"Monster Mage? If I may be so rude?"
Cter looked up from the thankful smile of the twelfth human child she'd made an ice cube for. It was the seventh one which hurried over to the fountain to dip into the water. The adult that addressed her waited until the last child joined his friends at the fountain before he drew attention to Cter's arm with a gentle nod of his head.
"I may not know magic, but I do know a tremble from cold when I see one."
The man's words rang true as Cter held up her left arm in front of her. It did tremble, that the man was correct in. It must have slipped her mind being busy with making so many ice cubes for the human children. Her fingers felt stiff too as she tried to clench a fist.
However the most telltale sign was that it hurt when she bent her fingers.
"Thank you," Cter said to the man dressed in an old and weathered suit. "Sometimes even us Monster Mages can outpace our own limitations." With a subdued roar, the length of her sleeve was engulfed in flames which she let dance to heat her arm up slowly and not too quickly. Not heat in a flash, but gently and slowly. Just like when she came home cold and exhausted from playing out in the snow during her child's winters. Heat back up slowly to make sure that there was no shock.
"If I may be rude again?" the man meekly asked while hunkering down to show his inferiority.
Cter motioned for him to stand up with her right hand. With the left in flames it might've been perceived as a threat had she waved that instead. "No need to make yourself humble. You probably saved my arm by speaking up. Thank you, again." Her gentle response had the other human adults closing in around her with curiosity.
"Oh, why thank you too, Monster Mage. I was wondering, and it is to help understand to try and help my son. I was wondering why you had that tremble to your arm? Is it because of your ice magic? Isn't that dangerous?" There was some worry in the man's voice. Cter assumed that he was a father to one of the kids that showed magical potential, and seeing a Monster Mage get hurt from her own magic understandably raised some hesitation. "If you could please..."
That Cter could. Better yet, she could show. With a slow movement she brought her left arm towards the man, who understandably took a step back. "It won't burn you," Cter assured. "In fact, cup your hands and you'll feel why."
It took a few and unsure seconds before the man did as Cter asked. She dropped a flame into his opened hands which had him flinch as it touched his skin. The flinch gave way to a curiosity though that had the man lifting the flame up closer to his face. "It's...warm?" he said out loud, the wrinkles to his forehead looked flat as the magical light evaporated their furrowed shadows. "It's only warm."
The other adults leaned in towards the man and his gifted flame. A great opportunity which Cter took to have some fun with. She made the flame grow as if it inhaled a big breath which it then exhaled into ember seeds that shot up into arcs raining down into the cupped hands of the other humans.
"It's only warm because that's what I wanted it to be. It's purely magical too, made without any of my memories of real fire. If you listen to it you'll hear that it doesn't have any cracks to it like a wooden fire would. Only the deep and full mutter of the heat from it. Had I made the fire from more of my human memories and emotions about fire it would've cracked and jumped as it was fueled by wood."
To demonstrate, Cter gave the flames on her sleeve a more human emotion to it as she thought back to the fireplace in her home during early winter evenings. Sparks began to jump almost immediately, landing and sizzling away on the gravel between her feet. It did heat her arm up to the point where it began to sting though, so she quickly had the fire more monster again. "The ice which I gave your children I had to make human in its core to give it the effect I wanted. On its skin it is magic which is why it's not as cold as a real ice cube and why it will not melt as quickly." She held up her arm horizontally again to show it. "Hence why it gave me a real cold. It's a tricky piece of magic, despite its unassuming appearance as a normal cube of ice."
Cter was very much beginning to brag, but the glistening eyes of the humans around her reflecting both their awe and magical fires made it a positive type of bragging. She was singing her praises, which were worthy of song to the humans.
So why should she stop?
Actually…
A loud and excited sizzle ascended without smoke as Cter snuffed the fire around her left arm. What she had in mind would warm her much more than her own fire ever could. "Give me your arm," she said and beckoned towards the man that warned her about the cold. "I've shown and told you to help you understand what your son might have to learn himself in the future. Now I will give you some of my magic to understand how your son will learn."
"Some of..."
