Soulay's Academy for Humanities and Magical Studies for the Betterment of Monsterkind and Humanity.

"Been a while since you read that name in full, eh?"

Cter turned her head to the Royal Mage joining her on the pathway leading up to the main building of the vast campus the two of them had spend years familiarizing themselves with.

Terri a bit more than Cter, as it turned out.

As their carriage arrived and the two stepped outside to a day not unlike the first day the two had spent at the academy, albeit much, much quieter, the Royal Mage of Ice suggested if Cter would like to visit her old dormitory and find her old room for nostalgia's sake.

Him implying that Cter would willingly go back to the cramped space where only a small bed, a desk, and a difficult-to-open wardrobe surrounded her for years on end put the Monster Mage in a state of frozen stun. Why she would willingly go back to the room where even the window took up space as it opened inwards Cter could not fathom as to why she would ever want to go back there again.

Back in Jarasevo Castle she lived in a room with a bed almost larger than her student room was, and where she did not have to scoot past hallways of other students just to find out that she would have to stand in line to use the outhouse. Her outhouse in Jarasevo Castle was inside, and it was hers alone to use.

That, if anything, let her know that she lived in absolute opulence. That, if anything, let her know that she was a Monster Mage. The most powerful mage in the world had her own outhouse inside.

And rightfully so!

The door to her wardrobe swung freely in her room in Jarasevo. Her windows opened outwards. Her desk chair she could drag out and sit down in normally compared to having to stand on it and then slide down into it due to it being wedged between the desk and the student bed which she managed to finally sleep well on after rearranging its stuffing with blue magic and beating it soft with orange strength magic.

If it was a secret part of the curriculum to force the mage students to more quicker get in touch with their souls so that they could sleep properly then fair enough because it had Cter spending her nights reading and focusing to find out how her magical potential worked for her. She would not have found her own soul had it not been for the way she had to balance on a soft part of her bed to be able to sleep before she managed beat it into comforting submission.

Terri's eagerness to return to his room had Cter slightly worried. Whether it was her being worried about what kind of person he really was and if Cter had been reading him wrong the entire time, or him having lived in a part of the dormitory where he could sleep properly from the first day, Cter did not want to know. She was worried about it, but she was not gonna look into it further. It was on the same level to Cter as Terri not wanting to further discuss Cter saying that it was good that his countrymen were poised to go to war and die far away from their home.

She was fully aware of the stark contrast, thank you very much.

An awareness that had her politely declining the Royal Mage's invitation with a small bow to show her appreciation for the invitation. She didn't want to return there because the context to her was too different for her to be able to enjoy the nostalgia comfortably, Cter explained. I

t wasn't a lie, but it didn't tell the truth either, not completely. Despite the first year or so of her studies at Soulay's Academy for Humanities and Magical Studies for the Betterment of Monsterkind and Humanity being a year or so full of her sleeping poorly and utilizing her soul even poorer, it was still an important part of her life. It made her a mage. It made her a Monster Mage.

It made the Fusion.

And if she went back to her room then she would bring back the Fusion to Soul's School. She would bring the Fusion back further than it should have been. Ideally it shouldn't have been at all, but she had a line in the sand. She had places that were distinctly away from the Fusion and what followed it. Soulay's Academy for Humanities and Magical Studies for the Betterment of Monsterkind and Humanity was one of those places, and that she wanted to preserve.

She needed to have it preserved. Places where the Fusion did not exist.

Hm…

Maybe it was the complete truth.

In any case, Cter would rather have slept in the carriage she had tired of seeing the walls of rather than in her old student room, or any of the student rooms, for that matter. She knew that there were accommodations for guest lecturers and more important guests, and it was there she told the accompanying Hjearta and Royal Guards that she would prefer staying at. It wouldn't be a bed large enough to disappear in and not be found without some good spelunking equipment, but it would have to do for a scarecrow such as her.

If she was going to be using Soul's School as a stage to give the appearance of studying the rainbow legends of yore then she was going to be comfortable doing that. She might have been outstanding in her field as a scarecrow, but she wasn't going to be out standing in her field.

