"Allow us to bring about our own destiny..."
Two spots of fog grew together on the cold window glass the turtle monster stood at with his hands clasped behind his back. Around the window were traces of similar spots of fog that had been born out of the uncomfortable rumination that leaked out not only in the deep exhales out the Leader of the Royal Guard's nose, but as bitter and humming sighs and shakes of the green, scaly head. The tuft of hair that still clung its white root to the barren green around it swayed with the heavy sighs deflecting off the office window.
There was a shift of the guard at the courtyard below, with the evening patrol relieving the midday shift.
None of the guards were monster though.
They were all human.
"Maybe I overdid it," came a worried bemoan from the Monster King too large for both the chair he sat in and its table which he tried to lean his elbows down on to give support to his head weak from the heavy crown on top. It slid down partway down his unkempt hair, but a white-furred finger stopped it gently and placed it back into the dented groove in the Monster King's hair. "I should have given myself more time to think how to formulate it."
"Yes," agreed the Monster Queen sitting next to him in an equally too-small chair as her king. The tiara on her head was more secure as her hair was combed over it, keeping it in place. Normally it was combed over, that is, as her hair was as unkempt and soiled as the Monster King's, giving her an appearance that would not have been far from how she would have been during her bar maiden years. "However, what you said was from your soul, my king. The care and priority you showed for the pride of monsterkind shone through brighter than any thought-through words could ever say."
Her demeanor though was still as queenly as they came.
"It does not change the fact about what will come about from all of this, but I say it so that you may easier look where you need to, O' King of Monsters." A few flakes of dried soot and grime were ground to a fine powder between the foreheads of the two Monster Royals that gingerly touched at each other. Queen Toriel's muzzle came to rest upon King Asgore's, and the two enjoyed the warmth of the other for a few seconds where it were just them, and none other.
If only it could have lasted longer, thought Cter when the two Monster Royals retreated from the other's comfort. It was beautiful to watch, and comforting to feel from their auras' tender espouse, fittingly. She could have watched it for the rest of the day. That way she did not have to continue to be in a world where monsterkind were set to leave.
God damn it all…
That King Asgore at first proposed the barrier magic to seal off the Underground, and in turn the monsters, from humanity was to be made weaker and to be able to allow those humans that would have wanted to stay with monsterkind to do so was a stir in the already perturbed pot that was the discussion at the large, ball room table. It took everyone by not only surprise, but bewilderment as well, even the Monster King himself to not a small part.
"So that monsterkind is not to be forgotten, and in particular, the days of peace that have been the vast majority of the time that humanity and monsterkind have existed together. If monsterkind is to be sealed away forever then the days of war and strife, of slaughter and fear, will be the days that will continue on throughout the days innumerable to follow."
There was a logic to his words, but it was not immediate what it was exactly. From how his aura was when he spoke about it Cter could tell that it was an idea that had monsterkind in mind and soul, but his words had to linger with her for a bit longer until she understood what it was he wanted to be said with it.
"Let monsterkind decide upon this by themselves."
Even though he did not say those exact words Cter could still hear his voice speak them clearly in her head and soul. It was what he wanted to say, but it was not what he could say. For as much as he needed it to be a monster-made decision to be told to monsterkind, the same was for the humans. They needed it to be a human-made decision for them to accept it.
"They're not saluting the flag," came a bitter mumble from Sir Gerson which brought with it a hefty exhale. A large, opaque circle formed on the glass, yet he still looked through it as if it was clear. "A change of the guard without any of the procedures to honor the Royal Guards which they have replaced."Another layer of opaque followed.
"If they are to take over this castle as well as this city then they should at the very least treat it as their own." Sir Gerson's tongue struggled to form the last words, and the disgust that wrought a shiver through his aura had him stopping just short of spitting. He turned away from the window with deep wrinkles on his forehead. "If they want so much to make sure that their victory is overly clear and obvious to all then where is the effort?"
