White cement gleamed beneath the sun, etched in gold filigree that climbed each towering spire. The streets shimmered beneath a fall of orange leaves, warm, glowing, and alive. It almost felt as though we could reach the clouds from here, though the palace, distant and radiant, seemed to own them all.

  Long ago, these heights were nothing but green highlands, cradled by ancient settlers and beasts that roamed freely. Then came Mighty Light—his conquest, his claim—and the first kingdom rose. It endured wars, plagues, and reigns of terror, yet still it stood, ever reaching, ever hungering for more.

  Hansoms rolled smoothly over the paved ground, their wheels whispering against the stone. Crowds drifted like a current, carrying us with them. I wore washed jeans and a loose sweater. Ellie, disguised in a blonde hue, moved beside me in a light brown coat layered over dark clothes. There was something disquieting about her, not fear, precisely, but the quiet awe of watching confidence worn like armor, carried on the face of the girl I once loved.

  "Have you ever thought of just living?" she asked.

  "What are you implying?"

  "You know. Forgetting about our standing in society. Moving somewhere else, another continent, another name. No titles. No enemies. Just quiet."

  "You’re the one chasing grand goals. I have my sister to return to, and a responsibility." I stopped myself before saying what I truly meant: my vow to tear Ellie from Arie’s life.

  "Nobody actually cares. The rules were made by humans, the same race as us. We have the right to break them. They’re not gods, bear-boy. Only those with absolute power are."

  "Are you saying you consider yourself one? Only Megaverse holds absolute power."

  "Of course not. I’m merely using the gift I was given. There were no rules written into it, only consequences."

  My stomach growled. Even stripped of my Polarman form, hunger still followed me, stubborn as breath. The scent of grilled fish drifted through the street—sharp, smoky—and I realized how long it had been since I’d eaten.

  "Check this out," Ellie said.

  Before I could respond, she took my hand and pulled me toward a glass-doored restaurant. The sign above read Bearesto. The moment we stepped in, a chime tinkled, a soft, nostalgic sound that felt almost wholesome in a city of gleam and marble.

  "Ah, another lovely Finnian! What can I get for you?" The burly Ashman behind the counter raised his mug of milk coffee, his voice booming with warmth.

  I met his gaze a moment too long, forgetting I wasn’t in my Polarman skin. He smiled, polite but distant, the way one greets another passing soul.

  "You’re mesmerizing, young lad. A member of the White Castles, perhaps?"

  "No," I replied. "You’re my—um... you are a spectacle."

  "All bears are," he said, grinning. "In this kingdom of light, black bears are a rare wonder. Though if it’s shine you want, the Nocturne Kingdom worships that. Ever been there?"

  "I have," Ellie answered, her voice smooth as butter and twice as dangerous. "It’s where vampires flourish, and werewolves hide. Those who were once human, now cursed." She drummed her fingers idly against the counter, then turned her gaze to me. "What do you want, Clinton?"

  Heat flushed my cheeks. Even knowing it was Ellie speaking, her eyes made it feel like Arie had borrowed her body. We ordered our meals, and I paid in leaf bills, the currency rustling softly between my fingers, as fragile as the peace that lingered between us.

  “No light coins?” the Ashman asked, voice rumbling like gravel ground beneath boots.

  “None that we know of,” Ellie replied, smooth and unbothered. “We just came from the Greatspire Kingdom.”

  “Sweet Megaverse,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Your homeland should really set up a fixed currency. Do you know of Elion Champ? I’ve heard he found the Golden Orange in the Sunstar Pyramid, lucky him. I bet he’ll be the most powerful fruit master within the decade.”

  “We watched his race in this year’s tournament,” I said before I could stop myself. “He was a good man.”

  Ellie’s glance cut through my words, a quiet warning—one that said don’t say more.

  “Indeed!” The Ashman took a long sip of his coffee, the mug hiding his grin. “Because you came from a long trip, I’ll take these bills for granted. Though, the other shops only deal with light coins. There’s a fluppy bright owl just beside my restaurant, he’ll exchange any currency for light coins.”

  Ellie smiled, ever poised, and drifted away toward a corner table. I followed, the two of us claiming a round table beneath the soft gleam of morning light. Somehow, the Ashman hadn’t mentioned my mismatched eyes. I felt the vanity prick at me, strange, how even disguise couldn’t dull it.

  After breakfast, we stepped outside. The air was brisk, humming with voices and carriages, and the bank beside Bearesto loomed like a marble sentinel. Two guards stood before it, clad in polished white armor that shimmered under the sun. Their visored screens glowed blue as they turned toward us. Ellie nudged me forward, smiling.

  I approached the counter, loosening the satchel at my side. A white round owl hovered before me—tiny wings fluttering, sapphire eyes crinkled with delight.

  “What kind of jewelry are you going to sell, handsome?” he chirped, voice playful, assuming my polished look meant wealth.

