"So how long until the day comes which we are all waiting for, Cter?"

The storage shed was sturdy. Donial had done good work on it. It had been fully stocked as well.

"I can't say."

Inside were supplies enough to provide for an entire army.

"As in you don't know or you are not allowed to say?"

And outside were enough tents to give the same army places to sleep on the journey.

"Even if I knew I wouldn't be allowed to."

Royal Guards were busily walking through between the tents, disassembling the biggest ones.

"So both then. I see."

The Fourth Monster Mage stood outside her carriage, one out many that stood almost end to end.

"Yes."

The sun warmed her tilted-up chin the same as it had back then when she last spoke to Donial.

"Then whenever that day comes you'll make sure the humans will pay for what they have done. For what they have forced us to do."

And when she last spoke to Idyll.

"Yes."

An approaching Royal Guard brought her out of her memory. He wielded two axes with hollowed-out shapes on their tips. At first he stopped too far away from the Fourth Monster Mage to be able to talk to her, but after a strengthening inhale which had his black-spotted white fur popping out of his collar like a bouquet of sorts, he managed the last few steps. "Greetings, Monster Mage."

Behind him a pair of Royal Guards were carrying rolled-up tents from the camp and loading them onto a storage wagon, finishing up a layer of them. A sheet of dark-blue magic was laid on top, holding the many rolls of patchworked fabric down. "You may not remember me as it was years before that we met, but..."

She recognized the two large axes he was carrying with him. Their distinct shape and the hollowed shapes at the edges of their black blades were unmistakable. "You are Ziki's elder brother," greeted the Monster Mage back with a bow of her head. "And yes, it has been quite some years." It was the day after her faithful night with Idyll that she ran into him.

Of course she had seen him in the castle afterwards, but never had she really met him again. It was Queen Toriel and King Asgore who returned his brother's weapon to him, and not her, even if it had been appropriate for her to have done so. "You are coming with to the battle, I see." There were only a few Royal Guards who weren't following along, yet still Cter felt weary as the Royal Guard nodded. His nods were strong though, resolute.

"The humans may not have been responsible for the First Fusion that killed my little brother, but they have done everything else to betray his legacy," said the elder brother after his ears settled after his hard nod. "He did all he could to provide for the humans at Clinic Village, both before and during the plague. He gave his life for the human children, and that is worth nothing to the humans."

The grip of the black gloves hardened on the handles of the tall axes, turning the blades into each other. "It is worth nothing to them, and especially not to the one which went on to become the Fifth Monster Mage only to toss away that title like trash." The hollowed-out shapes came together to form a monster soul in the negative space, shaking with anger as if it was about to break. "I will stand alone against the entirety of the human army to remind them who my little brother was. How he would not lift a finger against them."

The hollowed-out shapes forming a monster soul hooked into each other, forming magical sparks that formed stasis magic on one of the blades and gravity magic on the other. Cter could tell that the former was Ziki's from him throwing it at the First Fusion to save her. Feeling his magic again brought to her head the images of his body shattering into dust as he threw himself between her and the First Fusion to save her once more. His dust was warm in the cold night air. It was dry on her clothes soaked from the broken fountain she had been thrown into.

"I will though," the elder brother growled with his fangs baring underneath his dragged-back lips. "I will raise both my hands against the humans so that they may remember what they have done. When they do not weep over the monsters that helped them then I shall make them weep as I make them remember!" His shoulder rocked asymmetrically with his heavy breathing. "They will beg me to act like I say that my brother would have. They will beg for me to give them mercy."

The elder brother's aura was thick with anger and rage that poured from him like a boiling, frothing pot. It had an effect on the other nearby Royal Guards, who all seemed to revel in the elder brother's anger. They shared in it. They agreed with it. He spoke their words for them, and didn't hesitate any of them.

They would all have raised their weapons and magic with him had they not been busy with the preparations for what would be the last journey for many of them. Cter had expected the zeitgeist to be more worn down and melancholy among the literal army of Royal Guards assembled over the course of two months in Jarasevo.

"Have they showed any mercy at our villages that they have invaded? Have they showed any mercy towards the monsters they have forced to flee for their lives?" the elder brother continued with his fangs baring more and more. The stasis magic around the axe in his right hand had begun to destabilize, with long whips of lightning hopping from the top and bottom of the curved blades.

The axe in his left hand looked more stable despite his emotions growing stronger in his aura. That he was even able to use both types of magic at the same time was commendable enough, but Cter had her doubts as to that being the case. She had an idea as to what it really was, and with her hand held out she beckoned for the elder brother to hand over Ziki's axe.

"May I?" she asked gently. "I haven't seen it since he saved me from the First Fusion up on Clinic Hill." With less hesitation than she suspected, the elder brother handed over Ziki's weapon, and as soon as Cter touched it, she realized what the magic came from. Grabbing onto it felt the same as using magic with a Cooperative Connection. Holding it felt like she was holding a sleeve. It was Ziki's axe. "So that's why." In more ways than one. "His dust fell on it."

Onto his favorite object in the world.

