“Far from what I was expecting.” Frost returned his greeting, the sands sifting underneath her feet as she moved towards him. “No stars huh. This must be the old world. I’m starting to think that all of the pre-Awakened Floors are going to be like this. Starting from the past until it becomes the present.”

“With the sole exception of yours.” Magus heartily laughed, twirling his top hat around a finger. “Let’s not forget that the Floor of Judgement also begs to differ. And what’s this!? Not one, but another adorable little You tagged along! Ah, where are my manners?”

“H-Hello… Top Hat Man.” The Sleepy Frost cautiously hid behind Frost. Her gaze timidly moved back and forth from him to her, asking for his name.

“Fear not little one! I am from the same deck of cards from your Amalgam guardian, for it is I, the Archetype of Hope – the Magician!” Golden cards gushed from his top hat.

The sound of a thousand flickering pages briefly filled the silence as the cards magically orbited him like a tiny asteroid belt. His top hat bounced back onto his head with the flick of his wrist as what were supposed to be his eyes rolled like slot machines.

Depictions of swords, staves, wands, and pentacles alongside a number between zero to ten drew out the timid Sleepy Frost from behind her older counterpart. Finally, the symbol of an overflowing chalice was revealed in both eyes, symbolizing the Ace of Cups.

It was a card that symbolized that one was in a position of safety, and that one could drop their guard and relax in a net of comfort.

“But you may call me Magus. Short for magician!” He flicked a finger into the air and caught the same card depicted on his head. “For you~”

“Er… Is it safe? It’s not going to explode?” The Sleepy Frost had a vivid imagination just like the Star Child.

She was clearly not used to being around people, let alone knew how to speak to others properly.

Every single Alter Frost can’t communicate normally. She can talk, but like Anna she’s going to have to get out of her comfort zone. To be fair if I was constantly drowsy then I wouldn’t want to talk to anyone either.

“C’mon. Magus wouldn’t hurt a fly. Take it.” Frost cooed, placing an assuring hand onto her head. “He’s not a bad guy. He’s another Archetype of the Nexus.”

“Indeed! I’m a fun guy!” He proclaimed, saluting her. “No response? So you’re not from a military background like the Hired Arm.”

The Star Child tilted her head suddenly, drawing a giant mushroom above her head.

“No. Not that kind of fungi.” Frost laughed. “She’s more… how do I put it? A younger me from the old world, but not closer to the Captured Star like her.” She placed her other hand on the Star Child’s head, causing her face to brighten as she drew a ‘>ᴗ<’ emoji with her light.

“Is that correct? Hm…” Magus stroked a nonexistent chin as he inspected the girl. Then, with the click of his fingers, he stabbed his cane into the sand and chuckled. “With shorter hair and different colored eyes this would have been wishfully nostalgic for me! Alas, red eyes belonged to my dear friend. Not that I haven’t taken a liking to gold, mind you.”

He said joyously. Frost imagined him winking at her, causing her to grin.

“Thanks. So long you understand that we’re two different people. But then again there’s no denying that there’s some Sinder left inside of me.”

“Indeed. Looking at you does strange things to a fool like myself. O nostalgia. Undeterminable nostalgia. Our window to the past~ Hmhmhm~!”

“High spirits as always, huh?”

“But of course, for what is hope without a smile? Even in a place like this hope will always prevail as a shining beacon for others.” He spoke in his eloquent, gentlemanly tongue just moments before the Star Child pointed at something in the distance.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Without warning, she took the hand of the Sleepy Frost and began roaming the sandy expanse.

“W-Woah – hold on! I’m not cut out for runiiiiiiing!” She cried, her voice disappearing as quickly as their visages over a small mound.

“Is it fine to let them run off on their own?” Frost asked, ready to catch them in an instant.

“It’ll be fine. Children should be lively.” Magus hummed, turning his head to the side as the rotation of his cards steadily slowed. “Yes. They should be free.”

His tone lowered unexpectedly as if a surge of unwanted memories assaulted him all at once. His sudden silence was deafening, and it nearly killed the upbeat mood they had between them.

