One World: Many Souls

Chapter 27: Musically Correct

Frisk's Point of View:

"Frisk!" The holler of my only female best friend left me groaning as I stepped out of the shower. "Are you ready to go yet! We're going to miss all the bacon if we don't get moving! You know how it is on Wednesday morning!"

"You know, you could stand to not eat so much of it, Sophie! It's going to sit exactly where you don't want it!" was my quip back to her.

"Oh, piss off! Its once a week and I work it off during practice!" The door to our bathroom was shoved open and she hooted loudly at me, causing me to jump. "Move!"

I sighed. It was too early for that shit. Sophia normally wasn't an early morning person like I was, but Wednesday was the only day she'd been hooting and hollering up a storm to get me and our other best friend Asriel going. Bacon. Endless buckets of cooked bacon. A Wednesday treat put on by the college. It was the only day of the week they had it and they just let the students grab as much as they wanted. Sophie was one of the few that required a lot of it. It was one of her favorite foods since the sausage at the school tended to always make her sick. She would inhale too much of it before rushing off to classes and practice later in the day.

But it was something that mattered to her, so no matter how tired I was, I had to get up and go with her. Even if she was more than capable of going on her own and eating it without us…

Ignoring the tired feeling in my body, I hurled on some warmer clothes. When I was remotely dressed, I walked back into the main area of our room. My roommate and best friend was already waiting there with an irritated look to her face.

Sophia and I bunked together when we came to the college. I needed some independence from Angel and Sans once I got through most of the worst with recovering from Luke. Talking to them about getting into the dorm was actually a really hard thing to do. Neither of them liked it until I presented the idea of Sophia being my roommate so I'd have someone to fall back on. And Asriel would be staying on campus with us as well. He shared a room with another human just down the hallway. Angel had made sure that we were close together in case of anything negative happening or if we needed to gather and rush back home.

She just… couldn't take the chance after nearly loosing me.

It made me happy she cared so much, but it also hurt. One thing I got from the whole Luke fiasco that I didn't notice until things had settled down was just how much my magic had grown from the event. It was a painful and terrible ordeal that caused my magic to just… come to life. I could recognize the hundreds of chains that filtered around me now, that sensed the emotions and intentions of others. Without even talking to them, I knew roughly what they were thinking and what they wanted.

And it was fucking overwhelming.

I only told Asriel about it. He seemed to understand just how painful it was when you alone were suffering. I didn't want Sophia to worry. I would normally just tell her I was having a little spell if I was off. I wasn't sure if she bought it anymore, but I was trying to keep the peace as I worked through how powerful my magic had become.

I could feel every tiny movement. The chains I could just barely see around me. They were like feelers stretching out and searching the terrain. They were all knowing, all powerful, no bend or break. I wondered often if that was how Angel felt when she came into her magic more as she was my age. I wasn't even nineteen yet, but I knew that Angel had those abilities sooner than myself with all the trials she had to go through.

A soft knock came to our door at the early hour and Sophia was quick to answer it. Asriel waited on the other side with a tired look to him. I could feel him coming down the hallway in his half-asleep form. A large yawn came from his muzzle when he stood in the doorway waiting on me to be ready.

"Come on Frisk! Azz is here! We gotta go before it all gets passed out!"

"My fucking lord, woman. They do it all morning. For crying out loud just chill."

"Hurry up!" Her screech really hurt my ears. Granted I didn't have to say another word as other angry voices from up and down the hallway screeched at her to shut it. Sophia pouted meekly, but kept her voice down after that.

I pulled on the rest of my winter outfit before I was finally ready to start the day. My Wednesday was always a lighter day, and if it wasn't for the bacon, I wouldn't have been up at all before noon. There wasn't a reason to if my class wasn't until three. Asriel had a similar schedule. Our heavier days were Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Sophia on the other hand had early classes all week long with Wednesday and Friday being her heavy days with many classes. We really didn't share classes with each other much, though the political classes that I took I did share with Asriel.

