"Are you fit for travel?"

Cter hadn't even managed one foot through Sir Gerson's office door before the old monster piled on the weighty question. Between two of his fingers on his shell was a game piece which he held in a tight grasp while he stood facing the late-morning view of Jarasevo. The office was in a state of held breath as Kry, Kurant, Priestess Frioke, and Sir Gerson waited for Cter's answer.

With the rather-urgent way he asked it before even wishing Cter a good morning had her sensing that a cold shiver was in her immediate future. Her colleagues auras were held back and internalized as to not influence her answer.

"Travel where?" she asked back. It only took the corner of Sir Gerson's eye turning into view for her to realize where. "I see." The cold shiver she had predicted ran through her with speed, shaking her to her core. "For what reason?"

"I need to know if you're fit for travel before I can answer that."

"That bad?"

"Potentially."

Hence why he needed to know beforehand if Cter was fit for travel. If she was then she would be fit to hear the reason as well. She rubbed her left hand's fingertips together, reminding herself of the lack of touch she had. "I'm fit," she still answered. If she was able to answer while reminding herself of what the fusion had done to her then she would be fit to travel as well. "Not alone though."

"You won't be," said Sir Gerson as he turned away from the window and walked with relieved steps over to his desk where he put down the game piece onto the board next to a handful of its friends. On the opposite side stood another group in another color, with a similar group approaching from the side.

Equating the game board to a map, as was it primary function, Cter dragged an uncomfortable furrow at what it meant. Not only would the monsters travel to Xoff, but Hjearta would as well. A gathering, but for what reason?

"Xoff has managed to recuperate slightly from the plague that has ravaged it," Sir Gerson began as Cter sat down in her chair. He carefully moved a stack of parchment out of the way so that he could look her in the eyes. There was a neutral perturbation in his aura. "Enough to have established communication within and between its counties." There was a twang of happiness in his otherwise-emotionless voice. "Chain of command has been established where possible, with generals that are still alive able to come into contact with the Xoff Royal. Some of the generals will make moves to expand their influence in the name of relieving the ravaging the plague has done upon the lands." His fingers intersected flatly under his eyes. "Time will tell about that though, for now time has already told the Xoff Royal about the events that took place at Clinic Hill."

Cter's eyes widened, and her heart flung itself into her throat. Had it not been for her staggered gulp she would have coughed it out onto the Delta-Rune-shaped table stood next to the office's door.

"Or to be more exact, they have told the aftermath of the fusion at Clinic Hill," added Kry even though he did not want to. He hid his eyes by pushing up on his glasses with his sleeved hand. The Delta Rune on the back had a disturbed glow to it. "According to the human doctor's testimony he did not tell them exactly what the fusion was, for he did not know himself what it was. He did tell then what had happened though, and more over, accentuated the horror of the event."

Cter sent a squinted look over to Kry. "Sarbor," she let slip from her tongue viciously. It had Kry flinch. "His name is Sarbor, and you'd do well to trust that he has done nothing but good for us." She held her sharp stare. "Don't speak of him like he's on the cusp of turning traitor, however that would be seeing that he fled his own country when they most needed him with me."

"Cter..." Kurant pleaded softly with a softer motion to get the sharp eyes away from Kry. "He was stating facts, not taking an opposite side." In her aura was a seed of helplessness. "Do please understand that." A feeling of things slipping away from her grasp. "We will need to be on the same page for this, if not even on the same paragraph, sentence, or even word."

With a lowered head Cter inhaled through gritted teeth. "Forgive me," she said, tightening her jaw in anger at herself. Why did she jump at Kry so immediately? Had the implication from the ghost aide that Cter was doing wrong in being a Monster Mage by almost dying really bothered her that much?

Maybe she needed to eat her breakfast so that her mouth wouldn't be busy saying things out of emotion…

After scooping a spoon of porridge with an assortment of fruits and nuts in, Cter nodded for the room to continue.

