Magic Lessons

Frisk and Chara are walking through the hilly plains near Ebbot City. When they reach the top of one particular hill, Frisk sets down the picnic basket he had been carrying and turns to Chara.

"So, remember when I said we were going to go for a picnic?"

"Yeah?"

Frisk awkwardly admits, "Well, we are, I just may have had ulterior intentions." Chara is intrigued. However, her excitement is quashed when Frisk clarifies, "Not the sexy kind."

"Oh."

Chara is a little disappointed. Still, time with Frisk is time with Frisk.

"So, what are we doing besides the picnic?"

"You father tells me that you've been having some… 'difficulties' learning magic."

And the good news just keeps on coming for Chara…

"Yeah…" Chara grabs her left arm and averts her eyes to instead study the grass under her feet.

Tentatively, Frisk asks, "Does he know about…?"

"No," the girl replies. Frisk had been the only one so far to whom Chara had told of her experience while fused with Asriel. The details of her and her brother's death wasn't high on her list of conversation topics with her parents.

"Okay. So I think I can understand why you may be having issues. Anyway, he asked me to try to help you with it."

Chara says nothing and continues staring at the ground.

"I'm not going to do it without your permission. I never want to force you to do something you're not comfortable with. I just really want you to learn. As with all sapient creatures, magic is part of who you are. It's in your very soul! It's the purest form of self-expression, and I want to know that part of you too."

Chara rubs her upper arms a little as she considers this. Of course Frisk would want her to learn magic; he's a mage himself. Learning would not only allow her to defend herself better, but it would also allow her to share in Frisk's enthusiasm for the arcane. This was clearly important to him.

And again, time with Frisk was still time with Frisk.

"…okay."

Frisk smiles.

"Wonderful. Let's get started then. If you ever feel like we should stop, just say so."

Frisk sits down on the grass and beckons Chara to join him. She sits cross-legged in front of him, glad she wore pants today.

"Okay, I don't know how far your training has gone so far, so I'll just start with the basics. The first thing to know about magic is that it is NOT controlled by emotions like you see in almost every anime or movie. In actuality, strong emotions can distract one's focus and make their spells weaker or less accurate. As such, it is important to remain calm while channeling magic."

"Is that why you always had that same, blank look on your face when you were a kid?" Chara teases.

Frisk scratches the back of his head and confesses, "Uh, yeah, actually."

When one of the representatives from the mage guild visited his school as a young child, he we immediately enamored with the arcane. The visiting wizard told him he had great potential. "As long as you're able to keep control over your emotions, you could become a great magic‑user when you grow up." He took this lesson to heart, perhaps a bit too strictly, but whenever he felt he was in a difficult or stressful situation, he remembered those words. Stay calm, suppress emotion, stay focused. This was also later reinforced in the Underground with Chara's urgings to "Stay determined", even if she didn't realize it at the time. No matter what, if he felt he was in trouble, he always tried to keep a straight face.

Looking back on it now, he realizes he must've looked pretty weird like that. -_-

Frisk clears his throat and continues with his lessons. "Anyway, I'm going to have you try channeling a little magic now. The first step to focusing magic is to clear your mind. Let go of any rage, fear, sorrow, or euphoria and embrace the mana in the air. Feel the streams of magic flowing around you."

Chara closes her eyes and attempts to follow Frisk's instructions. She calms herself and uses her SOUL to feel the mystical flows of energy around herself.

"Good. Now, reach out with your SOUL and gently tug some of the mana into your hand."

The teen girl complies and attempts to pull at the energy. It's surreal, but she feels the energy slowly bend to her will. Chara gets the sensation of magic beginning to flow inside her body—

Rage, panic, fear, grieving, destruction, regret, and death; Chara feels pain and conflicting forms of anguish well up inside her shared body as she is pummeled with attacks from frightened townspeople. The physical agony is nothing compared to the mournful torment of her recently lost parents. The emotions of the time overwhelm her senses as she—

"CHARA!"

