Dimension of Abnormality, Part VIII: The Powerful

By Rebecka Jones, Staff Writer

All Nova could feel was excruciating pain. Every part of her body, from the top of her head down to the soles of her feet, burned as if she were thrown into a fire. The agony never ceased, tormenting her for an eternity. She couldn’t think about — couldn’t remember — anything but the pain throbbing in her bones and slowly taking her soul.

Darkness surrounded her, and she began to wonder if she’d ever see again. She was alone in this expanse of void, where pain became her friend. She didn’t know the time or where she was, except that her body was on fire and felt like it would be consumed by the flames. She didn’t even remember what had happened right before darkness captured her and never let go.

It tormented her more that she couldn’t figure out why she was in pain. She wondered if she was dying — if this is what death felt like. She had imagined it would be more peaceful. She thought dying meant traveling into the light and entering into a place where there was no pain or fear. But she now faced torture as if she were traveling into the depths of hell.

Suddenly, hell transformed into blinding white lights. The darkness began to slip away as a glaring white circle swallowed her surroundings. Her eyes stung from the brightness, shooting a jolt of pain into her head. Then, the burning sensation began to vanish as well, leaving her limbs trembling and fatigued. 

Nova closed her eyes to escape the piercing light, but the darkness only brought the phantom of pain back. She squinted, working her throbbing brain to make sense of the room.

White walls came into focus, bare and suffocating, and there was a wooden door directly in front of her. Turning her head brought on another round of burning pain, but she bore through it to discover herself in a tiny, square room. It was empty except for a metal table beside her, covered with medical tools. Nova noticed clean needles, blades, scissors, and other unknown surgical instruments. Her eyes roamed to her body, finding herself bound to a recliner chair. Behind her, she heard a soft beeping.

Her wrists were cuffed to the armrests, as her ankles were to the foot of the chair. Her heart dropped at the sight of two needles pierced into each of her hands and one into the crook of her left arm. There were patches taped to her skin below the cuffs on both her wrists and ankles. Wires trailed from the patches and attached to a machine behind her. She assumed that the machine was the source of the accelerating beeping. As she continued into consciousness, she felt a sensation all over her skin that she realized was a white bodysuit zipped up to her neck, choking her.

Her palms began to sweat, and her body broke out into trembles. The throbbing in her brain grew as if it were a disease tearing the inside of her skull to shreds. She couldn’t form any thoughts, but she kept straining because she had to remember. She needed to figure out why she was here, what had happened to her, and why she was in so much pain.

The beeping grew louder and more rapid as the pain returned to her limbs. The throbbing suffocated her, and she began to gasp and choke. Stars appeared in her vision, and she felt herself slowly slipping back into the darkness. She fought with everything in her power to avoid that torment again.

“Little star,” said a low and mellow voice. Nova’s head shot up, and she saw a man standing in front of the closed door. She had to squint to focus her vision, and she caught a pair of ocean eyes gazing back at her. The man’s lips were slightly upturned at the corners, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Her heart stopped when the man’s gaze brought back the memory of a blue field, as she saw herself twirling in the arms of this man. It brought her a moment of warmth, but that vanished the second another memory entered her mind: one where she was in a tall room filled with chairs, and there was a gathering of people in golden uniforms. She saw the man again, his face dark. He had lied to her. He had given her a look with zero empathy as he allowed her to be knocked unconscious.

All the memories were flooding back in. Her and Amias in the cave on Apricus, her betraying Adira and the colony, her and Amias arriving on Caligo and walking to the Council Hall, where she would be betrayed and meet her end in this tiny room.

“Father,” she finally choked out the word. Her throat was dry and stung when she spoke. However, the rage filling her veins and making her face blazing hot made her forget all the pain she was feeling. Suddenly, her voice came out clear and sharp, “How could you do this to me?”

Her father’s face remained unchanged. He tilted his head slightly and studied her, those ocean eyes never leaving hers. Nova refused to let his dark look chill her, so she inclined her head in response.

