Adrian and Riley were now alone in their assigned room.
There was only one bed. No couch. No spare mattress. The king had clearly chosen this arrangement on purpose.
The room itself was quiet, dimly lit by the soft glow of the city outside the wide glass window. Flying vehicles passed occasionally, their lights streaking across the ceiling.
They lay on opposite edges of the bed, backs facing each other, leaving a noticeable gap between them.
Adrian shut his eyes.
He opened them again.
His heart wouldn't calm down. Every time he closed his eyes, he replayed the kiss from earlier. The warmth. The closeness. The way Riley looked at him.
He turned slightly, then quickly turned back, afraid she might notice.
Riley wasn't sleeping either.
Her face was burning. She kept gripping the blanket nervously, her thoughts racing. She had confessed. She had kissed him. They were… together now.
Everything felt different.
The silence stretched.
"Hey… so…" Riley whispered into the darkness.
"Hm?" Adrian responded almost instantly, clearly awake.
She hesitated, fingers twisting a strand of her hair. "I need to tell you something."
Adrian swallowed. "I also need to tell you something."
There was another pause.
"I love you," they both said at the same time.
They froze.
Slowly, they turned to face each other. Their faces were only inches apart now, the distance between them gone. Adrian could feel her breath. Riley's eyes were slightly nervous, but steady.
"You first," Adrian said softly.
"No, you," Riley replied, almost smiling.
Adrian let out a quiet breath. "I… I've never really thought about this kind of thing before. Missions, fighting, surviving… that's all I focused on. But when you almost died… and when Ren said he'd kill you…" His voice lowered. "I couldn't handle it."
Riley's expression softened.
"I was scared too," she admitted. "Not of dying… but of not telling you how I felt."
Adrian reached forward hesitantly, his hand hovering for a moment before gently taking hers. His hands were slightly trembling.
"I don't know how relationships are supposed to work," he said honestly. "But I know that I want to protect you. Not because you're weak… but because you matter to me."
Riley squeezed his hand. "I don't want you protecting me because you think I need saving," she said quietly. "I want to stand next to you."
He blinked.
She moved a little closer.
"I love you too, Adrian."
This time, when they kissed, it wasn't rushed or flustered. It was slower. Softer. Less awkward. When they pulled away, their foreheads rested together for a brief moment.
Both of them turned slightly away afterward, blushing, but now they were closer than before.
They still didn't sleep much that night.
But the distance between them was gone.
Meanwhile…
Blake, the man who had greeted them and shown them to their rooms, had been assigned to inspect the spaceship for security reasons.
He moved carefully through its corridors, scanning for hidden devices or threats. Apart from a few dried blood stains in the storage room, he found nothing particularly alarming. The blood concerned him slightly, but he assumed it was from past battles.
He was about to leave when something caught his eye in Cosmic's former quarters.
A strange box.
It was small but unusually heavy.
"Hm? What is this?" Blake muttered.
He turned it around in his hands. No visible lock. No clear opening mechanism.
Curiosity got the better of him.
First, he tried opening it normally. Nothing happened.
Then he tapped it against the wall. No reaction.
Finally, he stepped back and lightly struck it with the butt of his spear.
A crack formed.
Blake froze.
The crack spread rapidly across the surface like lightning branching across the sky. A blinding burst of energy exploded outward, forcing Blake to shield his eyes.
The box shattered.
From within stepped Lucius.
Blake stumbled backward, raising his spear. "W-Who are you?!"
Lucius blinked repeatedly, his vision adjusting.
The void had been endless. White. Silent. Timeless. He hadn't felt hunger, thirst, or fatigue. He had barely felt like himself. The isolation had fractured his thoughts, blurring reality.
Now he stood on solid ground again.
A man pointed a weapon at him.
Lucius tilted his head.
"I am not the fighting type," he said calmly, his voice rough from disuse. "But I can land a few punches."
Before Blake could react, Lucius grabbed the spear and yanked it forward. In one swift motion, he drove two fingers into Blake's eyes.
Blake screamed.
Lucius ripped the spear from his grip and thrust it forward.
Within seconds, Blake fell.
He had been nothing more than an ordinary man with a uniform and a weapon. No powers. No real combat training. Just someone working to provide for his wife and three children.
The hallway fell silent.
Lucius looked down at his bloodied hands.
"Hm? Where am I?" he muttered.
He exited the spaceship and stepped into the open city of Earth B.
His eyes widened slightly at the futuristic landscape.
"This must be another planet," he reasoned. "Makes sense. I burned every city on Earth… rendering it uninhabitable."
He inhaled slowly.
"I have been given another chance at life."
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"I must use it wisely."
He wandered through the city, blending into the crowds. He discreetly pickpocketed a few citizens with surprising ease and used the stolen currency to purchase food and rent a room at a random hotel.
Sitting on the edge of his new bed, Lucius leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
"Now…" he murmured softly, the grin widening.
"I wonder where the boy and his friends are."