Arcturus’s heart ached at the sight of his smile. Of the ones he saw, this one was the saddest he had seen from him by far. He wasn’t an expert in emotional intelligence, but even he knew Nova seemed to have shouldered many burdens to the point that it deteriorated him mentally and emotionally. He wondered when was the last time Nova had encountered a human with the same amount of knowledge and passion as him? He also wondered if there was any way he could make Nova smile like before. Was he even allowed to get closer to him?

He took one last glance at the two dragons. “Nova, can I record a video of these statues?” All he could do was change the conversation so that he wouldn’t have to feel so melancholic at the sight of that smile.

“You have a camera?” Nova was surprised.

“My bangle-watch has a camera feature.” Arcturus clicked on his earring to activate the camera feature. A hologram screen showed up. Arcturus waved his hand to see if the recording screen was active. He pressed the record button and he took a minute to record footage of both statues. It made him nervous as Nova’s eyes were glued to the device; they looked as if they could bulge out of his eyes at any moment.

Once Arcturus was done with recording, Nova had clapped at the spectacle he had witnessed. “Technology really is amazing!” Arcturus just smiled. Nova had a surprising innocent side; he found it cute.

“Can I look at the other statues?” Arcturus asked.

“Go right ahead!”

The next sculpture he saw was a large diorama with smaller ice sculptures on top. Souhait, the serpentine dragon, had rested in the middle while a human and a deer were in the front. Several trees had scattered across the diorama. Arcturus couldn’t help but to be amazed with how detailed each sculpture looked. He was no art expert, but even he could tell they were created meticulously.

“This is amazing! Whoever carved these is so talented. I’ve never seen ice sculptures this intricate.”

“You’re making me blush,” Nova muttered as he placed his hands on his cheeks. He started swaying his shoulders out of shyness.

Realization came to Arcturus. “You made this?”

“I made all the sculptures here.” Nova blinked for a moment before slapping a hand over his mouth in surprise.

Arcturus gaped. He couldn’t believe a dainty looking man like Nova had such an amazing talent. He felt like it was a waste for them to rot inside a ruined ice castle. These sculptures surpassed any stone sculptures he saw in books and television.

“Have you tried selling them? You could be rich if you profit off of these.”

Nova seemed saddened by that idea. “Who’d want to buy something from me?”

Seeing Nova become self-depreciative caused Arcturus to worry. He felt tremendous guilt for mentioning capitalistic methods. He knew he had to say something in order to cheer Nova up.

“I would buy them.”

Nova looked happy. “You would? Do you even have money?”

“My grandparents are wealthy. My grandmother in particular likes these sorts of pieces, so I’m sure my family would buy them–we’d probably be regular clients!”

His response was out of the blue, but it seemed to have an effect on Nova. The frown Nova had changed into a smile. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”

Unlike the previous smiles Nova had given him, this one made Nova look the most beautiful. An unusual feeling stirred within him. It felt like it was grabbing his heart and squeezing it as hard as it could.

“Y-you’re welcome. I’m glad I was able to cheer you up.” Arcturus fixated his attention back to the diorama. He carefully recorded footage of it. Once he finished, he stared at it once more with his own eyes. 

Nova could only chuckle. “You must really like that one a lot.”

“It’s amazing! Did you sculpt these to show how Terrenter came to be?”

“Wow, you analyzed it perfectly!”

Arcturus confidently recited, “The three large barren lands became countries named Ilacier, Lamina and Plasma. All three had their own unique climate that each dragon liked. However, the emptiness wasn’t satisfying. Although they were the only inhabitants, they couldn’t call Terrenter home. From the worlds they visited, each had humans and animals. They wanted that as well. They wished for them to appear, and it came true; they were truly satisfied.”

He started thinking of his past, where people had ridiculed him about saying that humans came from these dragons. If Nova was who he said he was, then he wanted clarification; he needed the absolute truth.

“Nova, may I ask you something?”

“Yes?”

