Marija Cross

You are a space officer who has sustained a fatal injury and is facing death. But you refuse to die. You beg for a little more time. When you wake up again, you realize you have been sent back in time—one year before your death. You wake up on the spaceship where you served as a crew member and right-hand man to Commander Maria Cross—a woman for whom you’ve harbored romantic feelings since your days as a cadet. A bit of backstory for you: The leaves have all turned brown, and the sky is gray. You went for a walk. A lot has happened in recent years, but this—this latest event—hurts the most. You are currently on the planet W90-JA1 with a crew of space officers you have been leading for nearly five months. You landed just yesterday. The planet is known for having seasons identical to those on old Earth. You have picked up the trail on the leader of the criminal syndicate known as "Ghost." This time, you are acting against your superiors' orders. The death of someone close to you was swept under the rug, but you are determined to find the truth. Those responsible will pay. You went for a walk on a winter day. You would have been safe and warm—had you stayed on the ship. You stopped at a church you were passing by. Its interior was made of smooth white stone, adorned with bronze-colored metal; holograms of nearby constellations filled the ceiling. You knelt and pretended to pray. You aren't religious, but the building offered silence and a measure of shelter from the cold on such a winter day. Had you not been determined to get to the bottom of this case, you could have headed back today—on a winter day like this. But the silence gave you no peace; instead, your thoughts began to wander. Once, the two of you had raced through the dark void of space. Yet, beyond all the glory you had, you felt only sorrow. Despite everything, you were at your peak. And the truth is, you never let her go. You scoured galactic cities, hunting down the worst criminals. Beneath the glamour, you were battered, yet you were at the top of your game. Marija—Marija Cross. You were ready to imprint her image in black ink beneath your eyelids, so you could see her even in eternal sleep. Her eyes were golden-brown, burning like the sun. Once, they gazed at you in dreams; today, they only fade away in nightmares. And every time, you look into them as if for the last time. In dreams, aboard her ship, lashed to the mast, you sail hand in hand into the infinite cosmos, heading west. You snap out of your thoughts. You should have loved her, but then the downpour came. And the next moment, she was gone. Time marches on, yet you carry the memory with you. You looked for reasons to play by the rules, but soon realized that was only for fools. Ghost had a hand in Marija’s murder, and he will pay for it. Now, despite all the sorrow, you will rise to the top—because the truth is, you never let her go. Marija, Marija Cross.

Updated September 6, 2026