I remember what it felt like when Michael kicked me in the ribs during my first match on Pluto. It was only a day after I had chosen to become a fighter in the pits and the memory of the blinding pain in my ribs right after his foot connected with my ribcage still haunts me. 

That is the only way I can explain how I feel right now. 

Like someone just kicked me in the gut.

I stand up abruptly and walk away from everyone at the pantry. Lucian is alive. He's alive and well and he's fighting back against Lazarus. 

I stagger to the back of the ship where it is quiet and my thoughts are my only company. There is a small room right across from me and I look into the small glass panel to see a room similar to the one Lucian occupied on our trip to the Serpentine Constellation to save his mother. 

My fingers unconsciously tap on the door censor and it slides open. I walk inside and the entire room lights up with memories of us. 

I see Lucian sitting on the floor watching the cameras and then I join him and he tells me his innermost thoughts and worries. My gaze shifts to the wall and I see Lucian pushing me against it and kissing me fiercely after we saved his mother. 

My hands clutch the air, wanting to feel his warmth, his strong arms around me, holding me up as I lose myself in his icy blue eyes. 

But I feel nothing and it makes me think about the distance I've placed between us after I chose to leave him during his match against Lazarus. 

I sink to the floor, my chest swirling with an impossibly odd mixture of relief, happiness and fear. 

I didn't expect to see him again and now it is all I can think of. 

I must have fallen asleep on the floor in the small room because Catori nudges me gently, disrupting my dreams of Lucian and I. 

"Aria, you need to eat. You've been out for a while," She says and her voice is like a sweet caress to my ears. It reminds me of Cassandra and how she used to care for me. 

She would have made a really good mother. The opportunity was stolen from her, just like a happy ever after was stolen from Rosie and Matt, Jade and Josephine. 

My vision blurs momentarily and I don't realise what is happening until Catori pulls me towards her and wraps me in a hug. 

"Cry it out honey. Let it all out," She murmurs while she rubs my back and her comfort acts as catalyst for me to cry even more. 

Tears run down my face as I cry about all the people I've ever cared about - Cassandra, Rosie, my family. I've lost all of them, I thought I'd lost Lucian even. 

Hearing that he is alive seems to be the only silver lining in my grey horizon. 

After a while my exhaustion kicks in and I have no more tears to spill. I wipe my face and give Catori a weak smile. 

She leads me to the bathroom where I wash up and then I meet the rest at the pantry. 

"Finally sleeping beauty is up," Remulus chides and I see him dig into a can of beans again. Joon is seated next to him with the same pile of food on his plate. 

I see Rachel, Cetus and the long eared alien sitting around the table as well. They cast me cautious glances as I approach them and take a seat. 

"How long have I been out?" I ask. 

"Two cycles," Rachel replies and then she hands me a can of beans. "You've missed four meals so you better eat up. I expect you to finish that."

I nod at her and eat slowly. It takes awhile to get my appetite back. 

"How are you feeling?" Joon asks me and I catch everyone looking at me in worry. Why are they looking at me like that?

"I'm okay," I reply solemnly. 

"They told us everything Bone Breaker," Cetus says and I wince at the horrible nickname from the pits. I hate that it's stuck with me even until now. 

"Please call me Aria."

"Oh ya, I forgot to mention that she's sensitive about that," Remulus adds. 

"My apologies. That's the name everyone uses for you around the trading zones. You were a big hit among st traders and Plutonian officers. The star in the pits, the un betrothed Precursor General's lover, the first human to win three fights in a row in a century," He lists out my accolades in awe but it only creates a bitter after taste in my mouth. 

"It's all a lie. Lucian helped me win those matches. He used to train me every night."

Joon's eyes widen in shock at my reply and even Remulus looks a bit surprised. Apparently they didn't know about that. 

"Be that as it may, you both managed to escape Pluto. No human has ever been able to do that," The alien with the long ears answers. "I'm Fu by the way."

