p align="left"Remember the feeling./p
p align="left"The sensation of the different creating the familiar. Turning left but still coming up the same as if turning right./p
p align="left""Monster Mage?"/p
p align="left"Make the different familiar. Have the wrong be correct. The hunger the filling. The emotion the thought. The thought the emotion. An out-of-body experience from within./p
p align="left"Collect it…/p
p align="left""Monster–"/p
p align="left"And make it shine!/p
p align="left"Huvtvao's eyebrows shot up as his escorted Monster Mage threw her sleeved hand forwards with a focused "Yah!" that resulted in a massive, spectacular…/p
p align="left"Nothing./p
p align="right""Do you want me to wash your sleeve?"/p
p align="left"Huvett's neck bent down like a snake hanging off a branch down under Cter's left arm. Curiously he inspected it, sniffing it lightly. Cter looked to Huvtvao's reaction, but there wasn't any grimacing from the smell./p
p align="right""It has the slight musk of summer sweat, but it is in no condition near what the Royal Mage lets his sleeve deteriorate into. I say, some days I suspect it is on the verge of collapsing into rough slabs of leather. Like the pillows in his room after his dog got a hold of them."/p
p align="left"Dog?/p
p align="left""The Royal Mage had a pet during his inauguration that unfortunately lost itself during his travel to Monster Country," explained Huvtvao with eyebrows sunk from surprise to solemn. "From what I understand the dog had been restless beyond hope when Terri traveled back here for his inauguration. It hadn't managed to settle down properly and see this castle as home before the newly inaugurated Royal Mage had to travel to Monster Country for an audit with Monster Princess Frioke, and then that trip was extended to Xoff, and all that."/p
p align="right""Since it was an even longer trip the Royal Mage put trust in me to look after the dog," continued Huvett as Huvtvao exchanged some words and orders with a nearby guard. "It wasn't really accustomed with the monsters here so all it did was stay in the Royal Mage's room without letting anyone else in. Constant whimpering persisted for a day or two before we assumed that the dog had calmed down."/p
p align="left""But it had run away?" Cter hazarded while nodding a greeting to the guard bowing his way past her and Huvett and Huvtvao. Did explain some things between Terri and the butler, it did. Cter didn't have a pet of her own, but she had met humans and monsters who had. A rather-even percentage across both species. Something around a sixth or seventh of the humans and monster she'd happen upon, so to speak, and roughly, from the sample of those that she took time talking with. "I'd imagine the Royal Mage being quite heartbroken and betrayed because of that?"/p
p align="left"Terri's broken heart wasn't really difficult to imagine for Cter./p
p align="left"His magic was another story though. That Cter couldn't empathize with so easily as she could him losing a pet. She could call upon a similar situation when she felt heartbroken and betrayed in her life. His magic though, and from where he drew upon it? How, as well, and perhaps more importantly. That was a bit more difficult./p
p align="left"In the same sense that building a castle was a bit more difficult than a house./p
p align="right""He keeps his hair spiked with his ice magic so that his dog can spot him from a crowd much more easily. That as much he has been willing to share with me. Not much more, I'm afraid. You'll have to ask him about it."/p
p align="left"While it was true that pouring salt on ice helped with melting, it was still a wound Cter was to pour salt into. Even if it was that of ice the negative memory would be too much. Too much emotion./p
p align="left"Too much…/p
p align="left"It couldn't be though, could it?/p
p align="left""About the Royal Mage's magic?" Cter asked to either head. The one that wasn't the busiest was fine. It was Huvtvao who swiveled around on his thin neck to give her the attention while Huvett kept eyes in front to navigate the corners needed to get to Cter's room. She had begun to recognize some of the paintings hung on the walls. Not clearly though, but in a blurry, tipsy haze from Priestess Frioke's memories of when she visited the castle. "More specifically his sleeve?"/p
p align="left""It is the same sleeve as he had before he became a Royal Mage, albeit with some added enhancements by Priestess Frioke. The nature of the enhancements though I do not know about. I did not notice a change in his magic from before and after his visit to Priestess Frioke though. He is more confident in his magic, sure, but that I chalk up to her accepting him becoming the Royal Mage of Hjearta and of Ice."/p
