Exams. Why were exams a thing? You leaned back in your chair, groaning as you rubbed your eyes. Fuku sent you an amused glance from across the table before going back to her own textbooks.
You were acing your classes, and knew all the material you'd learned. Why were exams so conducive to fretting over? There was nothing you could study that you didn't already understand, so why were you so adamant to do so?
You stretched your arms, finally able to get your non-dominant one all the way over your head without pain. It wasn't a full range of motion yet, but it was certainly getting there. A clawed hand plucked the textbook out of your hand as you leaned back.
Alphys stood before you, a terrifying grin on her face. "Well, Punk, your day has come." She informed you, dragging you out of your chair and haphazardly tossing the textbook back onto the table with your others.
"Wait, wait! What day?" You questioned, trying to get your feet beneath you in order to follow properly.
Alphys stopped to open your front door as Fuku waved goodbye, turning a page in her study guide. "Did you forget? Training, Punk!"
You yanked your arm back as she tried to drag you outside. She looked about to protest until you bent down to pull your shoes on. A little physical activity sounded wonderful just then.
Alphys took off down the street with a cackle. You jogged along, keeping up without too much trouble. After about twenty minutes of jogging, Alphys turned the two of you into a park where Sans, Chara, and Papyrus were waiting.
You slowed down, waving to your friends. Enjoying your progress, you signed a proper 'hello' to the child. Their face lit up as they ran to you, engulfing you in a hug with Sans only a couple of steps behind. "Long time no see, Kiddo. How's it, Sans?
"I AM DOING WELL, _. WE ARE WATCHING CHARA TODAY, SO PAPY WILL KEEP AN EYE ON THEM WHILE YOU TRAIN WITH US." Sans responded, explaining the situation. You turned to Chara.
Chara's hands flew, but you only caught the sign for 'books'. When you explained this, they finger spelled, B-E-C-A-U-S-E Y-O-U W-E-R-E L-O-S-T I-N and repeated the 'books' sign. With a laugh, you apologized. I-M G-E-T-T-I-N-G B-E-T-T-E-R.
"You'll have to show me later, after training. Got that time-stopping down?" You asked them with a wink.
Papyrus's vehement "what?" almost distracted you from Chara nodding their head. You turned to find the skeleton glaring at the two of you. "you're teaching them magic?" He demanded.
"I wouldn't call it teaching." You replied immediately. You weren't Chara's teacher. Chara's eyes turned to you knowingly. "Definitely practicing together though."
Sans interrupted whatever Papyrus was going to say next. "TODAY WILL BE MOSTLY WORKING OUT SO WE CAN SEE HOW FIT YOU ARE."
Well, that would get your mind off of exams. You should have asked your friends to distract you earlier. Before they could tell you what to do, you fell into some simple stretches. You were nice and warmed up after that jog, so it was a perfect time.
They really brought their A-game for you. They started off by running around the park twelve times -three miles. Following that was several core exercises, like crunches and leg lifts. Then came sprint races. You could beat Alphys, but Sans trounced you.
You severely slowed down when it came to the arm exercises, wary of your still-healing shoulder. Neither of your trainers complained, probably aware of what you were doing. It gave you a chance to breathe.
It also gave you the chance to gaze around. You enjoyed the scenery until your eyes landed on the two lazy butts not working out. Why was Papyrus scolding Chara?
You had stood and were walking over before you even realized what you were doing. A quiet, "you promised," hissed by Papyrus was all you needed to know what was going on. This was ending, now.
You caught Papyrus's bony wrist in your hand, dragging him along behind you in his surprise, thoroughly confusing Alphys and Sans. You moved far enough away that the two of you could speak quietly and not be heard.
"what the hell?" Papyrus demanded, trying to yank his arm from your, admittedly sweaty, grasp. You tightened it in response.
"Someone needs to talk to you." You began seriously. "And all things considered, I guess that someone is me." Monster magic pulsed under your grip, but you ignored it, finally turning to look at Papyrus. A quick glance told you that Sans and Alphys had moved to stand with Chara since you'd stolen their guardian away.
"let go." He growled, an orange glow growing in his eye-socket.
"No." you took a breath to calm yourself. "Look, I get it. You guys don't know much about human mages. You might think you do, since monsters have magic too, but we don't work the same way." Papyrus stopped struggling, eying you in confusion. "Never, ever ask a human mage not to use their magic." You emphasized.
"you don't understa-."
"I probably do, actually." You interrupted. "Chara is a time mage whose specialization allowed them to make and return to temporal locks. If I'm reading this correctly, you can remember what happened in those times that never existed. It's a sucky feeling, knowing that everything is just gone over and over."
"so, you-."
You interrupted again. "That does not excuse trying to give them a death sentence." You hissed at him. His jaw snapped shut audibly, finally ready to listen to you. "I've already had to explain this before, so I know you don't know about it. That is the only reason I'll excuse this stupid promise you forced Chara to make. Humans can't just ignore their magic. If they do, the magic will keep building up until it literally explodes. Yes, it is fatal."
Papyrus opened and closed his jaw several times, grasping for something to say. Despite the fact you were willing to listen this time, the skeleton couldn't seem to summon any words.