She was going to be comfortable.

Once the accompanying guards began to fan out in different directions, some following Terri towards the student dormitories, some heading towards the main building on the campus, and some heading with Cter's luggage towards where the houses reserved for the important guests, it briefly reignited the bustling life that was tradition for Soul's School at the beginning of a semester.

Families, confused students, senior students reminiscing about when they were the confused students, all used to gather and murmur about what wonders they'd find in the upcoming semester. Cter had done the same, especially once she managed to have her bed be sleepable in.

As the accompanying guards dispersed more and more, their human and monster backs becoming further and further apart from each other like they were going to different classes, it had Cter realize how awfully quiet the campus was. It was quiet when she visited to meet with Professor Leraull again on her first official journey as a Monster Mage through Hjearta, but it was different.

The quiet that arose from it being an examination day when Cter visited still had presence to it. There wasn't a lack of people speaking or making noise, but instead they all kept quiet all together. They were still there, and that she felt. Their untrained auras still lingered around like the whiffs of a bakery a couple of hours after it had closed down for the day. As she stood in the quiet from all the students having left due to the tumult of the Fusion's aftermath finally reaching a point where the curiosity of the truth of the Cooperative Connection couldn't be kept properly under control, Cter felt hollow.

She might have managed not to bring the Fusion to Soul School in her mind and soul, but it sure had been brought there by plenty of others. What she knew as bustling and filled with life and wonder was abandoned and forlorn due to the Fusion.

In a way it was the first real evidence she had seen and felt of the Fusion affecting something that to her was normal.

Being a Monster Mage wasn't normal. Being at the table at the Council of Three Countries wasn't normal. Being a key witness at the Noitaidarr Trial wasn't normal. Being at Clinic Hill when the Fusion appeared wasn't normal. Being there at The Flipping Heart when the disposed king of Xoff declared war against the Princess of the Lineage wasn't normal.

Soul's School was normal to Cter.

And there the Fusion had reached too. It reached further down than the ones directly employed by the Castle. That finally sank in for her. More than the Monster Hunters confessions about the difficulties of their hunts with suspicious humans after the Noitaidarr Trial, for that was with Kry. All of it had been with Kry, Kurant, Sir Gerson, Priestess Frioke, or the Monster Royals. Donial and Idyll were closer to normal, but they still worked at Jarasevo Castle.

Soul's School was for all. It was normal.

Which meant that the Fusion was normal too…

At least for all that were tangentially connected to magic, something Cter had been all her life. It was her normal.

"Been a while since you read it in full, eh?"

Singe her soul, how long were she stood thinking? "Yeah, it's been a while." Did Terri manage all the way to the student dormitories and then back? "But I'll be reading it daily for the foreseeable future again, it seems."

"You make it sound like you're being held captive here," commented the Royal Mage with a chuckle he became unsure of halfway through. "Less so than when we had morning classes, I hope."

A good save by him that had Cter puffing an amused huff out her nose. "Late-night classes, more like." Why Soul's School thought it to be a good idea to have classes that began at five in the morning Cter would never understand. "A miracle that I retained any of the Hjearta history." The same story wasn't shared by those in her class that didn't originate from Hjearta though.

The snake monster from Xoff who practically had his tongue on his eyes throughout the entirety of the morning lectures, for an example. He wanted to become a scholar of human history, Cter remembered, but had more an affinity for art. She never did figure if he painted with his mouth, tongue, or tail, only that he painted very well.

"Perhaps it was decided to be that early so that there would be less of a chance that the legends of the soul rainbow would stick with the students?" Terri shrugged, his shoulders carving through the cloudy fog of his icy magic.

"Although I'm hesitant to actually believe that since it would make the timeline of when exactly it was decided that the old belief would fade away very confusing. If anything it would have had a resurgence when Prince Soulay's magical potential was discovered." He looked to his sleeve breathing slowly its diffuse, cold glow. "Perhaps the Cooperative Connection would have been different had the soul rainbow still been around. Perhaps there would not have been a Cooperative Connection at all."