p align="left"It didn't sit well for Cter to prod as to exactly how Huvett and Huvtvao didn't notice the shift in Terri's magic. She had to know though if he meant it in terms of Terri's aura. It was important for her to understand how the Royal Mage of Ice's magic worked./p
p align="left"She breathed in slowly./p
p align="left""In what way did you not notice the change in his magic? Specifically, did you not notice a change in his aura?"/p
p align="left"The spear on Huvett and Huvtvao's side rustled in its belt-strapped carry as the butler stopped in his track. His four, strong legs had his stop be more abrupt and sudden compared to a human's. There was a visible shuddering throughout his body. One of anger, but suppressed by rationality. He had to convince himself quite rigorously though. However, if there was one in the world who could convince himself of anything, it was Huvett and Huvtvao. He had already convinced himself to become human, so how much was Cter poking at his sore monster side in comparison?/p
p align="left""With all due respect...Monster. Mage."/p
p align="left"Oh…/p
p align="left"Quite a lot, actually!/p
p align="left""I don't ask this lightly," Cter defended with a respectful motion of regret of her sleeve across her chest for a bow. "Trust me in that, please, Royal Butler." She held her bow to show that what she said she meant. Cter regretted having to ask, but she had to. It was important. What Huvett and Huvtvao answered could mean the future of the humans and the monsters. Cter could not divulge that to him though. She could not because she respected his position and what he had dedicated himself to become. His determination to become the mirror of a Monster Mage. If she could not accept that Huvett and Huvtvao was human then how could she accept herself being monster?/p
p align="left"Still, she had to know./p
p align="left""Were there no change in the Royal Mage's aura after his travel to Monster Country compared to before the travel?"/p
p align="left"Huvett and Huvtvao met his own gaze with a dense air of confliction between his heads. Dense enough to have his necks collapse from the weight of it. Cter was wringing something out of him that he didn't want to acknowledge./p
p align="center""I've left my monster side behind, Monster Mage. Please, do respect my decision."/p
p align="left""And I have left behind my human side," Cter replied with empathy overflowing. "I also know that your dedication to the humans is without compare, even compared to us Monster Mages' dedication towards monsters. However, there are times in my life now where I have to be human. Those times are seldom, but they are."/p
p align="center""It is difficult enough being human among humans without you plucking at the few loose threads of monster I still have left, Monster Mage. You have already made me talk like I used to, and separating myself again is gonna require an hour or two of quiet contemplation."/p
p align="left"Even as he said it with indignation he wasn't wholly dismissive of what Cter had asked. More so, it was as if he was lamenting his burdens. Not like the Village Elder dumping her problems onto Cter though. It was a lament to someone who could understand his burdens. Someone who, while not in the exact same boat as him, were close enough that the stormy weather was the same for the two./p
p align="center""For as much as I love humans there is always the first initial suspicion and disbelief to what I am. To what I want to be, and what I have dedicated myself to be. Humans don't do different very well. Humans want what they already have. What they are familiar with. What they don't have to spend any thoughts and efforts to make familiar. I'm not talking about humans and monsters and that difference. To humans monsters are not-humans. That's what's familiar to them. That's what categorized nicely. A monster being human though?"/p
p align="left""Or a human being monster."/p
p align="left"Huvett and Huvtvao's heads shook in unison to Cter's comment. To her it looked eerie as she had seen his heads as two ever since he introduced himself to her. While she had it easier than most to accept that, the human still went about his introduction and demeanor so naturally that once he reverted to his old self it was as if talking to someone completely different./p
p align="left"In a way it really was./p
