One World

Part 25

Gabriel felt lost, like a castaway on the open sea, swept away by the ocean currents to an unknown place, with no idea where he would end up.

Up until now, he had always had a clear vision of his life, of what he wanted, what he was supposed to do. He always had a goal and knew where he was going.

Ever since he was five years old and decided to learn how to ride an old skateboard he'd found hidden in the garage. Ignoring the scrapes, bumps and bruises, he kept going until he learned.

When he got a bit older, he became fascinated with planes, and Gabriel did everything he could to fly. He didn't get into NASA, but he became a fighter pilot.

Then the Ardanians came and destroyed everything. When they shot him down, he wanted to revenge.

From that point on, Gabriel tried to make life difficult for the alien occupants by sabotaging them, and over time more and more people joined him.

Even then, he had a clear goal which he pursued.

That goal was to kill the one who had taken his home, his dream, his planet. To kill the monster people called the Silver-Haired Butcher.

And that goal had driven him forward.

Until he came face to face with Rag'ell and his life was turned upside down.

He wanted to free humanity from the clutches of this cruel and arrogant alien race, but instead discovered that he too had Ardanian blood in his veins. He wanted to eliminate the enemy leader and instead fell in love with him.

Yes, he did. There was no point in pretending otherwise. He loved Rag'ell. He felt for him as he had never felt for anyone before. The silver-haired Ardanian had gotten into his head and occupied his every thought.

Today was the first time in days that the Supreme had left him alone. And Gabriel hated himself even more for having spent all that time aimlessly pacing the room, counting the seconds until his lover's return.

The flashing purple light on the panel next to the front door, indicating that it was locked, served as a clear reminder that he was still technically a prisoner.

Yet didn't the flashing light also give him reassurance and peace of mind? This way he had no choice but to stay with Rag'ell.

But if it stopped flashing purple, as it had done before, and he had a choice, what would he do? Would he run, as he had previously, and leave his captor?

However, as long as the purple light was on, he could tell himself that he had no choice but to stay here.

Only it couldn't last forever. He couldn't play prisoner forever, hiding in Rag'ell's arms, isolated from the outside world, from all the problems.

Sooner or later he would have to make that painful choice.

Stay or leave.

He jumped as the door opened. His heart leapt with joy at the thought of Rag'ell's return, but it wasn't the silver-haired Ardanian.

It was Rie'na.

"The Supreme apologises, but an urgent matter has detained him, he has sent me to keep you company for the time being."

"So you can talk to me now?" Gabriel smiled at the Ardanian. From the first moment, he had felt sympathy for the girl, her gentle demeanour reassuring him. Despite her youth, she appeared mature, and her eyes seemed to belong to someone many years older.

He had often wanted to ask her if it was she who had left the door unlocked, allowing him to escape that time. In the end, he didn't. He didn't want to get the girl into trouble with his snooping if his hunch turned out to be true.