A shift in the Monster Priestess' leaned stance had Sir Gerson bracing himself by turning his lowered head away from her. "I see at is as them making a display of them negotiating between each other about how Monster Country will be divided up between them."
She shot her eyes through the back of Sir Gerson's skull to meet them.
"Were the soldiers relieved that of Xoff or Hjearta, and the relieving guards from the other country?" Her rabbit-like ears leaned against the stone wall the same as the rest of her body, giving her a rather-relaxed stance in contrast to the gravity of what she was speaking. "I know you want to be with the humans negotiating, Sir Gerson, but to them there is no reason for us to be there."
"I know that," he replied with a small, half turn of his head just as he rounded the corner of his desk. "Moreover, I also know that it would do us no good in knowing exactly how clumsily the humans will be carving our country up." His fingers dragged across the busily scribbled map, smearing some of the less-dried lines into faint strokes.
"I've sent one of our internal maps for trade routes and resource assessments, so hopefully they'll at least be kind to the land, if anything." His chair complained loudly as Sir Gerson let his entire weight and shell slam into it. His ink-stained fingers ran down his face, painting even fainter strokes of dark on his green scales.
"That it would come to this..." he sighed deeply, letting his elbow land onto his desk with a thud while pinching the wrinkles on his forehead tighter. "How could I ever predict that the humans would decide something so..." A steeled grimace exploded on his face, reverberating into his arm and his clenched hand. Teal magic shot out into a crackling hammer which Sir Gerson swung down onto the game board and its pieces.
The wooden figurines shattered into bits sizzling with the teal magic the turtle monster had so violently formed and used. They trickled down onto the stone floor with a rain-like sound, settling only when the lingering teal magic disappeared from them.
"Forgive me," the Leader of the Royal Guard asked of the startled room. "I just..." His magical outburst was not enough though, and the weep he tried to mask still clung at his throat. A sob echoed within the office. "Singe my soul."
And tears flowed down the quivering arm of the Leader of the Royal Guard.
Tears that had not fallen since the loss of the Third Monster Mage. Tears that had not been seen since the Leader of the Royal Guard had failed in his duties. The loss of the Final Battle had meant the loss of countless Royal Guards that had looked to him to see them through it.
Compounded was not only the failure of keeping the humans out of Jarasevo, but he had also lost the entirety of monsterkind to the humans. He had lost the sky to them. The Sun. The stars. Grass. Mountains. Lakes. Rivers. Hopes. Dreams.
Everything.
He could carry so much within his shell. He could hide so much within it.
But it was too much even for him.
Too much that had been lost and too much that was to be lost.
And if the Leader of the Royal Guard could not handle all of it…
Then how could any of the monsters?
Cter looked to her Monster Mage colleagues so that she did not have to look at Sir Gerson. What wrought him she could not handle seeing. It was too much for her. It only brought the gravity of the situation crashing down on her. "You..." She hesitated to ask. "You don't agree with what the Xoff king told about us, right?" That she spoke while Sir Gerson's crying filled the office was not to try and diminish his lament. Not in a disrespectful way, at least.
Within her there was a small voice which decried the weakness of King Asgore and the failure of Sir Gerson. A voice that she did not want to hear the sobs of the Leader of the Royal Guard for fear of it being fueled by it.
She had heard that same voice when she listened to King Asgore and the Xoff king talk at the glade about the Final Battle. It had decried King Asgore then, called him weak, and without the best of monsterkind in mind. "Of course he's wrong about us being like the humans, but it might be the best if we three clear the air about it."
There was a small crease to Kry's forehead which he smoothed out immediately. Behind the rim of his glasses he glanced briefly over to Sir Gerson, fighting the urge to whip them away from the strange sight. "He would not want our sympathies even if we gave him them." A short shake of his head followed.
"It's enough that he alone has realized it, no need to add onto it us agreeing that he had failed by acknowledging it." Kry exhaled enough to have his glasses slide down his nose before catching them with the tip of his middle finger. "He's one to keep to himself, even his sorrows. This though..."
