse large enough to have its own separate identity. We have the entire French military against us.’

‘Why wouldn’t that slimy bastard try and take control of his own country first?’ I spat. ‘Little power-hungry prick! Bringing in random countries that have nothing to do with it!’

‘Perhaps he saw it as too risky,’ Beth piped up. ‘Too close to you. Or maybe it’s too important. But now that he has the French military, taking the UK might be a little bit easier.’

‘If he tries such a thing, we have that pact with the Queen to fall back on,’ Joseph said quickly.

‘I don’t want to think about it,’ I fired back, just as fast.

I had been informed of the contract with the Royal Family that I had. But I didn’t want to consider it. I didn’t need that on my shoulders as well.

‘How’s he even done it?’ Charlotte asked. ‘How is he controlling a forty-odd-year-old man?’

‘I have an idea,’ I mumbled. ‘He’s a grandson of Aphrodite. And he’s one of the few that can use Charmspeak. He used it when the two of us fought Amy, but he couldn’t control it then, so he ended up affecting both me and her. If he’s gotten better at it, he could have influence over France in that way.’

‘But he can’t be there to give orders all the time, right?’ Charlotte continued.

I thought for a moment. ‘He could’ve given Jason a simple command. Told him to obey whatever orders someone else that he trusts gives. That way, he doesn’t have to be there, and the person that is really controlling Jason doesn’t have to constantly give commands.’

Charmspeak was a rare ability that only demigods of Aphrodite could have. It was a type of hypnotism used by voice. By the power of speaking, a person that had the ability could get another person to do or give them whatever they so desired. The only people that could resist such a powerful ability were other demigods of Aphrodite.

'Anyway, I find it highly unlikely that the French are to attack on foot,’ I continued. ‘Doing so would be risky as, as Joseph pointed out, they are not at war with the UK. If they are to attack, they will most likely do so by sea or by air. Either way, I believe we have the superiority. But I suggest we bump up our defences in both areas for extra security.’

‘Should we raise the city to LOC I?’ Joseph asked.

I stared at my feet. The talk of the LOC had caused a major argument between myself and other politicians just before I had left for training. I had been adamant that it would remain on LOC 0. I had been certain.

‘Yes,’ I said, barely above a whisper. ‘Do that.’

Nobody said a word.

‘Matthew, Kelly, inform the government about what Albert wants,’ Joseph said quietly after what felt like an eternity. ‘And, sir, I must regretfully inform you that there is still one more thing that we must talk about.’

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. ‘What now? Does it have anything to do with France?’

‘Funnily enough, yes.’

I stared at him. ‘Wha-?’

‘Albert Kuznetsov would like to meet with you tomorrow regarding the situation in France.’

‘Kuznetsov…Uh, the Russian guy, right? The Mutant President over there?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Does it have to be tomorrow?’

‘That is what he would seem to prefer, sir,’ Joseph replied awkwardly. ‘Apologies.’

There were times when being Prime Minister definitely had its disadvantages. Now I had to go and meet a huge Russian guy that I’d never spoken to before because a French guy may or may not have wanted every non-Mutant dead as a result of perhaps being influenced by a British teenager that should have been dead.

‘Make preparations for my flight,’ I said quietly. ‘I’ll leave in the morning, then. And I’ll need to address the city; tell them about the war with France. Would you mind arranging that, too?’

‘No problem, sir,’ Beth said quietly. ‘That’s all, I believe.’

‘It is,’ Joseph confirmed. ‘Have a good afternoon, sir. I shall see you later.’

The three of them promptly left the room, leaving just me and Charlotte standing there in silence. It felt like decades before she finally said something.

‘Albert? You okay?’

Hot tears were beginning to well in my eyes, and I fought desperately to keep them from falling down my cheeks.

‘Perfectly fine. I just don’t see what makes him think he has the right to bring an entire country into a teenage fight. Power-hungry dickhead,’ I snarled.

‘We’ll be with you every step of the way, Albert. Just know you’re not in this on your own, okay?’

‘Thanks, Charlotte. You can go now, by the way. You don’t have to be here while I drown in my own thoughts.’

The two of us said goodbye to each other, and then it was just me in the office on my own.

I swung my foot into the side of my desk as hard as I could, rage building in my body. That filthy bastard. Now even more people would die, and it would be on my hands.

I couldn’t understand bringing the entirety of France into the war, and I dreaded to think that perhaps he had a bigger plan up his sleeve. Either way, bringing millions more people into this was way too far.

He would pay. Next time I saw him, he would get an ass whopping harder than the last time.