The First Memory (Arcturus Arc Part 1)

Arcturus opened his eyes when he heard the sound of soft crackling noises from a fire. He found himself in a bedroom. It was dimly lit due to the miniscule fire. The carpet was tan and soft. The walls were a burgundy color with gold stripes and had been ordained with an ornate clock; it was quite late at night.

Lights turned on, illuminating the room and Arcturus's vision. A voice suddenly rang into his ears: "It's time for bed, you two. Don't read books in dimly lit rooms. It will ruin your eyes."

Arcturus gasped. His eyes widened as he turned around to look for the source of that voice. It belonged to a man presumably around his late thirties wearing large round glasses. His brown hair was quite disheveled, but he did not seem to pay much mind to his fashion. He had worn a blue sweater over a shirt along with jeans that had uneven pant legs rolled up. He wore two different colored socks as well.

The sight of him caused Arcturus to hold back on his tears. "Dad…" He felt conflicted. He was happy, but also sad; he wasn't sure which of those two emotions were more dominant. It was a feeling he could not describe with words; it was too troublesome to do so.

"He can't hear you."

Arcturus turned towards his left to see Nova standing next to him. Seeing both Nova and his father in this room made Arcturus know where he was.

"I know…." Arcturus whispered, "My father, Arthur Mercury, is already gone from my life. This is nothing more than a memory."

"Correct."

Arcturus scowled. "Is this how you get people to form wishes? How cruel. You're basically making people relive portions of their life they do not want to revisit."

"Wishes are magic formed from the heart. A heart goes through trial and tribulation and shapes a person to be who they are or want to be. As long as your heart is strong, your wish will be too. That is what we believe to be the right way to do this."

"You said 'we'. Is Souhait in on this too?"

"Indeed. He is the mastermind behind these trials. He's the creator of them too. He does this to test people's resolve and to see if they are worthy."

The dragon he had revered was behind this cruel joke of a trial. He was the one that thought of the idea to look at people's memories to find their wish. He found it risible–so much that he couldn't help but to let out a chuckle.

"If it's a test he wants, I'll take it. Let's see why you both want me to look through my memories." Arcturus fixated himself back on the sight in front of him with a newfound feeling of determination. He steeled himself to persevere and to become worthy in their eyes.