"You're lucky they found something else to use their magic on these past six years. If they hadn't, either they would be dead, or you would be right back at that starting point." You finally released his wrist. "Chara is trying to erase that first temporal lock you don't want them to go back to. In order to do that, they need to learn to use their magic better. You are going to release them from this stupid promise, or it will keep them from learning properly."
Still seeming at a loss for what to say, Papyrus nodded dumbly before turning to walk back to the others. He paused a few steps away. "how long would it take?"
"To overload? It depends on the person, but generally a few months."
He turned to look at you again. It was as if he had just realized something. "You seem to know quite a bit about it. And you're pretty invested."
You waved a hand at him dismissively. "Overloading is explained to mages when we're elementary school age. We all know about it." Can't say you're wrong though, you thought.
You turned to walk back to where you had been working out as he returned to Chara. Sans and Alphys met you there without a word, despite their obvious curiosity. "Where were we guys?"
"It's all good, Punk. I've got a pretty good idea of your fitness level." Alphys informed you. "Not too bad, for a human that doesn't work a physical job."
You begged to differ on that point. Waitressing was a very physical job. You did, however, concede that it didn't involve much running.
"INDEED. YOU ARE MUCH MORE FIT THAN WE EXPECTED." Sans informed you, his usual grin a bit strained. "IT SEEMS, FOR THE MOST PART, YOU JUST HAVE TO LEARN TO FIGHT."
You flinched a little. When they said training, it was so easy to forget exactly what it was they wanted to teach you. Still, they weren't wrong. Especially lately, it seemed you had become a magnet for trouble.
Sans laid a hand on your shoulder. "WE KNOW, _. BUT WE ALL WANT YOU TO BE SAFE." He informed you seriously.
You chuckled. "Guess I'm pretty easy to read, huh?"
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA!" Sans shouted, barely covering up the same sentence from the other two monsters present. Even Chara chipped in with sign. I-T-S B-E-C-A-U-S-E Y-O-U-R-E I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y.
"Huh? Integrity? What's that mean?" You questioned.
Y-O-U-R S-O-U-L I-S B-L-U-E. L-I-K-E Y-O-U-R M-A-G-I-C. B-L-U-E M-E-A-N-S I-N-T-E-G-R-I-T-Y. The child signed back as the three monsters looked away in embarrassment.
"Oh. Your Soul would be red then, right? What's that mean?" You questioned, easily catching on.
"Chara's Soul represents 'determination'." Alphys answered for them. "You've been around monsters this long and don't know about Souls, Punk?"
You paused. "Is it something you guys normally talk about?" All of them hesitated. You guessed the answer was no. You shrugged. "If I have this right, Souls are a thing that can tell you what kind of person someone is?"
"more than that. the soul is the culmination of your being. it's everything you are."
"So almost like the human definition without the religious connotation? And colors mean separate traits then." You mused, beginning to understand. "I suppose it makes sense that it's the same color as someone's magic."
Alphys seemed to relax as you took the information well. Sans still hesitated though. "I GUESS HUMANS AREN'T AS CLOSE TO THEIR SOULS AS WE ARE. YOUR SOUL IS PRETTY, JUST LIKE YOU." He announced.
You felt your face heat up. Sans had just called you pretty. Your Soul too, whatever that meant. You doubted he was trying to flirt, but it still made you turn cherry red as his words echoed in your mind.
Trying to recover, you motioned at him. "You're pretty handsome yourself." You informed him before mentally screaming at yourself. Why am I flirting with him?
His cheeks turned blue and your revenge was complete.
Was that all there was to it, though?
Overloading. That's what you had called it. He had just thought the kid had broken their promise the last time. Papyrus hadn't even listened when they tried to explain themselves. It hadn't occurred to him until your forceful explanation just how different magic was between humans and monsters.
It had been his fault that time had turned back again. Chara had tried to keep their promise, and it had killed them. He'd been so upset, he'd forced them to reset again as he took out his frustration, and it had been his fault the whole time.
He supposed he count the small blessing that you didn't know it.
You. Who knew you had the kind of moxie to drag him off and lecture him, even with his magic pulsing right beneath the surface ready to attack. You had known it too; you just hadn't cared. He'd known you for a few months now, and you'd never been so forward before.
Although, considering the subject matter…
He didn't know what to say as he strolled back up to Chara. How the hell could he apologize for something like that? hey kid, sorry our promise killed you? sorry i killed you again? Right. Like that would do it.
"overloading, huh?" was what came out of his mouth. He almost cursed at himself for his stupidity. After this large of a screw-up, was he trying to seriously project blame elsewhere?
Chara gazed at him knowingly. You had projected during that talk, but as a human there was no way Chara could've sensed it. Perhaps they just knew how to read you. 'Don't worry about it.' The child mage signed at him.
"dammit, kid. at least let me apologize." Papyrus complained.
Chara smiled. 'You're forgiven. I should have explained it better.'
What even was this kid? There was no way, were their roles reversed, that he would have forgiven so easily. He tried to talk again, but Chara had turned their attention to you.