We watched as Wingding stood there, focusing his magic. He summoned six bones, collected into two groups of three each. Two of the bones were the tops of some kind of animal skull. The other four were their jaws, but they split into two halves (so two pairs of jaw halves equaling four bones). They all organized themselves into two scary-looking skeletal beast-heads.
We were in the Clearing, watching Wingding prepare for a new spell he was creating. This is what he working towards his entire life, to become a spell-smith, and he was hoping that by doing it now, he would get into a higher student position in college. There was only really one, and getting more favor from the limited teachers would seriously help him. Not the best situation, but this was the Underground. All situations were limited.
Once Wingding summoned his beast skulls, I mocked, "oh, wow. You made more bones!" I didn't fully understand how these were special.
"They... look like... demonic dog skulls," Pristina pointed out. I suppose it would have made sense that she, a skeleton would've known what kind of animal these skulls belonged to.
"Yes, they are inspired by the canine design, but they are so much more than that," Wingding replied.
"They look like a bunch of bones to me," Hapi replied.
I had to admit, that's what it looked like to me, and because of that, I didn't see the point, as it didn't seem practical.
You see, I knew how skeleton magic worked, and I knew that it took a lot of magic energy to create solid matter from magic, like a skeleton monster's bone magic, and as such it's pretty exhausting. So usually, skeletons make a bunch of bones in advance and basically keep them in a box, or if they're powerful enough, a pocket dimension of sorts, and then teleport them to their side when needed.
But as a standard, the basic femur shape is practical and functional. Making a skull didn't make sense to me, unless Wingding wanted to clamp down on something, which wasn't his style. And really, how was this a new magic spell?
"...So, I'll bite, what is it supposed to do?" I asked. "Because I don't-"
"Don't worry, Chara, let me explain," Wingding replied. "These... are skull blasters. They are supposed to channel the soul power of the caster, and well..." he chuckled.
"So, show us."
Wingding put his hands behind his back. "It's not so simple. This is a new spell. I need time to adjust to them."
"Then why are we here?" Hapi asked, sounding bored.
Wingding smiled. "Because it shouldn't take long before the first successful tests." He closed his eyes and raised his hands, focusing. We watched... and waited... as nothing happened. Wingding started to get visibly frustrated, before throwing his hands down. "It should have... argh!"
Hapi rolled her eyes, and Pristina looked down. I just stared, thinking about what went wrong.
"Hey, Wingding," I called out. "Can I ask something?"
He looked up, not saying anything.
"Magic comes from our soul, right? So we already channel soul power with our magic."
"Yes, this should be an extension of that, so-" he started.
"Just listen for a sec," I interrupted, "you're trying to channel magic through magic, not a soul."
"What do you suggest?"
"I- um..." I looked at the skull blasters. They were like animal skulls. "Skeletons are all made of bones, and they use bones for their magic. So they're extensions of yourself. So, maybe... try to not just power them with your soul power... but try to connect your soul to them."
Wingding looked at me with surprise. "What! How...? That's... impossible!"
I looked down, then, determination filling my heart, I got up, and walked towards him with purpose. "It is... you just need to think of these skulls... not like tools, but TRUE extensions of yourself!"
He glared at me, then sighed as he lowered his head. "Then you do it. Reveal your soul."
My eyes widened at that, but then I nodded in agreement. Making sure my back was to Hapi and Pristina, so they couldn't see my human soul, and then I focused, and I felt (and saw) my soul, a crimson red heart, float out of my body.
Wingding revealed his own soul, and then raised his hand towards me. Suddenly, I felt something. It was the same feeling I got I summoned fire, the magic that comes from my soul. But... I had nothing summoned.
I extended my thoughts and tried to manipulate whatever this was... and found that one of Wingding's blasters moved in response.
"W-wait! Did you just give me some of your magic?! Is that even possible?!" I replied, alarmed.
"Just the one blaster. I still need to have the other to test myself," Wingding replied. "Now, let's see if YOU can determine how to 'connect' your soul to your blaster."
