"Formation, men!"
Cter was pulled back from her half-asleep state with her neck-bent snore interrupted by the Human General's declaration from outside. She rubbed her eyes while yawning, cutting it short in case the Human General peeked inside. It had taken far longer than she had anticipated for him to muster his men. Sure, she gave him something completely foreign to consider with his men and himself, but over an hour? Kallorean must have had some ideas about how to use his magic for Cter's entrance, right?
Oh well, at least the commotion outside was telling Cter that it was about to begin. She was confident in being able to corroborate her planned entrance with her rainbow magic with whatever the Human General and Kallorean had planned.
Even if took an hour and more for them.
"Forward!"
Through her aura Cter told her driver to move with the formation.
At the beginning it was faint, just a few notes through the carriage window drowned by the rustle of the carriage wheels and the marching soldiers and horses just outside. Gradually the music that was to greet Cter increased in volume, and soon it filled the interior of the carriage. Brass, string, and drums playing together. What they played had Cter shocked and in a state of laughter at the same time.
"Just an old drinking song, ey dad?"
It was the same song he had sung for her during their travels to the glacier all those years ago. She knew there had to be more to his life before he met Cter's mom than just a simple woodcutter chopping down a living for himself. How else would he have met a seamstress on a mission to sew her way to Xoff?
If he was worried about his daughter thinking of him as a deserter…
Well…
Apple didn't fall far from the tree with a human turned Monster Mage abandoning her humanity.
Or something.
"With her travels throughout the proud country of Hjearta, the Fourth Monster Mage Cter has graciously accepted her invite to Fenkeep Castle!"
The carriage slowed to a halt.
"It is an honor to receive her on this sunny day!"
She stood up.
"Please join me, good friends and guests!"
She shook off the last anxiety tensing her shoulders and knees.
"With welcoming with me, Cter, the Fourth Monster Mage!"
And stepped out the carriage with a proud step.
A thick veil of snowflakes before her parted like theater curtains opening. Flanked by the soldiers stood with their arms raised at an angle with their palms facing up for their borrowed magic, Cter met each pair of eyes with a congratulatory nod for each of them. They did good, the snowflakes falling around her were impressive in both their size and amount. There was even a hint of cold in the air as well, although that was most likely from Cter's added accent to Kallorean's magic.
He and the Human General stood at the end of the tunnel of soldiers and snow on either side with their hands clasped behind their straightened backs. As Cter approached the two extended their inner arms for the tunnel. It was something else than the snow magic which piqued Cter's interest. Three steps away from the pair the music swelled as it reached its chorus, prompting the Human General and Kallorean to throw throw their hands down in unison. Following their hands were thin pillars of core ice that bounced against the stone curb with dense clonks. They caught their respective pillars high up in their bounce, with an arrow-like tip forming just above their grip.
It was two ice spears which they crossed in a salute for Cter to enter underneath. She did so with a nod to the Human General and a proud emotion towards Kallorean. The monster was exhausted having used the General's temporary Cooperative Connection as a form of extension to his own magic. The effectiveness must have been akin to a carriage with square wheels made out of solid rock.
The kid did good.
The kid did very good.
Kallorean and the Human General lowered their spears after Cter had passed them, returning to their straightened posture with their icy spears at their sides. Their comrades joined in the formation in two lines behind, saluting with their frost-covered arms.
The music died down as the stunned crowd bated their collective breath for any form of explanation. Humans in various state of formal attire began whispering in hushes to each other, peering over their half-drunk glasses thin and tall. Cter let the whispers grow to a murmur between the colorful dresses and suits before she raised her chin with a dramatic flick.
Dear. Golly!
Cter was bursting with giddy!
"My lordship," she began with her arms presenting as wide as she could from behind her back inside her mantle. She turned to her side, making sure that her mantle flew high as her arms did, with her sleeved one praising her escort behind her. "I could not have been given a warmer welcome than from these proud men behind me. Please, if I may, applaud them not only for their diligent service in their orders, but their beautiful display of magic shared to them by the snowdrake Kallorean!"