Like a candle snuffed by a cold wind, the rage and anger in the elder brother's aura vanished with a lingering gasp. The axe in his left hand was buried deep in the hard-packed gravel road below him as his fingers lost their strength. His lips relaxed, and the furious fangs which he had bared disappeared. Even as his mouth opened and closed as it failed to form words they still wouldn't show. "I...I..."

His sharply angled eyes rounded in thought and confusion, with irregular blinks that hid a revealed a different pair with each one. "I've...I've thought, but never really...considered...that it would be..." With a tensed and anxious shiver he looked to his brother's axe which the Monster Mage held respectfully in both her hands with a soft grip on its long handle. "That it was him that..."

"You wouldn't have known," said Cter after summoning the same stasis magic just by shrouding the weapon with the pleasant memories she had of Ziki and encouraging it further by sampling some of his elder brother's magic from the axe half-buried in the road. Together she could imitate as if it was Ziki's elder brother that was holding the weapon and that it was his aura that called upon the magic, confirming Cter's suspicions.

There weren't any visible lines on the weapon, but it was the same principle as the Cooperative Connection. Ziki must have treasured the weapon dearly for his dust to have both lingered so long on it and for it to have reacted so vividly. In another way it was similar to how Idyll had gained Romrom's ice magic from Cter's sleeve too, albeit less drastically and confined to just the blade of his axe.

The last place he used his magic on.

Finding it out only made Cter more curious. "Did you and your brother cover the edges of your axe blades with your respective magic before you became Royal Guards?" She nodded down at the elder brother's axe. "Before he went to Clinic Village?" The weapons were heirlooms, Cter remembered. Perhaps that was a clue as well.

"No, we did not," answered the elder brother with a weak shake to his canine head. "We...we never managed to." He looked over the refugee camp in the process of being disassembled for the monster army to bring with it on the journey to where the final battle of the war would take place. "We talked about it. Laughed about it ever since we were but pups."

Between some of the conscripts from the camp carrying with them more tents was hauled a large, well-worn cauldron. It was the one that Idyll had used to help feed the refugees that had been later moved over to a nearby village to act as replacement for the many conscripts to the Monster Army. "We always pushed it up until the next time we'd meet. That way we always had a reason to meet up again no matter what happened. No matter what..."

The sinking dread in the elder brother's aura had the purple glow on his younger brother's axe glowing differently. It became more diffuse, as if was reaching away from the blade. It was a strange sight, but Cter understood what it meant. "Here." She handed back the younger brother's axe back to his elder brother who gripped it as close to a hug as he could. "He wants to be with you."

With a gentle touch, the elder brother placed his forehead on the flat of the black axe's blade, calming the stasis magic and focusing it back on the edge of the blade. He was quiet among the thuds and rattles of the surrounding commotion bringing with it supplies and weapons like ants to their hill.

One of the Griffon Commander's subordinates swooped overhead with large sacks in her talons and paws. By the wind that she swept past it was clear that the contents were heaving her down. Even though his ears were tugged with the sweeping wind, the elder brother did not flinch. He kept his silence.

Until his aura was filled with conviction and preparedness. "We have to stop the humans, Ziki." He spoke like an elder brother telling his younger sibling something very important. "They will reach mom and dad otherwise." A careful sigh had his aura shivering.

The purple glow on the blade had intensified. "This time I explain it to you, Ziki. I know what you spent your life for, but that has been taken away by the humans. They took it, and they want to take more. They want to take it all. I'm sorry I used you without asking. I'm your older brother." A sob broke through the blade. "I should have known that you were still there, but I did not want you to be...this. I should have trusted that you wouldn't leave me. Forgive me, Ziki, but also please help mom and dad. Let me help them for you."

The elder brother stood still for minutes on end, his aura shaping back and forth between shame and quiet listening. Cter did not feel anything past that though. She knew what the elder brother was going through. He was being the human in the Cooperative Connection, but with his soul not being a human's, the memories were much stronger and vivid for him.

It was a use of the Cooperative Connection that was not taught, but could be inferred to with some thought. The monsters that did try out a human mage's sleeve often would experience something similar to what Cter had on many occasions. If anything it was more proof to her theory that a soul could be overwhelmed with magic and cause its vessel to faint.

Same happened with the monsters who tried to wield magic as humans, but she hadn't thought of it in that context before. With it occupying her mind she stood waiting to see if the elder brother would undergo something similar.

While she did, the quiet diligence of the assembling Monster Army continued around her. The storage barn was emptied of supplies and filled with more and more echoes. The many wagons and carriages had their wheels sinking deeper into the road. For being the first time the Monster Army had ever acted like a human army it went quite smoothly, all things considered.

The majority of the Royal Guards were still out around in Monster Country surveying and acting out the hit-and-run tactics. The last orders that Sir Gerson had sent out half a month prior were to keep up the pressure on the human supplies until the Monster Army was close enough to link up safely. For there to be even the slightest of a chance of a monster victory the monsters would have to keep up whatever advantage they had up until the last moment before the final battle.