The weathered suit was frayed at the cuff, with loose strands poking out and hanging free like cheap drapes. Well-worn and taken care of as best as it could be. It contrasted with the intricate seams of Cter's forest-green robe sparkling in the sun like emeralds, the dress traded to her for Bonny Sallus' new set of monster-made clothes. More reasons to give the human father magic for a bit, if anything. "Is your son's name Manny?" A guess, yes, but she did see some of Manny in the man's face.
"Y-Yes, Monster Mage. His name is Manny."
Perfect.
Lines of glowing white began to sneak up the frayed fabric on the man's suit, forming rudimentary flows of magic of Cter's memories of Manny. Even though Manny's father might not have enough magical potential to become a mage he still had some that had been passed down to Manny. It looked to be enough for him to at least make a rumbling in the lines to prod at the starter-memory. Perhaps not ignite a flame on his own, but that Cter could do for him. All she needed from him was the effort.
"I have now made your suit into a sleeve capable of magic, human. It is filled with my memories of your son. Summon your most powerful and most vivid memory of him, human, and show me the flame of your love towards him."
The human stared at his arm made pulsating with the quiet, white glow of a monster's soul. The pulsating breath of the Cooperative Connection inhaled steadily. The human was lost in his own stupor for a while before he shook his head with a huff. "I...I thank you, Monster Mage," the man voiced from the depth of his heart. His head flew down in a fierce bow which he held tense just as he did his lined arm to his chest. "M-May I show this to him? May I show some magic to my son? I...I want him to be inspired. I want him to realize his potential and to become a great human mage like you."
Like Cter?
While she didn't accept the compliment much more than a slight nod she did not rebuke it either. Perhaps it was because of Bonny? With Frioke in her sleeve Cter felt a bit more reserved because of what she had learned and seen, but with Bonny she felt a bit more courageous. Like she could take the compliments of her being great without feeling guilty about. To feel inspired by it instead and want to learn more!
The purple mantle fit more snugly on her shoulders after that.
"Go right ahead." Cter sent the man towards the fountain where the children were along with her blessing, both metaphorically and the literal one on his suit's sleeve. She let the other human adults keep their fires too, why not? It was a bit egregious keeping track of all of them as they were played with by both the children and adults, but Cter felt she could handle it. Even with one of Bonny's less-intensive memories in her sleeve she could still keep her magic together. They were all for display, so they did not require much focus to them. With the many ones though it still required a fair bit from her, but it was worth it to see the villagers come together with the magic she gifted them.
Cter observed Manny and his father for a short while as the two talked with each other, waiting for Manny's father to try and summon magic from his sleeve, which he did after Manny jumped for joy and eagerly clung at his father's arm. After coaxing his son off his arm as to not burn the child, Manny's father closed his eyes and focused inwards. Cter gave it a second or two before she reached out with her aura to connect with the lines she made in the suit's sleeve. She drained it all to make a fire flare up in the father's hand, which he displayed with a pride that only a father could have displaying his love for his child.
Manny though recognized that it was Cter's aura, but before his stare at her could be noticed she put up her left index finger to her lips and smiled with a nod. Manny nodded back, and then turned to his father again to embrace him.
It was a beautiful scene seeing Manny in his father's arms with the tiny flame burning between them.
Cter had done it.
She'd gone from helping out monsters with their magic to helping out humans with their magic.
She was on her way to fulfilling Romrom's promise.
"Soon, Romrom."
Soon.
Rounding the humans with an effortless, yet still gorgeous skip over the gravel from one path to another, was the jester-monster nurse that helped Cter's ears. She looked a bit embarrassed walking up to Cter which was felt in her aura too. Reserved as if she was walking up to someone she felt she owed something. Cter knew the look and hunkered posture from the monsters in Jarasevo she helped before. "Monster Mage?" the jester addressed with a bow to her head. "Dr. Sallus and Kurant are wanting to meet you in the gazebo behind the house. I am to tell you that Dr. Sallus has chosen his memory for you."
A gazebo too? Cter had never really been in one before even though there was one in the Royal Gardens for people to enjoy. Never really struck her as something she had to experience, but if Dr. Sallus and Kurant were asking her to head to it then sure, she'll experience it first with them. "Thank you, nurse."
