I look up at the happy Plutonian medical officer who has his hands outstretched in the air in triumph. Joon, Luna, General Lyra and my squad members are here as well. 

We remain frozen in shock for a few seconds and then all of us rush to the doors eager to meet Lucian, only to be stopped by the medical officer.

"Keep it short. We don't want to stress him," He warns and I push him aside to rush in.

My eyes fall on Lucian's tired face as he leans against a pillow. The room here is huge with computer screens plastered over the walls on one end and medical equipment filling up the other side.

It makes him look so small under the covers.

He smiles at us, his eyes meeting mine quickly but he still looks so weak and pale. He sits up slowly and I rush to his side.

"Lucian, you're awake," I say, tears spilling from my eyes.

"Evidently," He jokes, his voice hoarse and soft. He reaches out a hand, grabbing mine softly. "Are you, okay? Did Lazarus hurt you?"

"He's gone. He's never going to hurt us again," I say between tears and Lucian stares at me in surprise.

"He's dead?" I notice he looks slightly conflicted.

"He's as dead as dead can be," Remulus says, his smile wide now that his leader is awake.

Lucian sighs and slumps agains his pillow. "Wow."

"Took you long enough," Luna says, her voice shaky. "We've been worried sick."

"And what about the empire? How are the soldiers?" Lucian forces himself up, his eyes wide with concern. "We need to start looking for a new home. We need to draft agreements, we need to honour our promises to all the planets under us." 

"Calm down. You just woke up," I say, soaking in every inch of this workaholic Plutonian who has my heart in the palm of his hand. I can't explain how happy I am to see him breathing, see him talking. It makes my heart swell, I feel like my chest could burst any moment in pure happiness. 

I hand him a cup of oxygen infused liquid and he takes a sip quickly.  

"We have plenty of time to go over those agreements," General Lyra says. "And we can settle on Earth in the mean time. After all it is our planet." 

Joon stiffens next to me but the Plutonians around us seem unfazed by her words. 

"No," Lucian says firmly. "Earth belongs to the humans. It's belonged to them ever since we left our Plutonians there and they formed their own species. I gave them my word before the war and I'm not going back on it."

He smiles at me and I squeeze his hand in gratitude but the mood in the room shifts slightly. It feels almost tense, the air oddly stifling. General Lyra stares at our interlinked hands, her eyes dark but then she steps back. 

"Nothing is set in stone yet. We still need to a planet to move to." She concedes reluctantly.

"Okay, come on. Sole General Lucian needs to rest," The medical officer interrupts, his timing could not have been more perfect. He chases us out of the room and we stand around idly, all of us elated but sombre at the same time. 

Lucian waking up has ended the waiting period catapulting all of us back to reality. Now the Plutonians need to find a new home because Earth is no longer an option.

I suddenly realise that I am also done with this war too which leads me to wonder where that leads me and Joon.

Cat, Rachel and the others are already on Earth. Which just leaves us two.

"We should get back to our duties. Focus on fixing up and assembling everyone while Sole General Lucian recovers," General Lyra announces.

It feels weird hearing that title in front of Lucian's name. Weird but nice, it makes me smile.

We finally did it. We made it.

Everyone disperses after her instructions and I join Joon soon after.

"I can't wait to get back to Earth," Joon mutters. "And these Plutonians better not follow us back. I've had enough of them ordering us around."

"What are you going to do once you're there?" I ask him curiously.

"I don't know. Find some job, meet a cute girl, start a family? Live my life however I want to," He replies in excitement. "What about you?"

I pause for a moment. I never thought about what I would do after the war. I never thought I would make it this far. Joon's words ignite a spike of curiosity deep inside and I can't help but wonder how life would be like for myself on Earth. 

But what about Lucian?

I remain silent, unsure about what I want and an uneasiness settles in my gut.

The next few days are slow as the Plutonians remain busy sorting out their officers and troops. Some have been deployed to Pluto to gather the remaining Plutonians and humans before their planet is left completely abandoned, left to the mercy of Planet X.

I help the humans settle in, gathering them and showing them where they will be residing in our space station before they will be sent back to Earth. We are all made to sign non disclosure agreements, but they are more or less just threats. 

