Ring of the Artisan

Act III Ch. 2: An Artist Never Stops Learning

sorry this is late i've been [insert excuse here]
nah jk i've just been procrastinating by working on another story. i've gotten into both undertale and terraria yet again and started making an undertale fanfiction because life is heck

this is also another filler chapter apparently oops

~

"Please tell me if this hurts, Acrylic."

Acrylic sternly nodded his head as you shifted your hands around his neck. To figure out how to make a new body for Cider, you needed to learn all you could about your oddball friends. You thought that a good first step would be to try and figure out how you can change your friends' biology. You managed to give Hourglass wings. Perhaps you could give Acrylic a voice.

It was a lot of stress on your end, but you did your best to keep your breathing calm and focus sharp. With the world around you mostly quiet (save for the busy traffic below and Lloyd chatting with Polar and Pirate), it made it easier to sense Acrylic.

This was something a bit new to you. You never really sat down and meditated on your Element. You only used it when you needed it. Now, though, with hardly anything major going on and stressing you out, you had time to study your Element. You could feel the presence of art without even seeing it with your eyes. You could feel Acrylic's presence before you—an ever-shifting mass of such a variety of art materials. Your strange "vision" even extended towards Polar and Pirate, though it was extremely weak compared to Acrylic due to how far away they were.

All you needed to do was to change something within Acrylic without hurting him.

You could hear the music within Acrylic's system without actually hearing it. It felt so strange to you, but you did your best to ignore the strangeness of it all. You need to focus. The sooner you can master this ability, the faster you could bring Cider back. The faster you can reunite Capstan with their lost sibling.

You focused on the music. Was there a way to change it? A way to manipulate it into a voice? You guided the music towards Acrylic's neck, right where a voice box should be. You could try and use this music to your advantage, right?

Acrylic suddenly jumped backwards, startling you out of your trance. "Ah, sorry!" You exclaimed. "Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to!"

Acrylic shook his head before opening his mouth. He quacked.

You were frozen stiff. Lloyd's conversation with Polar and Pirate immediately stopped. "...Huh?" You softly asked.

Acrylic quacked again, exactly like a duck would.

Lloyd softly giggled before he burst out into pure laughter. Pirate mimicked Lloyd's laughter, and Polar could only silently sigh with his camera-head in his hands.

"No! No, no, no; it's not funny!" You flushed red. You were embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Acrylic! I can fix it!"

Acrylic quacked and honked again and again, though he didn't seem upset or angry in the slightest. He was laughing, too. 

Your face slowly lost its redness as a small laugh bubbled up. You shook your head and laughed. "Man, I'm really sorry, Acrylic," You got your laughs out before turning serious. "I didn't hurt you though, did I?"

Acrylic shook his head before tilting his head and letting out a quack.

"It's... probably weird, I know," You slowly replied. Acrylic nodded, and you sighed. "Well, uh... This is a step in a direction! Right?"

Acrylic nodded again before returning back to his original spot. He sat down before you and patiently waited.

"Again?" You asked. "Uh, I don't... know if I can."