The Field General held aloft his right arm, high above his head.
"The Monster Mage Cter speak about what the fusion did to her. How it carved itself upon her arm and soul, changing her. She spoke of it as if she was the only one tainted by the fusion's magic. As if she was the only one that the fusion marked, the only one touched by a cursed finger on her soul."
It took strength from Cter not to turn around to Sarbor sitting behind her. She could feel on her neck how he sighed and sank down his shoulders. If he was biting his tongue though she could not tell. If he was able to keep his aura in check too she couldn't tell either, for then she'd be breaking the promise she made to him. Rasliela at the other table hadn't made that promise though, and by the way her hat turned, she had no qualms about respecting Sarbor's wish not to acknowledge his forced-upon aura.
In contrast to the Field General who lowered his raised arm to his chest dynamically.
"But that is not the truth, dear court audience! That is something the Monster Mage has mistaken, as has the monster prosecution. Before you, speaking from his heart, stands the Hero of Xoff, tainted as well by the cursed fusion's soul."
Curious whispers emerged from the balcony, but none from the prosecution table nor the audience behind. They had already noticed, and that the Field General seemed to know. Due to Rasliela, Cter guessed. Those that had not realized quieted down after the Court Speaker motioned for them to. It seemed like he was gonna let fewer things slide in the wake of Sir Gerson's objection.
"My soul was given an aura by the fusion, and from what remained from it on Clinic Hill. Not just me, but those few handfuls of humans I picked to follow me up on the first expedition up on the burning hilltop all have auras to their soul while not wielding one earlier. The ones that I had gathered with me that stayed down in the valley below have not developed auras. Had I brought with me a monster up there who knows what would have happened to them. It was a monster sensing an unbearable desire to climb up on Clinic Hill that first notified me of the horrible event, but I could not take one up with me."
The Field General looked to Sarbor who flinched at the attention.
"Dr. Fech warned me not to bring any monsters up to Clinic Hill after my men found him carrying the Monster Mage Cter down the path used by the military. How he said it should not have convinced me, yet it did. There was something more he used to convince me, be it consciously or not. Something that spoke to me deeper than I ever had heard."
Sarbor's mustache curled painfully as his face contorted.
"You were given an aura to your soul by the fusion too, Dr. Fech. You are the only human left alive from Clinic Hill. You were there when the fusion was formed, and when it died. You were the one that severed its head, ending its cursed, miserable existence. If I was given magical potential just by exploring the aftermath of that horrid night then yours must be more than mine. It is, isn't it, Dr. Fech?"
He refused to answer verbally. How he sat squeezing his chest together by tensing his ashamedly folded arms though was plenty an answer though. It told all that needed to be told. It gave the Field General all he needed. "It's uncomfortable, I know," he said with genuine empathy as his hand squeezed over the Xoff insignia on his regal poncho.
"Magical potential is something one identifies oneself with. The lack and the existence of it does not make one more or less a human, just as how being a woman or man does not make one less a human. Being forced to habit something that you don't feel is you, and has never thought of as you, is not something to take lightly whatever the cause or effect."
The Field General paused to let the audience digest what he said for a few seconds before he continued.
"We have not become more or less human, those of us that have been given magical potential by the close proximity to the fusion, but we have become changed. We have been changed without our permission nor request. We feel that our soul and heart are not ours, yet we are forced to live with the change. At times I catch who I think is someone else in the mirror as I walk past it quickly, and as I snap my neck to meet who it is, I only recognize me in the mirror. The one who's eyes I look through is the one that I don't recognize. The...feeling within is what is different. The mirror has not changed, for it is I that have changed."
Sarbor's tightened shoulders loosened.
"It hurts," the Field General said without any shame or effort to downplay what he said. "It hurts sensing deep down, through a sense that you knew you did not have before, and which you're as unfamiliar with as a newborn is to walking. Sensing deep down that something is wrong, but the mere fact that it is wrong is in of itself wrong. How do you properly describe something suddenly´given late at life that has only been found to exist at birth? The only ones that can understand are those that have been given magical potential at birth, and those can only understand that it exist, but not what its existence means to you."
His arms unfolded from clutching tense.
