It is only the lack of aura that differentiates the human encampment from the monster one.

And, well, the humans too.

Everything else though is eerily the same to Cter as she walks through it following Sarbor's purposeful steps. The same fabric to the tents, the same subdued smell of distant cooking, it's all just alike. Figures since it is the humans that have provided the encampments, with what the monsters brought with them placed at the foot of Mt. Ebott for easy transportation once it's time. Some of the tents in the human encampment seem to have been raised for longer than the ones at the monster side though.

Humans that arrived earlier to hopefully have a spot in the Underground? The day has been set for well over two years, so that might be the case. If they are serious about joining monsterkind in the Underground then surely they would have no qualms to pack up and head for Mt. Ebott as fast as they heard the date of it. It's been about a month since the monsters arrived, and it's just a few days more until they will be locked away behind the Barrier.

And that can be felt in the human encampment as well.

"We've had humans joining us as late as yesterday," explains Sarbor to the turns of Cter's head. "We hope that they are the last, but that's an issue for us to handle rather than you though. There is no way for us to know how many humans would want to follow you into the Underground, after all."

For Cter there is though. An estimate, and a good one to that.

If they are close to Mt. Ebott, be it among the many, many tents, or on their way a day or a week's travel away from the mountain, then they are interested in living the rest of their lives with the monsters. It will help with her legacy that they have traveled so far to be with monsterkind. The ones that need her legacy the most are those that will be the closest to Mt. Ebott, and thus will be the ones that are the most affected by her legacy. Something that has spilled into Cter's favor.

For once.

"Do you have a headcount of those that will want to follow into the Underground?" asks the Monster Mage while passing her eyes over a family sitting together with attention at the mother's sleeved arm glowing quietly with a grass-green color. "How many will come with us?" The daughter of the family giggles excitingly as the green glow pours like smoke.

"Well," begins Sarbor with a small cough, "we can surmise that all of those that are here, apart from the military and those that oversee this whole...ordeal, are here because they want to join in with monsterkind. An exact headcount I can not give you, but I am not sure if that would do any good though if I could." He pauses for a second. "Wanting and doing are two different coins, and counting the one will only give us the maximum amount, but not the expected." His smile as he turns over his shoulder barely moves his mustache. "Like me." There is a tiredness to his shoulders as he returns to look where he is going.

He has a point, even if it is a moot one. Still though, Cter has no doubts that there is a headcount somewhere of how many humans are in the encampment. It is rather irresponsible if there is not one, especially if a sizable chunk are dedicated to their want to join in the Underground and won't back away out of fear of it. Whether or not Sarbor knows of it though is another question entirely.

"I see," Cter lets fall from her tongue. "So quite a lot then." Her comment is more just to keep conversation rather than make a point of any kind. She is in the middle of a sea of tents for humans, after all. "How are you planning to handle things after the Barrier up here?" She meets the half-confused turn of Sarbor's head with a serious furrow to her brow. "Humor me."

He might as well.

"There are possibilities of human families being separated, be it accidentally, or worse, maliciously, and while that might be just a few of the few that will actually go through with their want to live the rest of their lives in the Underground, it is still something to consider. They will be making that choice for the ones that come after them too, so it is a much bigger choice than just something anyone makes in the spur of the moment."
The humoring includes a wide sweep of his hand over the many tents of various size and make.

"The travel here have sifted already those that were not fully, or close-to fully, prepared to make the choice for themselves. After our briefing though where we reminded them that this choice of theirs that they are to make are not only for them, but also for the generations of humans that they will foster down there, we have seen doubt creep up here and there."

Cter spots another family sitting around a campfire sharing a quiet meal. There are no magical sleeves on any of them.

"Those that still have their souls and hearts set on joining with the monsters in the vesselization of Monster Country we will collect the belongings of that are left behind and distribute to those that regretted their choice and must then return to their homes which they left behind believing they would never come back. It is for the better that they are given help to be able to return to their old life. Their punishment of having to remember that they backed away at the last moment will haunt them for the rest of their lives, and that will be punishment enough."

