You wake up feeling like, well, like you've been slashed at several times all over your body, and unsure of how or when you fell asleep. With a groan of pain you sit up on the bed. Looking around the room you don't see Sans anywhere. You spy a clock on the bedside table, it's past noon. On a desk at the end of the room, the towel you used before lays crumpled up. You bite down on your bottom lip. Maybe he won't mind if you take another shower… So you pick up the towel and head out to the bathroom where you do your business and then hop into the shower, scrubbing carefully at the various wounds. Just a few more scars to add to the collection, you think to yourself.

After you're done with that, you put your bloodstained clothes back on. It seems counterintuitive but the blood has dried and it's not like you have much of a choice. You call out but no one seems to be around so you make your way back to Sans' bedroom and sit on the bed. You're wondering where he might've gone to when realisation suddenly hits you like a ton of bricks. "I'm never going to let him hurt you again…"

"Oh no…" You mutter to yourself. How could you be such an idiot? "No, no, no, no, no, no…" Bolting to your feet you practically run for the door, only to stop dead in your tracks when you're faced with a small skeleton, a bag hanging lazily off his right hand. Relief washes over you and you crash into Sans, holding him hostage in a vice that is your embrace. "Oh thank god… I thought you…" You trail off, the sting of tears threatening to shed from your eyes. "I could never forgive myself if something happened to you…"

"Hey, I feel a little offended, I don't go down that easy." You push back, a stern look on your face.

"This isn't a joke Sans, he's dangerous and he's mad. He'll do anything for power, he'll kill you, and all the monsters he can get his hands on."

"Reminds me of someone…" He mutters this under his breath, and you're about to ask him about it when he speaks again. "Don't worry about me, okay? Right now you should be focusing on getting yourself back together, you went through a lot last night…" Your shoulders slump and you step back, pulling a hand up to your neck.

"Where's Papyrus? Are you sure he's safe?"

Sans nods. "He's over at Undyne's for training. I told him to stay over there for a while, she'll keep him safe." You don't know who Undyne is but you feel a weight lift from your shoulders. "It's kind of past breakfast time, so I brought you lunch." He holds up the bag and you notice that you're actually starving. Using magic always took a toll on you. You take the bag and thank him before you dig into the food he's brought you, not even bothering to stop and taste it. "Oh and… um…" He looks uncomfortable. Out of nowhere he produces another plastic bag and sets it on your lap. "Since your clothes are pretty much in rags… I got you something else to wear…" He scratches at his skull. "I kind of just guessed your size…" You stop chewing as you stare at him dumbfounded.

Your eyes go from Sans to the bag and back to Sans. You feel like a leech living at his expense. "I can't accept this…" You say quietly, your heart feeling heavy.

"I won't take no for an answer. I'll be outside while you change." And with that he's out of the room, closing the door behind him.

You can't push the curiosity away and you take a peek inside. You can't really tell what's in there so you pull out the first item your fingers grab. You blush hard when you see a set of matching black bra and panties with white polka dots. Oh geez, no wonder he was uncomfortable… You're not one to wear a bra, usually, but you take off your tattered jacket and slip it on, surprised at how well it fits. You take off your bottoms and take the rest of the clothes out of the bag. Huh, he has nice taste. After you're done dressing you inspect yourself in a mirror by the foot of the bed. Dark denim shorts, a simple black but warm and well-fitting t-shirt over a white long-sleeve shirt and thigh high black socks. You ignore the couple white lines sticking out from under the left one. A smile dances on your lips. You've never really felt pretty before… Simple, but pretty…

You step outside, feeling shy, looking down at the floor. "How does it look?" You ask Sans who's leaning against the wall opposite the door. He straightens his posture and his eye sockets go wide, a blue hue making itself apparent.

"You look really cute." You go to take a step forward and an immense amount of pressure suddenly sets in your chest and you fall into Sans' arms. "You okay?"

You gasp for air. "I… I can't… breathe…" You manage to choke out. You cough violently, a hand in front of your mouth, and when you pull back you find it covered in blood. You continue to take in ragged breaths, but nothing seems to reach your lungs. "Sans…"

He picks you up off the floor and the atmosphere around you fills with electrifying magic and one moment you're in Sans' hall, and the next you're somewhere you don't recognise, still feeling strangled and closer and closer to passing out from lack of oxygen. "Tor, I need you now!" You hear Sans shout. Each second that passes you find yourself slipping further into the darkness.

"What's going on?" Her voice is so sweet…

"I don't know. Please, help me, she-" Everything sounds muffled and the world around you starts fading away.

Sans lays your unconscious, unmoving body on the couch and Toriel kneels in front of you. With gentle hands she extracts your soul out of your chest. It's white, shining brightly with sparks of magic swirling around it, and as Sans looks closely he notices small cracks are starting to grow on it.