“I know you are afraid, daughter,” he finally replied, beginning to approach her slowly. “But you must understand we are doing a good thing for the world.”

She kept her body still, so it wouldn’t tremble at his closeness. “What do you mean? Why am I here?”

Her father sighed, and Nova finally caught a shift in his expression. His brows furrowed and his shoulders lowered slightly as he began to speak. “You deserve to know, so allow me to explain.” He paused, waiting for her permission. All she gave was a hesitant nod, so he continued, “There have been uprisings on the other planets in our system caused by people who have kept their abilities hidden. The chaos is all over the holographs—towns destroyed, children harmed and killed, and resources stolen.

“These people have kept their abilities from the world and created a union so they could catch the entire solar system by surprise and use their powers to destroy us.” Nova’s stomach began to churn as her father’s face grew dark and his eyes fell to the floor. “Every planet around us is currently under lockdown, trying to capture these criminals and stop them from harming innocent people.

“Fortunately, Caligo is the only planet in this system that has experienced a small number of uprisings, and that is because we have already taken care of those who had powers years ago. These other planets do not have that same protection we do; they lack our resources. But, thanks to you,” his eyes met Nova’s once again, “We can give them something special and powerful that will keep them safe for centuries.”

Nova’s heart pounded violently against her ribcage, but she swallowed the scream threatening to burst out of her. “What is it?”

Her father clasped his hands together and leaned towards her, his bright eyes turning as dark as voids. “A drug that will suppress the power of all abnormalities.”

Nova felt the blood rush from her face. “What?” She gasped. “You’re taking away their powers?”

“We are,” her father nodded. A small smile returned to his face. “You have inspired us.”

Her throat constricted. “I’m confused.”

“Although killing people like you has kept us safe from these uprisings, the Council has come to realize how much tragedy that solution has caused for Caligean citizens. We were taking children from their parents and parents from their children. It was brutal of us, we admit.

“But, we have found a better way to eliminate this species without killing the person themself, only their dangerous abilities. We need you because your species contains an unnamed nitrogenous base in your DNA that we want to study and alter. We thought it’d be better to bring you here specifically, because we don’t want to cause anymore unwanted harm for other abnormalities. I knew my kind-hearted daughter would volunteer for our experiment.”

It was like her world was falling apart underneath her. Nova’s father — her own father — was allowing these scientists to study her and use her DNA like this. She felt the heat in her veins curling her hands into fists, but at the same time, her eyes were beginning to sting and she felt her heart breaking in her chest.

“You drugged me and threw me in here,” she screamed, the sobs finally taking over her body and making her voice hoarse. “That’s not me volunteering! I would never volunteer to do something like that! This means taking away a part of people that makes them who they are! This is just as horrible as killing them! Father, how could you…” Her voice broke off.

The man looked down and shut his eyes, his lips pressed into a straight line. “It seems you aren’t understanding me correctly, Nova. What we are doing is good. We are saving humanity from this abnormal species that has harmed and killed many of us. I thought you would be grateful we are still keeping them alive.”

“Are you forgetting that your daughter is part of this ‘abnormal species?’” Nova’s throat stung, but the fire in her chest made her push through. “Have you ever considered that we are human, too? Not all of us use our powers for harm. We can find another way to stop these uprisings, but this isn’t right. I will not stand with you on this.”

He studied her again for a long moment. Suddenly, he cleared his throat and looked away. “Let’s see if showing you more of what we’re doing will change your mind.”

How stubborn could he be? Nova gritted her teeth. Every second, she felt the fire rising inside of her. She was betrayed. She was lied to. She was being used.

Even then, she still couldn’t stop the tears from pooling down her cheeks. This was her father, the one who had raised her and loved her when no one else did. He had accepted her and given her everything she needed. But that man she remembered wasn’t the same man she saw standing before her now. 

