You laid in the abyss. There was no light, no sound, no anything... just you. This was a reoccurring dream. Your hand reached for your chest, and could feel the pull of your soul, it's yearning to be released. You obey, sitting up as you allow your soul to float free. Holding your hands out beneath your heart, you could feel pulses of DETERMINATION emanating from within the beating red soul. You felt a tinge of guilt. This power was not yours, but the first FALLEN child's, Chara. A memory surfaced, one you didn't entirely recall. You looked into the soul and saw the scene playback. It was you, falling, onto the bed of flowers.
The collision with the ground had caused you indescribable pain. You laid on your golden death bed, waiting for death when you could hazily see your soul float out of you. It was bright red, and you could feel your determination pulse through you, the power that had kept you alive and sane for so long, but now cracks had begun to spiderweb throughout your soul, and you could see your heart's beat begin to slow. If you could laugh, you would have, but the blood you kept coughing up stopped that in a hurry. Finally, you could rest. The hurt would stop. You had resigned yourself to this slow death, but it was as you shakily drew what you thought would be your final breaths that you could sense the light touch of a hand on your shoulder. You tried to turn to see what had grazed you, but black spots clouded your vision as you tried to move. You could make out a mess of light brown hair, rosy cheeks, colorful band aids adorning the cuts on their nose and chin, and big crimson eyes staring straight through you- except, you could only see one eye? You could only see half their face, the rest was covered in yellow said something, but you couldn't hear it. The buzzing in you ears was too loud. They smile, and it was the most sincere, sad smile you had seen in a long, long time. The scene goes dark.
You look away from your soul, and into the void. After that, you remember waking up, perfectly fine, with a thought; a goal; A directive. You remember determination running through your veins, you remember the drive to save the monsters, to save them all. Looking back, the feeling felt so foreign, it didn't seem like your idea, at least, not at first. After meeting Toriel, you began to empathize with the monster's situation. You wrapped your arms around yourself, hugging away the feelings- the pain you could feel in your bones even in this dream. You didn't want to think about this. You know the feeling of being trapped. You hated that feeling with every fiber of your being.
Then, you suddenly became very self-aware of your body outside of this void. You were in that big machine. You had been for hours. You had repressed your fear of being in such a small space so that you wouldn't have to take medicine to fall asleep. Your thoughts began to hasten, becoming more and more negative. Fear gripped your soul. Memories resurfaced, and you could see scene after scene stream through your soul like a TV screen . You screamed at it to stop, squeezing your hands into little fists until you could feel your nails biting into your skin. You couldn't bear to take your eyes away from your soul, however. You were frozen. The images passed so quickly but each one cut into you little by little until you began to feel numb . Suddenly, your vision clouded. You felt lost, the determination in you long gone, instead replaced with insecurity. Then you hear a buzzing in your ears, and as you sat in the void devoid of life, a voice came through the static.
FRISK.
You didn't respond, too lost to the darkest reaches of your mind. You were so done. You wanted to leave your mother. Leave her to suffer by that man's hand. How disgusting. You deserved to die. You wanted to kill him, make him suffer. You were a monster.
Why did you climb the Mountain, Frisk? Was it foolishness? Was it fate? Or was it... Because you...?
You felt a tug away from the darkness , but still the pain of memories persisted. You wanted to die. Your bones ached and cracked.
But You REFUSED.
Your soul felt heavy, like you were so close to remembering something important.
Despite Everything, It's Still YOU
Suddenly, the good memories came flooding back. You remembered your new family, your friends, your DETERMINATION.
You woke up, beads of sweat coating your face. You looked around. You were still in the MRI machine, and while your heart raced, you felt an eerie anxiety wash over you. You closed your eyes and focused. No one seems to have noticed you had woken up. You took a deep breath, held it, then released it. You felt restless, scared, and on the verge of tears. You also felt the need to pee.
"I'm going to be completely candid, Mrs. Toriel. I have been a radiologist for over 20 years. I have seen a lot of people and a lot of bones. It is rare I am surprised. Rarer still baffled. And to be frank, this is unprecedented. I cannot count the number of fractures your child has sustained, there are just so many. Too many of them have healed improperly. Without proper treatment, these bones, muscles and most important their nerves became irreparably damaged. " The doctor gestured toward the display next to her, an image of Frisk's skeleton taking up the screen. Anyone, human or monster, doctor or not, could tell there was a lot wrong with this skeleton. "I will approve the surgery to fix that gash on their side and the realignment of their ribs. However, this will only solve some of the most immediate concerns for Frisk's health. The extreme amount of damage and lack of proper treatment these injuries received... I honestly can't tell you what I am more surprised by; the fact that child is alive or that they are able to walk." Toriel didn't dare look at the doctor. Instead, she stared at the monitor, studying every detail of her child's skeleton.
"Their health will deteriorate gradually the older they become. The more they grow, the more stress it will put on their damaged nerves and bones. In a couple of years, they may only be able to walk with the use of crutches, then when they can no longer use their legs, they will only be able to move via wheelchair. They will need constant care, at home, here, and physical therapy. Not to mention the amount of mental trauma this all will have caused them..." The doctor cleared her throat, causing the boss monster to tear her eyes away from the screen and look at the doctor.
"It has been brought to my attention that you and your... family, have been talking with the police and FBI for the past few days. I have been required to share my findings with them." Toriel raised a weary eyebrow at the doctor. The doctor stuffed her fists into her lab coat. She chewed on her lip a tad before adding to what she had said. "I do not believe any of these injuries were caused at the time of them falling into the Underground, or by any of the inhabitants residing there at the time, Mrs. Toriel. Most of these are old and past the point of fixing without putting Frisk in danger of more serious complications." The doctor's eyebrows furrowed, and she looked frustrated.
"...Purely off the record. When they catch that... horrible man... that did this to your child... I hope he suffers. I hope he suffers till his last breath, but in the end, that won't even be a tenth of the pain Frisk has gone through." She sighed.
"This all sounds bleak and hopeless. However if my years of experience has taught me anything, it's to expect the worst and hope for the best, and I hope for the absolute best for Frisk."
Toriel gave the doctor a small smile. She extended her paw to the doctor, and the doctor did not hesitant to clasp the monster's hand between her own.
"There is always hope, Ma'am."
"That there is, Doctor. That there is."