Mermaid and Magic

Upon waking, Frisk felt better, physically at least. The familiar emotional numbness that they entertained before their trip to the Underground was present again. Only this time, neither Lundy nor Susie was there to snap them out of it.

It wasn't like they minded though. This empty feeling was convenient. Even if they couldn't feel happy about anything, they also wouldn't have to deal with the crushing disappointment of not finding their way back. They couldn't feel upset or angry or frustrated or scared or anything like that at all. Nothing that should have been scaring them about the past several days could touch them.

Kade collected them from their room that morning. He put a bottle of Gatorade in their hands and told them to drink it while he walked them to Eleanor's office.

Her office was a mess. Normally, it maintained an adult level of organisation, even if there were colourful trinkets and baubles that showed off her Nonsense. This office had trinkets strewn across the floor and resting on random sheafs of paper that were scattered across the desk. Several file folders were open and clearly missing various parts. Books were laying about, open and in the strangest places. Clearly, Eleanor was clearly having a rough time.

Frisk tried to offer their sympathies, but their voice sounded wrong and insincere.

Eleanor and Kade explained what had happened since the night they left. That night, Jill had tried to kill another student, only to be stopped by Jack, with Nancy and Kade as witness. Nancy, who had seen Jill with the knife, sought help from Jack and Kade to stop her.

Jack then revealed that she had known how to go home all along, though she had been advised by her mentor to wait a year for tensions to cool in the Moors. Apparently, Jill was the reason they had needed to leave in the first place, and the twins could either wait out the villagers' anger or bring Jill back dead.

Jack made the choice to kill Jill and return to the Moors. The next morning, as Nancy was preparing to leave, she disappeared through her door. Or that's what everyone assumed. No one witnessed her departure, but her room was packed and seemed suddenly vacated. It was the most reasonable assumption.

Of course, they had assumed that Frisk had found their way back as well. The only reason that their room hadn't been packed up yet, was that they were all still dealing with the aftermath of Jill's murders. Frisk was lucky that clubs were still allowed to run, and that the outdoor education class decided to have a campout. If they had stayed in the sun for much longer, they might have ended up too delirious to find their way back to the school and died of exposure.

Heat stroke was a fairly light punishment for their actions, all things considered. They were instructed to stay inside and take it easy for a few days while making sure to stay cool and hydrated. Frisk could only nod and accept it. After all, they brough this on themselves.

Even losing permission to attend campouts for the next month didn't phase them. They just nodded and asked if they could be dismissed for lunch. The explanations were good to have, and the punishment seemed fair. It was supposedly for their own good, after all.

In the end, it didn't matter. If the Underground wasn't taking them back, they didn't care. That was the only thing they wanted, and it seemed to be out of reach. If they started growing again, then it would only be proof that the Underground had rejected them too.

Half-finished letters to Eleanor and their parents sat in their desk drawer. Frisk decided to keep them for now, on the slim chance that they might find the Underground again. If they were able to go back, then they didn't want to have to rewrite the letters from scratch. Even so, they weren't inclined to try to finish them just yet.

Summer days blurred together in a haze as Frisk let time pass them by. They were taken by surprise when the outdoor education class leader asked them why they hadn't signed up for one of the campouts, only to find that their one-month suspension had long passed. Frisk went through the motions and lived through the summer one day at a time without fully engaging in anything.

They kept to themselves, eating meals alone and spending their ample free time in out-of-the-way corners of the outdoor area practicing magic. The exercise became almost meditative as they refined their control over their soul.

It was during one of their routine practices that Eleanor asked them to give the newest girl a tour and help her get acclimated to the school. She wouldn't be living with Frisk permanently, but her roommate was currently sick with a cold. Eleanor gently requested that Frisk allow the new girl – Cora – to stay with them for a few nights.

Frisk slowly nodded. It wasn't like they cared. They didn't need to talk to her outside of showing her around. It was when Eleanor reminded them that they would need to make space on Susie's side of the room that a strange emotion started tickling their chest. They couldn't identify the feeling, but the thought of moving Susie's things seemed impossible. If they removed her things, it would be like losing their connection to her.

But they had no choice. Eleanor said to make space for this Cora girl, so that's what they would do.

