Sans runs as fast as he can through the town. The Barrier isn't here, and he doesn't want to be here if Asgore comes. The rest of the buildings blur by. The lighting abruptly changes. It makes Sans slow down in shock. The high cave ceilings in Snowdin have suddenly dropped back down into dark tunnels like in the Ruins. Sans finds comfort in knowing nothing can sneak up on him as easily.

The tunnel is a lot darker then the ruins. Water also makes the walls glisten with dew. Sans doesn't know what the sound is at first, but as he keeps waking, it gets louder. The tunnel opens back up into an oval shaped chamber. Multiple waterfalls feed into underground rivers that disappear under the rock. The skeleton can only stare. Glowing rocks pave the roof like distant starts. Flowers grow all along the path through the room, and they all glow with a beautiful blue light.

"This place is so beautiful.......". Papyrus's voice, for once, is soft. He's in just as much awe as Sans. He's come out now that they're alone.

     "It sounds beautiful", Sans says, tilting his head despite having no ears. He loves the sound of falling water. It sounds even nicer then water hitting tile.

      The two boys walk farther into the cave. The ground is a little rockier then the fluffy snow in Snowdin, but Sans's tough boots protect his feet from getting scraped. He looks all around at the glowing rocks on the ceiling. The skeleton has never seen stars before. In that way, he is much like the rest of his kin.

"Pappy? What kind of flowers do you think these are?". Sans kneels down to look at one. They don't have faces, thankfully.

"Pappy? What kind of flowers do you think these are?".

"It talks!?", Sans yelps, falling back. Will it attack now?

"Oh! It's copying your words. Say something else! Say something else, Sans!", Papyrus giggles and pushes his brother back towards the flower.

"U-Umm- Hello?".

"U-Umm- Hello?".

"Come on! Let's see what the other ones are saying. They're all echos. Echo flowers, Nyeh Heh!", Papyrus cheers. He holds Sans's hand, and they both walk into the field of flowers to listen. Many flowers start to repeat different voices when they brush past them.

     "Are these what stars look like, Mommy?".

     "These flowers are suppose to grant wishes, right?".

     "I wanna see the sun".

     "Will the Barrier break soon? Do we have enough human souls?".

     "The Barrier? That's where Doctor Gaster wants me to go", Sans talks quietly so his own voice won't repeat, "He wants us to destroy the human souls".

     "Do you know what that means, Sans?". The Monster shakes his head. "Okay. Well, we're not at the Barrier yet. I'll tell you then". Papyrus won't meet his brother's eyes. Sans almost pesters him for more information, but Pappy doesn't look like he wants to talk about it.

     Sans is tired. It's been hours amd hours since he left Toriel's house. This might be the longest he's ever been awake. Papyrus must see this, because he doesn't argue when Sans sits down in a spot surrounded by flowers. They all whisper quietly.

     "Do you have to do another magic injection?", Papyrus asks him.

    "No, I hate those! I found some food in Snowdin. I won't wanna take any injections unless I start to feel sick", Sans takes off his backpack as he talks, "Do you want some? The shop lady said it was called a cinnamon bunny".

Papyrus looks like he's about to agree, because he used to love all the baked goods his mother made, but then his face falls. "No thank you, I'm not really hungry".

"Are you sure? I don't mind sharing".

Papyrus shakes his head again. Sans accepts the answer and turns to eat the cinnamon bunny. He knows enough not to try and eat the plastic. Just like with the pie, a bite disappears out of the cinnamon bunny when Sans brings it close to his face. It tastes really good, but Sans still likes the pie better. He stuffs the wrapper back into the backpack when he's done.

     "You can sleep if you want. I'll wake you up if anything happens", Papyrus reassures his brother.

    "Are you sure? I can keep going".

    "Sans, you're about to fall over. Go to sleep".

     The skeleton doesn't argue further, but before he goes to bed, he leans over and hums a soft tune to an echo flower. It repeats it. Sans does this to several more flowers until they'll all humming a melody. He then lays down on his back amongst the flowers. They sound beautiful.

Sans quickly realizes that sleeping on the rock floor is extremely uncomfortable. He ends up rolling over and trying to cushion his head on his arms. Bones are only a little more forgiving then rock. Sans then unzips his jacket and takes it off. The back pack is too lumpy with the vials, but Sans bundles up his jacket and uses it as a pillow resting on top of his arms. The temperature doesn't bother him at all. Sans's hybrid soul glows softly as he drifts off. Is the blue half dimmer? No, that's just his imagination.

*********

Rough shaking wakes the Monster up only hours later. For a moment, he thinks that he's back in the lab. Sans's magic buzzes back to life, and the he hears the echo flower's sweet humming fade back in. He's not in the lab.

     "Sans! Sans get up! There's someone coming", Papyrus is roughly shaking his brother by the shoulder.

    "Wh- What!?". Sans scrabbles up on his hands and knees. Now that he's a wake, he can hear a repetitive banging on the stone floor. Someone is walking closer. The Monster yanks his coat back on and pulls his bag back on, panicking. The cavern doesn't seem so enchanting anymore. The loud footsteps echo off the walls. Sans dashes out of the flower field and back onto the path that leads back to Snowdin in one direction, and into the unknown down the other.

He freezes right in the middle of that path, looking back from where he had come from earlier. Papyrus is already gone. A dark silhouette stands at the tunnel's mouth when the footsteps stop. Sans is too scared to move, even when the figure takes another step into the cave's light. The Monster is wearing a full set of shinning armor. They stare at the skeleton child for a moment before reaching up and pulling off their helmet. She looks like a fish. Sans always thought that they looked kinda funny in his brother's drawings. One of her eyes are covered by a patch, and she stares at Sans with conflicting emotions.

"Your soul........", she says, still staring.

Sans jerks his head down. In his haste, he had forgotten to zip up his jacket. His skeletal ribs are completely exposed. Behind Sans's chest, shifted slightly to the left, his multicolored soul hovers proudly. It's suspended in a fixed position without being attached to anything. The skeleton slowly looks back up. Something bad is going to happen.

      "Are you going to kill me?", Sans asks in a small voice. His eye lights are gone, replaced by black voids.

     "It's my duty to...... to break the Barrier......", she's at a loss for words.

     Undyne has been appointed by King Asgore to execute any Humans that fall into the Underground. It's the only way to break the Barrier. Undyne doesn't enjoy killing kids when they fall, but they're still Humans. Humans trapped her people in this horrible prison. She will do it for them. This kid isn't just Human. That strange soul is the only give away at all. Undyne's never seen anything like it. Monsters can gain a Human trait when they take their soul, but this kid only has half a trait. Integrity. She doubts he could actually kill a human, too. So what's left? A Monster that's part Human? From the surface? Undyne's always had to kill Humans, but what now?

Still with different emotions warring in her head, Undyne summons a glowing spear to tightly grip in her hand, to kill or capture, she doesn't know. "Your soul can free us all. My king has put out this task for me to carry out". She levels her spear with the skeleton's chest.

Once again, Sans bolts.