"Cyanne," blurted the jester in response. "Sorry, I–"
"It's fine," Cter promised with a calming palm to show. "I gave you more magic to use, so it's only natural that you feel that we've connected. It is I who should apologize. I did not ask for your consent before acting my magic on you." She bowed her head respectfully to the nurse. "Please forgive me, Cyanne."
"O-Of course," the nurse hurried back as an answer. "You were in pain and as a nurse I'm here to heal you. T-Thank you for giving me en-nough potential to heal you to the best of my abilities." The curvy horns occupying either side of the jester's head seemed to curl up even tighter as she spoke with her head bowed and hands clasped on her white robe. The hat featuring an upside-down monster soul began to slide down the hair-less head and reveal in its empty wake the stone heart of Bonny's in the middle of the group of humans staring eagerly into the many magical ice cubes. Before the hat could fall off Cter flicked it back up with some stasis. "I promise I will savor how it felt and strive to reach it on my own!"
The sudden and quite-vocal promise startled Cter with how much emotion there was behind it. Like it came from a place the jester monster had held back for years on end. Her neck craned forwards. From where did that come from? Cter let her curiosity seep into her aura which she gently prodded against the nurse's.
"I want to become a monster doctor just like Dr. Sallus," said the jester with a tilt of her head over her shoulder. Her tightened horns loosened with her rising conviction that gave her turquoise skin a more bold color to it. "Theoretically I will never be able to match him, but with more magic perhaps I can. With you showing that I can handle more magic than I previously thought I can become a more practical doctor than Dr. Sallus. We need more such doctors here at the clinic, and even more roaming the countries to help."
She turned back to Cter with the crosses of her eyes narrowed with conviction. "The epidemic will come back and hit harder than it did last time. Clinic Village have been lucky this time. Not many got sick, even with so many sick humans passing through it. The villagers have all been so scared for so long, but with you Monster Mages here they finally seem to get some happiness back into their lives."
Cter was pleased that she could help.
"When the next plague hits we will be able to get water up here easier rather than having to walk down and fetch it from the pumps in Clinic Village." The jester nurse motioned behind her towards the statue, in particular the fountain and the water sprouting from it. "With this epidemic calming down across Xoff we should be able to get the last waterworks installed."
With ire the jester monster's sewn-together mouth thinned. "We had to prioritize the fountain as it was built to further the bonds between Monster Country and Xoff. A display of diplomacy, even after Bonny's loud protests that the water should be for the patients instead. We did not have enough funds at the time to say no to it being built for us though, but since we have managed to save the lives of some wealthy humans in this county from the epidemic we should soon enough have enough funds to get waterworks into the buildings as well."
A confident nod had the curly horns cutting through the air. "When the next plague comes I want to be a doctor. A monster doctor, one that can treat while the miasma hangs over me like the dark cloud it is. Humans adopted me when my parents disappeared when I was very young, and if I can prevent that fate from happening to others I will do everything I can to make sure that not another child will have to see their parents fall down."
Her adoptive parents must have been good if she had managed so far as she did. Becoming a nurse as a monster was difficult, more so a doctor. There was a determination in the jester's crossed eyes that reminded Cter of herself. The want to become something great on the other side of the soul. A mage for a human, and a doctor for a monster.
Perhaps Cter could help just a little bit more?
"Your arm, please," asked Cter with her left hand opened. "I promise not to scream angrily at you again."
"Y-you–" Stuttered the jester monster before swallowing hard. "M-More?"
"Just to top off."
Sounded funny to Cter's ears, and those were recently healed. Not as funny to the jester's ears though. Instead her face took on a more grim look to it with a slight tilt to the side, making her crosses multiplications rather than a pair of additions.
"I must respectfully decline, Monster Mage."
Oh?
"I know where I need to go. That's all I want. The rest of the way I must find myself. Otherwise then it won't be mine. It won't be me becoming a monster doctor, it would be me using a Monster Mage's magic to play a monster doctor." Cyanne nodded once and hard for herself. "If I'm to save humans the way I want to it needs to be me."
Cter closed her hand like she had planned for the reaction all along. "You passed the test." A test Cter just made up on the spot after the fact. "Your dedication is true and strong, Cyanne." Cter wasn't lying though, and if it by some pedantic reason was classified as a lie it was whiter than the monster nurse's robe. Blistering white to better the future.
