(Between the animation project and comic that I am working on, I really don't have the best sleep schedule. Fortunately, I happen to be an insomniac. Aha, how many people claim that as a fortunate trait? Anyway. Just wanted to let you guys know that this story might have a few errors... but I will try to fix them as soon as I can! Enjoy~)

---(Y/n)'s Pov---

Eight hours have passed into the next day and I was still sitting here, trying to do this puzzle. The font was completely foreign to me. I honestly had absolutely no idea how to read it...

"Wow, uh. You're still on that?" Snapping my (E/c) up to stare at Sans who magically appeared in his chair, I offered him nothing but silence. Unfortunately, my determination was not enough to pull me through this. "You must be the dumbest human that I've ever met. A child could do that puzzle."

Since I was ignoring him out of... slight embarrassment. Sans decided to be somewhat friendly by giving me some advice. Advice that I really couldn't do anything with. "The first one spells 'You'."

Again, I shot him a glare. I knew that If I didn't complete this soon, he would forever look down on me. So instead, I decided to pretend to write in the answer. "Oh. So ya do know how to write? I almost thought that you couldn't."

"Do not underestimate me."

The simple sentence caused the skeleton to lean back into his chair. He started to tap his fingers against the wooden armrest, easily producing that unsettling noise. "You're not eating."

"And?" I said with a sigh. Moving the paper to the side along with the pen, it didn't take long for Sans to switch his gaze to try and inspect the page.

"Don't want to... oh I don't know? Have your last meal before tomorrow?" He suddenly mused with a small chuckle. At the sound of me chewing, his single crimson eye snapped towards me... I was eating a cookie. "What the hell."

"What?" By now, he was giving me an absurd stare. "Oh, I am sorry. How rude of me... were you still talking?"

Sans suddenly did something that I wasn't really expecting from him. He got up and reached his hand through the prison bar with that sly grin still on his face. However, he did seem much more... relaxed?

From the depths of my coat, I pulled out a bag of cookies and took one of the treats out. Not bothering to stand up, I tossed it in his direction. The crazed skeleton caught it with ease before consuming it in an instant.

I wanted to avoid him potentially turning aggressive if I denied him...

Immediately, his eye showed astonishment before he brought of his hands to his vacant eye to scratch the socket. "More monster food?"

"The ruins." I reminded him bluntly with a sigh. He seemed to contemplate my words briefly before growling with irritation. Watching as he returned to his chair, I thought that he was going to sit back down... but instead he picked up his weapon that was next to it and vanished.

I guess that confirms his ability to teleport...

Before I could get up to pick the lock, the sound of a door closing from upstairs caught my attention. Next, heavy footsteps... and then, Papyrus appeared. "HUMAN. IS SANS GONE?"

"Yes...?" I didn't have it in me to be as sarcastic with the taller skeleton. He was probably the most harmless of us all. Including myself.

"EXCELLENT." He said while approaching the door to my prison. I didn't think that he was going to open it for me... it was just an easier access point for him. A new idea came to mind... Papyrus was nicer, but obviously feared. An asset perhaps?

Sans was too unpredictable. If I tried to befriend him, it would likely end with my head chopped off. Papyrus on the other hand was probably the only other individual capable of approaching his brother... both he and Sans seemed to have a lot of control in Snowdin. "Papyrus. You care about the survival of the Underground?"

"WHAT KIND OF A QUESTION IS THAT? OF COURSE I CARE." He said with confusion. I knew that If I pried into this too far, he would probably become upset. I shouldn't question his loyalty to his own kind...

"Can I trust you to keep a secret?" I asked while looking at him. He began to rub a gloved hand under his chin, seemingly thinking about my question before finally exploding in excitement.

"ABSO-POSITIVELY-LUTELY!" Papyrus screamed. It took me a moment to recover from being deaf as he flashed me his crooked smile. The effects of consuming a human were present for him... bleeding teeth, shrunken eye sockets...unstable posture. He might have a minor case of psychosis too.

"You must not tell anyone." I reminded him. He nodded enthusiastically, gripping the bars of the prison with both of his hands. Papyrus leaned in dangerously close... If I was a child, I would of been terrified of his murderous curiosity.

With a sigh, I put my hand into my pocket and pulled out the prototype that I was still working on. Holding it out so that he could get a decent look at it, the skeleton only seemed to be confused. "This... is a device that I have created."

"WHAT DOES IT... DO?" He inquired while reaching his gloved hand forward in an attempt to snatch it. I pulled away the object and put it back into my pocket. If Sans hadn't tried to attack me, I probably would of showed him this. Papyrus came in at an inconvenient time. If I didn't act now to escape, I'd have a much harder time tomorrow.

Without Sans here, his brother was free to think for himself... "It is... almost like a battery. A high grade source of energy for repowering the core."

Papyrus stared at me, processing the information with his arms crossed. He seemed skeptical... perhaps this would take more convincing. "Let me out. I can-"

"SANS COULDN'T REPAIR THE CORE." He stated bluntly, obviously feeling somewhat annoyed. I must admit that I wasn't expecting that psychopath to be tied into this... but it was obvious that he gave up a long time ago.