"I ask mages and they try to help me understand it better like how they have. I ask monsters and they try and teach me how to use it. Neither one initially ask me if I want to keep it or not, and hesitate when I tell them I want it gone. My wish to restore faith in me being myself and myself alone the way I remember it being is something they are against until I pour over them overwhelmingly my woes and discomfort I feel in my own skin and soul."
Priestess Frioke did promise Sarbor that she would find a way to remove his magical potential though, didn't she? She would find a way with the aide of the Monster Mages. Sarbor had her word, and he had Cter's word too that it would work. Cter tamed the fusion that rested within her soul. She managed to dispose of it, so surely it would be possible to remove the fusion's influence from Sarbor's soul.
Hell, the Field General's soul too!
What the Field General was explaining, Cter could fix. She knew that! She understood what the Field General was going through, plus she was a mage and a monster! The solution to his curse was sitting in front of him! She was there, yet the Field General spoke as if she did not exist.
And worse, Sarbor listened as if Cter did not exist. The wooden creak from him leaning more forwards was unmistakable. The Field General spoke Sarbor's mind in words Sarbor could not have said himself given months or years, so of course he listened. Of course he gave the Field General all of his attention, with none spared to remember Cter.
She understood.
She knew why and understood perfectly why.
But it wasn't what she felt.
"I tell you all of this. I tell you all of this about the strange feeling within me that I've been cursed with by the fusion because I believe it to be important to all of you. You need to know the fear I fall asleep with every night to wake up to me not being the me that I was when my eyes closed, compared to when they opened. I can not gauge the strength of the magical potential that the fusion cursed me with. Whether it has gotten stronger, weaker, or stayed the same no one can tell me, neither mage, monster, doctor, or any combination of them."
Nigh a breath had been taken by anyone else but the Field General.
"It is something that have made me question if I really am the Hero of Xoff, or if it is something that I owe to the fusion. For what purpose then? For what purpose would the fusion want me to restore this country? That I do not know, but it is something that will always plague my thoughts on the matter. I present myself as the hero this country needs me to be to keep being strong in the aftermath of the most harrowing plague we have ever experienced, yet inside I struggle just as much as this country does."
The whispers from the audience up on the balconies began anew, too hurried and mixed for any one topic or emotion to be audible below. One whisper took prominence quickly among the mixed voices, becoming audible just as the Court Speaker called for order to be restored.
"A hero through and through."
Human as can be.
"You have all heard the woe I carry within me, touched by the fusion," began the Field General anew. He breathed in, steeling himself. With closed eyes he stretched his length higher than it had any right to be. His shoulders, still strong despite what he had told, settled gently underneath his regal garb. "This is to ease you into the truth that I will now reveal." He waited for his last sentence to properly sink in with all that heard it. He waited for a full minute. "What the fusion did to my, and so many others' souls, is the same to what the monsters have done with all humans."
Cter's eye twitched.
"The Cooperative Connection does not require a cooperative bond to be formed between the human and the monster!"
How…
"A human mage can wield any of a monster's memories! It is not a necessity for the memory to be that of cooperation!"
How dare he!
"And this the monsters have implanted into us humans the same as the fusion implanted the magical potential into my soul!"
How dare he compare the fusion to monsters! How dare he draw a parallel between Cter's soul being changed from within by the fusion and monsters making the one and only choice they could possibly make in the face of human magic being discovered!
"What has happened to an unlucky few has been going on throughout centuries! Throughout generations of humans this lie has grown stronger and stronger until it has taken over all that is the world! This lie we thought to be a blessing that bridged between the two races has in fact festered. It has festered and grown to become so potent as to create something as vile and horrifying as the fusion at Clinic Hill."
What was he saying?
"How can the monsters in good faith say that it will never happen again when each new generation of humans are born with stronger affinity to magic? What was impossible for human mages yesterday is possible today, and the fusion was possible yesterday! It is because of the lie of the Cooperative Connection that the fusion was possible. It is due to the monsters lying about human magic that they've perched themselves atop of humans."
Singe his soul.
"And why did they do it?"
Singe his soul!
"Because they fear us humans? Because they believe us to not be trustworthy?"
Singe the Field General's soul with the fire of the sun!
