"For those of you that would call me king, lend me your souls and hearts!"

The hushed gathering of monsters stretching from below the castle balcony beyond the curvature of the hill which Jarasevo Castle stood upon in its somber glory turned even quieter underneath the asserting depth and emotion of King Asgore's voice.

"Today we are here in all what we are and be, to mourn one who gave what he were and had been! Both his heart, and his soul!"

His voice reached behind him as well, if not even more, to the three Monster Mages stood in the shadow of their king's silhouette as it moved with a rigidity of royalty, but with a smoothness of solemn guiding where his heavy hands were held.

Despite it all though, Cter could not keep focus on the king's speech that presented itself with care and emotion in front of her.

"A life of servitude for a people that he made his own."

There was too much on her mind. In both–

"In both heart and soul!"

Yes, that.

First Sarbor's retelling of how he escaped with her, as well as how his travels went with her to Monster Country to arrive at Jarasevo. While the journey wasn't eventful, which was some respite if anything, the start and end of his escape were accented with events enough to last several journeys full. Strangely, Cter did not really give much thought to herself during Sarbor's retelling of his escape from the military encampment. It felt too...detached? She wasn't a piece on the game board, no. She was the prize of the game which had Sarbor deceiving and sneaking to get to.

It was how he had described the bird-like monster's actions which had Cter react the most. Manny using magic to ignite a fiery distraction was something she could see a human mage do. A monster shooting an arrow with the intent to kill a human, citing the Monster Hunter reason for saving more rather than killing one as the intent, was something different.

"I stand before you, my people, bereft of a soul that has helped bring you prosperity and hope!"

For one, it reminded Cter of what she had done with the Royal Butler at Fenkeep Castle. How she had demonstrated and reminded of magical intent as she shot Huvett and Huvtvao with a conjured bow. That was with her human magic though. While she had made sure to add her intent to her magic so that Huvett and Huvtvao could feel it through his aura, it was everything else that she did that helped him see things from a human perspective. To clue in with monster so that he could better understand human.

But that, again, was with her human magic.

"A voice that could make laughter and perspective just as easy, and just as warmly!"

What the bird-like monster did was changing the rules, in a way. From what Sarbor said she mentioned that she felt the same hope that Ziki had when he rushed up to Clinic Hill in search of a hope that he would even abandon the children at Clinic Village for. Thinking about it again, he also showed murderous intent when attacking the fusion. His thrown weapon did damage to it. His rage and fury manifested in the intent he used with his magic to inflict further damage.

His thrown weapon which his older brother held next to his own.

Stood in honor as the main Royal Guard next to Asgore holding his speech. Grief and pride was equally present inside the dog monster's aura, flowing through his internal mourning into his own weapon while flowing his pride into his little brother's weapon. Stood in honor together as the weapons did, the hollowing on the edge of their blades formed the shape of the monster soul, quivering as the guard held back his tears. It was his little brother's soul.

Quivering as if about to burst apart.

Again.

"A brother to a privileged one, but a friend to so many more!"

There were not many Royal Guards who received something as grand and honorable as a eulogy penned by the Monster Queen, and spoken by the Monster King. However, while it showed the strength of how two could make up for the other, it also reminded of what had been lost. A joint effort to punctuate that there was only one left.

Two weapons, but only one brother to carry them.

"Please, share with me a moment of silence, my people."

Share with the Monster King so that the tears of the remaining brother could be heard.

The tears the monster-dog brother shed were different from those he fell when Cter gave him Ziki's axe. Those were that of utmost anguish and hopelessness from the shock of hearing that his little brother had died. Cter spared him the details of how he died, but she made sure to emphasize how he died to save her. That he died protecting not only Cter, but all of monsterkind with his sacrifice.

Not only monsterkind, but humanity as well. He saved everyone through his sacrifice, giving Cter and Sarbor a chance to bring down the fusion. A hero with a mettle unrivaled in the world. A little brother an elder one could be proud of. A little brother that would watch over his older until the two met again.

That pride dotted the marble floor of the balcony. That pride gave the elder brother the strength to stand up with a straightened back facing the crowd of people who had come to honor his brother's departure. Enough strength to lift the two weapons in each hand, and tapping their handles down on the floor. Lift them up, and tap them down. Rhythmically, for the length of a minute.