“Haven’t I seen enough?” She choked on another sob. “You’ve bound me to this chair and stuck needles in me for your ‘experiment.’ What more could you possibly show me to change my mind?”

“There is much more to see than what’s inside this room,” her father explained, walking towards the door. “We will bring some soldiers in here to help you out. Oh, another thing,” he paused with the door half-open and turned to her. “Don’t even try to use your powers. The chip in your skin will cause you immense pain if you do.”

“Is this why you lied about being sick?”

He kept his eyes on hers. “It was the only way you’d come back after what happened five years ago.”

Those were his parting words as he shut the door behind her, trapping her in the empty room once again with nothing but her sorrow and rage.

———

After an hour of staring into the blinding lights, Nova saw a small squad of soldiers enter the tiny white room. They approached her and removed the cuffs attaching her to the chair, only to place new cuffs on her wrists and ankles so she could move but couldn’t escape. Heavy chains connected to the cuffs and dragged on the floor as she stumbled.

The soldiers ushered her out of the room and into another room with white walls, though this time it was a long, thin hallway.

Nova felt numb as they pushed her along. She tripped and stumbled multiple times, her legs too weak to hold her weight for long. Her body was slumped forward, her back heavy with phantom pain and the added weight of the chains. All her limbs felt dysfunctional; she was surprised she was able to stand and walk at all.

She believed it was the anger boiling inside her that kept her from completely falling apart. She’d never forget what her father allowed these people to do to her, and she could never forgive him for using her love for him to deceive her like this.. She didn’t care what he showed her to try to prove himself heroic; she could never stand by his side and watch people like her lose a part of themselves because people saw them as monsters.

Her anger also went out to Amias as more of the memories flooded in. He had also lied to her about her father’s illness and had convinced her to trust him. She made herself vulnerable to him when she felt the pressure of choosing to go home or stay on Apricus, and he had given her courage. She had felt safe and seen because of him, yet he tricked her and delivered her to this torture.

Was everything he said a lie? Even the story about his brother?

It was as if Nova’s thoughts about him attracted his presence, for there he stood at the end of the hallway. Instead of his old clothes from Apricus, Amias now wore a navy-blue Caligean uniform. A belt wrapped around his waist, sheathing a small gun as well as a couple of daggers. His dark hair was parted to one side, the curls falling over one of his piercing eyes.

Nova hated how handsomely kept he was. He didn’t even seem affected by her presence, for his eyes were vacant and his mouth relaxed. Even his posture was at ease, though he stood upright to make himself tall.

He didn’t even look guilty for what he did to her, and that thought propelled her forward. Her legs were no longer hers as she sprinted down the hallway towards Amias. Her veins were pulsing and making her body burn with rage. Hands were curled into fists without her permission and flying through the air towards his face.

However, Nova’s fist only made it a couple of inches away from his face before her chains were pulled back. She fell backwards and collapsed onto the floor, her chest rising and falling shakily. Stars sparkled in her vision as she grunted and pulled herself up, though her body was fighting her.

“Stay down!” A soldier ordered from behind.

Her body was pulled up by the chains. The cuffs tightened and made her wince, but that didn’t stop her from glaring at those silver eyes before her.

Amias didn’t move an inch when she tried hitting him, completely undeterred – though Nova caught a glimpse of something flash through his eyes. And that little wrinkle between his brows formed. It did nothing to settle her.

“TRAITOR!” She wailed, throwing herself forward again. Her body was jerked backwards again by the soldiers holding her chains.

Amias’ shoulders sagged as he released a breath. “Nova, I…”

“Cruz, we were ordered to take her to the labs,” said another soldier behind Nova. “Get out of the way.”

Amias’ eyes narrowed as he glanced at the person over Nova’s shoulder. “For more testing?”

“She will only be observing today,” the soldier replied in a monotone voice. Nova couldn’t see the man behind her, but she assumed he was bored with Amias’ presence.

Without another word, Amias stood to the side and allowed them to walk through a doorway leading into another hallway. Nova forced herself to look away from him and move forward.

