‘All the planes are ready for takeoff tomorrow morning, sir,’ General Woodward said confidently as he stared down at me.

The two of us were in my office on the top floor of The Tower, as we often were when we spoke, and he had come up for the sole purpose of informing me that everything was ready.

General Woodward was a rather imposing man. He was nearly six feet tall, extremely broad in the shoulders, and had short black hair that was usually hidden by a military cap and some stubble that was the same colour. The blue eyes that sat on his face were the most welcoming aspects of his appearance, and even they weren’t exactly that.

I had given him the task of preparing an attack on Paris nearly a week ago. As he was head of the army, serving under only myself, I had trusted him over everybody else to do this.

And, Gods, had he done so. Preparations had been made swiftly and to the highest standard. Other officials had been informed mere minutes after I had ordered the attack, and they had begun to put in their own work to make sure that the attack would be ready for the twenty-seventh of June.

I believed an attack on Paris to be necessary to knock France out of the war. Why they were even in the war, I had no idea. But I needed them out. As Prime Minister of RoCity, I needed to protect my people, and it would be a lot easier to fight the army of Maltor Confussée alone than if he were fighting alongside the French.

‘Perfect,’ I replied, nodding slightly. ‘Is there anything else that needs to be done?’

‘On your part? No. All that you and your friends need to do is make sure that you have all your personal items ready to take with you tomorrow.’

We had it easy, especially my friends. Of course, I had been overseeing all the preparations, but it still felt as though General Woodward had done more than me to make this attack possible. I felt almost guilty. I had ordered the attack, so why did the responsibilities seem to fall on somebody else?

‘Thank you, General,’ I said, rising from my seat and offering my hand for a handshake.

General Woodward grasped it firmly. There was a rather noticeable height difference between the two of us, so it came as no surprise that his hand dwarfed mine when we shook.

‘What plane are my friends and I taking, by the way?’ I asked as General Woodward let go of my hand and turned to face the door.

‘A1,’ he replied simply, opening the office door. ‘The first one to take off. Charlotte will be on there, too. As will I.’

‘Sounds perfect.’

The door closed behind him.

I glanced around my office almost wistfully. It felt as though I would be leaving it behind tomorrow morning. Why? Everything was planned. We were going to attack Paris. It’s not like anyone was going to get seriously injured. Or, at the very least, I was confident that I wouldn’t.

The two bookshelves sat in the corners of the office behind me, as littered with papers as they had been when I took the position of Prime Minister. My crimson desk decorated with my nameplate was still the same as it always had been, too. And that same photo of my grandparents and their three children hung on the wall to my right.

I sighed. What was wrong? What was troubling me?

***

‘Really? That’s all we have to do?’ Cecilia asked, sounding almost disbelieving.

Cecilia was, to put it bluntly, my girlfriend. The two of us had been dating for three months, and they had been the best three months of my life.

She had dark brown hair that fell graciously from her head and over her shoulders. The ends of it were slightly curled, which was weirdly cute. Her sea-green eyes were another feature that I would describe as cute, but that may have been my bias talking.

The two of us stood in her living room. In the centre of the room sat her dark green sofa, which was parallel to her wooden coffee table and the TV that hung on the wall. At the far side of the room, huge windows displayed the city outside. No matter how long I lived in RoCity, the sight of it would always amaze me.

I looked down at her and smiled. ‘Yep, even General Woodward said so.’

She appeared to be lost in thought for a moment, so I tried to help.

‘What do you need to take? It’s just your wand and your sickles, right?’

Cecilia rolled her eyes before jokingly adding, ‘Food? Drinks?’

‘They should be provided by the supply teams that’ll be scattered all throughout Paris,’ I assured her, not immediately picking up on her joking tone. ‘And, hey, we can always loot a few- you were joking, weren’t you?’

She smiled before pulling me into a hug. ‘Yes, Albert, I was.’

I wrapped my arms around her in return, squeezing her slightly. ‘Just promise me you’re not gonna get hurt, yeah?’

‘I’ll try my hardest,’ she whispered.

I was extremely uncomfortable at the thought of any of my friends entering the battlefield, barring maybe Ethan, but I would still prefer it if even he stayed away from a fight. This feeling of discomfort expanded more than tenfold at the thought of Cecilia fighting. She had been present for numerous battles, but she had never done any actual heavy fighting. She had almost been killed by Righello nearly six months ago before I had intervened.

She was obviously strong, otherwise, she wouldn’t have passed the necessary test to step onto the battlefield. But the thought still scared me nonetheless.

‘Have you got all the things in your belt?’ she asked quietly.

‘Should do, but I’ll definitely check before going to sleep tonight.’

I squeezed her gently again. Gods, I loved hugging her.

She giggled quietly. ‘I’m definitely packing a bit of food. Never know if we’ll need it.’

