"Very well." Undyne nodded, and took on a more serious expression. "Answer as truthfully as you can, it is of extreme importance that you do."

"...Right." Clover nodded back.

"First, how long has it been since you got amnesia?"

Clover paused and thought it over for a moment. "About a month ago. Though, I've been recovering my memories steadily."

Undyne grimaced at Clover's answer. That expression didn't do wonders for Clover's nerves, but he kept his face neutral. It wasn't particularly difficult for him, he just needed to pay attention to it.

"Okay. And do you have any idea why your SOUL is different from other monsters if your memory has been coming back?"

"...No, I don't." His life might've sucked pre-Underground, but Clover supposed he had to thank whoever raised him for giving him reason to learn a good poker face.

"Would you mind showing me your SOUL?" Undyne asked calmly.

Clover's eyes widened ever so slightly at the question, but he reigned it back in before his face could give off any obvious tells that he was lying about something. "O'course."

He closed his eyes and breathed in. He reached out into the open air before him, and when he next opened his eyes Clover's SOUL hovered gently above his palm.

Clover opened his beak to speak, but paused at the sight of it. It... Actually looked like it changed a bit? The last time he saw it, the white outline seemed as if it was something separate from the SOUL, as if it had been tacked on instead of being a natural part of it. It was difficult to describe, but there had been an obvious transition between the colored and non colored parts of it. Now it blended in seamlessly, gradually transitioning from yellow to white and vice versa around the edges of his SOUL.

"You do know that's not normal, right?" Undyne raised an eyebrow.

"...Yeah." Clover sagged a bit. "I know."

"Well... Personally, I think that's PRETTY RAD!" Undyne clapped him on the other shoulder, he braced himself this time and only slightly trembled. "You didn't absorb a human SOUL, or if you really were the human that fell down, you didn't absorb a monster SOUL either. Which SOUL would you have even absorbed? Not like there were any BOSS MONSTER's around Snowdin! No, you're something else entirely apparently!"

"Uh... Thanks?" Clover closed his palm, and the projection of his SOUL faded from view.

"I don't know... What you are exactly, if you're like, a human and a monster's kid???"

She... Technically wouldn't be that far off in the assumption?

"Never heard of that happening before, but maybe there's a whole different human in the Underground? No idea how they'd have slipped us for that long... Actually... Maybe they... Huh." Undyne apparently had an epiphany at that moment.

"Well whatever happened, you're... Probably, almost certainly not the human. Alphys even said as much! I'm still curious about what exactly you are, but it doesn't really matter that much. NOW! I had more questions to ask you, but they aren't really that important and I already got what I needed. So, now that we've gotten down to business, it's time to get down to MORE business! Are you ready to figure out what the heeeeeeeeeeeck! You can do!?"

"Yeah, that sounds just about peachy." Clover breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great! Then, I'm sure you haven't already forgotten how to use magic. So go ahead and conjure something up for me!" Undyne took a step back and gave Clover a thumbs up. And then his world went dark.

Undyne is beckoning you.

"Wh-what're you doin?"

"It'll be easier to get a sense of what exactly you're doing in a battle! So come on, do literally anything and show me it!"

Clover stared at her incredulously before breathing deeply yet again. "Alright..."

In, out, he closed his eyes, and opened them to a now familiar yellow blob of energy. "Now what?"

"Go ahead and toss it at me!" Undyne pointed a thumb at herself and grinned. "I'll be fine! Show me what you've got kid!"

"...If you say so." Clover wound back, and...! Oh, right. The ball sizzled away harmlessly in the air.

"..."

"Heh, don't sweat it kid! We can narrow it down a whole lot just from that alone! A lot of monster magic manipulates physical forces, but generally don't create actual objects. And then most magics that do create physical objects certainly don't let their creations just fade away like that."

"So...?"

"So I've already got a pretty good idea of what y-HOLY CRAP!"

"W-what?" Clover took a step back, it was his turn again.

"What are they FEEDING you kid!?"

"What are you talkin about?" Clover raised an eyebrow at the captain.

"Are you a BOSS MONSTER or something? There's no way a KID should have stats like these." Undyne stared in disbelief at Clover.

What was she talking about? Clover's stats were... Perfectly... Hold on. He was in a battle, he could check his own health couldn't he?

Clover, LV 1, Hp 55/55.

...That was supposed to be 20/20, wasn't it? What the heck did his attack and defense look like...?

"...Maybe?" He halfheartedly shrugged. Maybe being able to actually pierce that dummy hadn't been dumb luck...