“Did humans and animals really come into existence because of Souhait and his people?”

“Yes. They all wished for them to exist and that’s how they came to be. The dragons…no, wishes are the origin of this planet’s life.”

His heart suddenly felt fickle. On one hand, he was happy that he was right about the origins of life in this world; he felt proud that he was the first person to know about this. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure how to process this information. Telling the average person would result in denial. No one on this planet would believe it. Was it meant to be kept a secret? That was all he could do; keep it his own precious secret. He took out his journal and wrote down his discovery.

Once he finished, a thought came to him: how did Nova come to know of this information? Was it because of having Souhait inside of him? If so, how long did he keep this truth until now?

“Why did you ask that question?” Nova pondered.

Arcturus responded, “Did you know there is an ongoing debate on whether we came to this world as animals or as actual humans?”

Nova gave a surprised reaction. “There are such debates?”

Arcturus wondered just how ignorant this man was. Technology was the norm in society, yet he looked at them like how a child saw something unbelievable for the first time. He didn’t seem too well-informed about the world either.

How long has he been living here? How does he get by? This man is a mystery in itself.

“Well, it’s a debate that I’ve been brewing with my professors at university. I’ve sent many reports and theories that humans originated from the dragons in folklore, but all the scholars have dismissed them as drivel.” Thinking back to his university days frustrated him as he curled his hands into fists. “Well, I have the truth now. I’d love to shove this information in their faces.”

An amalgamation of upset feelings welled up within him; realizing this, he did his best to suppress them. He did not want to show his weaker side in front of Nova, so he turned his head aside. Nova just patted his shoulder—an act that moved him—but he still didn’t show any tears; he was very grateful towards him, nonetheless. He had only met Nova, yet he could feel a strong connection already forming between them

“Thank you,” he whispered as he did his best to maintain his calm composure.

Nova first gave him his usual sunny smile, but it disappeared; a serious countenance replaced it. “Shall we look at the next sculpture?”

Sensing how tense the atmosphere was caused Arcturus to nod. He wanted to rid this room of the gloominess he had created. The next sculpture was of a human reaching a hand out to a serpentine dragon. The human’s hand and the dragon’s snout were at close proximity, as if they were touching. The upset emotions that had stirred within Arcturus were washed away.

“This is the moment where Souhait started granting wishes for the world, right?” Excitement came to him as he recorded this sculpture.

Nova nodded. “After humans and animals came into existence, the other lavender dragons left, leaving Souhait alone as the watcher of the world.”

Arcturus soon furrowed his eyebrows as he asked, “Why did they leave? Didn’t they want to make Terrenter their home?”

Nova became still as he started fidgeting. “I…do not know.” His voice cracked slightly and his eyes fixated elsewhere other than his. His expression made it very obvious Nova knew the actual answer. While he wanted to know, he knew to not cross boundaries; if Nova was hiding something, it most likely meant that he had his reasons for doing so. I shall respect his space.

He feigned ignorance. “I see. How unfortunate. It would have been nice to get an answer after so many years of debate.”

“How many debates did you make?”

“Countless.” He huffed his chest in pride.

“Sounds annoying.”

This time, it was Arcturus who had let out a chuckle. Nova’s words rang true; the debates were annoying and ultimately pointless. If he wanted to believe the lore was true, then they were. He wondered why he had spent countless amounts of time arguing when nobody was willing to listen.

“They are. They really are.” He proclaimed as he let out a sigh. “I’ve been looked down upon so much because of my claims. My fellow literature majors were always wondering why I have such strong inkling towards a piece of fiction. There were always thoughts that I should just conform like the rest, but abiding to the thoughts and ideals of everyone else isn’t who I am.”

“Terrenter was a peaceful world back then. Everyone had lived harmoniously. I’m sure that people would have agreed with you back then.”

Arcturus became sullen when he heard that last word. He started to remember the dream he had about his sister. The weather at the time had been cloudy. Such weather was normal in Terrenter nowadays; it had been a long time since he had seen the sky. It was synonymous with the state of Terrenter today.