When a short, round girl showed up at dinner that night, Frisk was finally forced to accept that they would never be able to see or Susie again. They would never hear her shout at them or laugh with them or even speak of her friends with the special admiration she only held for those raised in the Dark. There would be no more chalk candy stashed away in drawers, or side glances of annoyance. They knew all of this in their mind. They tried so hard to be happy that their friend had found her way home, but the loneliness hiding underneath the false smiles showed itself when silent tears fell from their eyes. They couldn't feel whatever pain was making them cry, but they knew it must be there somewhere.

Starting tonight, Susie was gone for good.

Cora came to sit with them as Eleanor directed. Frisk didn't know what Cora thought about the crying child that Eleanor had pushed her towards, but they decided it didn't matter. She would only be staying with them until her roommate got better.

Frisk quickly wiped their eyes with their sleeve, curled their lips upward, and introduced themselves.

"Hi, I'm Frisk. Cora, right?" Their voice sounded strange to them. Perhaps it was because they had barely spoken since the Jack and Jill incident a couple months ago. It was what, August again? Their birthday must have passed at some point. According to Earth, they were thirteen now.

Cora nodded. Frisk took a proper look at her. Her hair shimmered like light refracting in water, highlighting the different shades of blues and greens that streaked through it.

"Sorry if it's not my place to ask, but are you doing okay Frisk?" Cora asked. Her eyes were tilted in that way that Frisk associated with pity.

They pitched their voice up a little to make themselves a bit more enthusiastic. "Never better!"

"But… Weren't you just crying a second ago?"

"No idea what you're talking about."

Cora seemed to drop the subject. That was a nice change. Susie never let things go just like that.

That didn't mean that she wouldn't bring it up again later though. The two ate in silence for a bit before Frisk decided they needed to distract her. The fewer questions she asked, the less Frisk would need to think about her once she moved into her proper room.

"What kind of world did you go to?" Frisk asked.

Cora blinked in surprise and paused before answering, "I went to a Drowned world called the Trenches. Wicked and Reason, according to Eleanor, though I don't quite understand what that means yet. The Trenches never seemed Wicked to me, but I think Reason is an appropriate label to give it. From what I've heard, Eleanor's world didn't exactly follow cause and effect rules. My world had rules that made sense."

"That's pretty cool!" Frisk commented, "The Trenches… You said it's a Drowned world, so you must have lived underwater. Were you a fish? Or a whale? Or some other kind of sea creature?" Frisk looked at Cora with their magical gaze. Her skin appeared scaly, but nothing besides the colour stood out as different from her physical form. Instead of the blue, green, or cyan that they expected, Cora's soul was a bright orange. "No, a whale doesn't make sense. Whales don't have scales. Were you a fish then?"

"No…" Cora glanced at her bare arms for a moment before looking back at Frisk, "I'm a mermaid. How can you tell I have scales? I can feel them under my skin, but no one else knows that they're there."

"I went to an Underground world called… Well, the Underground. Moderate Nonsense and Virtue. I'm a red-souled human, so I have some kind of red powers. I don't know what exactly they're meant to be, but I can see people's souls. I see the colour and the form that they currently take. Yours is a very pretty orange, by the way. I can't see your mermaid tail yet, but the scales are there. You must have a fairly strong connection to the Trenches still." Frisk explained.

Cora disagreed. "I wish. If I hadn't threatened to try again… Well, maybe I would have made it back. I don't know. It almost seems like the Trenches won't let me back. I haven't been given the chance to try though."

That sounded ominous. Frisk couldn't help the small curiosity trickling through their emotional barrier. They took note of Cora's expression before deciding not to question her about it. She was frowning into her food and kept her gaze low. Whatever she was going to try again, it certainly wasn't something she was proud of. Regardless, it wasn't any of their business if she didn't want to talk about it.

Finishing supper didn't take too long after that. Frisk gave Cora the usual tour and explained about the nightly group therapy sessions. Eleanor was doing her best to run them, but the strain of taking on responsibility for the sessions on top of running the school was apparent. They knew that Kade was taking on some of the administrative responsibilities, but he couldn't do everything yet.

After showing Cora the door to her future room, Frisk took her back to theirs. Susie's axe was tucked under their bed with their suitcase. Her candy stash was stuffed into their desk drawer. Her clothes had been donated to Kade. Her other personal trinkets had either been tucked away in the remaining storage space on Frisk's half of the room or were donated when Frisk ran out of space to keep more. Susie's side of the room was bare and lifeless. It was almost like looking at a reflection.

