Saturday evening.
Cenna came back from her HQ not too long ago. She brought back a toolbox. Asked for the largest flat surface you have.
You guided her to the dining table. During that time, Alphys and Undyne were discussing matters with Mom.
When Cenna unpacked the stuff, you’re reminded of an alchemist’s apothecary.
Beakers? Checked.
Flasks? Checked.
Reagents and solvents? Checked.
Seven-colour magic chart? Checked too.
You, Undyne, Alphys, and Mom watched the setup with great curiosity.
“This is soooooo wizard alchemist stuff,” Undyne commented.
You and Alphys nodded.
“Doctor Alphys,” said Cenna, “You know how to handle equipment like these, right?”
“Y-yes. I do.”
Cenna then passed over a sheet filled with instructions. “Mind helping me out? Usually my colleague Anise would do all the lab stuff, but she works normal office hours. So she loaned me this portable set instead.”
“Sure.” Alphys gave it a read. “Psychia Identification?”
“Psychia is our scientific term for SOULS. Before I can teach Frisky any form of magic, I need to know what their Major and Minors are.”
“Oh, okay. Gimmie some time to read this through.”
Mom focused her attention on the chart. You took a peek too.
The chart explained what were the expected abilities associated with the colour. Green for shields and healing, for example.
But for the red portion, all it said were the following words: ‘Please consult the Supreme Judge for more information’.
They really want to make sure that all the Red SOUL people were accounted for. As many as they could find anyway.
“Frisk’s parents are also Magi, right?” asked Mom.
“Yup, madam! A true Magus lineage from both sides.”
You told Mom that your biological father was part of a really cool Vanquisher family, and Cenna carried their legacy. They keep the peace for both the living and the dead.
She seemed a little uncomfortable by the thought.
Maybe it reminded her of Chara? Oops.
On the other hand, Undyne thought it was awesome. “Vanquishers, huh? Heh heh that’s why Frisk is such a strong kid! Was their human mom full of action and gusto too?”
Cenna grinned. “Nah, she ain’t part of the gun-toting team. Mama’s more like Doctor Alphys here.”
Your lizard friend looked up from the paper in surprise. “Eh?!”
“They’re ‘Artificers’. Inventors. Toolmakers. All the engineering and science stuff. The family’s best invention? This watch right here.”
Cenna dangled the magic pocket watch in front of everyone. You explained to everyone that it has a mirrored back.
With both lids open, it does kinda remind you of a clam.
Mom put on her reading glasses for a closer look. “Oh my, the numbers are reversed. And it doesn’t even read the same time.”
You noticed a change of expression on Cenna’s face. She quickly checked both sides, her eyes darting left and right.
She seemed concerned. But, she decided to play it cool.
“This fella is called ‘Trap Harvester’,” explained Cenna. “Whenever someone out there does a large-scale timey-wimey thing, it gathers a tiny bit of Determination from the universe.”
“Point the mirrored side at someone, send out a pulse of magic and bam! You encase the target in a bubble removed from reality. The bigger the time discrepancy, the greater its reserves, the longer the freeze lasts.”
Cool level: COSMIC!!! Mom giggled at your joke.
Undyne squinted with her single good eye. “How old is this thing anyway? Looks antique.”
“The insides are modern, but the casing goes all the way back to the 1830s.”
“Dayum.”
Agreed.
“I better get back to reading,” said Alphys.
Her expression lightened up soon after. “This is pretty simple. All I need to do is…”
Alphys got right to work. She arranged the necessary equipment and began identifying the labels of the reagents. Next thing you know, she’s mixing stuff like a true alchemist.
You smelled alcohol. Not the fancy drink version. It’s proper distilled alcohol used for lab stuff. For cleaning, or as a solvent: things like that.
Out of curiosity, you peeked at the instructions. Your eyes crossed over. It’s not as simple as she said.
Then Alphys took out a scalpel.
“Okay, I need to cut a tiny piece of your SOUL.”
You went pale and inched away. With a straight face.
Cenna burst into laughter and gently nudged you back. “No need to be scared, Frisky! You’re a Magus now. It ain’t gonna hurt and the piece will grow back in no time.”
If she said so. You pushed out your SOUL and moved it closer to the scientist.