“Shouldn’t we all? It’s not like you to sound so down. Did something come up?” Frost juggled the mood, speaking on a high note which Magus – though he didn’t outright show it – deeply appreciated her concern.

“As with all Archetypes there comes a time when we will question our own existence.” He began, speaking deeply as he raised his eyes to the sky where no star could be found. “Dear Anna turned out to be a major contributor to the Collective Compendium of All Knowledge, which we now know as the Eternal Library.”

“Yeah. I never would have expected her to be so involved with something that big in the past. Not that I really know the scale of it to begin with. I’m still struggling to grasp how big the Nexus is.” Frost bounced off him.

“The Director… that madman. I still receive letters from him. Heralds arrive to personally deliver handcrafted cards for me.” He said, pulling a blue letter from his suit. It had a crudely drawn smile of it and was scented with pleasant cologne.

“None of us still know what he’s up to either. But he’s helped us in the shadows more times than I can count.”

“The Star Child as the Captured Star. The truest essence of the ‘Light’ next to you. I’ve been watching that child for a while now, my friend. She’s not as clueless of the world as you may think.”

“Are you saying that it’s all an act?” Frost questioned.

“No. It’s more that she is trying to figure out what she wants.” Magus answered and walked along one of the many paths ahead. “Come. Shall we go for a walk?”

“Right next to you. Out of all the Archetypes you mentioned, none of them have really questioned their existence like us.” Frost walked by his side, the sand sifting heavily in their wake as they ventured into the unknown expanse. “The Arbiter knows exactly what she was. I do too but then again...”

Her voice betrayed her mid-sentence. As much as didn’t want to admit it, the question of her own existence was something that bothered her. The brief moment of anger that bubbled and inevitably erupted while within the memory of the old world ate at her.

Frost deeply exhaled, venting that creeping frustration before she continued.

“… Identity is something that’s struck me with grief before. All those names attached to me makes me wonder just what the hell I am sometimes.”

“What of the reverse of how you feel? For us that do not have many namesakes like you?” Magus admitted that he had the opposite problem, that there was not enough information to give a hint of who or what he was, let alone where he began. “Like the Arbiter I have considered that I may be a Star of the old. An entity born from a place where only thoughts can reach; as I paraphrase the revelations of the Arbiter.”

His head morphed into the card of the Star. It was a depiction of a woman kneeling at the edge of a pond, carrying two containers of water streaming from a source beyond the borders of the card. It nourished the land depicted within, bringing new things that otherwise would not have existed.

“Frost. The reason I have called you here was not to discuss these things. I merely dabbled in them because you are the one person I can trust wholeheartedly with my nonsensical babbles.” He said as they approached what appeared to be a rundown orphanage, a place that seemed to hold a special place in Magus’ heart but for reasons he could not place a finger on.

It upset him beyond words.

“The friend I remember was a born listener. A person who I recall having outlived me. Children of our City never knew the stars. Instead, they knew of the people and monsters that sat at their heights. Such monsters became inspirations. Beacons of hope, believe it or not. Hope comes in many flavors and more often than not –”

His rant came at an abrupt pause as they passed by empty beds soaked in blood. Rooms were crushed by debris and the belongings of children torn and scattered across the broken floorboards.

The sight broke Frost’s heart, and she could only imagine how Magus felt as he brushed a hand along the desks of a mess hall where children gathered to eat.

“– Hope is another side of a coin shared with Despair. Both are one in the same. Despair breeds Corruption as we’ve found. And hope…”

He stood in the center of the carnage. The ceiling of the orphanage revealed a starless sky. And yet Magus continued to look up into the nothingness as if enchanted. Then, he brought his invisible gaze back and stared down at the remains of the belongings of people once precious to him.

“… is an Awakening. My Amalgam friend. Stars are strange, abstract things in our world. In yours, they had one meaning. A role model. A parent. A hero. An entertainer. A giver of new things. Life. Hope. All these things are Stars.”

He then resumed walking.