"Section twenty-two on the question regarding the succession of the Xoff throne, opening statement."

Cter's robe had barely settled on her shoulders after sitting down before Terri Fyed opened up the council again following the break.

"As brought forth by the Hjearta delegation, the question of the Xoff succession has begun to cause unrest within Hjearta as well, leading to the Hjearta royalty summoning this council to ease the tensions the previous years following the Noitaidarr Trial have caused. The insecurity of the Xoff throne should be prioritized if possible, as the council's mission depends on its stability. The ratification of the several hampers on both travel and trade will require a stable and trustworthy head of state within Xoff so that no more unrest will be caused due to the reversing of policies set in the name of bettering the country and to make it safer. The Hjearta royalty fears that should things continue as they are in the country of Xoff then this council might become the spark that ignites the whispers of rebellion into an uncontrollable blaze that destabilizes the country further. As a show of good faith to the future collaboration between Hjearta, Xoff, and Monster Country, the Hjearta royals have chosen to share this concern with the delegations of Xoff and Monster Country rather than keeping it to themselves. Should there have been any desire to take advantage and exploit this situation the Three Country Council would not have been summoned. Take this as proof that Fenkeep Castle is fully behind whatever solution the council will come to terms with so that things will be solved swiftly once it comes time to implement what the council decides to."

He said it as if speaking through a single breath, impressing the table that he sat himself down at again. With an inhale that was long needed, the Royal Mage of Ice folded the parchment he had been reading from, sealing its rolled-up end with a thumb-dragged seal of ice.

With stasis magic he lifted it into the middle of the round table. A frozen mist followed it like a long, cold cape, settling into a small, smoky lake around it as it was stood on its end like a candle without a wick.

"May the Xoff delegation please relay how the situation has progressed about the whispers of the Princess of the Lineage?" the Royal Mage of Ice asked from the humans a third of the circular table away from him.

Cter took the opportunity to gauge Rasliela and her aura, but found nothing. The excitement and prancing delight she had shown Cter the day before was nowhere to be found. There was only the null sense of something missing in her aura, the same as it had always been. The humans around her she kept protected too from outside looks and prodding. Cter could not make a note of Manny's, Sarbor's, or the Hero of Xoff's auras even though they were talking among themselves how to proceed.

What Cter did manage to note from an aura came from the Hjearta delegation where Terri sat with a relaxed expression to his face and cold mist emanating from his sleeve like a breath in the middle of winter. His aura was inquisitive, however. Inquisitive and frustrated that he could not tell anything from the Hjearta delegation.

There wasn't any confusion or efforts to get around Rasliela's obfuscating magic from him though, which suggested that he already knew about it. From how long back though, was the question. Had he noticed all the way back at the Noitaidarr Trial, or was it a more recent discovery? Was it in Jarasevo Castle that he found out? If so, was it the day before or just before the council?

He did not bring it up which Cter found to be curious as well. It fit with him having known for a while, as otherwise he would take the opportunity while Rasliela was around to push her on the topic, perhaps even accusing her of hiding information from the others.

Was he waiting for the monster delegation to bring it up? Was he thinking similarly towards Cter because she or her colleagues hadn't brought it up? With how the wrinkles on his forehead deepened that could just as well have been the case.

"The Xoff delegation would like to declare the question of Xoff succession a domestic affair," said the Hero of Xoff after a few minutes of internal deliberation between the members of the Xoff delegation. With an important gesture of his hand he placed it over his heart. "The Three Country Council is meant to ease tensions built up between the countries, not to address tensions within a specific country."

"The Hjearta royalty believes that the developing situation regarding the Princess of the Lineage will become a tension between countries," restated the Royal Mage of Ice with a mist-trailed motion of his hand towards the standing parchment in the middle of the round table. "Hence why it was added to the sections to be discussed at this council. Are you suggesting that things have developed in Xoff between you receiving the invitation and you arriving here in Jarasevo?"

He had a point there.

