The first thing Arcturus and Polaris did once their cooperation started was to run. They didn't know where they were going, but, as long as it was far away from the souls that were after Arcturus, anywhere was fine. As they kept running, Arcturus noticed that the souls were not attacking him at all. It was as if being with Polaris was an amulet to ward off the despairing souls.
"Hey, let's stop running for now." Arcturus requested. "These souls aren't after me anymore."
Polaris slowed down and stopped to scan his surroundings. Arcturus was correct. The passing souls were just walking aimlessly. It was as if they didn't care about their presence.
"How unusual…"
"More importantly, what are we going to do about Nova? Is there any way you can detect him?"
"The despair in this place makes it hard for me to get a precise reading on where my masters are." Polaris stared at the direction they were running towards. "I suggest we just search where we can and hope that I can sense Master Nova."
"I guess that's our only plan of action for now…"
The two started walking side-by-side. Arcturus took the chance to take a closer look at his new companion. Polaris was a bit shorter than him; he could tell he was taller than Nova and Souhait. He couldn't see what his hair and eye colors were due to the green filter, but he had remembered he had caramel blond hair. He couldn't remember what color his eyes were. When he looked at his side profile as a whole, he was reminded of Nova. They did look similar in his eyes; he wondered if they were brothers.
Though, what brother would address his own as Master?
Then, silence came. All Arcturus heard were the sounds of their footsteps, breathing and the atmosphere. Hearing all of them in unison felt melancholic in a way–perhaps it was because of the realm being one of despair. When he passed by a passing soul, he took a good look at what sort of expression they had–they had none. Replacing their visages with a blank canvas would make no difference. He then recalled Mebsuta's words about how this realm was created from souls that Souhait eradicated.
He turned to Polaris and started asking questions. "Why does Souhait eradicate souls? I thought he wanted to grant wishes."
Polaris stopped. He then glared at Arcturus. "Do you doubt my master's ways?"
"I'm just asking a question here."
Polaris sighed. "Sometimes, we have to get rid of souls when they do not fit Souhait's criteria."
"And those are…?"
"He won't grant wishes for those who want to use the power of wishes for evil purposes or allow those to subjugate him and his power. However, what is considered evil is all up to him."
"What does he consider evil?"
"Anyone who wants to use the power of wishes to change the ways of this world for their own purposes is considered the biggest sin in his eyes."
"I'm assuming Mebsuta had one of those types of wishes?"
Polaris nodded. "She wanted to use the power of wishes to make Eternally its own separate nation in order to cut ties with Ilacier."
"But doing that means she's trying to overthrow the Three Nations Act."
"There are only three nations. That's how Master Souhait created this world. Going against it is sin."
Arcturus now understood what it meant to have a soul eradicated. If someone's wish was going against the laws of the world, that would be evil. It meant that they wanted to ensue power and fear. Using Nova for that would be horrible; it meant that people only saw him as a tool and not as a person.
"What's so bad about wanting Eternally to be its own nation?" Mebsuta asked abruptly, startling Arcturus who happened to be next to her.
Polaris remarked, "Going against the Three Nations Act is sin."
"And why is that? My wish would benefit everyone in Eternally. We wouldn't be Ilacians anymore but Eternallies. We all came to this isolated land to find a place to call home–Souhait of all people would understand that best, right?"
Arcturus could tell why making Eternally its own nation would be a bad idea. There wasn't any good source of food as there were no land animals–they would have to rely on fishing to get by but ocean water wasn't clean and that would affect the creatures living in them. On top of that, Sirius was the only city and it made him wonder if making other cities or towns were possible under such a rule. Most of all, the current leader Bellatrix had separated those who opposed her by making them live in an isolated corner of the city. There was neither equality nor prosperity.
Polaris demanded, "Do not say such drivel. Master Souhait understands that this sort of rule won't benefit anyone. The power of wishes is not for you to use so selfishly."
Ignoring him, Mebsuta turned to Arcturus. "What do you think about all this?" She asked with an artificial smile, hoping she'd get some positive reaction out of him. Unfortunately for her, it had no effect on him; Arcturus wasn't one to be swayed by a beautiful woman.
"I think the same. The power of wishes isn't meant to be used like that. Wishes are something to give hope to. That's the reason why I desperately clung onto the idea of encountering Souhait, whether he'd be a fairy tale or not. Now that I met both Nova and Souhait, I learned something important: wishes are a power used for happiness. I'm happy that I got my wish granted and I want to give Nova that same feeling."
Mebsuta's smile had quickly changed into a scowl. "No one here agrees with me? Fine. I'll make it happen."
She snapped her finger and a hole appeared from beneath both Arcturus and Polaris, dropping them in. Arcturus wondered what she was planning.