"What do you mean maybe? I mean, good for you kid-but-holy... Heh, I'd invite you to the Royal Guard right now if you weren't... How old are you?"

"Eleven?"

"...Huh."

"Isn't that child endangerment?"

"What? What do you think the Royal Guard even does kid? Bah! Doesn't matter! Do that spear thing you did earlier!"

"...Sure, but it'll take me a little bit." Clover nodded and closed his eyes. He held his arms out, and felt an energy trickle through his body. Into his arms, into his hands, out into reality. When he next opened his eyes, he held in his hands a long staff, which would act as the shaft of the spear.

"Isn't that just a staff?"

"There's a reason I said it'd take a bit." Clover narrowed his eyes and slid his hands over to one of the ends of the spear. "Need to actually sharpen the thing."

As Clover got to work doing that, Undyne stared at him a little bit perplexed. Yellow flecks drifted away and dissolved, but half way through the process Undyne posed a question.

"You made that with a thought, didn't you? Why aren't you just sharpening it with a thought as well?"

"Oh, because... Uh... Huh. Let me try that." Clover felt a little stupid, why did he not try that already?

He closed his eyes again and envisioned the spear in his grasp. In his mind's eye, he saw a long, cylindrical object made up of his magic. He thought of a new object, this time, with a pointed end. He pushed his magic into that vision, and when he opened his eyes again that was what awaited him.

"...Wow, I'm dumb."

"Huh? Don't worry about it kid, you figured out how to use your magic, what, an hour and a half ago? Now, mind if I borrow that?"

"Oh, sure. But won't it, y'know... Burn ya?" Clover paled as he thought back to the dummy. "The spear breaking apart kind of... You know, burned it."

"Are you sure you're remembering things right kid? Intent to harm is everything! Why do you think your magic doesn't harm you when you touch it?"

"...Oh. Well, then, sure, go ahead and take it." Clover felt the turn pass to him as Undyne walked towards him. He offered the spear up to her for his turn and waited.

"Nice and weightless, though oddly it feels like it has some heft to it anyways. Maybe it's got to do with your attack stat of sixty?" Undyne noted as she twirled the spear around. It didn't last for long though. Same as the last spear Clover had created, it gradually broke apart into hundreds of different particles of magic. She also missed the absolute dumbstruck look on Clover's face at the words 'attack stat of sixty'.

"Alright, I think I've got a pretty good idea of what kind of magic you've got now kid." Undyne grinned at Clover. "You can go ahead and spare me now."

"Whhhh... Oh, right sorry." Clover shook his head and spared his teacher. "So, what kind of magic do you think it is?"

"To be honest, I won't lie and tell you I've seen something quite like it before. But, it is sort of similar to a monster or two that I've met before. I can't get you in contact with them, but I can tell you what it's called so you can try and research it. if you'd like"

"Please do?"

"If I'm not wrong, it seems like you have some kind of magic related to energy manipulation? I haven't met a monster that can just design different stuff and manifest it into reality before, but it's probably something along those lines. You're a pretty interesting case, so you'll have to do some practice yourself to really figure it all out. Right, you're dismissed! Go do whatever with your friends and wait."

"...Alright, thanks, Mrs. Undyne."

...

"Sooo?" Noelle leaned in just a little bit too close for comfort. Kanako, on the other hand, wasn't even looking at him.

"So what?" He scooted away. They'd all sat down, just in the middle of the floor. Both Susie and Matt had been called at once, leaving the trio+Domerian to their own devices free of any judgmental looks.

"So what kind of magic can you use?"

Clover blinked twice, before nodding to himself. "Good question, thanks for asking!" He didn't close his eyes this time, he wanted to see the magic bring itself into existence. It was a little more difficult when he had both the object he wanted to create as well as the world itself both in mind, but it wasn't all that terrible. So a moment later, a warm yellow glow began to emanate from Clover's hand. And a moment after that, a ball of energy appeared in his palm.

"How about you check it out?"

"Ooo, don't mind if I do!" Noelle reached for the ball and took it out of Clover's hand. "That's neat! Wait, why is it-" and it was gone. "Wh... Wha??? Clover, did you do that on purpose?"

"No, it just kind of does that when it moves away from me." Clover frowned. "Buuuut, I can make more of them! And they last longer the more magic I put in them!"

"Really now? How about you see how long you can make one last?"

"Oh wow! That sounds like a great idea Noelle! It'll be so much fun experimenting like that!"