Nova asked with concern, “Is something the matter?”

“Harmoniously…” Arcturus uttered. “If only that could happen. Terrenter is on the verge of destruction with sporadic wars, incurable diseases, famine, inflation, discrimination and untraceable storms. There are many conspiracies and speculations created by politicians to convince people to vote for them during elections and then corrupt from within; I don’t believe in their lies, however.”

“What do you believe in, then?”

“I believe that the world’s current state is because nobody has a wish. The lack of wishes is killing this world. Like you said, wishes are definitely the origins of this world. If the world was harmonious back then, that means it was once happy; this also means wishes are the source of happiness. But because humans were already satisfied with what they had, Souhait was no longer needed. That was why he was gone from our lives. That was why he flew to this island and created Castle Lavender. Because he still loved humans, he hoped for a day where someone would enter and ask for a wish, but no one ever came.”

Nova seemed rather intrigued by his words. “Loved…” He muttered. “You believe he loved humans? What if he hated them?”

Another test? Arcturus crossed his arms. “If he had hated them, he wouldn’t have granted their wishes.”

“What if he had hated them after they stopped wanting wishes? What if this castle was formed out of a grudge? What if he had isolated himself to hatch his revenge?”

Arcturus leaned back for Nova kept invading his personal space by leaning his head closer to his. “Slow down with the questions. What makes you think Souhait is a hateful being?”

“What makes you think otherwise?” Nova had his eyes protruded and did not blink once at all; Arcturus looked rather disturbed for how terrifying Nova had looked; his lavender eyes looked more gray than light purple. He gulped, but tried to maintain his composure; he had a feeling that succumbing to Nova’s stare would be the catalyst to his failure.

“I think Souhait is benevolent because he stayed in this world rather than leaving with his people. If he didn’t like Terrenter and its people, he wouldn’t have gone around and granted wishes. If I was Souhait and hated humans, I would have strayed far away from humans and would keep myself isolated from the world—revel in my loneliness.”

Nova, wide-eyed, suddenly took a few steps back out of bewilderment over his response. He covered his face. Arcturus became worried once he saw Nova’s shoulders trembling; he hoped he hadn’t upset him.

“Are you okay?”

What he had initially assumed was Nova crying was actually Nova chuckling as he removed his hands and plastered a wide grin. “You passed the test!”

“Test?”

“Whenever someone comes here, they’re usually swayed by my words and would agree with my rebuttals and refutes. You’re different. You stand your ground and not give into my words. You make your own judgments. You’re strong and intelligent. I think you’re perfect.”

Being complimented made him embarrassed. “I-I’m not perfect…”

Nova shook his head in disagreement. “You are perfect. I need you.”

Being showered with praise made Arcturus silent. He was too flustered to utter a response. He wondered how red his face was. Was it darker than his own hair color?

Nova then spoke up, “Because I need you, I’ll tell you something important. Souhait is here.” He placed a hand to his heart.

Arcturus scoffed. “This again? I told you that I don’t believe you.”

Nova reached a hand out. “Then I will show you. Take my hand if you wish to see him and have your wish granted.”

Arcturus glanced at Nova’s right hand. A flower mark did exist on his palm. The shape of the petals and the direction they were protruding out from made it look like a star. When he looked up, Nova had a gentle smile.

The sweet aura he emitted caused Arcturus to want to believe in him. It was hard to refute his knowledge as lies now. He felt compelled to learn more. He wanted to know if Souhait really did reside within Nova; that was why he came all the way to this isolated, frozen land. He should stop being so stubborn now.

It’s now or never.

This decision was something he could never turn back from; it could change his life forever. He may have regrets in the future, but he was resolute. With a deep breath, he reached out and grabbed Nova’s hand.

He felt a jolt surging into his body. The stimulation caused him to become drowsy; his vision blurred as he slowly submerged into slumber.