  “Leaf bills,” I said. “I’ll exchange them for light coins.”

  He bit down gently on the bills with his beak and fluttered off behind the counter. When he returned, he carried a small pouch heavy with metallic clinks.

  “Gotcha. What else do you have?” His large eyes sparkled with curiosity.

  “Nothing else.”

  I turned to leave. Ellie caught my arm, her fingers deliberate and lingering. Her touch carried ownership rather than affection, something Arie would never have dared. Boldness, it seemed, was Ellie’s native language.

  “Now, where do we go… Clinton?” she asked, a smirk curving her lips.

  We drew stares as we walked through the crowded street, a strange pair gliding between sunlight and shadow—too polished, too deliberate, like a statue carved to mock the living.

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  “Don’t you have anyone you know here?” I asked.

  “Of course,” she said lightly. “At least before he betrayed me. I’m not interested in prying into his aristocratic family.” Her eyes glimmered, mischievous. “You know, you should really enjoy your time with me. You’re always so skeptical, emotionally tethered to what you love but too afraid to hold on, terrified it’ll vanish when it ends. That’s why you’re always such a sad little boy.”

  I clenched my jaw, letting her words echo. Part of me wanted to argue. Another part couldn’t. My thoughts drifted—curse cleanser. Maybe one of these shops carried what I needed.

  Ellie’s smile said she already knew. And she was only buying time, keeping me close, keeping me hers, until it was far too late for me to break free.

  "Why do you always have to hurt my feelings?" I asked.

  "I'm merely showcasing my honesty. People like you are the ones who handle the tedious tasks each day, stubbornly sane, or so you believe. Yet no mind is immune to cracking, not even yours. Tell me, what if Lethal Dark was kinder than Mighty Light?"

  "How dare you ask that in this sacred place?" I whispered.

  We passed beneath white pillars that upheld a vast art gallery. Ellie tugged me inside like a child pulling along a toy. The hall bloomed with beauty and symmetry, paintings steeped in emotion, marble statues frozen mid-breath, all bathed in the fractured sunlight streaming through jeweled panes.

  A woman in a beret approached, her smile poised, practiced. She wore a white jumpsuit and gloves clasped by golden rings. “I offer foretelling through my divine gift from Megaverse,” she said. “Would you like to glimpse your future?”

  “We’d like to seek it,” Ellie replied.

  “Come with me.”

  She led us into a quiet chamber and shut the door. The room was wide but near-bare, save for an easel at its heart. Paintbrushes stood like sentinels beside jars of ink. Stains of color—remnants of passion and obsession—spattered the wooden walls.

  “Sit there,” she gestured toward a cushioned corner. “I’ll paint you quickly.”

  Her left hand began to glow, a mellow gold, and her brush moved in graceful haste. I exchanged an uneasy glance with Ellie until, at last, the Art Seer lifted her brush and turned the canvas toward us.

  It showed us both: Ellie and me. My human form stared back, alien and uncertain. Ellie smiled with that girlish charm, too innocent for what she was.

  “You must be an Art Seer,” I said.

  “That’s correct,” she replied softly. “Please, let me see before we speak.”

  Her gaze deepened, stars shimmering across a dark sea.

  A breath. Silence thickened.

  Then, her voice shattered it. “The two of you are destined to marry, and live in wealth and splendor!”

  “Ahhh! This is good news!” Ellie squealed, wrapping her arms around me, her warmth bleeding through the fabric of her coat. She leaned close, her whisper brushing my ear. “You’re only mine. No one else will ever care for you as much as I do.”

  I prayed the vision had been wrong, that the one beside me would vanish, and it would be Arie instead. The thought alone brought a faint, forbidden relief.

  “Thank you for your free service,” Ellie said suddenly, her tone dripping with sugar. “Because of that, I’d like to offer one of mine.”

  The shift in her aura was instant. I felt it—a sharp, invisible pulse of killing intent. My eyes met hers in silent warning. Stop. Don’t.

  But she had already taken the canvas in a swift, deliberate motion. Her nails, painted pink, not the ones as Arie once kept them, caught the light.

  With her other hand, she seized the Seer’s brush. Ice began to crawl along its length, turning pigment and wood into a crystalline spear. Before the woman could even gasp, Ellie drove it through her chest.

  The Art Seer fell without a sound, eyes wide open—frozen in the last instant of sight.

  "She didn’t do anything wrong!" I yelled. "Why did you do that?"

  My voice cracked through the silence, and frost threaded down my fingers before I realized it. Ice bloomed at my palms—uncontrolled, instinctive. The light wooden floor was already drowning in red, the blood seeping through its seams like it was searching for a way out.

  "You're being noisy, bear-boy. And emotional." Ellie’s tone was steady, disturbingly calm. “Forget about this, starting from when we first entered this art gallery.”

