Feldspar And Jade

Airi left the Sunroom, brimming with curiosity. Assuming that Esther spoke the truth, why were the mages keeping a monster in the Lower Palace?

She pushed open the lily-stained doors and remembered the vacant look in Esther’s eyes. If she really was a monster, she would’ve attacked, right? But instead, Esther hadn’t been aggressive at all.

Airi was so preoccupied, she walked into a cabinet and knocked a porcelain teapot to the ground with a crash.

She bent, scooping up the teapot shards into her right hand, and searched for a place to hide them. There was a desk, a bookshelf, a mage coming towards her. Her heart sank.

The mage looked too old to be a student. She had muted green hair and long bangs that covered one eye. She wore a white apron over her matcha-colored robes, and pinned to the apron was a bronze crest. She looked from Airi’s face to the teapot shards.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” the green-haired mage said. “Follow me.”

They passed by cabinets covered in sculptures and reached a door covered in eyelike patterns. The green-haired mage twisted the knob, and the pattern dissolved into blue moths, their orange eyespots winking as they fluttered into the dark.

The room was filled with porcelain statues in display cases. When Airi saw the mage behind the desk, she thought for a second that he was also made of porcelain. His hair was white stained blue at the ends, and his eyes were misty indigo pools. He wore glossy robes with porcelain patterns on them.

“Jade,” he nodded at the green-haired mage. “Thanks for guiding our guest. These halls are difficult to navigate.”

“I’m Airi."

“Feldspar,” he said, folding his hands. His orange irises seared the deep blue of his eyes. "Forgive me for skipping the pleasantries. I hear that you killed a monster in Harveston.”

“You heard?” Airi blinked.

“News travels quickly. Marianne informed me of your arrival yesterday.” He lowered his voice. “That monster was quite powerful. More importantly, we had no idea that it existed until you killed it. And in Harveston, of all places...”

“It would explain why vegetables became so expensive last month,” Jade said.

Feldspar nodded in agreement. “Airi, you said? I’ve never heard of you before, but if the rumors are true, I’d like to propose a collaboration.”

Airi’s heart leapt. “Yes! That would be—”

“Excellent. I study monsters.” Feldspar gestured at the display cases full of statues. His hands were covered in dark-blue tattoos in swirling patterns, like the surface of fine china. “These models are but a small subset of the monster population. That's why I’d like you to go out and discover more for me.”

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘discover?’” Airi said, smile slipping. "You're not coming? I was hoping..."

"I rarely leave my research," Feldspar said, looking at Jade. "But don't worry. I have faith in your monster-hunting abilities. Now, as for the data collection..." He placed a box of crystal-winged butterflies in front of her. Each one was the size of her hand, and she recognized them as the ones pinned to the walls in Marianne's office.

“Are you familiar with crystalwings?”

“No.”

“Alright. You must be familiar with monsters, at least. What can you tell me about them?” he asked. It felt like Airi was talking to a teacher.

Jade made an impatient noise. “Feldspar.”

“Yes, I’ll get to the point,” Feldspar agreed. “The point is that... monsters dissolve after being destroyed. We can get around this by using crystalwings. Now, what's so fascinating is—” He saw Jade’s expression. “Their wings react to bursts of mana, such as the ones released by killing monsters.”

He turned to Jade. “A demonstration might help.”

Jade picked a crystalwing out of the box and cast The Naughty Little Kettle. She handed the crystalwing to Airi, who saw that the faintest outline of Jade had appeared on the crystalwing’s clear wings, staining it green. It was like a photograph.

“The bigger the burst of mana, the clearer the image, so don’t worry: even if you’re up against a powerful monster, I’ll still receive the data,” Feldspar said with a smile.

The data collection wasn’t what Airi was worried about. But all the talk of monsters reminded her of something else. “I ran into a little girl in the Sunroom. She said she was a monster."

“Esther,” Jade said, looking at Feldspar. “She’s...”

“Harmless,” Feldspar insisted. Jade opened her mouth to argue. “Or rather, she doesn’t wish to cause harm."

"I don't understand," Airi said. "I thought monsters didn't 'wish' anything. They just kill mindlessly."

"It's complicated. For every other known monster, that is the case. They lack souls, so they can't possibly control how their mana manifests. But Esther is different. She has a soul, much like an ordinary human," Feldspar said. "From what we've observed, her soul is simply... dormant. As far as we can tell, her mana doesn't manifest in any desire."

"Desire?"

"Yes. Much like how mana is tied to emotions, monsters represent specific desires." Feldspar paused for a moment, thinking hard. "Have you ever seen a slime, Airi?"

Airi nodded.

"I'm not surprised. Slimes are the weakest forms of monsters. They're found all over, because they don't represent any specific desire. They're vague, half-formed. Ahh... how do I explain this without delving into monster theory?" Feldspar wondered.

"Do you mean that monsters are embodiments of desires?" Airi interrupted. She flashed back to the Mother of Plenty, lulling the people of Harveston into a dreamlike bliss.

"Well, that's what the current theory suggests, and there's plenty of evidence to support it."

"So what desire does Esther represent?" Airi asked.

"We're still trying to figure that out." Feldspar adjusted a small porcelain doll on his desk, and Airi recognized its shape: Esther, sleeping with her arms wrapped around her knees. "But the benefits of keeping Esther outweigh the risks of such an opportunity. The research breakthroughs we’ve made...”

“Tell that to the folks in the Argument Room,” Jade muttered, eyeing a stack of papers on Feldspar’s desk that looked suspiciously like complaint letters. Airi saw the words 'irresponsible' and 'delusional' on the top letter.

For the first time, Feldspar’s voice raised. “The folks in the Argument Room can su—” He caught Airi’s eye and pivoted sheepishly: “The point is, you don’t need to worry about Esther. Everyone worries about her at first, but in the.. two hundred years since we’ve kept her here, there haven't been any problems.”

“Two hundred years?”

“Well, yes,” said Jade. “She’s a monster. She doesn’t age. Nor does she learn new things, but this foolish fellow just can’t get that into his head.” She poked Feldspar’s cheek.

“I think Esther's learned plenty,” Feldspar said, unable to mask his indignation. “Just yesterday, she finally learned my name.”

Airi wondered if she should break it to him that Esther still didn’t know his name.

Jade leaned in and whispered, “Feldspar’s attached. He even named her.”

“Esther’s a fine name,” Feldspar said.

Jade smiled. “Not like Feldspar, hm?”

“Is that really your birth name? I mean... isn’t ‘feldspar’ a type of rock?” The moment the words were out of her mouth, Airi regretted them.

To her relief, Feldspar only smiled ruefully at Jade. “Yes, it is my name. And yes, it is a type of rock. A long time ago, it was a trend to name your children after objects. Jade remembers."

“It was so long ago that I can’t possibly recall,” Jade said. They looked around the same age. She smiled at Airi. “Best of luck with the monster-hunting.”

Just like that, Airi felt nervous again.