When Cora sat down on Susie's bed, the weird pressure in their chest made them curl their lips up higher. They couldn't tell exactly what expression they were making, but it definitely wasn't sad or lonely or any of the other things that they might be feeling behind the barrier. It made Cora do a double take when she looked up.

"So… I guess this is where I'm staying until my roommate gets better?" Cora asked, "It's… nice I guess."

"It's plain so you can do what you want with it. Probably. Eleanor is big on self expression and hope." The edges of their mouth were feeling the strain of holding the forced pose.

Cora shrugged and started sorting through her suitcase. She pulled out some very soft-looking pajamas and put her toiletries on the desk. "Hope is all we have, sometimes. Does this place have a bath? Or is it just showers?"

"There are shared bathtubs, but most people prefer the showers. The other Drowned girl here usually spends so much time in the tub that no one else is willing to wait, even if they'd prefer a bath over a shower." Frisk answered. Maybe it was because this place was so new to her, but Cora didn't strike them as an orange soul. She seemed so… meek, submissive. Kade wasn't particularly physical, but he was still strong-willed, opinionated, and jumped into his new responsibilities fully without a second thought. They kind of wondered what happened to Cora, but it was none of their business.

If hope meant a lot to her, they'd let her live out that fantasy. If she could be happy here, then they weren't going to be the one to ruin that.

Cora went to take her bath and Frisk let themselves sink into their desk chair and rest their head in folded arms on their desk. Once their face was covered, they let their muscles relax. It had been eight months since Susie went home. Why did it still bother them so much? Why couldn't they bring themselves to get rid of her stuff? She wasn't coming back. She would never need it again.

It was too much now. Cora was probably a nice girl, but she wasn't Susie. No one could ever be Susie. And now Eleanor was forcing another girl to be in Susie's place, even if it's only for a little while. Couldn't she see that this was a bad idea? Reason is closer to Logic than it is to Nonsense, so why were they chosen to be Cora's temporary roommate? It made no sense.

Frisk sniffled a bit as their eyes burned and blood rushed to their face. They couldn't feel sad or upset right now, so why did their body insist on trying to cry? As forcefully as they could, they pressed their eyes into the back of their arms in an attempt to push the stinging back inside. Unfortunately, that just made their nose start burning instead.

Why couldn't they just push it all down? It had been working just fine since that day they got heat stroke. Why was their barrier failing now? Where was the leak and how could they plug it back up?

A stray tear made itself known as it made a small damp spot on their sleeve. This whole situation was unfair. If only they had found the Underground again. If only they hadn't collapsed in the heat, they could have kept looking. If only they were more determined, it might have taken them back. No matter what, it just circled back to the same question: what else could they do to prove their determination?

So far, they weren't enough.

As they snorted back a particularly loud one, Cora opened the door and returned. Of course she had to come back now, of all times. Frisk put a large smile on their face and looked up to see Cora staring at them from the doorway.

Upon seeing at their face, she quickly shut the door and adopted a concerned look. "Um… the bath was occupied, like you said it might be. And… I was just going to get my sandals for the shower. Are you… Sorry. I don't want to bother you."

Frisk widened their eyes, partly to create the air of openness and honesty, and partly to try to disguise the redness of their face by contrasting it with their eyes. Cora's expression didn't change, so it probably didn't work.

"You're not bothering me." they half-lied. This situation wasn't Cora's fault. She was just the unlucky person who got caught up in their grief.

Cora sighed. "Frisk, I'm not stupid. Something's up, and you're not happy that I'm here. I get it, I wouldn't be happy rooming with me either. You don't have to fake it though. I've been bullied enough in my life, and I'm not interested in taking it from a ten-year-old."

Perhaps this conviction is where Cora's bravery comes from. The soft orange glow from her chest seemed to agree. As nice as it is to confirm the appropriateness of her soul colour, Frisk couldn't let that insult slide.

Frisk let their teeth show through their wide smile, "You're what, fifteen? I'm barely younger than you. My social security card says I'm thirteen, but with the amount of time I spent in the Underground, I'm probably somewhere between thirteen-and-a-half and fourteen. I know you never met Lundy, but no one here takes kindly to being judged by their appearances. Some of us don't look like we should."

