...It's, uhhh...been a hot minute, hasn't it? Don't got much in the way of excuses, I just kinda suck with getting myself to write, evidently. Anyways, still not dead, so let's get on with the reviews.
EpicSlayerGuy99: Thanks, friendo. Yeah, Gaster's been retired for a long while, and I'm doing my best to pay attention to the source material so that I can nail the details that need to come from there, and have a better idea of how to expand some of those concepts as we go.
Wingah: I hope y'all'll like Marian's magic, kinda curious if anyone can guess what exactly they're gonna be from this chapter alone.
XWolf26: Glad you're enjoying where I'm taking this crazy train, and yeah, spoiler alert, Marian's totally gonna rock the Mettaton sweater, seeing as her hoodie's kinda totaled atm.
With that out of the way, let's get on with the show.
I stared at the amber glow of the computer screen, taken aback both by the maddened gleam in the skeleton's gaze and the sheer absurdity of the situation. Surely he wasn't seriously suggesting what I thought he was...right? This was the plan? Would this even work?
"This wouldn't be the first time." Gaster said, making me realize that last thought had slipped from my mouth without my notice.
"...Cter...right?" I asked, though a part of me knew the answer already.
Gaster grimly nodded, his composure seemingly restored as he disconnected the empty jar of what I now realized was monster dust, setting it on the ground behind the machine.
"Many years ago, monsterkind faced a very similar threat to that which plagues it today. A human descended from the surface world to lay waste to our people, for reasons we could only guess at. The weight of their LOVE and hatred enough to lay even talented combatants low…" Gaster took a moment to check something on the machine before continuing. "...in what seemed like one of our darkest hours, Cter came stumbling into our lives. Much like yourself, he did what he could to put a stop to the madness, only to come up short."
"We needed a hero, and he was ready and willing to play the part. Through means I shudder to recall, we managed to awaken magical potential within him." Gaster explained, staring at the skull-shaped machine hanging from the ceiling.
"...means that you're planning to use on me?" I asked, a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead as worst-case scenarios plagued my thoughts.
Gaster shook his head, his grin looking more like a grimace as he chuckled.
"Oh, heavens, no...the methods employed back then were due to a lacking supply of magic to inject into the boy. It takes a great deal more than we could have possibly amassed back then, or so I hypothesize. Thankfully, we've not been left wanting for spare magic thanks to the efforts of our esteemed guest."
"..." I...I wasn't sure what to say to that. The price of magic was being paid for in the remains of countless people whose lives were being treated like playthings by a mad demigod. I waited for my text box to chime in with some asinine remark...but none came.
"I can assure you that this is our only realistic chance of putting an end to this, Marian. We need you." Gaster said, the lights in his eye sockets feeling like they were going to burn a hole in me from the intensity of his gaze. I flinched, breaking eye contact to stare at the screen again, my eyes fixed on one word. 'Magic'.
Chapter Five: Blood Price
*Now's your chance. Get ahead.
"...I-I'll do it...someone's gotta stop that kid, and, well...I knew from the beginning I had the only realistic shot of doing it, magic or no." I hesitantly said, looking up at Gaster.
"Stand on the platform then, there's no time to waste." Gaster ordered, turning his attention to the machine.
I slowly walked over towards the large metal skull, my boots clanking against the steel of the platform that kept me from tumbling into an abyss. I stared into its cavernous maw, idly wondering if the knots in my stomach were nerves or vertigo given how similar to the drop below staring into that mouth was.
"Are you ready to begin?" the skeleton asked, one hand hovering over the keyboard in anticipation.
I swallowed a lump in my throat, steeling my nerves and bracing myself for anything.
"Hit me."
The air felt like it was charged with static as light began to gather in the back of the insertion machine. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I screwed my eyes shut as the light grew nearly blinding, before it engulfed me and my world became nothing.
Phosphorescent petals and endless darkness. That's what I woke up to when my senses returned to me. I stood up and stretched, thankful that my eyes were unmolested by sunlight. They were instead treated to the gentle blue glow of the bed of Echo Flowers I'd woken up on...which seemed to be the only visible landmass within this strange void. My thoughts were disturbed by a faint little 'Ribbit', and I looked down to see a Froggit standing just outside the flowerbed.
"Uhh...hey little guy…" I awkwardly greeted, only to watch as the diminutive monster turned and began to hop away.
I hesitantly began to follow, my stomach dropping as I took my first step into the void before my foot touched seemingly solid ground. The walk was silent save for the sounds of my breathing, the only sights to see being the Froggit and the occasional drifting Echo Flower petals.
I didn't bat an eye as my froggy guide came to a stop before a yellow-scaled lizard woman dressed in a white and purple bathrobe. I stuffed my hands in my hoodie pockets as she bent down to whisper something to the Froggit, sending the little monster on it's way.
"H-Hello...umm...m-my name is Alphys. We didn't r-really get any chance to meet, b-but…" the lizard woman started, trailing off as she looked pretty much anywhere and everywhere but my eyes.
"T-Take your time, this is kinda awkward for me too...the name's Marian, by the way." I said, doing my best to stay calm and casual as I talked to a ghost(?) in the void.
That seemed to help Alphys relax a bit, and she offered a shaky smile as she held out her scaly yellow hands, sparks dancing across her claws before coalescing in a single golden lightning bolt.
"I-I know this is a lot t-to deal with...b-but you're not alone! We'll all be rooting for you...i-in the meantime, take this…"
I smiled, reaching out to accept the gift and letting out a gasp as Alphys' body began to break down into more motes of electricity and gather within the lightning bolt, causing it to expand until it was roughly a meter long.
As soon as my fingers closed around the bolt, it began to...lose resolution? The bolt was slowly engulfed by pixels, polygons, and strings of various coding languages, leaving me holding a lightning bolt that looked like it was ripped out of a 16-bit game.
