"I appreciate you walking with me to the refugee camp, Cter. It'll do them good to have a Monster Mage visit them and remind them that thy are not forgotten."

The road down the hill Jarasevo Castle stood on was quite busy despite there being a war going on. Merchants and pedestrians peddling with each other. Children walking around alone towards the frozen treats stand. Royal Guards walking leisurely with goods headed up towards Jarasevo Castle.

Same as it had been the last time Cter had traveled down to and through Jarasevo in peace times. The same surprised waves towards her had the same friendly smiles accompanying them and the same well-wishes which Cter tried her best to return to their happy sender.

As she waved back though, she saw that it was only on the face of it though that everything was the same. Even if she made an effort not to notice things and instead enjoy the walk with her best friend in the autumn chill, it was still obvious that the goods that were being peddled weren't exotic ones from any of the human countries. The frozen treats were only sold in apple flavor as it was the only fruit readily available locally.

No humans were there either buying or selling anything from the shops that were opened, nor any humans were there in the crowd that Idyll lead her friend through. The goods that the Royal Guard carried up weren't that of peacetime deliveries either. Rations, metals for armors and weapons, and boxes of documents. The Royal Guards' pace might have been leisurely, but their goods sure weren't.

Besides one of them though.

The one escorting Idyll and Cter.

Wearing normal squire armor that was not meant for them.

Since why would a Monster Queen be seen wearing a set of run-of-the-steel-mill armor, let alone walk into Jarasevo on her own wearing it?

"It is a perfectly valid line of thought, my Queen," had Cter commented as she saw Queen Toriel step out of the small guard post after a few minutes of metal clanging like she was throwing a large assortment of metal skillet into an overstuffed sink. The guard post shook and tilted violently enough that Cter had to dampen its almost metronome-like oscillations with stasis magic.

"However..." With white fur sticking out the seams between the armor pieces it was easy to tell that whoever it was that was wearing the armor wasn't its intended wielder. "When it comes to keeping your identity secret..." And whoever it was was quite easy to see from the pair of Boss Monster horns sticking out the carved-through holes in the too-tight helmet. "I would have one or two hesitations to guarantee that you won't be recognized whilst in that attire, my Queen."

It was a lie.

Cter had more than just one or two hesitations that Queen Toriel wouldn't be immediately recognized by her people the moment someone laid their eyes on her spilling her fur out the Royal Guard armor like Barbeqa's fire out the holes in her chef's outfit. Despite Queen Toriel arguing that those hesitations the Monster Mage carried weren't any to worry about, Cter still had them with her. She might have realized that she had to trust the Monster Royals more, but not for this context.

The opposite, in fact.

"It was only when I asked Idyll if she recognized who it was in the armor that she recognized that it was in fact me," was the core of the Monster Queen argument, ringing hollow like her armor wasn't. "I will not be stopping and conversing with my people, naturally." She raised a finger as she heard her own words and how wrong they sounded. "In any case, the people will be busy enough seeing and greeting you to notice a mere Royal Guard escorting you and the chef who feeds those displaced by the war."

Cter saw clearly the wrinkled confusion on Idyll's forehead as she had neared the guard post where Queen Toriel had asked Cter to ask Idyll to meet. She had her doubts that it was only when Queen Toriel's voice shone up with childish excitement that Idyll recognized that it was her queen that was the Royal Guard wearing strangely fitting armor.

Doubts on top of her hesitations.

"Still sour about your Dreemurr demurring, hm?"

Cter retreated her glance over her shoulder at not-at-all Queen Toriel gathering not-at-all curious and head-scratching looks at her from her not-at-all subjects. "I refuse to believe that you came up with that on the spot, Idyll."

The blue monster scoffed an amused huff out her nose. "Don't let my looks fool you, Monster Mage," said Idyll while combing her raven feathers straight with her claws. "I am keener than I loo– Ow!"

There wasn't any situation in the world that would have had Cter warn her smugly talking friend about the light post she walked into with a rumbling clonk. Not hard enough to be hurt by it, but hard enough to feel that it was retribution of sorts. Still though, the clonk was loud, and attracted a fair amount of eyes towards her, with the most focused eyes being that of the Monster Queen's through the visor of her full helm.

