"What's going on?" Moriphos rushes towards us, his face filled with concern. "You've been in there for so long." Although he's referring to both of us, his gaze is solely on me. "After I left, one of the guards went into the cafeteria. Did he do anything to you?"
"He's a hero!" Nora bursts out with a dreamy sigh.
"You've got your Andy!" I remind her, unable to suppress a grin.
"Will I see Andy again?" Nora asks me. "If not, that guy can surely comfort someone."
I look at her surprised. So, her current lover is quickly forgotten. Then I smile.
"Sure, he looks great," I confess. "But still, I'm afraid I'll be seeing him a damn lot in the future. Would someone like him really be so crazy as to trust himself among those types? 'Trust me, he stands out!' Kaia said about Torsos. That would also apply to this guard."
I start to laugh.
"He's managed to pique my damn curiosity. I'm damn curious about this Torsos."
"I strongly advise both of you not to swoon over any guards anymore," Moriphos warns us. The Time Stormer has his arms crossed in front of his chest, and Moriphos looks as though he's miffed that we're swooning over one of the guards and completely forgetting about him.
"Tell that to Nora!" I say to him, smiling at him.
Then Nora looks at me curiously. "There are two things I'm really curious about. Were you brought here because some guy is into you?"
Moriphos looks at me surprised.
"Uh," I say, not knowing what to say. "First of all, from what I gathered, we're on a space station here." I take a deep breath first before putting on an expression of shock. "Do you honestly think some guy would send me in here just because he's into me?"
"Space station?" she says, surprised. Nora's confusion is evident. Her gaze shifts questioningly from me to Moriphos and back to me. "You're not serious. I remember that one guy knocking me out, and I woke up in a cell."
So, she had a slightly different awakening than I did.
"This is the main station of the most dreadful Emperor of the universe," Moriphos exclaims.
Torsos didn't seem so dreadful to me, I think, but I don't say it out loud.
"We are here in the prison of this station, as can be easily seen from our quarters."
Nora looks at him surprised. She still can't believe it. But she doesn't forget the second question either.
"Why did he say Earth was just the planet you grew up on?"
My gaze lowers to the ground despondently. It's a topic I'd rather have avoided, and it even confuses Moriphos. Even he looks at me questioningly, curious about what I'll reply.
But it's a question where I don't even need to lie.
"It seems my family is not from Earth," I shrug. "At least, my mother isn't, but my father." I shake my head and look back at her. Tears well up in my eyes as I think about the past. "I don't know."
Moriphos grabs my arm. With some pressure, he indicates for me to follow him. Nora and I follow him to a somewhat secluded corner where I lean against the wall. My hand goes to my eyes, wiping away a few tears.
"A few days ago on my birthday, everything was fine. My only worry was the contract with my agent. And then I find out my mother isn't from this planet, and my neighbor is abducted in front of my eyes. Now I'm here with you guys." My gaze drifts to the ceiling. A sigh escapes my throat. "No idea where I even come from. I still don't know who my parents really are. And who I am."
A hand rests on my shoulder. Both Moriphos and Nora look at me. Nora wraps her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into her embrace.
"Hey, we won't let ourselves be beaten down! Somehow, we'll surely make it out of here."
That she's the one trying to cheer me up, I wouldn't have believed a few days ago.
"I'll look after both of you, and if I manage to escape somehow, you'll come with me," Moriphos says. His gaze, filled with anger, goes to the guards. "I'll think of something!"
"Pretty big talk for a failure like you!" suddenly a voice rings out.
A group of prisoners has come to us, sending a shiver down my spine, not just mine. Nora looks anxiously at them, especially at a man who seems familiar to her. Her cell neighbor. That sleazy guy who's thrown a few interested glances at the young girl.
These guys don't look like they want to have a nice chat with us. Moriphos seems to think the same as I do. He looks suspiciously at the group and instructs us to stand behind him.
"Nice company you're in," the guy calls out, licking his lips.
It disgusts me.
"Thanks!" Moriphos replies. "Better than the guys with you!"
It doesn't just look like trouble for us.
My gaze goes to the guards and settles on one of them, to whom we already owe our lives that day.
His hand runs through his black hair. The beautiful hazel eyes look concerned at us. His comrades, on the other hand, pay little attention to what's happening and prefer to chat.
As my gaze returns to the group, I see metal flashing in their hands. Each of the guys has pulled out a knife.
Immediately, Moriphos positions himself protectively in front of us.
"Try to get to the guards!" he shouts at me.
"You don't mind us borrowing the girls for a bit, do you?" one of the guys says, licking his tongue over the knife in his hands.