Noelle raised an eyebrow at Clover, but when he flicked his eyes in Kanako's direction, a devious smirk spread across the deer monster's face.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You're right! It'll be totally awesome, I can't wait to spend the whole sleepover just practicing magic with you! A shame Kanako is apparently too busy drawing to join us!"

"Indeed, a real shame... Welp! Let's get to it! It'll be ama-"

"Oh my god would you two stop!?" Kanako threw one of her crayons at Clover, he ducked out of the way.

"Stop what? We're just excited about my magic!"

"Oh please! You're just trying to get me to come back because you know I'm upset with you!"

"Upset with him about what?" Noelle smiled inquisitively at Kanako.

"Uh... N-nothing! Nothing at all!"

"So then what's the problem?"

"..." Kanako silently took the crayon from Domeria, because they'd brought it back like a stick. "...No problem at all."

"Then come on over." Clover smiled wickedly.

“...Fiiiine!”

She scooted her way over to the group, while still attempting to maintain an even face.

“So for real though, you gonna try that idea Clover?” Noelle turned her focus back to the bird, whom promptly nodded in response.

“Yeah, might as well while we wait, right?” Clover nodded to himself and held out his hand again. He could keep his eyes open for the process, but he found it to be more difficult to do that instead of just closing them. He closed his eyes and flushed the image of the world from his mind. All he needed was to feel his magic. Nothing else.

One breath in, another out. A now familiar energy ran its course through his arm, and into his hands. He could feel the object in his palm now, but the didn’t stop yet. He’d so far done the bare minimum, but the entire point of this attempt was to do the maximum. He kept pushing magic into the blob, even as it began to bubble in his hands… Perhaps he should’ve obeyed his own instincts, because a moment later it burst.

“Pff-”

The contents of the orb burst outwards, coating everything nearby in a thick layer of yellow. Clover, Kanako, Noelle, the floor, everything except Domerian who had been behind Kanako.

“What in tarnation!?” Clover fell back and wiped at his eyes, as did his friends with their varying cries of shock. Though it was mostly a pointless effort, because a few seconds later the energy dissipated harmlessly.

“Clover, what the heck?!” Kanako shot back up in an instant. “What is your problem today?”

“Okay-now-I, PROMISE, that one was not on purpose!” Clover raised his hands defensively. Kanako had already seen fit to bruise his arm a bit today, and he was in no mood to give her further motive.

“Just like you promised not to-erm-yeah, fat chance!”

“Seriously, what are you so upset with him about?” Noelle rubbed at her eyes a bit.

“Don’t worry about it!”

“How can I not?”

“...Just don’t!” She made another pouty face.

“I can only say, ‘if you say so’ so many times, Kanako.” Noelle shrugged with a slightly devious smile.

“...I was serious though, that wasn’t on purpose. I had no idea that’d happen.” Clover let his arms rest and frowned.

“...Fine.” Kanako crossed her arms and turned away.

“I’ll uh, try somethin else.” Clover nodded to himself and closed his eyes again.

“Just tell us if you think it’s gonna explode or something?” Noelle said a bit nervously.

“Right, gotcha.” Clover smiled apologetically and held his hands together. He felt a little bit silly doing it, but he figured it would be the best way to do it. A moment and a breath later, Clover got his magic moving once again. He figured that the reason the orb had… Popped, was because it wasn’t big enough to contain the power he put into it? Kind of like filling up a water balloon with more water than it could feasibly contain. If that was the problem, he could just get a bigger balloon, right?

That’s exactly what he tried. When he just manifested his magic, it came out in that spherical state. A mostly blank slate. But, theoretically, he should be able to just make a bigger bubble. He envisioned the normal sphere in his mind’s eye, and just kind of… Upped the scale.

When Clover did that, he felt a bit more of his magic leave him. But he figured it would be fine. Magic was supposed to be the thing that made monsters up, so he’d be able to notice if he was using too much of it, right? That’s what he assumed. And using as much magic as he could had been the point to begin with. Therefore, he let it leave him without struggle.

Eventually, Clover opened his eyes again. If the ball he’d made before would be about the size of a tennis ball, now it was a basketball. It also felt warmer in his hands, but he chalked that up to it having more magic. Speaking of having more magic, he hadn’t quite finished filling it up yet. He didn’t need to close his eyes to do that though, so a moment later he held the ball of energy in the palm of his hand.

“Alright, I don’t think this one will uh… Explode.” He mumbled and offered it to Noelle.

“Think it’ll melt?” She asked cheekily as she took it from his hands.

“Maybe?” Clover shrugged. “I mean, probably at some point? Not quite sure how long it’ll take though. I don’t really know how exactly it all works… But uh… More magic generally seems to mean it lasts longer? I’unno.”