Cter's pleased snicker was cut short by Queen Toriel's aura expanding behind her. A soft, green glow grew in the metal glove, reaching out towards the Monster Chef inhaling sharply through her gaps in her uneven teeth. "A little clumsy never hurt anyone," distracted the Monster Mage by stepping in between Queen Toriel's outstretched hand and Idyll with the heel of her hand on her forehead.

"A bit of smug though, on the other hand." She put weight on the last word with an accompanying glance through the helm visor in an attempt to make the Monster Queen realize that she was making herself visible through her aura. Her body might be somewhat hidden, but if she were to heal Idyll then everyone would know that it was her.

And by golly did Cter not want to deal with whatever that might have entailed.

The people of Jarasevo wanted answer as to when the war would end. They wanted to know when the refugees would be able to return home. They wanted to know when there would be peace. All understandable wants, but should the Monster Queen appear visible among them, there would be no end to their questions and worries.

The worry of one was something that could be handled, but a whole crowd sharing their worries out loud would risk turning to riot. Same if Queen Toriel would just turn heel and run away from all of the questions rather than trying to answer them all. It would have the populous thinking that the Monster Royals were doing nothing.

That it was risky for Queen Toriel to be out walking about with her people everyone in the castle understood apart from her, it seemed. That Cter was the one chosen to escort her would have been just the luck of the draw had there been a draw to begin with. Kurant's knee brace, after years of not being serviced by Dr. Sallus, was finally beginning to show its age. It required more and more magic to keep together, and a Monster Mage walking around in Jarasevo with a knee brace glowing purple with stasis magic would not have been the most subtle choice.

And Kry was...Kry.

His imposing stature and presence made it impossible for him to be subtle in any shape or form, so he was out of the question as well.

Really, Cter was the only choice as she was a package deal, with a Monster Chef who worked and lived at the refugee camp at the outskirts of Jarasevo included when choosing her. A bargain not even a queen could turn down.

"Yes, I am fine, thank you so very much for your concern, Monster Mage," grumbled Idyll low and rumbling to exhale the last of the pained air inside her. She inhaled some fresh air with a sharp inhale. "Right." Then she exhaled slowly. "Don't think I'll warn you when you are about to hit your head on any hanging signs."

Cter gave her friend a reassuring pat on her back. "Oh I am way too thick-skulled for that to be a threat." The two friends shared a snorted chuckle, and then were on their way again.

After a few seconds the crowd returned to caring about their own which the Monster Queen saw as a chance for some small talk. "You two have come a long way since that night from years past," she said warmly just loud enough for the two friends to hear. "It brings comfort to my soul to see such a wonderful friendship."

The two friends turned their heads in unison, with Idyll's muzzle almost bumping the tip of Cter's nose. "Yes," Idyll said first while also looking ahead of her for any sudden light posts. "It's been...a while since that night, my–" As if shut by magic, Idyll's mouth closed shut before her tongue could slip. "My...uh..."

"My guard," said Cter with a valiant attempt to make it sound legit. It felt quite strange on her tongue to say it that way though, like milk that was about to go bad. "It has been many years under your generous wings, my...guard."

It just sounded so dang silly saying it.

Queen Toriel seemed amused by it though as far as her titter from behind her visor was concerned. With her glove touching her mouth as well she carried herself once more completely opposite as how a Royal Guard was to be. However though, since a vast majority of Royal Guards at Jarasevo Castle took the rules as how to present themselves as Royal Guards as mere vague suggestions rather than formal rules, her titter strangely enough lessened the general air of suspicion against her.

"If anything you two girls remind me of myself," said Queen Toriel after her titter had faded.

"You both began as commoners here in Jarasevo and through work and effort you two found your way into employment at the castle. That faithful night only really sped things up for you. I am sure that you would have been at Jarasevo Castle as a Monster Mage and Monster Chef respectively by the same year shouldn't that night have happened. Effort shines through no matter the veil around it. King Asgore would say that even seeds become flowers and trees, and it is the gardener's duty to cultivate properly."

Even though Queen Toriel did not change her voice to be closer to King Asgore's it still sounded exactly like something from his mouth.

