Footprints On The Snow

When the castle was completely destroyed, the sky turned dark blue; it was almost evening. Both Arcturus and Nova climbed down the tree; Nova retracted his tail back into his body. Arcturus took a good look at his surroundings; it was almost hard to see where he was, especially since they were in a forest.

He activated his earring to command it to bring out the map of Eternally. "Nova, where is Sirius on this map?" He grabbed the corner of the hologram screen and dragged it down so it was at eye level with Nova, who was shorter than him. Nova hesitantly touched the screen with his finger, only for it to go through it. Arcturus chuckled at how confused Nova looked when he kept poking his finger through the screen.

"Sirius should be at the easternmost portion on the island. It's very noticeable as there's a glass dome covering the entire city."

Arcturus furrowed his eyebrows. "How does that work? How can they breathe?"

"From what I remember from my time there, there was a ventilation system that ventilated the entire dome, allowing the residents to breathe properly without the need to worry about the lack of air. It was a fascinating contraption."

Arcturus found such an idea as fictional. First, he wasn't even aware that a city could be built inside a glass dome; how was it built, especially during the Eternal Blizzard? Second, he wasn't even aware of its existence until now; what if Nova was just imagining everything? He shook his head at the idea; he promised to be by Nova's side, so he needed to trust him. Third, he wondered how it was possible for people to enter and leave the city.

Did the dome have an opening where people can enter and leave? A gate? He wanted to see the city for himself in order to rule out a verdict.

"Where is east from here?" Arcturus had asked. "Where was Castle Lavender, exactly?"

Nova pointed to the opposite side of where Sirius supposedly was and then dragged his finger down a bit until it stopped in a western location. "Around here."

Arcturus updated the map with markings. He marked the city with an 'X'. Their current location was marked with a star. He then decorated the forest just so he understood the terrain in every area.

He then showed Nova the map. "Is this accurate?"

"Yes."

Arcturus took a quick glance at the sky before reverting his head back to its default angle. "Shall we go? It's going to be dark soon."

They stepped out of the forest and started walking slowly for it was hard to see. Arcturus took a look back to see that he could still see his footprints on the snow; he wondered how long it would take for them to be obscured by the incoming darkness. He wondered if they should find shelter and resume their search in the morning, where it would be better and safer for them to traverse.

"It's quite hard to see, isn't it?" Nova remarked.

"Yeah. When the Eternal Blizzard was here, I usually took shelter in a cave when it was going to get dark."

"It would be safer to travel during the day, but it's also dangerous."

"Why's that?"

"Well, now that Castle Lavender has disappeared, there will be commotion. People will be in disarray with what happened, believing me to have escaped and caused the tremors. The government will send out soldiers to check up the site in the morning, meaning they'll be scouring every area. If we rest in a cave, we could be spotted."

Nova's reasoning made sense. The path Arcturus had to take now was one full of risks. He needed to be careful about every idea that he came up with from now on. However, he did wonder how long it would take for them to reach Sirius by foot.

Nova took the opportunity to reach his hand out. A ball of violet fire came out of his hand and flew around like flies circling around the sight of food. "We can use this to see."

Arcturus was surprised Nova could do that. "Why didn't you do that back in Castle Lavender? When we were traversing down the stairs in that dark room, you could've done this."

"That was because I had to hide who I was at the time. Now that you know my secret, I can reveal all the tricks I have up my sleeve. This fireball is one of many abilities Souhait possesses."

"Just how many abilities does Souhait possess?"

"Three hundred and twelve abilities."

Arcturus blinked. "Pardon?"

"He has three hundred and twelve abilities."

Baffled, Arcturus uttered, "That's way too many."

"It sounds a lot, but they're…not as useful as you think."

"How so?"

Nova rolled up one of his sleeves and showed off the change between his normal arm and the draconic one. "This is one ability." He repeated the same with the other arm. "This is another ability." He then changed back into his normal arms. "I used two abilities simultaneously."

Arcturus stared at the fireball and then back at the arms. This means that pulling out the tail and then retracting it back in his body counts as two abilities. That means I've already seen seven of his abilities so far. The remaining three hundred and five abilities are more or less similar.

"Are there any other abilities?" Arcturus did not have the heart to agree with Nova's statement of having useless abilities.

Nova then pointed to his bangle. "Souhait also has the ability to lend abilities to his contractors. We can whip up something useful so that you don't have to rely on your earring to materialize objects."

Arcturus detached his bangle and handed it to Nova. Nova then gestured for him to give one of his hands; Arcturus reached one of his hands out. Nova clasped his hands on both the bangle and Arcturus's hand and closed his eyes. His hands and the bangle started glowing. Arcturus could only gawk at the sight in front of him. The way Nova radiated in the darkness and how the violet fireball illuminated his face made him look beautiful; he wanted to engrave the sight in his mind forever.

The glowing dissipated and Nova opened his eyes. He handed the bangle back to its owner. "Here, try using the bangle now. Touch it with your finger."

Arcturus reattached it back onto his wrist and then touched it. His knife materialized. He was surprised at how much more convenient his bangle became. "Wow! Thank you!"

"It not only materializes, but there's a bunch of abilities that come with the enhancements. The blade can conjure up lightning and you can summon it back to you as you please."

Arcturus felt like he was being spoiled. He was happy that Nova had enhanced his ways of fighting; it made him wonder what he could do for him in return. Unconsciously, he placed a hand onto Nova's head and patted it.

"I really appreciate this. Thank you."

Nova became flustered. He took a few steps back, pulling Arcturus's hand out of his head in the process. "You're welcome! It's the least I can do now that we're companions." He turned his face away. "If you need more abilities for your bangle, tell me and I'll implement them right away."

"I will. Thanks."

"L-Let's resume heading towards our destination." Nova took the initiative and walked.

"Wait up!" Arcturus followed.

When he managed to catch up with Nova, he took a good look behind him; it was hard to see the footprints on the snow now.