p align="left"Where…/p
p align="left"Where am…/p
p align="left""Where am I?"/p
p align="left"Who…/p
p align="left""Who am I?"/p
p align="left"And what…/p
p align="left""What am I?"/p
p align="left"The large, soft bed shuffled underneath from the labored movement of trying to sit up. A cascade of unkempt, brown hair fell down like curtains after a theater performance, darkening the already cloudy vision. There was pain. There was pain, everywhere. Thirst, hunger, nausea, everything. Everything everywhere. Even breathing was hard./p
p align="left"Almost as if it had been forgotten how to./p
p align="left"The breaths brought more awareness, although only to the pain and uncomfortable feelings that whirled inside like a violent storm. Like oil and water inside, violently shaking to try and clear up./p
p align="left"Or mix together?/p
p align="left"Tiredly, the heavy head, weighted with turmoil and disorientation, fell into the awaiting palms that caught it with great effort. As soon as the sweaty forehead touched the palms though, it retracted. It craned back to look at the palms, startled by the different textures that had caught it./p
p align="left"The hands were gentle and soft, petite almost. They were a pair of woman's hands, that as much was clear. If that wasn't enough there was a pair of even clearer evidences just underneath the bent-down chin hiding just behind the sweat-splotched night gown. While the right hand had the texture of soft, gentle skin, the left hand was a completely different story./p
p align="left"Tight bandages were wrapped around every finger, over the hand, and up the arm all the way to the shoulder and chest were it was fastened tightly enough to make it hard to breathe. While the fabric of the bandage was soft, yet not as soft as the right hand, there was something inscribed upon it that made it feel rough and scratchy./p
p align="left""Magic..." was spoken through a raspy voice as the right hand's finger explored the harsh, scraggly lines that layered on top of the bandages. The lines bore fear among its hastily carved patterns that reminded of chains, yet with no weak link. Chains upon chains to make sure that no weak links existed. It was more than just one set of lines!/p
p align="left"The mannerisms in the lines were different. Overlapping at places which made it hard to deduce, yet still obviously multiple carvings. They slashed back and forth on the bandages like slashes of a knife, but not to cut, but to add./p
p align="left"Add what though, exactly?/p
p align="left""Magic..."/p
p align="left"The repeated word made sense even if it wasn't clear why it made sense. Something within the tumultuous storm inside told that it made sense. What kind of sense was still up in the air, but at least it was something./p
p align="left""Magic..."/p
p align="left"Magic was important. Magic was something very important to the woman. The human woman to boot. Was she a mage? Were the bandages her sleeve? The chains her Cooperative Connection? If such was the case then it would be possible for her to–/p
p align="left""Aargh!"/p
p align="left"A numbing pain shot through her body, biting down and ripping wherever it could. She fell sideways into her bed with her knees tugging in to weather it. It had her breathing even more strained and her long hair more matted to her face. The only comforts she found were in the soft sheets and mattress./p
p align="left"She tried to focus on that instead. On why it was that she woke up in such a large, expensive bed inside such a large, well-decorated room. The wood of the furniture around her looked expensive. A closed wardrobe of polished, dark-brown wood stood in the corner next to the closed door flanked by an empty hat stand made by the same type of wood. It looked different from the wardrobe though in its design. More swirly and bendy compared to the rigid structure of the wardrobe./p
p align="left"She paused to breathe for a minute. Focusing away from her bandaged arm helped soothe and retreat the pain to just her left hand, but it was still as if someone was twisting her fingers enough to pop them off. The numbness of them was still present from the second knuckle up, as if she didn't have any finger tops. Strangely enough, her nails she could still feel like they were hovering just below the tight bandages./p
p align="left"A change of light had her following along the wall with her eyes until she reached a desk of sorts. A clean, almost unused desk, it seemed a first glance, but looking closer and longer there were plenty of usage on it. Plenty of weathering that indicated that the desk had been used plenty before. It had been cleaned, but by whom and for what reason she did not know./p