A point which Cter did not bring up as she could see Sir Gerson raising a cautionary finger behind his shell. This wasn't a discussion that the monsters had any part in. Or, to be more specific, it wasn't a discussion that the monsters should be a part of. Saying anything at either one would have been seen as speaking against the other. Having to then balance that out by agreeing with the other would be as if speaking against the former, and so on, and so on, back and forth.

It was not a battle that the monsters were gonna involve themselves in.

Yet.

"I am not suggesting anything, Royal Mage of Ice," answered the Hero of Xoff with a slow, single shake to his head. A vein found itself pushing out underneath one of his deeper scars down his forehead that cut through one of his eyebrows. "I am merely informing you of what I motion that the council decides, and what Fenkeep Castle will stand behind as what the council has decided to be the best path to take."

Like a freezing gust, Terri's aura flared up, turning the head of his old mentor sitting next to him. Lerjung tapped him on the shoulder urgently, easing the whistling wind throughout his aura down to a manageable breeze which he exhaled with a scratch at his forehead. "You are not presenting a solution, Hero of Xoff," the Royal Mage stated.

"What you are proposing is not a solution, but merely a removal of the problem so that there won't be a solution needed. However though, there very much needs to be a solution discussed here today. This is not snuffing out the spark that might ignite the tinder that the Xoff throne is made out of currently. If anything it is removing that tinder. If you can not balance the equation then that is what we are here for."

Spots of ice grew from each of the Royal Mage's hard taps on the table, each one harder than the one before. "You are disregarding the other side by proposing that it should stay a Xoff matter even when you know that it is not remotely the case. It will bleed into the other countries, that is a fact certain as the sun setting later this evening."

"Other side?" repeated Sarbor with a twitch of his mustache. "How do you mean by other side, exactly?" He leaned forwards to show that he wasn't being accusatory. "So that there don't have to be any guesses as to what you are saying." His intentions were good.

"The other side as in us that wants to help and make sure that whatever happens with the succession crisis will not escalate the worries already present in the country. Keeping it a domestic matter is all but guaranteed to make it spill over the borders." Terri was very firm on that point, indicated by the small, icy stalagmite that grew from him tapping two of his fingers on the table for emphasis.

"We are here at this council to ease tensions brought forth by the Noitaidarr Trial, and the Princess of the Lineage is one of those tensions. If we are to turn the tensions around then the Xoff throne needs to be secure and steady so that it does not topple over when the course is shifted. There will be necessary friction and unrest, and for that we must have trust in that Noitaidarr Castle will be able to handle it."

Thin ice cracked from between the Royal Mage's fingers as he opened his hand up. "With the loss of the County Generals that trust needs to be even more secure than before as Noitaidarr Castle will have to be more direct in its governing."

Manny looked uncomfortable where he sat, his hands balled at his lap to hold on. On occasion throughout his rebuttal, Terri came to glaze eye contact with the young mage, slowing his words down for a moment so that he did not come across too harshly.

With Lerjung next to him keeping her aura close to his too it seemed very much like there was a lot more that he wanted to say, but held back for the good of everyone. His quick glance over to Kry's arm hinted as to why. The Royal Mage of Ice did not want to lose his ice magic.

Or was it perhaps Huvett and Huvtvao's magic that he did not want to lose? The Royal Butler he had been butting heads with, but still came to respect? It fit with the council, in a way. From his tone and words he was butting heads with the Hero of Xoff, but he had to keep respect for the man. He had to keep respect lest he escalated things further.

"What if another plague–"

Despite his efforts to calm himself down though, he still did raise them.

"You be careful now, Royal Mage of Ice."

He still had to address what everyone already knew, yet hoped no one would bring up.

"You be careful now before I bring up what you actually mean by the other side," repeated the Hero of Xoff with his words dense as lead. His slow, deliberate articulation sank over the round table, almost creaking it under the weight of his hand coming to rest on its polished, wooden surface. Cter half-suspected that Rasliela would make a movement indicating that she could feel that the Hero of Xoff's aura had returned, but she kept still. She kept her posture, as well as Manny's.