Cora paled but stood her ground. "That's good to know. Sorry for making assumptions, I really should know better than that." She shifted her weight and crossed her arms before continuing, "But that's all I'm apologizing for. If you don't like me, that's fine. At least tell me now so I know where we stand, and we can spend the next few days ignoring each other."

"Honesty is what you want?"

Cora nodded.

"Fine then." Frisk nodded their head and paused for effect. They stared straight into Cora's eyes as they gave their verdict, "I have no opinions of you whatsoever."

There was a brief pause as Cora took in that information. Once she had seemed to understand what they'd said, she responded with exasperation, "Then what the heck is up with your behaviour? The things you say don't make sense!"

"Nonsense kid."

"That's not what I meant!" Cora put a hand on her forehead as she thought about how to rephrase her question. "What I meant is that… It's not that the things that you say are nonsensical or non sequiturs. It's that your actions and your words don't match. And don't try to lie and say that they do. You're a decent actor, but I've lived my whole human life at the whims of bullies and manipulators. I am intimately familiar with social cues and the subtleties of body language and micro expressions."

Frisk was surprised by the admission. Did Cora really have no sense of preservation? To reveal all that to someone who was essentially a stranger and who, by her own admission, was constantly trying to deceive her, it seemed rather foolish to them.

"So what exactly do you want from me? Once your roommate gets better, we probably won't see each other much, or talk again. We're in different grades, from wildly different worlds, and probably going to be placed in different therapy groups. My electives and clubs are all physical in nature, and, no offense, but I suspect that physical activity probably isn't your thing."

Frisk kept a smile on their face the whole time. Kill with kindness, right? And if they let the smile fall, they weren't sure if they could stop their barrier from falling a little with it.

"Now who's judging by appearances?" Cora commented, "Just so you know, I was top five in my class in track and field and the fastest on the swim team at my high school. My fat figure is metabolic, not caused by laziness or a sedentary lifestyle. I maintain a balanced diet of complex carbohydrates, vegetables, and lean meats, match my caloric intake to my activity levels, do cardio every day and actually enjoy morning runs, especially when it's cool and misty, just before the sun rises. If anything, the time I spent in the Trenches only improved my fitness levels. Swimming is quite a workout, especially with the years I spent constantly underwater, fighting for my colony."

That was a surprise. But then again, she did have an orange soul. Actions beyond the natural physical means are the manifestation of orange magic.

Their smile was slowly morphing into a grimace.

"Sorry. That was rude of me." Frisk attempted to put some emotion into their words, but even they could tell that their inflection was flat. "If you join the outdoor education or self defense electives, then we might see each other on Fridays."

"Unless swimming is involved, you will be happy to know that I'm not really interested in either of those." Cora told them, lowering her arms back to her side. "But you're right. We don't owe each other anything, and probably won't ever speak again after this week. In the interest of coexistence, I am willing to pretend like this conversation never happened and start over."

Frisk nodded their assent. If she was willing to forget their lapse in behaviour, then they would take it.

They stuck out their hand to offer a handshake. "I'm Frisk. I'm almost fourteen years old and my world is the Underground, moderate Nonsense and moderate Virtue. Nice to meet you."

Cora returned the handshake. "I'm Cora. Fifteen and I'm a mermaid from the Trenches, Wicked and Reason. Good to meet you."

While they could still feel some emotions beating against the barrier in their mind, Frisk could feel the redness fading from their face. Once again, they could easily be calm and neutral.

"So this is going to be your side of the room for the next few days. I hope we can get along. Are you in tenth grade like your age suggests? Or did your mental age diverge while you were in the Trenches?" Frisk asked. Since this was a boarding school, asking about it seemed like a relevant and safe topic.

"I spent years in the Trenches but woke up back on Earth after only a minute had passed. It was… a less than pleasant experience. I had let myself forget how I had escaped Earth in the first place. I didn't expect to have to deal with the consequences. Sorry, you asked about school though. Yeah, I'm still in tenth grade. I suppose you're in eighth grade?"

"Ninth, actually." Frisk shook their head, "I lived with a monster in the Underground who had wanted to be a teacher. Circumstances led her to living near the Underground's uh… main entrance. The Ruins are a secluded area, no kids to teach. The next town over was governed by the King, and she didn't want to deal with him. That is to say, I was her only student. I was there for probably about six months? I didn't keep track of time very well. Anyways, we covered most of the seventh grade curriculum together, so I was able to skip ahead to eighth grade in my core subjects. Social studies, second language, and the arts, I stayed in seventh grade. When I dropped one of my electives, I managed to double up on those classes to get one grade ahead in all subjects."