Cter's legacy will be a rather thick branch in the spokes of that plan, but the foundation of which they should still be able to utilize to help the humans return to their former lives.

"We will not immediately allow those that want to join you in the Underground into it as you will most likely need some time to at least find a first place to settle. After talks with King Asgore and Queen Toriel we agreed on a two week buffer between monsterkind entering and the humans that want following in."

The Monster Mage dragged a neutral smile at that.

"Two weeks for you to find a place to found the first city, and two weeks for us to collect and mount supplies and logistics for the humans that will follow down. They will not be bringing essential supplies, but more relieving ones that will help should the founding of the first city be troublesome. See it as a small apology from us, if anything."

A very, very small.

"It is nice of you to allow us monsters two weeks of peace before we again have to share our existence with the ones that have doomed us to imprisonment," voices Cter enough for Sarbor to hear, but not for any other to react to. Not something she would have done had she given any thought to it, but…

No, she doesn't have any excuse for it.

The human doctor shrugs. "I have already decided not to, so you're preaching to the choir. Salting the wounds might be more apt though, if I'm going to be honest."

He shakes his head.

"I guess it is fair though for you to feel that way, but if there is anything you would trust me on it is that there are humans that would not hurt even a Whimsun even with their souls at their worst. Humanity have condemned the monsters to this, but there are humans that still would abandon that humanity to join with you." Sarbor's head does not turn fully, only angling enough for the edge of his mustache to be in view of the one behind him. "That, if anything, I know that you understand, Monster Mage."

"I would not compare the choice I made to the one the humans here have not yet made," she retorts with tense angle to her brow. "There is no guarantee that any of them will make that choice either. What if that happens? Is there a contingency for that?"

Her voice does not manage to deescalate enough for the human doctor to notice. "How do you mean?" he asks with slight suspicion. "You would not allow the humans that want to be with their monster loved ones? You would want them to be separated, bringing more anguish to this situation than the mountain of it that is already present?" His words are harshly chosen. "Throw away the one good thing we can get out of all of this? The last comfort we can give between the two races?"

Cter retracts herself now that Sarbor gives her a chance to. "Sorry," she says with a nod. "I'm just..." Not what Sarbor would hear from the pause in her voice, but close enough.

"I get it that your hesitations towards this choice to allow humans to join with monsterkind reaches above Mt. Ebott, but again, I have already made the choice not to, Cter. We are on the same side in this, however we have to look past that, you and I. It is not our choice to dictate the future, but we have to do our everything to make sure that it moves the way it should be. For there to be peace, finally."

Yeah, well…

"So did you humans argue for the Underground too, didn't you?" Between two closely pitched tents stands two groups talking. From what Cter can hear as Sarbor and she pass by they're discussing something about the monsters. It's not hectic, but there is some form of disagreement between the two groups. "For peace? Only way to achieve it being entirely removing the other side of the conflict from the equation?"

"Again you're preaching to the choir, Cter." Sarbor does his best to hide that he doesn't like repeating that to her, but still there's much to hear of that. "And that will be something us humans will have to realize once we have to begin the talks about what to do with Monster Country." He looks with a solemn tilt off into the distance opposite of Mt. Ebott to where the well-trodden path curves behind the horizon. "If it descends into the same solution of removing the other side of the conflict then..."

"Then you'll feel how it feels for us monsters?" Cter's scoff has the fabric over her shoulders bouncing. "Or since it will be humans arguing with humans it will be something you'll put effort into for to come up with an agreeable solution? Nothing brings two enemies closer than fighting side by side, right?" She folds her arms. "Although I guess with the turn of the heel that Hjearta did against us after the Second Fusion there aren't any guarantees of loyalty to be found among the humans."