"Can they not see that this lie has put all of human magic in bad faith? That their own Monster Queen's doctrine and Royal Decree now rings hollow and controversial since it stems from a lie that was purposely made to fool humans? The story of Queen Toriel sewing a quilt with her memories of watching the stars with Prince Soulay has been tainted because of this lie."
How dare he!
"It is no longer a monster trusting a human with her memories so that he could see while he was blind. It is no longer a human being given the gift of magic from a monster. It is now a tale of an adult monster manipulating a human child. It is no longer Prince Soulay seeing through his soul rather than his eyes. It is now a tale hauntingly similar to mine and to Dr. Fech's. It is a tale about a human being forced upon a magical potential for the benefit of a monster."
How!
"It is the first chapter of what led to the fusion."
Dare!
"With pages upon pages of monster manipulation of humans and human society following along until today."
He!
"Where today we decide whether or not to let this manipulation continue, or end the book and shelf it, never to let it open again."
The Field General turned to the three Monster Mages glaring at him with eyes more vicious than the sharpest of swords.
"Is that why you are as powerful as you are, Monster Mages? Is it because you have been allowed to know the truth of the Cooperative Connection? Is it because you haven't been lied to that you're allowed to wield such power that you do? To be revered throughout the lands, both monster and human, as the most powerful of mages? To be the bulwark against humanity because you know that humanity has been lied to? Is that what is meant by you rejecting your humanity to become monsters in your heart and soul? You reject the betrayal to join with the ones betraying?"
It took the prepared, calm motion of Sir Gerson raising his green hand to not have the court room explode with the smoldering fury of the three Monster Mages' combined disdain towards the Field General and his despicable suggestions. He didn't know! He didn't know what they meant! What they–
"Ahem," coughed Sir Gerson ever so quietly. It had his Monster Mages breathing out as much anger as they could. It wasn't much they managed to exhale, so they still kept their eyes hard as stone towards the Field General. "If I may?"
"Please," answered the Field General with a dynamic sweep of his arm. "I only want to understand, Sir Monster."
…
Cter could feel her heart punching hard on the mixed magic she had covering her left arm's carvings. Each angry, furious beat was like a battering ram throwing all of its weight. Each hard thud had the barricade magic touching her exposed flesh, stinging throughout the length of her arm like stabs of hot needles.
"You have made an exorbitant amount of accusations yet with no stated evidence as to his implied lie, General Human." Seemed like things were starting to reach Sir Gerson too. Not to the extent that it had reached the Monster Mages, but him replying in such a pity way was definitely showing some cracks in his facade. Not cracks due to his excitement to figure out his opponent, but cracks due to how things were beginning to fall apart.
He was stalling with his question, desperate to find any and all straws to grab at. "Pray tell, how did you come to this conclusion? Why is it that you have resorted to calling the most prosperous time we have ever lived in the same as the fusion?" Still he was able to give his rebuttal a twang that emphasized the absurdity of the Field General's accusations.
With a calm and collected nod, the Field General turned to Raslelia under her hat. "The Royal Mage of Noitaidarr." Then towards the audience behind Cter. "And the Royal Mage of Ice from Fenkeep Castle." He touched his chest. "As well as what the fusion did to me." Finally he motioned towards Cter, who would have dismissed it had she been able to. "And to the Monster Mage Cter."
She had to consciously stop her head from turning around and look at Terri Fyed sitting somewhere behind her. When the Field General mentioned his name she felt the Royal Mage's aura tensing. Had he spoken to the human defendants? About what, exactly?
"In fact, too, the Royal Butler of Fenkeep Castle was the one that approached me at first after yesterday," continued the Field General with an innocent hand towards Huvett and Huvtvao. "He wanted to know the reason for my reaction after Cter fainted due to heatstroke."
That he eagerly whispered to Rasliela?
"Seeing as I should treat him as human the same as I treat the Monster Mages as monsters, I told him why. I told him that there was something about the Cooperative Connection that we have suspected proper after the fusion at Clinic Hill. There has always been unsubstantiated claims about the Cooperative Connection that I've dismissed for being conspiratorial, with many of them telling of something worse. Contrary to how things might be seen by you monsters I take no joy or pride in discovering that I've been lied to my entire life."