p align="left"At its back in the center was presented the backside of a mirror. A mirror that had been turned away, presumably by the same one that had cleaned the desk. Was it she that had done it? Was it she that had cleaned the desk and turned away the mirror? Or was it someone else? Who was it that didn't want her to see or know who she was? Was it she or was it another one?/p
p align="left"Which one of the answers she preferred she did not know. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to know. If she even could know, to boot./p
p align="left"Continuing on from the desk was the source of the shifting light that calmly bathed and then hushed the room in light and shadow. It was something she felt that she recognized…/p
p align="left"Yet...wrong, somehow./p
p align="left"Pressure began to build in her arm as she leveraged herself up on her knees in the bed. The movement had her dizzy, and she waited for a bit to catch her breath as her head began to spin. She wanted to shake her head, but it would only have made things worse. While she waited she again studied the lines on her bandaged left arm. She felt that she should recognize them, yet didn't. It was foggy to her, but she knew for certain that she knew about it. Knew about it exactly./p
p align="left"She knew about it more than anyone else knew about it./p
p align="left"The stone floor underneath the large and soft bed was cold to the touch which had her toes curling back as she slowly lowered them down. Then she sat on the edge of the bed and just...felt. Just taking the cold in felt nice. It felt calming and secure. Familiar and mellow. As if it was any other morning besides the one she had woken up to./p
p align="left"To her surprise she reached her right hand out towards the night stand to grab something, but managed to find only air. She looked at where she had grabbed, right next to the water basin, and then angled her half-clenched palm back at her. Whatever it was that she reached out towards it would have sat comfortably in her hand. It would have had some weight to her judging by the way her wrist was angled slightly up to compensate for it./p
p align="left"That she moved her hand through habit without thinking proved that it was her room. Or at least that she had woken up in it plenty of times before. The soothing familiarity from the cold floor added to the evidence./p
p align="left""This is where I live."/p
p align="left"Yet still it felt wrong. That it wasn't her room. That it was someone else's room. She had been in the room plenty of times, a handful of times, and never before. All three felt true to her./p
p align="left"But if that was the case then why did her hand reach out as if it was just another morning to it? How can she have never been in the stone room if she were reaching out of habit for something to be there? It didn't make any sense./p
p align="left"Although who was she to judge what was sense or not in her state? She didn't even know her name. Hell, she didn't even know that she was someone at first when she woke up. Like a lake becoming a river she felt that she was something much more yet also something much less the first moment she woke up. Her body felt weird to her, as if it wasn't her own. Once she saw her own hands though through the brown strands of her own hair she was reminded that it was indeed her body./p
p align="left"Why was she reminded though? Why did she forget in the first place?/p
p align="left"Who was she?/p
p align="left"After a final, strengthening breath, she stood up from the bed./p
p align="left"And immediately fell back into it./p
p align="left"Her balance wasn't right. It was for another body, and not hers. Was it someone else's balance that she stood up with?/p
p align="left"Or was it not her own body?/p
p align="left""Who am I?"/p
p align="left"Dazed, she tried to stand up again with her right hand taking strain on the wall behind her bed. It went a bit better with the second try, but she still had to put weight on her right hand for a few seconds before she felt that she could stand just on her feet. Taking steps weren't on the map for her for over a minute, during which time she tried to peek out the window from where she stood. For her to see anything though she would have had to lean too much than her balance allowed her to, and if it took her so much effort to go from sitting to standing up then getting up from the floor would have been neigh impossible./p
p align="left"She had to be patient so that her balance could return./p
p align="left"But she didn't want to./p