"I wouldn't put it like that," says Sarbor before appending a loose shrug. "Although perhaps I'm the last person you should try and find common ground with on that. I was on the other side of that battlefield and was then pardoned for being on the previously wrong side since I could help the new right side. Even Rasliela got off without any real repercussions despite her having incited the rebellion."

He looks towards a more opulent section of the human encampment. No small hill for them to stand on, yet they still rise far above the other ones around it. "She doesn't blame herself for the appearance of the Second Fusion, if that tells you anything." In less than a blink he transfers his eyes over to Cter. "I know you have for the First Fusion more than often."

Cter meets the eyes underneath the bushy eyebrows with rigidity. "And you?" she sends back without a single movement to her eyes. "How many times have you blamed yourself about the appearance of the First Fusion?"

Sarbor's eyes turn distant for the briefest moment before he blinks it away. "Less than often," is his answer, but even he does not seem satisfied with it. "Because I have not been powerful enough, either before or afterwards, for me to feel that I have had a hand in the matter."

"Even though you decapitated it?"

With how bluntly she stated it even Cter was taken aback by her question.

"Well," tries Sarbor to answer only for it to drip confusingly out of his mouth. He looks to the palms of his hands, grabbing them shut as if holding a sturdy wooden handle. "It was more undoing than creating what I did, wasn't it?" Owing to the bluntness of Cter's question Sarbor's sounds less rhetorical and more genuine than it should be.

"The good doctor who's greatest achievement is killing. Not something that I have wanted to be how I am to be remembered, but fate does have the habit of dealing us strange things." The imaginary axe he was gripping falls out of his hands as he places one over his heart. "Like a soul carrying with it one band of the rainbow, apparently."

Yeah…

Apparently…

"And whether from birth, both one's own or that of either of the two fusions, or from discovery, this color that all of humans have been given I fear will only have us finding more differences between us. One color that we can find similarity with, but six others that we can find differences with. There have been whispers about Monster Country being split up according to the color of one's soul, but that has not been something that we have honestly considered. A rumor like that is going to be tough to quell though since an agreement between Hjearta and Xoff over the land of Monster Country will not be made quickly. Like you said, human heels can spin very quickly, even without stasis magic to help."

A faint rush of stasis magic travels through Cter's White Flesh, briefly bringing with it a sense of faintness from the already light White Flesh losing whatever slight weight it hangs from her collar in the stead of her left arm. "And what if they use stasis magic to help?" she asks without any expectation to what the answer might be.

How much are the humans relying on magic being with them after the Barrier is raised? How much will it be that she takes away from them, really? "We did not use magic during negotiations since we had to play things by your terms, but with it being humans against humans, magic will be a show of force rather than something to bargain with, won't it?"

The human doctor again looks to the opulent tents at the far end of the human encampment. His cheek tugs a bit on the side of his mouth, finally landing on a neutral expression which he holds for a few seconds while thinking. "Since I know that the last thing you would want to do is converse with Rasliela more than you have to give her share of the magic needed to raise the Barrier needed you will have to find it sufficient with an educated guess rather than actual insight into it."

"Insight into the magic, that is?" Cter guesses. "The politics I'm sure you're well acquainted with."

"Too much," he answers with a pop of his lips.

Same does Cter.

"From what I can gauge I would say that magic will have an important role after the Barrier." Sarbor raises two fingers for Cter to see behind him. He then folds down one. "If humans will still be capable of magic then it will be used as means to display force, and for that Xoff might be at the disadvantage in the now. Moving on though there should be more humans born in Xoff with...let's call it awakened potential, to differentiate those that have a natural affinity with magic as opposed to us others."

Us others…

"At the moment Hjearta has more magical capabilities than Xoff with their access to the knowledge at Soul's School and the records of the Soul Rainbow. While the prior was kept in acceptance with that Jarasevo Castle would be in charge of the institute the same as it was with Clinic Hill, without the monsters the knowledge there at Soul's School will be in Hjearta's favour."