There were some confused whispering among the nobility stood and sat in the greenest of courtyards. Cter didn't faze from the narrowed eyes looking confused at her though. Before she would give anyone the magical show they were so eager to see she would make sure the squad behind her got their just reward.
The realization that the Fourth Monster Mage was singing praises for mere escorting soldiers slowly sank in among the awaiting humans, who slowly began to join their hands together in a congratulatory applause. It might have not been the most genuine of applause, but that Cter was gonna make them ashamed of later.
"You didn't have to," said the Human General with as little movement to his mouth as possible.
"I did," Cter replied. "I've never had an entrance this elaborate before. Thank you."
"To you as well, Monster Mage," added Kallorean with great effort to get through the half-genuine, yet still loud, applause. ""I… I'll..." His exhaustion carried heavily on him, but only because of his friends joining together to use his magic. He could never thank Cter enough, but he didn't have to.
It was all Cter's pleasure.
And she wasn't done yet!
For she had her own entrance to make too!
"Now give me some space, please," Cter asked kindly of the General as her sleeved hand spread its fingers over her face. "I need to show the upper echelon of humans what passes for real magic."
The Human General smirked back at Cter through the spread of her fingers. "For everything, Monster Mage." He bowed his head with his icy spear tucked close to his heart. "Thank you." He then retreated to his horse with his men and monster. The carriage driver followed after with the carriage, clearing the immediate area for Cter. She had free range to do whatever.
Oh how she had waited.
With her back turned towards the awaiting courtyard, Cter began with a bright glow on the Delta Rune embroidered on her mantle. The magic detached, and the symbol of the monsters hovered above and higher as she turned around. Magical heat had her mantle and robe flowing more than natural, and magical puffs of air forced them down faster than normal as well. Through the spaces of her spread fingers glowing with magical lines, Cter peered at her audience in awe of the Delta Rune hovering above her.
"I am Cter!" the Monster Mage spoke from her heart and soul. The lines on her hands began to shimmer with color, traveling like a liquid rainbow up her spiraling line and out its long and fractal-like branches and twigs. With a clutch of her fist Cter summoned spheres of forming magic around the hovering Delta Rune symbol, each one a different magic.
Blue ice magic, glistening with frost and dripping with condensing mist.
Yellow fire magic, with flames reaching up like drops of oil flicked onto it.
Green healing magic, swirling calmly and viscous.
Purple stasis magic, hazy and translucent, with a loose stone from the curb hovering within.
Cyan conjuration magic, changing shape like clay into pottery.
Orange strength magic, tensing and relaxing like the strongest of muscles.
Red…
...
Um…
It was a bit too late for Cter to realize that she didn't have anything to represent the color red with her magic. She had over an hour to think about it! Why didn't she!
Red...leaves...magic…
Like...eh...fallen leaves?
Yes, yes that worked.
…
It would have to work.
Red...something...magic, in the shape of a falling leaf turning without rhythm.
With her seven colors of the rainbow assembled around the Delta Rune, Cter had them spin around the symbol in a vertical circle. She loosened her soul's grip on the magical spheres, giving them long streaks behind them that blended with the color the followed in the rotation. As they spun faster and faster the streaks overlapped, creating a circular rainbow around the gently hovering Delta Rune. It had her audience in an awe deeper than any of them could have imagined.
They hadn't even noticed that the red leaf took longer for her to summon.
Good.
Then they wouldn't notice Cter dismissing the magical spheres and replacing them with just a solid, conjured circular rainbow shape either. She blasted a shock of air from her sleeve to shift the attention for the moment she swapped her magic.
It was as much magic in her performance as it was her actual magic.
The simpler shape made it easier for the Monster Mage to add more magical flairs that emitted the respective magic of the colors. Ice sizzled with streaks of flames hanging onto the rim of the rainbow-colored circle for dear life in its rapid spin, with the floating stone stirring up a slight air of unease as it was slung around just as rapidly as the ice and fire. The rest of the colors were magical enough in their nature to just be viscous colors arcing behind their anchor points. It was a magical rainbow outside a magical rainbow, which Cter reckoned would double the struck awe.
It wasn't quite the double effect but it was close enough for her purpose.
