Distorted flashes of half-forgotten memories played through her head as dreams- more accurately, as nightmares. She saw Judgment Hall through blurred vision fixed on an arm so fractured it was no longer straight. She saw Papyrus shove Sans backwards, throw an insult to him, then turn back around to her with glowing bones in his palms. She saw Flowey's sad eyes as she lay there at Toriel's feet, dying. She saw the flower pot she'd once put him in lying in the sewer of Waterfall, in pieces from Undyne's spears.
As another dream began- a soft, sad dream where she found a nice cave to live in, far away from any intruders- something warm began to lace through her body. It was foreign but not unwelcome, and she instinctively leaned into it. She'd spent months cold. It was nice to feel something different.
The dream changed into hot chocolate with Flowey, a Flowey who wasn't the one she'd met at the beginning of this reset. A Flowey who'd jumped into a pot of his own accord and fought alongside her. The warmth inside her peaked, then faded with startling abruptness. The hot chocolate she'd almost finished dropped to the ground, the mug shattering. Frisk let out a whimper.
Then...voices. Another dream started, but this one was confusing, split as she was between consciousness and unconsciousness. Snatches of reality and dream sang through her head, and her senses flooded her mind with input.
"...THEY'LL BE SORRY."
Papyrus advanced menacingly, scowl fixed on his skull. "Human. It's kill or be killed here. Prepare to die!"
"Heh, Pap, don't worry..."
It was strange, really, how her body didn't feel cold anymore. It felt almost as if she weren't outside. But where else would she be?
Frisk cowered back, but Papyrus's magic hit her square in the chest. Unused as she was to pain, she let out a cry. Papyrus's expression stayed stony, emotionless.
"...BROTHER? AREN'T YOU TOO LAZY FOR..."
"'s alright. I'll..."
Frisk stirred, furrowing her brow. It was becoming harder and harder to ignore reality in lieu of dreams. To be honest, they weren't even good dreams. Choosing them over waking was just ridiculous. At least she had control of her actions when she was awake.
The bones came too fast to dodge. Bruises were mounting up everywhere on her body. As Papyrus's patience waned, bruises turned into breaks. Blood slowly oozed down her. And finally...
...He snapped.
With a gasp Frisk forced open her eyes. The familiar fear constricted her lungs and she put a hand down on the ground to steady her. Her brow furrowed.
The ground was...oddly soft. And oddly warm.
Alarm bells rang through her mind. Frisk sat up and gazed wildly around. She was on a couch she'd never used before, in a room she'd never seen before, and standing a few feet away with an enthusiastic grin on his face was-
Nope.
Maybe it was the sheer exhaustion, or maybe it was the broken ribs. As it was, Frisk took one look at the skeleton, closed her eyes, and lay back down. Fuck this timeline. Fuck every timeline. She was so far into denial and exhaustion that she couldn't even bring herself to fear for her safety. If Papyrus wanted to kill her, well, at least he'd make a reset easier. At least Sans wasn't there.
"HUMAN! YOU'RE AWAKE! I WAS AFRAID YOU'D NEVER WAKE UP!"
Frisk flinched from the loud volume but kept her eyes closed. Why in the world would he care about something like that? If he'd really wanted, he could've killed her in her sleep.
"Just kill me already," she got out. The pain she'd expected to flare up after movement was strangely absent. It just served to propel her even further into shell-shocked numbness. She was so far past caring what happened to her she couldn't even muster up the slightest emotion. She just felt...empty. Void. If Papyrus killed her, she'd just reset. It wasn't anything she hadn't done before.
Somewhere deep inside, she wondered what would happen if she didn'treset. If she just allowed Papyrus to take her broken soul to Asgore.
"I WAS NOT EXPECTING YOU TO WAKE UP SO SOON, I'M AFRAID... I WAS GOING TO MAKE YOU MY SPECIAL GET-WELL SPAGHETTI BUT YOU SEEM TO BE AWAKE NOW!"
Frisk opened her eyes, stared at him, and blinked once. Had he said he was going to make her spaghetti? Perhaps she'd misheard and he intended to make her into spaghetti. Human-style meatballs, maybe? That was more in place with the Papyrus she knew. This Papyrus...well, he definitely was putting on an amazing act. Odd, because she'd never pegged Papyrus as an actor, but then again the only bonding times they'd had were accompanied by severe injury and usually death.
"HOW ARE YOU FEELING? SANS THOUGHT YOU WOULD NEED A FEW DAYS TO RECOVER."
She couldn't help it; she flinched at the name. Shame thickened her throat. Even if she'd wanted to answer Papyrus, she wouldn't have been able to get anything out. Although she hated every monster in the Underground with a passion, although she'd gladly watch them wade through any amount of discomfort or injury...she had always hated herself more for her own weakness. And nothing showed weakness like flinching at the very thought of someone.
