I can't say things instantly improved after that. The bad days were still there, those days when I woke up and wondered why I even bothered to. But there were some better ones. Days when the smile I pulled on felt almost real. Wingdings helped with that, he was spending more time with my family, often sleeping over at our place.

To be honest it made everything feel a bit surreal, as if a fog had arisen, bending my perception of reality.


*(There is a book next to the photo album.)

*(A note falls out when you pick it up.)

*(It looks slightly singed.)

*(Written on it…)

*"For Sans and Papyrus since D̴̼̺̣̜̪͉̠̒̾̀̽ḯ̵̟̖͉̱̩̑ņ̸̡̛͇̼̤̪̘́ͅg̷̦̦̗̭͙̲͓͐͌̀͛̈̽̒'̶̧̛̮̟̘̺̮̌s̵̢̟͍̣̤̪̰̼͇̦̫̬͂͐̀́̓̂́̎̈̋̕̚͝͝͝ handwriting was never legible. Being a doctor was his destiny."

Observations of W̵̧͙͉̞̻͈̥̲̱͑̽͋̅̀̏͂͆͗̽̚͝.̸̱̙̣̲͍̹̄̎̃̇̕͜͝͝ͅĎ̸͕̜̭͈̳̾̿̓́̎͑͊́͘͝ͅ.̷̡̡̛̠̱͚̭͓̩̻̺̻̎̋͛̎̒̌͑̂̈́͐̏̚͝ ̴̡̲͉͓͍̣̙̭͉̲̬̍̔̊̃̒͌͊̓̉̑̾͘͜͜͝͝G̵̨̡͙̦̼͙͈̪̺̙̦͍͙̹̅̈̇̽͗̅̃̍͋͋ȁ̵̡̢̢͚̖͈̖̗̜̘̺̯͉͒̽̎̓̋̏͋͑̈͜͝͝s̵̘̗̻̥͕̫̻͖̅͑̆̇̀̍̊͒̇̌̈́̕͘ṭ̴͈̦͙͕̬͔̘̮̳̗̀͋̆̐͗̎̃͒́̀̄̀̕̚̕ę̷̨̣̰̪̺̺͎̟̣̂̾̊̑̆̒̊̈́͆̅͋̌͊͑ř̴̮̺̳͍̇̚͜ translated by Grillby Fornjotr

To preserve medical confidentiality within these records I will not use the patient's name.

The purpose of this set of observations is to document the impact of magical power on a subject's emotional projection. I will record my observations of the patient's emotional state before and after using large amounts of magic as well as my own experiences of it.

Entry 1

I have explained the details of my study to the patient as well as the basics of medical confidentiality. They have given consent for me to record my observations and appear amused with flickers of lighter yellows and whites in his head and hand flames. Based on my prior observations I suspect fire elementals emotional and physical state seem to influence the colours and volatility of their flames. I will search for secondary sources from patient's parents after finishing my research objectives for today. Patient describes their current emotional state as "5% amused, 7% sad and 100% tired", I believe this is a joke because they wish for me to worry less for them, if it is not their emotional state has had a severe impact on their ability to do simple mathematics. I have asked patient's father to supervise magical training. I would have asked their mother as she is better suited for the task but her hours of employment have been increasing ever since the royal decree. After magical training patient appears more tired but the feeling of oppression around them has decreased. Based on the frequency and quality of the fire attacks produced I have a strong suspicion that the patient has a magical capacity similar to a boss monster of the same age. I really do need to do more research on fire elemental physiology. I will ask the patient's guardians before going home.

Entry 2

The response to yesterday's request was confusing and I have yet to gain these resources as the patient's available guardian asked for some time to collate the information for me. I will be staying at their place tonight so I will possibly be able to ask the same questions of the patient's other parent so as to have a larger data base to draw from in my observations. I answer Gril my patient's enquiry over my extended stay with the news of my mother's pregnancy. They brighten a little at the news and it feels warm like a hearth fire. The sensations are minimal in comparison to when they first introduced themselves to me, but it is a clear improvement. Results from magical training were very similar to yesterday, but despite similar levels of magical depletion the patient appears a lot more talkative and less tired. I am hopeful that the continuation of this study will maintain and improve their emotional wellbeing. Since I am staying over I hope to gain more information from the patient's mother when she arrives home.

Entry 3

I have learnt something interesting about my patient. They sleep talk. Based on the gist of the nonsense they appear very worried about the war and princess? It was hard to tell with the unfamiliar terms they used and rambling about brothers. Do they even have brothers? I appear to have more questions after my sleepover than before. I did not manage to meet the patient's other parent, but I have received a hefty load of stone tablets inscribed with runes. I will endeavour to read them after I have finished my parenting book. I aim to be the best older brother possible and thus I must study to reach this goal. The patient still appears to be excited by the news of my unborn sibling, thus results were identical to that of the last entry. My secondary goal appears to be more achievable than I have hoped.

