Chapter 26

The ship rocks back and forth and I hear Remulus yelling for the officers around him to fire back at our assailants. I'm still sitting on the floor, next to Polaris who has stopped breathing under my hands. 

His eyes are empty as he stares at the ceiling, the lights above casting a white glow over his pale green eyes. My body feels heavy with exhaustion and his weight grows heavier in my hands. I don't want to release him, I don't want to acknowledge yet another death on my hands that are already stained with blood. 

The adrenaline that was coursing through my veins slowly ebbs out of my body and evaporates into the air around me. I groan as the pain in my foot returns in full force and for a second I feel like chopping the damn thing off, if it would just rid me of this torture. 

Judging by the turmoil in the control room, I can tell we are still being pursued by Lazarus's soldiers in their ships. 

Our ship rocks to the side and I'm thrown back into the wall with a loud thud. Polaris slips from my hands and he rolls down the other side. My lip trembles as I watch his body hit the wall like a block of wood. 

I want to get up but the pain in my leg is stopping me from moving. A tall Plutonian soldier rushes in but I don't recognise him with his uniform and helmet on. He must be one of Lucian's.

The sleek black helmet turns to Polaris and then to my tear stricken face. He then rushes up to me and helps me up. 

"He didn't make it," I gesture at Polaris's limp body as the soldier's arm coils around my waist. I don't know who is underneath that helmet but his presence soothes me and makes me want to cry into his shoulder. He reminds me of Lucian when he wore his helmet to fight Lazarus in the pits before I escaped Pluto. 

The Plutonian nods subtlety but his chief focus is getting me to one of the seats in the control room. He straps me in and then his gloved fingers graze my foot as he studies my injury. 

The ship whips to the side again and I look around to see about a dozen aliens scrambling about, some firing back at our enemies, some doing damage control as we take a few hits. My teeth gnash together in pain as our ship is flung to the side, the resultant whiplash makes me feel like my foot has been torn in half.

 I hear Remulus call out through his helmet for us to strap in and everyone does except the Plutonian officer at my feet. He looks up at me and for a second my heart stills. 

It can't be. He isn't supposed to be here. 

Every fibre in my body freezes with fear as I remember Lazarus's obsessive hatred with Lucian.   What if we were caught? What if Lazarus got his hands on Lucian?

The Plutonian rushes off somewhere and then returns with a first aid kit. 

"Preparing for hyperdrive," Remulus warns and I see him turn to the soldier who has grabbed a syringe from the small box in his hands. "Everyone please strap in." 

His pleading tone to the Plutonian crouching by my feet is suspect enough. Remulus only speaks with such respect and endearment to one person.

"This will numb the pain," He says to me and my suspicions are dreadfully confirmed by the sound of his voice. Lucian slips off my shoe and jabs the needle into my toe before I have the chance to protest. 

My scream fills the air but they are drowned out by the sound of our ringing alarms and bullets hitting our shields. My vision blurs as Lucian stands up and walks over to a chair. He straps in just as the ship goes into hyperdrive, diving us into shards of brilliant white light. 

My head whips to the side only to see him staring at me through his helmet. I can't see his face or his eyes but I can feel his gaze like the pulse in my veins. 

We stare at each other as our ship escapes the empire by a mere second. That was too close, Lucian should not have been here. Polaris should not have risked his life to save me. 

Black splotches mar my vision, taking Lucian away from me. My eyelids grow heavy and I slump against the seat, my head still turned his way. The sleek black chromic metal of his helmet glints under the white lights and my heart beats like the strings of a harp, and he is tugging it his way. 

The last thing I think of before the darkness pulls me in is the thought I never wanted to have again. My body tenses, fighting against the calm the injection has induced in my veins but the thought comes no matter how hard I try to block it. 

Will this war end with Lucian's or Lazarus's death? Or worse, both?

***

The sounds of insects buzzing in the distance stirs me from my sleep and I wake up from the nightmares of blood and death and Lucian's screams. My body is covered in sweat and hair sticks to my forehead. 

I look down at my bandaged foot and then at my surroundings. I am lying down on a low single bed, next to a window and I turn to the side to see dark green walls, a dim yellow light and Cat sitting on another single bed across from me. 

She is perched by the edge of the bed and she nods off into a bout of sleep, nearly falling off till she jolts awake again. 

She catches me staring and jumps up. 

"Aria," She exclaims in relief and I wish I felt the same way but all I feel is regret. Lucian should never have come for me. Polaris should not have rescued me. That part of the mission was not necessary.

She rushes to me and the door bursts open immediately. Joon rushes in with a limp and he takes a seat across from me. I notice he clutches his knee tightly as he sits. 

"We did it?" I ask just for confirmation even though I explicitly heard Remulus admitting our triumph while we were being chased by Lazarus's soldiers. 

Joon nods, a smile slowly stretching across his cheeks. His dark, almond shaped eyes crease together in happiness over our triumph but his grip on his knee tightens. He must have injured himself while they flew it to save me. 

"They destroyed that damn machine. The Plutonian soldiers blew the entire white region up," Cat berates excitedly like a child. She paces around my bed and my eyes follow her every movement. 

"I thought I had lost," I admit, my voice thick with the heaviness I feel in my heart. "Polaris carried the second microfibre. He planned it all along." 