You watched Alphys slice the pointy bottom of the heart and drop the piece into a flask. As your sister had said, it grew back right before your eyes.
Also, you didn’t feel a single thing. That’s the most important part.
Alphys poured the alcohol mixture into the flask. Gently swirling it, she dissolved your SOUL.
The liquid glowed bright red.
You asked her if this is the same method they used to extract Determination.
“Nope,” said Alphys. “Whatever the DT-Extraction Machine churns out is pure, distilled Determination. It has the consistency of thick oil.”
Interesting. Is it red?
“Very, very red. Glowing too. Like this sample here. Okay. I think we’re ready for the next step…”
She poured out the contents into a measuring beaker. There’s about 100ml.
“Now we wait for the properties to separate. Each of the colours have a different density. The most prominent trait will take up the most volume, followed by their secondaries. It should take about five minutes or less.”
Everyone waited with anticipation…
But nothing happened.
“Uh,” Undyne muttered, “Is the kit busted?”
Alphys scratched her head. “I don’t know. Contamination maybe? Hmm, Miss Cenna. You know your traits right?”
“Yeah,” she answered.
“Then you should know the results. If you don’t mind, I’d like to test your SOUL as a control sample.”
“No problem!”
Alphys rinsed the equipment with the supplied distilled water. She then repeated the procedure with Cenna’s fragment.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
When she poured the results out into a fresh beaker, it started to separate. Yellow had the thickest layer, followed by purple, then green.
Cenna confirmed: “Yep. That’s exactly how it looked like when I got tested as a teen.”
Meanwhile… your sample showed no change.
“I think I know what’s going on,” said Alphys. “There’s nothing for the mixture to separate. Frisk’s SOUL is the purest Red. A hundred percent!”
Seriously?!?
Wait, what does it mean for you?
Cenna slapped her hands down on your shoulders and piloted you to the living room.
“It meeeeans lessons starts now! Hoo boy, can’t believe Mez’s gonna get beaten flat by a preteen.”
You laughed at that thought too. But at the same time, you tell Cenna that you really don’t want to fight him.
“Eeeh you ain’t gonna get any real offensive magic like us Yellows,” she said. “You see, Reds are the gambit masters. Their skillsets are utility. It’s gonna be all about how you use them.”
You heard Mom breathe a sigh of relief. She’s glad that your magic won’t concentrate on hurting others.
“Stay where you are, Frisky.”
Okay. You watched Cenna walk to the other end of the room.
“Take a look around and remember your position. Once you’re done, walk towards me.”
You’re standing next to the couch. Mom, Undyne, and Alphys were close by. You remembered that. Then, you walked towards Cenna.
“Now… I want you to return to that couch.”
You tried to walk backwards, but she stopped you. “Na-uh. Ya need to do that without walking. Or any movement for the matter.”
Huh???
She’s asking you to teleport like Sans?!
Cenna grinned ear to ear at your confusion. “Say Frisky, do you know your Mark?”
You pointed at yourself. Is it the butterfly?
“Nay. That’s Mez’s. I’m talking about yours. Whenever you make a SAVE, what do you see?”
Oh!
You get it now!
It’s a golden star. Whenever you feel determined in the Underground, a bright light will hover at a specific spot. All you needed to do was simply touch it.
“A shining star huh? Aw, that’s real sweet. Does it follow you around?”
No. It stays at a single spot. Why does she ask?
“Every Living Victory has a SAVE method unique to their persona. It’s your signature. It tells everyone who you are and what are your priorities.”
You’re surprised to hear that. Judge Mezil certainly looks the part. His stylish and frilly clothes do remind you of a fancy butterfly.
Cenna laughed at the imagery. “You can say so! But there are deeper reasons than that.”
“You see, Mez didn’t come from a Magus family. He never thought of joining one either. Before the big hoo-hah started, he was just your average college tsundere. All he cared about were grades, future career prospects, and surviving on a part-time job.”
He was… a normal guy?
“About as normal as a stoic tsundere can be. Hard to believe he ‘transformed’ into a Supreme Judge, huh? A butterfly seriously fits him.”
Well, people have to start from somewhere. You were more or less a normal kid before you fell into the Underground too.
But lessons first. Okay. Your symbol is a star. What do you need to do next?
“Imagine it hovering right where you stood.”
