#nib-art

Nib walked around Firerise, a little boss monster skipping closely behind. Under normal circumstances, a child following him constantly would end up being annoying, but he was new to this alternate universe, and he needed a guide around this place. He may as well entertain the child’s curiosity.

“Are you really from another universe?!” Asriel asked excitedly.

Nib gave a small smiling nod in response. “Your universe is similar to mine, but only swapped,” he started. “For example, in my world, instead of ‘Firerise’, it is ‘Waterfall’, and Alphys is the Royal Scientist while Undyne is Head of the Royal Guard.”

“Whoa, no way!” Asriel exclaimed. “Golly, that’s funny! Weird, but funny. I can’t imagine someone as powerful and awesome as Alphys being a nerdy scientist! I wonder what the rest of your universe is like...”

And then, an odd brief silence. The once chatty child seemed to have stopped talking. Nib wondered if Asriel had ran off or something. He turned around to still see Asriel there.

“Cat got your tongue?” he teased.

“Heh, naw.” Asriel just fiddled with the hem of his sweater. “Just... still thinking about your universe, that’s all... It’s gets boring around here in Firerise. We don’t get many visitors. All the exciting stuff seems to be happening at Coldsea. And I’m stuck here in Firerise.”

The situation reminded Nib of his old storyline, how he was scripted to have a past as a ghost bored to tears in Waterfall and longing for excitement. He was distanced from that characterization now, but still knew full well how that boredom felt like.

“I could show you what some of the people from my universe look like,” Nib offered.

“Really? Cool!” Asriel exclaimed. “Er... How do you plan on doing that?”

“With this.” Nib grabbed the giant pen behind his back, gripping the holder tightly.

The young boss monster just cocked his head over to the side, a confused look spreading across his face. “Are you going to draw pictures with that thing?” he asked. “You’re going to need a giant piece of paper for that.”

Nib shook his head. “Oh, I’m not an artist. Not in that sense, at least,” he responded.

Asriel just cocked his head over to the other side, looking even more confused. “So... then... what are you going to do?”

Nib gave a small wink. “Just watch. You’ll see.”

Nib closed his eyes and let some of his magic flow and enter into the pen holder, eventually letting it pool down into the metal tines. And with one swift move, he hit a point into air and let the magic burst out at once. Musical scores danced in the air, the leitmotifs slowly forming shapes of the persons they represented, before eventually disappearing.

The whole thing lasted for a few minutes, but it was enough. Asriel was wide-eyed, his mouth hanging open in awe but with a very huge smile.

“Whoa.....”