I was left alone with Sans again. "Same as before?" I sighed as he walked over to his computer.

"if you're willing."

"Of course I am." I pouted slightly. "I helped before, didn't I?"

"hm, so you did." Sans said pretending to have just noticed. His computer was still turning on so he couldn't do much yet.

I rolled my eyes. Rather abruptly, my thoughts were pulled to the strange power from before. I wanted to ask about it, but at the same time I really didn't want Sans to know about it. Trust that I wasn't a threat was hard enough to earn without that problem.

"something on your mind there buddy?"

I flinched, startled by the question. "I guess. I was just…" I sighed, picking a close but less direct question, "can I reset here?"

Sans' eye lights were gone instantly.

I shrunk slightly. "I don't want to. I'm not asking how, if it is," I said, quickly. "I just… I couldn't do something awful like that accidentally, could I? What's the point of all this if I can?" I asked, gesturing to the room.

"to keep everyone safe," Sans answered me calmly, but he was giving me some sort of sceptical look.

"All the monsters?"

"and you."

I couldn't help but stare for a moment. "Me?"

"if frisk died, you'd likely be able to reset."

"Why would he tell you that!" Chara whined.

I shrugged her off. Sans seemed to be focused on me for some reason or another. He hadn't even noticed his computer turn on.

"What if… I died?" I asked.

"And why are you asking things like that?"

Sans blinked slowly, looking away. "there'd be no more resets."

I cringed at the thought.

"i can't do anything with that even if i wanted to. papyrus wouldn't approve either, so it's best we find you a safe route home quickly."

"But if you found me, could you…" I couldn't finish the thought.

"unknown."

"And the accidental…"

"Unknown," Sans answered, his eye sockets empty as he got on his computer.

I shivered. "Best we don't find out then."

Sans nodded, slowly.

"Thank you, Sans." I smiled.

Sans looked back at me, his eye lights returned. He seemed confused.

"For answering my questions." I clarified. "For keeping m—or well—Frisk safe. I do feel much better now. On that note, weren't we supposed to be working on something?"

"you still want to help?"

I sighed. "Home is that way. Yes, Sans, I still want to help. Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

Sans didn't answer me, but the look he was giving me was answer enough.

I rolled my eyes. "You do realize you said 'if you wanted to' right? For now, you're a protector, you're not trying to hurt me. With any luck that won't change."

Sans sighed as he turned to face his computer again. The tingling from before quickly returned, and it didn't take long for me to fall back into directing. It was nice to have something to focus on, despite the tingling slowly getting slightly worse and me only helping it do so. Frisk and Chara didn't do anything, so I was pretty sure they'd fallen asleep again. It was a while before our quiet work flow was cut off by my whimper of pain.

"you okay there, buddy?" Sans asked, quickly stopping the tingling.

"Chara," I whined. "That hurts when you interrupt like that."

"So? You two have been working too long. Give Sans a break." Chara growled.

"You say that as if I have any say in the matter." I pouted. "Sans, Chara says you should take a break." I sighed.

"she's probably right. papyrus will be back soon."

"I guess I'll see you later, then."

Sans said nothing, only waving slightly as he disappeared. My life continued in a similar manner for what was probably a few days. It wasn't so bad with Papyrus' occasional games, and after my quiet melt down, the room was never pitch black again. The computer always remained on—but not the screen—casting the softest of glows over the room. It was a bit better than nothing. My favorite still was whenever Papyrus was around. He was safe, fun, and harmless as long as I was.

"BROTHER! THE HUMAN NEEDS EXERCISE! THEY CAN NOT REMAIN LIKE THIS."

"and what are you proposing we do then?"

"LET THEM OUT."

"No."

I was hugging my legs, still seated on the table. I didn't know where this argument came from—or why it was actually happening in front of me—but neither side seemed to be backing down.

"THERE IS NO ONE HERE FOR THEM TO HURT OTHER THAN YOU AND ME, AND WE'RE BOTH HERE BROTHER. JUST LET THEM OUT A BIT. THEY CAN NOT ESCAPE."

Sans was glaring at Papyrus, but his eye lights remained.

Papyrus continued. "YOU CAN WATCH THEM THE WHOLE TIME. THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE TO LEAVE THE HOUSE."

"They are not wandering our house." Sans growled.

"THEN LET THEM IN SNOWDIN TOWN. JUST OUTSIDE AND NOT BEYOND THAT. THEY COULD USE THE FRESH AIR, WELL FRESHER." Papyrus smiled. "PLEASE?"

I flinched when Sans' glare turned to me.

"They'd have to stay in town."

"OF COURSE BROTHER."

"No entering any buildings. Any hint of something wrong and they're coming right back here."

