"What? Frisk... You really are a funny child. If you had said that earlier, none of this would have happened. It is a good thing you took so long to change your mind. Hee hee hee. Well... I suppose. If you really do not have any other place to go... I will do my best to take care of you, for as long as you need. All right? Now, come along."
Frisk happily took Toriel's hand and followed her. It was comforting, having nothing to worry about, being led by a wise, friendly old lady they had only recently come to trust, walking under the rising sun towards a new life. It took a few tries, but they had finally done it. They got their happy ending, despite everything. Everyone was going to the surface. Well, maybe not everyone, Frisk corrected their own thoughts with a melancholy note, glancing back at the entrance in the mountain they had emerged from.
Well, it couldn't be helped. As Asriel himself put it, you can't regret hard choices your whole life. They truly had tried everything to help him, allow him to become whole again, rejoin his family in a happy reunion. But in the end, there was nothing. Leaving him behind in the rapidly emptying Underground to spend the rest of his days as a soulless flower certainly wasn't what they had hoped to achieve, but that seemed to be all they could do at this point. Maybe I'll come back sometime to check on him, Frisk resolved, and with that, their thoughts wandered back to the present.
Walking down the mountain took a while, but that was fine. It gave Frisk some time to think over everything. The rest of humanity is sure in for a surprise, they noted with a small smile, looking at the steady stream of monsters that began emerging from the mouth of the cave. Perhaps they won't think of it as an entirely pleasant one. When they accepted Asgore's offer to become Ambassador, they hadn't really thought about it, but now they realized it would probably be very difficult to maintain a peaceful relationship. Oh, well. We'll see how it goes.
For a moment, just a brief moment, Frisk was happy. Pure, simple bliss. They closed their eyes and let Toriel's hand guide them, merely listening to their footsteps and the sounds of nature around them. I've truly been blessed. And to think I was scared of these monsters at first. Their first attempt certainly hadn't been as pleasant for anyone involved. Frisk didn't like to think about that time. The fact of the matter was, they regretted their decisions and they found a way to undo them, and this time they did better. Most people didn't get second chances in life, but apparently Frisk wasn't most people. They took their chance when it was extended to them and made the most out of it.
Suddenly, Frisk paused when they noticed something, or more precisely, noticed that they weren't noticing anything. Not the sounds of nature, not the feeling of Toriel's warm, fuzzy hand, not the ground beneath their feet, not the slightly cold wind brushing their cheeks. Nothing. Frisk tried opening their eyes, only to find their eyelids had gotten so heavy all of a sudden. What's going on? Did I fall asleep standing up? No, that was wrong. They weren't standing anymore. They were... floating...? No, lying down. Frisk focused hard on trying to feel something, anything. Then they noticed something soft pressing against their side. Finally, their eyes slowly fluttered open.
What they saw was that they were lying on a bed, in a barely decorated, rather small children's bedroom. What...? Where am- Frisk's thoughts interrupted themselves. They already knew the answer to that question. I'm back home. Back in my human home, before I went to Mount Ebott. But... How...? It took nearly half a minute for realization to finally dawn on them. I'm back home, lying in my bed. Was... Was everything that happened just now... It couldn't be. That wasn't fair. That didn't make sense. Was it all a dream...?
No. That couldn't be true. Dreams were short, nonsensical romps through the unstable world of your own unconsciousness. Frisk remembered reading once that most dreams don't last longer than a few seconds; the longer ones were thirty minutes tops. This one had lasted hours, possibly even days. They weren't really keeping track of time, but it was certainly longer than dreams could possibly last for. Besides, dream logic never makes sense. It's always random and constantly shifting. Sure, things had gotten a little... wacky at times, but at least it was fairly coherent. But if it wasn't a dream, then what was it...? Have I been in a coma or something? Before Frisk could consider it further, they were startled by a loud, energetic voice coming from somewhere close nearby.
"WH... WHERE AM I? IS THIS WHAT THE HUMAN WORLD IS LIKE? WOWIE, IT LOOKS JUST LIKE A BEDROOM! WELL, THAT SURE DOESN'T MAKE MUCH SENSE TO ME, BUT I BET THERE'S A GOOD EXPLANATION FOR IT."
Wait, what...? Who is- no, I'd recognize that voice anywhere by now. Well, that put the final nail in the coffin for the dream theory. If Papyrus was here, then that meant everything really happened. But why did I wake up here? Maybe they fell unconscious, and Toriel somehow found their old home without their help, and left them here because she thought that their real mom could handle this better than she herself could...? Nah, she wouldn't do that.
"WAIT, WHY CAN'T I MOVE?! HAVE I BEEN CAPTURED? OH, NO! JUST WHEN I'VE STOPPED TRYING TO CAPTURE HUMANS, THEY CAPTURE ME INSTEAD!"
Papyrus was still rambling on, seemingly as confused as Frisk was. Wait, he can't move? Where is he? Frisk focused on trying to pin down where Papyrus' voice was coming from.
"SANS! SANS, ARE YOU THERE?! CAN YOU HEAR ME? I SEEM TO BE STUCK! DID THE HUMANS CAPTURE US WHEN I WASN'T PAYING ATTENTION?"
Papyrus' voice seemed to be... coming from nowhere in particular. He seemed to be close by, and yet, he obviously wasn't, or Frisk would be able to see him.
"huh... papyrus? hey, where are we?"
"AH, THERE YOU ARE! THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT! WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU?"
"i seem to be lying in a bed of some sort. only i can't move."
"WHAT A COINCIDENCE! ME TOO!"
Wait, Sans is here too? And they're both lying in a bed somewhere nearby? But there are no other beds in the room-
Realization finally hit Frisk. They're not just nearby.
"WAIT, WHY DO I HAVE HUMAN HANDS NOW? AND WHY AM I SO MUCH SHORTER? AND WHY..."
"bro... i think i figured out where we are. but i can't believe it."
They're in my head.
"OH NO, DID I BECOME A HUMAN WHEN I CROSSED INTO THE HUMAN WORLD? BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS A SKELETON, WHAT WILL MY FUTURE FANS THINK?"
Without really knowing how, Frisk thought aloud, speaking without making a physical noise, hoping the brothers could hear them that way.
Um. Hi.
"FRISK? IS THAT YOUR VOICE? ARE YOU CAPTURED TOO?!"
No, I... We're not captured. We're at home, my home. I, uhm, somehow... seem to be sharing my mind with you.
Sans let out a noise that could be a heavy sigh. "that's just great. i'm guessing you don't know how that happened?"
Nope.
"welp. it was worth asking. figured i'd... pick your brain."
"SANS, AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!"
"what? i didn't think you'd mind some humor."
"SANS."
Frisk suppressed a sigh. Oh boy, having these two in my head is going to take some getting used to.
"it sure will."
Frisk audibly yelped. Whoops, guess I was still thinking "aloud", wasn't I? Sorry about that.
"it's fine. it's your mind, after all. i'd hate to... brainpose."
"I THINK THAT PUN WAS YOUR WORST ONE YET. IT BARELY EVEN MAKES SENSE."
"aww, come on, bro. i still don't know what happened to get us here, but at least we're all still alive and well. i think that alone calls for a... cerebraltion."
At this point, Frisk couldn't hear their own thoughts over Papyrus' screaming.
A/N: Thus begins my first foray into the uncharted world of fanfiction. Do let me know what you think. I'm hoping this will be a learning experience. So far, I've already learned one thing for sure: I'm the worst at puns.