p align="center""Not to discredit you or your colleagues, Monster Mage, but a human becoming monster is different from a monster becoming human. With your aura you can convince every monster before they even lay eyes on you. Your soul is like a constantly visible document with a sigil, stamp, and signature from King Asgore and Queen Toriel that you are indeed a monster. That all monsters can feel and see without the slightest thought or hesitation."/p
p align="left"Cter's fascination over Huvett and Huvtvao was overflowing. Overflowing to the point where she spoke without thinking./p
p align="left""Even you?"/p
p align="left"Because she was all monster in that moment./p
p align="left"It had Huvett and Huvtvao averting his heads and eyes with a pained grimace that touted his disappointment in himself./p
p align="center""I did..."/p
p align="left"The confession reverberated throughout his body like a mighty quake. The ornate spear at his side shook as if it was about to be dropped. There was a slight tinder inside the cried disappointment though. A minute flicker of hope./p
p align="center""I thought it would help if I could gauge how your soul and aura was, Monster Mage. A shameful indulgence that I forced myself to feel. If I could understand how a Monster Mage's soul was in its nature perhaps it could have helped me become more human? Looking into the mirror of what I have achieved to become better."/p
p align="left"It was with fellowship for a fellow monster that Cter expanded her aura. "Do you–"/p
p align="center""No!"/p
p align="left"For a fellow monst…/p
p align="left"No, no that was wrong./p
p align="left"Cter cursed herself for doing that. "I'm sorry," she said with a plea. "I...I let my emotions take over. My soul, not my head." Her hand clutched, snuffing out the glow in her spiraling line. She had to focus! Huvett and Huvtvao was looking to her as he once was in confidence. She was about to break that confidence. Focus! "Please forgive." It was confusing to Cter with her soul and head saying different things to her and leaning both ways without any patterns she could get used to. Rocking back and forth in the unstable boat./p
p align="left"If it was that difficult for her just listening how difficult was it for Huvett and Huvtvao to live it?/p
p align="center""It's...fine. I'm used to it."/p
p align="left"Not in a positive way though…/p
p align="left"There was a quiet moment between the monster and the human. A moment for them to remind themselves internally who was who./p
p align="center""I shouldn't have done it. I shouldn't have felt your aura. The subtle taste I got of Kallorean's aura as he saw his squad and general perform his magic was too tempting though. Too big a reminder of what I had sacrificed to become human. Once I indulged myself in that, even if it was as teeny as I was able to, it was all overwhelming once you began your magic, Monster Mage. A colander's holes may be small, but they won't do anything if a dam bursts on them."/p
p align="left"The Monster Mage was at an impasse whether or not to apologize for that. On the one hand she felt that she had to as it was clear in Huvett and Huvtvao's expression that he was still feeling that Cter did him wrong by trying to comfort him via her aura. On the other hand though it wasn't her fault that he decided to indulge himself in Kallorean's aura despite knowing that Cter's magic was next in line./p
p align="left"Her head, not her soul. That's what she needed./p
p align="left"So she didn't apologize./p
p align="center""And now I've gone back to the monster I was because of that."/p
p align="left"It was with eyes like a confused child that Huvett and Huvtvao looked to Cter for her thoughts. Not with his aura though. That he still suppressed. He wanted to hear her answers as the human he wanted to be, and not the monster he once was./p
p align="left"Perhaps…/p
p align="left"Perhaps Cter didn't need to understand Terri's magic after all. Maybe the answers she sought were with Huvett and Huvtvao? For that though she needed his aura. She had to have him open up to her as a monster too./p
p align="left""You have felt that you've betrayed yourself before, today, and you will in the future too." If Huvett and Huvtvao was direct with Cter she was gonna be direct with him too. "There have been times when I have been human as a Monster Mage. At the time it felt strange and wrong having to be a human when I was supposed to be a monster. As if I betrayed the ones that put faith in me being a monster. Same with you but supposed to be a human."/p
p align="left"Huvett and Huvtvao nodded in unison./p
p align="left""It's not a betrayal."/p
p align="left"With patience and calm Cter waited for Huvett and Huvtvao's furrowed brow to be smooth again./p
