~Time Skip: The Next Day~

Y/N's POV
I woke up after a good sleep. I checked the time—7 AM. Not too bad. I sat up and stretched. I wasn't feeling like eating breakfast, and I didn't want to disturb either of the brothers or Frisk. I glanced towards the window. Perfect, I thought.

As quietly as I could, I slid open the sash and swung my legs over the side. "Here goes," I whispered, and, taking in a deep breath, jumped out of the window.

My feet sank into the soft, powdery snow. I checked for injuries before I walked out into the crisp morning.

As I meandered down the path, I let out a sigh. My breath made a visible cloud of air form. I smiled gently. But it wasn't enough to make me happy.

My eyes found the ground. All my life, I was never truly happy. There was always something bringing me down. A bully at school, a rainy day, a missing friend. Almost no day went perfectly. Even on the days where nothing went wrong, I always found something to criticize. No day ever made me happy. No one made me happy, either. My so-called 'friends' were distracted by their friends and, for the most part, considered me a lost cause. The bullies made sure I was constantly miserable. The only joy I really got was in making puns, singing, and my alone time.

Each day got harder and harder to live. Tibia honest, I was glad when I fell into the hole. If I survived the fall, which I always considered that I might not, my life would more than likely be better.

Anything would be better than the life I had before.

"HEY, PUNK!"

I looked up quickly. In front of me was a blue-scaled, red-haired, yellow-eyed fish lady. She wore black-and-red clothes and had an eyepatch over her right eye. She looked scary, looking down at me like that. However, I squared my shoulders and showed her BRAVERY by looking her straight in the eye.

She didn't even flinch.

"YOU'RE A HUMAN, SO I'M GOING TO NEED THAT SOUL OF YOURS. LET'S FIGHT!"

A familiar scene opened up. I had come across it frequently in the Ruins. It was the battle screen.

My unique soul was in front of me, and the fish lady—Undyne, I realized—was standing opposite. The four standard buttons floated in front of me: FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY.

Undyne grinned hungrily at my soul, a greedy look in her eye. "WHOA. THAT'S A RARE SOUL, PUNK. I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE LIKE IT. IT'S ONLY GONNA FETCH ME MORE AT THE CAPITAL. NOW, GIVE IT TO ME!"

She reminded me of a bounty hunter, collecting debts and objects of worth for the highest bidder. But I knew, thanks to Sans, that Undyne wasn't like that whatsoever. She simply was doing her duty as captain of the Royal Guard. I honestly felt sorry for her. The only reason she was human-crazed to this level was because of the barrier, which I intended to break soon, sacrificing my soul. Maybe I should just give it up right now...

The rainclouds towered over me. Why not, I thought. Nobody in my abovelife cared about me or missed me. Maybe Frisk, Papyrus or Sans would miss me, but it seemed unlikely. Why would they care about me, a human they met only a week and a half ago? I'm a nobody. This would be best. This is what sacrifice is all about, right? Giving up what you want or need for the sake of others. I'll show Undyne mercy, too. Might as well show her that humanity can be good.

I came back to reality and nodded in her direction. "Okay. You can take my soul. I don't want it, anyway."

For a second, Undyne was taken aback. She dropped her guard. "Wh-what was that, punk?" Her voice was quieter in shock. She probably hadn't seen a human so willing to give up their soul.

I smiled at her. "Take my soul," I said. "Please. Break the barrier."

Undyne's POV
A Few Minutes Earlier
I was patrolling around Snowdin, on the lookout for humans, when I saw a human girl staring into the snow. She looked down in the dumps, but I didn't really care at the time. All I saw were opportunities. I leapt towards her and yelled, "HEY, PUNK!"

The girl looked up fast, and for a second, I was almost sorry for her. She looked tired, and not the sleepy kind of tired. She looked like she was tired of life. She looked like the world was on her shoulders, and she couldn't shift the weight. To be honest, it reminded me of Sans when he didn't know I was there. His face was always like that.

When she saw me, she squared her shoulders and looked me in the eye, but I was not impressed.

"YOU'RE A HUMAN, SO I'M GOING TO NEED THAT SOUL OF YOURS. LET'S FIGHT!" I shouted. The battle screen came up, and I saw her soul for the first time. My eyes widened, and I grinned. "WHOA. THAT'S A RARE SOUL, PUNK. I'VE NEVER SEEN ONE LIKE IT. IT'S ONLY GONNA FETCH ME MORE AT THE CAPITAL. NOW, GIVE IT TO ME!"

