TheRealMasonMac: You'll see.
Chapter seven: Light
Hmm… Frisk numbly thought, her eyes closed. Sweet, sweet silence.
…
What am I lying on? This is no bed that I'm used to.
Whatever. It's nice.
"You are awake," a gentle voice spoke. Frisk opened her eyes in response, revealing the inside of Alphys' lab.
Yet…
…
Then, she realized something that made her sit up in bed.
This wasn't the same lab she had been in before. Along with it being too quiet, it was…different. Everything – the desk, the monitor, the fridge, even the trash bin – was gone, with the only exception being the stretcher she was sitting on. The lamps on the ceiling were also brighter than she remembered.
Where was everybody? Why did everything look different? For how long had she been asleep?
Wait… Asleep!
O-oh, shit… I had a breakdown, didn't I?
I…I can remember the hallucinations…
I must've passed out as a result. But how'd I get here? Did Asriel and Asgore bring me here? Alphys and Undyne probably know about my problems by now. Maybe Sans and Papyrus do too.
But that still doesn't answer everything.
"Please remain calm."
She jumped upon hearing the same voice as before, quickly got off the stretcher and turned around to face whoever was with her. Her eyes widened upon seeing a Monster standing at the wall, giving her a seemingly friendly grin.
The Monster was tall, and the majority of his body was covered by a long, black robe. His face and hands appeared skeletal-ish. His eyes had white pinpricks as pupils, similar to Sans', and his mouth seemed to lack teeth. His skull had two deep, dark cracks. One originated from his right eye socket and lead to the back of his head. The other one connected his left eye socket with his mouth – which seemed to have the shape of a permanent grin. His hands had holes in them that lead from their palms directly to their backs.
Frisk froze. For some reason, this person reminded her of Sans and Papyrus. Yet…
"Please," the Monster said. "I mean you no harm."
"That's what they all say," Frisk negated. "Who are you? And where's Alphys?!"
"All your questions will be answered. Your friends and family are safe. The Entity has no intention of attacking them."
"I want to talk to them," the Human fiercely demanded.
"I fear that may not be an option."
"And why's that?!"
The figure tilted his head. "I believe it would be better if I showed you."
"Showed me wh—"
Frisk fell silent when the room suddenly changed before her eyes. The furniture she was used to seeing reappeared, along with a few extra chairs. She almost gasped when a large group of familiar people appeared right after.
The first person she saw was Asgore, who was sitting on one of the chairs, hunched over with his head in his hands. His breathing was shaky, and the way he had grasped his hair made him look rather unhappy.
In fact, the atmosphere in the entire room was sad and depressing. The skelebros sat next to one another, with Papyrus trying to hold back his tears. Sans spoke to him in a reassuring voice, but even he seemed to be affected by whatever had happened.
Something similar was happening between Alphys and Undyne, with the former worriedly looking towards the stretcher Frisk had lied on mere moments ago, and the latter saying calming words and holding Alphys close.
Lastly, there were Asriel and Toriel, who were standing right next to the stretcher. Toriel's shoulders were shaking. Her son was trying to console her, but it didn't seem to be very effective. Asriel himself didn't appear to be exactly at his most joyful, either.
"Guys?" Frisk asked. "What's going on?"
There was no reaction from anyone in the room. No one even blinked or looked her way. It felt odd: Frisk was right there, yet she felt a great distance between her and her friends.
And there was something going on with that stretcher…
Having forgotten about the unidentified Monster from before, she hesitantly walked over to where Toriel and Asriel stood. When she got close – still receiving no response from the others – she cautiously looked past them to see someone lying on the stretcher.
Her eyes widened when she recognized this person.
It was her. Unconscious.
She stood there for a second, staring at her sleeping clone. Then, she took a step backwards. She felt dazed.
"Do you understand?"
Frisk looked to her right, where the voice came from, to see the unidentified Monster standing there with his eternal grin still plastered on his face. She felt her breath silently leave her lungs.
"Whuh…wha…what did you do…!" she yelled. "Who are you!"
