"Orihara Izaya."

"Orihara Izaya."

"Orihara Izaya."

That name… How did he know that name?

Deimos winced and grabbed the side of his head, it felt like his brain was about to break through his skull. He looked towards the smiling alien, the confusion evident on his bloodied face. "I- I don't understand…"

Her smile faded somewhat, and she released a saddened sigh. "No, I didn't expect you would…" She weakly lifted her hand, and motioned to herself. "My name is Hesper, and your name- your Earth name -is Orihara Izaya."

Despite the feeling of familiarity that clawed at his heart at the sound of that name, he couldn't help the suspicion he felt. He narrowed his eyes and frowned at her. "How do you know that?"

"Because you told me…" Her voice grew weak for a moment and her head slumped forward as she coughed, splattering purple blood on her white clothing. She caught her breath and looked up towards the ceiling. "It was when we first met, the day you tried to escape."


Hesper could never forget that day. After years of a constant, painful routine of experiment after experiment, she was awoken from her pained daze at the sound of a slamming door.

She had jerked her head up just in time to see a pale skinned creature stumble into the room. He spun around, grabbed the metal door, and slammed it shut as hard as he could. He leaned his weight against it, and took a moment to catch her breath.

Unable to hide her curiosity, Hesper examined him from the chair she was strapped to. He wore lab clothing like hers, had shaggy black hair, red-brown in eyes, and scrawny limbs. She felt saddened at the sight, he had obviously been trapped here for a while. And he'll die here, just like we all will… She thought sadly.

After a few seconds, the creature seemed to realize he was not alone. All his muscles tensed instantly, his eyes caught sight of the metal bindings that held her to the chair, and then he relaxed somewhat.

He didn't say anything as he moved to explore and search the small room. He probably thought that she didn't have a translator chip, like most of the captives on the ship.

Hesper was one of the few that did. After years of being unable to access her powers, they had given her a chip in the hope that she would give in and tell them what they wanted to know. They were fools to try, she'd never give up the secret of her planet. Even if I'm truly the only one left.

As he came around her left side, gripping what looked like a scalpel with a skilled hand, she forced her scratchy throat to work. "What are you planning to do?"

He jolted in surprise and stared at her suspiciously for a moment. Then, he motioned to the sharp object in his grasp. "What does it look like?" He asked, her translator working slower than normal. "I'm escaping this place."

Hesper sighed. It wasn't the first escape attempt she had seen, they always ended the same way. Failure. Then, the failed escapee gave into the hopelessness they all felt.

"You won't escape." She whispered morosely. "You'll fail just like we all have. If you give yourself up now, they may show mercy…"

The creature raised one thin eyebrow at her. "You certainly give up easily." His tone was somehow harsh and curious at the same time.

Hesper heard the question buried in his tone, and looked away. "When you've been here as long as I have, you eventually see that it's hopeless…"

She heard silence for a long moment, and then jolted at the feeling of the creature's hands on her arm. He stared down at the metal straps against her wrists and ankles with an analytical eye.

"How do I unlock this?" He asked her.

A flare of hope erupted in her chest. If he could free her, then she could use her powers. The chair was all that was stopping her, at least until they finished that brain wave machine they had taunted her about. If she could get out, even for a moment-

No, no, no. Don't do this to yourself, Hesper. She furiously shook her head. Even if you escape, what will it solve? You'll be locked away again, and he'll die just like the rest of your people.

"Oh? What was that I saw?" The creature queried suddenly.

When she glanced up at him again, she saw he was pointing at her with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"W-what?"

"You know, on Earth, I am an informant broker. I deal with all kinds of humans, and I'm very good at reading their emotions. It comes with the territory." He motioned towards her eyes. "I saw it, just for a second. You were hopeful, but then it disappeared. Why?"

Hesper felt her skin crawl, those eyes of his had somehow stared straight into her soul and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. She frowned at him, her gaze cold. "I know how this will end." She jutted her chin towards the door behind them. "You leave this room, they'll capture you, and they'll kill you. It happens every time someone tries to fight them."

"Is that supposed to scare me?" He asked, his smirk still present. "I've nearly been killed plenty of times, why should these mad scientists be any different?"