"Impressive."

"Thanks."

"I do have a couple of questions for you though, if you don't mind." Cora said, "If it's too personal though, just tell me you'd rather not answer."

"Uh… sure?"

"You told me at supper that my soul is orange. What does that mean?"

"Your soul is primarily expressed through bravery. It's hard to tell if that means you're naturally a brave person, if it's something you value highly, or if it's how you truly express yourself. I've met people for whom all of these could be true and my magical education in the Underground was pretty basic. Orange magic tends to involve performing actions that would normally be beyond your means." Frisk explained.

"You're the only one who would know why Bravery might be your dominant soul colour, but I can tell you that it is an appropriate reflection of you. When you stood up for yourself and challenged me, your soul glowed. As far as I can tell, when your soul glows, it means that you're showing your true self or using your magic. Since you weren't running or swimming at high speeds, I'm assuming you were expressing your feelings."

"That… actually makes more sense than it should, I think." Cora commented but didn't elaborate. "So, and tell me if this is too personal, but how did you find your Door?"

"I was climbing a mountain. I found the hole at the back of a small cave. I slipped in while I was looking around." That information was relatively harmless.

"Mine was in the ocean, formed in the reflection of the water through the seaweed."

"Do you want to go back?"

"Absolutely. If I never had to breathe the air again, I would dive off the nearest cliff into the ocean to reach the Trenches." Cora said reverently, "I'm a mermaid, and I belong there."

Frisk watched her soul grow to a brilliant orange. It was a small sun glowing in her chest. Her skin almost seemed to shine. They had no doubt whatsoever about her conviction. If given the chance, they knew that she would charge forward without a second thought for anything else.

In that moment, Cora was the embodiment of her Bravery.

"What about you, Frisk? Would you go back?"

Frisk took a deep breath and fortified the barrier in their mind. All emotions were tucked away, leaving nothing but pure determination inside.

"It's not a matter of want. I will get back there. I need to go back there. The Underground isn't a place that I'm meant to stay. Not me, and not any other human. It's speculated to be somewhere on the Linearity axis. People go and the Underground changes them before spitting them back out. I don't know exactly how I changed, but when I left, I made a mistake. I'm a red soul. I will go back and I will change the outcome. There's a way and I'll make it real."

The world drew sharply into focus at the same time everything faded into the background. In front of them was an orange mermaid wearing the white outline of a human. The beds and desks were solid white without shadows, yet somehow still textured enough to distinguish. The rest of the world was black.

No sound passed between the teenagers. Frisk could feel their lungs moving, but their own sound didn't reach their ears. Looking down, they only saw a small red heart floating in the dark. Somehow, after all this time, they had triggered a fight. Maybe this was a breakthrough! This was the most magic they'd been able to use so far. Could this be a key to finding the Underground?

They took another deep breath and chose to spare Cora. Starting the fight was an accident and they didn't intend to hurt her. They just let their magic flow and followed their determination.

As they let the breath out, colour faded back into the world. Cora didn't seem to notice that the fight had occurred.

"Whoa, your eyes started shining during your speech. What was that about?"

Frisk took a moment to look at themselves. Their eyes scanned their arms and legs while they let their magical senses flex and flow. They didn't look any different. Their magic seemed to still be enveloping their whole body. Maybe their eyes felt a little warm, but that was the extent of it.

"I'm… not sure actually. I accidentally triggered a magical fight." Frisk paused for a second when they realized how bad that might sound, "Don't worry though! I didn't do anything! I chose to spare you and the fight faded away."

"Uh, really?" Cora quirked an eyebrow. She seemed skeptical.

"Really. Nothing weird happened. Promise."

"If you say so." Cora said as she walked over to Susie's bed. She dug into her suitcase and found the sandals she had come back to get. "Well, it's been a good talk, I guess. I'm going to go take that shower now. It's uncomfortable having dry hair for this long. See you when I get back."

Frisk watched her leave. They were about to sit and stew on their thoughts for the rest of the evening when Cora popped back in for the second time.

"Oh, and… I know I said I'd forget what happened earlier, but you seemed pretty upset about something. If you ever need to talk… Well, we're all in the same situation here. I'm happy to listen."

Finally, Frisk was left alone to think about what they would do next.