(~Your POV~)

I wake up to a dark black room. At first, I manage to convince myself that I never woke up at all.

'W-What happened?'

"How happy I am with having the pleasure to finally meet my daughter-in-law. Although, this is far from how I'd imagine it going, Y/N." An unfamiliar male voice speaks followed by childish laughter. I sit up in a rush and look around. There's no one here but me. Immediately, I notice my body is not my body at all but instead (s/c) lines marking where things used to be. I observe my hand for a long silent moment. My chest is just empty, void from where my soul should be. My soul is missing but I'm somehow alive. "I'm a freaking ghost?" I mutter.

"Not exactly. Your soul still exists but your conscience nearly separated from it. I had to pull you back before you made any rash decisions. My apologies, I promised myself that I wouldn't interfere with such things anymore. I suppose I got carried away with my emotions. I was lucky to have made it in time." The voice echoes again.

'Lucky..'

How much I learned to despise that word over the years. It was repeated to me over and over, about how lucky I am to be alive. "My family was RIGHT tHErE! I was so close and yoU jUsT-" I pull at my hair with a loud growl.

'Why did they save me? I WaS FiNe!!!'

"What about the family you still have here, Y/N?" I pause at the stranger's words. I died to save Blue. Whatever that kid was that I saw, they ripped my soul from my body. I don't know why it had took me so long to remember Frisk's name. Once I did, all the memories flooded back of what Papyrus told me all those years ago. Frisk would take over Chara's body and kill everyone in the underground. Honey went through so many resets like this that he had nightmares about them nearly every night. I had rushed to Waterfall after that and well.. I got myself killed. My memory flashes back to Papyrus and the kids.

'You left them behind.'

I have to force myself to stop the guilt trip.

'I was already sick so it's not like I would last forever anyways. At least Blue got away.. He did get away, right?'

"Who are you?" I ask the voice. He replies back, "Don't worry, Y/N. I'll be there shortly." That's the second time this mysterious person has said my name. No one remembered us after the reset. This led me to lots of questions.

'Who are they? How did they manage to 'bring me back'? What is this place? How do they know me?'

I went round and round in my head trying to find the answers. Nothing makes sense. I don't even notice how long I've stood here trying to figure out the insolvable puzzle. I notice the faint sound of footsteps coming from behind me. I look to the source as they get closer.

A tall skeleton approaches me. He's wearing a blue vest over an orange sweater and some pants. He's like me, in a transparent body made of blue and orange outlines. Two cracks are outlined in his skull, one blue and the other orange. In fact, his entire body is traced with an even mix of the two colors. The only difference between us is that his soul is still there, glowing brightly inside his chest. "Your death caught me off guard. I was still at work. Casting this sort of spell isn't easy, y'know?" He sighs through a smirk. I stand here with wide eyes.

'It can't be.'

Once I see the holes in his hands, it becomes solid proof that I'm wrong. "Gaster." I say. His eye lights grow in size and in brightness as he smiles, "So you do know me, my dear? I'm flattered." I explain, "Pap told me about you. They were only kids when you disappeared.." Gaster averts his gaze with nervous laughter, "I suppose things do happen in life."

'How is he here?!'

"Are you dead too?" I say nervously. He avoids the question and walks ahead of me. "You mustn't give up, Y/N, not yet. Help is already on their way." He walks into a doorway. All there is through the doorway is a bright light. I rush in after him.

(Writer~San: Underswap Gaster Picture Dump! :3)

We appear in a large room. It is full of monitors. Each monitor has a different view of the underground. I tilt my head at the sight, "Cameras?" "Undyne is quite, you can say, nosy." Gaster says with a chuckle as he stands beside me. I shudder and Gaster notices it. "Y/N?" "Did she make ship shrines down here too?" I ask him in fear. Sweat forms on his skull as he asks a question back, "Do you really want the answer to that?"

'He's right. I don't need any more nightmares about Undyne taking pictures of Pap and I while we sleep.'

I shake away the thought and continue to observe the room. It's quiet and empty. "They must be downstairs. Follow me." Gaster commands. He suddenly phases through the floor. I stare at that specific spot for so long.

'He just... YeAh OkAy! We can casually go through walls now-'

Without warning, his arm comes above the surface and grabs my ankle. As if the sight of that wasn't terrifying enough, he suddenly pulls me down and through the floor. I close my eyes and scream as a result. "Y/N?" Sans calls my name. I opened my eyes again.

'Blue?'

Honey is sitting on the edge of a hospital bed with a brokenhearted Blue in his arms. Sans' pupils are a dull white as he cries out, "Y/N, I'm sorry. I'M sO SoRrY." Papyrus shakily hugs onto him. "It wasn't your fault, Bro. You did what you could." "IT WASN'T ENOUGH!! SHE WAS.." Sans clenches his teeth as more of his tears fall to the floor. "SHE WAS RIGHT THERE! I COULD HAVE SAVED HER. DANG IT, Y/N! WHY DID YOU DO THAT, Y/N?!" His sobs grow more hysterical and desperate. He's in deep pain from the grief. Papyrus says nothing. His face is hidden under his hood. I feel as the tears fall down my cheeks. "I-I..." I start but don't finish. They can't hear me. Blue would've saw me by now too if he could. Gaster wraps an arm around my shoulder for emotional support. "I know it's hard at first. It always is." He states.

'I'm sorry, Sans.'