"Because they won't hesitate to get rid of someone who they view as difficult." She winced as she remembered all the deaths she had witnessed. Her own people, her sister, her father. "And if you don't give up, then you'll be dead too. Just like all the others who wanted to be free."

The earthling twirled the scalpel between his fingers thoughtfully. "Hmm… You know, some would say there is freedom in death too." He abruptly stopped his twirling. "I'm not afraid to die. I came to terms with mortality long ago. The way I see it, either I will escape, or I die trying. Either way, I'll be free."

Hesper frowned from where she sat. "That… Is a very morbid way to look at things."

He narrowed his eyes the slightest bit. "Maybe." He pointed the scalpel right at her. "But I think both options are better than sitting in this prison and dying on the inside like all of you have. Nothing has stopped me yet, and I won't let them be the ones who do."

The earthling was stubborn… Almost annoyingly stubborn. But, it stirred the hope that Hesper had thought she had lost long ago for a second time. Even in the face of near impossible odds, he wasn't giving up.

It was foolish… It was admirable.

For the first time in decades, Hesper found herself feeling hope. For the future, for freedom, to see the outside world, to see her planet. It all sounded so wonderful.

Her eyes burned as tears started to slide down her cheeks. She looked into his eyes, and gave him a weak smile. "My name is Hesper."

Even after ages in this hell of a prison, not even her captors knew that much. She wasn't sure if the human knew the gravity of what she had just told him, but the glint in his eyes told her that he might.

"My name is Orihara Izaya." He replied, then hesitated for a moment. He bit at his lip, squeezed the scalpel tighter, and sighed. "If... When I get out of here, I'll come back for you."

Hesper's eyes widened. "Really?"

"I… I will. No matter what, I will come back for you." Orihara told her, his voice fiercely determined. Then, his eyes grew sad. "I should have been kinder to those around me, I should have cared about and valued them, I see that now. So I won't make that mistake ever again."

Hesper didn't know what he was referring to, but she didn't need to be whatever an informant was to tell that his shoulders were weighed down by many regrets.

"I will wait for you." She whispered softly, hopefully. "No matter how long it takes."

The human glanced down at the scalpel in his hand, then back at Hesper. With a nod, he opened the door, and left the way he came in.


"... That was the first and last time I saw Orihara Izaya." Hesper's tired voice echoed in the bridge, her dimmed red eyes filled with despair. "The next time we came face to face, you were no longer him. They had turned you into a blank slate."

Deimos listened in shocked silence. He felt like his entire universe had been turned upside down, like dots were finally being connected. Even though he couldn't remember himself, what Hesper said fit perfectly with his own fragmented memories.

He took a shaky breath in an attempt to steady his beating heart. "I- I remember the white alien. I remember thinking of an alien in another room… I must have been thinking of you."

"What happened after, when they caught me, when I failed… They said I was exactly what they were looking to use in their project." He curled further into himself and stared at her desperately. "W-what was the project?"

The red alien gave a weak shudder, and a haunted look appeared in her eyes. "Me… It was me. They wanted to use you as a test subject to see if they could recreate or take my powers away. They wanted to have it for themselves."

Deimos didn't need her to continue, he had already figured out what she was building up to. He brought his right hand up, and the red aura from his powers swirled around it. "This… This is your power…"

She nodded softly and then lifted one shaky hand, which glowed a weak, barely noticeable red. Just like mine.

"So then… Their experiments on me worked?" He hesitantly asked.

Then, to his surprise, Hesper gave a weak laugh. She shook her head with a small, victorious grin. "Oh, no. They never would have been able to. My people and our powers aren't genetic. It's a gift, passed down from generation to generation. The only way for someone to receive our power is for it to be given to them willingly."

Deimos felt his heart speed up again. "Y-You gave it to me?" He pulled his arms close, barely noticing the burning pain from his left one, and sent her a confused glance. "I don't understand… Why give it away? Why choose me, after all this time?"

"Because you were different, Orihara." Hesper firmly said. "Usually, after they create a blank slate, it is easy to make them believe they belong here. But you saw right through it. Even if you didn't remember, you could tell this was wrong. You fought them constantly, you tried to escape over and over. You never gave up."

