In the twenty-four hours that followed my fight with Maltor, it had been incredibly difficult for anyone other than Cecilia to get me to talk. I had become reserved. Too many thoughts swirled around my mind – so many that I never had any hope of turning them into words.
Again. Once again a monster had slipped through my fingers by merely the strands of their hair. How much more would I have to endure the pain of failing to kill someone? The shame alone was immensely difficult to bear, and I felt humiliated just being in the same room as anyone.
Especially General Woodward. As much as he didn’t seem to blame me for my failure to kill Maltor, I still struggled to bring myself to look him in the eyes as the two of us, once again, found ourselves in my office.
Cecilia and Charlotte were also in there with us. I had only called for the General and Charlotte, but Cecilia said she wanted to tag along. I wasn’t going to stop her.
She had understandably been rather upset after learning the true nature of her brother’s death, but she at least tried not to show it. I had made it perfectly clear that if she needed to cry, vent, or just sit with someone then I was the person.
I had realised rather soon after starting my relationship with her that I pretty much had to fulfil her every want and need. Not that I was complaining, but the looks I’d been getting at school after Jeremy’s death told me that everyone expected me to be consoling her every second of the day, even if she didn’t need it.
Something was harder about Jeremy being gone now that Maltor had gotten away again. Once I had finished on the battlefield, the first thing I had done was visit Jeremy’s grave and apologise. I had sworn that I would kill Maltor. I had sworn it almost more times than I could count, but it was miles more serious after Jeremy’s death. And I had still failed.
I thought back to what I said to Maltor at the beginning of our fight. ‘This war may have reached three hundred and sixty-five days but it will not reach three hundred and sixty-six’. And now we were on day three hundred and sixty-six.
I knew that I wanted him dead. With every single fibre of my being, I yearned for nothing more than his lifeless body in my hands.
That is why I had called for this meeting in my office.
‘What is it, sir?’ Woodward asked calmly, staring down at me. His tone may have been calm, but his eyes looked rather intimidating. ‘Why did you bring us here?’
‘Because I have a plan, General,’ I murmured, staring at my desk. ‘Well, the vague idea of one.’
‘And I suppose you want me to evolve it into a proper one?’ Woodward replied, his voice sounding almost bored.
I paused for a moment before continuing. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, General.’
‘It is my job,’ Woodward’s tone suggested bitterness, but I knew that that was just who he was. ‘What is it?’
I pondered for a moment how to begin to put the idea in my head into words. I didn’t necessarily want to turn it into a long-winded speech, but I didn’t exactly wanna spring it on them out of the blue, either.
‘Well, General,’ I began, my voice the quietest it had been that day, ‘I believe we have been dormant for far too long. This entire war has been us waiting for his attacks. If we want to have any chance of winning, we must attack them.’
General Woodward nodded, something resembling a glimmer entering his eyes.
‘That’s what I like to hear,’ he mused. ‘But how do you suppose we go about doing that? We don’t have any locations of any potential bases of Confussée’s.’
‘I’ve thought about that, General,’ I continued briskly. ‘I may not have thought many things through, but that is one of the things I have considered. We go for the largest place that will have the greatest impact. We go for Paris.’
Nobody said a word for a moment. I hadn’t really expected much of a reaction. Obviously, it was an extremely bold statement. It would need a lot more planning than I would allow them to have time for. I wanted the attack to be soon. Far sooner than the amount of time needed for sufficient planning would allow.
‘And we do it on Monday,’ I mumbled. ‘The twenty-seventh. Don’t give them chance to recover from the fight yesterday.’
‘Albert…’ Charlotte began slowly, ‘you do realise that it also means we don’t have a chance to recover, don’t you?’
‘We’re in a much better state than they are,’ I snarled. ‘An attack on Paris would do much more damage to them than us.’
‘You’re forgetting something,’ Charlotte fired back immediately. ‘Paris isn’t Maltor’s. It’s the French capital. Attacking it would mean having to face the French.’
‘Exactly,’ Woodward added. ‘What do you suppose demigods and wizards are to do when faced with artillery guns and tanks?’
‘You just answered your own question, General,’ I mumbled. ‘RoCity’s forces are made up of demigods and wizards. No matter the situation, we hold the advantage on a battlefield against non-Mutants.’