I straighten up, suddenly feeling annoyed for some reason. Why are they talking about my achievements like they have been victories when I feel like I've failed miserably. 

"We didn't do it on our own, Fu. General Lyra helped us anonymously." 

"Why would she do that?" Cat asks and I can already see her hatred for the Plutonians in the way she spit out the word 'she'.

I shake my head. I thought she wanted us to save Earth, to warn the humans but it appears the humans already knew about the oncoming invasion. Now that I think about it, our entire mission seemed pretty pointless. 

"We wanted to crash on Earth to make a point. To prove to the world that aliens existed and they had stolen us," I tell them and my eyes fall on Rachel. She knows what the Deputy did to our footage. 

"Don't worry. There are rebels on Earth as well. They got your message loud and clear. That's how they were able to help," She says and for a moment I feel an iridescent fire ignite in my chest. 

Is there hope after all?

We finish our dinner and everyone heads to the control room soon after. We still have a few more cycles till we reach our destination and there's not much to do except wait.

"Where are we headed?" Remulus asks. 

"I believe you were fishing for information about a certain commander during your visit to Taygeta," Cetus smiles cheekily just as Remulus gasps like an excited child. 

"Commander Rigel?" 

"Let's just say we're headed towards the edge of the universe." He answers. 

Even though we are unarmed and at their mercy, the rebels constantly watch us and none of us are allowed to view the programmed path. The cycles pass by slowly and I don't even know what the edge of the universe means because the ship stops travelling in hyperdrive after a while and I notice we have approached a very large planet. 

Its surface is bright red like molten lava and I wonder if the planet is even habitable but the ship continues its flight path as it enters the large planet's atmosphere. 

My face feels hot and panic burrows itself into the back of my neck as we plummet through the sky and show no signs of stopping even though we are approaching the fiery ground fast. 

I strap in instinctively and it is only then that I notice a crack in the rocky surface. Our ship passes through the gap effortlessly and it feels like we've entered another world. 

We slow down and my eyes are wide as I take in the large terrain below me. Slabs of rock jut out from the rocky walls around us and there are all kinds of aliens walking along them. We land on a small strip of land and park among st other space ships. 

I look around and see many tent like chambers scattered around the periphery. There are crowds of aliens, even some humans milling about. Some of them shift their attention to us as we exit our ship but all I can think of is how large this place is.

There are rebels everywhere, almost a thousand of them in this place alone. 

"Cetus, you're just in time!" Another pink haired Elcian rushed to us quickly. "The Plutonian brigade is about to make contact. Were you successful?"

"Castor!" Cetus gives his comrade a big pat on the back and then he gestures to us happily. "See for yourself." 

Castor turns his gaze to us but I notice he tenses slightly when he looks at me. "That's good." 

His words hang in the air, like he is afraid to say more.

"What is it?" Cat asks. 

"We've heard news that Central Command has put out a bounty for her." He points at me. "They are offering a year free of taxes for the hunter's planet and fifty million Plutonian gold coins for her to be brought back alive. Her face is plastered all over the universe as a wanted criminal."

"A year without tax? Fifty million gold coins?" Fu asks, his face filled with shock. 

"I've never heard of such a bounty," Cetus gasps.

"Neither have I," Remulus murmurs as he stares at me. "A million in gold as a bounty is unheard of, let alone fifty."

"Lazarus," I say. Every cell in my body knows how much my escape must have angered him and I know he will do whatever it takes to hunt me down. 

"Should we be worried?" Rachel asks Castor. 

"To be honest I'm not sure. The rebels here have all sworn to fight against the empire but a year free of taxes and fifty million in gold is a lot. There are aliens here who's planets are in dire need of that kind of money and we all know how money can twist loyalty. I think it's best if we kept her presence on the low for now." He passes me a shawl and I quickly cover my head with it before anyone else can recognise me. 

