Chapter 1 : First signs
Frisk opened their eyes to the white ceiling of their room.
Morning. A voice inside of their head greeted them.
"Morning, Chara" Frisk responded via thoughts.
It had been a little over two weeks since their adventure underground, and around a week since they had been enrolled into school again. They were now living alone with Toriel, in a house on the surface in the outskirts of a human city.
Their life had changed so drastically within those couple weeks that they still at times struggled to believe it. They had a place to live in, they had a family, they had friends.
And you have a disembodied voice in your mind commenting on your life.
Yeah... Also that.
They had first felt Chara's presence shortly after their fall underground, and whilst they were originally as weirded out by their presence as Chara was weary of them for being human, the two of them surprisingly ended up becoming becoming very close very fast. Now, Frisk considered Chara as their best friend.
Aw, thank you !
Oh, did they mention the part about mind reading yet ? That was a thing too between the two of them.
As they got up, Frisk noticed that they had a little headache. It didn't hurt much, but it was certainly enough to be a bother.
Perhaps there is something in the bathroom that could help with this ? Chara proposed.
The eight fallen human checked only to find out that there was no such thing in stock, actually there was little to no medicine at all. It was hardly surprising, they had only moved here very recently after all, Toriel hadn't gotten the time to buy such things yet.
It was alright, it was just a small headache. It barely even hurt at all, surely it would be gone within a few hours. Frisk believed they would be able to handle it. And even if it did persist, they could just ask Toriel to get them something later on, they weren't in a rush.
You could ask her right now.
"She's busy with paperwork and i have to go to school" Frisk pointed out. "Even if i did, she wouldn't be able to get any before i left. I would just be making her worried for no reason".
"Its okay." They added when they felt Chara worrying about them. "I'll be fine".
"See you soon, my child" Toriel waved them goodbye as they were about to close the door behind them.
"Bye, mom !" Frisk told her as they stepped outside of the house.
For some reason, when they had called her 'mom', it had come to them far more naturally than it usually did. Whilst they were happy to refer to her as such and had been almost immediatly, something just felt different today. It was like Frisk had known her as their adopted mother for years, even it had been less than a month since they had met.
As they walked down the same path they did everyday, lost in thoughts, Frisk reflexively brushed their hand over their forehead as they felt a drop of sweat rolling down their face.
Despite the fact that it was September, Frisk felt a little hot.
Sometimes i do not understand you Frisk. You were able to bear Hotlands' temperature surprisingly well and yet you feel hot here ?
Frisk stopped walking and shrugged in the middle of the street. They were lucky no one could see them or they would ask themselves some questions.
As the day passed by, it became apparent to Frisk that their headache wasn't going away as easily as they had thought. This made it a lot more difficult to concentrate in class as their train of thought kept getting interrupted by minor spikes of pain.
Chara would have made a snarky comment about how they had been right to insist earlier, but they could tell that Frisk wasn't really in the mood for any of that right now. They decided to keep quiet instead.
Once their school day was over, Frisk ended up surprising Chara.
Wait, really ?
"Yes"
Why ?
"I don't know" Frisk answered. "I just feel like it today."
The human grinned. "Not that you can complain ! You'll taste it too !" They pointed out while walking to the vending machine.
They were right of course, Chara was glad that this was happening, but it didn't prevent them doing finding it a bit weird.
Whist Chara had always had a particular liking for chocolate, Frisk did not. They didn't hate it either, they had been fine with eating it once in a while for Chara's sake as they could taste what Frisk did as well. But as far as Frisk's own tastes were concerned, they didn't really like chocolate. If given the choice between it and another kind of candy or sugary substance, Frisk would be very likely to ditch the chocolate in favor of the other option.
This was why it felt so surprising to Chara to hear Frisk say that today, they wanted to buy chocolate from the vending machine. Chara's first thought was to think that this was for them, which partially, it was. But Frisk had insisted that in addition to wanting to make their friend happy, they really did just feel like eating chocolate for once.
When Frisk took their first bite, Chara took a moment to savor the treat. Afterwards, they attempted to peek into Frisk's thoughts. The latter noticed this and voiced out loud what they had been thinking after their bite.