Suddenly, she's back to reality on a grassy hill with Frisk. Chara realizes she had fallen onto her back and was panting rapidly.

"Chara! Are you okay?!"

Frisk was leaning over her with his arms to the sides of her shoulders. Regret and fear shined as brightly in his eyes as his red SOUL.

"Wh–What happened?"

"You just screamed in panic and fell backwards; it looked like you had a heart attack!"

Chara took several deep breaths and began to calm down. Her body stopped shivering.

"Chara, are you okay?!" Concern filled every facet of his expression. He'd been almost as frightened as she was.

"I-I'm fine… just a little shaken."

"Are you sure? The look on your face… I've never seen you so scared!"

"Yes. It was just a… bad memory. From… you know…"

"Oh." Frisk started to relax slightly.

It was at this point that Chara noticed the magical dome barrier surrounding them. Frisk must have created it out of instinct when she yelled and fell over. Even in the most panicked of times, he was at least focused enough to do that. No matter what happened, he would always protect her. It felt… warm.

"Okay… okay. You're fine…" Frisk seemed to be trying to reassure himself as he dismissed the shield. He closed his eyes and gave a deep sigh before opening them again…

…and realizing the position the two of them were in. Chara's heart began pounding again for different reasons, but Frisk quickly pushed himself back up away from her. It was a little disappointing, but she understood why. They hadn't gone that far with their relationship yet, and he didn't feel it was appropriate to 'take advantage' of her after she just had a panic attack. Still, the warm feeling from earlier gave her an idea.

"I want to try again," she said as she pushed herself back up.

"What." He said it more like a statement than a question. "Chara, are you sure? if you're not comfortable with this—"

"I'm fine. I want to do this." She was determined. She wanted to share this experience with him. No ghosts from the past were going to get in her way. "However, I want to try a slightly different approach."

"How so?"

She mimicked his invitation from earlier to sit across from her, and he complied. He was worried about her, but he knew better than to try to argue with a determined Chara. After he sat, Chara crawled forward and sat between his legs, her back to his chest.

"Uhh, Chara?"

"Just hold on a minute."

Chara reached back and pulled his arms around her. As the warm feeling returned, she closed her eyes and repeated the process from earlier. Her mind cleared, her SOUL reached out, and she tugged at the streams of magic. This time, as the energy pooled in her body, the feeling of safety provided by Frisk's embrace mitigated the terrors of the past. She was able to pour all her focus into manipulating the mana to her will. After several minutes, she had finally managed to keep a solid enough hold of the power so that it no longer slipped past her fingers.

That's when Frisk excitedly whispered, "Chara, you did it!"

She opened her eyes and saw the product of her efforts: in her hand sat a tiny ball of red energy, about the size of a cherry. It was a little disappointing to her though.

"It's kind of small…"

"You did fine, Chara. When I first managed to do this, mine was the size of a pea. You must have a natural affinity for this!" Granted, he was only ten at the time he did it, but this was still impressively quick progress for a first-timer.

"Oh, stop!" She was sure he was exaggerating, but despite her words, she couldn't help but feel proud of her victory. Not because she had managed to make a tiny ball of magic, but because she had been able to overcome her fear, if only a little.

Frisk was proud, but a thought occurred to him, "Besides," he said, barely containing his laughter, "it's not the—"

"Frisk! Don't you dare!"

But Frisk felt he had to at this point. "It's not the size that matters, it's how you use it!" He burst out laughing as Chara pushed him down and got up. She looked irritated at him for a few seconds before she began laughing too.

Today had been a good day. She got to experience one of the most powerful and ancient forces known to humanity for millennia, and she also learned how to use magic.

The next chapter for TOR is coming along… slowly… maybe about 80% finished, but here's something in the meantime!

The thought of finishing another chapter before the next ice age fills me with DETERMINATION!