Oh…
So that was how Frioke felt with the lie of the Cooperative Connection.
Dang.
"I...passed?" Cyanne repeated.
"Yes, you passed. If you'd just accepted again without thinking about it my magic would've been a crutch to you and not a ladder showing you that you can reach higher. You only needed me to show you."
With a surprised hand Cter caught the nurse hat that was knocked off of the jester's head as Cyanne bowed fast enough that had she been a human her spine would've shattered. "I thank you, Monster Mage! With all of my soul!"
Alright Cter was not gonna push the fake test any further than that. Anything more and there was no telling how Cyanne would react. Cter instead motioned for Cyanne to stand up again and handed the monster her hat back. "You're still a nurse," Cter reminded. "Still need this for the time being." With some more stasis Cter lifted the hat back onto the jester's head for the second time.
"Thank you again, Monster Mage."
"Cter," the Monster Mage corrected friendly.
"Thank you again, Cter."
"And good luck with your studies, Cyanne."
The nurse monster bowed once more before heading towards one of the brick buildings.
...Without telling Cter where the gazebo was.
She had her guesses though.
After a brief interruption from Manny's father waving and thanking Cter again she headed down the path towards the house. A smaller path branched off before the steps up to the open foyer and led around the corner of the house. As Cter rounded the corner she was met with the view behind the house again. Just as beautiful through whole glass as it was through broken glass, as well as through no glass at all, it was. Swaying fields of various produce, some rigid, some not, due to the more temperate climate of Xoff. It gave the waves some obstacles to go around like stones peeking out of the water's surface to disrupt the waves. Mt. Ebott of course looming with mystique and intrigue unmatched by no other mountain there was. Mt. Ymmet too, of course as well.
"Over here," Cter heard Kurant shout. "In the gazebo, Cter."
Cter turned to where her very healthy ears picked up Kurant's voice. To the gazebo where Dr. Sallus and Kurant sat with tea at the ready in both porcelain cups and a kettle between them kept warm with fire magic.
There was a lot of glass shards sprinkling the grass around the gazebo.
A. Lot. Of. Glass.
Same for the wall of the house. Multiple piles of shattered glass lay scattered in irregular piles. Kurant and Cter should probably clean that up, Cter reckoned as she found more and more piles the closer she got to the gazebo. At one point it became a ridiculous amount, but Cter could not put a finger on exactly which number it was.
Just that it indeed was ridiculous.
As Cter stepped over the last piles of glass to get into the gazebo Dr. Sallus extended a steaming cup for her. "Coffee, Cter?"
Oh, it was coffee.
"Kurant's been shaking for Xoff coffee, she told me, so I figured we'd enjoy some. No fika in Xoff though as you do in Hjearta, only coffee here. Only the bitter and black with no sweet to it." Bonny's eyes opened wider as he sipped from his cup. "Just goes straight into the soul, it does." He quelled a hiccup and grit his teeth. "My fur was actually white as snow before I moved here to Xoff and began drinking Xoff coffee."
"Really?" was pushed out of Cter's mouth by the heard seat. She did not entirely mean to say it, but the air pushed out from her sit voiced the question. With worried eyes she stared down into the void-black liquid swirling with more viscosity than it actually had. It would explain why the people of Xoff looked more tan that those of Hjearta descent. In Hjearta tea was more common.
Surely Xoff coffee would be strong enough to fight back against the epidemic miasma gripping the country, but perhaps it was a low season for harvesting at the time?
In either case Cter felt the hair in her nose curl inwards as the smell of the coffee crawled inside and immediately made her tear up. Just smelling it was enough for her, and she had to drink it too?
"It's stronger than licorice."
Yeah, Cter could tell.
"And also no, I was just making a slight jest about the color of my fur," Bonny said with a smile stained a dark yellow by the coffee. "Sure feels like it though. Tingles and scratches in my soul and body. Helped me get through medical school, that's for certain."
"I had Hjearta tea for that with Soul's School," Cter replied to give a reason not to be able to drink the coffee. "Forgive me if I seem a bit unappreciative by the drink." She raised the cup to show her thanks for being given it. "I do not think it is really my cup though. My cup of tea is a cup of tea."