"This tastes better than i remember" Frisk admitted. Unlike the few times they had eaten some for Chara, it did actively make Frisk want to eat more. Not just for their friend but for themself too. They actually quite enjoyed this.
Maybe we found a brand that you like better than the rest ? Chara innocently proposed.
"Maybe so" Frisk concluded. They began heading home, still with what was left of the chocolate in hand. They would end finishing it while walking.
Chara made a mental note of the name of the brand before Frisk threw the paper away in the matching recycling bin. There was a bin at the school too but it wasn't getting recycled and having the chocolate for the trip just felt convenient to them.
Once they made it home, Frisk did end up giving in and asking Toriel to get them some medicine for their headache. Which the ex-queen took to the heart as she left almost immediatly in order to obtain it. She was very protective of her children.
In the meantime, Frisk began making use of what remained of their afternoon by opening a book. Them and Chara silently read through it, only being interrupted once when Toriel came back with Frisk's treatment. The latter thanked her and after reading the instructions carefully, swallowed the pill along with a glass of water in the bathroom.
Hopefully, their headache would be gone soon now.
And why were they still so sweaty ?
A couple hours later, dinner was ready.
Despite the fact that they had monster food, which was transformed into pure energy, left no waste, and overall just tasted really good, Toriel insisted on making them eat some amount of regular vegetables. This was because she had read it was healthy for human children.
Unlike most kids would have, Frisk didn't really mind it that much as they always had a taste for healthy food anyway. But even they had to admit that monster food was just much more convenient overall for all kinds of reasons.
As Frisk took their fork using their left hand and quietly ate their meal (although they didn't feel very hungry today for some reason), Toriel gave them some information on how things had been progressing regarding relations between humans and monsters. It had only been a couple weeks since they left the underground after all, this whole thing was still a huge mess for now. Frisk had not accepted when they were asked to serve as an ambassador for monsters. Not because they didn't want to help of course but simply because they felt like they wouldn't have been up for the task. And going by what they had heard, it had probably been a smart call to let a more competent adult deal with this instead.
As they got lost in those thoughts, Frisk served themself a glass of water, filling it all the way up to brim without even realising it.
Toriel's expression changed when she noticed this, first it reflected a small shock before turning into a nostalgic smile.
"Isn't that a little too much, my child ?" She asked them.
Frisk snapped out of it and noticed that they had indeed served themself too much water.
They scratched the back of their head in embarrassment. "Oops, well at least there aren't any spills."
Now, Toriel was the one getting lost in thoughts.
"A long time ago, i knew someone that always filled up their glass. So the liquid was just peeking over the brim." She mentioned.
Frisk noticed Chara suddenly taking renewed interest in the conversation from the depths of their mind. They nodded to Toriel to show that they were listening to her story.
"It was the most efficient way to fill it, they said. Regardless of how thirsty they were." Toriel let a small giggle as very vivid memories came back to her. Frisk quickly reciprocated as they found the idea of filling a glass this way for the sake of efficiency both silly and funny.
They did not feel any amusement from their companion however, just little bits of... embarrassment ?
This made a couple puzzles pieces click in Frisk's mind and they immediatly brought it up via thoughts.
"That was totally you, wasn't it ?"
I will neither confirm nor deny these accusations. Chara kept their mind closed off from Frisk for a moment, which ironically was extremely telling.
"Im taking this as a yes."
Take it the way you want to take it.
Toriel had told them she would let them have a nice cream for dessert. Whilst Chara made a mental complaint about how when it was dessert she was suddenly fine with monster food again, Frisk waited for Toriel to come back with it.
And waited.
And waited.
Why was this taking so long ? Shouldn't it be just a few rooms away from here ? It shouldn't take more than 20 seconds to go get it, yet it had already been two minutes.
Jeez, Frisk. I remember you being more patient than this. Maybe she just checked the wrong place or got a phone call while on the way there. Its not like its gonna disappear if you wait.
The human almost pointed out that Chara was being a bit of a hypocrite by calling them impatient, but Toriel came back with their treat before they could do so. After giving them a little talk about brushing their teeth after eating (which made Chara giggle as they remembered a joke Sans told them using Toriel's phone about brushing their teeth before crossing the street), Frisk opened the wrapper and Chara read what it said.