Something else would have been in its place though as the Cooperative Connection was specifically formulated to explain human magic as smoothly as possible. That it had to involve the two species' views on death was really telling on how rough the concept was.

Like explaining why it got dark during the night by torching an entire city to show that it becomes dark with soot.

Or something like that.

"How would it have been then with the soul rainbow?" pried Cter curiously. "You've been thinking quite a lot about that particular subject so surely you have an idea or two?"

Ice dandruff fell off Terri's head as he nodded side to side. "I've done some light thinking on it, yes." He lifted his hand with a raised index finger waggling playfully. "I won't tell you though." He opened up the rest of his fingers and threw his hand at the large door underneath the long sign spelling out Soul's School full name. "For it is what you'll be doing here, Cter."

That's…

That was actually a rather clever excuse, Cter had to admit. "Huh..." she uttered, impressed, and with her brow wrinkled upwards. She placed her sleeved hand on her chin which she rubbed the same as Sir Gerson did. "You don't say."

"I do," Terri corrected in a way that made it difficult to tell if he was being serious or not. "Our original route was to head to Fenkeep first to bring the old scrolls and books that Lerjung and I found in the old basement then bring them here for you and I to study and–"

Wait, wait, wait.

"You and I?" Cter interrupted with some noticeable impatience. "We're both gonna study this here?" How much did Cter not listen to?

"If it is to any soothing then I argued to have you be here on your own while I continued onward towards Fenkeep Castle with Lerjung to better plan what to bring with me back here." The Royal Mage talked while facing away, but his aura had some disappointment in it. Like where he talked towards, it wasn't directed to Cter though, which surprised her. The disappointment sat much deeper than her expressing some childish frustration. It was a disappointment Cter had felt from Terri before. She recognized it.

"You're the only one that has argued to be allowed to travel more from those I've met," said Cter with a similar chuckle to what Terri had done.

The Royal Mage of Ice huffed out his nose the same as Cter did. "I enjoy the road and the shifting landscape," he prefaced to his actual answer. "And, you know, the more I travel the higher chance I get to maybe finding Mika again." There was a slight sheen over his eyes as he turned back to Cter with a small smile to his lips.

The Monster Mage moved her hand slowly down the length of the Royal Mage's fog-edged frame. "Same reasoning behind your cold fog?" She had a gut feeling in her soul that her guess was correct.

A somber nod sent waves through the opaque magic. "Mika is used to the cold, and she enjoys it very much when I expressed my particular magic. Her nose is keen, and if she's still out there it still has to be just as keen. If I travel as much as possible and leave behind me as much of my magic as possible perhaps she will be able to pick up the scent and get back to me one day. Like that fairy tale of those two Vulkin children following a trail of coal to a smith, you know?"

Yes, Cter did.

And that the story also ended with the smith trying to fill up the Vulkins with more and more coal to turn them into his new forge, but ending up burning up because of the heat instead.

She wasn't gonna remind the Royal Mage of that though.

Didn't feel appropriate to do so.

Besides, judging by the way his lips squirmed with an unpleasant taste it looked to be like he reminded himself plenty enough, and more. "And if I am seen as bragging about my abilities as the Royal Mage of Ice then that's just something I'll have to live with." Terri shrugged easily, displaying his sleeve vertically afterwards. "I am used to agreeing to disagreeing all the way to my soul, after all."

True enough, Cter reckoned.

"By the way," she managed to remember that she wanted to know what with their conversation having lulled to an ease. "Weren't you supposed to head to the dormitories?" Her head craned around the cold fog flowing down the Royal Mage's shoulders. "Or did you run there and back here?"

"Wouldn't have been able to speak had I done that," joked the Royal Mage on his own expense. He could afford it without worry though. "But yes, that was the plan." A dramatic pause formed as the Royal Mage gestured towards the large entrance. "However I was informed that there was someone else that I had to meet prior since he had a carriage to catch."