His parents had taught him and his little brother that song. The song of their lineage, sung by the weapons that were their heirlooms. It was meant to be a duet, with each weapon strengthening the tune of the other until it all came to a clashing crescendo as the two edge-hollowed blades crashed together like cymbals to form the shape of the monster soul. A double tap of the handles, then a turn for a clash. A double tap of the handles, then a turn for a clash. A double tap of the handles, then a turn for a clash.

After the third clash, the song was over, and the loud, metallic sound echoed out from the castle balcony over the many respectfully bowed heads. A shiver planted itself in the Royal Guard that scraped the sharp blades.

Had there been any other time he would have been drowning in applause. The silence that surrounded him was more though. More than any applause could ever bring him. His tears still fell hard against the marble floor. His hands still clenched hard on the black-colored wooden handles. His breathing was still labored and uneven.

Yet in his aura there was happiness.

There was a sense of honor that he had upheld. A sense that he had done good towards his little brother. A joy that he had finally done something that he as a big brother could only do because it was his duty to do. It wasn't for his little brother to do, for he was the one that needed protection.

To mourn the loss.

So present it was in the big brother's aura that Cter could almost touch it. She could almost wrap it around her finger like a thick thread. The love an elder sibling had for their younger one was something beautiful, even in the most horrid of events. Ziki's brother would carry the burden of his loss. He would sing his little brother's praise until the two would rejoin again.

Until then, Ziki's brother would take care of his brother's axe. He would make sure that it was passed down to the next generation.

"I'll live for you too, Ziki," his brother promised as his canine muzzle touched the metal side of Ziki's axe. "I'll live all the life you would have. It's fine. You rest. Big brother will carry what you can't no more."

Seeing that it was the last strength the Royal Guard had, King Asgore stepped forwards to catch not only the collapsing Royal Guard, but the weapons too. "You are strong," he told the Royal Guard reduced to nothing but anguished tears cradled in the Monster King's armored arm. The guard had done good, and deserved to cry. "Your little brother was strong as well. It is why you two were given these weapons." King Asgore held them high for all to see once more. "Carry this banner of his now that he can't, Royal Guard. Carry it high so that he can rest well knowing that his elder brother still is strong."

A flash of blue and orange surged through the weapons so that all who saw and heard knew that they were blessed by the Monster King's magic. That they not only represented the brothers' family, but the Royal Family as well. That was King Asgore's gift to the Royal Guard who had given his life so that monsterkind would survive.

"A duty well served in the name of the monsters!"

Cter kneeled, and from the castle grounds, she heard the crowd do the same in honor of Ziki. Of his sacrifice and heroism they all paid respect to.

Even the Monster King and Monster Queen.

A flinch reverberated throughout the Royal Guard stood next to his king kneeling his large, ceremonial-armored frame down with his head bowed down and his long horns stood in salute. A startle gathered within the Royal Guard as he observed and failed to fathom what his king was doing. Eventually it became too much, and the movement the startle forced upon the Royal Guard in his inner turmoil of who it was that was serving who had him turning his white, canine head in towards the Monster Queen who too was kneeling deeply in respect of his brother. Same for the three Monster Mages that kneeled behind her, abreast from Sir Gerson and Priestess Frioke.

Lastly, the Royal Guard's head turned over the crowd which had gathered below, finally taking in the amount of people who had come to honor his brother.

All of the conflicting, mixed-together emotions colored his almost-touchable aura vividly. Enough that Cter could feel the exact moment when the Royal Guard's startle faded. Like the last rushing water out of a bucket with a hole in its bottom, when the exact moment occurred, it became so...still. So quiet and so calm. The Royal Guard, with eyes closed and shoulders tensing, thrust up the weapons in the air, crossed.

A last flash of orange and blue surged through them as he grind the blades out to the side, slashing the air with an emotion-filled roar. Slashed stripes of blue and orange hung in the air until the Royal Guard turned to walk back into the castle, followed behind by King Asgore with a respectful distance between the two.

Cter was curious to where King Asgore then led the Royal Guard with an outstretched arm and a gentle "Please." Not enough that she humored the thought of following, but still curious about it. The curiosity stopped when Queen Toriel rose from her kneel and stepped out into the sunlight bouncing off the white marble onto her even whiter fur. Her hands were clasped against her dress, but there was naught a single wrinkle on it.