Oh my god, the material was so boring… but… I knew it would help in the long run with assisting my sister with house events and issues in coming years. I figured I'd help out at least a bit as I grew older and as she was having children of her own. Asriel helped me learn the material I struggled with. Just like his mother he was a calm and teaching sort of person. He handled stress well in later years as he adapted to having a soul again and being a person. Sometimes he had his moments, but we were there to help him when he fell.

I had no plans at the exact moment to be a partner to anyone after all that I'd been through with Luke. The fact that he was gone for a couple decades was never going to be enough. The trauma he put me through, what he tried to force of me… It still petrified me…

But I had to be strong. No matter how afraid I was, there were others who needed me. I had to be determined and push through whatever got in my way.

A sudden hand on my shoulder caught me off guard as I rose my head. Looking toward the opposing figure, I saw it was Asriel who held his grip on me. Sophia was so many paces ahead of us rushing off in the direction of the cafeteria. She didn't even notice how we were too far back.

"Frisk?"

"Sorry Azz. Got a little in my head."

He only squeezed my shoulder more.
"You're doing it again."

I pouted at him. "What?"

A small smile settled on his features, but then turned into that muddled concerned and worried face at the same time. "You're acting like Angel. Taking on the world all by yourself when you know you can ask for help. You're not supposed to have all the answers and you're going to have a bad day here and there."

A deep sigh escaped me. "How the fuck can you read me so well…?"

"We've all been in that dark place before Frisk." He pulled back his hand, but then it turned into a one arm hug while we walked. No one was there to notice us in the early hours except our other best friend who was too far out before us. "And you forget that with the magic you and Angel have, you can read just as easily as you can give out. Your emotions are flipping all over the place. I'm surprised Sophie can't feel them."

I struggled with that, my fists opened and closed while trying to rein myself back in. It was still hard. It had once been the other way around with Angel being the potent one where you could feel her everywhere. I used to be so receptive to it as I grew because she needed me to be that blinding light to keep her going when it was just us. But times… they'd changed. She didn't need that anymore as her family grew and my journey had just begun into my adult life.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I…" It was so bad when I turned into my sister so much. Her bad habits rolled onto me as I got older. Her desire to hold someone's hand… it became my own. The warm arm that Asriel held around me I pulled off in replacement to hold his hand instead. "I was thinking about school and recent classes, and then… my mind just couldn't help but drift to Luke."

Asriel's hand gripped tighter in my own when I mentioned that name.

"He's not going to get you, you know. You're stronger now, smarter. And I doubt your sister would ever let him or his family back into the country."

"While great… that doesn't help me when I think back to those times." I hated when my body started to shake. Was it the cold of January? Was it my fears? Was it both? Probably. "He was in my mind… I still feel like he's there sometimes. I can feel the imprint he left on me, and I'm petrified that he's going to just… take me over again. And that time I won't be so lucky to have you saving my sorry ass."

"He isn't going to get you."

"You don't know that. What if he uses his magic on the guard? It was so easy for me to be overtaken and within a handful of years he had complete control if it wasn't for you."

"But he doesn't have control now and Angel won't let him near you, and neither with I." Asriel I felt stop and yank back on my hand to halt me. The nip of the early morning air was freezing me, but Asriel's warm body protected me from that when he yanked me into his arms. Our hands still held so I could have that most recent craving in the previous years. "We made this special arrangement for you. Angel made sure I shared most of your classes and you had a few with Sophie too. So, you always had someone with you that you could lean on if you wanted and needed. But if you didn't and it felt like too much pressure, we would leave only if you wanted to. But that's your choice."

"I know…"

"Have a little faith. I'm not telling you to relax or not be careful or anything, but believe in your better skills now and those around you. We're here to help you, so let us. Okay?"