Cter looked to the large doors waiting for them to open up and reveal who Terri was talking about. The massive doors did not have a sense of dramatic flair though and remained closed until Terri had to retreat his arm before it became too awkward and or too tired. "Seems like he had more to pack than the done packing I was informed that he was," muttered the Royal Mage with a disappointed sniffle. "Oh well, we might as well offer to help him." He turned to Cter with his other arm gesturing for the door instead. "After you, Monster Mage."

Cter gave the doors a sideways glance through the human side of her hair. "It's Professor Leraull, isn't it?" The way Terri's aura lit up during his dramatic fling made it too obvious who it was he was talking about. Cter didn't want to spoil the fun, but she also did not want to pretend to be the fool. It really was too obvious who it was hinted at.

"No," said Terri with a confident shake to his head.

But it was a lie. An equally obvious lie.

"Yes," he corrected in defeat. "Yes, it is Professor Leraull." He didn't wallow in the defeat though, instead bouncing back up his slumped shoulders before taking a first step for Cter to follow since she didn't choose to lead ahead. "He has been here as a caretaker of sorts. I say of sorts because it is not really being a caretaker if you're still actively doing your job. He's a dean and a lecturer still, even if there are no students left to teach here. Soul's School might be empty on location, but its teachings are still being taught to its students."

Cter had heard of that. However she assumed that it was more a figure of speech. That despite the institute being vacant its message still resonated with its students, current or prior. There were lessons still being taught at the school? "How?"

"Professor Leraull is a very sentimental monster, you see," answered Terri without answering along with a knowing smile. He folded his hands behind his back, punching carefully at his lumbar to straighten out his back. "With his students not around anymore he has taken a cue from the Monster King and taken up gardening as a way to soothe his mind and soul. He has remarkably green fingers, as it turns out."

The Royal Mage didn't add that he was being metaphoric for that would have been an insult to Cter's intelligence. "From what I've heard he arranges the lecture hall with the flowers he's grown then gives them the lectures he would have given his students."

The cadence in Terri's voice wasn't as tragic as his words made it out to be. It tickled Cter's curiosity, and that the Royal Mage noticed. He bounced his brow playfully.

"Then he sends the flowers representing each student to the actual student via flowergrams." The two mages reached the massive doors which opened for them easily via the help of taut rope pulleys, revealing a much-sparser main hall than it had been when Cter last visited. No skeleton girl reading books, only brick walls and the large yellow-and-gold fabric used to reveal the full name of the institute hanging over the wide flight of stairs. "A sentimental gesture, indeed."

"Indeed," Cter repeated with her lips pouting in thought as to why exactly Terri as telling her that. "But now he's had his last lecture? That's why he's packing up?"

Terri nodded forwards to the stairs where a yellow-orange head and its solid fins ascended to reveal a bespectacled face smiling over a felt suit without any arms. "My teachings have been about the Cooperative Connection," the calm, wise voice spoke with some effort to it. "Both the truth that I was told and the truth that was discovered about it."

The lizard monster stopped at the top of the stairs with a lean of his weight onto his thick tail. "There is more to it that I have yet to teach though, and that it because it has not been discovered yet." His smiling cheeks displaced his heavily framed glasses to a tilt. "And for that I bequeath Soul's School to you for the immediate future, Cter. A place where you can discover where you once was taught."

Bequeath? "What do you mean by bequeath, exactly?"

"The word?"

"No, I know what it means."

The monster professor tittered, his head shaking low enough for his glasses to fall down should he stop shaking it. "Oh I am just being called back to Jarasevo to more effectively discuss how to proceed with the curriculum once all of this drama blows over." He lifted up his head along with a deep inhale through his nose. "It is what Sir Gerson told me officially, but I'm sure he wants a rematch in chess. It's been ages since we played face to face and not letter to letter."

Right…

"I'll be heading off as soon as I've helped the two of you get your bearings as academics rather than students." The monster professor nodded for the two mages to follow him. "First we'll take a look at the Echo Flowers since it's high time for me to water them."

Echo Flowers?

"Yes," Professor Leraull nodded again. "One for each student and lecture."

Oh?

Oh!

"Lecturing from a distance, you see?"

So that was how!