Was too much.
"I've never seen him crying like this," added Kurant with a low, almost enthralled voice. A morbid curiosity clung to her aura despite her attempts at shaking it off. "Not even when..." Her eyes swung across her narrow slits over to the empty chair between her and Cter. "He cried then too, but he managed to keep his composure otherwise. It was crying not out of forlorn dread, but out of conviction and grit to make sure that Sund's legacy was that of the hero that he was to the monsters. This though..."
She did not have to motion for her colleagues to understand. "This is acquiescence of the highest order. Sir Gerson signed over his duties of the Castle over to the humans as if the ink he wrote with was made from dust. That he did not collapse right there and then just shows how strong he really is."
The last thing the monsters did before they were asked to leave the ball room as the humans had not more to discuss with them for the time being…
A formal agreement that the Monster King and Monster Queen signed to acknowledge the defeat of monsterkind and that the combined human army were the victors of the war. The agreement that the Underground was to be the domain of monsterkind was held back as to the Monster King's argument about the barrier magic being impenetrable one-way rather than two-way.
"Independence involves being able to play with the cards dealt. If there are any humans that are to pass into the Underground then that will be something that we monsters will handle on our own. It is this that I ask of you. It is the freedom to have our decisions still matter in the world. It will be the only freedom we will know, and without it there will not be any hope for us at all."
His large hand had motioned over to the Monster Mages. "Let the humans that are monsters continue to be monsters, and let those that want to be monsters become monsters. Not all humans will agree with this proposition, so to make sure that the relocation is smooth then they should be allowed a choice. They will join us away from humanity."
Into a world where no stars would shine.
There were words whispered into the Xoff king's ears from Rasliela after King Asgore had finished speaking, and the ultimate decision of monsterkind became postponed as the Monster King's words both brought with it some good points, but also some caveats to those points which had to be discussed before the humans could agree on it.
Again though it was something that was to be discussed between humans and not with any monsters present, so they were asked to leave the ball room and to be ready to return when the decision could be made.
Three hours had passed since then. Three hours had passed until it had become too much for Sir Gerson to handle within him. Three hours before the three Monster Mages finally said something to the other. Three hours before Cter realized that she had not eaten anything for the entire day.
Perhaps even more since she had been unconscious for two days before.
"Your cheeks do seem a bit hollow," said Kry after the grumble from Cter's stomach had subsided. "You didn't eat anything after you got dressed?"
She shook her head. "You said that it was best if the negotiations began as soon as possible. Also, I didn't feel hungry at the time. I only felt thirsty."
Reluctantly acknowledging nods rocked the First Monster Mage's head. "I did say that, didn't I?" His hand pinched at his forehead. "Since all we are doing right now is waiting perhaps we should try and eat something while we can? A warm meal and some good tea always helps, no matter the situation, after all." With a glance towards the door his rocking head became more confident.
"If you tell the guards that you are to inform the Royal Kitchen that there should be food sent up to the ball room for the human royals I'm sure they will allow you too. If they don't," he turned to Cter with his confidence emerging into a smirk, "then say that you can have food sent to the human guards as well."
His smile felt genuine among it all which warmed Cter. Despite everything he could still keep some courage with him.
It was a small flicker of hope within a thick miasma of fear and fret though. The symbols of monsterkind cowering from the helplessness that they had to not only face, but bring over all monsters as well. King Asgore and Queen Toriel sat together on their too-small chairs with their arms and ears around the other, muzzles intertwined.
Where King Asgore's beard ended and Queen Toriel's white cheeks began was impossible to judge looking at them from the outside. The same was for their auras, woven together like fine silk into a covering shawl which lay gently over the two. They would have to come to terms with it between themselves before they could help anyone else.