p align="left"Instead, she shimmied her right hand along the wall, using her middle finger as guidance by letting it slide along the ridges of mortar between the gray bricks. That compelled she was to see out the window. To see where she was./p
p align="left"Each wobbled step she took closer to the window the more she felt compelled to see out of it. She had to see where she was!/p
p align="left"The light of the sun blinded her for a moment, and she brought up her left arm to shield her eyes. As she did, the rays changed against her face. They felt stronger, hotter, and more stinging. It felt more like…/p
p align="right"Hjearta./p
p align="left"Xoff./p
p align="left"Outside was a descending landscape of roads and houses leading down into a buzzling city covered in a joyous arrange of different rooftops that gradually faded into a more flattened landscape of fields and lakes, finally walled by rolling hills in the far distant./p
p align="left"It was…/p
p align="right"Jarasevo./p
p align="left"Home./p
p align="left"She gritted her teeth against the contradictory thoughts that surged through her vying for supremacy. To become what she felt as the truth. They fought desperately inside of her, both refusing to back down. Both refusing to disappear./p
p align="left"She was home./p
p align="right"She was away./p
p align="center""Stop!"/p
p align="left"She looked down at her hands, blinking, with each blink changing how she saw her hands. From softly fair to softly fluffy to softly yellow./p
p align="center""I'm not–"/p
p align="left"She wasn't human!/p
p align="right"She wasn't monster!/p
p align="left"Another blink had her in a room with a wide glass window in front of her boasting a dried, yet-still-lively landscape bathed in the hot Xoffian sun that–/p
p align="center""It's not the same sun!"/p
p align="right"The Xoffian sun that cast a long, stretching shadow from Mt. Ebott that seemed to reach towards to ask him–/p
p align="left"To travel to Hjearta to show its court that the next Monster Mage was named–/p
p align="right"He would become the Monster Doctor that the world needed. To be as much a human as possible by learning all he can about their physical nature so that he can understand their magical nature. To find out what the human soul really was!/p
p align="center""Please stop!"/p
p align="left"The potential he had found made it possible for him to discover his own magic. To not need a Cooperative Connection to formulate it in his soul. It was another step towards understanding the human soul. Another step to bridging the gap between humans and monsters!/p
p align="center""I'm not them!"/p
p align="right"It had finally come to fruition. It was there. A human's soul. The manifestation of a human's entire being, hovering like a quiet cloud right in front of him. The exact shape that had been theorized. A perfect inversion to a monster's soul. Such power in it too. So much it radiated of the Monster Mage that had housed it. Such unfiltered, pure magic that was within reach./p
p align="center""I'm! Not! Them!"/p
p align="left"It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like those Sund used to look out the window of his room. Over the stretching landscape of the foreign monster nation he had set up his life in. Over the monsters he'd dedicated himself to protect and care for./p
p align="center""I'm–"/p
p align="right"It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like those Bonny used to look out the window of his clinic. Over the stretching landscape of the foreign human nation he had set up his life in. Over the humans he'd dedicated himself to protect and care for./p
p align="center""I am..."/p
p align="center"It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like those she used to look out the same window. What did she see though?/p
p align="center"She…/p
p align="center"She can't remember./p
p align="center"Not even her name./p
p align="left""Cter!"/p
p align="center"They were with her./p
p align="left""Cter please go back to your bed!/p
p align="center"Inside of her. Inside of her soul./p
p align="left""Cter..."/p
p align="center"She did not want them there!/p
p align="left""You are Cter, right?"/p
p align="center"What did she see out the window?/p
p align="left""Who are you? Please tell us who you are."/p
p align="center""I..." What did she see? "I do not know."/p
p align="left""She's not sure!" was relayed through a clenched whisper. There was an echo, and the sound of magic being focused. The auras that began to flare were afraid, unsure. They were afraid of her, of what she would do. Of what she could do. Of what those within her were capable of./p
