The first three weeks of my relationship had been nothing but perfect. Not only had nothing bad happened between me and Cecilia, but nothing bad had happened at all. It had been a good period.

Of course, at school, there had been a few criticisms of my relationship, especially from Daniel. Every time he opened his mouth I wanted to punch him. But other than that, everything had been perfect.

Too perfect.

I had been so blinded by my happiness that it wasn’t even me that was doing the negative thinking this time. It was Asbel. He had done some thinking. And he wanted to tell us all about it.

That’s why all of my friends and I found ourselves in my living room on that day, eagerly awaiting what Asbel had to say.

He looked at each of us in turn, perhaps to add dramatic suspense. Or perhaps he wanted to see who was listening the least.

Another good thing about the day had presented itself that day as well.

Cecilia and I were sat next to each other on my sofa. And I had my arm around her shoulders. It wasn’t the first time I had done it, but it still made me feel insanely happy.

She didn’t mind, either. I’d made sure of that by asking after the second time I did it.

‘Well, everyone’s here,’ Ali said, in a tone that suggested slight impatience. ‘What’s this ‘realisation’?’

‘I’ve made pretty much a whole speech about it,’ Asbel said. ‘It’s a bit out there, but I think I’m onto something.’

‘You’d think you were onto something if you discovered that ice is frozen water,’ Ethan added, in a slightly bored tone. ‘What is it?’

Asbel cleared his throat. ‘When did Maltor first show up for a fight?’

‘No fucking clue,’ Jay said immediately. ‘Why is that important?’

‘Nineteenth of June,’ I said quietly. ‘Last year.’

Asbel nodded as most of my friends stared at me in shock.

How could I forget that date? That day changed my life forever. It had confirmed to me that I had not killed him. And it had been the start of this damned war.

‘And after the nineteenth, when was the next time that he showed up?’

Everyone looked at me. Of course, I knew the answer.

‘The twenty-fourth of June.’

‘Five days,’ Asbel continued after nodding. ‘There were only five days between his appearances. Albert and Ethan went to Switzerland on the twenty-sixth. He stopped showing up because Albert wasn’t here, everyone knows that. But when did Albert and Ethan come back?’

‘Twenty-second of December,’ Ali said before I had the chance to. ‘I only remember cuz it’s the day I met him.’

I smiled at him. ‘Didn’t think it meant that much to you.’

‘One of the best days of my life,’ he explained, shrugging. ‘Sorry, Asbel. Continue.’

‘Right. The twenty-second,’ Asbel began again. ‘And when did Maltor show up again after that?’

‘The next day,’ Ethan breathed. ‘The twenty-third. That’s the day Emma and Quinn betrayed us.’

‘Exactly. Then, I know it wasn’t Maltor, but when did Righello and his squad show up on the ship?’

‘Eighth of January,’ I growled. ‘This year.’

‘Yes. And after that, when did Maltor next show up.’

‘Twenty-first of February,’ Cecilia said from next to me. ‘As a birthday gift for Albert.’

‘So, let’s look at that,’ Asbel began, and his tone suggested that he would talk for a while. ‘Five days, six-month break, two weeks, then a month and a half. We can ignore the six-month break because Albert wasn’t here. And if we ignore the Righello fight, then the gap only extends to two months.’

‘Why’s that important?’ Stephen asked.

‘How long has it been since Maltor attacked?’

My eyes widened as I realised what he was talking about.

‘Two months,’ I breathed.

Asbel nodded. ‘If we look at the trend of his attacks, ignoring the six-month break, the average gap between them is only three weeks. And that was before he had the might of the French military. In theory, his attacks should be coming in quicker succession now.’

‘So you’re saying, basically, we’re overdue an attack?’ I asked, not sure whether or not I wanted to hear the answer.

‘Yes. The longest gap between attacks is forty-four days. Ignoring Righello’s attack, it’s sixty. Since he last attacked, it’s been fifty-five. If he doesn’t attack pretty much now, I think there’s going to be a much larger one down the line.’

He was onto something for sure. It wasn’t the most believable of ideas, but it did make sense. This was nothing compared to tiny balls that could create smoke or explode. Or compared to, you know, magical people with sticks shooting light that makes things blow up. The world was a strange place.

‘I’ll be the first to say it makes sense,’ Ali said quietly. ‘It’s weird, but I can back it.’