The plain white walls seemed to be never-ending until they reached a room with large windows and blue walls. There were long tables full of equipment like microscopes, computers, and vials, and people in long, white coats were walking from table to table, writing and typing things down.

The soldiers pushed her inside, where she was met with many pairs of gazing eyes. She saw bright ocean eyes among them, paired with a smile.

“Nova, you’re here,” her father exclaimed. He, too, wore a white coat. “Now we can show you what we’ll be doing with your DNA.”

She couldn’t tear her eyes away from his coat. “You’re a scientist…?”

“Yes, little star,” he said with a chuckle, patting down his coat as if to show its cleanliness. “I had to keep this job of mine hidden, otherwise I could be a target for the abnormal species. Especially since I have an abnormal daughter. It would’ve been chaos, wouldn’t it?”

Nova blinked, wondering if the man before her was real. If he was saying these things to her, calling his own daughter abnormal. How much more of these words could she take?

Her father took Nova’s silence as an initiative, putting a hand on her back and walking her forward. His touch sent shivers down her spine, but the coolness only lasted a second before it was swallowed up by her hot rage. She shook his arm off and let him lead the way.

Her father had no reaction to her pulling away – instead, he took her over to a holograph screen and showed her a diagram of colorful DNA strands. Her father explained that each color represented a nitrogenous base. In the “normal” diagram, there were only four colors for the four nitrogenous bases: adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. However, the picture to the right, the “abnormal” diagram, had five colors.

“That fifth color you see here is the new base we’ve discovered in your DNA,” Nova’s father explained. “We’re calling it abnormine…at least until we pen it a better name.”

He took Nova around the lab from there, explaining all the science they knew about her DNA so far, and all the science they hope to find if she allows them to experiment on her more. Everything went through one ear and out the other. The only thing Nova gathered was that even if her father said it was her choice, she was still trapped.

She had a chip in her that kept her from using her powers. Even if she could use them, where would she go? She couldn’t go back to Apricus, at least not now. She didn’t know if she could face Adira just yet, and the Chieftess wouldn’t hold back her berating – she had been right about the humans, after all.

Nova wondered if the Chieftess had known what would happen to her when she came back to Caligo. The thought made her stomach roll.

Even then, what she’d face in Apricus didn’t seem half as bad as partnering with her father to eliminate the part of DNA that made people like her the way they were. This whole experiment was wrong. Her father and whoever else was involved in this were taking away something special and powerful.

“I hope you are ready to resume the experiment, Nova.” Her father’s booming voice shattered her thoughts.

Nova looked up into those bright eyes that were once her comfort but now served as a reminder of humanity’s betrayal, a reminder that even the ones she thought cared for her could never love her because she was different.

“Do I even have a choice?” She spat.

“We were hoping you’d be more flexible about this, especially after seeing how you’d be saving the whole solar system if you allowed us to continue. However, it seems you would rather allow the world to fall into the hands of this monstrous species,” her father sighed, rubbing his forehead as if his daughter were giving him a headache. “But, letting you go is too much of a risk. The fate of humanity is in our hands now, and you are the key to saving it.”

“I’m not the key,” Nova growled. “You can just find some other ‘monster’ to experiment on if you really think what you’re doing is right, which it isn’t.”

He shot her a glare before signaling to a soldier behind her. “Maybe you just need more time to reflect. I understand this is a lot to process.”

A soldier tugged on Nova’s chains and made her fall back. She grunted at the impact. “You’re going to force me into more tests?”

“No, we’re sending you to one of our sleeping rooms here. Go get some rest and be prepared to follow instructions in the morning.”

So it was official: she had no choice.

Everything was crumbling down on her, and all she could do was let the soldiers drag her away into whatever torture chamber they had for her next.

———

Thankfully, this was the one thing her father didn’t lie about.