"It is with a heavy soul and heart that I step in where King Asgore could not. It is with the same heavy soul and heart that I bring to you the news of another soul that has left us. Another one who, throughout his services to the monsters, met a fate more terrible than any could imagine."

The queen's pause for breath had her arms tightening, causing a single wrinkle on her dress. The change in her aura had Cter standing up, followed by her colleagues. She blinked at the aura the queen let settle like dense mist around her, just as gray in its color. There was...blame...in it. Blame that she had failed one of her most loyal subject.

"Sund, the third of our Monster Mages, was..." Her head hung at the past tense as Cter's had done. As Kurant's had. Kry's. Sir Gerson's. Priestess Frioke's. It hung just the same, but with a tiara that weighed heavier. "He was a human that became monster without any second thoughts. His soul he dedicated to the monsters as if it was destined to. As if the day he was born his soul knew that he would become a Monster Mage. That it knew that through what it meant to be a Monster Mage he would change the world."

"Which he did," said Kry quietly under his stifled breath which he held back with his hand over his mouth so that it wouldn't be sucked out of him. "Changed it so for the better..."

"Sund, the third of our Monster Mages, through his endless dedication to the monsters, made this castle shine from within even on the most grimmest of days." Queen Toriel lifted her chin towards the bright sun surrounded by nothing but blue. She let the warm rays lay their warm grace upon her glistening-white fur, but still her aura was just as densely fogged. "And even on such a beautiful and clear day, my soul feels dim without his warm shine."

Kurant's sleeved hand moved to her chest, clutching it. She was the one out of the three Monster Mages who felt the Monster Queen's sorrow the most. The dense fog from the queen's aura blended together with Kurant's, almost as if she was strengthening her Cooperative Connection with the Monster Queen. It was morbidly reluctant for Cter to think about, but in a way it was a good thing that Kurant did.

Her soul only allowed magic connected to Queen Toriel, and with such a strong, joint emotion they had in mourning the death of Sund, perhaps it would allow Kurant to cast more magic? Perhaps it would expand what her soul deemed acceptable as related to Queen Toriel?

Cter had to grit her teeth against the thought lest it festered too much within her.

Ever since she managed to understand how she could summon Sund's barricade magic she had experienced...thoughts. Other angles to the Cooperative Connection that she felt were a bit too extreme, even to her who had been twisting and turning its concept almost on the first day she arrived at Jarasevo.

For if it was possible for her to learn Sund's barricade magic, then it meant that a human's magic which they had discovered on their own was able to be taught to others. The first case with Cter was an extreme case, that she did not deny. Relying on an unholy, horrific being that was the fusion of a monster with a human's soul to then carve its fused soul onto another human was not something that could be used for any form of teaching whatsoever.

Still though, it was a concept that had been proven to work.

Through all the horror that Cter still felt about the fusion there was no denying that she was able to use Sund's barricade magic from within the carvings on her left arm. It worked, even if the prerequisites that were necessary for it to work were impossible to recreate. Same with how Cter managed to conjure her soul's image of Terri and Huvett and Huvtvao.

Cter did not yet know exactly what that comparison meant though.

"But while my soul feels dim in his absence, Sund's presence will still live on here in the castle. His brilliant magic that stemmed from his heart and soul even more brilliant will live on among the portraits and auras of those that have served more to the monsters than their lives were able to. Even if his ended before his time, so very, very early, he still gave more than was expected of even a Monster Mage. It took a Monster Queen to discover that humans were capable of magic, but it was Sund that discovered that humans were capable of their own magic. A magic I know will be used for more good than he could ever imagine."

Queen Toriel turned her head to look at Cter.

But she shook her head.

Which Queen Toriel nodded respectfully at.

"Please, join with me in another moment of silence, my people."

She shook her head because she still did not feel comfortable displaying that she was capable of using Sund's barricade magic. Throughout the day before the king and queen's speeches to commemorate the loss of Sund and Ziki, Cter had been asked if she would display his magic for the people at Queen Toriel's side. To remind them of his discovery and to show that his legacy would live on.

Only if she felt comfortable about it though.

Which she didn't.