"I wou...I mean, Queen Toriel would say that it is not where the monster came from, but it is the path that they walk that is important." The Monster Queen's heavy armor rattled as she stopped with a motion towards a snail trying its best to climb up the low wall.

"I was inspired by watching snails in the Royal Garden, going places far off to them with an ever-burning trust in that one day they will reach where they want to be. They are slow, but they know that it is still progress that they are making, even if it takes a long time. Where they come from does not matter to them, for it is just behind them all the time, and that is where they keep it."

Cter was not completely convinced by Queen Toriel's analogy, in particular with how the past still lingered with snails even after they had passed it by. A trail of slime followed it, clearly marking where it had gone for other to see. Cter could see the exact route the snail had taken, how it had to round the cobble sticking out the low wall, and that it had mounted up the wall from a climbing vine that was struggling to keep its green luster.

"And what about the trail behind the snail?" asked Idyll with a curious hint to her question. "Isn't it the snail's past that everyone else can see?" As she asked the Monster Queen, a small wind ruffled the raven feathers on her face.

"Then that is up to the beholder what to make of the past," came a quick answer with a neutral nod from the Monster Queen.

"It is not the snail's fault that said beholder focuses on its past rather than where it is going in its future. Someone else being bothered by it is a choice outside of the snail's powers to control. It can choose to stand still and have its trail and past be the same as its future and thus have it hidden from others. It does not choose that though, and instead moves forward towards a new leaf or a new tree, and leaving its past behind it. That is what is important, I feel. The will to let that which belongs in the past be left in the past."

There was wisdom in the queen's words.

"Also did you know that some snails have hairy shells?"

Wisdom that suddenly rang quite strange to Cter's ears. To boot she had begun feeling looks tickling on her back and neck what with a Monster Mage, her friend, and a Royal Guard in full armor were taking interest in a random piece of the low wall at the edge of the street. "Right," she said after some quick coughs to clear her throat secondly and rally the attention of her travel company firstly. "Should we continue? We still have a bit to go, and we wanted to be at the outskirts by lunch, didn't we?"

Her sentiment managed through with Idyll and Queen Toriel, but before they continued their walk, the Monster Chef placed both her hands around the queen's glove. "Thank you," she said with a grateful nod. "I will keep it in mind, I promise."

"I am glad to hear that, child," replied Queen Toriel while she placed her other glove over Idyll's hand in hers. A nostalgic sincerity filled in the Monster Queen's soul. "I have told you this before, when I sat next to you the day after that faithful night of yours. You might not be able to remember it, but I am sure that your soul hasn't." She gently stroked the feathers on Idyll's face. "You've lived with thoughts only for the future ever since, haven't you?"

Idyll nodded thankfully once more before turning to Cter to continue the walk. The Monster Mage's brow was furrowed though, and it took a few snaps from Idyll's hand for Cter to wake up from her thoughts. "Shall we?" Idyll wondered with her eyes nodding down the hill.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Cter agreed while not fully back in the real world. She waved her hand loosely. "Let's go." It was obvious that she did not want to fully return back into the real world though, but Idyll only rolled her eyes at it.

"Too many snail facts, Monster Mage?"

"Mhm." Idyll didn't remember. "Sure." But her soul did? "Plenty." She couldn't remember. "Many too." Yet her soul could? "I've seen a few in the Royal Garden." And if that was possible. "Some even without any shells to them."

Was the opposite true as well?

"Those are called slugs, those without a shell. Strangely though there are slugs that have shells, but you are able to tell the difference quite easily."

How would it be for a soul to forget but the mind remembering? Would it be a memory without any emotion to it? Something that is vivid yet devoid of any color? A memory like that of a drab document written purely factually without any life to it at all and where the eyes turn heavy and dry after only a single word read? Would it even be a memory then if there wasn't any emotion to it? Could it be a memory if all it did was to present a previous happening sans feeling nor impression? It sure wouldn't be any memory that Cter ever felt, be it a negative or positive one.

"Another fun snail fact is that snails eat together from the same leaf if they can like a family around a dinner table."