"There will not be another plague sweeping across Xoff, that I can assure you of." The Hero of Xoff nodded hard towards Sarbor sat next to him. "We know what set off the last plague now. We know what had it travel over distances that should not be possible due to miasma. How it could reach the furthest towns beyond the winds and decay of those that fell to it."

Cter looked down to Sir Gerson to see if he was about to mediate, but his brow was furrowed in thought. His chin was hidden within his green hand clutching securely so that his jaw would not drop. His free hand behind his shell was just as clenched, with a gentle, teal glow to it. He was ready in case, but did want to hear what the Hero of Xoff was about to reveal.

So was Cter.

Kry.

Kurant.

Terri.

Lerjung.

And the rest of the Hjearta delegation.

"Dr. Fech?" the Hero of Xoff asked with a small tilt to his weathered face to the human doctor who's brow lowered in response. "Would you kindly?"

Sarbor produced his golden watch from his pocket, opening it to look. His bushy eyebrows lowered further as he read it, and he closed it up with a metallic click and a short, deep exhale. As he stood up, the Hero of Xoff sat down, placing a large, fatherly hand on his adopted son's shoulder for support, leaving the human doctor to speak on his own.

Cter only met the doctor's eyes for a brief moment, but what she saw in them wasn't worry. She saw relief, and weight being taken off his shoulders.

"As you may know," he began, listening to his own voice to make sure it sounded how he wanted, "my mentor, Dr. Sallus, developed the theory of miasma, popularizing it by treating County Generals who came to Noitaidarr Castle to seek aid of their ailments. His treatments against the miasma worked, and soon after he was granted his own clinic up on Clinic Hill, a collaboration between Xoff and Monster Country. There he continued to treat and teach about his miasma theory."

His lips underneath his mustache thinned into a pained smile. "He always liked to joke about how he knew his miasma theory was correct due to how fast it spread. Can't prove the theory more correct than by it spreading as fast as the theory says that its subject does."

Sarbor did need to take a breath in the midst of his speaking, unlike the humans that spoke before him.

"However, it is not correct." The human doctor's head shook slowly with his dark eyes closed shut, staying that way throughout his next breath. "His theory of miasma is false, untrue, for it failed to explain the plague that ultimately..." They only opened to look at Cter through a shimmering layer of tears. "The plague that ultimately took his life."

Terri sat down, surprising everyone that he hadn't done it already. He did not use the entirety of his seat though, only the front half of it.

"Ever since I became the Royal Physician I have continued the work that took place at Clinic Hill. My title as the last remaining apprentice I have not shed, even if I have shed the theory my mentor developed and taught me in. More than that, he taught me how to teach myself. How to research and to one day seek my own path once the one he had paved ran out."

If his pause had been for laughter and not for air it would have been a very drab pause.

"Despite that, he could not accept that it was the wrong path that he paved. He could not accept that despite all we did according to the theory of miasma, more and more humans died due to the latest plague. More than earlier. More than his theory of miasma could account for, and more than it could prevent. We did not get the plague under control at Clinic Hill when we did due to outsmarting it, but because we were lucky. Today I know why we were lucky. Today I know why our luck helped the humans struck with the plague. Today I know why Dr. Sallus was wrong."

Another breath closed the human doctor's eyes again.

"More so, today I know how he was wrong too. How he failed in his darkest moment, and why."

No.

"Sarbor," said Cter with narrowed eyes, catching his attention. All other eyes were on Cter, but those she could not care less about. "Don't," she told the human doctor with a slow shake to her head without moving her eyes an inch. He could not hold eye contact for long, blinking it away with a forlorn grimace. "Sarbor!" Cter shouted with the flat of her hands slamming onto the table. "How ca–"

Two sleeved hands grabbed at either of Cter's shoulders, coaxing her back from her lean over the round table. Her head whipped at her colleagues faces, finding pained, reluctant expressions that shone even brighter in their auras. They had to drag her away. She could not do what she did. She could not put her foot between something that was human matters. She had to think about the monsters. She was there for the monsters, and not the humans. She would have done the same should either Kurant or Kry had spoken up like she did.