Not to display it as she was asked to, she wasn't. It was very much still in the stage where she knew his magic, but did not feel with it. She could summon it, and very cleanly too. The method she had learned, but it was still Sund's magic. Like with all things magical, Cter needed to find a way to make it hers. Otherwise she felt that she copying his magic. Stealing it too, as he wasn't present to give his blessing. He would have blessed her if he could. There wouldn't have been the slightest hesitation in him being overjoyed that Cter had found a way to emulate his magic.

Imitation was the highest form of flattery, after all.

Sund wasn't around to be flattered though. He wasn't there to compare and to poke fun with how Cter's barricade magic looked better than his own. He wasn't there to ask how he would be able to learn Cter's crystal magic. He wasn't there to help teach Kry and Kurant to use his barricade magic too.

He wasn't...there…

He wasn't there to…

To give Cter a push out to Queen Toriel and shrug dismissively at her concerns about stealing away from his legacy! To push her out on the balcony and seal the opening with his barricade magic so that she had no choice but to demonstrate the barricade magic for his sake!

To make it her own…

…

Cter knew.

She knew that she was making worse of his legacy by thinking about it like she was. She knew that what Sund would have wanted. She knew it with all of her soul and heart!

But she couldn't.

She couldn't blink away his face among the flesh-dusted pustules that grew and convulsed into a tortured, perverse smile as it leaned its immense weight, both physical and magical, upon her and began to carve at her arm and soul.

When she faced it again at the training grounds she felt his presence. She used it to defeat the fusion. Both times it had not been Cter who had defeated the fusion. Both times it had been her that needed help in defeating it. Both times it had been her that had fed it the power it wanted!

Both times it was her fault…

Cter lifted up her left arm with her fingers hanging in defeat. Without knowing, there was no way to tell that below the inert sleeve her arm was freshly bandaged above magical carvings that she kept in a constant state of healing magic. It took conscious effort first, but it had luckily reduced to at most an ever-present itch that bothered her, but not much more.

It didn't hurt, nor did it strain. If she had been sick without knowing with the fusion still attached to her, then she was sick while knowing with her own healing magic keeping the magical carvings from bleeding.

There too Sund's barricade magic would help. She did not have to keep healing if it wasn't possible for the carvings to bleed to begin with. Magical gauze instead of physical should she lose focus. Sarbor had removed a few blood-splotched bandages already. Each one he did had Cter feeling ashamed like she had wet her bed.

The defeated fingers clenched at the thought, forming a hard fist that had the itch on Cter's left arm pulsating with her increasing heartbeat.

Because she hated that feeling!

She hated that she had needed Sarbor and Sund's help in defeating the fusion! She hated that she wasn't able to protect them! One had died, and the other had his soul scarred by the fusion! If she hadn't used Sund to defeat the fusion in the training grounds then perhaps she would have been able to–

Deep-purple fabric swayed into Cter's view, covering her entire vision with flowing fabric that first flowed over her, but then ebbed back. Cter looked up, and came to face with a warm, motherly smile that slowly kneeled down to her level. Cter followed the soft eyes of her queen as Toriel lowered herself without any motion to her dress at all.

"I respect your decision to not want to stain his legacy, Cter," trickled like morning dew off of the most tender flower in the Royal Garden from Queen Toriel's mouth. "However though, I will not tolerate that my Royal Guard lose themselves in what-ifs." Her eyes were still soft even though she was stern. "I will not accept that they refuse to live." She wasn't reprimanding though. "And more importantly, I will not abide the thought that Sund would in any way be against you using his barricade magic."

Cter's eyes broke off from her queen towards her colleagues, who nodded in unison. It was more than obvious what Cter had been tearing herself up about. Her eyes then moved to the gray fog that still was present even if the queen's mood had changed.

It was hers, and not the Monster Queen's no more.

"I..." Cter tried, but couldn't. "It wouldn't be..." she still said even though she couldn't. "If I hadn't needed his presence then he'd–"

"Why aren't you displaying his barricade magic, Cter?"

Because she hadn't accepted that he had died the first time.

Why wasn't that obvious too!

"Why are you letting him die again?"

Becau–

Cter blinked her eyes into her queen's.

"Mourn however much you need about his first death, Cter," Queen Toriel said with weight so heavy it pushed away the gray fog with only the emotion of her voice. She stood up, her dress not moving once more, with one hand outstretched, "but do not allow him to die again."

Cter looked to her queen, at the white-furred hand that she was offering.

And took it.

"Now, show our people that he is still alive, Cter."