Sir Gerson took lead again. "We're presuming that it was the officer that Sarbor spoke about that managed to restore the chain of command during these last two months. It seems to be the same officer that you and Kurant met during your first visit to Clinic Hill."

Cter thought as much during Sarbor's retelling, yes.

"If not a chain of command that he's managed to restore then a string of command, but even that has been enough for Xoff to begin to restore their country. They have experience of rebuilding after being wrought by plague, for better or worse."

"Worse in this case," commented Kry while releasing his gold-rimmed glasses. "Rumors and whispers has reached the head of state before we managed to put things in order to present an explanation of the event without things getting out of hand." He took a wide look over the room, stopping a bit longer at Cter. "This is not to say that any of us did a bad job, but that it will have more ramifications than we could have predicted."

"Or did not want to predict," said Priestess Frioke with her ears low against her sunken head. "Whatever joy there will be in the discovery of the human soul will be overshadowed completely by the means in which it was discovered. If there ever was a worst-case scenario I would have been jesting about before..."

She sighed with a colorless shake to her head. "This is the best we can do out of this worst-case scenario though." The silver lining wasn't enough to make her smile, but it was enough for her to stiffen her lips and ears with a determined huff. "We have been given an opportunity to explain what happened to the best of our abilities to the humans. This is something we should both consider as a gesture of goodwill and as a chance to explain that which took place was a tragedy of incredibly unlucky circumstances that will never repeat again."

"Agreed," said Sir Gerson with a strict nod. "We need to remind the humans in this dark hour how much magic and monsters have done for them. How the cooperation between our two species have brought forth comradery and stability that was only dreamt about before King Soulay's time." He stood up, as if ready to present his argument to an audience. Both his hands collected together behind his shell, and he inhaled with his entire upper body.

"It was a secret to everybody that sooner or later there would be a hurdle to overcome with our two species living closer together. At first it was the fear of monsters developing sicknesses similar to humans due to us being weaker than humans." His narrowed eyes wandered out the window. "The problem is not that there is a hurdle. We've had contingencies for a number of short sticks the monsters would be potentially given, including the one I just mentioned about monsters developing illnesses."

His eyes, as well as his aura, disappeared into a horizon of his own making. "It is not that a hurdle has developed, but that it is a hurdle for the humans." His jaw, which had been relaxed up until his disappearance into the far-off horizon, clenched. "And worse, it is a hurdle that has put monsters in a position of power above the humans." The audience for Sir Gerson was only himself by that point. "All of my years of work, gone due to the events of a single night in another country."

Cter's fingers hardened around her spoon which was touching at her lips.

"Does it mean that my contingencies weren't enough? That the Monster Mages weren't enough? That this hill will risk crumbling any day now? How quickly can goodwill and trust drain? How fast can a lake drawn from and replenished with hopes and dreams, turn completely barren, leaving nothing but the bitter taste of thirst that might be questioned if it was even worth quenching to begin with if it ended up becoming a necessity that was needed to rely upon?"

Sir Gerson blinked, returning back to his office.

"I feel fear."

His low, heavy exhale brought the heads down of all the others in his office as well, with contemplative sighs joining in the air of worried caution that filled the room. It had Cter lose her appetite, and she pushed away her half-eaten breakfast away from her with a similarly cautioned sigh.

"It's been a while," Sir Gerson continued while he let his fingers dance despite being interlocked behind his shell. "I've all but forgotten how this felt." The Leader of the Royal Guard returned to his desk as if there was nobody else in his office. Once he sat back down he was reminded that he had others with him, and shook clear his head. "So, let's do what we can so that won't happen." He looked around the room. "Agreed?"

There wasn't a lot of enthusiasm in his voice. It wasn't him sparring with the king, it was not. There was conviction in his voice though. There was dedication still present, which it would take much more than just the threat of the might of the combined human nations coming down upon the monsters for it to slip away from Sir Gerson. So long as he had a shell on his back he would still serve the monsters and protect them.

Even if it meant protecting them from the threat of the combined might of the human nations coming down upon the monsters. He would be the first wall they hit.

Didn't mean that he had to be happy about it though.