She motioned to herself. "I wanted to hope, like you did. But they watched me too closely, they had ways to block my powers. The only way to hope for escape was to give them to someone who had the strength and the mind for it."

Deimos sat silently, his hands clenched tightly together, and body frozen like a statue. It was as if he was afraid that if he did move then Hesper would not continue her story.

"So I waited for an opportunity. It came a while later. They were using both of us for another experiment. They turned off the blocks on my powers for a moment, just to move me, and I took that chance. I gave you most of my powers, but not all of it. That way, if you escaped before me, you'd be able to find me, and I'd be able to tell if you were coming."

The human's eyes widened. So that was how I knew where to go here. I wasn't following a memory, I was following her. It made sense, but there was still something scratching at the back of his mind.

"What happened after that?" He softly asked. "Pezel, the one who rescued me, said they found me alone in a destroyed lab. H-How did that happen?"

Hesper closed her eyes and slumped slightly. "That was you. I don't know what triggered it, but your powers reacted violently to something they did. The shockwave caused the lab to explode, fires, deaths. You survived because of our powers, it protected you from your destruction."

She pulled her arms against her chest and sighed. "But they still didn't know about your powers, and the ones who had been with you were dead. They thought I was the one who did it. So they took me away, abandoned this lab, and finished the brain wave machine so I could never cause something like that again."

Guilt pooled in his chest. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make them hurt you more…"

"It's alright, don't apologize. I was never scared." Hesper firmly declared. "Because I knew you were out there. I dreamed about you, you were always in my thoughts. I never lost hope that we would meet again, you came back for me, just like you promised."

Deimos felt a flutter of happiness, despite all that he had just been through. He slowly reached out and took her hand in his. He could feel their connection even stronger now, the power they shared flowing between them. The power that had saved them both.

Hesper smiled up at him, then began to shudder. She hunched forward and let out wet, violent coughs. Purple blood splattered across them both, and this time she wasn't able to right herself. She started to fall forward, only saved by Deimo's quick reflexes.

"Hesper? A-Are you alright?!" He moved her off the chair and held her against him, his red eyes frantically scanned her for signs of injuries.

It took several seconds for her wet breaths to grow strong enough for her to speak. "No…" She looked up at him again, her eyes no longer glowing. "I- I'm dying."

His blood ran cold, his heart picked up speed. "Just hang on a little longer, Pezel will be here soon! The healers can help you!"

The alien shook her head against his chest. "It's too late for me, Orihara. I've been dying for a long time… Even these monsters wouldn't have been able to keep me alive, no matter what they put in that tube they had me in." She took in a deep, rattling breath. "I only managed to hang on so long for you."

Deimos's eyes grew blurry and tears slid across his blood covered cheeks. "No… No you can't die now! I- I haven't even gotten a chance to remember you, and I'm going to lose you?! Hesper, please!"

"It's okay… I've accepted it." She squeezed his hand, her grip so weak he barely noticed it.

The human hugged her closer and let out choked sobs as he tried to do the same, but how could he? She was responsible for his freedom, she gave him her powers, something that he's relied on for his entire time in space. Without her, who would he be?

With a pained whimper, Deimos pressed their foreheads together. "You've done so much for me, Hesper… You saved me so many times… I wish I had time to show you how much it means to me. I wish I had more time with you."

"Orihara Izaya." She pressed her hand against his chest. "Even after I die, you'll still have our powers. It's a piece of me, and all the others who held them before me. So don't worry, you'll always have me with you."

The human sniffed weakly, but forced himself to keep talking. "My name is Deimos now. I- I thought you should know. It's a moon near Earth…"

"Deimos… " She tested the name a few times, and nodded. "I think it suits you. They both do. It doesn't matter what you choose to call yourself, you will always be an amazing, powerful, stubborn Earthling."

"Only because of you." He whispered weakly, and hugged her just a little tighter. "I'm only those things because of you, Hesper."

"And because you, Deimos, I'm finally free…" She lifted her head, staring at something he couldn't see, and smiled. "Thank you…"

Hesper released one final breath, her hand in his went slack, and then she was gone. The glow in her eyes faded, and the connection between them disappeared.

