“Don’t do this, Nova.” Blaze whispered as he grabbed Nova’s arm. She looked into his eyes smiling.

“This is what I need to do, Blaze. I won't give up.”

Blaze shook his head. “No they’ll kill you, they’ll take you from me.” He felt tears falling from his eyes. “They’ll take you away, like my parents and like all the other prisoners.”

Nova shook her head. “Goodbye, Blaze.” And then she ran out of the cell and into the hall. Blaze rushed after her, not wanting to let her get killed.

But each of his steps felt harder and harder to take and he was getting dangerously behind. An overseer came out of the shadows, his vines swirling around in the air. He grabbed Nova as Blaze yelled out at him to stop but he was too far behind.

The Overseer sent his vines straight through Nova’s chest and through her eyes just like how Greg had been killed. Blaze cried out as he saw Nova’s limp body fall to the floor.

Blaze wept looking at Nova who had blood blood seeping out of where her eyes were meant to be.

Then the scene changed and Nova was in front of him with vines for eyes yelling at him. “It’s all your fault! You didn’t help me, Blaze!”

“I tried!” Blaze responded, crying harder now.

“You didn’t try hard enough!” She screamed at him. “You were the one who killed me, Blaze!”

“No!” Blaze yelled over and over trying his best not to look at Nova and her vine eyes as he slowly woke up from the dream.

Blaze was sweating and breathing hard. He felt his bunk also soaked with his sweat and he turned to see Nova watching him with a worried expression.

“Are you okay?” She asked. “I heard you yelling. Moira said this was normal but I couldn’t help but check on you.”

“I’m fine.” Blaze gasped for air. “Just a dream.”

“What happened?”

They looked at each other's eyes for a while and Blaze shook his head. “I’ll tell you tonight, right now we need to get to work or the next whipping day will be even worse.”

Nova nodded and they left to make more armor.

It seemed the day had gone by slowly for Moira as she sat down at the table to eat her food with all the other prisoners

Moira and the others dug into their food starving, but Blaze just stared at his silently. He sighed and stood up excusing himself. Nova watched him go curious. She jumped up to follow him but Moira grabbed her arm to stop her.

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“Don’t go.” She said, “When Blaze is like this there’s a good chance he’ll lash out and yell at you. I don’t blame him either with all the stuff he’s been through. I’m surprised he doesn’t lash out everyday.”

Lily nodded. “He’s quite the man. He came here when he was eleven and is still alive and well. No one else has been here for that long. The greatest part is he’s always been kind to all of us.”

Axel chuckled. “But you have to admit he’s been a bit more kind to Nova!” He winked at Ash. “And I think I know why.”

Lily smacked her brother on the head. “Stop that, Axel! It’s not his fault he likes Nova!”

Nova blushed at this and lowered her head so that no one else would notice how red her face was. “So, what do you think happened to him today?” Nova asked Moira, changing the conversation.

“He’s probably been thinking about his parents or Greg.” Moira sighed. “He thinks more about other people than himself. Come to think of it, I don’t know why he fights every Arena Day.”

Nova stared at the cell where Blaze had gone and wondered what was really going on.

The day had dragged along and finally Blaze could rest. He lay on his bunk staring off at the roof, closing his eyes ready to fall asleep.

“Hey, Blaze! Don’t tell me you're asleep.” A voice spoke from behind him.

Blaze jumped and opened his eyes to see Nova with an eyebrow raised. “What are you doing here?”

“You told me you’d tell me what was going on!” She stared at him accusingly.

Blaze groaned. “I forgot.” He sat up and motioned for her to sit next to him. When she did he spoke up, “Remember our conversation, Nova?”

“Which one.”

“Death.” Blaze sighed and stayed silent for a while staring at the wall. “I’ve seen so many people die. It’s horrible.” He looked deep into Nova’s eyes. “The thing is, when I first came to this prison, I hated everyone.

There was this one man, Anders, who took me in and helped me out. I yelled at him and told him to leave me alone. I said I didn’t need help.” Blaze closed his eyes, reliving a memory long left in the past. “The next day was Arena Day. Anders told me all about it, but I was still angry at the entire world for my parent’s death. I said I hoped he was the one who died.” He took a deep breath in. “And guess what, a few minutes later he was on the floor covered in blood. ”

“Is that what you were dreaming about?” Nova asked.

“No.” Blaze shook his head slowly. “Last night we talked again. You said you wanted to escape.” Blaze’s lip trembled. “I dreamed I’d lose you, Nova. I fear that you’ll die before I even get to know you, just like it was with Anders.”

Nova placed her hand on his cheek making him look at her. “I’m sorry, Blaze. But that’s exactly why I need to leave.”

“What?” Blaze yelled.

“If I stay here, I’ll die in the arena anyway.”

“That’s not true, I can protect you.”

“What about the others? Are you just gonna let them die? Do you want to see them on the ground covered in blood like your parents, like Anders…Like Greg?”

Blaze looked at her. “I don’t know.” He took a deep breath. He thought about what she had said and slowly he realized she was right. He couldn’t keep living like this. The same thing over and over.

“Just promise me one thing, Nova.” Blaze said.

“What?”

“Don’t do anything stupid without asking me first.” Blaze grinned at Nova, who nodded.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep you updated.”