You put all your power into imagining it…
…And nothing happened. You’re getting a mite frustrated.
Cenna snorted. “Newbie mistake number one, Frisky: trying to make an actual SAVE. That’s waaaaay too much Determination. You gotta scale it down like, a million.”
“The trick is ‘marking’ the ‘state’ of your position, without making an actual full-fledged SAVE. You already did that on a subconscious level when I told you to remember your spot. Now all you gotta do is LOAD it. Think of it as accessing temporary data if that helps.”
Maybe. You remembered how computers would make these transparent ‘temp files’ whenever you access certain programs.
Perhaps you need to concentrate on a ‘shadow’ of sorts…
You closed your eyes to focus.
Focus.
Focus.
Focus.
Then, in the back of your mind, you ‘saw’ a tiny glimmer in the distance.
“Oh my god, punk! Nerd! OH MY GOD!”
Undyne’s exclamation was much… closer?
When you opened your eyes, you found yourself standing beside the couch. You had returned to your starting position without moving an inch.
The freakout continued. Undyne screamed, “You just TELEPORTED like Sans! Like, POOF!”
Alphys? She became a puddle of ‘OH EM GEE’s repeated over and over. Mom just stood there, too stunned to react.
Cenna gave you a big, slow clap: brimming with all the pride of a family member. “Welcome to the wizard club, Frisky. This is just the beginning of your awesomeness.”
“Remember, there are always limitations to an ability. That’s why you need smarts. Try to jump back to me. Or teleport to the left or right.”
You did your focusing thing again.
Try as you might, nothing happened. Did something go wrong?
“Nope. Everything went right. You cannot return to something that doesn't exist. You may remember walking towards me, but to your body? You’ve never moved from that spot at all.”
You put your noggin to use.
You told Cenna that you just rolled back to a specific moment of time. Localized in your body. Without affecting the rest of the universe. Was that correct?
“Bingo! I’ve seen Mez fight before. It’s really similar to your blue skelly friend, but with a key difference. He can only ‘teleport’ in the path he once traversed: backwards, never forwards.”
“Pick the wrong path at the wrong time, and you might land yourself in a serious pickle. Especially if the terrain changed. Imagine what’s gonna happen if you rewind yourself onto a freshly collapsed bridge. You’re so gonna fall to your doom.”
“Another limitation?” She continued. “Physical boundaries. Remember the collapsed bridge example? Now, imagine a cave in. You can’t rewind to places that have become blocked off. You’ll stop short on any obstruction denser than mere air. Really risky if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Gulp.
Sounds like a double-edged sword.
“Well, as the saying goes: a tool is only as good as its user. That why I said you gotta be reeeeeal smart with your powers.”
Would it be possible to do the reverse? Like, rewind your surroundings without resetting yourself.
“Possible. You need more skill and DT for that though. At your current state, you got neither.”
What about super speed? Bullet time dodges?
What about all that time manipulation stuff you’ve seen in anime?
“Judging from your pure Red status, maybe! All you need is time, practice, and a passing grade.”
You squeal in excitement. That’s so cooooooool!
“Pardon my intrusion,” said Mom. “But you said something about… ‘passing’? Frisk is supposed to take an exam?”
Oh snap. You didn’t tell anyone other than Sans about the Trial of the Crimson Hall. For a good reason too: you don’t want them to freak out and deny you of the opportunity.
To your fortune, Cenna caught on. “Mez’s gotta do the rest of the teaching, madam. All the stuff I recited? Learned them from him. Naturally when you have classes, you gotta have exams.”
“Oh my, more classes?” Mom frowned. “They’re already so preoccupied with school and their diplomatic work. How can we find the time to fit in all these magic lessons?”
“No need to worry about that yet. That’s gonna take some time. For now, just ten minutes of the position-rewind exercise is enough. Can’t let the kid overextend themselves either.”
Let’s practice a little more! Maybe you can walk from the other side of the couch? Or roll back to the mid point instead of the beginning?
“Eager, aren’t ya? Sure! I’m gonna go stand over th--”
Then you heard the sound of breaking glass, followed by repeated hollow smashing onto metal. It triggered a car alarm.
Alphys mentioned, “I think that’s from the main road.”
Cenna muttered, “Dammit, don’t tell me…!”