Nova was sitting on a thick, soft blanket covering a cot. The room she was in was empty besides the cot, a toilet, and a sink. The walls weren’t white this time – instead, they were a muted yellow that didn’t blind her. Nova still felt like she was in a prison, but she’d take this room over that room with the chair and all those prickly medical tools.

She didn’t have the chains on her anymore, but she still felt a weight pulling her down. She couldn’t even think about the lab — all her thoughts were still on the betrayal of her father and Amias.

Tears threatened to fall and, just for this moment, Nova let them. She’d been holding back for far too long, struggling to maintain bravery in the face of her captors and her trainer and everyone she’d ever known. Unfortunately, Amias had seen this side of her once. He made her feel so comfortable and safe that she poured out her sorrows, and he betrayed her. He had told her she was strong, and she believed him. But here she was now, trapped and breaking apart.

At least Amias wasn’t here to see this now, so Nova let herself cry. She sobbed for hours until her eyes were dry and empty of tears. The blanket was a cocoon around her and cut out the blinding overhead lights. She stayed wrapped in darkness for several more hours until she heard the opening and closing of a door.

When Nova lifted the blanket off her, she saw a dark-blue uniform paired with silver eyes. A wrinkle formed between the soldier’s brows, and his lips parted. In one hand, he held a plate with food, while the other held a glass of water.

“It’s around dinnertime, so I thought you’d be hungry,” Amias said softly.

Her veins pulsed, urging her to smash the soldier’s face apart. She even felt the electricity telling her to use her power and send him into an endless void despite the chip in her skin. But the pounding organ in her chest told her not to. And her growling stomach told her she needed to take that food regardless of who was giving it to her.

Amias set the plate and glass beside the cot and returned to the door. He was in the process of opening it when he hesitated, before turning around to look at her.

“You have every right to hate me, Nova,” he sighed. “I will even support you in hating me. But I want you to know that I didn’t lie to you about anything except my mission.” His silver eyes fell to the floor, and his hands retreated from the doorknob. “I still care for you.”

Those words did nothing to ease the anger inside her, and she shot out of her cot. “If you cared for me, you wouldn’t have brought me back knowing what it would cost me. You would’ve told me the truth!”

“You deserved the truth,” he agreed in a weak voice, his expression filled with sorrow. “You deserved better than this. I wish I could’ve told you everything, but things would’ve been worse if I did…for the both of us.”

“Don’t you dare make those excuses,” Nova hissed. “There were many ways we could’ve gotten out of the situation if you just told me the truth. Now we’re both stuck working for these monsters, and it’s all your fault.” Her face burned. “Unless you want to work for these people?”

Amias ran a hand through his black locks, his fists clenched. “I can’t say anything about that.” He made eye contact with the camera in one corner of the room. “But I will say that if the situation were different, I would’ve done everything I could to help you.”

Nova scoffed and turned her head away. “You’re a coward.”

Amias was so silent, Nova thought he might’ve left. But when she turned back, she saw him standing there, his silver eyes still on her. Suddenly, a thought came to her.

“Was the Chieftess in on this? Did she know what would happen when we came back?” Nova recalled how the creature had been so ready to let her and Amias leave. It was suspicious that the Chieftess had allowed it after Nova’s betrayal.

“No,” Amias replied. “She has no idea what is happening here. I am still as shocked as you that she let us go, but it can’t be related to this experiment.”

“It’s not about the experiment,” Nova gasped. The Chieftess warned her about humans taking advantage of people like her, and she knew how naive Nova was because her father was a human. It was only natural she would fall into their hands again, and that they would use her.

Amias’ shook his head. “You don’t need to worry about her, Nova. The Chieftess was wrong and knew nothing.”

“You’re wrong,” Nova replied darkly. “She was right about one thing: you humans are the monsters.”

———

The days that followed were full of agony. Nova’s father was set on doing everything he could to convince her what they were doing was right. Of course, his “convincing” meant putting her through more tests where the doctors would poke her with needles and fill her body with different drugs.

