(Notes: Thank you for all the comments. Thank you so, so much. I had to get another job so my anxiety is a little high right now and I haven't had the energy to reply to anything but just know, getting all those comments and reviews makes my week. I really do appreciate it!)

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Entry 13: Frisk

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Sans sidled up to the table around noon, blearily rubbing his eye sockets, "readin'?"

Frisk glanced at him, looked at the stack of books and then back at him before returning to their book.

He snorted and pulled up a chair next to them, sliding his arms across the table and slumping on top of them with a sigh, "you read all these already?" He ran a fingertip over the spines of the books Frisk had pushing to one side as they had finished them.

They were reading an early high school level book and marked their spot with their finger before looking up.

"you must read crazy fast," he said sleepily.

"...I do read pretty fast," they said, "but it's not like I have to read it all. I already know math and science. I'm only reading about the stuff I don't know, like magic and monster history."

He nodded into his arm, "makes sense."

Frisk slid the book onto the table, forgetting about their place for now, "I wanna ask, what does everybody do? Here in the lab, I mean."

He glanced up at Frisk and then looked blankly across the table, "jack's an engineer. he makes the stuff that pop's designs. koshka studies soul magic and magic and basically whatever makes monsters tick. gob's magic lets them interface with technology, they code all our programs and keep the servers running."

"And Mr. Gaster?" Frisk asked.

Sans sighed, "i suppose... his specialty is theoretical magic but he can do everything the other assistants can do just not as well. pop's likes to dabble."

"He's the royal scientist, head of everything but he's not-?" they broke off brow furrowing.

"he has the ideas," Sans said, he reached across the table to the box of spider doughnuts and flipped it open. There was a bottle of cider and half a doughnut left. He took them both. "you gotta have the inspiration, the innovation, and what-not to think up all the different possibilities and that's what pop's has."

Frisk looked at the books on the table, "I read that he made the Core and that it powers the whole underground."

"yup," the half doughnut disappeared into the fold of his arm where his mouth was. After a few moments, he added, "he figured out how to make a geothermal power plant and how to convert the basic electricity into magic so it could power everything."

Frisk leaned forward slightly, "How, exactly, is magic electricity different than the regular kind?"

Sans slowly pushed himself up onto his elbows, pulling the cider over, so his chin rested on the glass bottle, "alright," he glanced over at them, "just stop me if i get over your head-"

Frisk nodded, frowning slightly.

"regular electricity works by building a surplus of electrons and then those electrons shuffle along a line of conductive atoms like copper until it reaches your toaster, or whatever, and powers it, right?"

Frisk nodded again, trying to mask their impatience.

"so the core takes those excess electrons and runs them through a magic field that alters their conductive properties so that they conduct to magic rather than an atom. now, to make sure we didn't have monsters getting zapped by rogue electricity, pop's put them on the end of the spectrum."

"Spectrum?" Frisk leaned forward slightly.

Sans pressed the cider bottle to his teeth and took a drink, "magic vibrates, like sound or energy, and along a similar spectrum. there's light and sound we can't perceive right? well, there's magic like that too. so it's tuned to be outside of the normal monster range."

"Does it travel on a magic wire?" Frisk asked in confusion.

"nah." he shook his head. "used to be a problem actually. we could only pipe magic at short distances so only the capital was powered. and the pipes had to be constantly resupplied with magic which sucked up a bunch of the core's power. then-" he tapped the side of the bottle with a musical ting, "-we'd figured out how to make cell phones work and make our own, we couldn't use towers, they wouldn't relay through the rock so pop's thought of using a magic frequency to transmit the signals, set up boxes all over the underground. once they were set up, jack n' alphys thought of using the boxes to also relay magic electricity. needed more boxes and it took more power than the cell phones had but less than piping the power through pure magic and, with one little box installed in your house and a relay within a hundred seventeen meters, and you've got power for the whole underground," He grinned, "it's been great."

Frisk shared his grin, "That's amazing."

"yeah. the older monsters are still super mopey about things but it's pretty alright down here."

"And Alphys is an intern, like you? And she makes things, like Jack?"

Sans nodded, "she's a couples years older than me, likes to tinker but she can code like gob, so she's a two-for-one special. if she wasn't so jumpy she'd have probably been made an official assistant already." He chuckled to himself but it almost had a self-deprecating edge to it.

"Are you an intern too?" Frisk asked curiously.

