Dark.
A strange type of dark.
Not a scary one, nor a particularly oppressive one either.
Almost like it was a dark because there was not much else around for there to be an absence of.
As Cter had connected her magic with Dr. Sallus to let it take him over so that she could change it, it felt cold and distance. She did not expect a royal palace due to his magical inertness, but she expected something. A quaint farmhouse in comparison, perhaps? Something that was still warm and cozy despite the sparse soul.
While it meant that she had less magic to change it also meant that she had less magic to get used with. To learn from and to find an angle which she could begin changing it from. Both easier and more challenging at the same time. She would have to be more invasive to search for the hook that she needed to get started. To climb more into Bonny's skin, so to speak.
Why she spoke of it like that and made it worse she had no idea.
In any case though she had to, even if she came to think of it as something so...crass.
Cter clutched her hand tighter around Bonny's arm, letting her spiraling arm extend further up into his fluffy arm. Both to probe deeper into his soul, but also to extend the magical shell she had around her to make doubly sure that Sund's radiating aura didn't leak through as Cter went about changing Bonny's magic. As her magic crept deeper and deeper into the barren dark of Sund's magical potential, Cter could feel his soul try and resist her influence, but with how weakly it was magically it was a sigh against a storm. Even if he had been a more-powerful monster he would still have been just a monster.
Idyll could not halt Cter's invasive magic, so how could Dr. Sallus? When Cter changed Idyll's magic she didn't have control of it to boot. Essentially Cter was invading without the faintest of a defense to stop her. To get inside Bonny's magic wasn't the hard part.
It was finding his soul once she had invaded.
"Try and conjure something for me, doctor."
That way she could sense from inside his aura how he went about with his magic. She did have a faint idea since she used his magic in her true Cooperative Connection, however though since it was more a means for her to figure out her own magic, Bonny's given magic was only acting as a catalyst, nothing more, really. So while she used it to easier connect with his soul she did not really know the details of it as well as she had known with Romrom's magic.
Once Bonny called upon his magic inside his soul it was like a flicker of light inside the absent dark. A sneeze, kinda, as it sorta startled Cter with where it came from. Magically louder than she expected.
"Too much, Monster Mage?" the monster doctor asked with care in his voice. "I figured you wanted it as clearly as possible."
"It's fine," Cter replied with a nod. "I was just a bit closer than I expected, if that makes any sense?"
There was a pause where Cter felt that Bonny was shifting in his chair. She didn't hear or see it, it was through his aura that she sensed it. Slightly disorientating to feel from two different places like how she did with Idyll during that faithful night, yet she kept going. The disorientation she was able to suppress as again Bonny's magic was quite weak.
With the sneeze of magic to locate Bonny's soul Cter could begin the actual process of changing his magic. Since he was still expressing magic out his soul it was easy to sample it and take it in. Like picking an apple from an apple tree.
Cter didn't eat it though. She had to study it. Feel how it felt to her, and more importantly, how it felt to Bonny. She had to know how it felt to her so that she could copy it to act as the vessel for the change she was going to project from her soul into Bonny's. Cter also needed to know how it felt to Bonny so that the change would be compatible with Bonny. If it didn't feel like his own magic then…
Well...Cter didn't know what would have happened. She had a feeling that it would not be any good though judging by the messy way she went about changing Idyll's magic. Only when she lost herself inside her friend's soul and memories was the change possible since Cter became Idyll in all sense magical. With Bonny though Cter needed it to be more professional and proper. Something that a Monster Mage would do. Something that showed that she had control over her magic.
Something that would save Sund…
So she began to study Bonny's magic. From the texture of the conjured item he had summoned to how he went about the emotions that made it ignite from internal to external to how he went about constructing the conjured item. Each one told just as much about his magic as the other, with more details in-between them as well. It was very much the large strokes forming the more detailed ones. Knowing which primary colors were used to blend the more-nuanced colors that made it possible for Cter to only sample the magic and not take it all from Bonny.
She had done so many and varied Cooperative Connections with so many and varied monsters that she could figure the finer colors from the primary ones. Each Cooperative Connection she made left a note inside her soul about who the monster was. Who the Green Monster was. Who the Spider Butcher was. Who Idyll was. Who Romrom was.
And who Bonny was.
So who was Bonny? How was his magic?
To begin with his primary colors he was a monster who used a gradual form of conjuration magic that monsters with weak magic and new mages often employed. Instead of being able to form all of the conjuration magic inside their soul to then let out in one instant it was more common for the weak monsters and fresh mages to gradually form their conjuration magic, starting with it being a faint, rough form of the object before fading into being more opaque and closer to the form it was supposed to until it was conjured fully.