If anything, this made Nova feel less convinced, yet she had to endure it. Even when the tests left her choking on her own vomit or knocked out for days, her father never stopped. He kept reminding Nova that she would see a great outcome.

Some days, Nova hoped death would take her. It would probably be better than having to go through another second of this. If she died, her father wouldn’t have a way of creating whatever it is he wants in order to suppress the powers of the abnormalities. Her father chased most of them away, so he only had her to experiment on. But, if she were gone, he’d have nothing — he’d have to go through more trouble trying to get another test subject. At least Nova would’ve tried something to stop him.

Today was one of those days she wished she could die. She was chained to another chair with a needle pumping drugs into her arm. Whatever the substance was, it made her surroundings spin, and her stomach churn. Her veins were throbbing, making her entire body burn. Screams were escaping her throat without her permission, the pain possessing her.

Through the haze, Nova could make out a large window above the door. Behind the glass was an observatory room, where a group of scientists watched her and took notes on their tablets. Nova saw her father among them, his face devoid of emotion. His eyes were on hers as she screamed and thrashed. He didn’t speak or move.

A few feet behind her father, Nova could see Amias. He was standing by the exit of the observatory room, a large gun held in his hands tightly against his chest. He, too, watched Nova. He was as still as a statue, like her father, except he had a heavy look on his face. His silver eyes were narrowed, his lips pressed tightly together into a frown. Even in her delirious state, Nova could see his knuckles were white against the gun.

Her vision began to darken as the drugs pulled her into unconsciousness. She didn’t have the energy to think about the look on Amias’ face or how she felt seeing him there, watching her as these evil humans used her body for their experiment.

The last thing she remembered seeing before she fell into the darkness was Amias turning his head away and storming out of the observatory room.

———

These suffocating white rooms and never-ending hallways were becoming her new normal. It might’ve been months — maybe years — since she’s been outside the lab. Nova began to miss the bright yellow fields and the golden rivers of Apricus. She even missed seeing the mountains and forests of Caligo, though her home was tainted with memories of all that had happened.

Every day, she’d go through dozens of tests and endure many different drugs that her body rejected, then she’d end her day eating and vomiting up tasteless food before crying herself to sleep, only to endure more agony in her nightmares.

There was no escape. There was no more hope. She should’ve stayed on Apricus. She should’ve killed that human soldier when she saw him on the broken ship. She should’ve done so many things…but she had been foolish and naive. Now this was what her life would be. She would not only be a traitor on Apricus, but she would also become a traitor to everyone who had abilities as she aided the humans in taking away their powers.

It was finally the end of yet another torturous day, and Nova was being dragged to her room for the night. Everything around her was distorted and spinning, her arms and legs feeling like static, so she was basically dead weight for the soldiers holding her up.

Her ears were ringing, so she couldn’t hear what the soldiers were yelling at her. All she could see were their eyes flashing with anger and mouths moving furiously. She realized they weren’t yelling at her but at each other.

Her eyes blurred, then focused on the two soldiers as they pulled her forward and continued their argument. She felt her body jerk forward when they suddenly froze. When Nova tilted her head up, she saw the two exchanging glances before staring down the empty hall.

“I told you I heard something,” said one soldier, his voice slowly coming back as Nova’s ears adjusted.

“And I told you that was just the—” began the other soldier, but he was cut off when something shot through his chest and echoed down the hall. Blood splattered onto the floor, oozing out of the second soldier’s chest as he fell to the ground.

Nova couldn’t hear herself scream over the reemerging ringing in her ears or the first soldier firing his gun in the direction the bullet came from. The walls and ceiling all became fuzzy like a dream, yet she could just barely make out a silhouette retreating behind the wall.

The soldier continued to fire in the direction of the mysterious silhouette and slowly made his way towards the wall it escaped behind. Nova saw the soldier grab his walkie from his belt and speak into it, his hands shaking and white. When he let go of his belt, he jerked his gun around the corner and fired.