Sans shrugged, "yep."

Frisk could see he was trying to avoid talking about it but pushed a little anyway, "What's your specialty?"

He rubbed the back of his head and took a sip of cider a little too slowly, "i guess... i'm pretty interested in quantum mechanics and physics... mostly, i like trying out pop's theoretical stuff."

"His theoretical magic? What is theoretical magic?" Frisk asked hopefully.

"well..." Sans cleared his throat, "it's like a math problem. taking magic and pushing the boundaries of what ought to be possible. he works out all sorts of equations for fun, of little things that magic should be able to do, within the bounds of what we know and just design... magic."

"Like where you caught Papyrus in the air?"

He perked up, "you wanna see a demonstration?"

Frisk sat up and nodded excitedly, "Yes, please!"

Sans slid off his chair excitedly moved to the top corner of the room which was empty, Frisk following close behind him.

"i'm much better at showing than explaining," Sans said with an easy confident air. He held out his hand and furrowed his brow and a little spinning white pellet of light formed in his hand. "this is the most basic form of magic, just pure gathered energy."

Frisk leaned forward and Sans put out a warning hand.

"careful," he cautioned. "a monsters magic is only safe to touch by that monster, it'll hurt you otherwise."

Frisk leaned back, "All magic? What about food creation magic and healing magic?"

He smiled at them like they were a clever student, "that's specialized magic, it takes a long time to learn how to do, like five-year apprenticeships. this magic-" he gestured to his hand, "is unique to the monster, straight out of the soul and only attuned to the monster it comes from."

"Ok. What's next?"

Sans nodded, "this is basically baby magic. as a monster gets older, their magic develops into their basic attack, it's usually the same for same types of monsters. water for woshuas, ice for snowdrakes, and-" he flexed his hand and the little white ball of energy changed into a floating bone, "bone magic for us skeletons. not super original, i know." he chuckled, "but what can you do?"

Frisk watched as the bone dropped into his hand and he tossed it easily into the air like a baton.

"pap is just learning how to make his bones, he's super proud, you oughta let him show you sometimes, it'll make him really happy."

Frisk nodded, waiting patiently for more.

"now, some monster can learn to add certain characteristics to their magic, easier for some morphotypes than others." He tossed the bone into the air and it stopped, hanging in the air and turning a light blue.

Frisk narrowed their eyes, studying it. The bone almost looked translucent.

"hold out your arm."

Frisk looked at him guardedly.

"it'll be fine, trust me," he said with a chuckle, "hold out your arm and don't move it."

They slowly raised their arm away from their body and held it rigidly.

"don't move," Sans warned again and after a brief pause flicked his hand. The blue bone flicked with the motion and passed through their arm with a faint tingle.

Frisk suppressed a shiver, watching the bone sail past them and embed the floor and then fade away.

Sans held up his hand and another bone formed there, white again. "that's basic blue magic, lower density, higher energy in an unstable formation. it'll pass through anything but movement causes the magic to discharge and cause damage. so all you have to do when you see it is stay still. a lot of the royal guard can do this kind of magic."

Frisk rubbed their arm, "cool, what else?"

"well," Sans grimaced slightly, "there's orange magic, similar vein but opposite behavior," he squinted in concentration, "...not so good at this one," he muttered. The bone on his hand slowly changed color to orange and the edges seemed to vibrate. He spoke as if through clenched teeth, "this one, you have to move through, standing still lets the magic discharge."

"Can I?" Frisk asked, raising their hand towards the bone. They waited for him to stiffly nod and then swept their hand through the bone, feeling a similar tingle of magic running along their skin.

He let out a breath and the bone changed back to white. "usually, a monster can do either blue attacks or orange attacks but can't do both. the king can, he can switch between the two easy as breathing." there was a note of admiration in his tone.

"When you made Papyrus float, that magic looked blue, but it's different?" Frisk said.

Sans nodded, "that's soul magic. have you read about yet?"

Frisk glanced back at the stack of books on the table, "Yeah... basic colored magic effects a monsters attacks, while soul magic effects the opponents soul directly and impedes them in battle."

He nodded, "blue soul magic runs in the family. pops can do it and paps did it once on accident so he's got it too. it's a form of gravity manipulation."

Frisks eyes widened, "Gravity manipulation?!"

He grinned, "yeah, wanna try? it doesn't hurt."

They hesitated for only a moment and then nodded.