"I'M SURE THE HUMAN WILL BE ON THEIR BEST BEHAVIOR!" Papyrus responded cheerfully.

Sans seemed to only be talking to Papyrus, despite staring at me, but I nodded anyway.

"And you will remain here. Safe, in the house." Sans finished, turning his full attention to Papyrus.

Papyrus seemed like he was about to protest, but he paused and thought better of it. "VERY WELL. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL REMAIN COMPLETELY SAFE INSIDE. WILL YOU LET THE HUMAN OUT NOW?"

Sans stared at me again. "Fine. You, down," he ordered, pointing at me, then the ground.

It took me a second to process what he said, but I carefully slid off the table when I did. It felt strange to get off the table, and it didn't help the sensation that I was smaller than I should be. Papyrus looked even taller now that I was standing on the ground, even if it was only by a bit more than his head. Sans was almost exactly Frisk's height though, just a bit taller.

"Stay still."

I nodded, easily following Sans command. After staring at me for a moment more, he grabbed my arm with his skeletal hand.

Snow crunched beneath my feet, and the sudden variety of colors—despite mostly being green and white—blinded me. There was no movement or transition other than a very slight brief sting in my soul. We were simply in my room and out the next. Sans had already let go of me, but I didn't dare move.

"here ya go. you have ten minutes. you even try to come into our house or leave snowdin and your time will instantly be up. you're only out here 'cause papyrus says you need fresh air and exercise so try not to ruin it."

I nodded as Sans vanished. I was standing just outside Sans and Papyrus house in pants and a t-shirt, but—despite the surrounding snow—I wasn't that cold. The air was still without wind and so the cold wasn't nearly as bad, especially if I stayed still. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to remember where things had been in the game and couldn't help but notice the fresh smell of pine. It felt so good to just be out of the room, let alone free to see the real Snowdin town, even if it was empty. I stretched and opened my eyes again.

"Kay then. If the game is any amount accurate, Waterfall is that way." I whispered, looking to my left. "Which means this is the way to the rest of Snowdin." I smiled, turning to my right. I hadn't even moved yet and I could already see an igloo, the Library and Even the giftmas tree and what must have been Grillby's a little further down. The tree wasn't decorated anymore, and the town was empty, but I could imagine it looking like the game had shown as I walked in that direction.

There was a path to my right, but I wanted to see a little more of Grillby's and the Shop and Inn. They were rather impressive, but I didn't dare try to go in or even get too close for fear of Sans pulling me back. The town looked just like the game, with tall forests on one side of the path and buildings on the other with more pine trees behind them, except it wasn't as much of a forest behind the buildings as the game seemed to suggest. Between Grillby's and the rabbit's house next to the inn, there was a smaller path. The forest seemed to fade away behind the rabbit's house, and I thought I could see buildings through the trees. They say curiosity killed the cat and, in my case, curiosity might get me sent back inside early, but this path wasn't in the game. I followed it, slightly scared Sans would pull me back at any moment, but I kept going.

"Oh. Wow!" I gasped. On the other side of the trees was a lot more than a few buildings. I felt like I'd just found the town part of Snowdin. I could see a main path leading in from the right, and I could even see that it connected to the route the game had us take to get to the River Person. There was a very large tree right in the center of the town and a couple other singled out ones that looked like the one in the game.

I was surprised to see the large tree was still decorated in Giftmas lights. Underneath there wasn't any room for gifts. Instead, there were a bunch of snow monsters all different sizes and shapes. The houses were lined up in neat rows with a nice open area around the tree with more snow monsters and scattered snowballs all around. I could easily close my eyes and imagine children playing around the tree with it all lit up. I opened my eyes and slowly started walking towards the tree, but I jerked back when it suddenly lit up. It was so much prettier than I'd imagined. I looked around for whoever had turned it on, but Papyrus had said only he and Sans were here. Carefully, I continued forward.

"Howdy!"

I squeaked as I fell backwards in the snow, startled by the sudden voice.

"Oh. Sorry."

I looked forward to see the last person I was expecting. "Flowey?" I questioned, not really knowing what to make of this situation.

"Yes? And no. You must be that thing Chara mentioned pulling from that other world. If you're out here, then Sans must have succeeded." Flowey said, his voice childish and cheerful. "Although, is she okay?" he added, his eyes shifting down shyly.

"Sans said both Frisk and Chara should be fine, and they seem okay to me. You really are Asriel. What are you doing here? I thought I'd be the only one here."

"I couldn't wait to tell them that Alphys succeeded. I know Frisk and Chara are unavailable, but I couldn't wait for Papyrus to get back so I could tell him and I hope they can hear me." Asriel answered.