Undyne approaches from the other end of the room. Serif is unconscious in her arms, his arms wrapped around her neck and his skull on her shoulder as he slept. "His m-m-magic was d-depleted. His HP i-is s-safe but if he truly has t-t-this 'soul illness' that S-Sans mentioned, I figured I-I-I'd give him an injection... J-Just in case." "Thanks, 'Dyne.." Papyrus mutters. "A-Also.... We n-need to come up with a p-p-plan. With A-Alphys here w-with us, the other c-child has m-m-most likely found a way into Hotland. T-Their w-whereabouts are currently u-unknown but.." "I'll give you a plan. We kill him like we should've done a long time ago." Alphys grumbles.

"But it's not his fault!!!" I scream urgently and take a step forward. My voice is futile. None of them react to my presence. In fact, the conversation goes on without me. "The kid's not himself." Papyrus is soft spoken.

'He sounds exhausted.'

"YOU HAVE NO PART IN THIS CONVERSATION." Alphys hisses at him. I fight off the intrusive thoughts that tell me to hiss back. Instead, I turn to Gaster, "There has to be something we can do! We can't let them kill him!!!" Gaster looks away from me. "If I interfere any further, the Player will recognize my presence. I can't take that risk." "THEY ARE GOING TO KILL YOUR GRANDSON!!!" I yell, forgetting about the conversation going on beside me. Gaster raises his voice, "The more we interfere, the harder we will make it for them! Don't you understand?!"

He sighs and rubs the back of his skull, muttering, "That's why I left." I narrow my gaze at him. "You remember the resets?" I state.  "I've witnessed each one. Yes, there was a time that I would raise Sans and Papyrus to adulthood. Then, that dreaded human fell. They were fascinated by my abilities. They wanted nothing but to exploit them, to experiment with me. They would reset over and over. They'd find every route and make every decision just to provoke me. Most of all, they kept going after Sans and Papyrus." Tears form in his eyes as his pupils shrink. "I CoULd NeVer ProTeCt ThEm..." He says softly. His eyes are quickly filled with fear. The same fear I remember being in Papyrus' eyes every time he told me about witnessing Blue's death. Gaster takes a shaky breath in and continues, "So, on a random timeline, when the boys were still young, I decided to leave. I'd leave on that day each and every time they reset. Hundreds of resets later and I had finally created a new route where my existence was erased. It's remained that way since. I keep myself away from Snowdin after I made the promise not to interfere with anything else. If there's ever a point that I'm discovered, I hide myself in the void until the timeline passes."

I run my hand through my hair, "Wait a minute, so you're telling me that you've been ALIVE this whole time? Just hiding?" "Y/N, I-" Gaster begins but I don't listen. I slap him right across the cheek. He stumbles back and clutches at his skull. "Y/N, it had to be done." "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH PAPYRUS SUFFERED DOWN HERE?!" I scream. Gaster only stares at the floor.

I push further, "HE FELT THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD ON HIS SHOULDERS. DESPITE EVERYTHING HE TRIED, HE WATCHED AS THE WORLD RESET OVER AND OVER. HE WATCHED HIS BROTHER BE FREAKING KILLED. HE WAS ALL ALONE WHILE YOU JUST WATCHED FROM THE FRONT ROW SEAT BECAUSE- BECAUSE YOU GAVE UP, GASTER! YOU GAVE UP AND HE DIDN'T!!!" Gaster tears up, refusing to make eye contact with me. His body soon melts into black liquid and he vanishes completely. I start to feel my sins crawling on my back. I'm completely alone.

'Was I too hard on him?'

"THAT'S IT! GET OUT!!!" Honey screams, taking me off guard. "YA CAN'T KEEP PROTECTING HIM FOREVER!" Alphys yells back. Undyne takes Serif and Blue with her. She has to literally push Alphys into the nearby elevator on top of carrying two skeletons.

'She has a lot more strength in that frail body than I thought.'

"Y/N.." Honey's tears fall from the darkness of his hood. I rush to him, "I'm HeRE! I'm here, Papyrus!" I bend down and cup my hands around his cheeks. Honey's white eyes stare right through me. Any attempt I make in trying to wipe away his tears is pointless. My thumb only phases through them. I can't fight back the hopelessness welling up within me. Next thing I know is that now I'm crying too.

'This is torture.'

"Y/N." He calls out again. My body shudders as I hold back a sob. He gets up and phases right through me. For a moment, I remain frozen here. My legs don't want to move. "PapyruS, don't LeAve.." I whimper knowing that it's pointless. Honey grabs at the curtain on the other side of the bed and pulls it aside. He disappears behind it. I take shaky steps towards him, "Papyrus, please.. I'm sorry.." I phase through the curtain. There's another bed, my lifeless and pale body resting on it. Everything hits me at once and I fall to my knees. This is reality.

"Beautiful, you're so cold.." Honey whispers as he grabs my body's hand. I almost find myself growing jealous of it.

'I wish I could feel his warmth one last time.'

I used to say that when Honey was gone. Look how twisted this is now that it's the other way around. Honey suddenly slumps onto his knees, his skull hung low. "Y/N.. WhAt Do I dO?" His body starts to tremble vigorously. The tears never stop. His grip on my pale hand only becomes firmer. Honey broke down after that, weeping bitterly against the side of the bed and mumbling things I can't understand. I cry loudly behind him, being inches from him and yet so far.

'I'm sorry I left.'