‘What would the goal of the attack even be?’ Charlotte asked, sounding almost desperate.
‘Knock France out of the war,’ I grumbled. ‘Then we only have to worry about Maltor. Alone, he isn’t too much of an issue. Just let me have a shot at him and he’ll be dead.’
‘You say that all the time, sir,’ Woodward cut in, and I knew immediately what he was going to say. ‘And yet, he has survived every single encounter with you.’
I deliberately let his words hang. The silence was almost too deafening to bear, but I didn’t care.
‘That doesn’t change the fact that having France out of the war would be a positive,’ Charlotte said quickly, glancing sideways at me.
‘It would be,’ Woodward replied sternly. ‘But there’s a lot that could go wrong.’
‘There’s more that could go wrong if we just sit around waiting for him to attack us,’ I intervened quietly. ‘I refuse to sit here and do nothing when we could at least do something.’
‘How do you suppose we get there?’ Woodward cut in, in a tone that suggested that he believed he had won the debate.
‘Well, firstly, I cannot see why you are so against this attack,’ I responded coolly, before giving my actual answer. ‘Sir, there are many methods we could use to get there. We have an air force, do we not? Our armed forces are also composed of demigods and wizards and witches. We can shadow-travel and Apparate to Paris if you do not see planes as fit for the job.’
‘Sir, even if we land in Paris, we would find ourselves stranded in enemy territory,’ Woodward continued to argue, evidently struggling to keep his cool.
‘They are constantly stranded in enemy territory when they attack us, sir,’ I reasoned. ‘And, so what? If we succeed in taking Paris, then the government will have to give in to our orders.’
‘It’s not that simple-’
‘I can make it that simple,’ I said quickly. ‘I can be very persuasive, General.’
My words hung in the air like icicles.
‘We go to Paris. We wreak absolute havoc. Burn buildings. Kill anyone that crosses our path. Storm government buildings and such. Take over important structures. We take the city.’
Again, my words were met with silence.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Cecilia and Charlotte were eyeing me strangely. Their expressions were extremely different to that of General Woodward. They both seemed almost intrigued.
‘Once Paris is taken, they will have to give in to our demands. If they do not, then we leave a force to hold down Paris whilst we attack Versailles. I have thought this through, General, I assure you.’
Woodward eyed me strangely. His blue eyes seemed full of wonder, as though I were an exotic animal at the zoo.
‘You do know that you don’t need my permission, don’t you, Albert?’ he asked slowly. ‘Why are you so insistent on persuading me? Your decision overrules mine.’
‘I may not need your permission but I would like your support,’ I replied coolly. ‘What is a leader without his people? Without his General?’
Woodward stared at me in a sort of stunned silence.
‘Talk me through this plan in more detail,’ he said slowly after his pause. ‘It’s warming up to me.’
I smirked. ‘Right. So, we travel to Paris. By plane, shadow-travel, Apparation, or them all. While there, we cause as much damage as possible. Take over important buildings, kill any soldier that stands up to us. Hold down the city until Vil is forced to do something about us.
‘If he doesn’t comply with our demands, we move on to Versailles. Do the same thing there as we did in Paris. If the government doesn’t fall after we take Paris, it certainly will once we take Versailles.’
‘Do you have any specific idea about how to attack Paris?’ Woodward asked, leaning forward in what seemed like genuine interest. ‘Or is that why you came to me?’
‘The latter,’ I said quickly. ‘You’re better with things like that than I am. But I do like the idea of setting out in squads again. Each squad can have a leader, and if they are heading to a busy area or have an important task, they can be grouped with one or two other squads.’
‘Good thinking,’ Woodward breathed, sounding as though he was deep in thought. ‘And when did you say you wanted this attack to take place? The twenty-seventh?’
‘Yes. In one week’s time.’
‘I should be able to get it sorted,’ Woodward proclaimed confidently. ‘But don’t be surprised if I call on you for assistance. Permission to leave?’
‘Permission granted. Now look who’s asking for permission.’
Woodward smirked at me over his shoulder as he strode out of the room. The second the door shut behind him, I began to speak, as I knew that Charlotte and Cecilia would bombard me with questions if I stayed silent.
‘Charlotte, you do not have to come to the attack if you do not want to,’ I began hastily. ‘I can find another adult to travel with. Cecilia, I flat out do not want you to come. The attack is on a Monday. Can you stay in school, please?’