We aren't allowed to disclose the existence of Plutonians to anyone or we would be abducted again. It's a pretty stupid agreement because there are only a handful of us left and no one is bothered about exposing a secret alien race now that they have the chance to go back home. 

They just want to get back to their original lives.

I don't recognise most of the humans here and I was told that the majority were executed during the transition to Earth. Lazarus didn't want to waste resources transporting humans so he killed most of them, including Stela. 

The thought makes me sick but I don't dwell on it as much as I ponder my decision on whether I will be going back or not.

Aside from visiting Lucian and helping him recover, I realise I now have nothing much to do anymore.

He is getting stronger every day, soon it will be time for him to take over and suddenly I am conflicted about my path in all of this. Joon is adamant on going back to Earth and I can't help but wonder if that might be the best choice for me too.

Only I can't imagine a life without Lucian.

Joon and the rest will leave in a few cycles once Lucian has fully recovered and if there was ever a time for me to leave, that would be it.

I'm not sure about what I want. My path remains clouded by my emotions.

Ever so often I think about my role in everything that has lead to this. It leaves a gnawing feeling in my stomach, stemmed from General Lyra's words when we waited outside Lucian's room together.

What did she mean about me being instrumental?

I tried to talk to her multiple times but she's been so busy.

I don't talk to Lucian about this. Not yet anyway. I don't want to stress him out while he is still weak and recovering. 

We finish having dinner together, our conversation light today and I leave him to rest once the night shift starts. I shut the doors and am startled to see Commander Z standing outside his room.

"Officer Aria, Commander Lyra would like to meet you." 

I stare up at him in confusion and only then realise that because Lucian is Sole General, there are no more remaining generals, which includes his mother. I nod and follow him to her quarters which is located somewhere at back of the space station. 

I walk inside her small office and the door shuts behind me.

"Officer Aria, I've been wanting to meet you," Lucian's mother looks up from the pile of documents on her desk.

"You have?" I ask in surprise.

"Yes, I want to know what your plans are. Are you leaving with the rest of the humans back to Earth?"

I shut the door and make my way to her, taking a seat in the small chair facing her. She hands me a drink and I take it hesitantly.

She places the glass in my hand firmly and her fingers press against my own. I feel a soft prick when her finger goes over mine and immediately look down to see a small dot of blood.

"You have a wound there," She mutters and then she hands me a tissue. "Don't worry, it's a small one."

I frown as I take it from her and dab the tissue on that spot of blood.

"So have you made a decision yet?" She asks again and for some reason I feel cautious. I place the glass down, having no intention to drink whatever she has given me. 

"I don't know," I answer truthfully. Lucian has been so busy discussing his plans for the empire, it has completely slipped his mind that I may be leaving. 

All I want is for him to get better. I don't want to cause him any stress by bringing up this topic now.

"Well your friends are leaving in five cycles. That will come sooner than you think," General Lyra says. 

"I know. I just haven't discussed it," I trail off not wanting to divulge more.

"You might not need a discussion. Who knows we might join you," Her lips tilt up at the corners of her mouth ever so slightly. 

"I doubt Lucian would allow that," I say. "Commander Lyra, what did you mean about me being instrumental in all of this?"

Her eyes narrow at me. "Any man feeling pain and betrayal can make rash decisions, be it a Plutonian or human. It is when they are most easily manipulated."

I frown at her words, I am about to repeat my question but then I feel it. Something moves in my veins and it feels like a fire is spreading through out my body. I look down at my hands in horror as they fall limply to my sides. 

I can't move my legs either, all I can do is stare at the general who is smiling at me. 

"Don't worry I'm not going to kill you. This is just to immobilise you, to make what I'm going to do next easier." She holds up a tiny dart that is stuck to her finger. The one she used to prick me.

"Why?" I struggle to get out. 

The general leans forward and runs a hand through my hair tenderly. "Aria, I must say out of all the decisions I made and the chances I took. You were ultimately the best one. Saving you from your execution as a child, suggesting your use as a fake lover to observe Lucian's nightmares. I saw the way he stared at you the night of the introductory ball and I knew of your rebel tendencies. Who knew what a perfect companion you would make?"

The shock of her words feels like a slap to my face. She's the one who ordered for me to be brought back when I wasn't killed in the chasm in the South?

