~Your POV~

I don't know how long I've been reading, but judging by the light coming from the windows it had been a while.

I've finished about 4 books and the closest explanation I have for mine and Chara's shared dreams is the theory of soul bonding. I don't know how much I should believe about this theory, it was a bit outlandish and hardly had any evidence to back it up. Even the author seemed to disagree with it, providing evidence against the theory. But it was the closest explanation I had gotten so far.

Essentially the theory went was if an extremely damaged SOUL came into contact with a SOUL that was in a similar condition to it, there was an extremely low chance that it could latch onto that SOUL to regain strength for the both of them. The only evidence for the theory was two obscure monsters from a super long time ago who claimed to be sharing dreams, experiencing pain that the other felt, and feeling an unnatural bond to each other.

Logically, it did seem to be a bunch of bullcrap. But deep down I knew that there may be truth to the theory. I kept skimming the pages, looking for something I may of missed. I flinched wildly and dropped the heavy book when the door opened. The book landed on my foot and I hissed in pain.

"Oops, didn't mean to scare ya." Sans said, looking at me in sympathy as I held my foot in my hand. It throbbed in pain for a few moments before subsiding quickly.

"It's fine, I'm alright." I replied, putting my foot back down on the ground. "What did you need?" I added, looking up at Sans.

"I'm guessing you don't want to eat Papyrus' spaghetti so do you want to head to Grillby's?" He asked, leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets. I nodded frantically, having not even noticed how hungry I was due to my focus being on the books.

"Cool, but I also wanted to ask you one more thing." He said, peering into the hallway and shutting the door mysteriously behind him.

"...Yeah?" I was feeling unsettled by his oddly serious expression. His eyesockets had gone dark, but his forced smile was wider than ever. I felt chills run down my back, but it wasn't cold at all.

"Was Chara doing anything odd? I saw you looking at them."

I was a little surprised at the question, Chara having left my mind a while ago due to my focus being on the books. I thought for a moment, the only weird thing she did was try to distract Frisk but that was out of pure boredom. She also seemed to dislike Sans, but I wouldn't really call that odd. Sometimes people don't like each other.

"No, not really." I answered honestly, trying not to break eye contact with him. I wanted him to have full confidence that I wasn't lying. He seemed to relax a little, but still had his guard up for some reason.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. She was lying on the ground most of the time looking bored. But why are you asking? Why do you two seem to hate each other?"

Sans didn't answer, and he broke eye contact with me. He seemed to be lost in thought, his eyelights coming in and out of focus. It took three times of saying his name to get his attention.

"What? Sorry, wasn't paying attention."

"Is there something I should know about Chara?"

Sans was silent again, but this time he was staring at me. It felt like he could see straight through me, into my very SOUL. Chills ran up my spine again, but I didn't break eye contact. After what felt like hours, which was probably only a few seconds, Sans spoke.

"It's not important. C'mon, let's go to Grillby's."

It was an easy and lazy lie. If it weren't important why would he ask? But I decided to have mercy on him, I would get all questions answered in time. I just had to have a little patience. Maybe I could ask Chara during our dream session.

