Souhait changed into his human form. He stood in front of a lavender door. Despite being fine with not granting wishes for all living beings and having to get rid of those who don't want a wish granted, it still frustrated him a bit. He wanted to return to the cottage to cool his head. Watching Nova sleep would help with it; it always calmed him to see him sleeping peacefully.
He opened it and entered. His eyes widened when he saw the bed empty. A sense of worry came to him as he called for Polaris. "Polaris, are you there?"
Polaris popped up in front of Souhait. "You called, Master Souhait?"
"Is Nova awake?"
"Worry not. He is awake and out in the field."
Souhait rushed out of the cottage. Polaris was correct; Nova was awake and standing in the middle of the field of aster flowers, basking in the gentle wind and staring at the sky that was slowly turning lavender.
"It's becoming twilight, Master." Polaris remarked as he took out the rest of Souhait's hair out of the cottage and then closed the door.
"It sure is…"
Souhait then became silent. He saw Nova, who was dressed in his nice suit, let his hair down. The golden sun teetered itself to the edge of the horizon and the light illuminated the flowers. They started to glow a golden hue as they danced along the same pattern as his own golden hair. It then spread towards the other flowers and soon, all of the flowers in the field started to glow. It was as if they were basking in a sea of stars.
The sight was breathtaking to Souhait. It made him wonder if there was a word to describe such a scene because 'beautiful' was too weak of a word for such a picturesque scenery. He couldn't get enough of it.
It is hard to believe such a scene dwells within us…
Suddenly, he felt a hand holding his. He looked to see Polaris staring straight at the flowers but with his hand on his. It was as if he wanted to engrave the memory with a signal. The warmth of his hand only caused a wave of sadness to surge into Souhait.
He held Polaris's hand tight. "Polaris, do you remember the name of these flowers?"
"They're asters, are they not? A special kind that can glow under twilight, but is now extinct and only exists in the depths of the subconscious."
"They are asters, but these kinds have their own unique name."
"What is it?"
"Their name is–
Souhait noticed Nova slowly turning around. Now that he was facing front, he still couldn't help but to be awed at the scene. Nova being in the shot enhanced it a lot. His hair looked as if it was glowing alongside the flowers, making it look as if he were a floral deity or the embodiment of the twilight sky itself.
Nova slowly approached them. Once he reached Souhait and Polaris, he grabbed Souhait's free hand. "I saw everything through your eyes. Of the kind people you met. Of the unexpected companions Arcturus had made. I even saw you getting rid of Ras Leonis's soul because he didn't want his wish granted. It was like how you did with Mebsuta twenty years ago. I saw it all." Nova brought Souhait's hand to his forehead.
"I am alright. I am not bothered by it. I just hoped that they had a wish, but we were dealt with an unfortunate hand. I am sure our next potential client from the Spirit Realm will have a wish."
Polaris looked at him with confidence. "I'll make sure of it."
"We have all the time in the world, after all."
Nova bemoaned, "Yes, but for humans, their time isn't infinite like ours. If they keep up their conflicts and wars, the human population will keep dwindling. When people die, their souls go to the Spirit Realm, but who knows how long it will take for those passing souls to redevelop their will and want their wish granted? Who knows how many humans would remain in another century or two? If humans are developing Shifties, they could easily become the new population of this world and with how they are powered by human souls, it would only become even more arduous for us to complete our goal. It would become a never-ending cycle of them taking souls out of the Spirit Realm and for us to have to search for them." He held onto Polaris's free hand and held it to his forehead.
"One day, Arcturus would become one of those souls in the Spirit Realm. Perhaps, maybe he'd get taken away from this world and be put into a Shiftie's earring. Who knows how long it'll take for him to help develop a Shiftie's soul and for us to find which Shiftie his soul was placed into." He tightened his grip on both hands. "I don't want that. The thought of living in a world full of man-made beings–those that do not follow the rules of this world–terrifies me. That would mean, one day, we would be pushed out of Terrenter and lose our place to belong."