She's the one who told Lucian to use me for his night terrors? Did she expect him to fall in love with me? Did she plan it all?

"All those messages in the ice to those humans, Lucian's finger prints. Every step I took with you was a gamble and it all paid off excellently. Look where we are today."

"S?" I gasp, my voice barely audible.

She stands up and walks to the window. Her gaze faraway. "Would you believe me if I told you this war had been planned almost fifty Plutonian years ago? That the timing had to be perfect for me to manipulate my sons genes before the impending collision of Planet X. I had to make him different, I had to make him empathise with the humans to split up the empire."

All I can do is stare at her, my lips almost numb now. 

"You sent us to Earth. You knew that would trigger everything between Lazarus and Lucian," I struggle to get out. 

She barely nods, her gaze still fixed on her window. "You asked me if I was 'S' and I answered no. I wasn't lying. I am not 'S'. No one person is 'S'. We are a secret group of individuals passed down for generations, predicting this moment and the need to get rid of the other generals. The rot." 

I can't tell if she is smiling but the gleam in her eyes frighten me to the bone. 

I'm too shocked to be sickened by how much I've been used. It hasn't quite registered yet.

"As you can see it had to be done. Now we can finally live in peace with Lucian as Sole General but leaving Earth alone was not part of the plan. You have served your purpose too well, my son is too enamoured by you to think straight. I'm sorry but I have to get rid of you," She walks over to the table and takes a huge gulp of her drink. "I'll send Joon and you away, claim you were having an affair the whole time."

She throws numerous photos in front of me and my eyebrows raise in surprise. There are pictures of Joon and I walking together or in conversation. In reality these moments were harmless but the angles and timing of each picture make us look like two people in love. 

It is ridiculous. 

I want to tell her that Lucian will never believe this but I can't say a word. My vocal cords have frozen along with the rest of my body. 

She pats my head softly making me flinch internally. "I'll send you two away to some far off planet where Lucian will never find you. Who knows maybe you two might actually fall in love."

A single tear of frustration rolls down my cheek and then the doors burst open, making General Lyra step back. 

"Commander Lyra, you are under arrest for conspiring against the empire," Remulus announces loudly, a hint of anger in his voice. 

"Under who's orders?" She exclaims in disbelief. She struggles against the soldiers who surround her and proceed to handcuff her. 

"Sole General Lucian's," Pollux replies. 

"This is absurd. You have no proof," She says angrily. 

"On the contrary we have been gathering evidence ever since we learnt about 'S'," Deneb answers. He locks the metal contraption around her hands, making her wince. "And we have your admission on record.

"Sorry we had to bug you, minion. Don't worry you weren't the only one," Remulus walks up to me and inspects my pupils. 

I've never been so grateful for being bugged in my life.

"For someone who claims to be a Sympathizer you don't seem very sympathetic," Remulus adds making the general scowl. 

"It is just a term we used to fool the humans. And you can't arrest me. Lucian can't arrest me. He is the Sole General because of me." 

I want to scream at her. Lucian is so much more than a child who's genes she manipulated. She may have precipitated this war but us winning and the support we gained from the other aliens was all him. 

He is the Sole General because he earned it. Unlike her or Lazarus or anyone else. 

The Plutonian soldiers simply ignore her. I feel someone pick me up and see Altair looking down at me in concern. "Don't worry we will fix you up in no time, Aria."

I want to smile or nod or just show some sign of appreciation but all I can do is stare at him with wide eyes.

"She is just a human. She shouldn't have a say in this. She shouldn't be here. Earth is ours. We shouldn't have to go else where. Earth is Mine! It belongs to me!" 

These are the last words I hear from General Lyra as she is dragged away by soldiers, away from my line of sight.  

If this chapter had ended differently there would probably be another book haha but no lets just stop it here. Long chapter guys, I'm wrapping things up. Roughly maybe two more chapters.

Andddd now you know who 'S' is and why they helped the humans escaped. Now you guys know who the real villain in the story is hehe, only it backfired :) :) 

Anywayyy I have a random question that I hope you guys can help me answer.
What is your favourite genre on this app to read? Romance? Bad Boy's? Billionaires? Mystery? Im curious.