A numbing pain seemed to slowly creep up your entire body starting from where your heart was. It started out small. Insignificant. Something you could easily ignore but it continued to grow until it was starting to get uncomfortable. You had continued to ignore it because you wanted to remain still. Asleep. Because your body was so tired that it would take all your strength to even lift your pinky but now the pain was starting to get to uncomfortable to ignore.
Your eyes cracked open and blearily tried to take in your surroundings as they adjusted to the dim brightness of your hospital room. Actually... was this your hospital room? Once the room came into focus, several new large machines filled the small space that would normally be for visitors and doctors. The curtain that had originally pardoned off your side of the room was shoved against the wall as far as it could be to make room for all of the new additions. When did all of this get here? How long have you been out?
At that moment, the pain that your body was in decided to remind you that it was still there and you winced. Several tubes and things, that you were hooked up to, shook gently under the small force you had applied. A silent sigh escaped your lips. You probably looked more machine than human by now due to all of the stuff you were hooked up too. Deciding to ignore that thought and look around for the button to call a nurse about the pain, you finally realized that you weren't alone in your room.
Mettaton, Sans, and Alphys were surrounding your bed. Sans was by your feet, Alphys on your left, and Mettaton was on your right. Their faces were all looking at each other and, judging by the tones of their voices, they were in some kind of argument.
"Listen.. we have no idea when the kiddo will wake up and we are on borrowed time as it is." Sans's baritone voice rose above the other two. "If we don't do this now she could die at anytime."
"She could die in the very beginning before we even start if she isn't awake!" Alphys's nasally voice was a tad bit more higher pitched than normal. "A normal human's SOUL isn't this fragile. If this was someone else then we could easily have done the procedure already but this isn't the case! If we do this now, without her knowing, we may as well be signing her life away right now."
"Is that why you had the nurse take the pain medication off?" Mettaton's sultry voice crept into the conversation and it sounded more calm than he appeared to be. The three of them looked ragged. Sans looked even more disheveled than normal and he had even darker lines under his eye sockets. Alphys's clothes were a wrinkled mess with her glasses sitting crooked on her yellow snout. Mettaton's hair was sticking up in all kinds of places. As though he had slept in and hadn't bothered to deal with the bed head when he got up. Just how long have the three of them been here?
You watched as Alphys nodded her bright yellow head at Mettaton's statement. "I-I'm hoping that it will get so uncomfortable that she wakes up... but if she doesn't, after a little bit, we'll put her back on it." Her head drooped and looked at the floor. Not noticing that her plan had worked and you were awake. "I don't want her to suffer needlessly."
Sans's exasperated sigh had the other two monsters looking in his direction. "If you didn't want her to suffer needlessly then we should have started by now." Sans was looking directly at Alphys as he said it and the two seemed to start a glaring contest with each other. Neither of them saying anything but neither of them were backing down either. This wasn't good... You didn't want them fighting over you. It was obvious that everyone here was extremely tired and stress always followed when that happens. You tried to move your hand but you could barely even make the muscles twitch. Great. Your body was currently useless. Not wanting to see them fight and not having the ability to stop it, you slowly turned your head away towards Mettaton so that you didn't have to watch.
It seemed that Mettaton had the same idea as you. He rolled his eyes at the other two and then they drifted down to your still form. His eyes widening in shock and happiness at seeing your eyes wide open. "Well! Good morning, gorgeous~. Did you have a good beauty rest? You've been out for a few days." The ghost robot's voice had lowered a bit and you could see the relief behind those tired LED eyes. You do the only thing you could do since you couldn't raise your hands to talk.
You stuck your tongue at him.
Mettaton's laughter brought Alphys and Sans's attention away from their argument and over to the two of you. Their petty fight long gone once they both see that you are wide awake. Well... as awake as you could be. "Hey there, kiddo. If you kept sleepin you would be beating my record." Sans winked his eye socket at you in greeting, bringing a small smile to your face.
"Hello! I'm so happy that you are awake!" Alphys was practically hopping in place in delight that you were no longer sleeping. You turned your head to give her a small smile in greeting as well but winced instead at the pain you had been trying to hide. Your face grimaced as it pulsed through your body. "Oh! I-I'm so sorry! Here lemme turn that back on now since we don't need it off anymore." Her yellow claws reached up and started fiddling with one of the nearby iv drips.