"We can safely assume that things will revolve around Cter," began Sir Gerson after not getting an answer to his question. He knew that they were all in the same boat, but it would have been nice had he gotten an answer. "She was there and she's the one that knows what happened fully." With a gentle nod he indicated towards the Monster Mage with the half-eaten plate in front of her on the half-moon-shaped table. "Your testimony will surely be what sets the tone for the rest of the trial."

She raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"You haven't told me anything," she felt that she needed to bring up. "We're traveling to Xoff for something important, but you haven't told me anything about it."

Sir Gerson looked around the room again to see if someone else wanted to talk. He could well explain himself, but he had correctly noticed that hearing that the great, immovable Sir Gerson was feeling fear only furthered the worry of the situation rather than helping it.

So Priestess Frioke took over instead.

"Yesterday night arrived a courier in the name of the Xoff Royal," she began as she used stasis magic to tug at the expensive parchment on Sir Gerson's desk. The ribbon it had been wrapped in hung and dangled as it floated magically over to Cter. "The courier explained that this was a letter from one royal to another, and insisted that King Asgore and Queen Toriel read it immediately."

She put the letter next to Cter's half-eaten bowl of porridge. "They didn't, obviously. It was in the deadest of night and the two were to set off towards the border village towards Hjearta with that one tavern for the yearly taste of the Golden Flowers that are grown there."

"The Hjearta king and queen will be there too?" Kurant interjected curiously. "I know they were last year on the behest of Queen Toriel. Did they make it a tradition?"

"That they did, correct."

The silver rings tapped coldly against Kurant's fair-skinned chin. "And was the Xoff courier headed that-a way after stopping here? That is the shortest road to take towards Fenkeep, isn't it? Via Main Road which connects to Pulsaoder just after The Flipping Heart?" She threw open her sleeved hand towards the office window. "For if he did, then the Hjearta royals and the Monster royals will be informed of the trial at the same time, won't they? Any news from Xoff is urgent enough to read on the spot, isn't it? Especially if it is delivered with such gravitas about its importance?"

Frioke took a few second to think about what Kurant said, embodied in how her ears flexed and relaxed with her slight tilts of her head. "The courier will have a head-start of half a day, but since he was traveling by horse he will have to stop and rest not just himself, but also the horse." She conjured a magical map showing Monster Country on top of the table where were sat the Monster Mages, as well as a horse and a carriage which she let move from Jarasevo towards The Flipping Heart at the edge of the magical map with a careful pat on its rear.

The carriage passed by the stopping-and-starting horse a handful of days before the carriage reached The Flipping Heart, indicated by a coin-like image of the sun turning to show the image of the moon hovering above the map. "So they would reach The Flipping Heart before the courier..." But that didn't satisfy as an answer to Frioke. "However," she muttered to herself while picking up the magical horse and carriage like they were game pieces and placing them back at Jarasevo. She let the pieces begin their journey again, albeit different, "should the courier switch horses along the road he would reach The Flipping Heart days before King Asgore and Queen Toriel."

Frioke could easily tell by the way the gap between the horse and the carriage didn't change at all during their second journey across the conjured map. "Perhaps with enough days to spare that the Hjearta Royals would decide to prioritize returning home and prepare for the trial."

"It also runs into the problem that Hjearta Royals will hear about the fusion from an invitation asking them to join the Xoffians in deciding what necessary repercussions needs to be taken against the monsters before any monster can talk to them beforehand about it," added Kry while he uncrossed his arms and leaned over the table towards the magical map. He placed a hard, rigid finger through the magic and down onto the weathered wood of the table where the image of The Flipping Heart was. "King Asgore and Queen Toriel need to reach The Flipping Heart before the courier does so that they can be the first that the Hjearta Royals hear from about the fusion and Clinic Hill."

A proud aura began to emanate slightly from Sir Gerson like a small cross breeze inside a sauna.