This of course gave it a rather-grainy texture as it was more a continuous layering instead of one instant, fully formed conjuration. Not rough as the layering was done with the knowledge that he had to be relatively slow about it, but grainy nonetheless. Like the surface of a table after a month or two in the attic.
From that Cter could go through the grainy layers like the pages of a book, with each layer going deeper bringing her closer and closer to the pure of Bonny's magic. Each layer she flipped through had her closer to the internal from the external. Each layer she flipped through she learned from where and what Bonny drew upon to summon his magic. His weak magic had the text on the flipped pages faint and hard to discern, but with his memories inside her sleeve she was able to make the emotions more legible, but perhaps not enough to have had her understand from just reading through the layers.
Good thing it was not just that in a vacuum. The three primary colors were enough for Cter to paint the picture of Bonny's relationship to his magic.
A cold blue that was cold not out of any lack of emotion or love for those around him, but cold out of necessity. To keep rigid and with good posture so that those around him could feel courage and use his rigidity to get back into the normalcy of their lives. Each time he grieved, more would too, so in his mind and soul it was a net negative for him to grief for those he could not safe.
Not grieving gave him time to focus on those that still had a fighting chance. If he refused to grief and to let the sadness overtake him then more humans wouldn't have to grief. If he did not then they did not. A net positive. A cold blue out of necessity to be the monster doctor heading Clinic Hill. A cold blue that froze his nerves harder than steel so that he would never falter in his quest.
Next was a curious green that had driven him despite his lack of magic, making him constantly green as a novice when it came to magic despite his age and wisdom. The curiosity to delve into the deepest end of the lake of humans rather than the lake of monsters. For if he could not swim in the lake of monsters with his weak magic then why would it be any different in the lake of humans?
His wild flailing in both lakes tossed around just as much splashing water, so why not do it in the lake where he had the potential to actually dive deeper? To explore a world that the monsters did not know, and to do it deeper than any human ever had! A curious green that looked similar to healing magic, but was everything but.
Finally, an astute white that reflected both his snowy coat as well as his intellect. The blue and green came together to form the white, prompting him to go further in his endeavors with confidence and with knowledge both learned and found on his own. It was what had his layers grainy and not rough. Not only did he know about what he could do, but more importantly, what he could not do.
He was aware of his abilities both in mind and soul. Perhaps his weak magic made it easier for him to make that connection? Or perhaps he knew that he could not make that connection and thus he shifted his thoughts to be in line with the lack of connection? It was that sort of thinking that led him through his life of medicine. An astute white that reflected the shine of his mind, bright and sharp.
The three primary colors of Bonny Cter let swirl inside her soul and aura, causing a shift in its tint to be more in line with his magic's three primary colors. It prompted a gasp from Bonny. "Is that..." he spoke quietly as if it was a thought that slipped out. "Is that me?" His ears melted down, scraping against the inner of his surrounding shell before landing heavy down his arms. "Are you...me…, Cter?"
While it was a good sign that he gasped and was surprised by the shift in her aura, it wasn't exactly the same as his aura. Most of the hesitation inside his aura was that of the shock of feeling himself inside Cter's aura, but some of that hesitation, however small, was him not fully accepting it because something was wrong. It wasn't completely him.
Cter had not begun to mix the colors though, and as she began too, she kept a close magical and physical eye on Bonny to gauge the mix of color that she needed for her magic to feel completely identical to his. It was difficult in the bright yellow shining both in her eyes and in her aura, but she soldiered on through it. She ignored Sund to be able to save him.
The void-like loneliness that he was stuck in she left him to deal with all alone for the moment as she focused all of who she was on Dr. Sallus while changing the colors. More of the cold blue furrowed his brow, so she replaced it with a bit more of the curious green which resulted in more of the astute white which was too much in the other direction.
It was trial and error.
Because for as much as Cter could just take more of Bonny's magic and again brute force a solution she did not want that. She had done enough brute forcing of magic already! Sund's soul was at stake, so things had to be done elegantly. Finding the right mix of colors from Bonny's palette was an elegant solution, and so Cter continued. She continued removing the astute white and adding more of the curious green until it prompted a reaction from Bonny. She was getting closer. The furrow to his brow was more confused and otherworldly, as if questioning who it was that was actually him. He felt a stronger presence of him inside Cter's aura, so who was he? Wasn't he himself? How could he if there was a stronger presence of him outside of him?
Cter was so, so very close.
She just had to tweak the colors just a bit more and…
"There you are."
In her hand a heart was formed slowly, layering itself more and more opaque with some struggling as it did. Each layer brought with it a bit more grainy texture until finally it was complete. The exact same conjuration magic as Bonny's rested gently inside Cter's sleeved grasp.
