We board a black space craft that is shaped like a large round ball. This ship is much bigger than the Black Star and the interior is divided into numerous compartments. I've repaired one like this before and I know they use it for longer excursions.
Lucian's squad heads to the control room and they proceed to set up everything needed for navigation. I help where I can since I am now much more familiar with everything but my mind is slightly distracted.
Lucian disappeared into one of the compartments the moment we boarded the space craft and I can't help but feel worried about him.
Once we take off and all of us have activated our breather suits, I leave the rest and head to the back in search for him.
I pass through a kitchen like space and then a segregated area which houses a small treadmill and some weights. As I reach the back I notice a small room with a make shift bed which faces a screen. I see Lucian sitting inside, leaning his head against the wall, watching whatever is on the screen in front of him.
He looks so worried and tired, all I want to do is walk in and hug him but I stay in place, watching him instead.
"You know he could use some company." I jump at the voice that startled me and immediately relax when I see Remulus leaning by the wall, facing me.
"I don't know if he wants my company," I admit truthfully. That is the only reason why I'm not in there with him right now.
Remulus laughs softly. "And I thought guys were supposed to be the clueless ones. His mother is missing, Aria and he doesn't even know if she's alive. His probably panicking like shit as we speak. You should give Lulu a hug. You're the only one here who can."
He shrugs at me and then walks away, leaving me to stare at Lucian in deliberation.
After pondering for hundredth time, I finally decide to knock on the door. Lucian looks up through the window patch and nods for me to enter.
"Hey," I say lamely. I sit down next to him and I can almost feel the tension radiating off him in the small confinements of this room.
"Why are you here, Aria?" Lucian doesn't look at me. He is still looking at the screen which is divided into tiny squares. Each square shows different parts of the ship, even the control room and the view outside.
The eyes are everywhere.
The so called 'S's message echoes through my mind sending shivers down my spine. How much does Lucian see? How much does he know?
"I just wanted to know if you need anything," I stutter when Lucian finally turns to face me. "Do you want a back massage?" I ask him knowing how much he enjoyed that.
Lucian gives me a half smile and then turns back to the screen. "You don't have to pretend to like me anymore, Aria. I know you hate me for what I did to those humans."
"I don't hate you." I gasp in surprise at his admission. This must be why he has become equally as distant. "It was just hard for me to accept. I am human too."
Lucian lets out a dark laugh and then leans back. "I didn't kill them because they were humans. I punished the Plutonian who beat up Rosie as well. Why can't the explanation simply be that they did something wrong? They broke the law, that's why they were executed. Would you be this angry if I had executed a bunch of Plutonians?"
I frown at his question but mostly because he is right about the last part. The truth is if a group of Plutonians had been killed for breaking the law I might actually be happy about it.
I remain silent, feeling ashamed of this revelation.
"I don't blame you for feeling that way. We treat the human slaves so poorly, some are bound to hate us for it. Not all but some," Lucian admits and I clutch the soft material underneath tightly.
"Lucian, I don't hate you. I don't hate your kind either," I tell him but he cuts me off.
"I think it's pretty obvious that you despise my kind. Maybe not me specifically but your hatred has been visible from the beginning. It's that very passion that gave you the drive to become a fighter."
I sigh and lean back as well. "If I hated the Plutonians so much, I wouldn't be serving them in the army."
"You would be serving us if you were a slave, a paramour or an army officer. There's no way out of that. I always thought you joined as a fighter because you wanted to feel free as an army officer going for missions and travelling in space. It has to be that and not something dumb like trying to escape. That would be the stupidest reason and I never pegged you as a stupid person," Lucian says honestly and I nearly choke in response.
Of course he would never expect me to escape, seeing how impossible it seems to be.
"It's true I want to feel free," I say cautiously, wondering if this whole conversation is to test my loyalty. I hesitantly take his hand in mine and I almost slump in relief when his fingers intertwine with them. "I used to have a lot of hatred but it was blind hatred, Lucian. I realize that now, after meeting you."
Lucian turns to look at me again, this time his eyes are filled with concern.
"There will be times when I will have to make difficult decisions to stay in power, Aria and you may hate me for them. If it were up to me I would keep you by my side forever. But if that is going to end up hurting you, I don't think it's worth it." Lucian slowly releases my hand and the resultant emptiness I feel causes an ache in my chest.
"Lucian, please don't push me away just because of one thing," I say in a voice that threatens to break. I want to hold him and tell him everything will be fine even though I know it won't. I want to lie to him and tell him that I will never leave him just to see a smile on his face but the words just can't form in my mouth.
"I can't let Lazarus win. Things will be much worse if he does, you know that as well as I do," Lucian says in a strained voice. "You may not believe me when I say this but I wish we lived in a world where Plutonians, humans and halfbreeds were promoted based on merit and punished with the same severity which isn't based on the color of their hair or their rank. Sometimes I think I'm crazy because none of my colleagues think this way."