It was enough for her dazzling finale though!
Cter threw her left hand out, stopping her rainbow circle for a beat before making it collapse into the hovering Delta Rune symbol it surrounded. The white symbol inherited the colors, with its glow becoming the same colorful spectrum. Once the color reached the symbol's core the wings of the symbol spread out as if taking flight.
With a tilt-up of her chin, Cter made the Delta Rune soar upwards until it was between the sun and her audience. Through it, the sun's rays glimmered like precious stones, with glimmering particles falling down like dust along the length of the rays.
One last inversion of the rainbow colors surged through the Delta Rune symbol, and when the reverberation bounced against the spread-out wings, the wings enveloped the symbol in a graceful embrace. The symbol imploded in on itself, forcing out a gust of air that raced through the leaves of the many trimmed hedges before reaching the human audience. Hats and umbrellas were knocked off, but did not touch the ground, as Cter caught each and every piece of clothing with her stasis magic and put them back on their owner.
In the Delta Rune's wake was a faded outline, lingering like a constellation despite the bright daylight. It too cried tears of dust like a light snowfall, glimmering just as mesmerizing as before.
Cter returned her left hand in front of her face.
"The Fourth Monster Mage!"
And her entrance was finished.
A stunned silence followed for the briefest of seconds before Cter was showered in applause and cheers. The breaths she had taken away with her display so desperately tried to express their wonderment. She left the humans with no breath to use, so the applause and cheers came from deeper within. She had touched their souls, like no one else had done before.
Like only a Monster Mage could.
She did not return her sleeved hand before her face only for dramatic effect though. At the end of her entrance Cter had felt a metallic smell in her nose. The gust of air had confirmed her suspicion, as a drop of blood had crashed onto the spiraling line on her sleeve. She could not show the humans that she was human too in that moment, so while the applause rained her with praise, Cter hid her face to heal her nose. The blood she sneezed out into a conjured handkerchief which evaporated it. It wasn't a pleasant smell, even less with her smell cleared of the copper odor of her blood. She held her pose and observed the clapping audience through her fingers while she made sure that the bleeding had stopped. It took one or two forceful snorts and huffs out her nose before she was completely sure of it.
"A fantastical display of stunning magic!"
"Truly a magnificent one for the ages to follow!"
From the applauding crowd emerged a monster clad in a human-designed suit fitted for a body that was most unlike that of a human. Where otherwise the regal, decorative sword would dangle from a human's waist, the monster instead wore a spear even more decorative with its long handle laid the length of the monster's body. The four legs the monster walked on with grace were reminiscent of horses strutting one leg at a time, like a slow accord played on a grand piano. A grand piano not in a traditional black and white, but in an autumn-red and summer-green garb that was striped along the curvature of the monster's body. Even if it didn't look anything like a human, its chest was swollen proudly as the most noble of humans. Despite being a pine cone in the human fruit salad around it, the monster still blended in with the nobility around it, until it stepped outside to be the first one to say anything after Cter's grandiose entrance.
"The court of Fenkeep Castle greets you, Cter."
One of its head mounted on a long and thin neck bowed down as the monster reached Cter.
"The Fourth Monster Mage."
Then the monster's other head bowed as well.
"I am Huvett."
"And I am Huvtao."
"I have been tasked as your personal butler for your stay at Fenkeep Castle."
"Any buttling necessary for anything your mind may wonder, I will be ready to buttle for."
The right head, which Cter deduced to be Huvett due to the parting of its black hair parted to the left as per Professor Leraull's description, swung around like a cracked whip to Huvtvao, the left head with the black hair parted to the right.
"I said that we wouldn't use those words with those inflections."
The chastising hiss from the harsh whisper was very snake-like.
"The Fourth Monster Mage Cter is not going to react childishly to those, Huvett. She is a respectful and serious visitor from Monster Country who wouldn't come all this way just to giggle at conjecture."
That Huvtvao was wrong about. Cter hid her snickering behind the mysterious air of her sleeved hand spread out in front of her face while the monster finished bickering among itself.