So did that mean that the soul was necessary for a memory to be formed? It would explain why the two Fusions acted in such a distraught and unresponsive manner since their souls would have been producing two sources of memories and emotions, same as its aura. Cter had first-hand experience with that, so she already knew it. Putting a basis for it though, a way for her to explain it in a more descriptive manner, could help her link it to the Soul Rainbow, she felt. An assumption she could test.

That memories could be locked away within the soul.

"Something about your arm?" came a hushed whisper into Cter's ear from Idyll. The Monster Mage blinked out of her thinking, finally managing so as she had to come to a satisfying end for it. She closed her fingers that had her looking into her hand with her deep contemplation. "Are you trying to form a magical snail for..."

Cter gave her friend a mystified furrow. "...No," she answered similarly hushed with a weak shake to her perplexed head. "Why...why would I do that?" As she glanced over her shoulder to Queen Toriel observing the low wall for more snails with a pleasant hum through her visor grate, she saw what Idyll meant.

Still no on the magical snail though.

"Was just thinking, is all," assured Cter as she put away her left arm into the confines of her robe. "Good thinking, before you ask." It wasn't a lie, technically. "Also, you walked up all of this with the tray of soup and only dropped it once you got inside the castle?" Cter swept across the busy street with her eyes. "Surely not. That does not make a lick of sense."

Then it was Idyll's turn to shake her head. "I used a carriage up to the castle. Hitched a ride with some of the Royal Guards bringing up some heavy goods." She pointed to a couple of them on the other side of the street cataloging some fresh produce from a merchant. "It wasn't them, but you get the idea."

That she did.

The latter half of the descent down Castle Hill which Jarasevo Castle stood proud at the top of was quiet between the three monsters. While the crowd thickened more the closer they came to the city, the less attention was paid to the three monsters from the castle up the hill.

Cter was familiar with the flow of the city and that each monster had their own destination and was complaining internally about having to share the street with so many others. She had been one of them before when she was a self employed mage working odd magic jobs in the city, complaining and muttering under her breath about the morning rush that she had to squeeze through quite literally at times.

That flow was different as Cter, Idyll, and Queen Toriel joined into it. It seemed more...unified? Not in the sense that they were all moving in the same direction, but that they were fine with everyone moving in their own way and direction. Almost as if the war had brought them all together to realize that the morning commute was something to feel blessed about? Something that they shouldn't have to be worried about in comparison to the war that raged far away, but still too close for comfort?

A morbid thought had a chill running through Cter's spine. She shook it away, but it still lingered with her. How close would the monsters be when the war came to Jarasevo? Would all monster fit within just the Monster Capital? Would they all be confined to the Monster Capital by the humans if possible?

Disgusting thought…

Enough so that Cter startled a flinch as she felt a large glove placed on her shoulder. "Oh, golly," Queen Toriel apologized. "I was just wanting to ask if you would not mind taking a slight detour?"

"N-Not a-at all." Cter swallowed away her startle. "Where and why, if I may?" She gestured for the Monster Queen to step aside since she had stopped in the middle of the road. It formed some cracks in her facade she used to tease the Monster King about the time when he did not know anything about how to act outside the castle walls, as apparently the Monster Queen had forgotten how to act outside the walls as well.

Did that mean that her soul had made her forg–

No, no, no.

Wrong place and time!

"I would like to pass by Time's Square if I could, please," asked Queen Toriel with a slight bow to her head.

"Time's Square?" quipped Idyll. "That's the other way from where we are going."

"I am aware of that, Monster Chef. However, I would still like to." The queen's eyes blinked more somber. "And in another life perhaps you would have liked to as well, Idyll."

What was she talking abou–

Oh, right!

...Oh...right.

Sund.

Sund and his little garden he tended to at Time's Square. It had been a while since Cter visited it as well. Perhaps it was a good time to do so while she had the chance.

"Yes," she said. "We can do so, if that is your wish."

"Thank you. Please, lead the way."

Cter could see and hear Idyll's whisper before her muzzle had closed in next to Cter's ear. "Why Time's Square?"

"Sund," Cter answered without anything else to it.

A few, long seconds passed for Idyll before her eyes widened and her lower jaw began to hang. "Oh..." dripped off her tongue. "He was..."

In love with her.

"He was," repeated Cter.

She only realized years later.

"Yeah, he was."