The sun had set by the time Kanata and Ulgar found the Astra. The light emitted by the spaceship, or rather the adjacent electric fence, illuminated the sky and had guided the two escapees to their shelter. Flashing in different colours, it almost looked like a Christmas decoration.

"Funi was worried that we would accidentally electrocute someone and Charce explained that poisonous animals often use bright colouration to discourage predators from attacking. So, I changed the – ", Zack began to explain as Kanata and Ulgar entered the spaceship.

"We don't have time for this!", Ulgar interrupted him having no care for a random stranger's wellbeing. "Luca and Aries are in danger!"

"What happened?", Zack asked alarmed.

Inside the Astra with everyone gathered around the table, Kanata summarised their encounter with the Nemesians, including Aries' and Luca's suspicious abduction. "We need to find out what their plans are. Aries has recorded everything."

Zack nodded and took the recording device form Kanata. "Let's see." He pressed the play button and skipped forward to a random point in the recording.

Instead of the Nemesians, it was Aries' voice that greeted them. "I like Kanata." Followed by Luca's voice. "I like Kanata too but –"

Quitterie immediately paused the replay before the group could hear the rest. "Stop invading other people's privacy! Seriously, just develop an algorithm or something that extracts the language."

"I'm sorry", the bespectacled student replied. "I just wanted to ascertain the quality. I didn't anticipate that Aries recorded EVERYTHING."

"Like… What does that mean?", the Astra's captain stammered in between, his facial expression indicating that he was fully aware of the meaning.

"We really don't have time for this!", Ulgar urged his teammates but Zack had already left to extract the audio file. And looking into the other's face, it was clear that everyone was fully aware of the situation. Nobody took the abduction of their friends lightly.

"Hey, do you guys think the Nemesians are really aliens?", Charce asked. "From what Kanata described, they sounded very much like humans to me."

"The footprints we saw didn't look human though", Yun-Hua gave to consideration.

Ulgar had no care for the nature of the Nemesians. Whatever their origin, all he needed to know was that they were enemies. Feeling restless, his thoughts circled back to Luca. And the magic words the purple-haired teen had said. Based on the recording, Ulgar wondered whether Luca simply liked everyone. Drunk and potentially drugged, it was not like he could attach much meaning to the words anyway. It was depressing how little he truly knew about Luca. Seemingly outgoing and open, his personality was like a fake layer hiding his true feelings.

There was only one way Ulgar could find out more. Requesting a copy of the audio file from Zack, he felt like a thief. Stealing not valuable items but privacy. It was not right, but Ulgar had to know.

In his room, Luca's stuff surrounding him, he replayed the recording, trying to find Luca's and Aries' conversation. It must have taken place before he had woken up on the day of their capture.

"Team B-5 camp log, day five on planet Nemesis." That was Aries' voice. "Today we made the first contact with the people inhabiting this planet. We had a bit of a rough start but I think – "

"Aries?" That was Luca. "What are you doing?"

"Ah, err… I was just keeping records of how we encountered the Nemesians."

"Hm?", Luca made. "Hey, I wonder if I can ask them for some of the black leaves. They have the perfect colour for Ulgar's clothes."

"I'm sure they can give you some", Aries replied. "It will be such a lovely present. Is that why you wanted to cross the river earlier?"

"Well, it didn't go very well… ."

Ulgar paused. Had Luca really risked his life for fabric dye? For clothes that were already perfect in every aspect? Comfortable, durable and every inch a reminder of Luca's skilled fingers. But the purple-haired teen could not know how much Ulgar liked the clothes—because he had never told him. Never even thanked him for his effort.

"I'm sure Ulgar will understand if you tell him."

No, he would not, Ulgar thought. Because apparently he had the intellect of a potato. Suppressing the urge to slap himself, he continued to listen to the conversation.

"Well, this is Ulgar we are talking about." How well Luca knew him. Or perhaps his lack of empathy was just that obvious.

"It's not like I don't know how you feel… I'm the same, I like Kanata."

"I like Kanata too…", Luca agreed. When he continued, his voice had a more cheerful tone. "But I love Ulgar."

And he had thought that Luca had just been drunk, that he would go around telling everyone he liked them. Out of all the possible reactions, he had chosen the worst by dismissing Luca's confession and not taking his friend's feelings seriously.

It was only now that the black-haired teen understood. Luca's strange questions had not been meant as teases. Far from that, Luca had courageously opened up to him, revealing his insecurities about his genders and the struggle with his feelings. And what had Ulgar done? Like a horfant trampled the grass, he trampled on the other's feelings. He had arrogantly, ignorantly failed Luca. Sitting on the edge of his bed and his head in his hands, Ulgar felt like he wanted to shoot himself. How could he have let Luca suffer? At this rate, Luca was better off being with the Nemesians than with him.