"In any case," Huvett continued after clearing his throat with a bitter cough. "Please do follow me, Monster Mage. There are others who would request your presence."
Huvtvao motioned with his neck for Cter to follow along. It moved smooth as water. "Would you be so nice, from what cake would you like a slice?"
The accidental limerick caught both Huvett and Cter by surprise. Seems like the monster had come much further in his separation of interest than what Professor Leraull had...warned.
A monster so dedicated to becoming human that he chose to separate his thinking into two. To manifest the two sides first to make him becoming human as smooth as possible. First off with the two heads being monster, then one head monster and one human to be able to discuss and convince to be more human. Finally the two heads became human, fully dedicated to serving at the Royal Court of Hjearta purely in the interest of humans.
So much so that not even Cter could register any aura from Huvett and Huvtvao that she could classify as monster. It was...strange. From the outset he looked completely monster, how could he have not? His demeanor and way of speech though, and how he didn't have any aura for Cter to sense any of his emotions through, that was unmistakably human.
It was just as Professor Leraull had said.
Huvett and Huvtvao was just like the Monster Mages, but inverted.
In that way Cter felt a connection to the monster...human…as he lead Cter through the...other humans...that whispered between themselves when they were not waving, and still applauding while they were not whispering or waving. The whispers ranged from her magical display to her outfit and even her hair. While she waited in the carriage for the Human General and Kallorean to finish their preparations Cter had practiced weaving her hair with magic.
What else could she had done while she waited?
Figured out a suitable magic for the color red?
Silly notion.
And while Cter was only able to weave the left side of her hair into braids that converged into one thick one round her neck and down her right shoulder, it was actually something she found herself staring at in the hovering mirror for a good whole minute before she decided that it actually looked really good.
A happy little accident.
Just like Hutvao's limerick.
"Which one, Monster Mage?"
Oh yeah, Cter hadn't answered!
With a watering mouth Cter surveyed the display of confectionery placed on tables long and sturdy to hold up all the sugary goodness. A mistake, actually. Had she not she would have just asked for a slice of strawberry cake, but with the smorgasbord of cakes in front of her wide enough that she had to turn her head to see them all, the overwhelming choices came crashing over her, although the actual cakes didn't.
Unfortunately.
There was even smorgascakes on offer, dammit! How could she choose?
"As you can see we have on offer here a wide variety of confectioneries from both Hjearta and Monster Country. If I may be so brash as to suggest some for you? Some of the cakes represent the dichotomy of your soul a bit better than others, if I may be even brasher? Over here you can see a princess cake named such after King Soulay's daughter that stayed at Jarasevo Castle during her younger years. The sweetness of her soul permeates the cake, a soul sweeter than even Queen Toriel could handle. The coat of marzipan represents the summer-green duvet she sewed with Queen Toriel, and the pink rose on top is the same as the ones she cultivated with King Asgore."
Eating history? That Cter could do. Especially with how the green marzipan cover had rivers of syrup craving deep crevices through the powdered sugar on top of it.
"Of course, if you want to indulge yourself in one side rather than being on the line between then we have cinnamon pies as popularized by Queen Toriel, and of course the Hjearta-famous smorgascakes with shrimps. Not really as sweet as the other cakes, but savory beyond comprehension. It's baked with wheat breed with Golden Flowers resulting in a sweet and sour tang to each bite that compliments the taste of the garnished shrimps and cheeses."
While Huvett and Huvtvao was diligent in his description and very warm and inviting in his voice as expected from someone so dedicated in humanities that he could even hide his monster aura, and for all of the torrents of saliva almost bursting out of Cter's mouth, he wasn't really a lot of help for Cter. She was in the same position as she was before his gracious explanations.
With no idea at all of what to choose!
All Cter could do was nod along with her hands clasped behind her back to give the illusion that she was the world-used Monster Mage that her magic and title bragged about. With a veil of impressed unimpression resulting in as neutral a smile as possible, Cter followed Huvett's neck towards a flatter cake already half-eaten before Cter even got there.
