Souhait took one more glance around the Contract Room. Once he knew the room was empty, he closed his eyes. He was a rather large and tall dragon, so he felt his elevation lowering–a sign he was shrinking.
When he opened his eyes, the Contract Room changed from the plain white room to the minimalistic cottage with little furniture. Since the arrival of Arcturus, there had been some decorations that gave the small, spacious room some liveliness. He saw miniature versions of the ice sculptures resting on the corner of the kitchen counter. There was a red apple on the table resting in a bowl on its lonesome. On the corner, there was a sky blue feather attached to a pen that was resting on a mug. On one side of the wall, there was a small painting of a snow-covered forest with a clear sky, the one identical to Kori's Realm of Desires. He smiled at the sight.
Suddenly, the door to the house opened, with Nova entering. Since there weren't any wishes that needed to be granted right now, his clean and elegant appearance had changed into his usual purple sweater and gray pants outfit with his hair down and styled into a half-ponytail.
Nova's eyes widened when he made eye contact. "It's been a while since I last saw you in that appearance."
Souhait chuckled as he reached a hand out to grab a chair to sit down on. He wondered how long it has been since he last sat down on a chair. He took a good look at his reflection from the pristine table.
He was not a dragon, but a human man dressed in the same attire as Nova. The only difference was that while the sweater looked rather oversized on Nova, it was a perfect match on him. He had a human face like Nova, but their faces were completely different. While Nova had an androgynous appearance, Souhait looked masculine at first glance. His eyes were sharper and narrower, his nose bridge was sharper, and his lips were thinner.
Despite having a human face, there were several imbalances on it. Like in his dragon form, he still had one lavender and one golden eye with the lavender on the right and the gold on the left. The imbalances did not stop at just his eyes. His eyelashes were two different colors with his right eyelashes being black and his left one lavender. The colors were opposite on his eyebrows with the lavender on his left and black on the right. He opened his mouth; his teeth were imperfect on the left side, but straight and perfect on the right. These imbalances did not bother him as they made a part of who he is as a person.
Nova groaned. "Your hair is all over the floor again."
Souhait chuckled. "I cannot help it. Hair is hair."
He eyed his hair. They were lavender just like his right eye, but the tips were black; his roots were also black. Because of its unusually long length, it meanders about all over the floor. He was unsure how long it was exactly; he once guessed it was about thirty meters.
"It's not like you're going to gather all your locks." Despite his nagging, Nova started gathering all of Souhait's locks. He rounded them up neatly and placed them under his chair. Souhait was happy.
"Thank you, Nova! You are always so sweet to me."
Nova gave him a scowl as he huffed towards the kitchen. "Want me to make you some tea?"
"Yes! The usual lavender lemon tea! I want to drink it out of the nice cup!"
Nova chuckled. "Alright. How about some snacks?"
Fear came to Souhait as he declined snacks. "Just tea. I really love your tea!"
"A mad brew of lavender lemon tea, coming right up!"
Souhait couldn't help but to smile whenever he looked at Nova. Despite the nagging and scowls, Nova was a kind young man at heart. If he had one person he considered precious, it would be Nova. They had been through a lot together to the point that they consider each other family. When in danger, Nova would always be his first priority. He also valued his happiness above all else.
Once Nova started preparing to brew the tea, Souhait decided to think about all that happened recently. Meeting Arcturus felt like fate. He could tell that man would be the one to help them complete their goal once and for all. He was definitely the light in their darkness. He couldn't wait to see what sort of results he would see with him.
Souhait cleared his throat to divert his thoughts away. He did not want to think such calculating thoughts. He wanted to befriend Arcturus, not use him. He did not want to think of himself as some heartless person who uses people for schemes.
He then thought about Sayaka. Looking at her memories and learning about her desperation for freedom showed him a small part of Terrenter's current cruel society. It was now a world where some people cannot truly accomplish or achieve what they truly want in life for every choice left some repercussions. They needed to fix that.