Sans held out his hand and Frisk soul appeared, red and bright. They felt something, it tingled and flooded their soul, changing the color of their soul from red to blue. Frisk stared at it and snapped their head up to look at Sans expectantly. His eye had a glowing blue iris the same color of his magic.

He flicked his hand down and they stumbled, their soul pulling down like someone had filled it will lead. He flicked his hand up and the heaviness disappeared and their toes lifted from the floor. Frisk gasped and wiggled their feet, letting out a startled giggle.

Sans carefully put them back on the ground and his magic faded, his eye going dim. Sweat beaded his forehead and his wiped it off on his sleeve.

"Sans?" Frisk said, "When you lifted me up, it felt like... like the weight was still there, but pulling me up to the ceiling."

His brows shot up, "you figured that out?" his said, impressed, "most monsters say it's weightlessness."

Frisk shook their head, "That doesn't make sense at all. You soul magic creates a gravitation pull, right? So you can pull up, down or side to side?-" He nodded and they continued, excited, "-That means, to make someone float like that, you have to pull up as strongly as the natural gravitation of the earth pulls me down!"

"a little stronger actually, to pull you up and then balance it out to stop movement." he said a little smugly.

Frisk laughed, "Amazing!"

"that's not all." Sans said eagerly, "i mastered that ages ago. watch-" he stepped back and his eye flashed blue and then he was gone with a strange tearing sound and a little sucking swirl of air where he had been.

Frisk spun on their heel.

Sans waved to them from the other side of the room and then, in a blink, he was gone and reappeared right in front of them making Frisk jump and laugh in shock.

"what do you think?" Sans said grinning expectantly, "pretty great, right?"

Frisk nodded, "That was-!" they laughed again, "just-! It seems impossible!"

He glowed under the praise for a bit then asked, "how do you think i did it?"

They hesitated, mind going a million miles an hour as they tried to remember everything they could about gravity, "...Gravity can distort space and time right?" they floundered after more concrete information but their knowledge of physics was so basic it hurt.

"as far as i can tell, i'm creating small, temporary wormholes, using tiny bursts of super-strong gravity to link two places. then i just step through before they close." Sans said.

"It's not dangerous?" Frisk asked because punching holes in space sounded pretty dangerous to them.

Sans shrugged. "pop's says to not do it outside of testing."

Frisk gave him a look.

He glared at them, "you're thinking i'm like him aren't you?"

Frisk glanced away.

"i've never blown myself up!" he said defensively.

Frisk pressed their mouth tight together to keep from smiling and changed the subject, "The books say that a monster can only do one kind of soul magic, it's like an inherited trait." they let the sentence hang like a question and looked at him expectantly.

Sans nodded grudgingly but couldn't help a conspiratorial grin. He stepped close to Frisk and said quietly, "well, that's what they say..."

"But?" Frisk prompted, curiosity piqued.

He shrugged vaguely, glancing around to make sure no one was close by, "i've been messing around... yellow and purple are similar enough to blue magic that i think i can learn to use them to at least enhance or augment my blue magic. i'm pretty sure i've used a yellow augmented attack but it wasn't controlled and i haven't been able to replicate it." his eyes were glowing brightly as he spoke, "pop's wrote some papers on it, mingled soul attacks. all theoretical, but i'm pretty sure if i can make a focus for the attack and tap into the yellow soul magic again, i can do it."

Frisk nodded in mute encouragement.

"that's a secret, alright?" he prompted, "pop's gets tetchy if i mess with magic outside monitored testing."

"...ok." Frisk said with just the slightest undercurrent of doubt.

He narrowed his eyes.

"I won't tell!" Frisk insisted. They added, mostly for their own satisfaction, "You'd probably keep doing it even if I told."

Sans sputtered indignantly, "wha-! i-"

"Lunch?"

They both turned to Gaster in the doorway, looking at them expectantly.

He smiled pleasantly, "Conspiracy suits you, Sans, you have the perfect glower for it."

Sans hunched into his lab coat, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Gaster only watched impassively as Sans settled into the very glower Gaster had teased him for.

Sans glared harder and Gaster's smile only became more pleasant.

The strange standoff was only broken when Frisk started laughing.

Sans ordered lunch and they all ate together. Gaster returned to his office and Sans plopped down at the table next to Frisk, reading over their shoulder and adding sometimes helpful comments and more often than not, sleeping in a sort of half doze. When work was finished at six, Koshka, Jack and Alphys left. Sans picked Papyrus up and they all ate together in the lab for dinner.

