"...I kn-now how."

I look over at Error. "Tell us, please." Dream begs, walking close to him. Error seems to contemplate this for a moment, looking to the side as to avoid us.

"Show me your soul, Y/N," Error mumbles, moving closer to the frail human. They stand up straight and bring out the small heart, it's normal S/C glow dimmed with the sharp, rock-like crags that are stuck to it, their dark coloured surfaces seeming to leech off of their energy. The soul is surrounded by a black mist, as if it needs protection against the outside world. Error's eyes widen as he examines the corruption, sadness seeming to drape across him like a blanket.

"It's-s gone-ne t-too far for the f-fountain-n, guys-s." He looks up at all of us. "T-The shadow has-s f-fused-d to their c-code-ode, it's's a part of them now-w."

Y/N gasps in horror as they look down upon the soul, tears of anger in their eyes. "You mean there's no way to fix me? T-The shadow is gonna kill me?" Their voice halts multiple times, their throat closing up with tears. "...No matter what?" Error looks to the ground, contemplating what to say next, not wanting to make the wrong choice.

He shakes his head. "N-No, There's-s a way, b-but..." He sighs heavily, looking away from Y/N's tearful gaze. "Y-You m-might not want to hear it-t."

"Please, Y/N begs, "If there's a way, you need to tell me, I don't wanna die!" Their left eye fades to black, their pupil becoming a small white pinprick once more.

"Y/N-N," Error starts, "We'd-d have to erase-ase every-ything in your mind, up to a save point-t before you met the Star Sanses-es. It'd clear away everything the shadow has done, not to mention the trauma Nightmare's corrupted form put on you."

The tears begin to fall, dripping from their eyes and down their cheeks like a faucet. They let out a strangled sob, their shoulders sagging as if a heavy weight was placed upon them. They fall to their knees. Covering their eyes with their hands, they cry with guilt and horror and overwhelming sadness in their heart. "But I'd lose my best friends..." They whimper, choking on their words. "I'd lose everything..."

"But we'll help you to rebuild them," Dream smiles, kneeling down to their level. "And you'll have a new friend this time!" He holds up Nightmare's soul and places a hand on their shoulder. "He's so very kind once you get to know him." Y/N thinks about this, looking at Nightmare's soul.

"I'll take you to Outertale again," I assure them gently, sitting beside them. "We can see the stars."

"You'll always have us, Human!" Blue squeaks, hugging them closely. "It'll be better this time!"

After a moment of silence, Y/N smiles and looks up at Error.

"How do we do it?" They ask.

~*~*~

The shadow laughs maniacally, murmuring to itself. "You thought you could stop me...!" It hisses. "You really thought you could knock me down! You rendered me unconscious, dear human, but you will never be able to defeat me for real. You're too weak to do that! Too weak..." The creature seems to be going insane, repeating it's words and laughing quietly, as if a joke had just been told to them.

I look down at the small, yellow rectangle in my hand, the word "RESET" in big bright letters on it's face. I sigh as I stare down at the thing, it's golden glow seeming to taunt me with memories of my friend. It's only a matter of time before it's in full power... I sigh. Only a matter of time before we lose them.

...This is for the best.

The shadow stands, it's spine stiff and it's face contorted into a horrible grin. It raises it's hand up, a small knife materializing in their hand. I crouch down and wait, watching carefully as the entity brings out the soul of Y/N.

"You tried to kill me, so now you die!" The shadow cackles, driving the knife towards the corrupted soul with one swift motion. Just as quickly as the blade moves towards the soul, I launch myself at the monster, the Reset button closed in my hand. Tackling them to the ground, I manage to fling the knife from their hand just before the blade pierces the soul.

"Error, Now!" I shout. At my command, a torrent of blue strings rush from the shadows, wrapping tightly around each of Y/N's limbs. The wires lift the young human into the air.

"You made a big mistake taking over this human's body," I murmur, bringing out the Reset button. "They are a friend. A best friend."

"So what?!" The entity hisses. "They are worthless. WORTHLESS!! They couldn't fight against me, they can't even realize how much power they have! It's mine, though, ALL MINE!" They laugh hysterically, thrashing against the wires wound tightly around their limbs.

"You're wrong. You've always been wrong," Dream yells. "They're powerful, and they knew it! They didn't show it, but they knew..."

"You talk like they're dead, but they still fight to win as we speak!" The shadow spits angrily. "Not for long, though...as soon as I free myself, I'll kill you all, and have them watch!!"

"Not on my watch," I whisper, unfurling my hand to reveal the Reset button. The shadow seems to shrink away at the sight of the small yellow rectangle, their eyes widening slightly.

"You took away our friend, so now we take you away!" Blue shouts angrily, tears in his big blue eyes. The Reset button begins to glow a bright yellow colour, almost blinding to the naked eye.

"N-N-Now's the time, I-Ink!" Error shouts. "Do it now!"

"I'm sorry, Y/N..." I whisper, bringing out their soul. The rectangle gravitates towards the soul almost immediately, latching onto it. "See you soon."

I press the Reset button.

The yellow glow around the rectangle spreads across Y/N's entire body, washing away the impurities like they were never there. Their H/L hair breaks free of the braid it was tied into. Their skin regains it's natural colour. Their eyes return to normal again as the entity screams loudly, it's agony echoing throughout the room.

Their body drops to the floor, limp.

I kneel down to their level and lift them off the floor, holding them close as their soul resets to the last save point.

Dream and Blue gather around Y/N, quietly watching as the yellow glow fades away from their skin. Their eyes flutter slightly, a breath filling their lungs.

"Thank you..." They whisper. "For everything..." Their hand makes it's way to my cheekbone, their breathing becoming shallow as their form begins to glitch away. I feel overwhelming guilt for this, uncontrollable sadness for my friend.

They gently place a kiss on my cheek as they fade away, a smile on their lips as they look into my eyes.

"I love you," They whisper sadly, a tear rolling down their face as the last of their body glitches away, their entire world being wiped away from them as they gaze at their friends.

I find myself gasping as a rush of... something washes over my mind, a feeling of emotion, a feeling of, well, feeling.

They gave it back to me.

HP fully restored.

You gained a SOUL!