After finishing their preparations for the trip to planet Cyno, the moment finally came to board the rocket for departure. Arabella, at last, had the chance to travel by rocket again. It was huge, with dark blue stripes running along its body. It had three windows that offered a beautiful view of the cosmos. Since the last event in the math classroom, she had rarely seen Orion. That confused her mind.

For the first time, she felt his presence in a different way. He had admitted to wanting her from the very beginning, and since then, chaos ruled her thoughts. She remained deeply craving the feeling she had experienced. He hadn’t even managed to kiss her, yet she longed for him too much. A gentle kiss on her neck and their mutual desire drove her nearly mad. Deep inside, she became aware that she harbored immense feelings for him. She knew she shouldn’t allow herself that. Yet, she still held a bit of control over those feelings. Determined, she resolved to run away from them, not letting them sink deep into her being and become part of her.

As she entered the rocket, she passed by him. He tried to avoid her but still gave her a brief glance, thinking it would go unnoticed. Arabella noticed it clearly. She simply walked past him. He continued his preparations, and soon, they took off.

There were ten other beings on the team, half of whom she knew from seeing them around the academy. In the group, she quickly spotted Emilie and immediately fell into conversation with her. Emilie was social, which made the interaction much easier.

The trip to planet Cyno wasn’t as long as she had expected. It was the third closest planet to theirs. Upon landing, they noticed it was extremely barren and sparsely populated. Yet, it still possessed important structures for development and was progressing well. The planet had several previous projects with other planets, which had been successful and yielded satisfying results.

Five beings greeted them warmly. They looked very different from them, with distinct skin colors and builds. They appeared strong, brave, and very kind. After introductions and a brief talk, they learned that of those five, two were leaders of the planet, while the rest were the helper team. The leaders were named Ren and Rin. They were larger than the others and very serious. They had blue skin, like all others on their planet, and short haircuts. They wore strange suits.

After detailed information about the project, the leaders led them to their main building. It was enormous and had unexpectedly modern architecture. Entering through the main entrance, they paused to listen to speeches given by Ren and Rin. They noticed that the interior was far better than their own buildings, which surprised them. The building had five transparent elevators constantly moving. It was filled with many beings working there.

After the speeches, they took one of the elevators to the second-to-last floor, which was very well equipped for the project they were to undertake. The massive building had eight floors, but only this one was needed for their work.

They entered all the rooms except the last one, which they left for the final detailed meeting. They inspected each room and listened to brief reports before moving to the main one. It was exceptionally spacious, with large tables where meetings took place. Next to that area was high-tech equipment, and in the remaining rooms were work desks, tools, manuals, and various materials. Everything was in excellent condition and neatly organized.

After exploring, they sat around a round table and began the meeting. Arabella was seated opposite Orion, who still stubbornly ignored her. Now that the meeting had started, he cast a notable glance her way.

– So, which beings from your team are leading our joint project? – Rin asked.
– I lead our team and take responsibility during this project.
– And… who else? – Ren added, acting as the second meeting leader.
– I’m also leading this project! – Arabella answered firmly, then looked at Orion, who was already watching her with a dark expression.
– I am the only one responsible for this project, disregard her.
– The plan includes my name as well, as responsible for this project – she insisted.
– Have you seen that anywhere? – he continued.
– Are you Orion’s deputy, Arabella? – Rin interrupted their quarrel.
– Yes, I am.
– Then it’s possible you are that being, as the draft plan lists a deputy ruler as the second person responsible for the project... Ren, hand me those papers so we can check.

Looking through the papers, Ren and Rin found the answer to the doubt.
– Yes, that’s correct, Orion and Arabella, you are the leaders of your team for this project.

Hearing this, Arabella sent him an ironic smile, while he glared back at her grumpily.

After a brief exchange, they turned their attention to Rin. He began to explain the project in more detail and the tasks they would be working on, and the rest of their gathering passed with him providing such information. The meeting was far from monotonous, as the atmosphere crackled with the tension between Arabella and Orion. They also received useful information that would improve their work on the project. When the meeting ended, both teams focused on carrying out their tasks. Before they could start working, they had to walk to the work site, which was a bit farther from that building. It was a great opportunity to better explore the wonders of the planet.

Upon arrival, they saw it was a large work environment filled with countless small stones, gems, and other materials whose composition was unknown.

– We’ve only recently discovered these particles, so we’re not sure if this task is safe – Ren said.

– But we’re all here as one team, so don’t worry. We did a little investigation and didn’t find anything dangerous – Rin continued.