"There I am."
For a moment Cter indulged herself in pride while inspecting the copied magic she wielded. A smile thinned her lips, and she chuckled through her nose.
She had succeeded in the first step of changing Bonny's magic!
As the prideful moment passed by though Cter postponed the celebration she so much wanted to indulge further in. While she had managed to copy Bonny's magic she still needed to change it. To what exactly though? What was it Bonny wanted?
"How do you want to save Sund's soul, doctor?"
Cter waited patiently for the monster doctor to first get a grip that he was the weaker presence of himself. She knew he could do it. After all, she had his exact magic literally at hand. She could read him perfectly, yet his thinking was all his own. Magically she was him, true, but she had only copied the way he expressed his magic and how he summoned it.
She could repaint his painting with the same colors and nuance, but the motif of it was his and his alone. That she could not copy without doing the same that she did with Idyll and let her soul try and absorb Bonny rather than copy him. Cter still needed to ask Bonny what he wanted the changed motif of his painting to be so that she could use his colors to paint it on the canvas that was he.
Her paintbrush was ready. Her colors she would use were ready.
He just had to tell her.
"I want to save Sund in a way that is as little interference to his soul as possible," the monster doctor spoke after a few silent minutes with his head leaned down and his hands clasped under his bent chin. "I still want my magic to be weak, but shifted so that it can give me the ability to communicate with him when needed. Like a...translating magic, perhaps?
To be able to understand what it is his soul wants and feels. Healing magic is not needed, there are plenty of monster nurses here that are capable of that." With a slight bounce Bonny turned towards the bright yellow, hopping from resting his chin to resting his cheek on his clasped hands with a gentle motion. "Give me the magic to be able to connect with Sund's soul," he asked wistfully. "From this day on my lot in life is to give him a mortal coil to shuffle back in."
That was all well and good, profound even, but Cter needed more specifics for what Bonny wanted his magic to be. He put it very beautifully how he wanted to use his new magic, however Cter could not work with that. It was not a description she could put into practice. "How do you want to save Sund's soul, exactly, doctor?" Cter asked again more specifically. "Tell me the steps you are planning on taking and what magic you believe that you need in order to achieve them."
Another thoughtful bout of silence whisked between the Fourth Monster Mage and the monster doctor set to have his magic changed. The white, fluffy hands came together in front of the doctor's mouth as he began to think. "First I shall have to be able to manipulate Sund's soul in space," Bonny said while nodding to himself. "To be able to keep him secure inside the miasmatic jar."
"Stasis magic," Cter translated.
"Then a way to communicate with him magically so that I may understand his condition and treat if needed."
"A half-formed Cooperative Connection."
"In what way?"
An interesting one. "As I change your magic I can also reform a part of it so that you can connect to Sund's soul through a Cooperative Connection that has been exclusive to us Monster Mages. This though will be from your soul directly. Only Sund will be able to connect to it, and through that it should be the same as him calling upon any Cooperative Connection at all, but with his memories flooding into your soul directly. You will become a vessel for him, Dr. Sallus. You will speak for him. Perhaps too he will speak through you, even. Do you consent to that?"
"Yes."
Without any hesitation.
"Lastly I want to be able to help him form a new monster body."
That one was a bit trickier for Cter to instantly figure what magic should be needed. The other two she was completely familiar with. What magic was needed to form a monster body though? That required some thinking from her. She thought and thought until there was no doubt in her mind about what was needed. She did not afford for any doubt with what she was doing. "Healing magic," she concluded.
"I already said that the other monster nurses would–"
With Cter's naked hand raised, Bonny clamped quiet. Her motion was soft, yet with the weight of the world following it. "Healing magic at its fundamental is returning the body to the form which the soul sees it as. What you failed to do with Kurant you will succeed to do with Sund. The same application of healing magic at its most fundamental. You will need an extraordinary amount of magical potential though when the time comes, which me and the other Monster Mages will be happy to give you. Leading up to that though I want you to communicate with Sund about it. Perhaps it will be possible for you to come to terms with it. Maybe at most make an image in your soul about how his soul sees his body as, but even that will be something useful to have at hand."
The attentive look from Bonny faded into processing the idea with a flick of his left ear. "I see." He nodded again. "Even if I were in a position to I would not disagree with you, Cter. I had not thought about that, so it is excellent that you did. Give me that magic too, please?"
"Stasis, half-formed Cooperative Connection, and healing magic that's more fundamental in its application," Cter counted out loud for Bonny. "Is this what you want?"
He nodded. "Yes, Monster Mage."
Then so be it.
"Then brace yourself, monster doctor," Cter warned as she reached higher up Bonny's arm.
"You might feel a small prick."