The words Asriel said were something I could work with. I needed to still be aware and weary about others, I still had to be strong as I slowly healed. But he and the others were there. I just hoped… that what happened to me in the past wouldn't happen again. I let my young teenage anger get the better of me and that was his way in. A one-way ticket into the heart and what not of Frisk Terians.

And he almost ruined me if it wasn't for the friends and family I had that never gave up on me…

"Right." I slowly nodded against Asriel's neck and chest area that I just could reach. He had gained so much height in recent years. He stood almost a foot over my head. He and Papyrus matched in height. "Sorry… I'm still… working on that…"

"And that's fine. No one expects you to be healed up and back to normal before you're ready. This guy… he fucked with you for so long… just getting you to be somewhat normal was a year. It will be a lot more before you can really push him to the back of your mind and forget that sorry excuse for a living being."

And that had me laughing. Finally, some of those terrible feelings let loose. Like the vice grip that Luke once held me under, finally did the uneasy feelings go away. Being that of a user of chains, if often reminded me as if there was a shackle around my neck that finally broke free and would land in a pile of shrapnel at my feet. I could pull free from being bound and move forward.

"Now before I forget, did you get that latest paper done for the political battle taking place in the Hanora region?"

I pulled back, pouting at him. "You just had to ruin our moment, didn't you?!"

Asriel only raised an eye brow. "I'm assuming that's a no."

"God. I'm not that bad. It's done, yes." I sighed, eyeing him just out of the corner of my eye as I turned away. "But it could use a look over probably."

"You want to look over mine and I'll look at yours once that glutton has had her fill?"

"Yeah, but let's get our own too. I've dealt with too many strong emotions that I'm hungry now too." His hand was still in mine, I hadn't dared to let that go. "Come on Azz. Sophie's going to notice us so far behind her soon."

"Yeah, you got it. You gonna practice today?"

"I think so. Once you and I look over each other's papers, I think it'd be good for me to work on that song I'm making for my creative writing class as well as music class. Both teachers said I could use the lyrics I write as a poem for the class while implementing it as actual song lyrics for the music I'm writing up."

My friend blinked at me while we continued our travel. "You're not done with it already, are you?"

I shrugged. "The music just flows through me, but the lyrics I'm struggling through. The song I have is… I guess the best way to describe it is like a battle. Some of the tones come out a melodic garble at times like classical versus modern. Or… something like that. Maybe two personalities fighting one another? I feel the lyrics should be something similar, but that's never been my strong suit."

It was at that moment when I felt a sharp tug on my arm. I let out a startled yelp as I looked back, seeing my friend there with a wide-eyed look on his face. He stopped in place, but his grip was too tight for me to get free. Granted I didn't really try…

"Azz?"

"Shit… Frisky, this might sound crazy, but hear me out."

I was surprised at the words he used, or perhaps I should say the tone and volume. Asriel normally was calm and collected. It wasn't often when he applied more force to his vocals. He had me curious, but also a tad worried.

"Okay… what is it?"

"Use your experience with what happened with Luke as inspiration."

The air that I had was trapped into my throat. I froze as I stared at my friend.

"Look, I know I sounds crazy, but I just want you to hear me. You don't have to do it, but you struggled with Luke for so long. You had no idea he was controlling you. You were locked away, with no key and no hope of escape. You said once that once his control as gone, it was like shattering a mirror, right? You heard the glass just… breaking before you flung yourself at me. Is… is any of this maybe hitting the cord you're trying to reach?"

And the scary part was that he was right. The words he was saying, some of them almost matched perfectly for what I was gunning for with the wayward music I had written. My hands began to twitch as a perfect moment of inspiration and workaholic-syndrome hit me like a sac of bricks.

"Book! Pen!"

Asriel rapidly reached into my bag to grab them before, handing them over without another word so he didn't disturb me. Words started to fly across the page with what I had to get down.

And I barely noticed when my friend had picked me up to follow after Sophia. The bird girl still so far away in bacon land that she didn't even notice we hadn't been behind her for so long. I didn't even register when we got to the cafeteria, or when I was set at a table with food before me.

