The ominous epithet did not instill fear in Arcturus at all; instead, he felt excitement. He was ready to explore this castle and to prove Souhait’s existence. His heart started racing at the thought of meeting the dragon of lore. There were so many things he wanted to ask that he wasn’t sure if he could even do so if he were in Souhait’s presence.

His excitement has caused his foot to slip against the ice, causing him to fall back and land on his bottom. He winced at the pain he felt on his tailbone. He then heard soft, muffled laughter coming from Nova.

Arcturus grumbled. “It’s not good to laugh at another’s suffering.”

“I’m sorry. It was that the expression you made when you slipped was hilarious.”

“Ha, ha, very funny.” He mocked as he stood up to straighten his clothes. “I thought I walked fine in the previous room, so why is it that this place is slippery?”

“It’s designed that way to ward off intruders–specifically those Shifties.”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen another one. You said there were multiple.”

“They’re all trapped somewhere in this castle. We have to be prepared. Once I move around the walls, some of them could pop up.”

Arcturus flexed his arms. He felt fine enough to know he could defend himself. However, the walls still nagged at him; Nova had dodged his question before. Would he give him a proper answer this time?

He asked again, “How is it that you can move around these walls? Is there some sort of mechanism?”

Nova became quiet. He blinked at him. “I’ll take you to the throne room! Follow me!”

He dodged my question again. Nova was full of mysteries, but Arcturus could tell he refused to tell him anything because of the lack of trust between them. It was understandable; they just met. They were strangers that only knew each other’s names. It did not mean Nova was inherently bad. Just by instincts, Arcturus could tell Nova was not a bad person at all.

That was why he abided by Nova's words and followed him. The excitement he had a moment ago returned. His heart started pounding; he couldn’t wait to venture further into the mysterious ruined castle of ice.

His wandering eyes scanned his surroundings once they started walking. Castle Lavender was fascinating, but the interior was rather simplistic. Nothing in this place was decorated. It was the same lavender ice walls and floor with a few turns.  He only saw the same walls and corridors. Looking closely at the walls, they lacked slits for them to shift around in.. How Nova was able to move around the walls kept nagging at him.

“There’s nothing much to see, right?” Nova asked.

Arcturus became surprised with the sudden question. It was as if Nova had read his mind. “I’m sure there are reasons for the interior being this way.”

“Well, it’s to trap intruders.”

“Why would anyone build a castle like this?”

Nova suddenly stopped. Worry barged into Arcturus’s mind. He felt like his words just now had been insensitive. Before he could apologize, Nova turned to look at Arcturus with a smile.

“Don’t worry, we’ll see something amazing if we keep going.”

Arcturus knew he meant the throne room. If it truly was amazing, he needed to persevere and be patient. He could tell from Nova’s expression that it is a sight to behold.

Once they resumed, a sense of doubt came to him. The interior all looked the same. The walls and floor look pristine. It was hard to tell if this place truly was ruined. He immediately halted. Anxious thoughts came to him; he worried about going around in circles. His doubts towards Nova accumulated.

Nova seemed to have sensed his worries, so he stopped and turned around. “What’s the matter?”

“We’re…not going around in circles, are we? This wall on my left is not the same one we’ve been passing by, right?” He placed a hand onto the wall, just to reassure that he wasn’t hallucinating.

“Every hallway we pass by is a different one.”

“How can you tell?”

“Just trust me.”

That was the only solution he had. He needed to trust this mysterious man. Silence came between them as they resumed walking. After a few more turns at corners, they had reached a dead end.

“Is this the throne room?” Arcturus inquired.

“No, we’re still quite a distance away. We need to take this path to proceed. It’s blocked, but I can fix it.” Nova approached the wall and placed his hands on it.

Arcturus saw Nova’s hands transform from human skin to lavender scales as the walls started shifting, even the one in front of him. The area behind Arcturus became blocked.

Arcturus instinctively grabbed Nova’s hand. The scales were still present; Nova’s hand felt dry and scaly, almost reptilian in a way. “What’s with these scales? Why are they on you? How do they appear?” Inspecting closer, he saw sharp talon-like nails. He was even more fascinated.

Nova responded by pulling back his hand and hiding both behind his back. He had an uncomfortable expression. Arcturus realized what he had done was insensitive, even more than the careless words he had said about the castle’s interiors earlier. “S-sorry. I got a bit touchy there.”

Nova shook his head. “No, it’s fine to be touchy. I usually don’t mind. I just don’t like having attention on my hands…”

“I’ll try not to fixate on your hands, then.”

“Thank you.”