I smiled, but I quickly cringed from the pain as Frisk's happiness flooded my soul and Chara came to talk.

"She did it? That's so great! Alphys was working on an artificial soul for Asriel, or at least a way for him to not lose his ability to feel again. Ask him how she managed."

"That's amazing. Both Frisk and Chara are very happy for you, and I can't help but be as well. Chara's wondering how she did it though, and now I'm curious to. Souls aren't exactly something you just make, but then again, I didn't think they were something that could be pulled out at will, so what do I know." I smiled, shrugging slightly. I shifted, so I was sitting cross-legged, which probably wasn't smart in the snow, but I didn't care.

"You can hear Chara?"

"It hurts a bit, so she tries not to talk to me too much, but yeah. She just told me what Alphys was working on and now we're all curious how."

"Well, she wasn't able to make me a soul, but thanks to me having all those souls, she was able to make the feelings hold, in a container of sorts. Now I have some sort of soul type thing that's not, but it's better than nothing."

"So, you won't go back to being emotionless now?"

Asriel nodded.

"That's so cool! I know I just met you and I only know the—probably inaccurate—information about you the game has given me, but I really am happy for you. And that's not just Frisk messing with my emotions or Chara chanting how happy she is. Actually, could you just ignore me for a second?"

Asriel gave me a strange look, so I took it as a yes and kept going.

"Could you two please stop that? You're giving me even more of a headache than normal, and it hurts enough to breathe cold air without you burning my lungs. I get that you're happy but please, not right now."

"Sorry." Chara apologized, and I felt a twinge of regret from Frisk before they both faded with the pain they caused.

"Thank you. That's much better. So, um… I don't actually know what to call you. What do you prefer?"

"I go by Asriel now." Asriel answered, seeming to be slightly startled by my focus shift back to him. "They all know who I am."

"Okay then. It's nice to meet you, Asriel." I smiled.

"And you? What do I call you?"

"Oh, right." I cringed slightly. I always was bad at introductions. "My name's Lillinia." I answered.

"Nice to meet you, Lillinia." Asriel said extending a leaf towards me like a hand for me to shake.

It felt so good hearing my name again. Nothing against Sans or Chara, but they didn't seem to care what my name was, and they never asked, so I just didn't say. Names were never my strength anyway, learning them or giving mine out. Papyrus just didn't seem to need a name from me. Friend and human worked just fine for him. On the topic of Sans, I could almost feel him glaring at me.

"I'd hate to be rude, but I get the feeling Sans will just drag me back to my room if I even try to touch you, and I'd rather not go yet. Sorry."

"Oh, yeah. Kinda forgot you're a bit of a prisoner here. Of course Sans is watching you."

"Yeah. Papyrus got him to let me out for a bit, but I can't leave Snowdin and he's definitely watching me. By the way, are you the one who turned on the tree?"

"Yeah, I saw you standing up there. I was hoping Chara could see it. She always liked Snowdin's giant giftmas tree."

"Tell him thanks. I Love it, and so does Frisk. She only gets to see it after we reach the surface because you people never come to this part of Snowdin."

"Chara said to tell you thanks, from her and Frisk, and I'd like to say thank you as well. This part of Snowdin doesn't even exist in the game, so it's really cool to see it and even better lit up."

"This doesn't exist?" Asriel asked.

"Maybe it does, but the game won't let us reach it. We can follow the path near Grillby's but then it just goes a little to the right where someone is throwing ice in the water and only far enough to the left for us to see one house. There might have been a building or two we could see, but we couldn't go that way and there was no path. The only other option was to go forward to the fairy."

"Wow. I wonder what else the game cut out."

"Probably a lot simply because it isn't relevant. There're a lot of parts where the game makes it sound like there are a lot of monsters, but as far as houses go, we don't get to see many. This right here makes more sense."

"That's strange to think about."

"Yeah, it really is. Speaking of things the game cut out, weren't you being stubborn about coming out of the underground? How'd they convince you to leave?"

Asriel did some sort of shrugging motion. "Frisk or you would have never managed. It was Chara and Papyrus, mostly."

"hey bud, time's up."

I fell over when Sans suddenly appeared next to me. Asriel wasn't bothered though.

"Hi Sans." He smiled.

"hey asriel. does tori know you're here?"

"She knows I came down here. Maybe not here, though. Please don't tell her. I just came to say hi."

"hm… i might not tell her if you hurry and let papyrus take you home."

"I will."

"and don't come wandering down here on your own again. you know it's not safe here."

"I know." Asriel sighed, his petals drooping. "By Sans."

Sans waved as Asriel disappeared, then quickly turned to me. "as for you, your time's been up for a while now."