Even if he truly did it didn't change the fact that he was pursuing the lie like a man possessed.
"Huvett and Huvtvao became quiet, introspective. It looked as if he had been given a chance to say something he had long thought he couldn't say. Funnily enough, he credited Cter for making him comfortable with himself enough to trust himself and his gut feeling."
Not funny in the slightest, human.
"Something about the Royal Mage of Ice's Cooperative Connection, it was. Huvett and Hutvao is the monster who's memory Terri Fyed wears on his sleeve, but neither of the two have ever really been cooperative. When I spoke to the Royal Mage of Ice about it he said that it was due to the respect he had towards Huvett and Huvtvao, and from that they managed to form a Cooperative Connection. When I asked him if he was completely sure in that, he stood firm."
The Royal Mage of Ice?
"It was then when I told him about how I was given a magical potential that he began to think. I should say that he began to think more since I interrupted him thinking by approaching him. What Cter had shown, and what she had spoken with him about during her visit to Fenkeep Castle, it had the firm ground he perched himself upon feeling shaky."
Terri? He told them?
"I should inform for those who aren't aware of the Royal Mage role that it is Priestess Frioke, the Monster Priestess at Jarasevo Castle, that appoints the mages serving at the human courts. Her word carries weight from her being the one to confirm the existence of human magic within Prince Soulay. It was her that formulated the Cooperative Connection. Alas though, she is not here. She is not present here at the court where the lie she told the masses has been discovered. If I could answer a question with another question, pray? How come she is not here?"
"That question I have already answered, Field General," said Sir Gerson with slight irritation tugging wrinkles on his expression. Cter thought herself see a few on his shell too. "Priestess Frioke is not present since she carries the same Royal Councilor rank as me. To answer the inhabitable follow-up, again, the three Monster Mages are all present because they were integral to the topics presented in the court summon." That he had to repeat himself didn't smooth out his shell nor his expression.
He scratched deeply a finger on each of his folded arms to reminded himself to be calm. "That you have gone and changed the topic enough to feel that it warrants Priestess Frioke traveling here faster than is possible we can not accommodate, unfortunately." His cheek jutted to the side. "Besides, if you do not trust me telling the truth under the Court Oath then why are you bothering to ask the question again?"
Kry put his sleeved hand on Sir Gerson's shell, weighing it down.
"It was simply to refresh the court's memory," the Field General apologized with a small bow to his head. "Nothing more, Sir Gerson."
The turtle monsters found it difficult to believe that.
"Going back to where I was, since Priestess Frioke is the one that knows a Royal Mage's magic just as well, if not better, than the Royal Mage themselves, her not knowing that Terri Fyed's magic was through a Cooperative Connection made through negative emotions is not a possibility. She knew, and she did not raise any attention to it. How come?"
A second's pause passed by.
"Because she knew that it was possible already for a human to wield magic without forging a Cooperative Connection with a monster. She knew already that Terri Fyed's sleeve was different from others. That she was fully aware of. The discoverer of human magic is complacent with lying to the humans about their magic. Who's not to say that she wasn't the one that came up with the lie in the first place?"
A sleeved hand raised high in the air, letting go of the tensed shell.
"May I request to join the Field General on the floor, Court Speaker?" asked Kry with no twang in his voice. There was no room for any sarcasm amid the gruff sincerity he asked with. "To stand with him and share the floor so that he can have a proper dialogue?"
The Court Speaker blinked with stupor at the request. "I..." Not just him, but all in the audience did. "That would not work as you are not part of the defendants, Monster Mage Kry."
"So I would need to be a human then to join him on the floor?"
"Yes."
Kry nodded.
"I see."
But he did not sit back down again. In fact, he moved his chair further back carefully as to not have it creak against the floor. He took a small step away from the prosecutors' table with a deep inhale through his strong nose.
With a low rumble, the lines on his sleeve began to glow with a deep orange that shifted to red and yellow flickering out like small flames from the grooves on the lines. With his naked hand, Kry pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Then if you would allow me just a short moment, Court Speaker."
Cter's chair crashed loudly on the mosaic floor as she stood up, reaching for Kry's sleeved arm.
She was too late though. She did not reach it in time.
Before it erupted with magical flames.