p align="left""It's the opposite of a betrayal, Royal Butler." The Monster Mage clutched her sleeved fingers into a cylinder which was filled with cyan magic that grew in length until it reached the floor and her head. "For an example that's not us." With a tap of the conjured staff onto the floor the magic bent into a shallow, curved shape which she tossed up and grabbed in its middle. "Do you think of Monster Hunters as not monster?" A string of light-blue magic connected the two bent ends, giving them tension which Cter plucked like a harp on the magical string. She let the note play out before she had the conjured bow slide down her grip until it stood on the white marble below once more. Cter folded both her hands on its top while she let an inquisitive look take over her face. "How do you see their intent as?"/p
p align="left"While Cter didn't strike a chord with Huvett and Huvtvao since the string only produced one note, she did have his brows hung low in thought. The shadows in the folds of his foreheads were retreated due to the glow from Cter's bow./p
p align="center""You're asking me about the killing intent, aren't you, Monster Mage?"/p
p align="left"An arrow of orange magic formed in Cter's hand, laying spread across her sleeved hand which she kept moving to have it not fall through her. "That I am."/p
p align="left"The shadow-less folds became slightly worried to what exactly Cter was planning./p
p align="center""W-We have some Monster Hunters providing meat for the castle. During my...let's say formative years, I never really noticed a change in their auras despite the many game they had fell."/p
p align="left"With the string constantly gyrating with small, rhythmic tugs, Cter notched the orange arrow onto the light-blue string. The odds and differences of the two magics conditions created an unmistakable sizzle that Cter let sparkle wildly. The loose hair on the right side of her head settled in front of her eye as she tensed the light-blue string to ready the orange arrow. "So intent is important for what your expression of the situation details? To the point where it is," Cter pulled the arrow back just before her nose, "paramount?" The sparse training she had gotten more as a way to pass some time rather than any actual interest in archery had finally come in handy for her./p
p align="left"Everything was up to Huvett and Huvtvao whether or not Cter was gonna loose the magical arrow pointing directly at his torso. She was showing her full respect to him by her display. He was an equal to her, so she would use everything she could to help him. She was backing up her words with her actions, coloring the white marble hallway in sizzling orange and cyan./p
p align="center""Yes."/p
p align="left"But would he?/p
p align="left""Correct."/p
p align="left"The note plucked by Cter releasing the magical arrow was different than when she plucked the naked string. Bathed in a sunset-orange, the distance between Cter and Huvett and Huvtvao was quickly covered. It took less than the magical heartbeat inside Huvett and Hutvao's chest before the sharp tip punctured him./p
p align="left"He could run./p
p align="left"Or he could stay./p
p align="left"He knew what the condition for orange magic was. Move and it wouldn't hurt. Move and it would go through him like he was air. Otherwise it would connect with him. Right where Cter had aimed it. Straight at his magical heart. She didn't know much archery, but she did know much magic. Her shot was true./p
p align="left"Huvett and Huvtvao didn't move though. Even as the sunset color drained from the bright marble around him he didn't move the barest of an inch. The arrow punctured him as any normal arrow would. Like a human shooting a human./p
p align="left"Cter cocked her head to the side to let her hair out of her face. She lowered her bow, tapping it on the floor once again before dissipating it and letting it fade away in a faded cyan color. Before it was fully faded she plucked at the magical string one last time./p
p align="left""You understand what I mean now, Royal Butler."/p
p align="left"Not a question, but a fact./p
p align="left"That Huvett and Hutvao didn't move spoke louder that he did than any of his words could ever./p
p align="left""You will only truly betray your dedication when your intent is to," Cter said just in case. Her voice did also sound very nice with the echo of the hallway she was in. The marble was different from that of Jarasevo Castle, which surely was the reason why. "You did not peek with your aura at Kallorean's because you wanted to throw away everything you had done up until that point. No, you peeked because you wanted to further understand. To feel how a human that wasn't a mage utilized magic. That may not have been what you thought, but it is what your soul did. Your soul as human as mine is monster."/p
