Arcturus observed the cave he had returned to. Everything had been the same. The branches he had gathered to make a campfire were still there, but they were singed. The tunnel he had traveled through was still there. He took a glimpse outside and was surprised.
He left the cave to see that the blizzard had stopped. All he saw was a snow covered forest outside. It was still cold, however. All he could do was gape and shiver. He took a few steps back in order to return to the cave.
"Nova, what–" He gasped as Nova was nowhere in sight. He was sure to be specific with his wish.
"Nova?" The more he called out his name, the more worried he became. He tried to go into the tunnel, but hesitated because of how dark it was.
"Arcturus!" Nova replied as he emerged from the tunnel.
A sense of relief came to Arcturus as he placed both of his hands on his shoulders. "Thank goodness…"
"What's wrong?"
"I thought the wish didn't work properly and that you didn't teleport to this cave with me."
"No, I was here. I just went into the tunnel to get this."
Nova showed off the bat Cobot from the end of the tunnel. There was a gash on its body, where Arcturus had thrown his knife on it. Nova had the knife in his opposite hand, to which he returned to him.
"Nova, now that we've left Castle Lavender, what will we do now? Where will we go?"
"Our goal is to grant the wishes of all living beings in this world. This means we will travel to where people and other living beings are and grant their wishes. It will be a long road ahead of us."
Arcturus nodded. He promised Souhait to stay by Nova and he intended to keep that promise. Wherever he went, he'd follow. However, there was something that nagged at him.
"How do we leave this island? Should I wish for us to teleport back to Lamina?"
"That would be nice, but that would only lead to a lot of complications like how we managed to return and such."
"That's true…"
"If you don't mind, I know where we can go for our next destination."
"And that would be…?"
"There's actually a city on this island called Sirius."
Arcturus tried processing his words. He had never heard of Eternally having a human population. He pressed his earring to command it to bring out a map of the island of Eternally. It was a large oval shaped island. Every information of Eternally stated that there wasn't any human life due to the snowstorm.
Nova cleared his throat. "Sirius, the only city in Eternally, is an isolated city. They refuse to expose themselves to the world. Only Ilacians and a few outsiders are aware of its existence. Even if it's an isolated city, it's still a part of Ilacier in a way."
A sense of curiosity came to Arcturus; he wondered why an isolated city existed and what sort of civilization lurked within such a mystery. A part of him wanted to go, but another part hesitated due to possible trespassing. "You…sure know a lot about this isolated city."
"I was forcibly taken there twenty years ago, but I had escaped and taken shelter in Castle Lavender ever since."
"Forcibily? Twenty years ago?" His ears weren't lying when he had heard Nova mutter that number from before.
"Right, I haven't told you this. I told you I was twenty. I am twenty from my appearance, but I am actually much older than I look."
"If you don't mind me asking…how old are you exactly?" His whole body started tensing as if he was walking on eggshells; he just hoped Nova wasn't too sensitive when it came to questions about his age.
Nova didn't mind the question. "Five hundred and twenty years old–I've been twenty for the past five hundred years to be exact."
"Wow!" While he was fascinated, Arcturus knew that Ilacians in general lived long lives, but Nova's case was a whole different story. Normal Ilacians could age; this man did not age at all.
A question came to him. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because we're companions now and I don't want to hide things from you. It wouldn't be fair if I knew everything about you from looking in your memories while you knew nothing about me."
Arcturus was happy that Nova wanted to trust in him. It was an indescribable feeling. He wanted to know more about Nova, so he kept asking questions that popped into his mind.
"The reason why you look like you're twenty is because you wished for immortality?"
"Yes."
"And because wishes are permanent, you are now stuck as an immortal for the rest of your life."
"Yes."
A surge of sadness came to Arcturus; he wondered how it felt to live on forever while everyone else would shrivel up and die. He'd only lived for twenty years; he couldn't understand the sorrows Nova had gone through to get to where he is now.
Then, there was the matter of how Nova was forcibly taken to this isolated city. He didn't know the details, so he wanted to ask; yet, a part of him forced himself to hold back. He felt as if he was being too nosy.
Nova seemed to have noticed his hesitation and spoke up in his stead. "I was forcibly taken to this city because the mayor at the time had heard of the powers I possessed. She had intended to use me as a living weapon. I did not condone her actions, which was why I had to kill her."
Arcturus had recalled Nova telling him that he had killed a fake Loreseer, reducing them to eight from nine. He had theorized the ninth one was that late mayor.
"But why do you want to go to that city? If you had killed their mayor, wouldn't that mean there's a target on your back?"
"I'm immortal; they can't kill me. Besides, I want to return to that city because there are people there. A city with people means wishes to grant. We can start there."
Perhaps, it was Arcturus's imagination, but he had seen Nova shift his eyes a bit before reverting his gaze back to him. "There's another reason why you want to go there, a deeper, more profound one at that."
Nova's eyes widened as if Arcturus had seen right through him. He gave him a sad smile as he gathered his arms behind him. "I want to go to Sirius to meet a woman named Bellatrix Leonis. She is most likely the woman who has sent those Shifties to come after me. She bears a complex hatred for me after I killed her mother long ago. I want to tell her to stop coming after me and grant her wish, if possible."
"People like that cannot be reasoned with."
"I know that, but I still want to try. She's still a person with a wish at the end of the day. If she cannot be reasoned with no matter what, that's when I'll end her life."
Arcturus saw determination in his eyes. Despite knowing it could be a bad idea, he decided to go along with Nova's decision; he trusted that it could work out. Nova smiled when Arcturus complied with his decision.
"Shall we head out, then?"
Nova nodded. When they both left the cave, Nova took a few steps and then stopped. Arcturus wondered what could be the reason, so he turned around to see Nova staring at the direction of the castle.
"Is something the matter?"
Nova looked back at Arcturus; there was a mischievous expression plastered on his face, just like how he was when he had first encountered him in Castle Lavender.
"Arcturus, can you do one request for me?"
Arcturus felt uneasy about the sudden change in his demeanor. "...Sure?"
"Please wish to destroy Castle Lavender."