When Arcturus was thirteen years old, he and his sister had finally moved to Lamina after his grandparents had filled out paperwork for their immigration. It was a long and arduous process that had taken a year to complete. Months after the big move, Arcturus had a hard time assimilating into the new country. Laminans did not accept him as their own kind and often ostracized him for his scarlet hair and mixed heritage; he had recalled a similar scenario growing up in Plasma where he was ostracized for the same reason—looking like a pure-blooded Plasmian but wasn’t pure enough for his people. He honestly couldn’t find a place to belong despite having a family.

For one year, the only friends he had were books. The solo dates he made were at bookstores or libraries. He vastly preferred books to human interaction; books did not judge his hair or lineage.

“Weren’t you lonely?” Nova asked as they observed a fourteen-year-old Arcturus reading a book in a library—he wore a baseball cap to cover his hair. Both he and the older Arcturus were sitting at a table next to the adolescent’s.

“There were times where I was, but whenever I went to the library, it went away temporarily. It was like the books were befriending me, soothing my loneliness.”

The young Arcturus looked up from his book to see librarians walking about with one another, students studying with each other, and parents roaming about with their children. An uneasy feeling came to him.

It must be nice being with others. I don’t know that feeling at all. I wish I can understand what it means to have friends. Though, I do prefer being alone. This is just wishful thinking. The older Arcturus looked down to see Nova’s foot touching his leg. He looked back at Nova who was looking away from him.

Nova snidely remarked, “So, you were a loner.”

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Annoyed, Arcturus snapped back. “I wouldn’t talk for someone who’s been stuck making ice sculptures inside Castle Lavender.”

Nova clammed up; Arcturus immediately felt guilty for responding in such a way. Before he could apologize, he noticed someone approaching the young Arcturus. It was a teenaged boy with dirty blond hair; his outfit was casual—black shirt and jeans—save for one noticeable accessory: a bright green scarf. The sight of him made Arcturus feel rather conflicted.

The younger Arcturus noticed a shadow looming behind him, blocking his light. He turned around grumpily. The boy gave him a meek smile as he raised a hand and wiggled his fingers. The sight of him warmed Arcturus’s heart; a smile came to his face.

“Hi.”

Arcturus groaned as he turned around. The boy gaped at his reaction. He quickly sat down at the seat next to him.

“Hi.” The boy looked desperate to get his attention.

“Hello.”

“You’re Arthurus Mercury, right? The new kid?”

Annoyed, the young Arcturus corrected him. “Arcturus Mercury.”

“Arthurus.”

Arcturus rolled his eyes. “Arc-tu-rus.”

“Too long. I’m going to call you Arc.”

The older Arcturus couldn’t help but to hold back his laughter when he saw his younger self’s annoyed countenance. Recalling this memory had been an annoyance, but he couldn’t help but to find it silly. Perhaps, he hadn’t realized his younger self was just one silly person until now.

The younger Arcturus nodded. Landon then pointed at himself. “Do you know who I am?”

“Landon Heartful. We’re classmates.”

“You’re smart!” Landon looked genuinely delighted.

“I’m not a dumbass who mispronounces someone’s name and then proceeds to give them a nickname just to hide the fact their precious name was hard to pronounce.”

Nova gaped as he glanced at the older Arcturus. “Savage.”

“I still am.” The older Arcturus remarked with confidence.

Landon feigned to be hurt. “Ow. That hurts.”

“Tough it out.”