p align="left"The hallway's color returned to its natural, sunlit bright, with the monster and the human stood their respectful distance away from the other, taking it what had just transpired. The small contingency of guards passing by just outside the large windows facing the courtyard were none the wiser. They would relieve the ones on shift without the slightest clue that the visiting Monster Mage had just shot the Royal Butler with a magical bow and arrow./p
p align="center""Thank you, Monster Mage."/p
p align="left"The many tears that fell onto the castle floor were thick and spread out./p
p align="left""Anytime, Royal Butler."/p
p align="left"And...there it was./p
p align="left"Huvett and Huvtvao's aura. A last goodbye from his monster self towards the Monster Mage that said what he needed to hear. Along with the aura came the answer to Cter's question. Among the many emotions which Huvett and Huvtvao had discussed with himself about how to angle more human than monster./p
p align="left"No, Terri's aura didn't change before compared to after his visit to Jarasevo Castle./p
p align="center""My apologies if it feels a bit anticlimactic after what you did."/p
p align="left"Not really, no./p
p align="left"Cter only needed to know if it was or wasn't the case with the Royal Mage's aura. Something she could work with. With her knowing that his aura hadn't changed she could put the weight of her theorizing correctly. For that she would have to sit down and write a bit though. Get some of those weighty thoughts down onto paper. "Shall we continue our merry way, Royal Butler? Not to butt in on your buttling."/p
p align="center""Yes."/p
p align="right""Follow me, please," bowed Huvett./p
p align="left""Monster Mage," bowed Huvtvao./p
p align="left"Cter stepped to the side to let Huvett and Huvtvao lead the way. Not far enough that she couldn't touch him with her sleeve and save some of his aura that still lingered, but enough to be escorted by him. She saved the pick-pocketed aura as a tiny Cooperative Connection for when she was able to take notes in a bit./p
p align="left"With each corner Huvett and Huvtvao led Cter, the more and more she began to recognize from Priestess Frioke's visit. It came to a point where Cter turned the corner the same time Huvett and Huvtvao did. The last couple of turns he wasn't leading her anymore, but instead they were walking together. Once they arrived at the room Priestess Frioke had, Huvett and Huvtvao took his last couple of long steps to reach the door and hold it open for Cter./p
p align="right""This room is quite special in regards to human magic, Monster Mage."/p
p align="left"The joy in Huvett's voice as he bowed and motioned for Cter to enter was so genuine Cter decided not to spoil it by saying that she already knew that./p
p align="left"For the moment./p
p align="left""You see, this was the room where Priestess Frioke stayed in during a visit to Fenkeep Castle that would come to change the world."/p
p align="left"It was as if time had frozen since Priestess Frioke's visit. The same furniture and the same bed in the same positions. The same window showing the same trees. Cter had to look at her own hand to make sure that she was herself and not Frioke in that moment. It was quite uncanny how preserved it was. All that was missing was a bottle of mostly drunk mead and a monster looking out the window with her long ears swaying like the dances she had just done./p
p align="left"Beautiful, it was./p
p align="left"Cter was happy to be there./p
p align="left""I will give you some time to make yourself comfortable, Monster Mage," Huvtvao informed with a nod towards her luggage tucked behind the opened door. "In the meanwhile I will check on today's itinerary to see if there has been any changes. I will be back in half an hour or so."/p
p align="right""Would you like the itinerary in writing when I return?"/p
p align="left""Please, and thank you," Cter said to the Royal Butler who bowed. "Could you send for a bottle of...Royal Mead, was it?" She thought for a second, letting the memories of Priestess Frioke wash over her briefly. "Yes, Royal Mead." While she walked over to the table where Frioke had sat before Cter took out her journal from her robe to begin writing down some of her theories about Terri's magic. "I'd like to indulge in the wonderful view she did when she visited."/p
p align="left"A stunned silence filled the room. Huvett and Huvtvao was speechless. His eyes wide and taken back./p
p align="left"A fair reaction from the Royal Butler since…/p
p align="left""You're only human, after all."/p