Traversing through the darkness felt endless. He knew there was a direction and an end, but it felt like a myth. The more he descended the stairs, the darker the area became. It was cold and dingy; a type of atmosphere he did not like. He could not see, so he wasn’t even confident with the steps he took. He pressed his earring to let the hologram screen appear, but it only gave minimal lighting.

“No flashlight?” Nova inquired.

“I lost it.”

Nova then reached his hand out. Arcturus wasn’t the biggest fan of skin contact, especially with a stranger; he could not afford to be picky in this situation. He turned off the screen and then held onto his hand. In addition to being cold, Nova’s hand was dry and bony. He had a strong grip, despite his thin limbs. He could tell Nova was a lot stronger than he looked and wondered what sort of work he had done to maintain such a hand. He even wondered if Nova was really a proclaimed wanderer.

Nova abruptly stopped. Arcturus immediately felt a flat surface underneath the soles of his boots and knew they had just finished descending the staircase; he realized he did not focus on how long they were for he was too fixated on Nova’s hand. Darkness still shrouded them. There was no exit in sight. Uneasiness came to him when he felt Nova’s hand pulling away from his.

The silence and the enclosed space around him slowly exposed a sense of vulnerability within him. Being trapped in this abyss made him feel weak; it was as if he couldn’t move. He hated it.

“Are we trapped?” Arcturus sputtered.

“Nope. There’s just a special way to open this hidden door.” A rectangular hole bursted out of the void as soon as Nova finished his sentence.

Arcturus gaped as he approached the light. He looked down to see a rectangular portion of the wall on the floor. He wondered if it really was a door. “Wow.”

When he turned to look at Nova, he had his hands behind his back. “See? There is a special way.” He got out of the darkness and into the light.

While Arcturus was impressed, the sense of relief was temporary. His ears perked up at an unusual sound. It was a mechanical sound. He placed his left wrist to his ear. His bangle was not acting erratic.

“What’s wrong?”

“I hear something weird. It’s gradually getting louder.”

“What does it sound like?”

“Like a machine…”

Nova’s face contorted into anger as he rushed out. It made Arcturus worry. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re coming…”

“Who? What?”

“Them.”

“Elaborate?”

Before Nova could explain, Arcturus saw a wolf approaching them. “Watch out!” He yelled as he pulled Nova towards him to protect him from its lunging attack. When it had landed on the surface, Arcturus noticed a dangling red earring on its left ear.

“A Shiftie? What’s a Shiftie doing here?”

Remembering the mechanical bat from earlier, he knew that this island was not inhabited by animals. Instead, there were mechanical animals. Mechanical animals meant there were humans residing on this island. “There are people living on this island?”

“I’ll explain later. First, we need to get rid of this pest.” Nova remarked as he lunged towards the wolf. It dodged his attack. When it lunged towards him again, Arcturus dashed, jumped and used all of his leg strength to kick the wolf across the hall until it was no longer in his field of vision. He was surprised he still had strength to land a powerful kick; he hadn’t had a proper meal in a while.

Nova gawked at what happened. “Wow. Plasmians really are strong.”

“If you can’t fight then don’t try to fight!”

Nova looked offended. “Excuse me? I can fight!” He turned around to where the wolf had been flung and bent down to place his hands on the surface. Arcturus noticed his right hand had lavender scales instead of human skin. The interior started vibrating as the walls started shifting around. The hallway they were on became blocked with the path behind them being their only way around.

“What just happened?” Arcturus was baffled about what he had witnessed.

“I moved the structure of the castle around so that these pests won’t find me.”

“Why are Combat Shifties after you? Did you do something to piss off the government?”

Nova stopped him from asking further questions by shoving his hand in front of his face. The lavender scaled hand reverted back into a human hand; Arcturus noticed a flower marking on the palm of his hand.

“First off, these robotic creatures that keep attacking me are called Shifties?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me more about them.”

“Shifties are like advanced androids of sorts. They look like enlarged animals but can shift from animals to humans, hence why they are called Shfities.”

Nova looked baffled. “Hold on, they can change into humans?”

“You didn’t know?”

“I haven’t left this place in twenty years. I’m not up to date on society.” He averted his gaze out of embarrassment.

“Twenty years? What?”

Nova quickly made eye contact and blurted out, “I’m twenty years old! How about you, Arcturus?”

“I’m also twenty.” Arcturus found it hard to believe Nova was twenty. Nova looked much younger than him; he could pass for sixteen or eighteen at best. He could also tell there was more to him than meets the eye; he knew too little to probe deeper.

“Wow! You’re so tall and handsome despite being the same age as me! I always had a weak constitution, so I grew up frail. I wear thick sweaters to hide how slender I am. It’s a bit of a complex I have.”

Arcturus could definitely tell Nova was shielding himself with a farce. Nova was terrible at being subtle. This was not the information he needed from him. Instead, he asked, “Was Castle Lavender always a place that could shift its interior?”

“Yes.”

“How are you able to do it? Is there a mechanism that shifts the walls?”

Nova quickly zipped past him. “Let’s proceed. If we keep talking here, Shifties will find us.”

“Wait, there are more of them here?” Arcturus concluded he wouldn’t get proper answers from this man, so he decided to go along with his pace. Nova had his secrets and he had his own.