I scoffed jokingly. ‘Don’t lose any as we’re destroying Paris.’

As was pretty standard whenever I was with Cecilia, I do not know exactly how much time passed before the two of us went to find other members of the friend group.

The first person we went to was Ethan. It had to be. Of course, we had to check on that dumbass first.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

As it was the evening, the two of us had to go to his house. He opened the door with a wicked grin, and before we could even open our mouths, he spoke.

‘I’m so ready.’

Ethan Brown was my greatest friend. He had comically close-cropped dark brown hair and sparkling eyes that were only a shade lighter. His square-framed glasses sat almost too perfectly on his also square-framed face.

He had evidently not been expecting visitors at this time, as he was wearing what looked like pyjamas.

‘Off to bed are we, you lazy sod?’ I joked, smiling at him.

‘Listen, man, we’ve got big things tomorrow,’ he said defensively, raising his hands in surrender. ‘I don’t think you’d like it if I fell asleep mid-fight.’

‘I certainly wouldn’t,’ I said in return.

‘Why are you here, anyway?’ he asked, finally bringing the subject of conversation to something valuable.

‘To check that you’re ready for tomorrow,’ I said plainly. ‘You’ve got everything you need, right?’

An expression conveying false thought crossed Ethan’s face for a moment as he pretended to be considering my question.

‘My sword,’ he said finally. ‘That’s all I need.’

I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

‘You know you can just message everyone asking if they’ve got everything, right?’ Ethan asked, raising an almost accusatory eyebrow.

I felt like an idiot.

‘You’re a genius,’ I said slowly. ‘Thanks. Now I don’t have to see everyone looking as trampy as you.’

He kissed his teeth. ‘Whatever, wonderboy. See you in the morning.’

And with that, he bid me and Cecilia goodbye before shutting the door.

‘He seems eager to get to bed,’ Cecilia commented. ‘I’ll message everyone asking, so don’t worry. We can ask Harvey back at The Tower, though.’

‘Gods, he does make me feel stupid sometimes,’ I said quietly.

Cecilia gently pushed me as we began to walk down the road. ‘You’re fine. It was just an oversight on both of our parts.’

I smiled at her. ‘You always know what to say, don’t you?’

She looked up from her phone and smiled at me. ‘Only for you.’

***

Isaac and Ali were found just across the road from The Tower, which came as a rather welcome surprise.

Both of them were also great friends of mine. They each stood at around my height and looked as though they had just done some shopping.

Isaac had dark brown eyes and short hair of the same colour. His jawline was sleek and immensely complemented by his perfectly white teeth. The main characteristic of his that set him apart from everybody else was that he was the only member of the friend group to not be related to a God.

Ali’s hair was black rather than brown, and he had it styled to the side as he typically did. His beige skin seemed to glow in the evening light, as did the light brown eyes behind his glasses.

‘Albert!’ Ali exclaimed before barrelling over to me and Cecilia from across the street. ‘How come you’re out at this time?’

‘Lemme ask you that same question first,’ I replied, nodding hello to Isaac as he joined us. ‘Shopping?’

‘There’s nothing we really need to buy,’ Isaac pointed out. ‘We just went to Madam Sweetheart’s café for some food and drinks.’

‘We would’ve invited you, but we didn’t know whether you’d be discussing things with the military or something,’ Ali added apologetically. ‘Anyway, yeah, why are you out this late?’

‘We were gonna check on everyone and see if they’re ready for tomorrow before Ethan pointed out that we can just message,’ I explained. ‘So, you two got everything you need, yeah?’

‘I’m like ninety-nine per cent sure I do, yeah,’ Isaac replied, grinning toothily at me.

‘All I need is that cool spear Asbel made me and I’ll be fine,’ Ali added, also smiling.

‘It is a pretty cool weapon,’ Isaac nodded thoughtfully.

‘And we’ve all been practising how to use parachutes so that should be fine, too,’ Ali continued.

That was one thing I had forgotten to check. My friends and I had all had to practice using parachutes from increasingly impressive heights so that we were ready to jump from the plane.

I had practised even though I had made it perfectly clear that I would not be using a parachute to drop from the plane. I had wings, after all.

I had also promised to save anybody who was having trouble opening the parachute. Or, if need be, I would carry someone all the way from the plane to the ground. Because, as I said, I had wings.

Cecilia gave a dramatic shiver. ‘Gods, I forgot we’d have to do that.’

‘Albert’ll help you if need be,’ Isaac said slyly, giving a manic grin. ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.’

‘If your parachute fails and I don’t help you, remember you said that,’ I retorted.

‘Sorry.’

I chuckled. ‘Yeah, now you’re sorry, huh? I’ll save you if it fails, but let’s hope it doesn’t.’

