I stare at the ceiling, trying to find Earth in the enormous constellation that makes the ceiling in Lucian's room look like we are lying under the sky.

There are so many dots, so many systems. My eyes flit rapidly from side to side, front to back. I can't spot Earth, I can't seem to focus on anything.

All I can see is Michael's head hanging loosely under Commander Veron's arms. See the helpless look in his eyes as he stares ahead at the person who killed him.

My eyes land on a dark spot, larger than an entire cluster of spheres. It moves slowly, swallowing everything in its path. I remember learning what that was during our night lessons as slaves.

A black hole.

A region of space having a gravitational field so intense that it consumes every other object in its path.

And right now my heart feels like a black hole.

My bandaged hand clutches my chest helplessly. Does a murderer like me even have a heart?

I blink back tears as the ceiling blurs before my eyes. Why did it have to be me who fought him last week? Why didn't he try fighting back two days ago during his match against the commander? Why did he beg like that?

I feel anger like I've never felt before. Pain so dull yet so excruciating. I must be going through some sort of punishment because every time I blink I see Michael's face. I see him just as I saw him before he took his last breath.

Desperate. Frightened. Hopeless.

That image feels like a scar on my retina and no matter how many times I blink, how many times I cry, it remains in place.

"You're back early. Again," I catch the disappointment in Lucian's voice as the door shuts and then a shadow crosses over me. From the corner of my eye I see him stand by the bed side, looking as helpless as he did yesterday when he found me in this same position after training.

I turn to my side and close my eyes only to see Michael again, but I don't want to talk to Lucian or anyone else.

I hear him sigh as he walks away but then the bed dips.

"You haven't slept or eaten properly. Haven't practiced properly. You return home early and pretend to sleep but we both know you aren't," Lucian says. "If you carry on like this, you are going to lose your next match."

I know he is facing me, know that he can see my tear stricken cheeks and swollen eyes but I seriously just don't feel like talking to anyone.

Lucian , Cassandra, or any other fighters in the training center.

As much as I didn't want to, I had to go for training yesterday and today. I went as late as I could and left before most had, avoiding all forms of conversation even though the training center was filled with gossip about the matches two days ago.

I knew people were talking about me by the way they looked at me as I passed them, no doubt discussing my bloody match with Christina. I had over heard them discussing most of the matches, some more gruesome than the others but above all, the topic that dominated was Michael's death.

As if his face persistently flickering before my eyes wasn't enough, I had to hear his name over and over again too.

But the fighters were alarmed at the sudden turn of events during our last batch of fights. The Trinity have never given orders nor interfered during match day before and it has never been compulsory for the fighters to watch any death sentence match between a human and a Plutonian.

In fact most fighters have avoided it because the fighter to be killed was always someone they knew or cared for but Aries had announced during our warm up session yesterday that from now on all fighters were required to sit in during death sentence matches unless they were rendered unconscious by previous fights.

Beyond the blanket of gloom that clung to my skin, beyond the thicket of misery that shrouded my every action and thought, a small part of me wondered or maybe even knew deep down that this new terrible rule might have been enforced because of me.

I had a dirty feeling it had to do with Lazarus's hatred for me but I couldn't understand why he hated me so much just because I refused to dance with him. His level of hatred didn't make sense and if I wasn't so distracted about how I murdered Michael, I would have been hell bent about finding out why.

"I hope I didn't disturb you last night," Lucian tries again to get me to talk but I remain still, wanting to lie in my misery for just a moment longer.

Lucian had handcuffed his hands to the bed frame last night, afraid that he would attack me in my current state.

It was a brilliant idea because in the mental state that I was in, there was no way I would have stopped him from throttling me to death. He had thrashed around and I had watched him silently the whole time, wondering why he didn't think of handcuffing himself before but then I realized he had probably wanted me to see what he was doing and experience the brunt of it just so I could report to him the next day.

The Plutonian's were such selfish and entitled creatures. The hate I have for them was so palpable, I could taste it on my tongue.

I wince as I feel my arm being yanked away from me, dragging me up in the process.

"Get dressed, we're going out," Lucian says impatiently while I glare at him.

"I don't want to go anywhere," I finally say as I draw a heated breath.

"I didn't ask for your permission. This is an order. Now get dressed or I'm taking you out like this," He replies.

"Lucian, please. I just want to lie down. I don't feel so good," I whine in a pitiful voice. I try to wiggle out of his hold but he places both hands on my shoulders and pulls me up on my feet.

"No, that's enough moping around. I've given you a day already. You can't carry on like this. So what if you won your match the way you did, so what if that human died after fighting you last. His death was not under your control, Aria. It was his doing, he lost his last four matches all on his own. Now put on this suit, we need to talk and we're going to go somewhere no one can hear us."

He walks over to his cupboard and takes out a breather suit for me to wear. It is only then that I realize he is wearing one as well.

My eyebrows knit together in a frown. Why do we need breather suits for? They only use them when we have to travel outside the artificial protective atmosphere that surrounds the North city all the way to the mines in the South.

"Where are we going?" I ask feeling slightly frightened. I have never been outside the protective atmosphere and have never needed a breather suit before.

"I'm taking you to a beautiful place that I call my own. It's a place that I like to go when I feel like I am losing myself," Lucian says.

After I reluctantly put on my suit, I follow Lucian to the door of his room, then down the various corridors in his massive home down to the basement, a place I have never been before.

He clicks on a remote and the whole place lights up making my jaw drop. The basement is a large simple rectangular shaped room with white lights that liter the ceiling but I am amazed at how many gliders and riders I see, some big, some small but all expensive looking and brand new.

I follow him as we walk over to a rider; a much larger version of the motorbike my neighbor on Earth had which is supposed to levitate just like the gliders. I have never been on one and the thought of getting onto it both frightens and thrills me at the same time.

Lucian lifts his leg over the seat and then sits on it with his hands on the handles, activating the bike. He turns around and waits for me to do the same but I hesitate.

Why should I go anywhere with him? This wasn't part of our agreement.

"Come on, Aria. Don't make me pick you up and strap you in," He warns playfully but I am in no mood for jokes.

I sigh in frustration and get onto the rider behind him.

"Hold on tight," He instructs and I frown, feeling weird as I place my arms around him like I've seen Plutonian's do on riders in the city.

The basement door lifts up and a rush of cool air hits us in the face.

"It better be beautiful," I mutter to myself but Lucian catches it and I hear him laugh.

"You're in for a surprise." And with that he presses on the accelerator flying forward and out of his basement.

The wind hits my face and I clutch him tightly as he speeds off at an uncomfortable speed. I close my eyes and in my frantic state I almost forget about Michael.

After what seems like a few minutes Lucian instructs me to activate my suit and I follow obediently. It is only then that I open my eyes and see a marking on a large piece of rock that says we have reached the West border of the atmosphere reaching out into nothingness.

My heart pounds in my chest, wondering why we are going to a no mans land but Lucian drives forward into the vast nothingness with me holding on to him with my life.

A little adventure for Aria and Lucian. Hope you enjoyed the chapter :)