p align="center""I don't know what I see out the window. I don't know which blink is mine. I can't remember!"/p
p align="left""Where is Bonny, Cter? Where is Sund?" The fear in the collective aura were even stronger in the second voice that spoke to Cter. "I can feel them, Cter. We can all feel them. They are with you. They're in your aura! What happened to them? What happened to you?"/p
p align="center"She used to sit on the sill, didn't she? Sit on it and look across the landscape outside. Not a low angle like the flashes of memories told her, but a high angle instead. That angle she recognized and prided herself over. An angle that she came to think of as home and not Jarasevo like the other set of flashing memories spoke of. She had a monster to thank for that, didn't she?/p
p align="left""We need an answer, Cter. You have to talk to us. What you did earlier–"/p
p align="center""Who was it!" She heard the distinct hum of magic behind her, and the ill intent crawling across the walls and ceiling towards her like dark tendrils absorbing the morning light. A bitter taste fell over her like a smothering sack that tightened around her. "Who brought me here!" The chains on her left arm began to shake underneath the building pressure underneath her bandages. "What did I see outside the window!"/p
p align="left""Gerson, Frioke, behind us. You too, Sarbor. Kurant, get ready."/p
p align="center"Why weren't they telling her!/p
p align="left""Kry, how are we supposed to–"/p
p align="center"Why weren't they telling her what it was she saw out the window!/p
p align="left""Sarbor just ran away. Let's hope that he doesn't make too big a scene."/p
p align="center"Sarbor…/p
p align="left""Singe my soul..."/p
p align="center"That name…/p
p align="left""Cter, please calm down."/p
p align="center"That name!/p
p align="left""Cter! No!"/p
p align="center"That name hurt her!/p
p align="center"That name saved her!/p
p align="center"It hurt!/p
p align="center"It saved!/p
p align="center"It killed!/p
p align="center"It helped!/p
p align="center"It–/p
p align="left"The magical chains, along with their bandages, were ripped apart by strong, vicious magic that engulfed the pieces of cloth in hazy-glowing shards of crystal. An arc of barricade-infused magic sliced through the air, sending along it a barbed wave of crystals that slammed into the stone floor like a whip, cracking it in a wide line and taking root inside the stone, growing out from the impact./p
p align="center""Tell me!"/p
p align="left"From the wide, cracked line arose a glimmering wall jutting with long and twisted shards of crystal pointing at disturbing angles. The wall reached up until it slammed against the stone ceiling where it shattered into thousands upon thousands of pieces that began chiming a desperate melody as they rained down onto the floor./p
p align="center""Just tell me..."/p
p align="center"There was a monster that she needed. Not the one inside of her soul. Another one. Not the human inside of her soul either. A monster who was inside of her heart. A monster of who's memories were drowned entirely by the combined human and monster flowing up and down the carved lines on her left arm, causing it to glow a bitter white and yellow. It hurt her. The magic she had cast hurt her. There were shards of crystal jutting out from the carved lines that pushed against the flesh of her arm, and each pained twitch had them chaffing against the bare flesh, irritating it and tearing up small cuts that poured blood./p
p align="center"Only for the briefest of moments though./p
p align="center"As they healed instantly./p
p align="center""I want to know who I am."/p
p align="center"She cried./p
p align="center""I don't want these others inside of me!"/p
p align="center"But she couldn't feel the tears as hers./p
p align="center""They scream! They hurt! They are confused! They make me confused! I can't know who I am with them inside of me! They're too loud!"/p
p align="center"She was crying, but it weren't her tears./p
p align="center""Tell me what it was that I saw outside the window!"/p
p align="left""Cter?"/p
p align="center"That voice…/p
p align="right"Fech./p
p align="left"Idyll./p
p align="center"She recognized that voice./p
p align="left""Singe my soul, Cter… What's happened to you?"/p
p align="center"That voice so devastated of what it was seeing./p
p align="left""Why do you… Why do you feel like Sund too? And...someone else… Is that… Is that Bonny's aura? Where's yours? Where's your aura, Cter!"/p
p align="center""I...I don't know."/p
p align="center"Help her./p
p align="center""I don't know what I see out the window."/p
p align="center"Please help her!/p