"I understand that this may be disturbing," the Monster said, "but I assure you that no harm will come to you."
"Why can't they hear me?!"
"Because you are not physically with them."
"What's that mean?" Frisk asked.
The shapes of the furniture and her friends vanished, leaving her back at the version of the lab she had woken up in. The unidentified Monster gestured with his hand to the double sliding door, which opened seemingly by itself.
"Walk with me, and I will explain everything."
The Human hesitated. So far, this Monster hadn't made any attempts to hurt her, but she still didn't trust him. But did she have a choice? How else was she going to get out of wherever she was? This guy was her only chance of returning home.
She let out an exasperated sigh before walking to the door. "Fine."
Once outside, she was met with an unfamiliar air. The local area looked exactly like the Hotland she remembered, but the temperature wasn't any higher when compared to the inside of the lab she was just in. It was surprisingly pleasant, not too warm or too cold, despite the magma.
To her left, the unidentified Monster was walking with her. No one else was in sight, making Frisk wonder if this was just another vivid hallucination. The presence of the Monster wasn't as distorted as what she had seen during her usual breakdown, however. If anything, it was…serene.
It seemed like quite the opposite of what she went through during her panic attacks.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the Monster said. "My name is WingDings Gaster. I was the Royal Scientist prior to Dr. Alphys before my ostensible death. Now, since I am obviously alive, one could say I am a…paradox."
Frisk remained silent, causing Gaster to chuckle.
"Forgive me," he said, "I am getting ahead of myself – a flaw that has been recurring in recent times. Allow me to explain the details.
"My 'demise' occurred during an experiment I was working on at the time. It failed, causing me to be…divided into two separate entities." He seemed to hesitate before continuing. "Regardless of that, I somehow lived on in this incorporeal form, still marveling at how my Soul had copied itself for those two entities.
"However, I came to realize that I was not alone in this world. At least one other being has made its presence known. This being has suffered…corruption."
"Corruption?" Frisk asked. "You mean, like, Anakin Skywalker?"
"I fear I am not the most informed individual on the area of this…Anakin Skywalker. But with corruption, I mean that it has…become malevolent. During the darker times of the Underground – Asgore's war against Humanity, the Flower's misdeeds and power abuse, the general hate for Humans that rose after Asriel's demise – this being, the Entity, was influenced in the most negative way possible. One could say it was…assimilated by the darkness."
"O…kay?" Frisk hesitated. "And, uh, where do I come in?"
"The Entity – whose existence is as impossible and paradoxical as my own – has been corrupted beyond reasoning," Gaster explained. "It…has some sort of antagonism towards you."
"It hates me," Frisk summarized. The Royal Scientist nodded.
"It disrelishes the sight of you as a friend among the Monsters. Its own life was difficult, and it has lost the ability to understand why you deserve it."
"So…?"
"So it uses its determination to harm you."
Frisk stopped walking. She fully turned to Gaster.
"What?"
Gaster stood still as well before facing the Human.
"The Entity is the being responsible for both your amnesia and your breakdowns. I am battling it to gain power over your memories, but its determination gives it an advantage. An enormous advantage."
"What do you mean, 'gain power over my memories'?!" Frisk asked. "These panic attacks are caused by my memories coming back, aren't they?"
"Yes and no," Gaster responded after a brief silence. "Dr. Alphys' hypothesis was wrong: your amnesia was never a side-effect of passing the Barrier. It was Asriel who allowed you to return to the Surface, but the Entity was responsible for your memory loss. Your return to the Underground angered it, causing it to return your memory in the most violent and malicious way possible."
"How does that even work? How can it make my memories trigger breakdowns?"
"Advanced magic. Possibly the same magic that allows me and the Entity to exist in this time and space, while we actually should not."
"So…what do you do when you gain power over my memories?"
"I return them to you in a much calmer manner."
"Why're you helping me?"
Gaster hesitated again.
Then, he sighed.
"Sans and Papyrus," he said. "I am still connected to them."