‘That’s really why you want it for next Monday, isn’t it?’ Charlotte pried. ‘So that you have an excuse to ask your friends to stay home.’
‘No, it’s so that they do not have time to recover,’ I said awkwardly.
‘France doesn’t need time to recover,’ Charlotte fired back cockily. ‘There were no French among Maltor’s forces yesterday.’
I stared at my desk sheepishly before conceding.
‘Can you blame me? I don’t want my friends risking their lives, even if it isn’t for me. If I didn’t need an adult, I would try and dissuade you from going, Charlotte.’
‘I’m going,’ Cecilia said sternly. My heart immediately began to race. ‘He took Jeremy from me.’
I didn’t quite know what to say to that. Ignoring the sudden churning in my stomach and the flickering image of his corpse, I tried to focus on the attack on Paris.
‘Promise you won’t leave my side, yeah?’ I said quietly.
She grinned, which, again, made my heart race. ‘I’ll try my best.’
‘What about the rest of your friends?’ Charlotte asked cautiously.
‘I don’t want them going but I’m going to have to argue my case,’ I grumbled. ‘Especially with Ethan and Harvey.’
‘Why are you so desperate to keep us out of harm’s way?’ Cecilia murmured, so quietly that I wondered if I had misheard her.
I sat silently for a moment, pondering her question. What answer was suitable? Did I even know the answer? Was it just my instinct? My moral compass?
I sighed. ‘I learned the value of human life really early, Cecilia. More so the value of my own life, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make it apply to others.’
‘Great line, but I reckon you should tell your friends sooner or later,’ Charlotte cut in.
‘The attack isn’t even finalised yet,’ I grumbled. ‘The other officials might say no.’
‘And you overrule them, don’t you? Come on, Ethan won’t be happy if you tell him the day before.’
***
‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’ Isaac’s voice pierced what had been an absolutely crushing six seconds of silence. ‘What could possibly make you think that we’d be okay with not coming?’
I shuffled my feet awkwardly. ‘School.’
Peter scoffed, scowling. ‘As if that’s more important.’
I opened my mouth to argue before deciding against it. There really was no hope of persuading them not to go. Even if I could be a really powerful talker.
‘Yeah, there’s no point debating it,’ Ethan said quietly. ‘You know you can’t stop us.’
I sighed. ‘Yeah, you’re right. But, remember, it’s in a week. Make sure you’re ready. I don’t want any of you dying on me.’
Ali and Peter scoffed simultaneously.
‘Do you need any more things for your belt?’ Asbel asked suddenly. ‘Like smoke balls and stuff?’
‘Nah, don’t worry about that,’ I said slowly, trying to remember how many things I had. ‘I think I’ve got five of each ball and then the large explosive one.’
‘And you don’t want any more?’
‘No. We’ve only got a week. Trouble yourself with training.’
‘What are we gonna do as a squad?’ Isaac asked excitedly. ‘Do we have a specific task?’
‘The attack isn’t even finalised yet, man,’ came my exasperated response. ‘It might not even be happening.’
‘The goal is to just do as much damage as possible, right?’ Jay piped up, also sounding excited.
‘Yes,’ I replied, already picturing the scenes in my head. ‘Me, Ethan, and Asbel can set fire to stuff, for example. Peter can strike things with lightning or Stephen could burst water pipes. The goal is to just wreak havoc.’
‘Sounds like a job for me,’ Jay grinned. ‘The plan is simply going to fail if you don’t let me come.’
‘You are good at causing trouble,’ Natasha joked.
After a brief pause, Jay responded. ‘I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment.’
Ali and Peter scoffed to each other.
‘I actually wanna fight this time,’ Ali said after his badly-hidden scoff. ‘I barely did anything yesterday.’
‘You couldn’t while Albert was doing whatever the fuck that was,’ Ethan joked, glancing at me. ‘He gave the rest of us absolutely no chance.’
‘Oh, shut up,’ I mumbled. ‘I wasn’t that good.’
‘I lost count of the number of people you killed,’ Ethan continued, and my stomach flipped. ‘You went absolutely berserk.’