“Can I see it?” Kanako butted into the conversation and tilted her head curiously at Clover.

“Sure, I don’t mind. Noelle?” Clover motioned for her to hand it over to Kanako.“

"Here you go!” Noelle handed it over with a smile, before turning her attention back to Clover. “Hasn’t melted yet, that’s probably a good sign!”

“Thanks, good to hear.” Clover nodded appreciatively before glancing curiously at Kanako. “What’d you want to figure out about it anyways?”

“Oh, you know, the usual. Like, say-” her paws erupted into a blaze and coated the ball in a pink flame. “-this?”

Clover tilted his head at her with a confused smile. “...Okay, but why though?”

“Because yo-” and then it exploded.

“PFFT-” Kanako managed to turn away mere moments before her entire face got coated in the contents of the magic. Though, her entire body was not so lucky.

“OKAY! REALLY?”

“You know, that wasn’t even on purpose.” Clover mused amused. “Totally deserved though.”

“Noelle-NOELLE!” Kanako initially turned to her friend for support, only to see her struggling to hold in a laugh of epic proportions. Her shouting in betrayal was enough to burst that dam.

“PffhahahaHAHA!”

“>:(“

…

Apparently, that magical sludge had a bit more permanence to it given it took about a minute for it to fade away. Kanako basically gave up on interacting for the moment after that had happened. She just sat a healthy distance away, pouting, petting Domerian occasionally.

Clover would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little bad… But that had also been her fault for being petty. On the flipside, knowing that the density of magic in a construct could actually help it keep some level of permanence had been pretty nice. Regardless though, he wanted to find out some more stuff he could do with his magic. So he just kind of… Kept messing around with it.

Eventually, Undyne called Kanako over, and by extension Susie and Matt returned. Obviously, they didn’t bother talking to anybody present. By now, Noelle had actually started really working on her homework. So things got… Quiet. Undyne was her normal, boisterous self, but other than that things were quiet.

Time felt a little faster with such a quiet spell, eventually, Noelle was called over. And she obliged with a smile, her homework was finished.

Clover briefly considered apologizing to Kanako, but she was still keeping her distance. It’d probably be better to talk to them about it outside of school… Though, oddly enough, he wasn’t sure if it was just because he felt bad or if his focus was weakened, but it suddenly became much more difficult to work his magic. It had been flowing freely before, but it was almost like his entire body had locked up.

Regardless of what he tried, his magic was being far less responsive. Maybe this was what it felt like to be low on magic…? He frowned and laid down on the ground. There wasn’t much to do besides wait now he supposed.

…

The bell rung.

“GAH! DAMNIT!” Undyne stomped in frustration. “ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP! I didn’t get to group you up today, but first thing next gym class, you’re all reporting straight to me, GOT IT!?”

Everybody responded in various different ways, but the general consensus was “yes ma’am.” Obviously, she wouldn’t have accepted any different answers anyways.

“So will you at least talk to me?” Clover tapped Kanako on the shoulder as they walked out through the front of the school. She didn’t respond, she just puffed up her cheeks and looked away.

“M’sorry about being mean during study hall, alright? I didn’t think you’d take it that hard, and I kept messing with you even when you were clearly upset. I apologize.”

“You didn’t-” Noelle tried to interject, but Clover just shook his head at her.

“No, I did. I was bein a prick. Granted, that last magic mishap was completely Kanako’s fault. But it ain’t like I was being the spitting image of an upstanding cowboy either.” Clover sighed and rolled his neck. “I’m at fault, I’m sorry.”

“...Fine, but you only get out of bed when I say you can tomorrow.” Kanako frowned and looked the other way.

“...Huh?” Noelle stared at her in confusion. Which elicited a chuckle from Clover.

“Don’tcha worry about it. And sure Kanako, whatever ya say.”

“Clover!”

Clover blinked, and then looked around. “Did either of you hear that?”

“Yeah…? Who was that?” Kanako looked around just like Clover did.

“Clover! There you are!”

Martlet dropped down from the sky and landed right in front of Clover, to his surprise.

“Wh-mom? Whaddya doin 'all the way at school? Actually, no, this is good, saves the trouble of having to mail you our plans.”

“...Mail?” Martlet tilted her head at Clover. “Actually, it doesn’t matter! I totally forgot to tell you something this morning!”

She sounded panicked, frantic, even. Clover looked at her worriedly. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

“I was gonna take you to see my parents today!”

“Wh-what!?”