As the griffon subordinate's shadow passed by the opposite way, the elder brother finally lifted his head from his younger brother's axe. He looked around, his eyes and nose darting side to side as if taking in the overwhelming sights for the first time. "I'm..." He blinked in thought, but found no answer. "Was it today that we would depart?"

His brow bent in a worried angle. "Ziki, do you..." When his darting head stopped at the axe in his grip there was a calm acceptance and realization that flourished in his aura. "Oh, right." The metal gloves wrung at the long handle. "God...it was so vivid. Like he was...like he was still there."

Even as Cter probed at the elder brother's aura she still felt that it was inconclusive whether or not his soul had been overwhelmed. He did act quite confused and disoriented like having just woken up from a vivid dream, and that was common with human mages after first using magic via the Cooperative Connection.

Maybe the closeness of the two canine brothers eased it for the elder one? With human mages the memories were more vivid the closer they were with the monster in their sleeve, but perhaps that was different if was between two close monsters?

With how monster burials usually took place it was good enough of a guess for Cter. "He is still there, remember?" She just needed to be doubly sure. "His dust on the axe?"

The elder brother's furrow deepened. "Yes," he nodded. "Yes, I understand that now." As he looked around again he seemed more comfortable with where he was. "And he will help me make sure that the humans do not reach mom and dad."

So it was not enough for his soul to become overwhelmed then. More was needed for that to happen, it seemed. More Cter had undergone, it seemed too.

Much, much more.

"Monster Mage?"

Cter shook away the growing cloudiness in her aura. It was more than she thought that it would be, enough to leak out. As she opened her eyes from having cleared her throat she thought herself seeing the purple glow on the elder brother's axe reach out for her, but it could just as well have been her imagination. "Nothing, Royal Guard," she dismissed with her authority. "Keep your mind on your brother instead." It sounded strange saying it to casually. "Make sure that you are fully ready when the time comes, yes?"

The elder brother caressed the flat of his younger brother's axe with his hand, stroking it carefully. There was lament and sorrow in his eyes, but behind it was hope. He did not fully understand it, for then he would not have the strength to still be standing up on his own legs. Cter had handed him his brother back, at least that was how she saw it. Perhaps she was wrong in it and what she had handed to the elder brother was something else. Perhaps it was she that didn't understand what it was?

She would have liked that to be the case. To not know and just accept it outright without much more thought to it than necessary. Cter enjoyed learning, but it had been a very long time since she had begun hating knowing. The elder brother seemed happy with not knowing why and what his brother was and just accepting that he was back, and that he had never truly left.

"Same with you, Sund?"

Cter's left arm did not answer though like how Ziki's dust had to his elder brother's aura. There were no memories in Cter's sleeve that she would want to lose herself in neither. If she even could, she did not know, and she sure did not want to know.

Maybe once there was peace and the fear of the Fusion was but a memory would be the right time for her to record down how it remembered itself, but until then she would only treat her White Flesh as something to use like a tool rather than ask to use like a monster's memories. She could not give it any time of her day or else its influence would grow within her. Like the sharp teeth of a saw it was a tool when used correctly, but playing with it would be all kinds of dangerous.

And again, there was no Sund to answer her and to comfort her for what was about to take place. That Cter did not lament. Instead she found it comforting that she could leave Sund at Time's Square with his small garden of flowers. She would not have to bring it with her to the war. He could stay in Jarasevo like Idyll would and be safe. Jarasevo would be something Cter could have as an escape from the war. Something to look forward to after the final battle with the humans. A home to return to.

As she let her gaze wander over the many different Royal Guards preparing the logistics of the largest Monster Army ever assembled she could see and feel that she was not the only one that felt that way. There was worry and anxiousness spread like thick fog among all the Royal Guards, snaking between and through them like a bad odor.

What kept them going was that they knew that everyone around them felt the same. That everyone else were just as afraid as them, but kept going regardless. It was something that the monsters had over the humans, and it might just be what was needed for the monsters to get ahead in the final battle.

Their auras coming together as one, with a will that was woven by many and resilient as such. They knew that they were to face enemies that were unfathomably stronger than them, yet they still continued. They knew that they would be flakes of snow thrown against a roaring fire, yet they still kept courage and diligence. Perhaps it was the first diligence the Royal Guards ever truly had?

Each and every single one had come to the refugee camp before. Each and every single one had seen the destruction of hope that the humans had wrought upon their fellow monsters. Their auras felt the terror and fear, but also the sliver of hope left behind. That sliver was for them. That sliver was that the Royal Guards would be victorious in the final battle and take revenge against the humans!

It was a feeling Cter was familiar with.

A feeling that she had made a point of taking in as many times as possible with as many Royal Guards as possible.

"Reach out your arm, Royal Guard."

And the one that stood in front of her would be the one she would teach what she had learned.

"I will give you something I want you to share not only with your brother, but will all those that will stand around you when the final battle commences."

That just as with the first Crystal Day, she could feel all the monsters hearts beating as one.

"Share with them your rage, and let them share with you theirs."

And so would he.

"Keze."

Like a fountain of hope!