‘Don’t remind me,’ I replied, still quiet, before quickly changing the subject. ‘And you’ll get your chance to do stuff, Ali. What powers do you have, anyway? I haven’t really seen you use any.’
Instantly, it was clear that I had said something I shouldn’t have said. Ali looked at his feet and began stepping from foot to foot. Before I had a chance to apologise, Stephen began talking, and it was clear that he had not picked up on Ali’s sudden change in mood.
‘Yeah, what God are you from?’ he asked, and Peter, Isaac, Ethan, and I all winced.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Ali grumbled at the quietest volume I had ever heard him produce.
‘So you know?’ Jay pressed. ‘Is it Hades? We won’t-’
‘Shut up, man!’ I hissed. ‘Just let it drop!’
‘So you know?’ Jay smirked, leaning forward. The lean had barely any effect, as they were each on either side of my living room, but it was still rather annoying even for me.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Ethan cut in. ‘If he doesn’t want to say then he doesn’t have to.’
‘Do you know?’
‘No. Ali might not even know. Did you think of that one? Maybe he’s embarrassed because he hasn’t been Claimed.’
‘Yeah…’ Ali sighed. ‘Can we change the subject? Please?’
There was an absolutely crushing silence. I was frantically searching my mind for something else to talk about, but Peter got there first.
‘Damn, the French, huh?’
The entire room erupted into laughter.
In truth, part of me was actually quite curious about Ali’s heritage, but it was clear that it was a sore subject with him, so I knew it better not to ask.
‘I’m actually kinda excited,’ Isaac tried quietly. ‘We’re doing something. And something huge.’
‘That was the idea,’ I joked in response, smirking. ‘I’ll burn the entire city to the ground if that’s what it’s gonna take.’
‘Spoken like a true movie hero, huh?’ Ethan raised an eyebrow sarcastically. ‘What a line.’
‘I don’t have what it takes to be a film star,’ I reasoned blankly.
Ethan rolled his eyes. ‘You can be so…I don’t even know what the word is. ‘Blunt’?’
Cecilia, who had been standing next to me, gently took my hand and squeezed it gently. When I looked down at her, she smiled. My heart skipped a beat.
‘He’s not wrong, though,’ Natasha said quietly from in the kitchen. She had been halfway through pouring herself a glass of orange juice. ‘If any one of us is gonna burn down the city, it’s gonna be him.’
I scoffed. ‘Thanks? I do wanna try.’
‘And you’re gonna succeed,’ Ali murmured. He was still looking at his feet. ‘This is gonna go great.’
I really hoped they were all right. If everything went according to the fantasy in my head, this was gonna be the biggest success of the war yet.
I would make them all pay.
***
‘Hey, man,’ I said gently, putting my hand on Ali’s shoulder a few hours later. I had gone to his room to check on him, only to find that he had been spending his time sitting silently on his sofa. I do not know how long he had been sitting there. ‘You okay?’
He nodded wordlessly. ‘You don’t have to worry about me, you know?’
‘Yeah I do,’ I replied instantly. ‘You’re my friend.’
Ali scoffed. ‘Oh yeah? I get the honour of being your friend?’
‘Of course,’ I found myself quite shocked that he had questioned that. ‘Did you think we weren’t friends?’
‘I woulda said that, you know, Ethan and Natasha and stuff were your friends. We’ve only known each other six months.’
‘And that’s enough to call you my friend,’ I said sternly, taking note of Ali’s sudden sad tone. ‘It doesn’t matter how long we’ve known each other. We were friends from the day we met.’
A strange look crossed Ali’s face. It looked as though he was trying his absolute hardest to not smile.
‘Thanks, man.’
‘And, hey, if Jay ever makes you uncomfortable like that again, I’ll be sure to put a stop to it,’ I assured him. ‘But I doubt he’s gonna wanna get on your nerves after the Paris fight.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re gonna kick absolute ass, aren’t you? I wouldn’t wanna mess with someone that’s doing that.’
‘That’s why nobody wants to mess with you,’ he joked.
‘That’s not the point,’ I replied, smirking. ‘Come on, don’t sit here sulking. We’ve got a fight to train for.’
I rose from the sofa, smiling. I turned on the spot and offered my hand down to Ali, who took it with a grin.
‘You’re right,’ he said confidently, grasping my hand tightly. ‘We’re gonna kick ass.’