p align="center""Do you know?"/p
p align="left""I don't even know who it is I'm looking at," said the blue-scaled monster from behind her hanging veil of bright hair reflecting the morning sun that bent around her friend that neither felt or looked like her friend. "Although..." She touched the feathers on her face gently, cradling the raven color carefully. "The same you must've felt when you saved me."/p
p align="center""Please..."/p
p align="left""What you saw outside the window, Cter..."/p
p align="center"Yes…/p
p align="left""I don't know either."/p
p align="center"She didn't…/p
p align="left""You have to look."/p
p align="center""I did."/p
p align="left""Then look again, Cter. It'll be different this time. I promise."/p
p align="center"It wasn't./p
p align="left"It was only the same as it had ever been. The same rolling landscape with the same lakes in the distance. The same town that had housed her before she became...a…/p
p align="center""A Monster Mage?"/p
p align="left""Yes, yes!" the blue monster nodded with the raven feathers on her right cheek disappearing behind the golden hair nodded loose into waves. "You're a Monster Mage, Cter! The fourth one!"/p
p align="left"No…/p
p align="left"Not the fourth one./p
p align="right"The third one./p
p align="left"And not one at all./p
p align="center""I'm..."/p
p align="left""No, you're disappearing again, Cter! Your aura...it was there for just a moment!" The blue monster turned to the other in the room stood at the ready to do whatever it took to protect the castle and everyone in it. "You felt it too? Please tell me you did!"/p
p align="left""The magic," came a wispy conclusion. "It's...Sund's! His influence! She forced it out!"/p
p align="left""Cter!" another voice called, fueled by the conclusion that began to solidify the same as the barricade-mixed crystal magic that had almost become load bearing. "Use Sund's magic, and Bonny's too! Force them out of you!"/p
p align="left"Force…/p
p align="center"Them?/p
p align="right"Bonny?/p
p align="left"Sund?/p
p align="center"Force them out of…/p
p align="center"Cter?/p
p align="center"They had… They had forced themselves into her? Into her left arm. Into her...soul?/p
p align="center"But...it was hers. It was hers. It was hers!/p
p align="center"They were there! Inside of her! Where they did not belong!/p
p align="center"She wanted them out!/p
p align="center"Out!/p
p align="center"Out!/p
p align="center""Out!"/p
p align="left"Sharp nails dug into the carved lines on her left arm, scratching at the harshly glowing white like rakes into soft soil. Blood only saw the briefest glimpses of light before the fair flesh healed up behind it, but as the nails raked down the left arm, the yellow-white glow followed with, collecting more and more until it looked to float in her left hand like a bowl of water./p
p align="center""Out!"/p
p align="left"As the glow reached her fingertips, she slashed her nails off with anger, throwing with it a splendid display of magic that formed itself through barricade-like white, conjuration-like teal, and finally crystal-like pink. A dense ball of magic which hung in the air for a quiet second before it began to bugle and deform as if boiling. It then began to grow, stretching the combined magic that held it together. It looked as if just the tiniest gust of wind could shatter it and–/p
p align="center""Out!"/p
p align="left"Clumps of viscous white exploded from within the dense ball, coating the magical wall as well as those of stone with high-pitched splats. Flat like pancake batter thrown angrily by Barbeqa, the splotches of viscous white were thin enough to see through, and wide as could be. They wringed in pain before beginning to dissipate, forcing all in the room to take a step back from the pained convulsing./p
p align="left"The audience had been saved from the onslaught by the magical wall that began to fall apart before them, revealing behind the thinning crystals and viscous white that the step back the Fourth Monster Mage had taken had tumbled her back into her bed./p
p align="left""So what...what now?" she heard, weakly. "They seem...gone..."/p
p align="left"But it was only that which she heard./p
p align="left""Mrs. Fech, would you mind bringing up some food?"/p
p align="left"There were only voices from outside./p
p align="left""Kry, Kurant, Frioke, be alert should anything else happen. I will go find Dr. Fech."/p
p align="left"And none from inside./p
p align="left""They're...gone..."/p
p align="left"There was only quiet./p
p align="left""I can't feel their aura inside hers no more."/p
p align="left"There was only…/p
p align="left""Cter."/p