Rachel and Cat cover theirs as well to blend in with me and we follow Castor as he weaves through the space ships and heads to one of the larger tents. The sound of water crashing against rock ricochets off the walls and I notice a large waterfall located about a hundred feet behind the rows of tents. It forms a large pool below and I catch children jumping in and out of the water while some wash their clothes. 

I follow the rest past the door to the tent and am thoroughly surprised to see some Plutonians standing around a large table. Some of them are busy discussing with other aliens but everyone falls silent once we enter. 

"Commander Rigel," Remulus straightens up when he sees the infamous Plutonian commander standing at the head of the table. 

"You must be Commander Remulus. It's nice to finally meet you all," He nods at each of us, his eyes lingering on me the same way Castor's did. 

He must be thinking about the bounty on my head as well. 

He presses his finger into a slot on the table and it lights up just like the computer in Lucian's room. 

"Commander Lucian and his brigade are scheduled to arrive in two cycles. We are supposed to make contact with him today but we wanted to wait for your arrival first." I stare up at the tall commander as he speaks. His silver hair and stark blue eyes are signature Plutonian but he has ink markings around his neck that disappear into his neck line. I also notice that his right ear is scarred like he ripped out his earring violently. 

"I don't think me being here is a good idea," I say quietly.

Commander Rigel raises an eyebrow in question and I answer quickly when I notice him typing into the computer. 

"I betrayed him to escape." 

"It doesn't matter. His squad member is here as well. Surely both of you must count for something." 

I hold my breath as the call goes through, the beeping sound echoing with the beats of my heart. It stops when the line stills and an image forms on the computer screen. 

"Commander Rigel, we are still waiting for the landing coordinates," Lucian's voice carries through out the room and I freeze like a statue. 

"All in due time General. I still need to know if I can fully trust you. You haven't told us your conditions." Commander Rigel gestures for us to take a stand in front of the screen but my feet remain rooted to the ground. I can't seem to move. 

"I have something of value to you so I would appreciate if you thought about your terms carefully," He says.

Remulus rushes to the front of the screen and his smile widens when he sees his leader. 

"PG Lucian!" He beams like a happy child. 

Just then someone pushes me forward and I stumble in front of the screen. I look up and see General Lyra and Luna standing on either side of Lucian but everything dissipates around us when his eyes meet mine. 

Lucian stares at me and it feels like my entire body has stopped functioning. My heart stills, my lungs freeze, my eyes are unblinking and even time stops as I take in his beautiful face. He is still as handsome as I remember, even more so now after so long. His hair gleams white under the lights and his jaw tightens as we look at each other. 

He swallows and crosses his arms over each other as he straightens up and turns his gaze back to Commander Rigel. 

"You may not believe this but I am as sick of this tyranny and inequality as you are commander, I've just never been able to do much about it. After the war is over we will release all the planets who want to leave the empire and work only with the ones who want to stay under our control. I plan to restructure the entire system, only work with the planets who want to work with us," He stands tall with so much conviction but the longer I look at him the more I notice how tense he is and the prominent dark circles under his eyes. 

"The leaders on Earth, the ones who have been working with us since the begining have been in favour for our integration for years. However recent events," He pauses for a second and I notice he side glances at me subtly. "Recent events have opened my eyes to the fact that not all humans may feel the same way. Therefore, we have decided not to invade Earth. We Plutonians will settle elsewhere once the war is over."

Sighs of relief echo from a few in the room but we remain silent as he continues to speak.

"I appreciate you taking care of Commander Remulus. I will need his services once I land. As for the others," Lucian pauses and I know he talking about me. "You can do want you want. I have no need for them." 

He cuts the line and the image of him disappears and I know everyone is staring at me but I don't even notice. All I can feel is the sharp pain in my chest as his last few words stab their way into my heart. 

It's about to get pretty tense as you can see from the last part :P Were any of you expecting that reaction from Lucian?