As though her shame had been the opener to her worm-filled can, her emotions began to tumble back into her with the force of a falling building. They were about as welcome as if they'd been actual worms, but had at least the positive effect of making her worried about her impending death. Or, perhaps more accurately, terrified.
Frisk's heartbeat sped right back up again at an annoyingly quick rate. She had just enough irritation left in her to scowl and think not now, before the panic fully set in.
She needed to get out.
Now.
Frisk shot up off the couch and leaped backwards away from Papyrus. Her hands automatically clutched for her stick but came up empty. Frowning, she realized that when Papyrus had brought her into this place (his home, she was guessing), he would've made sure to take any weapons from her unconscious self. She was defenseless.
God, did that thought burn.
"HUMAN, THERE'S NO NEED TO BE AFRAID! THE GREAT PAPYRUS MEANS NO HARM." Papyrus, true to his words, was unarmed for the moment. He held out his skeletal hands towards her, palms-up in a gesture of trust.
She didn't believe it for a second. Papyrus wanted something from her- what, she didn't know- and was desperate enough to get it that he was trying to trick her. For 'The Great Papyrus' himself to want something this badly was unprecedented. Furthermore, it was terrible for her. There was no telling to what lengths he'd go to retrieve her once she left. At the same time, there was no way she could stay. That would be spelling out sure doom for herself.
Well, if defending herself was out, back to tried-and-true. Plan B, fleeing out of the closest exit, was now underway.
It took a matter of seconds to scope out the available exits: the door, which Papyrus stood by, a window to the left of the couch, and a window on the adjacent wall. The door would leave her in the best shape- she was sure her ribs would start hurting again as soon as the adrenaline was over- but she had no idea how fast Papyrus could move. If he were anywhere close to Sans' speed, she'd be lucky to escape through the window.
Heavy footsteps clanked against the floor. Papyrus.
Frisk backed away, edging towards the window. If she could just hit it hard enough, it would shatter and she could leap through frame. She just needed to be quick.
"HUMAN? I KNOW IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE AS GREAT AS I SHOULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU, BUT THEN, THAT IS WHY I AM TRULY GREAT!" Papyrus let out one of his cackling laughs. Frisk thought she noticed a nervous edge to it, which confused her. Why should he be nervous? It wasn't like she'd gone around killing him!
Clank.
"Stay away!"
She made it to the window, pulse pounding in her ears. As fast as she could, she threw her elbow against-
Pop.
Frisk stiffened. Her head turned back to the window, confused- what kind of window made that noise when it shattered- and then stopped. Her eyes grew wide as she realized her mistake. Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned her head back towards Papyrus.
Except it wasn't just Papyrus anymore.
"Welcome back, kiddo."
Sans grinned.
Transfixed in horror, Frisk only stood there and gaped. She honestly hadn't thought her situation could get any worse- honestly hadn't even wondered where Sans was- but miraculously, it had. Perhaps because karma still hadn't gotten enough of her, her situation had dunked her headfirst down the drain and thrown her straight into the sewer.
"BROTHER," Papyrus said, "YOU'RE BACK! THAT WAS VERY QUICK."
Sans shrugged, not taking his glowing eye-lights off of Frisk. "I guess I'm just sans-sational. Bro," he continued after an appropriately long pause, and over the sound of Papyrus's howls, "how 'bout you go visit Undyne. Last I saw, her house burned down again. Good friends are supposed to help their friends rebuild their houses, aren't they?"
"OF COURSE! THAT IS WHY YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY HELPED HER, I TAKE IT? YOU ARE A VERY BAD FRIEND, SANS. NEXT TIME THIS HAPPENS, I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME TO FIX HER HOUSE MYSELF!" With a reproving look towards his brother, Papyrus turned to leave. He stopped at the door and turned back. "SANS, BEHAVE NICELY TOWARDS THE HUMAN! DON'T TORTURE HER WITH YOUR PUNS!"
Sans flicked his eyes away from Frisk to give Papyrus a smirk. "I'd be fine telling chemistry jokes instead...I just don't think I'd get a-"
"STOP!"
"-reaction."
Papyrus gave another screech and slammed the door shut behind him.
Sans waited for a few seconds before turning back to Frisk. His eyes turned void. "Rule 1: hurt Papyrus, and you'll have more than just a bad time."
Such was Frisk's overwhelming bravery and courage that she let out a tiny whimper. "I-I don't- don't wanna hurt a-anybody."