"I can. While on the surface, I gathered specific resources for it. Now while I am down here, I have to obtain a few more parts. I already found one of them... it was in the lab in the back of your home."

"YOU BROKE IN? WHAT AWFUL MANNERS." The skeleton stated dramatically. My eyes refused to adjust to the lighting of the room until now. Seeing Papyrus properly, I noticed that his arms were covered in blood. "I HAVE ALREADY TAKEN NOTE OF YOUR PROPORTIONS, I NO LONGER NEED TO BE HERE. SEE YOU TOMORROW, HUMAN."

And with that he left... turns out he was only here to determine the size of his next meal. Wonderful.

Since Sans wasn't back yet, I decided to make my attempt at sneaking out. I still needed to get my bag from the workshop, and with any luck... I'd find Flowey.

In seconds the pins were out of my hair and working on the lock. My skills at this happened to be exceptional... and even though they trained themselves to kill, they obviously didn't understand the concept of going through their victim's inventory. I guess that they compared a human to livestock, and therefore wouldn't assume for them to have anything of value on them.

Additionally, most Humans that fell down here were not prepared for the horror that they were about to face. Even I wasn't exactly ready for this... If I had known in advance, I would of brought down more supplies.

A small click was heard from the lock that I managed to get open. This signaled me that the door was successfully unlocked. Before I could leave, I ripped apart the puzzle that Papyrus gave me and carefully opened the entrance to the prison so that it wouldn't creak. Upon leaving my confinement, I grabbed my grapple that was on the floor and wrapped it around my waist.

Slowly walking up the stairs, I found myself pressing my body against the exit in an attempt to determine any threat beyond my exit.

Once I was certain that there was no one beyond it, I opened it and found myself in a back room that connected to the kitchen. A song that was being hummed by Papyrus could be heard from the kitchen... and upon taking a closer look, I saw him pulling apart the remains of a corpse on the counter.

He was putting them into a pot that was cooking on the stove, followed by pasta noodles and some other unusual ingredients. While I was locked up, I made several notes about the Monsters in the Underground on the back of the junior jumble page that Papyrus gave me. I would of brought the paper with me, but destroying it would be sufficient. Not that it mattered, no one could really read in Wingdings anyway.

I assumed that Papyrus was too busy to notice my escape, so I casually walked out of my hiding spot and moved past him while his back was turned to me. He seemed to be humming a small tune that really did sound cheerful and upbeat... until he grabbed a knife and started to repeatedly stab the body parts to the left of him.

I guess that he wasn't in... Stable condition?

Heh. Puns.

Normally, someone might ask me about my approach to this situation. But I can say one important thing about sneaking. Act casual, because if you don't... you will stand out.

Upon reaching the front door, I successfully opened it which called Papyrus to shout out. "SANS. I WAS THINKING, MAYBE WE SHOULD KEEP THIS HUMAN ALIVE A LITTLE LONGER. SURELY THIS WILL BE ENOUGH FOOD FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK."

I froze on the spot, immediately concerned. Thankfully, the skeleton didn't leave his kitchen. "I KNOW THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO. HOWEVER, THIS HUMAN IS JUST TOO SKINNY. THEY'RE ALL BONES."

Oh... and here I thought he might of decided to care. At least he didn't make a move to say anything about what I told him. Regardless, I shook off my sudden paranoia and slipped through the crack in the door. Upon closing it, I made my way around the back in search of Flowey. "Pssst! Over here!"

Spotting the familiar flower behind the building leading into the lab, I approached him with relief. "Good to see you, Flowey. I thought that my guide gave up on me."

"Ha. As if... you're too smart for those bone heads." He mused with a small giggle. Almost instantly, the flower used his vines to climb back into his usual spot under my coat, obviously content with the new found warmth. Before, he was terrified of the two skeletons... but now he seemed to be rooting for me. "I saw Sans poking around in there earlier... so I moved your stuff."

"Oh... that is definitely helpful. Thank you, Flowey." He offered me a nod before pointing his petal off into the direction of the woods.

"I didn't put it too far from here... also, I thought that you were maybe joking about fixing the core. Until I saw all of your notes." I nodded at what he said. Maybe I felt a little disrespected due to him searching through my things... but it was probably necessary. Following his instructions, I managed to avoid a few more traps before reaching a very small cavern.

Inside was a shelter from the snow, along with my promised bag. "Let's stay here for a few hours. Those skeletons were exhausting."

He nodded in agreement as I sat down against my bag, finally relaxed during all of this horror. For an entire hour, I told the flower about my boring adventure of being stuck in a cage.

"You... threw a cleaver... AT SANS?!" He exclaimed with his single green eye wide in shock. I nodded briefly as he gawked at me.

"He threw it at me first." I stated, almost like how a child would upon trying to pin a blame on a friend or sibling.

"How are you even alive?"