*You made it your own.
I grinned like an idiot as the bolt disappeared, scarcely noticing the void around me breaking down as my senses once again deserted me.
When I came to, I was still standing on the platform and staring into the machine's gaping maw. How much time had actually passed? I glanced over to where Gaster had been standing, only to immediately regret it as a wave of exhaustion slammed into me and I stumbled. I latched onto the guard rail, doing my best to not look down as I slowly made my way back onto more solid ground.
"...B-Boxy? You there?" I whispered, feeling surprisingly lonely without it's snark. The silence was disheartening, but was thankfully replaced by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. "H-Hey Do-"
My greeting caught in my throat as I saw who it was, and I found I still couldn't look them in the eye. Chara said nothing as they made their way over to the machine, setting their jacket down and pulling out another set of canisters full of monster dust. I stared at them as they worked on getting one hooked up and starting up the machine to filter it, trying and failing to find the nerve to break the silence.
"...you aren't very good at listening, are you?" Chara dryly noted, gathering up their coat and turning to leave.
"...i-if I was, there'd be no one to stop Frisk…" I replied, shrugging.
Chara paused for a moment, the corners of their mouth twitching ever so faintly into a smirk before they let out a sigh.
"Just don't make any extra work for Gaster…" they groaned, before walking back the way they'd come.
I heaved a sigh of my own as I leaned against the wall, staring down at the hand I'd taken the lightning bolt in my dream with. Had it actually worked? I didn't really feel too different, though maybe that was just the exhaustion. My thoughts were interrupted by a softer set of footsteps approaching from behind.
"Ahh, Marian, you're awake." Gaster greeted, his eye lights focused on me as he approached, seemingly checking me over for injuries, or perhaps signs that his 'gamble' had paid off. "How are you feeling? Any discomfort? Nausea? Headaches?"
"...fucking exhausted, but besides that, no different than before…" I grumbled, glaring at the machine that had supposedly gifted me with magic.
The doctor didn't seem too phased by my response, instead firing off another question. "Have you actually tried to use any magic yet?"
"Oh, right, silly me, Doc, let me just pull a rabbit out of a hat, as all humans are known for doing on the regular!" I snapped, only growing angrier as Gaster, rather than getting upset, laughed in my face. He was damn lucky my arms felt like lead.
"My apologies, I forget sometimes that magic has fallen out of favor on the surface." The skeleton stepped around me to go and examine the console and dust filter, stifling a few more chuckles before turning back to face me.
"Would you like an explanation about how monster magic works now, or should we wait until you've had time to rest first?"
"No time to waste, right? I need it now." I answered without hesitation.
"Very well." Gaster said as he pulled his glasses off to clean the lenses. "Monsters, as you may already be aware, are made up almost entirely of magic, unlike Humans. This makes our bodies much frailer by comparison, but it also makes magic come rather naturally to our kind. A monster's magic is typically an extension of themself. Sometimes their magic is tied to their morphology, such as my own…" the doctor conjured a large femur in his hand to demonstrate, before letting it dissipate into mana. "...or for some, like Doctor Mettaton, it's an expression of identity."
"So, what, you think that all that monster magic pumped into me will give me meat powers?" I asked, stifling both a yawn and the urge to ask what kind of magic the fabulous metal man had.
Gaster's expression seemed torn between frustration and amusement, the skeleton shaking his head and sighing. "...no, no I do not think you'll develop 'meat powers', as you so eloquently put it. My point was that monster magic comes as naturally to one with it as breathing, or flexing a muscle. It's less a matter of thought and more one of action."
I groaned and rubbed my eyes. "That's not nearly as helpful as you think it is, Doc."
Gaster closed his eye sockets for a few moments, before snapping his fingers and sending a bone flying at me from over his shoulder. My eyes widened in shock as I scrambled to defend myself, pulling the still broken Tournesol from my inventory without thinking and bringing it up to block the bone, which bounced off with a metallic clang.
"GASTER WHAT THE FUCK!?" I screamed, glaring at the skeleton who merely leaned against his glorified mini-fridge and pointed at my sword while smirking.
Looking down at my weapon took the proverbial wind out of my sails as I gawked at what had become of my shitty piece of vendor trash. The blade, which had been sheared in half by Frisk's fucked up shoes, was fully restored. There was a seam between where the old blade was, and the new blade began, with a noticeable upgrade in quality. The new metal looked sharper, sturdier, more like a proper weapon than a display piece. The runes that lined the blade seemed more accurate to what they were supposed to be, rather than one lazily repeated. Squinting a little, I could make out faint little pixels and bits of code dancing along the blade.
"...what the fuck…?" I mumbled in disbelief. It...it had worked. It had actually worked. I could do magic now. That realization, coupled with the exhaustion of having one's soul molested by magic, proved too much. I scarcely felt my sword slip from my fingers as my body began to slump to the ground, my world being swallowed in darkness once more as I passed out.
OH LAWDY, SHE COMIN'. Seriously, we're getting closer and closer to the good shit. I'm hyped as fuck to write what's to come, and I only hope y'all will enjoy it when we get there, and that it'll be anywhere near as good to read as it is to think about right now. Thanks again go to my boys Ari & Gatsby, who make this story shine brighter than it would if I was left to my own devices. Consider leaving a review if you've got the time to spare and something to say.
Edit: Oh shit, nearly forgot to mention the new cover art, featuring our protagonist, which was commissioned from the ever so talented tokkomon_ on Twitter. You can find the full version on their Twitter, since posting links is apparently a nono on this site.
As always, I'm TiredWhiteMayge, and for once it's not three in the morning, so I'm gonna just keep writing for now.