"I'm not a sympathizer but I do feel the system needs some changes and the only way I can do that is if I'm sole commander," Lucian stares at the screen with a crazed look in his eyes.
I stare at him helplessly, wondering how he is going to go against Lazarus the murderer and Luna's horrible general parents. Especially now that his mother is missing.
"We'll find your mother, Lucian. We have to," I say determinedly and he nods his head in response.
"Do you want to be alone?" I ask him but this time he grabs hold of my hand, keeping me in place.
"Stay with me," He says softly and I lean on his shoulder. He lifts his arm and wraps it around me, bringing me closer to him and I rest my head on his chest.
We stay together in silence and after a while Lucian announces that we have reached the Serpentine constellation. We get up and head outside to the control room to meet the rest of the squad.
"Can you pick up any heat signatures?" Lucian asks Pollux, who has his eyes transfixed on a computer screen.
"Not yet, we're going to have to go through slowly if we want to scan every area," He replies.
"Are there other creatures down there?" I ask. The Serpentine constellation is a huge cluster of planets and floating asteroids. I stare at the large blue spheres of ice, surrounded by thin halos that make up their atmospheres.
Everything looks bare and dead from the zoomed in screenshots in the control room.
"Yes, but they're all cold blooded serpents. They wont give off heat signatures." Remulus shudders as he speaks of them. "They're deadly carnivorous monsters down there. I wouldn't wish their wrath on my worst enemy."
His words only reinforce my worry for Lucian's mother.
"I wonder what drove the General to take a detour through this place. Do you think it was the rebels?" Remulus asks Lucian.
Rebels? This certainly peaks my interest but Lucian's answer shuts down the conversation.
"I don't know. We'll find out once we find her," He replies.
We spend a few days scanning over each planet and piece of rock. The team works in shifts, each of us take turns to rest and then observe the screen.
After five cycles of shifts, the computer finally picks up a heat signature and my heart almost bursts out of my chest.
We land on the small planet and get ready to leave the ship. Deneb switches off the engines and puts the ship in self charging mode while Pollux activates the ships cloaking device.
We arm ourselves with laser guns, algae and communicators before we exit.
Lucian leads us across the frozen expanse of white ice and even though we are protected by the breather suits, I can still feel the bitter cold biting into my skin. We stop after walking a few yards and Lucian looks at the device in his hands.
There is a red dot on the screen, right where we are standing but no ones here. Altair walks a few feet in front and curses under his breath.
We join him and I make out a small hole that leads into the ground. It is so dark below, I can't make out anything.
"The heat signature indicates that the person is still alive," Lucian says. "We need to go inside."
"What is it?" I ask as I look into the dark nothingness below.
"It's a catacomb, where the serpents live," Remulus answers and a chill runs down my spine.
"Okay, follow my lead and remember we stick together. If there is any sign of trouble and we split up use your communicator's navigation to head back to the ship," Lucian says. He takes out his gun and then disappears into the hole.
One by one, each of us slide in the same way. We switch on the lights on our guns and dim the intensity. My heart is racing in trepidation as we walk through a long corridor of ice, following Lucian.
Our steps are quiet and it feels like we are going deeper and deeper into the icy maze the more we walk. I look around cautiously, not daring to speak. We stop once we are in a small compartment like space and I look around at the uneven walls of ice.
Something moves at the corner of my eye and I turn towards it only to see nothing. I look at Lucian who is busy fiddling with his device, looking for the heat signal and then I walk towards the frozen piece of ice and inspect it closely, wondering if I am seeing things.
The block of ice doesn't move at all and I let out a breath of relief. I almost turn around but then I catch it.
Something swirls behind the icy screen and then I see two large black eyes open and then blink at me.
"Lucian," I take a step back and aim my gun at the block.
A head the size of a wagon emerges from behind it and it's dark eyes envelope me in fear. The creature opens its mouth, it's long black tongue darts out and licks the numerous fangs that are bared for me to see.
It shoots out, aiming right at me and I fire.
My body trembles and I notice Lucian is next to me, his shot is the one that killed the creature. We stay silent, staring at the wall but then more heads pop up from behind the blocks of ice.
There must be about a dozen of them and they sliver to their ceiling, they long slimy bodies tower over us like the darkest night. I stare at their empty eyes and it feels like I am looking into hell.
They bare their fangs and Lucian grabs my wrist.
"Run!"
Fun fact: The Serpens constellation was listed by 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy. It is of the northern hemisphere.
Heyyy sorry for the tense ending but an update will be up tomorrow so there wont be a long wait :) :) Hope you guys enjoyed!