She knew that.

All of her being knew that! Her heart! Her soul! She knew that!

"...Sarbor..."

But it wasn't what she felt.

"...Please...don't..."

It wasn't what she wanted to be.

"...Don't do this."

She didn't want Rasliela to be correct.

With how Sarbor looked away the same he did when he told Cter that she had to ask Dr. Sallus what had become of Sund, Cter's soul sank. The first human who bore witness to a human soul had chosen to denounce it. To denounce his mentor who's goal in his brilliant life was to find a human's soul, even if it meant making himself human. A monster doctor who knew about a human's body more than any human ever did.

"Dr. Sallus could not accept that his miasma theory was wrong, for if he did, it would mean that his efforts to become human through medicine had gone to waste." Sarbor sighed distantly. "He could not accept that the road he had paved lead him wrongly."

But he saved so, so many lives!

"And it was that fear that made him blind to the theories his apprentices proposed to help alleviate the suffering the plague brought to Xoff. He was adamant that it was due to miasma, for it had been so for his entire career. A career that started with his theories on miasma. Did it mean that he had been lucky for his entire life? Did it mean that all the lives he had saved had been a fluke? Was it something to do with his magic? How could it if his magic could barely ignite a candle?"

The human doctor's fists balled tightly, tensing his entire body.

"So many nights we argued about it. So many nights I told him that he needed rest and that I could take over. He refused, stating that his presence was necessary more than anything, even his own rest. He urged us apprentices to sleep in his stead so that we would be rested. He could cover for a handful of us and the nurses while we slept, so him sacrificing his own sleep was for the better of the clinic."

The balled hands opened, flush on the tanned skin. "However, that was not the true reason he wanted to be awake for as much as possible. Him telling us to sleep and let him shoulder the weight was not for our sake." Sarbor ran his thumbs over his palms. "It was for his own sake."

Cter could feel the two sleeved hands on her shoulders pulling back on her as her body tried to lean forwards to again shout at Sarbor. Each word he said sounded so wrong. She had him on her sleeve before! Cter had worn Dr. Sallus memories on her sleeve! She…

She…

Kurant and Kry looked at Cter gulping a terrified gasp, choking on it. Her knees buckled, and she fell into her chair with a vacant stare into a horizon no one else could see. The color on her face drained, with only the tremble of her lips giving contour to her closed mouth. "I had his magic," she whispered, barely audible. "I had his...memories..."

Her sinking aura pushed down on her heavier than the weight of the world, collapsing her shoulders into an imploding self-hug.

"And I had..."

Why! Why did she talk!

"I had his fear of not living up..."

No! No! No!

"I feared not living up to what I could do..."

Stop!

"That I was wrong in what I did..."

Sarbor was wrong!

"It was his."

Rasliela was wrong!

"It was Dr. Sallus'."

Don't give in to it!

"It...was...his..."

Don't…

The human doctor gave a sympathetic nod to the Monster Mage collapsed in a securing embrace of herself. "The less he slept, the less he was off the clock, the smaller the chance that his miasma theory would be debunked. The smaller the chance that his claim to fame and personal worth crumbled when he needed it to be at its strongest."

He then shook his head to himself, disappointed.

"And that I now realize was Dr. Sallus' weakness. What had him not realizing that the path he had paved was wrong. The reason that he could not accept that he was wrong was that he did not understand the science that he put himself at the forefront of. His miasma theory was correct for the time, but the times change. He feared so much in being wrong that he could not see that it would only mean that someone else would be more correct. That is what he ultimately failed with. His fear of being wrong blinded him from hoping that someone else would be more correct than him. He could never reach his goal of becoming human enough, for he was too afraid of being wrong."

Dammit.

"And that will be the final lesson I take away from him."

Dammit all!

"That we have to allow others to be more correct than you are. That change is necessary."

He had gone over to Rasliela's side.