Souhait felt Nova's trembling hand. He could feel his vessel's sorrows. He understood them so well. Despite knowing how somber Nova could be, his worries were his as well. He too feared a day that they would lose their place to belong and Terrenter would belong to man-made beings. It wasn't an idea he was too keen on. Even though Kori was an example that Shifties can have wishes, he knew it wouldn't apply to all of them. Would Constance develop a wish? Would she even want it granted?
However, Souhait knew they shouldn't lose hope so soon. The future could turn out different than Nova assumed. "We need to keep trying, no matter what." The trembling hand stopped as Nova lowered it so he was making eye contact with Souhait.
"No one knows what the future has in store, after all. Maybe it will turn out a lot better than we expected. Maybe there would still be more humans a century later. We just need to keep moving forward." An image of Arcturus flashed into his mind.
"We have Arcturus, after all. His wish made it so that everyone has a wish and it is our duty to grant all of those wishes. There are still people out there who have wishes they are not aware of. We have companions we are cooperating with for conjoined goals. I can weed out those who want their wishes granted and those who do not. We can do it. I'm sure of it."
Souhait noticed Polaris's smile aimed at him. Nova's worries seemed to alleviate as he nodded. "You're right, Souhait. I just need to keep moving forward." He slowly released their hands as he looked up at the sky.
"I want to see Arcturus. I'm sure he's worried about me as I haven't woken up in three days. He's been working hard protecting my slumbering bodies from adversaries. It's time for me to wake up and thank him."
"Remember that he needs to give you that hair clip. It's really pretty. It will suit you." Polaris remarked.
Nova placed a hand to the back of his head and plastered a dreamy smile. "I hope it does."
Souhait pointed to the cottage that still had the lavender door. Nova, with wide eyes, rushed towards the building to open the door and enter. The door closed behind him shut. His hand on Polaris loosened, but he still held onto it.
They were silent as they just stared at the glowing flowers and took in the scenery. Souhait noticed Polaris squatting down to take a flower from the field. It grew back into the same state it was before being plucked. Polaris attached the flower onto Souhait's hair.
"Gold is a color that totally suits you the best other than lavender, of course."
Remembering Polaris's mild case of jealousy back at the Spirit Realm, Souhait couldn't help but to chuckle. "Are you trying to compete with Arcturus regarding what color accessory looks best on me? You can be such a child at times, my dear Polly."
"Polly…I haven't heard you call me that in such a long time."
"Well, it is just the two of us here now. We can be intimate when Nova is not around, after all–be our true selves, you know." He let go of Polaris's hand as he took a few steps forward and turned around. "Does it look good on me?"
"It looks amazing on you." He spoke with a sincere, awestruck countenance.
"Then, keep covering my hair with these flowers."
"Sure thing…"
They spent a good amount of time decorated Souhait's long hair with golden flowers. However, twilight didn't last long as the sky reverted back to blue, a sign that Nova had returned to reality. The golden glow diminished, reverting the flowers back to their original lavender color.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted…" Souhait stood up. "Shall we head back?"
"Sure…"
As they walked towards the cottage side-by-side, Polaris took out a flower from Souhait's hair and observed it. "Come to think of it, what was the name of this flower? You were about to tell me before we got interrupted."
"They are aster flowers."
"Stop joking around. They're a special type of aster flower. I just can't seem to remember their name."
A sad smile appeared on Souhait's visage briefly before changing it to a cheerful one. He took a few steps forward and stood in front of Polaris. "I am sure you will remember the name one day. We have all the time in the world, after all."
Polaris looked satisfied with the ambiguous answer. He decided to head back first. When the door closed, Souhait took one last glance at the aster flower field. The wind had blown back his entire length of hair, causing some of the flowers to be taken away. He grabbed onto one and took a good look at it.
"Polly, you will remember the name of this flower one day. After all, you were the one who named it. That day will come…" He released the flower.
Once it disappeared from his line of sight, Souhait returned to the cottage.