Arcturus lost count of how many souls he had freed from the realm. There were still plenty left as there were still green areas in the Realm of Despair. The more he destroyed souls, the more green filtered realm would disappear. The realm was primarily full of color and only a few areas had green left. He was prepared to finish purging the last batch of despairing souls, but he felt a strong tremor that startled him.
Suddenly, the last batch of despairing souls were purged on their own as the Realm of Despair slowly turned into a lavender hue. Their wailing was too much for Arcturus as he covered his ears; he had dropped his weapons when doing so, causing them to disintegrate and disappear. He was exasperated at the abrupt change in the realm and situation.
What's going on?
He turned to look at Polaris who only looked at the sky with a very composed stance amidst the chaos; he wondered what sort of expression he had. The tremors slowly died down, causing the realm to revert back to its usual static state. Arcturus slowly removed his hands from his ears to see if the wailing was gone. He sighed with relief when silence greeted him. Polaris started walking, as if he knew where to go. Arcturus stood up and started following him.
"Did something happen to Nova and Souhait?" Arcturus inquired.
Polaris gave him no response, which he found odd.
"Polaris?"
There was still no response. Worried, Arcturus hastened his pace and placed a hand on his shoulder. This caused Polaris to stop abruptly and turn around with a surprised expression.
"Is something the matter, Arcturus?"
"I tried calling out to you twice, but I never got a response."
Polaris became perplexed. "Did you? I probably wasn't focusing–I got lost in my thoughts. So, what did you ask?"
"Did something happen to Nova and Souhait?"
Polaris nodded. He stared up at the sky. "Everything in this realm became a lavender hue. This means that the masters are doing something crazy like trying to merge with this world by summoning Castle Lavender. I must stop them before things get too chaotic."
Arcturus furrowed his brows. "Wait, Castle Lavender can just up and reappear like that? It can also merge with other realms?" He didn't doubt Polaris's words, but he just had a hard time comprehending the whole situation.
This would mean that Castle Lavender has re-emerged in the real world. Does that mean it came out from the ocean?
He became excited at the thought of being able to see it again, but he quickly shook his head; now wasn't the time to deviate his mind from his current situation. Instead, he wondered about his physical body. Was he still submerged in the water in the real world or was he lucky enough to have been in an area where the castle emerged so that his body was resting on something physical? He couldn't wake up to find out, after all.
Worry started to accumulate into him as he thought about Nova. Would making Castle Lavender reappear take a toll on his physical body? Just what was he doing to warrant this action? He needed to know.
Arcturus turned to Polaris. "Can we find a way to get to where Nova is?"
Polaris scanned the vicinity and pointed towards their left. "There's a door there. I'm positive Master Souhait materialized it for us to enter."
They both ran towards it. Once they were at close proximity, Arcturus reached a hand out to grab the knob, but was stopped by Polaris who grabbed his wrist.
"What are you doing?" A perplexed Arcturus questioned.
"Before we go, I need to know something." He threw Arcturus's wrist towards him and stood in front of the door with a serious expression.
"I didn't expect you to be the type to be playing games."
"This is no game. This is something most important that I must know. Only then will I allow you to proceed."
"What do you want to know?"
"What do you feel about Nova?"
Arcturus raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"Actually, let me rephrase that: How do you feel about Nova?"
"What do you mean?" Arcturus asked, confused.
"Master Nova is in love with you."
It took a few seconds to process what Polaris had said. With his mouth agape, he could only respond with a flabbergasted "Huh?"
Polaris repeated what he had said. This sudden revelation shocked Arcturus. He wasn't sure why he felt his face heating up and his body taking a few steps back. His mind became a jumbled mess. He wasn't sure what to say or think.
"How will you respond?" Polaris inquired.
"How do I respond? Are you even allowed to tell me this? And w-why are you telling me this?"
"Because the way to seal the deal in becoming immortal, you need to kiss Nova."
"K-K-KISS?"
Even he was confused on why he was being so flustered over a simple four-lettered word. It wasn't like he hadn't kissed anyone before–he had kissed Daffodil a few times when they were dating, but that was more on her end than on his.
"Master Nova is a hopeless romantic. He easily falls in love and also gets his heart broken in the process when he learns that the people he loves aren't good people. He's very good at concealing his feelings once he develops it for someone. His greatest desire is to find someone whom he can spend an eternity with."
"An eternity…"
"Because you are willing to become an immortal, I'd take it that you'll become that person?"
"Yes." Arcturus responded without any hesitation.
Polaris's eyes narrowed as he pointed a finger at his chest. "You say yes, but I need to know how you feel about Nova. This is something that cannot be revoked. Once you become immortal due to Nova and Souhait's powers, there is no way to change you back. The people you love will grow old and wither away while you remain the way you are now. You could even fall in love with someone, but that person would suffer that same fate. Just to warn you: falling in love with another person could cause complications to you and Nova's relationship going forth."
To Arcturus, it felt as if Polaris was trying to pressure him into staying with Nova. He was like an anxious father in a way. "You don't need to worry about that. I could see myself falling for Nova."
Polaris looked furious as he stepped forward and placed his hands on Arcturus's shoulders. "Saying you could see yourself falling for Nova isn't a direct answer."
"Why not? Love works differently for everyone!"
"What if you decide that you can't fall for Nova and choose someone else? It'll only lead to complications later on!"
Arcturus knew Polaris made a good point. He only gave out that answer because he was teetering on his interest towards Nova. He truly was interested in him, but he couldn't be precise on what his feelings exactly were. He needed to think deeply about them. What did he feel for Nova? He closed his eyes and started to reflect back on his own love experiences.