The girl looked at me for a second, before the mask fell from her face. A darkness seemed to swallow her whole. She peered at me through cold, dead eyes, and for a minute, I was afraid of her.

Then the darkness cleared and she nodded at me. "Okay. You can take my soul. I don't want it, anyway."

I was taken aback by her statement. She was offering—no, flat out giving me—her soul. No fighting, no begging; just handing me her soul.

There had to be a trick. There had to.

"Wh-what was that, punk?" I muttered. Argh, curse me and my startled stutter!

She smiled at me. Her face...it was... was... God, I can't even find the words to describe it. The smile was simply a cover for how she truly felt, which was shown by her eyes. In her eyes, I could see a darkness, a fear that she never revealed to the world. The darkness blocked all the light and was the real one pulling the strings. Her mind was a swirl of emotions that she couldn't sort out. The only thing she could see was a void of negativity and darkness that she could never escape. Despite my hate of humans, I couldn't help but want to go and hug her. She needed help, but couldn't tell anyone the pain she felt inside.

"Take my soul," she whispered. "Please. Break the barrier." She touched her MERCY button and spread her arms.

While my heart wanted the girl to feel better, my mind was cold and forced me to laugh in her face. "HA! IF YOU SAY SO, HUMAN!"

I threw a few spears at her. She didn't even try to dodge. Half of them hit.

81/90

What? my mind scowled. Why. Does. She. Have. So. Much. HEALTH?!

I threw attack after attack.

74/90

62/90

48/90

35/90

20/90

13/90

1/90

I grinned maniacally. The part of me that was sorry for and sympathized with her winced at her cuts and bruises. Her eyes, ever full of darkness, were closed. She shook with every breath she took. She looked to be in a world of pain, but didn't show it. I mentally applauded her for that.

"Please," the girl murmured through gritted teeth. "Take. It."

My mind growled with anger, and in reality, I yelled, "OKAY THEN!"

I threw my last spear forward...

And it was stopped in midair by a blue aura.

I turned to see Sans. His arm was flung forward, holding the spear in the air, and he was breathing heavily.

I snarled at him, "SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! THIS IS THE LAST SOUL! I NEED TO KILL HER SO I CAN BREAK THE BARRIER! YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT BETTER THAN ANYONE!" I glanced at the girl. She was sitting in the snow, slumped over like a rag doll. I would've thought her dead if I didn't know her health or see her soul still inside of her.

Sans tossed away the attack easily and, surprisingly, rushed to the girl's side. The soft side of me (which I hated tremendously) called out to him, "Don't worry, she's not dead. She's still at 1 HP."

"ONE HP?!" Sans yelled. He turned to look at me. His eyes were filled with a strong and pure hatred that I had never seen in anyone before. His left eye glowed like blue fire.

"Is it over?" I heard a voice, soft and sweet, whisper. I looked at the girl. Sure enough, she was in a less rag-dolly position. Her E/C eyes fluttered open and shut, like she couldn't decide whether or not to stay awake or fall asleep.

Sans immediately turned back to her and...started stroking her H/L H/C hair. "It's over. You're okay. You're alive," he whispered to her. My mind watched this with disgust, while my heart was slightly giddy. I ship it.

The girl said back, with an almost disappointed tone, "I am?"

"Yeah, but you're on 1 HP. You might want to heal up." Sans helped her sit up, and she stared at the snow like before. "Do you want to tell me anything?" he inquired. She looked from him and murmured, "No. I'm okay."

I wanted to interject and say that I knew otherwise—that I had seen the darkness the girl tried desperately to hide from everyone—but by the way Sans was acting earlier, I knew it would be futile to convince him so soon. Maybe later I would try.

He sighed, and told her, "Fine. If you're sure." He took her hand and lifted her to her feet. As soon as she took a step, her knees buckled and she went down. She didn't even wince.

Thankfully, Sans caught her before she got even more hurt. He used his powers to hover her in the air and floated her behind him as he strolled away.

"We need to talk later!" I yelled after him. He didn't show any sign that he listened to me and just kept walking.