"If you knew how to do it then why did you have a nurse do it?" Mettaton asked as he propped his head up in his hands while he leaned against the railing of your bed.
"I-it's been a while since I've had to do it and humans aren't like monsters..." Alphys let that last part trail off as she finished turning the drip back on. You watched as the bag of medication slowly drip small amounts of clear liquid down a long tube that was fastened into your wrist. "You'll s-start to feel better in a couple of minutes. I'm sorry but this was the only way I could think of to get you awake..."
You groggily shook your head at her to dismiss the apology. If she needed you up that badly then it had to be important. "While you were out, sweetheart, we got permission from the hospital staff to bring over all the equipment needed from Alphys's lab. Then the past few days we went about setting everything up." Mettaton's voice was gentle as he reminisced.
"Long story short. It's all ready to go. Now the real question is... are you?" Sans was looking straight at you as he said it. Despite having his perma-smile plastered to his face, you could sense the seriousness behind it. Did they wake you up just to get your permission again? Didn't you already sign that paper? Oh well. At least they were being thorough. You stared right back at Sans and gave him an affirmative nod.
This whole situation has been expected to happen your whole entire life and you were ready for it to end. Screw spending the rest of your days in the hospital. You were ready. Sans and Alphys looked to one another before nodding to each other .Then Alphys wandered over to a nearby computer terminal. Her claws flying across the keyboard from years of practiced precision. You feel a gentle but strong hand envelope your right one and you look over to see Mettaton giving you an encouraging smile. The room goes into a tense silence as Alphys preps up whatever she was prepping on the computer with Sans standing at the ready by the end of your bed.
"Okay... here we go..." Alphys calls out and you hear her hit one final key on her keyboard. All the new machines seemed to come to life. The sounds of fans, generators, and CPU's filled the room as they lit to life in a dazzling array of lights. Some pulsed. Others glowed. Combined they put on an intricate light show that you were having trouble looking away from.
A loud whirring sound finally was able to pull your attention way from the lights to the large glass tube that had originally hung above you. It now lowered down to rest gently on top of your chest. The bottom looking like metal but it had a weird soft like texture. Like if you gave enough pressure with your hand, your hand would faze right through it.
Looking through the glass, you could see Sans giving you an apologetic smile. You cocked your eyebrow questioningly at him and he chuckled softly. "Sorry, bud. You were probably awake for some of that argument. I just now realized why Alphys was so worried about doing this while you slept." So there was another reason as to why she had woken you up other than to ask for your permission again. If you could move your hands you would have asked why but the chance was immediately lost. Alphys gave Sans a nod and he closed his eye sockets only to open them with his left one lit up in a brilliant cyan flame. "Once this happens, there isn't any going back... You sure you are ready, kid?"
You give Sans another determined nod. Raising his hand, you felt something envelope a part of you that was buried deep within your body. As his boney hand slowly rose higher, you felt it begin to pull that part of you up with it. A small pang of fear creeped up your spine but you willed it back. This was Sans. He wouldn't let anything bad happen to you. Not only that but Alphys and Mettaton were there at the ready to help as well. You were in good hands. Sans continued to raise his hand until, like tension being released on a rope, your SOUL was snapped out of your body. It easily broke through the bottom seal of the glass tube and stopped to float in it perfectly center. Your eyes grew wide as you saw your SOUL for the very first time.
"Absolutely beautiful... Purple suits you, Songbird." Mettaton's voice was completely awestruck just like yourself. But by the way he said it, it made it sound like there was more than one color. If there was, how many were there? Did it mean anything significant?
However you let those questions fade to the back of your mind as you took in the SOUL, that was yours, in front of you. It was smaller than you thought it would be. When you think of something as the culmination of a person's being, you would think that it would be bigger. It was a faded purple color with a bright blue aura surrounding it that had to be Sans's magic. Your SOUL was in the shape of a heart and it pulsed softly within it's new container. Even though you had never seen your SOUL until now, you knew there was something wrong with it. Was it because it was faded? No.. there was something else. Your eyes continued to search it until it popped out like a huge red flag.