Sans opened the door again and walked out with a faster pace than usual. I sighed, something was up with him. I followed after him, closing the door of the room behind me.

~~~~~

I was currently in a food coma.

I laid completely stuffed on the couch, a hand to my aching stomach. I had ordered way too much food but thought it would be rude to not eat it all. Now, I was facing the consequences.

My head rested on the arm of the green couch and my feet laid across Frisk's lap. They hardly seemed to care, being too engrossed in the new anime that Alphys had dropped off. I wasn't too interested in it, but sometimes it caught my eye when something cool happened. It was certainly better than a cat girl screaming for an hour and a half.

I had no idea where Sans went, but I had a sneaky suspicion that it was in the basement-lab.

Chara seemed to be more invested in this anime than the other one, she was hanging upside down on the couch staring at the TV. A newly formed blush appeared on my cheeks, and it was with an effort that I tore my eyes away from her.

Papyrus had gone to Undyne's house for what he called 'overnight guard practice' which was really just a sleepover. Sleep sounded really good right now.

My mind drifted to the books I had been reading earlier today, random phrases kept jumping into my mind. 'Monster SOULS are made out of hope, compassion, and magic.' 'BOSS monsters are the strongest kind of monsters...' 'It is possible for a human to absorb a BOSS monsters SOUL, but it has never been done. If a human were to absorb a monsters SOUL, who knows the power they may possess. We can only hope that this will never happen.'

Thoughts of a similar manner kept popping into my head, and I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep until I stood in the pitch darkness of the VOID.

I turned this way and that, looking for Chara. But I couldn't see her anywhere, her bright green sweater was no where in sight. I slumped to the ground, pressing my legs against my chest and wrapping my arms around them. This place felt a lot worse without her.

Maybe there was a way to wake myself up? I tried to pinch myself, but I felt nothing. I tried to slap myself, but I felt nothing again. I huffed in annoyance, why couldn't I just have normal dreams?

Wait a second... if I was dreaming wouldn't I be able to create anything here? Like a blanket maybe? It was really cold here. Before I knew it, I was covered in the softest blanket I had ever touched. A surge of excitement filled my body, could I summon anything I wanted?

A hot dog was suddenly in my outstretched palm, and I happily ate it. It was the best hot dog I had ever had in my life. I wrapped the blanket around me and stood up, this place could use some color.

It felt like it took ages but I had made my own little garden. I couldn't do anything about the sky, which was still pitch black, but the rest of the area was unrecognizable. Trees, bushes, grass, ponds, and rocks were everywhere. It felt like I was back on the surface, back in the backyard I used to play in with my mom and dad. I really missed them, I wonder if they think I'm dead. My heart churned at the idea of them at my fake funeral, but I couldn't do anything about it. I was stuck in the underground until the BARRIER broke. And who knows how long that would take.

"Woah..." A voice muttered behind me, I flinched wildly but relaxed when Chara walked out from behind a tree. Her ruby eyes sparkled with wonder and fascination, I wouldn't be surprised if my face turned the same shade as her eyes.

I turned away so she wouldn't notice my heavy blush and walked towards the little pond. My shoes vanished with a single thought and I dipped my feet into the cool water. Chara joined me by my side, but didn't put her feet in.

"How did you do this?" She asked, still looking all around the tiny forest. She plucked a golden flower that I hadn't noticed I had made and twirled it in her fingers. It took me a moment to remember what she said.

"I just thought something and it appeared." I explained rather lamely. I made a large lily pad blossom from the water, along with several smaller ones that drifted across the surface. Too bad I couldn't make living things appear, it would be nice to have some frogs jump around.

"So... if I thought about chocolate, it would just appear?"

"Yep."

A brand name chocolate bar suddenly came into being on her lap. She quickly unwrapped the wrapper and ate it with relish, I wonder when was the last time she ate. Should I ask about her and Sans' relationship now? Or should I just enjoy the moment?

An apple fell down from a tree into the water, the resulting crash made Chara jump but I was unfazed. It was curious that gravity still existed here though.

"How come you don't like Sans?" The question had slipped out of my mouth like soap, but I didn't bother trying to explain myself.

She was silent, just like Sans had been. That was one thing they had in common. They both liked to be mysterious and secretive. It was a little annoying actually. But they were the only two I could talk to, or at least I think.

"You don't need to know."

I couldn't help but huff at being brushed off once again. Why wouldn't anyone tell me anything? Sans at least provided some answers, but he still stayed shut up about Chara.

I closed my eyes, thinking about a breeze which appeared moments later. My hair flowed behind me, and I imagined that I could feel the sun on my skin.

I suddenly felt a strong sensation to the right of me, where Chara was sitting. I opened my eyes and saw a dark red SOUL in front of her, and she was trying desperately to shove it back inside her chest. The SOUL had several cracks along it's surface, but not nearly as bad or deep as mine. And her SOUL was much more saturated than mine, along with the glow. The SOUL kept dodging her attempts to grab it, eventually drifting out of reach over the pond.

"Pretty..." I muttered without thinking or realizing what I even said. It wasn't until Chara gave me an odd look that I had spoken. I blushed heavily, extremely embarrassed. I refused to look at her or her SOUL that was bobbing in and out of the water.

I felt a tingling sensation around my chest and I noticed my own SOUL had escaped from my body. It hovered slowly in front of my face, and I didn't even bother trying to hide it. It had an almost anxious energy to it, like it was waiting for me to do something with it. I had no idea how to control it, and waited for it to do something of it's own accord. When it stayed motionless, other than bobbing up and down, I wondered what it was waiting for. My permission to do something? It certainly had that, I didn't want Chara staring at me any longer.

As soon as I thought that, it zoomed away towards Chara's SOUL. They circled each other for a few moments, seemingly excited to see each other. Chara's SOUL nudged mine, and I felt a sting of pain around my shoulder area. I hissed a little, and my SOUL also seemed to recoil a bit. Chara's SOUL lowered a little, like it was saying sorry. The pain subsided and my SOUL zoomed around hers, and off they were racing each other throughout the trees.

Me and Chara were watching perplexed at the behavior of the two SOULs, and kept darting our heads in sync as the gray and red blur flitted through leaves and grass.

If an extremely damaged SOUL came into contact with a SOUL that was in a similar condition to it, there was an extremely low chance that it could latch onto that SOUL to regain strength for the both of them.... sharing dreams, experiencing pain that the other felt, and feeling an unnatural bond to each other.

Was it possible? Did our SOULs bond together? They were acting like it, I somehow didn't think that SOULs naturally acted like this. The only thing that didn't add up was that I couldn't feel her pain, and she certainly didn't feel mine. But the rest was accurate to the theory, sharing dreams and the unnatural bond.

The SOULs approached us again, tired out due to all of the chasing that they had done. I noticed mine was a bit less gray than before, it's normal light blue color was more prominent than ever before. And... was a crack or two missing? I looked over to Chara's which seemed to be a shade or two lighter than before.

If an extremely damaged SOUL came into contact with a SOUL that was in a similar condition to it, there was an extremely low chance that it could latch onto that SOUL to regain strength for the both of them.

My heart thudded, excitement was building inside of me like a thunderstorm. I had figured it out, I finally could answer a question instead of asking one.

"Chara... I think I know what's going on with our SOULs." I said, turning round to face her. But she had disappeared, absolutely no trace of her being there other than the flattened grass.

"Chara?" I called, turning this way and that to try and figure out where she had went. My SOUL was searching around as well, at least I guessed it was.

Suddenly, I was being shook violently and I was back on the couch in Sans and Papyrus' house with Frisk and Chara over me.