EW 25-620
The day is almost over, yet I still can't get over the earlier events out of my mind. The way Hilbert's house flew… The way DUO and I had to fend off Constance's brother bot… The way we met Virgo… The fact that Nova will never be safe as long as he is alive… The way that I am still so lacking in many ways to protect him… I had not expected Virgo to take away Kori's earring and now that she did, I feel depowered. I need to get stronger–that's why I agreed to Hilbert's offer on creating a robot suit that suits my needs.
Who knows what Virgo could be doing with Kori's earring? If she is the one creating Shifties on this isolated island, that means her intelligence is on par with a Laminan's. She could have a plethora of tricks up her sleeve. I wouldn't be surprised if she recreated his body or even reprogram his earring so that she could spy on us. The earring on Constance's brother-bot could also even be bugged. I have to be careful…
When I look at Nova who's sleeping peacefully, I can't help but to wonder what he is dreaming about. I hope he has pleasant dreams where they don't involve encountering people targeting him. It's going to be three more hours until the next day arrives–the third day since Nova and I escaped that airship.
However, if the third day arrives, when will he awaken? Right as the clock hits the new day? A few hours after? The morning? Afternoon? Nighttime? The fact that I am not prepared for his awakening upsets me. It's funny how humans strive to be punctual and be on the clock, when time itself isn't like that at all. Time keeps moving forward and never looks back. I feel like we are similar in some ways…
~
Arcturus's uneasiness made him stop writing. He could only sigh as he looked out the window to see an elongated metal leg treading through the snow, albeit slowly. Hilbert's house, once a flying one, was now a walking one. His running house had been a bust since the legs move slower than he had expected. He wasn't even sure where they were at anymore; all he knew was that it was taking an entire day and there was still no sign of a concrete destination.
Just where are we headed? The Emerald Ocean? Can this thing even swim?
He then paid attention to his surroundings inside the house. While he didn't look at anyone, he could still gather information by listening to the voices around him. All he heard were conversations, squabbles and gadgets being tinkered around. He did look up to see what Sophia and Murphy were doing and he looked away when he saw that they didn't need his help; they were cooking dinner with Bootes and Constance helping out.
Arcturus then looked out the window once more. Rather than concerning himself with the location, he was looking at the sky.
"Are you concerned with how slow the house is moving?" Hilbert asked as he approached Arcturus.
"Not that. I'm more concerned about the lack of airships in the sky. Why aren't enemies following us if they're scared and concerned about Nova? There is something seriously odd about all of this."
Hilbert pondered about what Arcturus had said. "That is a good question…" He grabbed his phone. "It seems that the government declared that they'll do something about it and are on standby until they make their next move."
"I guess that makes sense why they're not chasing after us now." Arcturus then looked at the direction of the loft room. It made having the brother-bot around uneasier for him.
Esta showed up with her phone in her hand. She looked smug while showing off a video of Hilbert's flying house. "We're on the news!" She turned up the volume.
The announcer started reporting, "There is footage of a flying house. This is where the Charlatan is hiding, according to Virgo's reports. He is being protected by a group of people led by none other than Asteria Leonis, the older twin sister of our Lady Mayor Bellatrix Leonis, who was once exiled from Sirius two decades ago. We believe she is leading a rebellion group seeking to overthrow her sister."
"Well, they're not wrong…" Asteria muttered. Her sudden appearance startled Arcturus and Hilbert. "I am seeking to overthrow my sister."
"Are you planning to become mayor of this city?" Arcturus questioned.
"Not really. If my sister dies, I'll have to be the next mayor, but I plan on dissolving the mayoral system because that'll be the ultimate form of killing my entire family." She slowly became excited. "I plan on destroying the legacy my relatives made for this city and then take out the rest of those who are related to me by blood or marriage. Every single one of them…"
Her excitement made her look vicious. She looked too excited for someone who was talking about murdering every single member of her family. It did scare Arcturus a bit. He was grateful that they were cooperating as allies; he knew she'd be a terrifying adversary if they were on opposing sides.
Yet, he still knew nothing of her. He wanted to know why she was like this. It wasn't because he was interested in her romantically. He felt as if he needed to know more about her in order to get a better sense of their cooperation.
"Why are you so insistent on killing off your entire lineage? Wouldn't that mean you'd have to kill yourself after you're done?"
"Don't worry. I plan on doing that afterwards. I am no hypocrite. I'll off myself so that I won't have to spread my blood to my offspring."
"Why do you hate your family so much?"
With protruding eyes, she leaned her face towards Arcturus, who leaned back. "It's because I hate the fact that I was only born for the sole purpose of competing against my sister to become mayor and seek power. I hate the fact that my own mother only sees me as a tool and that my father neglected me because he was obsessed with making my mother happy. The only way to make her happy was to seek out the ultimate source of power: the power of wishes–Nova. Mother believed that the power of wishes would be the ultimate key to making Sirius its own land and he'd make her the ultimate power in the world doing so."