I had words to write. Lyrics that were finally hitting me as I'd had a road block for so long.

College was hard, trying to do a dual degree was even harder. I'd struggled, I'd lost, but I'd recovered. And I would use those hardships as a building block to keep shoving me forward so I wouldn't have to suffer ever again.

Witch's Note:

Okay first off, sorry for the delay folks, we've been having trouble with internet until literally two pm eastern time. But! Yahoo! Another chapter down where we have some Frisk love! Seeing her in college with Asriel and Sophie to make sure she's comfortable and can function, but also not too close like overwhelming.

Granted, it is still sad to see Frisk struggling even after the year or two of recovery from Luke, thought he did have hold of her for almost three years, so it does make sense. But at least its more mild and seems to be much more manageable.

But anyway! We have many things to cover! So let's go ahead and start with some reviews!

Thechaosmaster: I was very excited to bring Lilly back into the fray in that chapter. I'd wanted to include her much sooner, but with her being a house member of another country, I had to play that carefully. Even if she was Angel's friend in the past, there are still certain duties that she would need to handle as one of those of the house.

But it seems that since her brother took over being the head of the family, there's no issues for her as she gets her own apartment and is finishing her degree in Terians' territory and becomes friends with Papyrus! And I'm totally with you Chaos, regardless of what happens, she will be good for him, friend or more. I know what your hinting at! But that's okay, I can't say more or else I'd ruin it for you!

And good luck with the writing! Having a plan in great, but I find so often I do a bit here, and do a bit there, and so on… XD I'm not great about sticking to the order. Good luck! Trust me, we writers need it!

unfortunatlyriverwastaken: River! Oh my goodness! Its so good to see you! It seems that a lot has happened since we last talked. We're glad your okay. We were certainly worried. Every time reviews come in each week, we take a tally to see whose there and not. Seeing who isn't, you know, sometimes we speculate as to what happened, like someone is busy with school or on vacation. Work got too crazy or maybe something happened to a friend or family member, or worse, themselves. We speculate, but there's not much we can do besides wait and hope for the best.

But we are really happy to see that your okay and back. And I empathis with you. While it wasn't me leaving home, it was my brother. For the last six years he left state for college and we weren't close by any means if something was to happen. So, I'm the worried sibling in this case, but it was hard. But my brother got through it and just finished his degree this last spring. He's done with school and now we're trying to help him get a job… XD

Shadow8Phantom: Ah Shadow, always the one to pull up all the juicy dirt on my chapter! I love it! As I said with Chaos earlier, I don't want to reveal to much with Papyrus' beginning of his relationship with Lilly, but if it did end up that way, it would be really good for him. Your entirely right that someone from the house of kindness would be great. To help sooth his pain and boost him up to that level of greatness he always had and was, but improve upon it as he grew.

Papyrus is not the same cinnamon bun we always knew back in the beginning. While still sweet, he's certainly been hurt by past experiences that he's slowly working on under the radar and with the help of his family when he lets them. More of his issues will come to the surface as he grows and learns, but also as he forgives and moves on. But it's a timely process. It was four years ago when the tin can hurt him. His little baby bone is a toddler learning how to speak. Roughly about two or three now. That wound has had some time, but it still needs more to heal and surpass what happened.

Not A Shady Guy: Shady! Yes, yes, yes! Look at this amazingness! Whether it turn into romance or not, just a good honest, kind friend of the opposite gender for Papy seems ever so amazing in my book!

And yes! You can't tell me that Papyrus would get anything less then the top ten scores when he applies himself to something. I had to show that he was no different then anyone else by giving him a slightly less the perfect score, but damn! Second place? I can't remember the last time I did that well in anything…

Man… what another great chapter as we keep moving forward! Speaking of Papyrus as I've done a lot in this review, we're sliding back over to his POV next time! Look forward to that everyone!

Love you all and see you next week!

Halloween Witch and Mystic Girl