Frisk flinched at his innocent question, finding herself to be genuinely out of words.
"I-Is...is this really the right...time...?"
Asriel, looking confused for a moment before realization hit him, let his eyes widen as he looked away shamefully.
"O-Oh, I'm so sorry! Um, was it...really bad? I didn't mean to bring it up, Frisk, I'm sorry."
"BRINGING WHAT UP? IF THEY'RE PUNS, YOU ARE THEN JUSTIFIABLY UPSET!"
Papyrus, head peeked out of the doorway, gave a big grin towards Frisk, who did not return it. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Papyrus slipped into a frown of his own. Taking off his chef's toque and walking over, he sat down to Frisk's right.
"WHAT'S WITH THAT FROWN, FRISK? WAS MY BROTHER'S PUN THAT RANCID? OR...IS IT NOT A PUN THAT IS UPSETTING YOU?"
The girl hesitated, but nodded. Papyrus let out a contemplative 'HMMM' and looked towards the ceiling before turning his head back towards Frisk, a patient smile on his face.
"YOU CAN TELL THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND THE ALSO GREAT ASRIEL ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE. I WILL NOT JUDGE. HE WILL NOT JUDGE. ASGORE AND TUR...TEER...YOUR MOTHER WILL NOT JUDGE."
"Papyrus? Is everything alright out there?"
"IT IS NOT, GOAT MOM. FRISK IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING A SADNESS THAT I MUST UNRAVEL!"
Toriel, making her own way out of the kitchen after making sure everything was in check, sat beside Papyrus.
"My child, what's wrong? Whenever you are sad, it makes me sad as well. Please, tell us what ails you. Dreemur, wake up!"
Slapping him on the leg, Asgore woke with a startled yelp, gripping the edges of the green couch tightly.
"W-What's wrong? Did anyone need me for anything?"
"Our daughter has something she needs to share. Something that is making her very uncomfortable."
Concern splashing across his face, Asgore leaned in close to the little group around Frisk.
"Well, we can't have that, can we? Frisk, if you'd please?"
Surrounded by her friends and reassured, Frisk felt a surge of determination in her chest. It was not much, and she knew deep down it certainly wasn't enough to carry her through this entire thing, but they deserved this much. Taking a deep breath, Frisk prepared her story not just for Asriel, but for everyone.
A good girl is...one that stays quiet and does what she's told. Daddy and Mommy told me that. It always made them happy when I didn't cry or yell. Because when I did, they'd get mad.
"What, what do you want now?!" Daddy would say. He'd say it in a funny way, and he always smelled like something that made my head fuzzy. I didn't like it. It made him get angry very easily.
"I-I...I'm hungry! And I'm cold! You never come home anymore! W-Why don't you-"
*SLAP*
Daddy would only hit me when I was bad and complained a lot. So I was being bad, and I deserved it. But I didn't cry. Crying would make him angrier, so I sat there quiet. Daddy wouldn't like it when I looked into his eyes, so I just closed them.
"Damnit, it's always about you, huh?! Daddy is bringing home a paycheck every week, and we're just barely getting by anyway! Don't you fucking get that? No, of course you don't. You're your mother's child after all, irresponsible and mouthy. You think I wanna live in this shithole, poor as fuck? I coulda been something, kid."
I wanted to tell Daddy that the reason we had no money was because he and Mommy were always going out. But I didn't, because he said he knew better. He thought that Mommy was always spending it on other people. I thought it was nice of Mommy to do that, but Daddy said that the people were bad.
...
I don't know a lot about Mommy, but she was always sad. Whenever Mommy would come home, Daddy would start yelling at her about things. Things like who she was seeing or where she was that day. She'd always start crying, and Daddy would stop being mad. He'd start being nice to her, talking in a quiet voice that meant he was dreaming.
He'd tell Mommy that one day, he'd win the pot...t-the...jackpot, that's it, and then we'd all be happy. I don't know what that is, but it must be good. He'd tell her not to leave, that'd he never yell at her again.
But Daddy was a liar.'We' didn't include me.
Frisk took a heavy breath, looking around.
Her friends were, understandably, stunned beyond normal description. Toriel and Asgore just stared at her, faces rigid in an expression that told of sadness, empathy and...anger, in Toriel's case. Asriel looked down at the carpet for a second before facing her again, and his face was scrunched up with guilt and shock. It looked as if he was going to cry again, and Frisk didn't want that. Nobody should have to cry.