  “Skymint,” a voice called, soft and trembling. “Skymint, Skymint!”

  The world lurched. My body trembled as I clawed for air, vision clouded and stuttering. When it finally cleared, Arie was kneeling before me—her face pale, eyes wide with worry.

  "You're sweating so badly," she said, brushing her hand near my face but stopping short. "Like your soul’s about to flee your body."

  "What happened?" The words tumbled out raw, my mind still fogged.

  "I don’t know either! I—I found a dead woman here with an ice shard, and I’m afraid I’m the one who did it!"

  I looked down. The woman was still there, her lifeless eyes fixed on nothing, the frozen wound gleaming faintly in her chest. It wasn’t a dream.

  “We have to leave before anyone sees us.” I caught Arie’s hand, and we slipped through the narrow window, the glass biting at our sleeves as we escaped into the light.

  The sun caught my human skin, glinting too bright—too unreal. We walked as calmly as fugitives could, blending with the morning crowd before paying a hansom to take us toward the nearest hostel.

  When we finally reached the room—four walls, a single lamp, silence heavy as stone, I turned to her.

  “There’s no way you suddenly became Arie when you already cast that spell, to stay in control forever.”

  “I’m Arie? What do you mean?” She tilted her head. “I’ve always been Arie.”

  I clenched my fists, the cold biting through my knuckles. “Stop with your philosophy, Ellie.”

  She smiled then, slow, almost tender, before resting a finger against her cheek. “Hmm. You got me. But you’d have died there if I hadn’t reminded you of my innocence.”

  Her tone shifted—playful, cruel. She leaned close, close enough for me to feel her breath. “You’ve got no fur now, so I can see your fear. After all, you’re just an animal. What difference are you from humans? A sinful, dirty being.”

  Her laughter was sharp and shrill, breaking whatever calm was left in me. Then, without warning, she dragged her tongue from my nose to my forehead, a slow, mocking gesture. When she pulled back, her grin was wild, feral, nothing like a princess.

  A chill stabbed down my spine. I had the dreadful sense she’d already done worse, things buried deep, things she’d stolen from me with her Dreamer’s Magic.

  ***

  The stars scattered like shards of silver across the deep velvet of the night sky. Ellie and I sat on the rooftop, our legs swinging over the ledge, the world below hushed and dim beneath us.

  "Wasn't it obvious?" she asked.

  "What?"

  "The stars are brighter tonight, bear-boy. We barely saw them in the previous kingdoms."

  Her tone was light, but something about her voice carried an ache, as if the brightness above us only deepened what lingered inside her.

  "It only reminds me of how far I am from my sister," I said quietly. "I’m uncertain whether she’s safe right now, still has her job, or—"

  "Didn’t I tell you already? She’s protected by my spell."

  "Yeah, you’re right. I forgot." I paused, uneasy. "It still bothers me that you haven’t lifted it, those protection spells, if you say so. It can’t just be because of the life-binding spell."

  "Of course not! Look at me in the eyes."

  She turned to me, and those sky-blue orbs met mine—bright, sharp, and endless. For a breath, neither of us spoke. Her fingers brushed through my white hair, slow and deliberate, and before I could react, she leaned in.

  Her lips found mine. The warmth of her breath melded with mine, her tongue tracing a path that sent a chill through me. The kiss was too consuming, too sudden, so I pulled away, breathless, my cheeks burning.

  "I—I haven’t said anything yet," I stammered.

  "Admit it, bear-boy," she said, a crooked grin curling her mouth. "That was awesome."

  Manipulation or not—it was exactly what Ellie would do. She was feeding on my confusion, on the stolen pulse of humanity she claimed as her own. And all I could think about was Arie—how I’d betrayed her without meaning to, how she deserved her body, her will, her breath back.

  "Why do you look like a sad little bear again?" she teased. "You should be happy—you got your first kiss from... Arie."

  "There you are again," I said sharply. "What do you really want to say?"

  "I love you so much, Skymint," she whispered, her voice trembling just enough to sound real. "I’ll never be able to find anybody else like you. You’re an enigma to me. I don’t understand it, this pull I have to protect you, to be near you. I can’t contain it any longer."

  And for a moment, I saw it—a flicker of humanity behind her eyes. A trapped light begging to be free.

  "You really are Arie too," I said, awed despite myself. "But you’re still such a strange girl, Ellie. My heart belongs to your light side. I can’t promise my love to you, I hope you understand."

  She smiled faintly. "That means you love me too. Remember your doppelganger?"

  "Ah, don’t remind me of that cursed memory, Ellie!"

  "I already did," she said with a playful glint. "Perhaps we should stay here a little longer, to clear that out of your head."

  And so we did. Beneath the boundless sky, wrapped in the cold’s quiet embrace, neither of us spoke again. The stars shimmered above, indifferent witnesses to whatever we were becoming.