She dashed straight out of the house. The urgency prompted Undyne to swipe her winter coat and chase after your sister.
You did the same. Before Mom or Alphys could say anything, you were already running down the snowy road.
You heard Undyne yelling more swear words. Then, you saw her spears rain down.
A group of teenagers fled on motorbikes, whisked between the spiky downpour.
They carried baseball bats and spray cans. Helmets concealed their faces.
Your heart skipped a beat. You hoped that this wasn’t what you think it was. However, when you arrived at the scene proper… it only confirmed your worst fears.
A cab got smashed and vandalized. Cenna tended to the injured driver by the sidewalk. Now you understood why Undyne flipped out so hard.
“What the heck was that for?!” she exclaimed.
The driver suffered a pretty nasty head wound. It’s bleeding. You were sure that he had plenty of bruises under his arm too.
You asked if he’s okay.
“I-I’m fine,” he answered. “I think.”
Mom and Alphys caught up to you by now. They gasped at the horrific sight.
You reassured them that the guy is fine. Although the same couldn’t be said for the car. With that kind of damage, there’s no way it could be road-worthy again.
By now, the ruckus had attracted quite a bit of bystanders.
Cenna asked, “What happened man? I thought you went back to the HQ.”
The driver winced as he tried to touch his wound. He explained: “I was calling my kids if they want to buy anything from Ebott Town. Snacks, Mettaton merch, or any other monster speciality.”
“Then those thugs went right up to my car and started smashing it. I tried to stop them. Well, they bashed me too.”
Cenna then asked, “Do you recognize any of those kids? Clothing articles? Or maybe the bikes they used?”
“The day’s too dark and the actions too fast. Sorry.”
“I’m gonna call the hospital.”
“Naaaah. Just leave that to me.” He said, “I’m in the taxi business, you know.”
The driver then messaged his buddies. Told them what happened, and asked if there’s anyone nearby to pick him up.
In the meantime, Mom used her healing magic to soothe his wounds. It works wonders on minor injuries. Used them a few times on you both in the Underground and on the Surface. It’s very comforting.
“There,” she said, “That should stop the bleeding. But do check with a doctor. I’m afraid to say that I’m not well-versed enough in human physiology to heal internal injuries.”
He’s amazed. “Wow, thanks. I feel a lot better now. Especially my arms. Don’t worry, ma’am. I gotta check in the hospital for insurance stuff anyway.”
Since the driver’s fine, Cenna joined Undyne in the wreckage inspection.
Your fish friend asked, “What’s with all the zig-zag scrawling? Spray paint?”
They were all over the back end of the car.
“Well fuck. That ain’t any random graffiti, Captain. You’re looking at the emblem of the lightning-heads. These are crappily drawn but I know it’s them.”
“Lightning-heads?”
“Yeah. Anti-Magi extremists. They target both the Magi and anyone who works with us. As you can see, they won’t even spare a simple cab driver.”
Mom just talked about them this morning… And now, the threat is real.
You marched up to the car and tried to touch it. You closed your eyes to focus. Wished very, very hard for the damage to be reversed.
Cenna lowered your arm and shook her head. “Sorry Frisky, it ain’t gonna work. If you wanna save the car, you gotta plant your mark long before the tragedy happened.”
Looking at the destruction fills you with Determination. You wish you could just jump back a bit in time and warn the man about the thugs.
Instead you felt a dull pain in your chest. In the back of your mind, you sensed that the butterfly mark closed of all sources of your power.
“Frisky, listen.”
Cenna squatted down to your level and whispered into your ear.
“I know Mez capped your power,” she said, “He ain’t doing that to sabotage you. It’s the opposite really: he’s trying to protect you. From yourself. It’s too easy to bite off more than you can chew. More so when you’re a freshie.”
What does he want you to learn?
“Your limits. What you can or cannot do. When. How. Why. This is super important. If you don’t learn this right, the maybes are gonna haunt you for life. And that’s one step closer to becoming a DEMON for eternity.”
…Though reluctant, you understand the intent. This is not the Underground, where it’s the same scenario repeating itself from start to finish.
You balled your hands into a fist. It’s frustrating, but Cenna had a point.
After taking a couple of deep breaths, you told her that you understand. Things can get a whole lot more complicated on the Surface.
Never hurts to be more careful.