Abruptly, Arcturus found himself moving his legs at an impossible speed; Nova was doing the same. It was as if they were running at an extremely fast pace. The scenery around him had fast-forwarded like a film cassette. In a blink of an eye, they were in a room completely different from what he had seen previously. The room was wide–the widest he had seen. There was nothing in the room other than a throne-like chair. Nova sealed the door shut with his scaled hands.

“What is this place?” Arcturus asked.

“This is the throne room.” Nova responded.

“There’s nothing much to look at other than this throne.” He felt rather disappointed.

“Yes.”

“The hallways and corridors were also nothing much to look at too. They all looked the same.”

“Yes.”

Frustration builded up within him. “What the hell? Who would build a place like this?” He gripped his head on both sides to prevent himself from exploding.

“We did.” Nova coyly raised his hand as he gave Arcturus a mischievous smile.

There he goes again with his ‘we’ nonsense. He cautiously asked, “Why would you do that?”

With a crooked grin he suddenly had, Nova retorted, “To throw off intruders, of course! I love giving them a sense of hopelessness and then seeing them either give up or keep going. It’s exciting.” He had an exhilarated expression with a flushed face.

Arcturus became exasperated. He concluded that Nova was rather insane beneath his pretty face. Nova wiped the drool off the face after Arcturus had pointed it out.

“How unsightly of me. I apologize.”

“You’re fine…” Arcturus hoped he was.

Nova smiled. “Anyways, if you’re unimpressed with how the throne room looks. I hope you reconsider once you see this.” He walked towards the throne and sat down. When he closed his eyes, the room started shaking.

The edges of the floor started sinking in. The rumbling stopped briefly before resuming again. When the floor became whole, Arcturus’s eyes widened. The previously empty room now became adorned with various ice sculptures.

They fascinated Arcturus. He took a good look at them. The first two that caught his attention were of two reptilian creatures; one had a serpentine body and the other had a beastly one. The serpentine creature had a long body with short limbs, long claws, and whiskers; the beastly creature had a stocky body with long limbs, short claws, wings and horns.

Just from a first glance Arcturus knew what these two creatures were. “These are the dragons from Souhait’s Lore!” He pointed to the serpentine dragon. “That’s Souhait!” He then pointed to the beastly dragon. “That is one of his brethren!”

Nova opened his eyes. He hummed in amusement. “You sure know your stuff.” He stood up and walked away from the throne in order to approach Arcturus.

Arcturus, with overwhelming confidence, cleared his throat. He recited, “Long ago, roaming lavender-colored dragons once inhabited the universe. They traversed through many worlds to find a place they called home. Every planet they went to did not accept them for they already had rules and people. After soaring through the universe, they eventually found a barren planet. They made a wish for the planet to become their home. The wasteland flourished with nature, and some pieces of land cracked and became their own separate land. They named their new home Terrenter.”

A sense of shyness surged within him. He had hoped he wasn’t being too passionate about the lore. He took a glance at Nova. He became shocked when he saw Nova shed a tear. “Are you okay?” He couldn’t help but to worry.

“I’m okay…?” It seemed that Nova wasn’t aware that he was crying. Nova’s lavender eyes sparkled when shedding tears; it was like seeing a reflection of a starry sky in a pool of water.

Arcturus reached a hand out and wiped Nova’s tears with his fingers. Nova realized what had happened. “I’m crying?” Nova proceeded to wipe his own tears.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m fine, really. I think hearing you recite those words and sensing your love and passion for the lore warmed this frozen heart of mine. It’s been such a long time since I have last seen someone be so passionate about it.” Arcturus could hear how gentle his words were.

Nova is very enigmatic. One moment, he is flighty and likes to dodge my questions. In a flash, he becomes a vulnerable soul. I want to get to know him more. Why is he in this castle? How long has he been here? Will there be a day where he will open up to me completely?

A sense of humility came to Arcturus as he muttered, “I’ve been told I am good at memorization. It’s nothing special.”

“Arcturus, can I ask you something?” Nova asked. He was no longer shedding tears, but Arcturus could see the redness around his eyes.

“Sure.”

“How much do you know?”

Arcturus felt a chill down his spine.  Nova’s words had a much deeper connotation; he was testing him. Nova wanted to know how much he had prepared and how much drive he had to ace this pop quiz; he wanted to know if all of his hardships these past four months were really worth it in the end. Arcturus was confident; no fear within him was detected. 

“Everything,” he responded.

Nova smiled. “I see.”