Deimos didn't let go for a long time. Even when space crafts began to appear out of warp and the Galactic officers started to board the ship, he continued to focus only on Hesper, his protector, his savior, his dearest friend that he had found and lost all in one short day.

Eventually, Pezel's gentle hand on his shoulder pulled the human out of his mournful stupor. "Deimos…" He said, his voice gentle and sympathetic. "You're badly hurt, you need to get to the medical ship."

"I will… But, I need to ask you for a favor. Can you help me find out what planet she is from? I… I want to bring her home, so she can rest in peace." He glanced up at his friend with a tearful expression. "After everything she's done for me, it's the least I could do for her."

Pezel nodded without a second of hesitation. "Of course we can. But first you need to see a healer. So let's get to the ship, okay?"

The human didn't respond right away. Instead, he reached a shaky hand out and slid Hesper's eyes shut. Only after that did he allow Pezel to help him stand, and lead him towards the waiting ships.

Despite the horrible pain he was in, he made sure that he carried Hesper the entire way.


It only took Deimos and Pezel a few days to track down where Hesper's planet was. With Pezel's access to the Galactic System's database and Deimos's information gathering skills, it was easier than they had thought.

Gudmund, a planet that the Galactic System had not paid much attention to. It had been a no-contact planet, but when the planet began to die and the species on it disappeared without any explanation it was nearly forgotten about.

Once the Galactic Officers had a handle on the situation, Pezel and Deimos separated from the caravan of ships and headed towards Hesper's planet together.

A heavily bandaged Deimos stared out at the planet as they moved to land. It was nearly barren. There were barely any plants, empty dips in the ground that may have once been lakes, and dry dirt and two hot suns in the sky.

"Is this really her planet?" Pezel asked as he stared at the data on his communicator with a confused look.

"It is, I know it is." Deimos didn't have any doubts, his powers had grown stronger in the past few days, and it had drawn him to the planet the moment he had laid his eyes on it.

Surprisingly, the planet did have enough oxygen on it that they could walk on the planet without a suit. They ventured out together, though Deimos still needed Pezel's help in walking at times.

After exploring for a little while, they found a good spot. It was right by a dip in the lake, with an old crooked tree sitting nearby. Deimos imagined that, before the planet had died, it would have been a lovely place to sit and enjoy the scenery.

Using his powers, he carried Hesper's body over to the hole that Pezel had dug. Once she had been lowered in, he helped his companion bury her in a mournful silence.

As they worked, Deimos began to notice something along the ground. It was hard to see, but there were patches of green, and small sprouts shyly poking their leaves above ground. He stopped and knelt down, his bandaged left hand brushing against the soft leaves.

Even in a bleak place like this, there is a hope to be found. He smiled, and glanced towards the handmade grave. Just like Hesper.

After a moment of thought, Deimos moved towards the crooked tree. His glowing red eye scanned the branches until he saw exactly what he was hoping to see: a seed. He floated up and gently picked it off the branch. Then he came back down, moved a little of the dirt, and buried it on top of the grave.

"Do you think it will grow?" Pezel asked him once he had covered up the seed.

Deimos turned to look at the barren planet. "Maybe not right away… But this planet isn't as hopeless as it looks. Sometimes an end is just a beginning in disguise." He turned his unwrapped eye up towards the stars. "It just needs time to heal."

As they flew away from the planet, Deimos watched it grow smaller and smaller. He still felt the pain of loss in his heart for Hesper. He desperately wished he could have had more time with her, to show her what he sacrifices meant to him.

But you're still with me, aren't you? He let his powers flow and dance in his palms. And now that I know that, I'll never forget again. I'll always remember what you've done for me.

Farewell Hesper, a shining star in a darkened sky.


This chapter was hard to write. It's dedicated to my Auntie, who was killed by a drunk driver two months ago. Hesper's death was planned out long before that, but it was even more difficult to write now that I've lost someone who I should have had so much more time with. I would give anything to see you one last time, to tell you I love you more than you could comprehend.

My dear readers, if you're reading this please take time and let your loved ones know how much you love and appreciate them. Because you never know how much time you have left with them.

I miss you every day, Auntie. But I still hope we'll meet again, when the wave returns to the ocean.