That much was true, at least. Although she hated and feared the monsters to an extent she once hadn't thought humanly possible, she would not hurt them unless in self-defense, and she would not kill them. Perhaps to some that was a weakness, but to her Gran it had been only a strength. Even though she hadn't seen Gran in months, she still carried that one promise in her. And she would die before she broke it. Had already died, and still not broken it.
Sans just scoffed. "Rule 2: knowing Papyrus, he'll tell Undyne he caught a human when he's over there. She'll be around to collect your soul shortly. If you attempt to escape, if you attempt to hurt anybody at all, your death will become ten thousand times more painful."
Belatedly, Frisk remembered the deal she'd attempted to enact with him. I'll go willingly. Just please...please make it painless. With her survival instinct newly awakened, she suddenly regretted ever saying anything. But, knowing Sans as she did, it was worse than useless to even attempt to renege. She just had to hope she'd be able to reset before Undyne was finished with her soul.
Frisk sighed and bowed her head in submission. Already she knew there would be no escape. Her death had already been marked out this time. She'd have to do a full reset now, all the way back to the Ruins.
Strangely, the thought gave her enough courage to mutter out, "Why not take me to Asgore yourself?"
"A few reasons. One is that Pap wouldn't expect me to do it. Wouldn't want to worry him into thinkin' you'd gotten yourself killed by that same monster who'd broken your ribs, would I?"
Frisk tilted her head. Something about his words didn't make sense. She stilled her trembling voice and asked, "You...didn't tell him you were the one who hurt me?"
Unasked went her next question. Why would Papyrus worry about her?
Sans's expression went cold. "You really are a freak, aren'tcha? Thinkin' I'd do that to my bro. Listen up, pal. Pap is a better person than you'll ever be."
Jerking back reflexively at his soulless eyes, Frisk wrapped her arms around her middle protectively. Surprisingly, the jolt of pain she'd expected didn't come.
She bit her lip and furrowed her brow. Actually, when she thought about it, it hadn't hurt since she'd woken up. Had one of the brothers...?
Sans let out a humorless chuckle. "Jus' now figuring it out? Paps healed you up while you were out. Tried to discourage him, but...you know how he is." He sounded both fond and exasperated.
Frisk stared at his slippered feet. Actually, she didn't. The Papyrus she was used to would not have healed a monster, let alone a human. Every minute she spent in this reset made her question not just her sanity but the motives of everyone in the Underground. What reason did Papyrus have to pretend to be that happy-go-lucky skeleton who healed humans? What reason did Sans have to keep up the lie?
At least Sans wasn't lying about wanting to kill her, though. Frisk figured she should count her blessings. If Papyrus's intentions were knives in the dark, Sans's might as well have been broadswords at noon: he obviously hated her and wanted her dead. She found the honesty if not nice, at least familiar. Ironically, it felt safer than Papyrus's trickery. She could understand it better.
Sans shifted his weight, drawing Frisk's attention back to the present. He was still standing by the couch and he didn't look like he was going to budge anytime soon.
Frisk took an infinitesimal step to the left, glanced at Sans. He was watching her but seemed entirely apathetic to her. Gathering her courage, she took another step, paused.
No reaction.
The third one got her to the bottom of the stairwell. It was there that Sans's eyes narrowed and he tilted his head, most likely wondering what she was intending to do next. Honestly, she had no idea. She had a bad habit of making things up as she went, and it seemed like she wasn't about to break the habit now.
Sans's baritone rumbled through the air. "If you're tryna escape from upstairs, you can give up. 'M not letting you out of my sight."
"C-Could-" Frisk shoved a hand over her mouth and retreated back into the wall a little more. Then she steeled herself. If she were going to die, at least her last hours could be slightly less terror-filled. "Could yo- you at least step aw- away a bit?"
"Scared of me or somethin'? Heh. As it should be."
"I-If I'm g-g-gonna die," she tried again, then stopped. This guy would just as soon kill her himself. It wasn't like he'd take her comfort into consideration.
But Sans shoved his hands into his pockets and took a step back. Took two steps. Took three. When her eyes widened at the boon, he gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I'm no innocent baby-bones, but at least I have mercy left."
His eyes bored into hers. Frisk heard the unspoken.
Unlike you.
Frisk crept over to the couch and sat. Then she awaited her death.
A/N: As a warning, there will be mentions of suicide throughout this chapter and story. I'm sorry! I know I should've mentioned it earlier, but I was just now remembering. I've gotten so used to thinking those kinda thoughts that it's become normal for me, which it really shouldn't be.
Additionally, this story's just gonna get darker as it goes. Frisk has some pretty obvious PTSD, and I'm not gonna gloss over that like it's nothing. It's a serious mental condition and it should be dealt with realistically and sympathetically, without undue pity or exaggerations or stereotypes. So buckle in, folks. It's gonna be one hell of a ride.