"We should be able to get a message to Queen Toriel and King Asgore fairly simple since we know the route they're taking," entered Kurant while tracing the path on the map with a sleeved finger. "If we send a little bird later today to bring a message to the village here then the Monster Royals should have enough time to devise up how they should approach with the subject to the Hjearta Royals. Unfortunately they will have to hurry past without a lot of stops to mingle with the farm-folk though which they always appreciate the chance to."

Before the silence that followed became awkward Cter busied herself by heating up her bowl of remaining porridge. She was gonna have to do a lot of talking later on, she reckoned, so just listening and observing was good enough for her at the time. "Did the invite specify that of any Royal Mages, perchance?" she just had to make clear while she let a gentle fire lick warm the underside of her bowl. "Since us Monster Mages are invited I'm assuming the Royal Mages in Xoff and Hjearta are invited too?"

She could just as easily have just read it from the expensive parchment with the ribbon next to her, but she would rather hear it.

"Since the invitation is about the future of humans and magic the Royal Mages are sure to attend, yes," said Sir Gerson while putting his thumb and pinky finger on a similar game piece in the human groups on his game board. "I am not of the belief that this invitation is a trap, to dispel any thoughts of it being the case." His fingers' focus moved over to pick up the tallest game piece in the group opposite of the monsters on the game board. "The Xoff Royal is not one for trickery. There's honor to his character, and to his people."

He put it back down with a shrug. "Besides, outside of this castle the Monster Mages are legends who's magical prowess reach heights that no one can even begin to imagine. Fleeing the castle with you three making loud and blinding magic won't be a problem. We have faster carriages as well." He saw that his reassuring didn't really have the effect he sought, which he pretended to not realize. "And for a good sleep during the nights we can just put magic on the doors and windows to alert should there be anyone approaching."

He gestured for Frioke to continue.

"...Right," her mouth dripped before her ears straightened up properly. She cleared her throat. "There will probably arise some slight suspicion from Xoff that Queen Toriel and King Asgore spoke to the Hjearta Royals about the situation, so it's good if we also address it ourselves before being asked it."

With a snap and a flat motion of Frioke's hand, the map shifted into a web of sorts, with magical strings between different points of topics. It looked similar to how the Spider Butcher down in Jarasevo had organized his deliveries when Cter helped him in years past. "It should be our main strategy to be the ones to explain first before we can be confronted. That way we can show the humans that it is as much a tragedy for us as it is for them. If we can convince them that it's a bigger tragedy for us monsters then we will be in good shape."

Cter was taken aback by how...coldly Frioke laid out the plan. She had never seen the Monster Priestess' ears so jutted forward before. Was it how Frioke had proposed and developed the white lie of the Cooperative Connection back in the day? Did she speak of it more as a way to manipulate rather than a way to make things right?

Because how in the world would it be possible to make the fusion right?

It wasn't that Cter thought worse of Frioke hearing her lay out plans how to deal with the humans. If anything Cter grew more respect towards the Monster Priestess. Sir Gerson might have had the more known image of being the highest defender of monsters, serving the Monster Royals and their people with more dedication and determination than even a human could muster, but Cter realized that his outward look that everyone saw was by design. For if all the humans saw was him then Frioke could work just as diligently and determined out of view. She could be Sir Gerson's shadow, yet just as important as he was.

She had experience in changing the world, after all.

Discovering human magic to then lead it into a path that benefited monsters arguably more than humans wasn't something just anybody could have managed. Few humans could have, and even fewer monsters.

"We also should remind and make sure throughout the hearing the trustworthiness of Cter's testimony, preferably by leaning into her travel through Hjearta where she stopped at damn near every single village on her way to Fenkeep Castle. Each and everything we say should be in the benefit of furthering the tragedy and that Cter isn't lying about what occurred at Clinic Hill. Sarbor Fech too outta speak at some point so that the reality of Dr. Sallus' passing sinks in as deeply as possible."

Cter turned to the empty chair next to her. As she did, the office did too, silently waiting for it to say something.

When it didn't, Cter comforted with a reassuring nod.

"We'll make sure yours sinks in too, Sund."

Then the meeting could continue.