I didn't say anything. I just close my eyes, and focused. I thought about how Toriel first taught me magic, connecting our souls together, like what me and Wingding just did, but this was kind of different. But I tried to remember those feelings, to feel them again, and think about my soul being a part of the blaster.
After a while, Hapi said, "okay, nothing is happening. Just stop."
Wingding sighed. "I agree, Chara-"
"No!" I countered. "I can do this."
...Then, after about another minute, Wingding said, "Chara, your blaster, how..."
I opened my eyes to find that the eye sockets of my blaster weren't empty, allowing others to see into the skull inside, but filled with a blackness, dark, much like a normal skeleton monster. I watched as a red pupil appeared in the eye socket.
"Wow," Pristina replied, "it's... alive, I think."
"I spent so long designing these, made all the necessary calculations, and yet... this is the one thing I missed," Wingding said, "do you... think you can explain how you did this."
"I- ...yeah. Of course," I replied. I explained everything I thought about and felt, excluding the part about Toriel. It wasn't easy to explain, but he seemed to understand.
"...That's incredible," he replied.
"So, you didn't get your magic naturally?" Pristina asked.
"That's strange for a monster, you know, to not have their magic from birth," Hapi said.
I froze up. I didn't realize that saying explaining how I got my magic might clue them in on who I really was. But then again, I was overreacting, right? It was just magic, humans weren't supposed to have magic, so...
Wingding noticed my distress. He nodded in my direction, and turned to my friends. "Okay, let's see if I can make this work." I knew what he was doing. Distracting my friends, trying to take their minds off of me.
He revealed his soul again, and put his hand on his remaining blaster. He closed and focused again, and then... his blaster came to life.
"To work, it has to have its own life, however small," he said. "let's hope that's right."
He again raised his hand, this time he had more confidence in his eyes. His blaster's mouth opened up, and a light appeared inside it.
...And then it burst forth, a blinding white beam of light surged out, directed towards a nearby boulder... and it was blasted into rubble.
"Woah...!" Hapi, Pristina, and I all said at once.
Suddenly, Wingding collapsed. "Wingding!" I yelled as I ran up to him.
He was still conscious, and tried to get back up, and I helped him. "I'm okay," he said. "I expected this. This was just the first test... I knew the energy consumption wouldn't be balanced, not to mention it would take time to become used to this much discharge of energy. It'll take time and practice, but I'll figure it out eventually. Then, maybe I could show you how to use them properly."
He stood up to his full height. "Thank you, Chara, for helping me see what I couldn't."
"I'm sure you could of figure it out on your own," I replied.
"Perhaps, but it would've taken much longer." Wingding snapped his fingers, and his blaster disappeared.
I looked at my own blaster. "I guess I can figure out how to dispel mine later." Then I thought of something and smiled. "You know 'Gaster', these skulls are real... 'Gaster blasters', aren't they," I nudged him.
He sighed. "Please, no puns."
"Oh, come on. Admit it, it's funny."
"Well..."
"I guess it's official," Hapi said. "There now called Gaster Blasters."
He looked away. "I need to go rest, and consider the new calculations for energy consumption." And he walked.
Pristina got up, and looked in the direction he walked off in.
I walked over to her. "You know, if you really like him..."
"Wh-what?!" Pristina said quickly. "What are you-"
"Come on, you know you like him. But he doesn't. He's dense. If you want him, you have to make the attempt yourself. Don't wait, cuz it won't happen."
"...You sure?"
"Hey, I'm his closest friend. Consider this my blessing. Now go!"
Pristina looked at Hapstablook, who nodded to her. Then she smiled back at me, and ran after him.
"So, you sure this will work out?" Hapi asked.
I rested my hand on my own Gaster Blaster. "He needs to open up more to people. Can't think of anyone better to do it than her. They'll be good for each other, I'm sure of it."
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Author's Note: Okay, so now I have introduced the Skull Blasters, or as they are more commonly known as, the Gaster Blaster (and yeah, I had to name them via pun, it was so obvious). I also finally started pushing the romance between Gaster and Pristina, though, mostly because I am a terrible writer... I'll be skipping straight the results. We're almost done with this arc! Just one more time skip, and another chapter or two. And the next chapter is going to involve someone very special! So look forward to that!