"This one is a proud creation of our guest chef from Xoff. A traditional recipe where the wide, thin slices of nuts–"
"Are layered like the red rocks emerging from the sand dunes at the border to the desert. They signal that rain will arrive soon, and is a time worthy of celebration in the south parts of Xoff."
Huvett and Huvtvao's necks curled inwards to look at Cter who met the befuddled heads with a knowing smirk. "The Royal Chef at Jarasevo Castle is a Xoff native," she cleared up to the mons...human...with a small shrug. "She's made this cake before. It is a very tasty one. Quite sticky on the teeth though." Almost as sticky as the mud of the rain-destroyed roads she traveled through in Xoff.
"Well if that's the case."
Hearing both heads speak at the same time was a novel experience. It wasn't really hearing something twice like a short echo, but double. As if Cter only had looked with one eye at something, but then opened her other at it. "If that's the cake, you mean?" she prompted in hopes of hearing double again.
"Indeed."
"Indeed."
That was more like a short echo, with the two necks becoming more their own again rather than the same one. There was a slight, minuscule slip in his aura too. Like a monster stood very far away.
"The rest of the cakes should speak for themselves. Strawberry, lingonberry, blueberry, raspberry."
"If not berries then fruits."
"And if not berries or fruit then nuts. Free pickings whatever your soul desires."
Yes, but that was the problem.
There were just so many!
Too many for Cter to–
Wait…
Wait!
Was that…
"I can vouch for the licorice personally, Monster Mage."
Yes!
"As it is from my family's farms."
Oh hell yes!
"A pleasure to see you out in the sun on a day like this, Royal Mage."
Royal Mage?
"Is there anything I can do...to..."
That wasn't Huvtvao that spoke about his family's licorice farm?
Cter turned around to see a mantle disappear into the crowd. On its back she saw only briefly was the Hjearta sigil sewed proudly into the thick material. It looked to be a winter mantle judging by the weight of it as it disappeared into the crowd.
A winter mantle because of the amount and proficiency of ice magic cast by the Royal Mage of Hjearta? The Royal Mage of Ice?
"One would think the visit of a Monster Mage would elicit a greeting more than just talking about his family's farm," Huvtvao muttered underneath his breath. He looked to his other head and rolled his eyes.
"Would you like me to insist on him coming back and greeting you properly, Monster Mage?" There was a slight undertone of suspended catharsis in Huvett's voice. "I don't believe it is in the spirit of being a good host if you had to go chase him down in the crowd."
He did have a point there. On top of that Cter was looking forward to talking with Terri about his ice magic to figure out how to change hers to something more suited her Monster Mage status. She wasn't in a hurry, but with the hungry looks from the Hjearta nobility around her she would be busy for a while to come with just how many questions she could see were bubbling inside the powdered cheeks and underneath the large wigs.
So perhaps it would be good if Huvett and Huvtvao headed out to fetch Terri for Cter? His hurried walk into the crowd told that he didn't plan on doing any proper introductions anytime soon, so there would be some discussion and convincing from Huvett and Huvtvao to get Terri to Cter.
Might as well get the worst out of the way.
With cake as help.
Licorice cake.
"A slice of licorice cake, please and thank you, Huvett and Huvtvao."
Huvtvao went to fetch a slice with the help of his decorative spear while Huvett and his neck stayed. The way his head stood still while his neck and body swiveled with Huvtvao's movement was again a novel experience to witness.
"What about the Royal Mage, to gently push for an answer?"
Cter took the flower-patterned plate off the flat side of the head of the decorative spear. "I have some topics I'd like to discuss with him. Mage topics. Could you fetch him for me, please?"
The two heads bowed in unison.
"As you wish, Monster Mage."
Goose bumps.
Like thousands of Mt. Ebotts.
All over Cter's body.
With the protective presence of Huvett and Huvtvao excusing himself through the crowd Cter could only savor the tingling bumps for a brief moment before the circle of personal space contracted rapidly around her like a noose.
"Monster Mage, is it true that Kry needs to shave each day otherwise the soul of King Asgore inside his sleeve causes his face to grow a beard too dense for him to be able to breathe through?"
Cter conjured up a shimmer of cold around her slice of cake.
Because damn did she have a lot ahead of her…