The floors shake the moment we enter the turbulent atmosphere that surround Cixin, nearly knocking me off my feet.

"Hold on tight," Lucian orders and the rest of us grab onto the various handles that protrude from the walls.

I clutch the smooth steel tightly but my eyes never leave the screen. The only word that comes to mind is magic as the Black Star dives towards Cixin. It feels like the ship is free falling taking us down with it through the dense particles of dust. 

The sky is a clear lime green, it's vibrant color calms my nerves. It is a beautiful contrast to the dull grey skies I'm used to. 

We charge towards the ground at an unimaginable speed and for a fleeting moment I fear we are about to crash but the Black Star suddenly halts and then we glide over the vast greenery below. 

My eyes are full of wonder as I see vibrant colors of red, orange and green that cover the leaves and trees. Nature is so abundant on this planet and it surely is a sight for sore eyes. The trees are bigger than the ones I remember from Earth and the flowers glow under the light like diamonds. 

Everything is so beautiful here. Even the lakes and rivers are are bedazzling clear pink.

The mash of colors soon turn to a uniform grey and I realize we are gliding over a landing strip that leads to a tall white building. It is the only building here and it sticks out like a sore thumb among st the plants and flowers. My mouth turns sour when I see the large Plutonian symbol plastered over it's top. 

The ship lands with a soft thud and Remulus pulls a lever that lowers the ramp. We exit the ship with Lucian leading the way and I'm surprised to see a small welcome party waiting for us below.

Two Plutonian's stand at the edge of the ramp along with five green beings with faces that resemble humans and saucer shaped heads. They only reach up to the hips of the Plutonian's and they remind me of mushrooms. 

"Welcome PG Lucian and squad," One of the Plutonian's greets us. Her hair is slicked back into a tight ponytail and she immediately grabs Lucian's hand for a shake. 

She smiles at him eagerly and holds on for much longer than necessary, Lucian has to subtly force his hand out of hers. 

"Welcome, hope your journey went well." The little green being standing next to her says and Lucian smiles. 

"Your Plutonian has improved, Jar," Lucian addresses him. "Come we have to go over a few things."

The two Plutonian girls nod at Lucian and then smile at the rest of us. The girl who shook Lucian's hand nods her head at all the officers but the moment her eyes meet mine she grimaces. 

"You have a human in your squad now?" She asks, the disgust on her face is so apparent, I wonder if Lucian notices. 

"Yes, since she's my lover, it's only customary that she joins my squad."

The girl stumbles slightly as if she got punched by his answer but she quickly recovers. 

"Oh, I thought it was just a silly rumor. My apologies," She casts a fake smile my way. "Please follow us everyone." 

She slips her arm around Lucian and leads us towards the white building while she briefs him on some trade issues. My eyes can't help but narrow on their interlinked arms and my skin prickles with irritation.

"Who is she?" I ask Remulus, who is walking beside me. 

"Her names Vera and she's the Plutonian ambassador in Cixin. Very highly ranked, good family and of course her role is pivotal to the empire since Cixin's natural resources are invaluable to us," Remulus replies and then he turns to look at me. 

"Is someone jealous?" 

"No, I'm not," I frown at him and want to smack the grin off his face. "She's just so..so forward."

"You're jealous, just admit it girl. The sooner you accept it the sooner you'll get used to it. Vera's not the only one who's been wanting to marry Lucian since forever. There's a long line of them."

"But does she have to be so obvious about it? Even after Lucian told her that I'm his lover?" I say. Is it just me or is she leaning awfully close to him while they walk. 

Why isn't he stopping her? Does he like her?

Remulus just laughs ask if I asked the most absurd thing. "She doesn't care. Humans can't marry Plutonians so even though you're his lover, she still has a chance."

"Oh." Is all I can say after what he told me. Of course I shouldn't care who Lucian marries. It's his choice and I don't plan to stay on to watch the show anyway. Hopefully I would be long gone by then. 

Although, it still doesn't make me dislike Vera any less.

Once we reach the entrance to the building I notice Lucian slowly pull out her embrace and smile politely. For some reason that single act makes my chest feel lighter. 

The little green aliens hand us some drinks and pieces of fruit I've never seen. I bite into one and the burst of flavor makes me sigh in pleasure. 

Remulus eats his fruit as well and smiles at me. "Nice right?"

I'm too busy devouring the fruit to respond. The drink is equally addictive. 

One of the green aliens smile up at us and put up a sign with his four spindly fingers. 

"He's asking if we enjoy it," Remulus says and I nod my head gratefully at the smiling mushroom.

Lucian, Vera, the other Plutonian and one of the aliens head into a room for discussion while the rest of us wait in the large foyer. They're conversation takes awhile so I keep myself busy by walking around the room and staring through the glass into the healthy green foliage that surrounds this landing site.

"Are there no cities or capitals here? Are the four of them the only natives here?" I point at the little green man standing by the door and ask Remulus who is trailing close by.

"There are loads of them but they prefer to live in the jungle and harvest their herbs there."

