A Crazy Request

Arcturus blinked several times as Nova's words were processing in his mind. Nova's request was for him to wish for Castle Lavender's destruction; he wanted him to destroy it. He started recalling everything he had read about the castle from his past studies. The castle was synonymous to Souhait and his lore because it was where he had resided before his supposed disappearance.

He wanted to refuse, but if Nova wanted him to destroy it, that would mean Souhait wanted it too. He was still hesitant because it was something of awe towards people obsessed with Souhait's Lore, like himself.

"Why are you grimacing?" Nova inquired.

Arcturus furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms.. "You want to destroy it, yet a part of me wants to refuse."

"Did you know that the original Castle Lavender was destroyed five hundred years ago? The castle you see before your eyes is actually a replica that I created twenty years ago in order to hide from the people in Sirius." Nova's words caused confusion to Arcturus.

Arcturus blinked. "A replica…?" Shock came to him as he blurted, "THAT'S NOT THE REAL CASTLE LAVENDER?" Despair and denial gnawed at him as he clutched his head and fell onto his knees. It felt as if everything he had gone through was one big dream. He wanted to accuse Nova of lying, but he had a hunch Nova was telling the truth.

Nova raised an eyebrow. "Why are you being so dramatic?"

"Everything is a lie…" He had to choke out his words; he wanted to cry and scream, but he couldn't. All he could do was stare at the ground blankly.

Nova knelt down and placed a hand on Arcturus's shoulder. "I think my choice of words weren't accurate. What I was trying to say is that Castle Lavender is actually a place Souhait and I can summon at any time we want. We destroyed the previous one in the past and then when we were on the run twenty years ago, we conjured up a new one in the same location. It's no big deal for us to destroy it; we can always make another one."

Arcturus looked up at Nova, searching for any inkling of hope. "So, the Castle Lavender that's here right now is still the real Castle Lavender?"

"Every Castle Lavender we create is real."

A sense of relief came to Arcturus as he sighed and then rolled over so he laid on the ground. The denial had exhausted him mentally; it was an overload for he had too much to process to the point of being emotional.

"I'm sorry for not specifying quickly." Nova muttered.

"There's no need for apologies. I'm just someone who needs to let go."

Nova responded with a hum. "You're kind."

"Thanks?" Arcturus sat up once his head started clearing up. "Why do you want to destroy Castle Lavender, if you don't mind me asking?"

Nova was in deep thought. The way his eyes looked as he was thinking was very alluring to Arcturus. The way his eyes angled away from his gaze and the way his golden eyelashes fluttered as he blinked made him look as if he was in his own world, as if there was a distance between them. 

"Castle Lavender is both a shelter and a prison to us. We are protected by it, yet at the same time, we are trapped by it. If we leave, we'll get attacked, hence why we stayed. However, if we keep staying, we cannot progress with our goal. It's a symbol that chains us down. That is why we wish to destroy it."

Arcturus could tell there was more–something even deeper than his sound explanation. Nova seemed to have noticed, to which he answered by plastering a naughty smile on his face.

"I also want to destroy Castle Lavender to rile up the people in Sirius. I want them to know that I have left and there's nothing they can do about it. They can fear me; they can spite me. I don't care what they do. We are free now and we will grant wishes."

Arcturus could tell there were many wounds in his heart when he had expressed himself like this. He wouldn't pry about this. However, he knew that he wanted to stay by Nova's side; he wanted to see what sort of world Terrenter would become now that people have wishes. Would it change for the better or for the worse? That's what he wanted to see. He knew staying with Nova would bring him those results.

"Very well." He placed a hand to his heart. He closed his eyes. He visualized everything he had seen in Castle Lavender. He needed to specify how to destroy it."I wish for Castle Lavender to be destroyed from the inside out until there's nothing left."

When he opened his eyes and released his hand, the ground started trembling. As a reflex, Arcturus grabbed Nova, flung him over his shoulder and scurried out of the cave and dashed into the forest. They didn't go far, only enough to where they wouldn't get caught in the tremor. Arcturus put Nova down once they were safe enough. Nova climbed up one tree to the top to get a good view of what was going on. He then summoned Souhait's tail to grab Arcturus by the waist and hoisted him up to see what was going on from above.

Castle Lavender wasn't actually a true castle; it was more of an unusually tall pagoda. He could see the tower slowly crumbling from the outside. The Shifties that were trapped inside would probably be destroyed due to the debris that could easily break their earrings. While he knew they were considered as living beings, he couldn't help but to pity them as they weren't aware of their own self until the end.

Nova asked, "Do you regret considering Shifties to be alive after realizing they are trapped inside the trembling castle?"

"They didn't choose to be alive. They never even got a chance to understand what it means to be alive. However, I'm sure that they will get that opportunity once their souls reach the Spirit Realm, along with the ones that got trapped in their bodies."

Nova smiled. "I'll make sure that Souhait gets their wishes granted when they arrive."

"Thank you."

They stopped speaking as they focused on watching Castle Lavender be destroyed until nothing remained of it. All Arcturus could think was how the power of wishes–Nova and Souhait's power was terrifying yet fascinating.