"Yes, we weren't aware of it either," Joon admits. "He was the plan B no one knew about." 

"Except Lucian," I say in a low voice. He must have known or else why would Polaris come for me.

"Where is he? Where are we?" I proceed to get up but my body feels like lead and my head starts to spin. 

"Woah, hold your horses girl. He's with Commander Rigel and the others, discussing our next steps,"She says as she pushes me down with ease."We are currently in the Amazonian planet Astraea. Don't worry we are safe for now."

I stare at her and then Joon as I try to come to terms with our success. I wasn't there in the city centre, I only heard the blasts from a distance and then Remulus swooping in at the Western Border to save me which I can't help but feel angry about. 

How could Lucian be so careless to endanger his life and everyone else's for one person? Why did Polaris have to die just for that?

I wince at the churning pile of acid in my stomach that burns with self hatred. "What happened to the squad that destroyed the white region? Did they make it?"

Please tell me I wasn't the only one.

My guilt multiplies ten fold when their expressions turn grim. Cat stops walking and faces me, her face is momentarily hidden by the shadows strewn over the room but the bitter tone in her voice is biting.

"We never expected them to make it." 

I swallow in response, not having the energy nor the want to even nod. We knew this would happen. "Do we know any of them?" 

"No, most of them were Plutonians who knew the in's and out's of the command centre," Joon says. "They knew their fate when they volunteered, Aria." 

His eyes narrow on my face and I know he can tell what I am thinking. After travelling alone with me for days, Joon has learned to tell when I am drowning in my guilt almost as well as the Plutonian officers knowing their command centre. 

"I knew my fate as well," I say.

"We were coming to save you," He argues softly. 

"You shouldn't have," I snap and turn away from both of them. Conflicting emotions threaten to tear me apart as I stare at the wall in front of me. I feel grateful that we succeeded, guilty that everyone died except for me, fearful for Lucian's carelessness where I am concerned but most of all there is a venomously selfish part of me that wishes I could forget my conversations with Lazarus.

What would Lucian do if he knew that this war was nothing but a game to Lazarus. That his hatred for Lucian was the one driving his every action. Did that mean if Lucian stopped fighting, Lazarus would too? It sounds ridiculous but I can't stop thinking about it. 

Should I tell Lucian?

Cat clears her throat, having not expected my outburst. "I'll go get you something to eat," She says after a few seconds and then she leaves with a soft click of the door. 

"You're doing that self destructive thing again. Where you hate yourself for no reason." Joon is evidently more persistent than Cat.

"No reason," I mimic his words and laugh humourlessly. I shift in my sheets that are damp with sweat and turn to face him. "His death was pointless. Polaris could have left for his planet or escaped. He didn't have to come back for me."

"I doubt Lucian would have allowed that," Joon reasons. 

And that is what frightens me the most. 

"I'm not worth it," I say in a broken voice and Joon's eyes fill with sadness. He knows better than to argue with that point. He knows what we have lost to get here.

"That's not for you to decide," Lucian's voice shocks us both and we turn to the door that has been flung open. 

He walks inside and stands in the centre, towering over both of us, his presence is so commanding, it makes the room feel infinitely smaller. It's apparent Joon feels the same way. He stands up and excuses himself quickly. 

Lucian sits down by my bed and strokes my head tenderly. He pushes the strands of wet hair that cling to my forehead and I sigh in disappointment under his touch.

"You should not have come for me," I say but my anger dissipates with each graze of a finger. Why does he have this effect on me?

"Did you honestly think I was going to let you die like that?" He murmurs. He presses a hand to forehead and his eyebrows crease slightly. "You're having a fever." 

"Lucian, you could have been caught. You could have endangered more people." More could have died. I try not to think about Remulus and Joon and the rest who escaped with the skin of our teeth. 

I close my eyes and try not to think about what could have happened if Lucian had been caught by Lazarus. But then there is a part of me that wonders if Lazarus would implode if he finally got his hands on his obsession. 

Would this fight end once these two stars finally collide? Would that save us from the impending carnage that comes with war? 

These thoughts are driving me mad and my body is shaking and shivering as Lucian wraps his arms around me. I need to make sense of my thoughts. I need to talk to someone about this but not him. Not yet. 

"Aria, you're making me worried? What did Lazarus do to you? Did he..." Lucian trails off, his eyes alight with a fiery hatred.

"He didn't do anything except break my foot," I admit and his shoulders slump in relief at my answer. "Would you kill him if you had the chance?" My question throws him off guard and I can tell he doesn't have an answer to that. 

He releases me and takes a drink from the bed side table, avoiding my question. I take it from him and drink it down slowly.

"Would you?" I repeat. 

"I don't know," He finally admits. "I know he has become this..this monster, but we grew up together. I can't explain it, Aria. I want to defeat him and take control but I don't think I could kill him. Not by my hand."

My heart sinks because I am not surprised by his answer but he doesn't know that Lazarus's hatred for him is the only thing driving that monster. And I'm not sure if I want him to know. I need to clear my head and talk to someone else. For some reason my mind ventures to the most unlikely person.

"Lucian," I finally say after a long pause. "I need to speak to General Lyra, alone please." 




Heyy guys. They did it but Aria is feverish and guilty. Do you think she should tell Lucian about Lazarus's obsession? Do you think it would help or make things worse?

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