Nova watched as confusion filled the man’s face. His expression then transformed into horror as he turned to look at Nova. His face was pale as his eyes made contact with something behind her. In seconds, the man collapsed onto the floor, blood spilling out of his head.

Nova choked on a sob, scrambling to find the wall and prop herself against it so she could get her bearings. However, mysterious muscled arms wrapped around hers and pulled her up. She was spun around to face the killer…

…only to see a chiseled tan face and a pair of silver eyes.

“Amias…?” She whispered, unsure if it was him she was seeing.

“It’s me,” his deep voice confirmed. “You need to get out of here.”

“I…” Nova couldn’t form any more words. She felt his warmth all around her, silencing her and the anger that was boiling in her blood. Her heart was racing, but her thoughts began to come back. Her surroundings became clear, the ringing dissipating.

“Don’t say anything, just trust me,” he said. When Nova didn’t respond, he pulled out a dagger from his belt and touched the point to the crook of her arm. She flinched and tried to pull her arm away from the cold metal, but Amias held on firmly. “Trust me.”

The intensity in his metallic eyes made something swell inside her. The way he gazed at her and held her reminded Nova of when he held her in the cave on Apricus, when she felt unwanted and hopeless. His presence was making electricity rush through her body, giving her energy that overpowered the effects of the drugs.

Whatever that feeling was pulsing inside of her, it let her relax her body and allow Amias to run the point of the dagger across her skin. She inhaled a sharp breath as the metal sliced into her and struck something hard above her veins. Amias maneuvered the dagger’s point so that it went underneath the hard surface and began to push it up to her skin.

“I’ve got it,” Amias said with a resonant voice, his grip on her firm but comforting.

“Hurry,” replied Nova through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, a chip came flying out of her arm and clattered on the floor. Nova gasped as power filled her veins, heating her body like fire. And the fire wasn’t painful this time because it was hers to control. It was as if the chip had weighed her down, and now, she was free.

The blood dripping out of the crook of her arm, however, was out of control, so Amias quickly ripped off the sleeve of his uniform and wrapped it over her arm. “Go, Nova. Get out of here.”

She looked up at him, their eyes connecting. These past few weeks had felt like years, the pain and agony making each day last forever. It had felt as if there was no end in sight — that this darkness and burning would be forced to become her friend. Nova had been at the brink of letting go and allowing the world to collapse into the hands of these horrible people.

But now, things were finally changing.

She may have been beaten, broken, and betrayed by those whom she thought she loved, but now, she was rising up. This soldier, before her, gave her that chance again, but Nova still wasn’t sure how much she could trust him. He had helped her, betrayed her, then helped her again. She didn’t think she could completely forget what he did, but she would be forever thankful for what he did today, proving he had a heart even when the rest of humanity didn’t. A heart for people like her. For her.

She saw it now, the look in his eyes. Those gray irises were alight with passion and intrigue. Amias’ gaze held so much more, and Nova wished she had all the time in the world to explore what it meant. She wished she had more time to figure out the things between them, but he was right: she had to leave.

Shouting erupted down the hallway, troops hurtling towards them with guns in hand. Amias’ face paled, and he held Nova by both her arms. “Go!”

Without needing to be told again, Nova reached for the electricity inside her and let it travel into her fingertips. The hallway was coated in purple light, causing the soldiers to fall back and shield their eyes. Yelling rebounded off the barren walls as a portal formed behind her, its gravity pulling her inside.

She looked at Amias then, watching as the smallest grin formed on his lips. It was so subtle yet so transparent. He did care for her. He abandoned his duties for her, even if it would cost him. He chose to forget it all for her.

Nova fell into the void with those thoughts warming her heart and sending a rush through her blood. The last thing she saw before the portal closed were soldiers pulling Amias away, yet his eyes never strayed from hers. She also caught a flash of wide, ocean-blue eyes watching her. 

Nova didn’t allow herself to break away from Amias’ gaze, however, and she continued to feel him with her as she fell and disappeared into the unknown.

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