The meek smile Nova had disappeared as his expression hardened. He was on his guard. Arcturus knew what it meant: a Shiftie was on its way towards him.

“Can’t you shift the walls to block the Shiftie?”

“There are several here. I can’t keep tabs on all of them. We also need to proceed.”

Arcturus sighed as he summoned a knife; this time, he materialized not a throwing knife but an actual dagger.  He gripped it tight to prepare himself for the incoming danger looming towards them. As Nova predicted, a wolf Shiftie lunged towards them. While Arcturus had assumed it was the same one as before, he quickly dismissed the thought once he saw the earring on its right ear; the previous wolf Shiftie had its earring on the opposite ear. This Shiftie is female, then.

He instinctively lunged towards Nova to guard him. They both collided towards the ground, but it did help them avoid the Shiftie’s attack.

“Watch out, this one is stronger than the one we faced before.” Arcturus remarked.

“How do you know?” Nova asked, exasperated.

“Shifties with earrings indicate their gender. If they have it on their left, they’re male; right is female. Female Shfities are stronger than males.”

“Are we in trouble?”

“We won’t be if we work together.”

The wolf Shiftie prepared herself for another attack. Arcturus pointed his knife towards the enemy. “Nova, a Shiftie’s weak point is the earring. A Shiftie’s earring is their core; removing it or breaking it will defeat them.”

“Got it.”

When the Shiftie lunged, Arcturus braced himself to counterattack, but a long lavender appendage-like object appeared from behind; its strength knocked the Shiftie towards the wall. Once she collided with the wall, her earring fell off and cracked, rendering her immobile. Arcturus saw the shiny black eyes become dull; seeing a live, mechanical creature lose its life so quickly made Arcturus pity it. 

However, he mainly focused on the sighting of the unusual appendage. He turned around to see that it belonged to Nova. The appendage was actually a long tail–an extremely long one. It had lavender scales like Nova’s hands. It was longer than Nova’s entire body, but he seemed to have good control over it.

The way Nova’s confidence radiated with the use of the tail made Arcturus’s heart skip a beat; he liked it especially with the way Nova’s eyes glimmered underneath the light of the hall.  “So, you can fight.”

“I never said I couldn’t.”

“If you don’t mind me asking: What are you, exactly?”

Nova averted his gaze from his briefly before he made eye contact with him. “Since you asked politely, I’ll tell you. I am…no…” With a grin ear to ear, Nova placed his right hand to his chest.

“We are Souhait.”

Air flew into Arcturus’s  head as he processed Nova’s words. He then started thinking. He first recalled the first instance he had heard of Souhait. The tale of Souhait had been a story that Plasmians revered. When he had lived in Plasma, his parents would always read stories about Souhait to him and Ariel. It had ignited a passion that caused him to be where he is now.

What he knew about the story was that the world was created from lavender dragons wishing for a home. When the dragons left, Souhait stayed and became the world’s protector. What he did not know was that Souhait had a human form; no source material indicated this as truth.

He looked at Nova straight in the eye. He did not look like he was lying; he wondered what would compel Nova to lie to him. However, he couldn’t help but to be skeptical. He took a deep breath and crossed his arms on his chest.

“I don’t believe you.”

Nova’s expression contorted into a very shocked one. He gasped while gaping as he fell onto his knees dramatically. “Impossible. There is someone who does not believe in my words?” Nova’s reaction did leave some guilt in Arcturus’s heart, but he was still firm with what he had said.

Nova was in disbelief. He stood up. “How could you see this tail and say stuff like that? Aren’t you someone who came here hoping to find the truth?”

Nova indeed had unusual abilities. The tail was indeed lavender like the dragons of lore, but for all he could tell, it could be an illusion.

“Indeed I am.”

“Then, believe me!”

Arcturus’s anger increased. To him, it felt like Nova was besmirching the lore and its believers. “How can I believe in such crap? You sound like a quack.”

Nova pouted. “How rude! I am a human, not a duck!”

Arcturus raised an eyebrow at Nova’s response. “I meant quack as in a fraud, not the sound a duck makes!”

“I am no fraud! Why don’t you believe me? I am not lying! In fact, I never lie!”

While Nova was stubborn, Arcturus did commend the man for sticking to his beliefs without faltering. He responded, “Because the story was about dragons. There is nothing in the story about a human man granting wishes. How can I believe you?”

Nova became silent as he pondered Arcturus’s words. “That…makes logical sense.” He was still upset, however. He quickly put his tail back into his body and then grabbed Arcturus’s hand.

“If words cannot convince you, I’ll just have to show you!”