"Is this as sweet as you ?"
After letting a little smile escape, Frisk opened their mouth and prepared to give the nice cream a lick.
No, it isn't. You're the sweetest. Chara responded to the wrapper's message.
Frisk was lucky not to have any nice cream in their mouth yet, otherwise they would have likely spit it out as they coughed in surprise. Their cheeks turned pink and they blushed a little. They were not prepared for their tendency to flirt with people when they least expect it to see how they'd react to be turned against them like this. And especially not by Chara of all people.
...I can't believe i just said that.
"Me neither" Frisk admitted. Unsure if they should be proud of their friend, embarrassed by what they had said or simply laughing it off.
But it was worth it ! That reaction was priceless.
Their face slowly turned into a smug as they winked into what might appear to be empty space for any outside observer. "Looks like im rubbing off on you, Chara".
Shoo. I just wanted to try that once to see the kind of face you'd make. Im not like you, i do not flirt with my mother. They denied it.
"Well at least i a-" Frisk was about to respond before they were interrupted by sudden pain again. They put down the nice cream and held their palms against the part of their head that hurt, as if that would make the pain magically go away.
This thing still hurts pretty bad. It is getting a bit concerning. Chara mentioned after feeling Frisk's pain.
Frisk nodded before letting go of their head now that the pain spike had passed.
Eating nice cream probably doesn't help with the headache either. If you had told Toriel that it still hadn't gone away yet, she likely wouldn't have given you this nice cream in the first place.
Frisk didn't say anything, they knew Chara was right about that part.
They still ate the nice cream anyway though. They had taken the pill for the headache already, it should be fine.
"Thank you for the dinner, mother" Frisk voiced out while helping with filling up the dishwasher. This again reminded Toriel of her first human child, who often addressed her similarly. This was not a subject she should be bringing up with Frisk though.
Frisk ? Can i give you some advice ?
Frisk mentally gave them approbation while they left for the bathroom to brush their teeth.
I think we both noticed that you've not been in your best shape today. On top of that headache that's been annoying you all day, i can tell that you just felt tired overall. You haven't been acting like your usual self either and you've been sweaty all day.
What im trying to say is, there's something unusual happening to you today and i think i might know what that is.
Frisk, interested, mentally prompted them to continue. They too had felt like something was off today but they had been unable to tell why.
I think that you're getting sick. You feel hot and tired because your body turns up its temperature and spends its energy to fight back. Not wanting to eat much and changes in attitude are all classic symptoms as well, and that's probably where the headache comes from too.
Right. Frisk thought. That made sense. Frisk had a lot of trust in Chara, they tended to be correct about a lot of things. And after all, if anyone would know about sickness it would be them wouldn't it ? yes, they were probably just getting sick.
I would advise you to go to sleep early today, this might help you feel better tomorrow. Chara finished.
After finishing to brush their teeth and spitting out, Frisk looked at their reflection in the mirror.
Its you ! Chara told them, it never failed to make Frisk smile when they did that.
There was just something to this. Being able to stare at a mirror and think "This is me", "This is who i am". That try as they might, they would continue to be themself. That no matter what, they would always have this to rely on. A constant in a world that kept changing. This feeling of selfhood, of ipseity. It made them feel safe, it made them feel at home, it made them feel happy.
Shortly after, Frisk decided to take on Chara's advice and went to bed early.
Frisk felt hot under their covers. They eventually decided to remove them to be more comfortable. It didn't help them much.
Their sweat left little wet marks on the sheets while they breathed in and out heavily. This went on for a pretty long time. They were struggling to fall asleep today.
They even felt as if their insides were... moving around a lot. More than they should.
Frisk had a gut feeling. A gut feeling that this wasn't just it. That there was something wrong going on with them that was far worse than just the beginning of a sickness. It wasn't anything rational of course. They just... felt like it. Like something had been set in motion that couldn't be undone as simply as by taking pills. Maybe they had just gotten a bit pessimistic following their many painful deaths underground.
Everything would be fine, right ? Chara said that it would, and they knew what they were talking about.
Frisk hoped that they were just imagining things as they finally lost consciousness.