‘I’d probably faint from the fear,’ he whimpered, before clearing his throat. ‘No, I’d be fine.’

We all smiled at him.

‘Me and Cecilia have to get in to Harvey, though, sorry,’ I said rather quickly. ‘I’ll see you two in the morning.’

They both smiled at me.

‘See you, Albert,’ Ali said, patting my shoulder. ‘And, by the way, what plane are we flying on?’

‘Gods, I’m forgetting everything, aren’t I?’ I said with the tone of smacking myself on the forehead. ‘We’re on plane A1. We’ll message everyone else and let them know that, thanks.’

He nodded. ‘Goodnight, man.’

‘Night.’

Cecilia and I turned to head into The Tower as they began to walk back along the street.

‘I’ll add our plane number to the list of things to remind everybody about,’ Cecilia teased as the two of us made our way over to the lift at the back of the lobby.

‘Thanks,’ I replied apologetically. ‘Sorry.’

‘There’s no need to apologise. It’s kinda funny.’

I raised an eyebrow as we entered the lift. ‘So I’m a joke now, huh?’

‘You know that’s not what I meant!’ she hissed, gently elbowing my arm.

The two of us kept up a light conversation until the lift doors opened on the tenth floor to reveal Harvey Bèstia, my only remaining relative.

He was a few inches taller than me, sitting at a rather comfortable height of about five-nine, and he had light brown hair that was much shorter on the sides and back than it was on the top. His eyes were a darker shade of that same colour, and they lit up when they looked down at me.

‘Exactly who I was looking for!’ he exclaimed as I tried to figure out a way to get out of the lift with his giant body blocking the exit.

‘Why?’ I asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘What do you need me for? We were looking for you.’

‘I was gonna ask what plane we’re flying on tomorrow.’

I paused for a moment before grinning up at him.

‘That’s one of the reasons we came looking for you,’ Cecilia said before I had the chance to. ‘We’re A1, right?’

Nodding, I added, ‘And you’ve got everything you need, yeah?’

He shrugged. ‘Don’t need much, so it’s very easy to know whether I’ve got it all.’

‘Don’t underestimate it,’ I warned, ‘even though you probably do only need like three things max.’

Harvey smiled at me. ‘I’ll be fine. I am a descendant of Titan after all.’

I ignored the sudden shot of worry that that sentence gave me. Yes, the two of us were descendants of Titan, but that didn’t mean we were invincible. We could die just as easily as the next person.

‘You’ve been practising with your powers as well, haven’t you?’ Cecilia asked as I brought my arm up and gently placed it over her shoulders. Harvey tossed me a cheeky glance, evidently trying not to smirk.

Harvey puffed out his chest. ‘I have been. I’ll be doing as much of the arson as Albert. Watch.’

‘Don’t overdo it,’ I warned again. ‘It’s tiring to use your demigod powers if you’re new to it. It’s tiring for me even now.’

‘Trust me, Albert, I’ll be fine,’ he said exasperatedly. ‘And I’ll tell you what else I am. Tired. I need to head to bed.’

‘Ethan’s done the same thing,’ I said sarcastically. ‘But I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘Night. See you both in the morning,’ Harvey yawned. ‘Let’s burn some French stuff.’

He turned and walked to his room at the end of the corridor, shutting the door with a rather large amount of force.

‘I don’t blame them for going to bed early,’ Cecilia said, suddenly sounding tired. ‘I’ve finished messaging everyone, by the way, and they all say they’re ready.’

‘Thank you so much,’ I replied quickly, turning rapidly on the spot to face her. ‘But you sound tired. You gonna go to bed?’

‘I think so, yeah,’ she said slowly.

The two of us walked down the corridor until we got to the second door from the end. Her room.

‘I’ll see you in the morning, yeah?’ I whispered, slowly pulling her into a gentle hug.

‘See you in the morning,’ she yawned quietly.

I squeezed. ‘Sleep tight, Cecilia.’

***

‘One…two…three…four…five…’ I murmured to myself, adding one to the count with every smoke ball that I placed in my magical tool belt.

Every time I held it in my hands, I remembered the night Grandad had given it to me. It had been two and a half years since he’d given it to me. It had been twenty-six months since he died.

I missed him.

Sighing, I began to place the explosive balls in a different pocket of the belt. ‘One…two…three…four – Gods, I still have this many? – five…’

I stared at the larger explosive ball on the floor of my bedroom next to me.

I placed it in another pocket, separate from the other two. ‘One.’

Pushing off of the floor with my hands, I rose from my knees. I clenched and unclenched my fists a few times to get some feeling into them.

‘For them, right?’ I breathed. ‘For them all…’

I fell backwards onto my bed, sinking deep into the sheets.

‘I’m ready…I’m gonna reduce that entire city to charred rubble…Watch me…’