Looking at Papyrus stung Frisk the most, however. There was no light shining in his face whatsoever. Papyrus' eyes were squeezed shut, and he was ever so slightly shaking. He was, however, the first to speak after a moment. Frisk thought she saw a flickering of orange fire burning in the skeleton's eye socket, but after a second more it was gone.
"...GO ON. PLEASE."
Nodding, Frisk continued.
One day, I woke up to see Daddy and Mommy smiling.
"Hey, uh...um..."
"...F-Frisk, darling. Don't you remember our...son's...name?"
I never had a name. And I was their daughter.
"Look, whatever. Frisk, we're gonna take you on a trip today, and it's gonna be super fun-tastic, ok kid? Get dressed unless you wanna make Daddy really angry."
I nodded. A trip sounded like fun. Maybe after this trip, Daddy and Mommy would be smiling more at everything.
Maybe...
They'd love me. Like I was their child.
Behind the door to my little room as I was getting dressed, I heard Mommy crying.
"I just...I just wasn't ready for the responsibility, Jerry..."
"Calm your shit, Alice. It'll be over soon. Then it'll just be you and me, and we'll be happy."
I didn't know what they meant. I was just happy that they were going to happy. I heard Mommy's voice again, but I didn't know what she was talking about.
She was filled with determination.
...I left my room and Daddy immediately scooped me up in his arms. I started laughing, but I closed my mouth. I didn't want Daddy to get mad at me before the trip.
I didn't know it wouldn't matter after this.
......
We drove for a long time in Daddy's little car. The sun was setting by the time we got to it. The foot of Mt. Ebott. Daddy told me to get out, so I did. I sat on a bench next to a big sign and waited for them to come out too. I waved to them.
"Oh, damnit! Triss, uh, we forgot something back at the house. We'll be right back, ok? Be a good...kid and wait there, alright? Alice, how fast are we gonna pick this thing up before we get our kid back?"
Mommy laughed.
She laughed at me.
"Faster than..um...q-quickly! I swear, Triss!"
That wasn't my name.
Daddy turned the car around and sped away. He drove faster than he did while we were getting there.
But I was a good girl. And a good girl did whatever she was told quietly.
I sat there for a long time. By the time I looked up, it was already nighttime. I heard crickets all around me and...something growling.
I wasn't that dumb, though. It hit me.
They left me there.
They left me there to die alone.
...
So I climbed...
Frisk took a shaky breath, fighting back a sob. Just barely, however, and everyone in the room knew that it wouldn't be long until the girl mentally broke down. And everyone dreaded it.
The taciturn, lovable hero of all monsterkind - a victim of monsters herself. Tragic irony, as many would point out.
...
It's said that once you climb Mt. Ebott, you're fated to die.
...
.........
Who...was I to disappoint...?
Frisk lowered her head into her knees, shaking. What she said next could be barely heard, but carried just as much of an impact.
"I was a good girl...I was a good girl...take me back...I wanted out...I-I...I couldn't...I'm just so tired..."
Sobbing, Frisk felt the silence suffocate her as the shadows closed in. Mentally exhausted and with her barriers torn down, Frisk's reasoning slipped away as she cried louder.
i can't do this anymore
The voices of her mother and father plugged her ears over the others' frantic screams, taunting her. Reaffirming her locked-away terrors. Frisk could see their smiling faces, laughing at her hysteric sobs and gasps for air.
A flash of blue and a familiar grin, however, stopped her train of thought entirely as her consciousness began rapidly slipping. Now in a dark void entirely separated from the world, Frisk smelt what her tired mind could only describe as 'comfort'. Comfort, in any case, from the hellish nightmare her mind was just a few minutes ago.
a kid shouldn't have to go through this. go to sleep, frisk, we'll handle everything.
Curling up into a tiny ball, Frisk did as the voice told her. She was a good girl, after all.
A/N: Holy shit drama
I promised you guys that eldritch spaghetti gods aren't coming (until next Halloween maybe). So instead, you get mentally unstable and insecure Frisk who keeps a straight face on to hide her personal problems from her friends and family, lest they disown her as well.
Whoops.
A review once described this story as "light-hearted". That...might change? No murder or anything, but Frisk and the skelebros' time travel capabilities are surely going to be brought into question.
Think of the next 1-2 chapters as a sort of drama section I guess. How will Frisk's family react to this maelstrom of tragedy? Will Papyrus do something important (answer: yes)? Is Alphys and Undyne going to stop being barely mentioned characters (answer: also hopefully maybe yes)?
Tune in next time, because things are heating up.
