When Arrakis and Lena entered Boreas' atmosphere at long last, their ship hovered above the great oceans like a plane, before reaching its final destination. 

A giant blue planet, covered with water and scattered islands of ice and snow. Its northern pole obtained its broadest landmass, with the mountains of Thrake and Boreas' capital, Payden; a puny town, discernible only by brown spots dispersed throughout the valley. Those brown spots were wooden roofs of the houses that mastered the immense pressure of the surrounding snow masses, and its occupants even used the snow to their advantage as isolation against the cold.

All these days, Lena had pondered about Finn's reasoning to go to Boreas. It seemed absurd and illogical unless it was true that he had read the hard drive's information in her absence. She nearly broke her head to find another explanation, because this one would mean that Finn cared nothing for her life. 

She leaned towards the thought that her expectations of Finn saving her on Pluviam was self-centered and naive. After all, they had met only a couple of days prior to the events on Demeter. Be that as it may, recognizing the disappointment her ego held had little to no influence on her thought process.

"Give me your hands," said Arrakis when they came close to the coast. The waves looked wild and vigorous.

The kidnapper and his hostage were seated next to each other. Lena moved her arms over to his seat, so he could tie them once more. The knot was tight and ripped open some of her healed wounds. Her teeth clenched.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said sarcastically, "is it too tight?"

"A little," said Lena.

Arrakis pulled the ropes to tighten it more, nearly cutting off her blood circulation.

"Better?"

Lena avoided eye contact and kept to herself.

"Hey gull! I asked you a question."

"You're a goon," she mumbled.

"What!" Arrakis roared with laughter. "Did you just call me a goon? You're hilarious. And brave. Or dumb? Wait a second! Do you want me to hit you? No, not even you could be that stupid."

He touched the screen to read a message from somebody named Yurie.

"Do you see that message? It's about Phineas. Don't be shy, read it."

"Hey 'Kis," began Lena to read, without imitating the cheerful undertone intended by the writer, "I finally saw that kid with the white hair in our village again. He bought food from my shop. Don't worry, I didn't tell him that you're coming for him, but his eyes kept orbiting the area as if he were expecting someone. Strange kid, but very sweet and good looking, if I may say so myself. Anyway, can't wait to see you soon."

"Tell me, gull, are you as happy as I am? You get to see your mold-head of a friend one last time, and I get to finally shoot him. It's going to be a good day."

"What? You want to kill him? What if he gives you the hard drive?"

"It's too late for that. He already knows too much."

"You can't shoot him!"

"Oh yeah? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"Because it would make you a monster!"

Lena noticed something odd in the change of his facial expression, but couldn't pinpoint what it was. It was as if her words hit him differently than any other words could have. He seemed calm and looked down now.

"In case you haven't realized it yet; I already am a monster." Arrakis looked sad, but whatever it was he felt passed in a heartbeat. He brought back his vicious smile. "Loverboy is somewhere down there, and as soon as I see him, he's a dead man."

With her hands remaining tied, Lena jumped up and threw herself between Arrakis and the controls of the ship. Since it functioned manually, the ship became unsteady and began to steer towards the ocean.

"Are you crazy?" he yelled, trying to push her away. "Get off of me!"

"I won't let you kill him!"

If they reached the coast, Finn was going to die, and Lena was aware of that tragic fortune. She tried to prevent the ship from landing, knowing that she could not distract Arrakis for much longer than a minute.

"I'm so going to kill you!" threatened Arrakis, while struggling to steer the ship and fight Lena at the same time.

She reached for a heavy handle to unlock the door that sealed them from the freezing outside. Arrakis' elbow rammed her rips, but she managed to pull the handle and let the door next to him fall wide open. A chilling wind charged the space within the ship. 

Arrakis brought the plane-like vehicle to a halt at a parallel distance to the sea beneath. The sudden break caused Lena's back to clash against the front shield.

"Have you lost your mind?" While staying seated, he bent forward, outside, to grab the hanging door. The wind was brisk and hauling. "You almost killed us!" he said once his hand had reached the handle.

Lena hurled herself against his shoulder, causing him to drop forward and out of his chair. His hands clung to the sharp margin and let his body dangle down in the air.

"Pull me up!"

"Sorry, my hands are tied!" Lena moved over to his seat to get a closer look at her desperate fiend. He was powerless and in undeniable danger. "By the way, has your mother never taught you that you don't hit girls?"

Her foot stomped on his fingers. He let go with one hand and suppressed a yawp. Her foot swung out to trample his second hand, but he snatched her boot and pulled her leg down. Force and brawn could not hold for long. She was dragged down by his weight and could not shake him off.

"Pull me up, or we'll both die!"

Her two greatest fears, right beneath her. One more daunting than the other. The ocean's waves battered untamed and aggressively, scaring every bone in her body. She fought with bravery until her muscles gave in. 

Lena was faced with a choice between saving Finn by letting herself be pulled into death, and saving herself by saving Arrakis. Either way, Arrakis had no mercy, and he was more than likely to shoot her once he made it to safety. Her fate was decided. For Finn, she thought, it was worth dying. 

She let go and fell with Arrakis a distance of four stories until both broke through the glacial water and got eaten by the tempestuous waves that ruled the sea.

Lena gasped after having surfaced and tried to keep her head up, but the ocean pulled her back, grabbed her, and stuffed her underwater. She had never acquired the skill of swimming and sank into the darkness that swallowed her body. 

The current created a deadly trial, and the rope on her arms added to the fatal strain. She continued to sink, deeper and deeper until her ears popped, and her lungs burned. Determined, she held her breath to her best ability but was desperate for that sweet taste of oxygen. She had not used her last breath wisely, for she had simply shouted mindlessly. 

She kicked her feet as if trying to run from the water. It ended in failure. More pressure was put on her lungs when her legs spasmed violently. Her body turned and twisted without restraint. Her eyes were wide open, yet she couldn't see Arrakis and lost her orientation, and soon she lost herself. 

At this point, she didn't know what direction she was falling towards, as all she could see was blurry darkness. The water was piercingly cold, but the adrenaline racing through her body cooked her veins and burned like lava.

A mix of grievous panic and mortal hope filled her head in synchrony to the salty water filling her lungs. She had given in and taken one deep involuntary breath. 

She was angry, sad, and petrified, but more than anything, she was sorry. She settled on that, hoping that through her sacrifice her spirit could be carried on to the people she had yet to apologize to. Her mother, Finn, and even Arrakis. Then, her anger, sorrow, and fear, it all went away, and lastly soothed her regrets.

Her body became calm, and her vision more blurry. She saw the rays of the sun breaching the surface and fading away before touching her. She was okay with that. It was then that she accepted her end, and as brave as she was, her fight was over. 

She smiled at the light in the distance before her eyes fully closed. One wish lasted in her soul; she wanted to hold a star, as a tribute for Finn, once she became stardust. 

No sooner had she completed her wish than something touching her hand. She felt a jolt, then everything went black and impalpable.