‘He has been eerily quiet,’ Ethan added. ‘I have kinda been waiting for something huge.’

‘But when would this huge attack come, if at all?’ Natasha asked.

I felt like I’d been punched.

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‘No clue,’ Asbel replied, scratching his chin. ‘But if it doesn’t come, like, right now, I think it’s gonna be another huge one.’

‘Albert has an idea,’ Ethan said, staring at me. ‘His face changed when Natasha asked when it would come.’

Everybody’s head turned to me.

‘Do you have an idea?’ Isaac asked, squinting one eye slightly.

I didn’t know how to say it. Funny, I’d felt the same about asking Cecilia out, and now I was sitting with my arm around her.

‘Yeah, I do,’ I blurted. ‘And it links in with the attack on my birthday.’

‘How so?’ Peter said.

‘I know Maltor better than maybe even himself,’ I continued quietly. ‘Both of us have a strange fascination with dates. He proved on my birthday that he likes dates that are ‘important’. I think that, if an attack doesn’t come really soon like Asbel says, then it will come on the nineteenth of June. One year on.’

‘That does make sense!’ Asbel said quickly. ‘It lines up with both of our theories! He’s waiting for an important date, and that’s the next big one!’

‘Fucking great,’ I snarled. ‘He’s gonna launch another huge attack and kill even more people.’

‘Albert, don’t start this,’ Ethan said sternly.

‘Two hundred and fifty-six civilians were killed last time, Ethan,’ I reasoned. ‘I don’t want that happening again. And that’s not even mentioning the soldiers.’

‘Yeah, worry about the citizens, but don’t worry that much about the soldiers,’ Ethan continued. ‘Worry, but not to the extent that you currently do.’

‘And why the hell not?’

‘Albert, they’re not dying for you. They’re dying for a cause that they believe in. You have no role to play in their deaths. They choose to die for what they think is right. You’re not making them.’

He had a scary point. They were dying out of their own free will. It was the exact same as me going out to fight. There was literally no difference.

‘We’ve gotta get this test done quick then, Cecilia,’ Harvey said. ‘We should sign up soon.’

‘Good idea,’ Cecilia said, rubbing my left hand to try and calm me down. ‘I’ll do it when school starts again.’

‘That’s when I’ll do it, then,’ Harvey nodded. ‘That’s allowed, right, Albert?’

‘Yeah, you can sign up whenever,’ I replied inattentively. ‘Jeremy signed up just before Cecilia and I got together.’

‘Do you think you’re ready?’ Ethan asked, looking at each of them in turn.

‘There’s no harm in trying if we’re not; there’s no limit to how many times we can take it, is there?’ was Harvey’s response.

‘Yeah, you can take it as many times as you want,’ I murmured, looking at my own lap.

In my head, I was replaying my last fight with Maltor over and over again. I had absolutely destroyed him. There wasn’t even a question as to who was better out of the two of us anymore. No more draws. I was stronger.

I was not sure how much better he had gotten since December, but he had done some serious damage to Ethan only two months later. Only the Gods knew what he would be like in June.

Part of me yearned to fight him again. Or even Righello. Someone tough. I loved the exhilaration of fighting. It made me feel powerful.

Not only that, but I wanted to hurt him. I hadn’t even realised how badly I wanted to cause him pain until this conversation. Someone like him had to be punished. I would cut off each of his limbs. Slice out his eyes. Slit his throat. Jab him in the stomach. I wanted to kill him.

I certainly had the power and the prowess to do so. I had the mindset. I had the determination. Last time he had only survived because of Quinn and Emma getting in the way. That would not happen again.

If Quinn got in the way, I knew I could beat him in a fight. Maybe I could even beat him and Maltor in a two-on-one. I wouldn’t hesitate, either. I would kill him in an instant if he tried to stop me from killing Maltor.

Then there was Emma. Four months ago, I had definitely been hesitant to kill her. My feelings had been holding me back. Now, however, things were different. Another girl had my heart. It would simply be wrong if I were to spare Emma for that reason again. If she tried to stop me in June, I would end her life, too.

All three of them would fall by my hand.

‘You okay?’ Cecilia whispered, dragging me back to reality. In the background, everyone was engaged in conversation about Maltor, but I hadn’t heard a single word.

‘Yeah, don’t worry about me,’ I said quietly. ‘Just…thinking.’

‘About what? Maltor?’