The yellow-tinted smile widened with an amused exhale through Bonny's nose. "No shame in orthodoxy." After a strained swallow which he laughed in the face of afterwards he nodded to Cter's sleeve through the pain. "Especially since we're about to do something extremely unorthodox."
Maybe he should have waited a bit with saying that and let his mind focus away from the sharp bitterness of the coffee. He seemed just a tad bit too overeager saying that.
"We are not just drinking the coffee just for a break," interjected Kurant since it was clear that she had to. She managed a bit better with the coffee due to her being a native to Xoff. "Like Bonny said it opens the soul, akin to how a sauna opens up the pores for humans. Sweats it out magically instead of physically. The reason I want you to drink as well Cter is that your soul needs to be fully awake and clear for you to receive your permanent magic." With a mellow sigh Kurant placed her cup down onto the naked saucer without any sound. "The reason following that is that you will have to make use the magic you discovered. You managed with Frioke without any implications, and now we want to see if you can make that permanent for yourself too."
Cter knew that such would be the case. There would not be any Cooperative Connection between her and Bonny. It would be whatever she did between her and Idyll, albeit permanent for Cter.
"I have complete trust in you, Cter," assured Bonny with a hand on the Monster Mage's shoulder. "Complete and utter trust in your abilities."
She was thankful that he did. Thankful that Kurant was there too.
The only thing she wasn't thankful of was the coffee, really.
Because she was pretty sure that she did not have any hairs left in her nose with them soaking up the smell from her given cup.
"It's good that you've moved past what happened between Idyll and you, and that the only thing holding you back is a cup of coffee," commented Kurant jokingly. She raised her own cup to clink with Bonny's and Cter's. "We'll drink together and get through this."
Bonny lifted her cup. "Together."
And so did Cter. "Together."
The three cheered.
Together.
That was not the difficult part though.
Nor was drinking the coffee.
It was how it felt afterwards.
"Singe. My. Soul!"
Like rough sandpaper burning with itchy fire scratching every fiber of Cter's throat.
It was a miracle that she even managed to swear!
Immediately after there expanded a profound sense of inner warmth throughout Cter's aura. Like it was a bed sheet whipped straight after being washed. The whip surged through her body and soul, becoming heavier as it rushed out her limbs and up her torso. She coughed a violent cough that could have awoken the dead and bent over.
"Told you, Bonny," said Kurant with a cocky twirl to her voice. "You saw it, right?"
"I did," came an infatuated answer. "I'd heard about it but never seen it before."
What were the two talking about?
"Here, Cter." A shard of gazebo glass was moved into Cter's hand via purple magic. "Your eyes. Notice something?"
Apart from them being opened wider than Cter had ever had them before? No, not really. They were as green as always. Nothing else…
Wait a second.
Her green eyes!
They were even greener!
"Windows to your soul, after all," Cter saw Kurant explain out-of-focus through the broken piece of glass. "The Xoff coffee, or Xoffee as most call it while being ignorant to how dumb it sounds when they say that, cleans the soul, and also gives a bit more luster to a mage's eyes."
"Is that why you wanted more of it?"
Even though Cter didn't really think about what she said it was completely correct.
"My, my," chuckled Bonny with a smirk aimed at Kurant. "Vanity from a Monster Mage?"
Kurant did walk right into that one, to be completely honest.
"I'm sure you won't be using my magic for function in your sleeve and not make them take on shapes more pleasing to the eye, no, Cter?" The good doctor began rolling up his own sleeve. "One Monster Mage struck by vanity is plenty enough for this gazebo." Gently he gripped at Cter's sleeve with his naked forearm and hand. "Whenever you are ready, Cter."
After the surge of the Xoffee Cter felt more ready than she had ever been, if anything just to get away from it. She wrapped her left hand's fingers one by one over the soft, beige-like fur of Bonny's arm. There was a maturity to the softness, the many years of his life not expressed by any roughage, but more by a more sophisticated pattern to the fur's strands. "Have you chosen a memory, Dr. Sallus?"
The doctor traded a glance with Kurant before answering. "Yes."
Cter then closed her eyes, focusing on the sensation that was the monster Dr. Bonny Sallus.
"And please, call me–"