"Becoming the ultimate power means that you'd essentially be more powerful than Souhait, the creator of this world."
He had recalled that Nova would eliminate people who could not be reasoned with and it all clicked together. The reason he had killed the previous mayor was because she was unable to be reasoned with. Mebsuta's desire for power and to become the ultimate force of the world meant that wishes would no longer be needed as that's Souhait's foundation and the lack of wishes would mean they would never achieve their goal.
"I don't think they'd accept that."
"Exactly. My mother's aspirations were all delusional and impossible to achieve." Her eyes started protruding, giving her a maniacal visage as she continued, "Day by day. Year by year. My mother took control of my life like a machine and raised my sister and me to become the perfect tools for the day this land was to become its own nation. We were to never leave the island and learn everything about the outside world through books and television. Did she care about whether we were breaking mentally? Not at all. All she wanted was to have tools who only learned how to subjugate others."
She sat down on the edge of the sofa Nova was sleeping on and started stroking his hair. "When my father brought Nova to Sirius, it felt as if he brought in an extremely rare creature. I never saw anyone like him before. Mother started spending more time with Nova, hoping he'd open up to her and have her wish granted. He only decided to grant her wish on the condition that she'd let him go if doing so."
Out of instinct, Arcturus had grabbed Asteria's wrist to pull her hand away from Nova. While he appreciated her for using Nova's name when talking about him like he had requested, he didn't like the glint on her eyes when she looked at him. The last thing he needed was for someone to harm Nova, even if they were an ally.
Asteria did not like that at all so she reached out and grabbed Arcturus by the collar and pulled him towards her so his brown eyes were staring straight at her blue ones. While her face did not express her fury, her grip did. For a petite woman, she was seriously strong, but he wasn't scared.
"When Mother…when Mebsuta died, it was shocking. We didn't expect that she'd just plop dead all of a sudden. That day, Father…Ras had demanded an explanation on what had transpired. Nova had stated that he had to get rid of her because she was unable to be reasoned with. That's all he said. So, he was taken to the basement of our manor, which also functioned like a dungeon and was locked up there for an entire month. Ras's health worsened while Bellatrix's mental state weakened."
"I don't need to hear about the details of your father and sister's conditions. It's unnecessary."
Asteria scoffed, but continued, "One day, I came to the basement to visit. It was shocking to see Nova looking the same as he did when he first came to Sirius. Regardless, I approached him and told him that I'd help him escape the basement if he were to tell me the motives for killing Mebsuta."
"Given how I met him, he told you? That he wanted to live until the end of eternity to seek out those who wronged him? Given the circumstances, Mebsuta was probably one of those people who wronged him hence why he killed her."
Asteria looked shocked as her grip on Arcturus loosened. "How do you know all of this?"
Arcturus could sense a tinge of jealousy from her expression and demeanor. He had this sudden urge to keep egging it on. "I promised Nova I'd protect him and be his friend. He tends to open up to me." It felt good knowing that Nova doesn't hide things from him and that he could use information he learned from him to his advantage.
"Though, the Mebsuta part is purely assumption. Given your reaction, I hit a bullseye."
"I was told you were half-Laminan. Your intelligence is terrifying."
"Not as terrifying as Hilbert's. Look at what he can build! He made a flying house and a walking one at that. We Laminans have yet to perfect such an invention."
"Oh, you flatter me, Arcturus." Hilbert was acting unusually coy.
Asteria did not look amused with Hilbert's response. She resumed her explanation. "Knowing that Nova's entire purpose to seek out those wronged him compelled me to do the same. In fact, I felt jealous that he was able to do something that I couldn't–kill off my own mother in retaliation for her cruel treatment of us. Let's just say that his words motivated me to right the wrongs of my life. That's how I killed Ras, but got exiled to the mainland as consequence from Bellatrix."
"Have you killed any other family members since then?"
Asteria clammed up. "Unfortunately, I have not as I have been prioritizing Bellatrix for these past twenty years. I think that shooting off the big target will help open up bigger paths. That's why I gathered the members of DUO. We all have the same goal: to see the downfall of Bellatrix Leonis."
"I see…"
Asteria decided to stop talking as she rushed to the kitchen as she wanted a snack. Arcturus processed everything she had said. While she said she was motivated by him, he knew Nova, with the help of Souhait, must have explained it in a way that he could pass off his burdens onto her while he ran off to hide in Castle Lavender. It was as if he knew she was easy to persuade.
Sullenly, he knelt down and gently held Nova's hand. He could tell Nova went through a lot during his short time in Sirius.
I'll be with you, no matter what. You don't need to manipulate anyone to help you right your wrongs. I'll do them with you. I'll even do them for you, if you insist.
He checked the time from his bangle. Two more hours until the third day arrived.