Thinking about Kori was a fascinating experience. Man-made beings having a soul was definitely something he did not expect. However, he wasn't sure why they were created in similarity towards him and Nova. It couldn't be an homage; not many people knew about Nova's existence, let alone his. There was the fact that a Shfitie's human appearance took the form of people who had long passed by and they were powered by technology that required the use of a dead human's soul. He felt as if there was a deeper and sinister purpose for their creation and it made him curious.
His thoughts were interrupted once Nova placed a tea cup in front of him. The aroma casted all of his thoughts away as he finally was able to relax after a long day's work. Nova sat down too.
"How long has it been since I last had Nova's special tea?" He grabbed the coaster and held the cup by the handle. He took in the smell before he started drinking. When he took a sip, he noticed Nova was only using the teacup to warm his hands; his head hung low. He could tell Nova was still upset with the revelation that his book got incinerated in an explosion.
He slowly placed the coaster and cup back on the table. "Nova, it is okay to cry."
"I'm not going to cry." Nova's words did not match his tone.
Souhait leaned forward and placed his forearms against the edge of the table. "I can see you pouting. You always make a pout before you shed tears."
"I'm not…" Swiftly, Nova placed his hands to cover his face.
"Are you upset that all your hard work was for naught?"
"I just think back to the excitement that I felt when I wrote that five hundred years ago only for those scum to burn most of the copies into a crisp. Only a few copies exist, I'm not even sure if the rest still exist. If that one was truly the only copy left, then what was the point of me writing that?"
"Nothing is a waste in life. You definitely worked hard writing that. Things come and go. Human life and passing days are some of those examples. Objects are created and destroyed. It is a normal aspect of life."
"I know, but…"
"Besides, Arcturus did promise us he would write an honest log about us. Can you spare some hope in your heart to trust in him?"
Nova removed his hands and lifted his head up. He took a deep breath. "I want to."
"Then, believe."
Nova smiled as he lifted the cup and took a sip of the tea. Souhait liked it when Nova smiled. Nova's happiness was also his happiness.
After he relaxed after sipping some tea, Nova placed the cup down and remarked, "I believe that we can accomplish our goal for good this time."
Souhait smiled. "I believe that too."
Nova took another sip of tea. Souhait felt as if this was the chance to ask him about Kori. "What are your thoughts about Kori?"
Nova placed his cup down and then looked at him straight in the eye. "I find him fascinating, but also confusing. He has a free will, but chose to still abide by his Shiftie instincts. He could've gone on the lifeboat but decided against it. I heard his thoughts on why he did that but at the end of the day, I don't know much about these beings."
"I believe we should learn more about them so that we can understand their mindsets. After all, they have wishes now."
Nova nodded as he finished the last of his tea. He stood up. "It's time for me to return to reality. Make sure to clean up the cups, okay?"
Souhait nodded. "I will clean them, do not worry."
"You always say that, but you never clean them up!" Nova pouted.
"I really will do it this time."
"You better."
"You better hurry back to reality. Arcturus will be worried if you do not wake up."
Nova became frantic. "Right. See you later, Souhait!"
Souhait waved good-bye to Nova as he opened the door and left the house. The smile he had quickly faded. He cleared the cups away and then closed his eyes. When he opened them, he returned to the Contract Room in his dragon form.
"Polaris."
The bespectacled man appeared in front of him with his hand on his chest as he bowed. "You called, my liege?"
"What is the current state of the Spirit Realm?"
"A lot of souls have started developing wishes. Some souls have been taken away from the realm as well."
"We'll do what we can about the stolen souls. For now, gather up some souls for me. I think it is a good time to do some of Nova's work while he is in reality."
"Yes, my liege. I'll bring some over as soon as possible." He disappeared.
As he waited, Souhait muttered, "Let us truly believe that we can accomplish our goals this time around, Nova." He felt very confident after saying this.