However, without the purple-haired teen, Ulgar's room felt empty. And so did he. Blinded by Luca's sexual charm, he had never even considered his own feelings. What did it feel like to love someone? At what point did friendship become love? The black-haired teen did not know the answer. All he hoped for was that Luca would somehow forgive him, that they could somehow start again.

xxx

When Luca woke up, the air felt wet and heavy. Still sleepy, he found himself on the floor in a small hut. Aries was next to him, confusion in her eyes.

"Tell me we didn't get married", Luca said, unable to tell apart memories from dream.

Aries looked at him, now even more confused. "Married? What are you talking about?" She looked at the dress she was wearing. White. That must have been why Luca had thought of marriage. "I dreamt I was on a stage for a singing contest. But how did we end up here?"

Besides them, the hut was empty. There was no door, just an open entrance through which the two could see branches and leaves. Somehow, they must have left the underground base and climbed onto a tree. Hard to imagine given their impractical attire.

"You don't remember?", Luca asked, surprised that Aries' impeccable memory failed.

"No…. " Aries sounded helpless. "By the way, what's this?" The girl lifted her arm, revealing a golden chain that was tied around her wrist with the other end being locked onto a hook on the floor. It seemed delicate yet did not break under pressure.

Luca looked at his wrist, not surprised to find an identical chain. "I don't know." Somehow, he doubted that half a cup of wine had made him drunk enough to forget everything. Not everything. Somewhere in his mind was the memory of him and Ulgar dancing. His confession. Ulgar's lack of reaction. Not that the purple-haired teen had expected anything.

The sound of footsteps interrupted Luca's thoughts. Shortly after, a Nemesian guard appeared, his gestures asking them to stand up.

"Where are we?", Aries asked bluntly. "Where are Kanata and Ulgar?"

The man did not answer but instead picked up the chains. Without being violent, he made clear that they had to follow him. Outside, the other guardsmen were waiting.

"Where are we going?", Luca asked knowing that the Nemesians did not understand their language. Bound to the chain, he had no choice but to follow their lead through the vast network of branches. Despite the dress impairing his movement, the purple-haired teen found balancing over the branches much easier now, thanks to the shoes the Nemesians had given him. Oddly shaped, he could understand that it had confused Quitterie and Yun-Hua when they had seen the imprints.

Yet with every step Luca took, it became clearer that Ulgar had been right. On Nemesis, no one was on their side. Not the animals and not their human-like counterparts. Why had he not listened to the other's warnings?

Suddenly, the ground was shaking. Breaking branches, quickly quieting animal noises—by now Aries and Luca were all too familiar with the harbingers of terror. A teddy.

"It won't be able to reach us", Luca whispered to Aries behind him. Their last encounter still fresh in his mind, he could not hide the fear in his voice.

However, the Nemesians remained calm without any sign of worry. One by one they fell onto their knees, their hands folded in front of them. Completely silent, deeply concentrated, the whole group remained motionless.

"What are they doing?", Aries whispered as if scared that the teddy would hear them.

Luca did not answer. There was only one thing he knew. Whenever they had encountered a teddy, it had always been accompanied by a heavy atmosphere, tension in the air and utter silence around it. Silence caused by the Nemesians pausing their activities and kneeling down. They had been watched from the very beginning. From his first kiss underneath the leaves to their narrow escape when the two teddies had fought.

After what felt like an eternity, the group continued their march after the teddy had long passed them. Finally having reached the end of the woodland, they descended onto the ground. In front of them was a single hill, covered with low-growing vegetation and a strange rock on top. It was almost shaped like a human but from the distance, it was impossible to tell whether it was its natural form or a man-made statue.

"I wonder if we have offended them", Aries wondered trying to understand the Nemesian's motive. "It must be a misunderstanding."

Luca admired the girl's unshaken trust in the goodness of their capturers even as the guards hooked their chains into an anchor on the ground and proceeded to retreat into the trees. "You think so?", the purple-haired teen asked doubtfully.

The girl nodded. "I still believe we can become friends."

Being confined at the bottom of the hill, the two space travellers felt vulnerable despite Aries' optimism. A sudden fog limited their sight but would not enough to protect them from predators.

"What's the point of letting us die like this?", Luca shouted after the Nemesians. "You saved me before, didn't you?" But there was no answer. Perhaps they had already returned to their underground base, not caring about the fate of their prisoner-turned guests.

"Honestly, what's the point of dressing us up like this just to leave us to die?", Luca asked looking at his useless clothing. The dress was beautiful, suited for a wedding, not a funeral. He wished Ulgar could see him like this but when his gaze fell onto Aries, he reconsidered. The girl looked much better than him, her curves filling out the dress in a way that even Luca found it hard not to stare.

"Luca!" The fear in Aries' voice brought him back to reality. Underneath their feet, the ground was shaking.

The teddy was back.

"Guess it can't be helped", Luca answered with a confidence he did not have. He ripped off the bottom of his dress to increase his mobility. "I bet Ulgar is jealous that we get the chance to fight the teddy first."


With Ulgar FINALLY having made some progress, I look forward to their reunion next chapter!