Would have been in Hjearta's favour, that is.

But Cter is not going to correct him on that. Doing so would risk her library being looked for afterwards. It is true that there is a copy of the records at Jarasevo Castle though, but not in the library that he thinks they are in. Her wall will hold. Until the humans are ready, it will hold. It will wait patiently for the right one to find it and make sure that the mistakes her cycle did are not repeated in the future ones to come.

"So in the case that humans can still wield magic Hjearta will have the advantage in the now, but because of Mt. Ebott and Mt. Ymmet's presence more humans with awakened potentials to their souls will be born in Xoff. Clinic Village is proof enough of that fact. Hjearta will try for a swift conclusion to the Monster Country dividing while Xoff will try and stall. This will be a deep crevice between the two countries when it comes to the upcoming negotiations." Sarbor switches finger. "Secondly–"

"This is merely an educated guess?" It was quite detailed for being just a guess, even if an educated one.

"Oh," the human doctor perks, "I meant more that I'm not sure which of the two cases I believe will be the one that will be the...well...case." He glances over his shoulder to see if he can continue. Cter nods that he can, so he does. "The second case is then if we will not be capable of magic afterwards, which I'm sure you've guessed already."

"It won't be like a snap of the finger though." Well, it will be, but not how he's saying that it would. "If anything it would be more a gradual process, wouldn't it? The same how the human soul has gotten more and more used to magic the inverse should happen when there are no more monsters around." Again, hypothetically.

"I mean in the grand scheme of things, magic will be as gone," says Sarbor with other words. "No monsters around means no new Cooperative Connections, truthfully or lying. The mages that are left will be conscripted into the respective armies quite quickly, if only to make sure that the other country's supply of human mages is not bolstered."

The raised finger curls slightly from its informative stand.

"There are three of you Monster Mages. Manny might be one, but with him acting the jailer to the Second Fusion, I'm not sure if we can count him in for this. You three are uneven, so one country will have more than the other. Be it one or three more. You might be worth two, but that I'm only guessing because I know you more than I do the First and Second Monster Mage."

Cter would have been flattered had the context been different, and even then...maybe not.

"In the second case I believe that the two countries will try and strike before the iron cools down. They will not know if they can afford to wait, for we will not be in the know how quickly magic will fade from us. Might be over generations, might be just a month or so after the monsters disappear. Magic has done a lot outside of just show of force too, so that will also factor in. Logistics will crumble as well with the loss of magic, and how much either side will be capable of soldiering through that will be a deciding factor to boot."

A forest emerges for some trees behind the edge of the human encampment, smaller than that which makes up the beard of Mt. Ebott. Sarbor veers off the plank path between some of the tents, with Cter one length behind him with a bit more difficult of a time navigating through the seated poles and accompanying taut strings on the account of her robe. "There is a glade a bit further in," says Sarbor as Cter joins him at the end of the human encampment. "Frioke and Manny are there. It's close enough to be easy to meet up, but hidden enough to be able to meet in peace."

Cter looks to the forest, and then back to Sarbor. "And I am just going to have to trust you when you point into this forest with a promise that there will be a glade eventually?" She is not fully keen on that, but if Frioke and Manny are having a heartfelt conversation she should be able to find Frioke's aura through the trees and–

"Cter?" has her looking up from her thoughts to find Sarbor at the edge of the forest. "I'll lead the way if you want me to?"

Um…

"Yes. Yes, please."

It is not long until the aforementioned glade hones into view after a few minutes through the forest reminiscent of the one that Terri took Cter through to meet with King Asgore and the Xoff king. Not as much undergrowth as the one in Hjearta, but what is there seems to have more grip than the shrubbery in Hjearta. Maybe it's the dryness? In any case though the principle of her walking through this forest is the same as before.

She's there for monsterkind.

To finally place the third piece of her puzzle.

"Please help me get some time alone with him."

The human doctor nods, solemnly.

"Will do."