"What do they get in return for supplying Pluto with their medicine and herbs?"

"Our protection. That's how colonization works. All the planets we have conquered trade in valuable supplies for our protection."

"Protection against what?" I turn around to face him. 

"Against whatever they need protection from," Remulus answer's vaguely.

"How many planets has the empire conquered?" 

"There are roughly around two thousand planets under the Plutonian empire."

My jaw drops open in shock making him smile proudly. 

"Does that mean there are dozens of Plutonians scattered all over the galaxy like Vera and those Plutonian's on the A1 Moon?"

Remulus simply nods his head. 

I'd always thought there were so few Plutonians on Pluto. Now it finally registers why. The rest of them are out monitoring the rest of the galaxy. Which is probably why they need humans to rebuild their population on Pluto, so they can produce more conquerors. 

My mind begins to spin and I sit down on a seat which faces the splash of colors that make up the forest. Were these little green aliens supplying the empire by force? Why did they have to give away their precious resources just to appease these power hungry people who invaded their planet?

It is just like Earth supplying the Plutonians with humans where they are used like cattle. We fight for their entertainment, sleep with them for their pleasure, break our backs to serve them but we can't progress in the army and become commanders like the rest and people like Cassandra who love their masters can't marry them but must bear their children.

Where was the fairness in that?

We wait in the lobby and eat the delicious meals provided by the green aliens. Lucian and the ambassadors come out after what feels like hours and he heads straight towards our squad. 

"Everything's settled, we can leave now." He says happily and I am shocked when he grabs my hand. 

"Now that we have some free time, I must show you something," Lucian drags my stunned body out of the building while the rest follow us close behind. 

"PG Lucian, where are you going?" Vera rushes out towards us. She walks next to Lucian stubbornly and I don't miss the silent glares she sends my way. 

"I'm taking her to the pink waterfall. Could we use a rider?" He asks her and Vera's face puffs up in anger. 

"We'll go together. I'll arrange the transport now," She insists. She makes some calls and soon two gliders reach us. 

We get into one with Remulus and Altair but Vera squeezes in anyway. I'm praying that the air is cool near the waterfall because she is really making my blood boil. She ignores the rest of us completely and continues to engage Lucian in a conversation that doesn't involve us. 

Lucian politely answers but my irritation makes me slide my hand out of his. He doesn't react while he answers her questions about news in the North City but his hand twitches slightly. 

The glider snakes through numerous tree trunks and the fresh air is a great distraction from Vera. I close my eyes and inhale softly. I feel Lucian's hand graze mine but I shift my hand further away.

I don't know what is going on between us but it needs to stop. I can't deal with this anger in my chest or the way my heart jumps every time he touches me. Ever since my last match, things have changed between us. Lucian has been more affectionate and caring than ever and since I don't have to worry about fighting, I've been more observant about it.

I don't like the way he makes me feel. It's foreign and downright frightening.

"Wow, it's beautiful," Remulus says and I look up to see a large waterfall with pale pink water towering over us. The water crashes at the foot of the hill and the magical sound it produces fills my ears like a beautiful melody. 

I get out quickly and follow Remulus and Altair. They walk to the edge of the pool and I see Remulus dip his foot into the water. 

"Shall we?" He asks Altair and the two of them jump into the water. Their heads resurface after a few seconds, their wet hair now stuck to their foreheads. 

"Come in and join us!" Remulus holds out his hand for me to take.

"It's nice and cool." Altair shakes his head violently and I jump when the water hits me.

"You can go in. It won't affect the breather suit," Lucian appears by my side with Vera next to him. 

"Yes, go play while the grown ups talk," Vera speaks to me for the first time.

I nod my head at Lucian and walk over to the edge, eager to get away from her. The water looks quite deep from here. I take a step and scream when someone grabs my leg, pulling me into the water. 

A strong hand pulls me to the surface and I cough out the water that I swallowed. 

Remulus is laughing like a lunatic and I splash some water right into his mouth to shut him up. This starts a war between the three of us and soon I am laughing as Remulus, Altair and I hit each other with water.

"How childish," Pollux sits down by the edge and stares at us but he is suddenly pushed inside as well. 

I look behind him and am surprised to see Lucian laughing. He jumps in after Pollux. 

Lucian starts swimming in circles and I catch his smile ever so often. He pushes and plays around with the others and in this moment I don't see a Precursor General,  just a guy playing around with his friends.

He catches me staring and hits me with a splash of water. With him I am not a lesser human or some thing to use for pleasure. I am a member of his squad and he is treating me just like the others.

He is one in a universe. Probably the only Plutonian like this and I wonder if he will fight against the norm or end up giving in and becoming like the rest of them. It is too painful to imagine the latter. 

Even with his hair splayed in a wet mess over his forehead, he is still the most beautiful thing on this planet.

There's something wrong in my chest. My heart beats against my rib cage like drums, I feel like it's about to burst. 

What is this feeling burning like a fire deep in my chest?

Heyy what do you guys think? Is she falling for him? Is he falling for her? Anybody hates Vera lol