The older Arcturus reminisced about his younger days. He had been cold because he didn’t want others to hurt him. The incident with the soldiers had closed his heart off towards people in general. While he has gotten better now, he knew it was still hard for him to open up–especially when he had abrasive quips towards Nova at times.

Focusing back on the memory, Landon started pouting. He then noticed the book Arcturus was reading and became surprised. “Wait, are you reading FMG?”

“I am.”

Nova turned to the adult Arcturus and asked, “What’s FMG?”

“It’s a popular book series. FMG is the abbreviation for Full Moon Games. It’s about six people cursed by a sorceress. In order to lift it, they need to kill each other using the powers they are cursed with that only activate under a full moon. There are six books in total.”

“Is it interesting?”

“It depends. It’s very popular with teenagers.”

Landon soon became excited. “What book are you on?” He quickly clammed up when a passing librarian gestured him to lower his voice; he repeated his question in a whisper.

“This is the third one.” Arcturus responded back using the same tone.

The two started discussing their favorite characters and moments from the book series while maintaining a tone soft enough for librarians to not mind.. Having someone with a common interest caused the young, stoic Arcturus to open up. He had enjoyed Landon’s enthusiasm; he could tell he was a genuine fan of the series and not someone feigning interest for attention.

Landon smiled throughout the conversation. He then remarked, “My detective instincts tell me you are a bookworm. You must like books in general. You’re always carrying one around at school.”

Arcturus tried his best to be exasperated at how obvious it was; anyone could have figured it out. “I do like books.”

Landon seemed happy. “Can you tell me what other books you like? I want to get to know you more.”

The young Arcturus raised an eyebrow. Why? He wanted to say it aloud too, but decided against it. Instead, he was eager. He always wanted someone to talk with, especially if it was about books.

“I like the Apple Tree Library. It’s a childhood favorite of mine.”

 “That’s the one where two kids go into a magic library inside an apple tree, right?”

“Yes. I also like A Collection of  Souhait’s Lore.”

Landon seemed intrigued. He started to ponder. “That’s a fairy tale, right? I never read it myself, but I do know about it.”

“Folk tale.”

“Right.” Landon quickly got up and approached a passing librarian. He then followed her to an aisle; he came back five minutes later with a large book in hand. He then sat back in his seat and showed off the book he found to Arcturus.

Arcturus read aloud, “A Collection of Souhait’s Lore: The Folklore of the World’s Creation. It’s written by the Loreseer.”

“Apparently, this is the recent edition.”

“The title sure is different–it’s longer.” The young Arcturus then took out his own copy of the lore from his backpack that rested next to his chair leg and showed it off to Landon. “This is the edition I have.”

Landon became surprised at its condition. “You sure…read it a lot.”

“It is old, after all.”

Landon opened his copy and started reading it to himself. Arcturus had honestly never read a recent copy of the lore. Curious about how the newer edition seemed, he put his copy aside and peered over to Landon. “Do you mind if we read together?”

Landon slightly gaped, but smiled. “Sure.” He pushed the book towards the middle, so both could read it. Since the young Arcturus was reading with his mind, the older one could hear what he was reading; he became sullen as his past self kept reading. He then noticed his younger self’s face contorting into confusion.

“Is something the matter?” Landon inquired. His interests became piqued. “It must be a mystery. Let’s solve it!”

Arcturus scooped up his copy of the book and skimmed towards the page with the problem he had; he rested his index finger on it. “Here. Your copy says that Souhait granted the wish of a woman who wanted to live on forever, but my copy says that he granted the wish of a father that had a sick child.”

Landon furrowed his eyebrows. “How interesting.”

They spent a lot of time skimming through the two books and even found previous copies in the library and searched through them as well; the young Arcturus came to learn that the recent copies were all different from his, despite them all being written by the same person—the Loreseer.

What could this mean? The young Arcturus pondered. A conclusion came to him: the Loreseer was trying to change history.

The older Arcturus stated to Nova, “From what I remembered, my copy of the book was around four hundred years old—it’s an ancient tome. Seeing how there was a difference in centuries, I knew that my copy was one of the few original copies that existed long ago. I also concluded that the Loreseer might be another person because no Ilacian has been recorded to live for over four centuries—the maximum was almost three hundred years. That’s why I concluded the Loreseer must be multiple people taking on the same pseudonym.”

Nova was intrigued. He inquired, “Then, which version do you think is the most accurate?”

“Mine, of course. You had asked me if I knew everything. I know everything. I know that the modern editions of the lore are lies and that the modern Loreseer is a liar. The world is fed these lies and people believe it because they are afraid. If people are afraid, they turn to anything to stabilize themselves. That’s why this world is in this state. Everyone is afraid, so it poisons their mind and makes them irrational. I want to change this world!”

Arcturus then noticed Nova’s sad smile. A teardrop trickled down his pale face. It made him surprised and worried.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine…” Nova wiped his teardrop, but another one trickled down the opposite side of his face. “At least, I was supposed to be fine.” He used the same hand to wipe the other tear, but more trickled down his face. “I’m sorry.” He then concealed his entire face with his hands.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Arcturus wanted to ease Nova’s supposed sorrows.

“It’s just your passion for Souhait’s Lore and such moved us so much. I don’t think I’ve met someone this passionate about us ever.”

Although Nova was crying tears of joy, Arcturus did not like his crying face. He liked it when Nova smiled, so he wondered what he could do to brighten his expression. He wasn’t even sure if he was the right person to comfort him. However, he could tell Nova had so much baggage underneath those tears. Was it possible for him to take some away? He wanted to be Nova’s strength.

In order to do so, he needed to know why Nova was crying over Souhait’s Lore. He knew Nova had as much knowledge with the lore as he did. It meant that Nova studied the lore. However, Nova also claimed he was also Souhait–he sounded as if Souhait and he were a collective and not an individual.

There was also a fact that Nova had lived in Castle Lavender for a very long time yet he had no sign of old age. How long had he lived in the castle? It was highly improbable that he lived here his entire life. He looked very youthful; only his clothes were ragged and tattered. He was also the only person Arcturus knew of that had lavender eyes; there was more to him than met the eyes.

An asinine assumption came to him. It made sense, but it was a very wild theory nonetheless. He wondered how Nova would react if he were to say it aloud to him. Would he admit it? Would he deny it? All Arcturus needed was the courage to speak up.

“Can I ask you a strange question?” Arcturus asked courageously.

Through tears and sniffles, Nova responded, “Sure.”

“Are you the Loreseer?”

In a flash, Arcturus’s location changed from being in a library from his flashback to being in the library inside the familiar apple tree. The amount of apples had increased from two to three. Arcturus became worried. He couldn’t reminisce over the moment he first met his good friend Landon anymore. He was eye to eye with Nova. He just hoped the sudden location change did not mean something ominous was going to happen.

Nova wiped the remaining tears on his face. With swollen eyes, he gave Arcturus a sad smile and nodded.

“That was a name I discarded long ago, but yes, I am the Loreseer–the original.”