"Oh. Then thanks for letting me stay longer." I smiled as the world disappeared and I was back on the table in my room. "Although, what do you mean it's not safe here? Is that because I'm here?"

"no. i won't let you hurt anyone. you were right about me pulling you back if you even tried to touch asriel. the underground as a whole isn't safe outside of snowdin town."

"Why not?"

"ask chara. i have other things to deal with right now," Sans said before disappearing.

"Okay then… Chara?"

"The underground is falling apart. Without the monsters around to maintain the stability of the cave, some parts have finally given in to their age and collapsed. Waterfall has it the worst. All monsters that still live down here are in New Home and Hotland, so they aren't bad. Snowdin and the Ruins are almost as bad as Waterfall because no one comes here. The town is only safe because Papyrus comes to maintain its safety and Sans practically still lives here, so he keeps an eye on things. He can't afford this place falling apart yet when it's such a perfect place to keep you. Hardly anyone can even get here."

"What do you mean they can't get here? I get won't come, but can't?"

"Yeah. There're some parts in Waterfall that have collapsed entirely. You can't get past them unless you can teleport or burrow under it. If you got out of here, we're honestly more scared of you getting yourself killed and resetting then actually managing to get to and hurt the other monsters."

"But Papyrus comes and goes just fine. All on his own."

"Why wouldn't he? Oh, you wouldn't know. Papyrus can teleport."

"What?"

"He just refuses to unless it's necessary because it's lazy."

"Seriously? Wait, then why does he need Sans to unlock the door? He could just come in."

"You still jump every time Sans appears, and he's the quiet one. How would you like it if Papyrus appeared and immediately greeted you the way he normally does? Besides, Sans wouldn't like it if Papyrus came in here without permission. I think you can guess why."

"Same reason I can't touch Asriel. Also, Sans is the scarier of the two, but I see your point. Papyrus' greeting would be terrifying if I didn't see it coming."

"Exactly. Now that your question is answered, do you mind if Frisk and I sleep?"

"Not at all. If you're tired, sleep. I can entertain myself, and I'm sure Sans will come back soon, anyway. Good night Chara, Frisk."

"Okay. Night."

I waited, humming quietly to myself until Sans appeared. My singing cut off abruptly when I noticed him.

"so, you sing. what you humming there, bud?"

I took a second to remember what I'd been singing. I felt my face heat up when I did. "Oh, that, uh, that was just…" I sighed. "It's a song from Undertale. The one on the music box."

"the music box in waterfall? that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"why it sounded familiar. i shouldn't recognize your music."

"So that's real. Should I not be humming that?"

Sans shrugged. "i don't mind. you'd have to ask frisk and chara what they think."

"That'll have to wait. They're sleeping right now, again."

"talking to you must really wear them out. you ready?"

"Yeah." I sighed as Sans hopped on his computer. "Are we really getting anywhere with this? You said I'd help it go faster but…"

"you are. your soul is just somewhere completely different from here. It's difficult to find."

"And what happens when we do find it? That tingling is almost painful by now."

"hopefully nothing bad. we should be close, then i can do something as long as you can handle it. i'm turning it on now."

I nodded, not liking the tingling that soon followed. I was only directing for a short time when the tingling shifted to a small but sharp pain.

"Ow! Sans?" I whined, gripping my shirt tightly.

Sans didn't respond.

"Sans? That hurts."

Sans stared at his computer for a moment more before stopping the pain.

"What was that?" I pouted.

"found you. now just to figure out what to do about this."

"This being the fact that that hurts? What are you planning to do about that?"

"there's not much i can do. anything i could try is far too risky for now. it's really up to you, bud."

I sighed, staring at the table beneath me. "Keep going," I whispered. "It's tolerable. Not much worse than Frisk. I'll let you know if it gets to be too much or too long." A small smile inched its way onto my face. "Does this mean I'm in charge of breaks now?"

"if the kiddos will let you."

I laughed quietly. "True. They seem to like to pick for me. I might finally beat them to it."

"you're sure about this?"

"Home is that way. I'll be fine."

Sans was silent as he returned to his computer. I tried to focus on anything but the sharp pain that returned in my chest, but it didn't work. The only thing good I could focus on was that I was glad the pain wasn't everywhere like for Frisk. After a while, I asked for a quick break before allowing Sans to continue.

AN:

A name! Finally! I mean seriously, Frisk made it through the entire underground with no one asking for her name? Made for a great twist game wise, but story wise, these monsters seem to be just fine with nicknames only.

Also, no, this is not one of those reader insert fics, but Lilly's name won't be used a bunch so I can't exactly stop you if you want to pretend it is.