‘Yeah…’ I sighed. ‘If he shows himself in June I’ll end it. The war will be over.’

She smiled. ‘You can do it.’

‘Are you sure you don’t feel anything negative towards this?’ I asked. ‘He is your brother.’

There was a pause as Cecilia evidently tried not to roll her eyes.

‘Albert, he wants genocide,’ the two of us said simultaneously, her in a bored tone, me in a sarcastic one.

She smiled. ‘Exactly. I’m not gonna hate you because you’re trying to stop billions of deaths, Albert. If I were gonna do that then I wouldn’t have said yes three weeks ago.’

My heart skipped a beat or two as she said that.

‘I have an idea,’ Asbel said loudly, drawing my attention from Cecilia to him. ‘I’ve been wanting to make things for ages but haven’t really had any big ideas. I can make everyone their own weapons in preparation for this big fight.’

Everyone’s eyes seemed to light up. Of course, Ethan and I already had our own weapons, but everyone else just kinda had to make do with what was available whenever there was a fight.

‘So, what does everyone want?’ Asbel said hopefully.

‘Is it limited to just swords, or can we ask for any weapon there is?’ Stephen asked excitedly.

‘Anything you want.’

‘A trident then, please,’ Stephen said confidently. ‘I’m a son of Poseidon, after all.’

‘Right, a trident. What does everybody else want?’

I knew damn well that nobody would get what they asked for. Asbel would go above and beyond. Stephen wanted a trident? Well, he was gonna get a trident that had a hatch that shot explosives from it whenever a red button on the side was pressed.

Some of my friend’s answers surprised me. Jay asked for two axes, Peter asked for a giant cleaver, and Ali asked for a spear. On the more basic side, Isaac and Harvey each asked for a pair of swords, Natasha asked for a simple sword and shield, and Cecilia asked for a ‘surprise’.

Asbel did not make a physical note of any of these, but he nodded after each answer. It didn’t matter if he didn’t have a physical note, he would remember anyway. He was quite the character.

Everyone was pretty excited to see what Asbel would create, to say the least. We all knew that he would do something extraordinary with each and every weapon.

‘Shouldn’t you tell your Aid about this, Albert?’ Jay asked, looking at me.

‘I don’t have an Aid anymore,’ I said quietly. ‘I have to go straight to the actual government.’

‘Oh…yeah,’ Jay replied, just as quietly. ‘Sorry.’

‘Don’t apologise, I can understand why you’d forget. It doesn’t concern you.’

The general mood of the room seemed to be pretty negative at that moment, and that is why I was so thankful that Cecilia was there.

‘Come on, we’ve got two months to enjoy ourselves,’ she joked. ‘Might as well use it.’

‘Yeah, I’m gonna get going,’ Asbel said. ‘I’ve got weapons to make.’

After Asbel left, it didn’t take long for everyone else to filter out, leaving me alone with Cecilia.

‘You’re doing great, Albert,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m proud of you.’

The last time someone had called me proud had been William. It was definitely different to have Cecilia say it.

‘Same could be said for you,’ I said, smiling. ‘You’re going through a lot, too.’

‘Not as much as you,’ she said quickly. ‘You’re probably tired.’

‘I am. Extremely.’

‘Awh, do you need me to tuck you in myself? I didn’t do it back on the ship.’

I felt my face go red.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ I replied, smiling again. ‘You go get some rest yourself.’

She leant back into me, lying on my chest.

‘But I wanna stay here.’

***

My dream that night was nothing strange, compared to most. It was, in a sense, a replay of a memory. My last fight with Maltor.

I remembered the first strike. The feeling of my electrically-charged swords dragging across his stomach.

I moved quickly. I moved powerfully. In that fight, I had been truly unstoppable.

As Quinn interrupted the fight, the dream shifted.

I was stood in nothing but black. It was impossible to tell whether I was standing or hovering. But it was what was in front of me that shook me to the core.

My own body stood there, as did Maltor’s. Well, Maltor wasn’t ‘standing’. I had grasped his hair tightly in my right hand and I was repeatedly slamming his head into what had to have been the ground. Maltor’s head was cracked and bleeding. Glancing at my own, I saw nothing but unfiltered rage.

‘What the-’ I began, but I was cut off by waking up.

Staring at my ceiling, there was only one thought in my mind.

I would kill Maltor. And I would make sure it was no quick and easy death, too. The nineteenth of June would be fun.