– The most important thing is that we’re all together!

After some brief instructions, work and exploration began. Arabella and Emilie teamed up and started investigating. They found a lot of interesting stones and had a lot of fun. Orion worked alone, completely separated from the rest of the team, keeping his characteristic distance from the other beings. He carefully analyzed every stone. He would only pick stones he was certain had a useful chemical composition to improve existing things. Arabella and Emilie had a huge pile of stones with them, taking every stone they spotted.

After finishing the exploration of one area, they split up. Arabella went to the other side, which seemed interesting to her. What made that place particularly fascinating was a well emitting glowing particles. It was truly a beautiful and magical sight. The particles rose from it constantly, drifting into the atmosphere, giving the impression that some other dimension might form right before her eyes. Around the well was only the most beautiful stone she had seen in that entire research area.

She approached the well to get a better look. It was just an ordinary hole. Leaning over, she saw the very deep interior of planet Cyno. Inside, it looked like a galaxy with a large number of faintly glowing particles. They didn’t hit her face as they floated out, so she could freely continue peering inside. After that, she began to sift through the stones lying around the well.

Suddenly, something like a skeleton in the shape of a zombie emerged from the well. The skeleton-zombie was gray and had two pairs of arms. It had three cracked eyes, and at the first opportunity, it spotted Arabella. She didn’t notice it, being absorbed in the stones around her. It steadily approached her creature with each step.

Just a few steps behind her, she began to feel its presence and reflexively turned around. The medium-sized, seemingly weak skeleton-zombie now stood before her, holding a sharp stone in its hand. Arabella stared at it motionlessly, thinking about her next move.

She quickly stood up, and it started moving toward her. Taking small steps backward, she tried to reach for a stone. But it was faster and swung the sharp stone. She bent down and moved to its back. The skeleton immediately noticed her move, swung its arm, and stabbed the sharp stone into her stomach.

The stone pierced Arabella’s stomach, causing a huge wound that quickly filled with thick black fluid. It ran down her body as she lost balance and, after a brief moment, collapsed onto the surface of planet Cyno. As soon as this happened, the skeleton hurried back into the well to remain unseen.

At that moment, Orion appeared. Seeing Arabella lying motionless on the ground, he didn’t even notice the skeleton, which vanished into the well after he appeared. He rushed to her at the speed of light. She lay still, slowly losing consciousness. He gently placed her head in his lap and brushed the strands of her unruly hair from her face.

– Who did this to you? – he asked softly, lowering himself closer to her face.

He expected a response, hoped she was still conscious. But he got none, as it was already too late.

– Arabella, can you hear me... Arabella... Arabella... – he called softly, still hoping it wasn’t over. He gently ran his hand through her hair, now scattered over his lap.

– I... Skel... – she finally whispered weakly, then completely lost consciousness.

– Don’t you dare die and leave me all alone – he unconsciously raised his voice.

His heart began pounding, his body overwhelmed by fear. He didn’t want to lose her. His love for her was more than just love. Even if he didn’t show it. He had built an armor full of hatred. That armor was slowly weakening under the weight of emotions, and passion was rising. Thoughts of losing her ran through his mind, making him aware of feelings he held deep inside. He couldn’t let her life slip away, especially not there, in his arms.

He was covered in her black fluid, which kept flowing despite him placing his shirt over the wound. He stood up and tightly held her in his arms. He had to fight. He wanted to fight...

At the speed of light, he rushed toward Ren and Rin. Since he had separated from them, it was difficult to find them. When he finally spotted them, he ran up to them.

– Where is the hospital here? – he asked.

– It’s not that close...

Giving him directions on how to get there, they realized what had really happened. Panic and that question clouded their minds.

– What happened? – finally, someone spoke.

– I don’t have time now, I have to go.

– I suggest we call an ambulance, it’s slower if you carry her to the hospital – Rin said.

– She can’t wait any longer!

The rest of the team swarmed him, bombarding him with questions. Orion roughly pushed through them, searching for an exit.

– Has she lost a lot of fluid? – Emilie asked, following him.

– Yeess! – he answered.

Breaking through the crowd, he hurried toward the hospital. With every step, he felt more pain and growing fear. His creature was slowly sinking into despair.

Arriving at the hospital, he found a doctor at the reception, who took matters into his own hands, called other colleagues and nurses, and then headed toward the operating room. Orion hurried after them, until at one point, they disappeared behind the door of the operating room, leaving him standing there outside, left only with waiting and hope.