"Tori you got to do something. She's gonna die!" Toriel's healing magic surrounds your soul and your body jolts, your eyes shooting open as you take in a huge gulp of air. You start convulsing and Sans holds you steady as the other monster continues her arduous task.

"There's some other kind of magic in her, it seems to be poisoning her…"

"What can I do? Tell me, what can I do to make it stop?" His speech sounds desperate.

"You're going to have to keep her alive while I make an antidote."

"But I don't know any healing magic, you know that!" There's a crack in his voice as he looks at Toriel, panic in his eyes.

"Just keep her here long enough, I'll be as quick as I can. I promise." Her magic fizzles out and she rushes towards the kitchen and you go limp once again, not breathing, the cracks in your soul quickly reforming.

"Damn it, Star. Stay with me!" The small skeleton holds your hand and puts his mouth to yours, breathing into you. Your chest rises and falls once again as he backs away taking in another breath. He keeps this up but your soul seems to just keep breaking. "No, don't give up now! Come on kid, you can do it! Just hold on a little longer!" Suddenly, the little white heart seems to shine brighter, the fissures stopping their alarming advance. "YES! I know you have it in you! Come on, don't give up on me yet!" Sans breathes into you again and Toriel hurries back with a cup full with some red liquid. She pours it into your mouth and it slides down your throat.

The tears in your soul recede and it floats back into your chest. You sit bolt upright coughing into your hands, but as you feel air finally filling your lungs you gasp, taking in short breaths in quick succession, feeling the oxygen return to your blood flow. When you see Toriel and Sans looking at you with concern you try to level your breathing.

"W-What happened?" You ask between coughs.

"You were a little short for breath." Sans said matter-of-factly. Toriel nudges him and sends him a dirty look and he seems to shrink a little.

"I figured that much out…" You say with a slight smile and he looks down embarrassed.

"Right… You had poison magic in you."

"My child, how did that happen?" You think back to yesterday. The last blast your father shot through you… That must've been when he did it. You wonder why it took so long to take effect though. Maybe your own magic fought the effects until it couldn't anymore.

You give Toriel the short version of the story, your soul is infused with magic because of your dad, you escaped, he tried to kill you. You decide to leave out Chara and all the gruesome details, not wanting to open old wounds and make her suffer any more than she already must have. She doesn't press further and you let out a sigh of relief. She excuses herself to go make you some tea and you thank her.

"It doesn't make any sense…" You hear Sans muttering to himself. You send him a questioning look. "It's been bugging me all night. Why would he try to kill you? After all, in a sick kind of way, you're his own creation…" Now that you hear him say that, that is kind of strange… Initially you were just so consumed with anger you didn't even stop to think about it, and then you just pinned it on his insanity. But after years of testing and experimenting on you, why would he suddenly just kill you?

Unless…

You shake your head. No, you're being silly, that's just not possible… Is it…

You turn to look at Sans, who's pacing back and forth, you can almost see the wheels turning in his skull. "Sans…" He stops to face you. "C-can… Can humans absorb another human's soul?" He's looking at you but he's not saying anything. His expression is a neutral one, you can't tell what he's thinking but you have a hunch that it's not good.

"I don't know." He finally says. At this point Toriel returns with a hot cup of tea that she hands over to you. You take it gladly, sipping the liquid, feeling its warmth envelope you, and your skin tingles where your wounds sit. You pull up a sleeve and watch open-mouthed as the several cuts start to close up, not a single scar left behind.

"I brewed some magic into it, I hope that's okay." You run your hand over your arm once and then again. You feel nothing but the touch of skin on skin. No pain.

"That's amazing…" The motherly monster smiles at you warmly and you're so thankful that she found Chara when he fell, taking him into her family and into her heart despite not knowing anything about him. She truly was the most loving and caring creature you could ever hope to meet. You finish the tea while it's still warm and stand to go put it away but Toriel insists she take it herself.

"I'll have to go pick up Frisk from school soon. Feel free to stick around if you want to." She says as she takes the cup from your hands.

"Nah, we're good Tori, thank you so much." Sans' voice seeps gratitude and she simply smiles at him a knowing look in her eyes. "Do you happen to know where Alphys is? We need to go see her." He seems to have a plan of sorts.

"She's at the university lab. They hired her just last week."

"Thanks. Tell Frisk I said hi." She nods and you notice the worry in her eyes when suddenly she disappears. Or rather, you do, when Sans puts his hands on your shoulders and you materialise somewhere else.

You turn to the skeleton behind you. "Who's Alphys?"

"You're about to find out."

NOTE: And there that one is, introducing Alphys in the next chapter :P
Also I totally didn't gloss over the fact that Sans gave the reader mouth to mouth on purpose, nope, totally unintentional lol