Frisk helped clean up as they were finished their meal of burgs and fries, that Papyrus had whined about endlessly as they were eating, and Gaster asked if Frisk wanted them to stay with them again. Sans said nonchalantly he didn't mind, Papyrus pouted silently, but Frisk could tell they didn't want to stay. Frisk couldn't tell how Gaster felt about it.

"It's ok." Frisk reassured them and smiled, "I'll be fine."

Frisk was left alone, except for Gob who rarely left the server room, and almost seemed to be half asleep or in a trance whenever Frisk peaked inside. They used the shower and pulled on a pair of faded cotton shorts, the elastic almost worn out on the waistband, and a baggy grey tee shirt that said 'Cool Dad'. Frisk giggled when they tried to imagine Gaster wearing it.

They woke early and grabbed one of the textbooks from the pile to read in bed until Gaster, Sans and the rest of the assistants showed up. It was slower reading now that they were in the late grades, there was a lot to read about magic and history and even some interesting science relating to how magic worked. Frisk skipped the puzzle sections of the textbooks, according to the chapter intros, creating puzzles was a cultural pastime of great importance to monsterkind. Frisk did not really get it.

"Pardon me," A gentle voice rumbled from the hallway, "Dr. Gaster? I know I am early but-"

Frisk stiffened. It was not a voice they knew.

"-I spoke with Principal Huefer. He said you seemed to be hurt and I was concerned."

The voice filled the room as whoever it was stepped inside.

Panic filled Frisk, their heart pounded so hard it hurt, the hair on their arms and neck prickling with anxiety but they couldn't move. Their breath caught in their chest in shallow panicked bursts. They needed to run or hide or- They could barely swallow, every muscle in their body tightened but would not budge.

"I was under the impression that your current project was not dangerous." Footsteps grew closer.

The figure of a giant, goat-like monster crested over the edge of the book propped up on their chest. He was huge. Taller than Gaster and three-times wider. He was wearing a comfortable looking sweater and was covered in a thick coat of fluffy fur. He seemed at first glance to be like a giant, gentle teddy bear but Frisk could not pull their eyes away from the small golden crown perched between his fearsome looking horns.

This had to be the king.

As Frisk felt their face go white in terror, his expression became grim.

The rigor-mortis of terror finally left their limbs but too late to do more than scramble off the bed.

The king's gentle eyes clouded with sadness and he dropped his head, hiding his expression. When he spoke his words were tinged with anger, "...Oh, Doctor." He shook his head.

Frisk gripped the headboard so tightly their fingers paled to match the paint.

He stepped forward, his shoulders straightening, the air buzzing with magic. "I am sorry, little one," the king said sadly. He reached out and Frisk felt him jerk their soul out, with none of the care Sans had, and bind it somehow, making them feel like they were trapped in by a boundary they could not see.

Frisk tried to back away but that binding, pulling feeling on their soul wouldn't let them take more than a few steps back before they felt like they were pressed against a wall. They wanted to beg, to ask for mercy, but all that came out of their mouth was a whimper.

"It shouldn't have been this way." The king reached out his arm and a trident formed, pulsing red and so heavy with magic they could feel it on their skin.

He swung the trident out, the magic cutting through the air with a sizzle that burned the air, and Frisk felt all chance of escape or mercy disappear.

"I am so sorry." he whispered.

The raised his trident and Frisk squeezed their eyes shut.

Frisk didn't see the attack but they felt the magic as it sliced through them like a molten fire, along every nerve as their soul shattered like glass and sank them into darkness.

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No more. I won't do it anymore! I refuse. I REFUSE.

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Frisk opened their eyes, their own angry voice ringing in their head as dry furnace heat swirled around them. The yellow star of power buzzed in front of them.

Their soul was throbbing like an angry wound.

Frisk's breath caught in their throat and they choked on a sob. Sweat soaked their back. They were shaking so badly that their legs gently gave out and they sank down onto the rough stone path.

They barely registered Sans words but let him pull them to their feet even though he looked shaky too, somehow not as bad as last time, and they rode down the elevator in silence. In the lounge, Sans collapsed on the first bed. Frisk pulled the covers up from their own bed and crawled under, pulling them tight all around themselves. They pressed their face into the pillow so no one could hear them cry.

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(Next Update: Thursday, Oct. 20 2016)