Entry 4

I have finished the parenting book and have started on the stone tablets. I… I do not know if I can continue with the secondary objective alone… based on the minimal information that I have transcribed onto the back of this observation journal the patient's state is a lot more dire than I thought. The patient's initial analysis of their emotions today was tired. I worry that the smile they wear is fake. The oppressive air density is back and the I cannot perceive the usual light diffraction from their heat. I can barely feel the heat radiating off them…

Entry 5

I talked to their parents about my concerns. They thanked me for telling them. The subject and I had agreed that we would breach confidentiality if there was a danger to them or others. I still feel guilty though, I haven't helped them at all. I wish I could have.

Entry 6

I have not updated this in a while. My new sister is not conducive to quiet observational recordings. My parents say it is an indication of strong magic. I believe their overexposure to high volume environments has negatively impacted their intelligence, expected given my own headache and sleep deprivation.

Entry 7

The subject and his family came over for my sister's naming ceremony today. Her first channelling of magic into the family book of names. Her name is Onyx. It is a rather stylistic font for someone so small. The subject looks a lot better than they did before, watching them burn so brightly in excitement at the ceremony was comforting. We should invest in non-wooden furniture.

Entry 10

We will be having a combined class trip tomorrow, I believe this will be an optimal time to observe their interactions with other people. It will be our first time out of the monster capital. Some of us have been tasked to wear human glamours on this excursion, the subject and I among them. The subject's mother has been busy with making the runestone charms for the glamours (glamour runes align better with fire than other natures she told me). I believe that this is to aid in soothing the relations between humans and monsters via seeing peaceful interactions between the children of both races. I hope it works.


I had a bad feeling about today.

Mum had left a note and one of her everything-packs by my bedside and Dad had given me a lecture about laying low and hug before letting me walk out the door. The human glamour was strange, but pretty, with sun-browned skin and brown hair. Easy to forget.

I didn't need the rune charms she had tasked me to hand to Dame Meloe. Glamour was my birthright, although holding myself stable within the chosen form was a chore. Shadows were fiddly too, but Mum and Dad said that it would click eventually.

I waved an arm at Dings, which caused my cloak to snap loudly in the wind. I winced at the sound, too loud for the sensitive hearing of many in my class. I'd rather not have them all ignore me for being a headache again.

Welp, at least it caught Ding's attention along with that of the others.

I grinned sheepishly at him. And wasn't it cool I had teeth again! Although some were missing and a bit snaggly. Imperfections to sell my act.

He tilted his head to the side before holding his hands slightly tilted together, fingers wiggling as he raised his hands upwards. Fire?

I nodded. It was a selfish comfort to have him along on this trip when the dark kisses of night under his eyes told me how much he needed to rest. Carefully smiling I grabbed his hand and tugged him to where Dame Meloe was handing out the runic charms already in her own glamoured state.

Hers was stronger than most of the others, Mum and Dad had to work in tandem to work the centaur knight into the glamour of a human female. The others were easier, children's magic was malleable like clay, even if there was less to work with to sustain the glamour. Adults were harder, as if the clay had been left out in the sun. You needed to gradually work in the water kneading it evenly throughout. Adult boss monsters were impossible to place a glamour on. It was something mother ached over. The firing of adulthood rendering the clay impermeable to anything the loyal guard could do with glamour.

Dings looked pretty in his glamour. Long hair, the same colour as all the others, draping to his mid-back and pale cheeks, devoid of the freckles that decorated mine.

"Can I tie up your hair?"

He brushed the tresses from his eyes, "Please do. I have no intention of fighting the wind to keep this mess out of my face for the entire trip."

I chuckle and sit down, before gesturing for him to sit in front of me. As he does so I draw a strip of leather from my bag. The glamoured hair is silky as I gather it in my hand.

"Sorry, this is the best I can do."

Dings reaches back to touch the simple bun I've made. It's a messy thing. But he doesn't seem to mind based on the low pitched hum he gave.

"Thank you. How do you feel about the trip?"

Should I tell him the truth? I didn't want to worry him…

"I would like your input, you do not need to feel obliged to answer, but I would like to know."

"I… I feel… oh I don't know how to describe it. It's like how the air feels like a storm before the storm comes kinda feeling. It's like I know something bad's going to happen. And I don't like it."

Dings frowns, "That is odd. I feel exactly the same way."

Shivering, I pull my cloak closer around me, the wind seems harsher now as it carries Dame Meloe's shouts to start walking.