“Yes. I can detect their presence. Four of them are here.”

Arcturus gulped. He wondered if he was strong enough to be able to fend off against four Shifties. When Nova resumed walking, Arcturus attempted to follow him, but an unusual dizziness came to him. He staggered and knelt down. His body felt very weak. He wondered if it was due to using up a lot of strength to kick the Shiftie from before. He started fretting about his own condition; he just hoped he wasn’t dying. A soft grumbling noise caught his attention; it came from his own body—a sign that he was hungry. He placed a hand to his head and sighed with relief.

“What’s the matter?” Nova asked with a worried look.

“I must have used up a lot of my energy for that kick. I’m hungry. I haven’t had anything proper to eat in months.”

“And you’re still alive?”

“My Plasmian blood helps me keep alive.”

Other than hair colors, the three nationalities also unique genetic traits that made them stand out from each other. Because of their intelligence, Laminans were physically lacking compared to the other two. Ilacians were the fastest race, thus the most athletic; their intelligience were rather poor, however, for they happened to be more quick-witted than academically gifted. They were also the race that had the longest lifespan for they knew how to live on and survive the quickest out of the three; an Ilacian’s true lifespan was unknown, but some have lived over a century. Plasmians were the strongest race but the slowest; despite their strength, they had the shortest lifespan of the three, given how fast they heal; their healing factor was due to using up their strength to speed up their recovery. Given their mortality rate, pureblooded Plasmians were considered very rare in modern times for they chose to dilute their blood to survive longer; Arcturus was one such result.

“That would mean you’re draining your own lifespan to keep yourself alive.” Nova muttered.

“It’s a risky choice that I have to make. Even if it means dying earlier than my family and friends…” A sense of disappointment came to him. He was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to live for a long time. He wasn’t sure how much time he had left right now.

“Aren’t you afraid of dying so early?”

“I’m fine as long as I accomplish my goal…” He noticed Nova staring straight into his eyes, as if he was staring straight into his soul.

“Is finding Souhait all that matters to you?”

“Yes. I chose to walk a path I cannot turn back from. I sacrificed a lot to get there. I had to leave my family, friends and an education behind in Lamina. I got betrayed by the people I was traveling with and I lost a dear friend while doing so. As the only survivor of that ordeal, all I can do is keep going. That’s what he wanted me to do; it’s what I have to do. I cannot turn back now. That would mean besmirching his sacrifice.” He started fidgeting with his earring.

Unwanted thoughts came to him, causing unwarranted negative emotions. His free hand rummaged into his satchel as he got out his journal. Taking a deep breath, he yelled, “Negative thoughts, begone!” He smacked himself with the book. The force he felt caused him to focus more on the pain.

Nova was confused about his actions. “What did you just do?” He asked.

“This is something I do when I think too much to the point of recalling bad memories. I can’t think about negativity right now. I have to keep going…I have to keep…”

He found it hard to kneel. He found himself groveling onto the cold surface. His body felt light like he was empty inside. He tried getting up, but the strength on his legs gave out.

Nova placed a hand onto his shoulder. “Stay here. I’ll go get you some food.” He scurried and disappeared when he turned to a corner.

Arcturus wondered if it was right to trust Nova with food. Where would it come from? Was it safe to eat? Uneasiness barged in once again. What if this was all a ploy? What if Nova’s true intent was to abandon him? He wanted to get up, but all strength in his body diminished.

“I made it this far. I can’t die. I don’t want to die.” He whispered as he closed his eyes. He thought he’d be content with dying, but after telling Nova all the words he had bottled up, dying was no longer an option. He needed to keep going; he wanted to keep going.

“If you don’t want to die, you could’ve said so.” Nova remarked.

When Arcturus opened his eyes, Nova had two small fruits on each hand. He knelt down and handed Arcturus one. “Here you go. This is an Ilacian exclusive fruit, a Purapple.” 

Arcturus had heard of a Purapple before. They were purple apples that could only be found in specific parts of Ilacier. It was an extremely rare fruit highly sought out by gourmets all around the world. He wondered how Nova could obtain such a fruit on an isolated land like Eternally.

“Thanks…”

When Nova smiled, Arcturus felt his heart stirring. Unlike the other times he had seen Nova’s smiles, the one he had right now felt genuine. It was a dazzling warm smile that could pierce the hardest of souls. He found the way his lavender eyes sparkled while smiling mesmerizing; it was like seeing stars in a lavender colored sky.

He took a bite out of the fruit. It was a lot sweeter than a regular tart apple. While the taste had reminded him of a watermelon, the meat of the fruit was a lot crisper than a melon. He felt his strength returning. However, a purapple was small; eating one wasn’t enough to sustain him fully.

Nova did not take a bite out of his fruit. Instead, he handed the second one to him. Arcturus refused. “You should eat it.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“But—”

“I insist.” He had a firm tone.

Although reluctant, he respected Nova’s decision. He received the second fruit and consumed it. Eating two made him revitalized. He stood up. He felt energetic to move around and take on any adversity that came his way.

Nova chuckled. “It seems you got your strength back.”

“I did!”

“Well then, there’s something that I always wanted to say when you came here.” With a wide smile plastered on his face, he took a few steps forward and then turned around with his arms spread out.

“Welcome to Castle Lavender, the ruined castle of ice!”