And while Priestess Frioke did not touch her nose against Sir Gerson's the two Royal Councilors were just the same. They had to come to terms with it in their own way for their own roles and what the relocation meant for all. They were the ones who would be by the Monster Royals' side throughout it. They would too be the monsters that all eyes were on. The monsters that lost the world to the humans.
Same with the three Monster Mages too. Theirs was the same as monsterkind which they served. They were set to lose what they called home and country. They might be staying among the grass and lakes that the monsters would be doomed to never see again, but their identity as being a monster would be locked inside Mt. Ebott as well.
Would they be human again?
"Guard?"
How could they be human?
"We would like to send for some food."
Why should they be human?
"Allow me to head for the Royal kitchen, please."
The knocks that Cter let ring out into the quiet hallway outside were met with silence. A silence quiet enough for her to open the office door slightly ajar to be able to peek out. She caught the eye of one of the human guards through his low-hanging fringe.
His soul was oh so faint, but still visible to Cter. The same as a heartbeat jumping after being startled, so did the guard's soul do the same as he looked at Cter's left arm. The glow of her White Flesh was hindered by the inert sleeve she was wearing, but it seemed like this human could sense it.
"You were a mage before you became a soldier, weren't you?" she hazarded carefully as to not bring more attention from the other guard standing at the opposite side of the door frame. Her question was asked with a calm and neutral voice so that not much attention would be brought to it either by the guard she was asking nor the other one. "You can feel my aura?"
Like fields of wheat bending at gusts, the fringe of the guard bounced with his nods.
"Then you can feel that I am not lying when I'm saying that all I want to do is get us some food?" Cter then followed up with an innocent look to her expression. "I will let the kitchen know that they should send some up for the ball room as well." She turned the innocent expression over to the other guard. "And the guards that are stationed here and at the ball room, of course."
The two human guards traded looks between each other, with the mage guard gesturing his approval with another nod. There was sympathy in the thin aura that for him was just barely enough to notice Cter's, but she could also tell that it was the other guard that had the ultimate decision. To her luck though the other guard only really shrugged loosely. "I don't see why not." He pointed down the hallway in the opposite way of the Royal Kitchen. "Not like she has any chance to do anything."
Wasn't really necessary to put that fine a point on it,..
"Thank you," she managed to say without too much sour to her tongue before closing the door behind her. "I'll be back soon."
It did strike her mind to put some barrier magic onto the office door to hold in the sounds from within the office should Sir Gerson's crying infect the others, but with a mage guarding the door that wasn't the best of ideas. It would have had the guard curious at best, suspicious as worse, and accusative at worst. She made sure that the door was properly closed before heading to the Royal Kitchen though.
The walk to it was a bit harrowing as each of the human guards that she passed by gave her looks that lasted for seconds on end. They were not sure why she was walking alone, but it was not too suspicious to make a fuss about. In a way it felt worse to Cter than if she had been stopped at each turn.
She was the most powerful mage in the world, but none of the humans thought enough of her to give her walking alone in an occupied castle anything more than curious looks. Perhaps it would have been better if she had asked one of the guards to escort her? If so then at least she would not have felt as if her reputation had been completely deflated. If anything then–
A tall figure appeared from around the corner. A familiar figure, with cold fog swaying before his startled stop.
"Oh...Cter?"
...No...
"What are you..."
Why? Why, why, why?
"Shouldn't you be at the Royal Guard office with the others?"
Why did she have to think that into existence?
"Actually, perhaps it's best that I found you… You might be needed."
That so?
"The Royal Kitchen, yes? That was where you were headed? To get food?"
Why else would she have gone there?
"I'll go with you."
'Course he would.
"But then I think you better follow me back to the ball room."
Oh? "Why?" did the Monster Mage pose in slight surprise to the Royal Mage of Ice. "I don't think..."
Although...
"It's about...um..." he answered vaguely with his head lowering.
"Rasliela?"
Had to be.
"No."
No?
"It's about Sarbor."
Then...um… "What about him?"
"He wants to join monsterkind in the Underground as well."
Oh…
"Oh..."
