In the blurry moments of waking up, Frisk heard a dull voice. "Hey, you're up." Sleepily, they opened their eyes.
"What happened...?" Frisk asked, their face showing confusion.
"Well, let's get to that later. First, eat some breakfast," the kid in gray replied. Frisk sat up in a bed that looked like a hospital bed, checking out their surroundings.
They saw various folks-monsters, humans, doctors, patients, and nurses-moving around. Examining their hands, Frisk tried to piece together what happened.
Following the gray kid, they walked through a busy place. The kid stayed serious as they led Frisk into the unknown, where answers waited.
Finally reaching a dining spot, Frisk sat down, and the gray kid magically brought out a butterscotch pie, placing it on the table. While munching, questions popped up.
"So, spill it. What's going on?" Frisk asked while eating.
"Don't you remember?" Core replied.
Frisk was about to reply, but Core beat them to it. "Guess it makes sense you don't. You broke through your limits."
Frisk figured Core meant the DT Boosts. Pushing away negative thoughts, they asked again. "Seriously, what happened? Where was I?"
"You were in Nightmare's domain," the gray kid said calmly.
Flashbacks hit Frisk, making their breath quicken and phantom pains resurface.
Nightmare.
They remembered everything.
Seven years of agony.
Of pain.
Of hopelessness.
Of false optimism.
Of suffering.
"You were only there for seven seconds, and that's something" Core said, almost like they were reading Frisk's mind.
"What...?"
"Yeah."
"What do you mean seven seconds?! I counted them in my head!" Frisk stood up, slamming their hands on the table.
"Calm down... Anyway, Nightmare messes with time perception in his place."
Frisk was left speechless. Their head was already messed up; they didn't need to know they endured seven seconds, thinking it was seven years.
Frisk, with a mix of sadness, sat back down and asked another question.
The awkward silence lasted a few minutes.
"Why me? They promised to bring back my AU... And my brother..." Asked Frisk.
"To be honest, you fell for one of the Embodiment of Negativity's tricks. He could bring back your AU, but it'd probably turn into a negativity mess."
"Ah..." Frisk felt a whirlwind of emotions, wanting to hurt Nightmare but also fearing him.
"But thanks to two people, you made it out just in time," Core said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Huh?"
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Dream sprinted, slashing at encroaching black tentacles attempting to pull him down—a beacon of light in the darkness.
The surroundings were predominantly dark, with colossal, walking titans in the distant landscape and entities scattered everywhere. Dream battled them, his combat knives morphing into a grapple and a greatsword, each held in a hand.