All across the surface of your heart shaped SOUL were prominent hairline cracks. Looking as though it could shatter into tiny pieces at any given moment. Was this... was this what Sans saw when he first met you? Were the cracks always there? Have they been gradually getting worse as it progressed? No wonder everyone, who could see it, had been worried about you. To them it looked like you were about to keel over right then and there!
"Perseverance. Not a bad trait to have, kid. You've definitely had to persevere with this in your life." Sans said as he winked his left eye socket at you. When it opened the cyan flames were gone and your SOUL remained in the tube instead of returning to your body. "Mettaton's right. It suits you."
However you barely acknowledged his words. You were to busy staring at your trapped SOUL. When the magic released, your SOUL should have returned like it had before. Why wasn't it returning? It got into the tube fairly easily. It could easily get out the same way. So why didn't it? Your SOUL continued to float dead center of the tube as if to taunt you as fear started to rear it's ugly head. Almost like it picked up on your new fear, your SOUL began to pulse at a much faster rate than the calm one it had moments before. The fear continued to grow as your SOUL refused to return to your body. Why?! Why wasn't it returning like it was supposed to?!
Darkness started to line your vision and fueled the uncertainty that was embedding into your mind. "Sweetheart. It's alright. This is what was supposed to happen... Alphys, what's going on?!" Mettaton squeezed the hand he held reassuringly before addressing his scientist friend in a much sterner tone.
"W-without her SOUL, h-her body is having trouble staying awake. It's lacking the energy to maintain her conscious state." Alphys piped up from her spot in front of the computer. "Don't worry, (y/n). Everything will be okay! Go ahead and rest. When you wake up you should be feeling much better."
You couldn't see Alphys's face and you would bet that she would be giving you a consoling look. But right now you were claiming bullshit. Rest? Now? How could you rest when your SOUL refused to return to you? It was out in the open for everyone to see! But you didn't have a choice. The darkness spread across your vision until it was all you could see and once again you were trapped in the endless void. You shivered.
What was going to happen? You couldn't move. You couldn't speak. There was no way to tell your friends if something happened or if something was wrong. You were scared and it was consuming you with all the uncertainties that were plaguing your mind. What's worse is that you felt all alone. There was nothing but darkness. No one to talk to. No one to console you. Just you and all your uncertainties. Your fears. You wished you could just curl up in Mettaton's lap and never leave his protective arms. But you couldn't. You wanted to cry and scream. You weren't sure if you actually were on the surface beyond this void or not.
Why were you acting this way? These were your friends! This reaction was completely unreasonable. They wouldn't let anything bad happen to you. But even then the fears, doubts... all the horrible thoughts banished the comforting feeling of your friends to the far reaches of your mind. Making you want to tremble in the unknown fear that you were currently drowning in.
"Darling, please don't be all alone.
You mean more to me than you could ever have known."
A soft voice cut through the awful silence in your mind as you strained to hear who it was and where it was coming from.
"Little Song bird
Where have you gone?
Is there anything wrong?"
It sounded so distant but you clung to the soft comforting words like a lifeline. Yes there was something wrong. You wanted to wake up. You wanted to be out of this darkness. You wanted this procedure to go well. You wanted to go home! The soft voice went quiet and you started to panic.
No! Please come back! Don't leave me! You wanted to scream these words at the top of your lungs even though you knew that you physically couldn't. Your ears strained for the soft voice. Your mind pleading for it to pick up again before you were pulled back into the depths of dark thoughts and fear.
"My little song bird,
To protect your fragile heart.
My dear, I'm here!
Even when it all goes dark!"
You could have cried in relief. The voice sounded familiar. You knew that it was your song but... was it... was it Mettaton singing? It had skipped forward a bit but you assumed that it was due to the fact that you couldn't hear it. This time the ghost robot's gentle voice didn't stop. He ended the song and picked it up from the top again as if he was an mp3 on repeat. You didn't know how you could hear him but you were so grateful. So happy. You weren't alone!
With that thought, it felt as though you were a thousand pounds lighter. You were released from all the bad thoughts as though someone had cut the chains that they were using to pull you down. It felt so good. You basked in the weightless feeling and Mettaton's voice. Good wasn't the best word for how you felt. You felt amazing! Having long since lost track of time, you reveled in the song. Not minding that it started over again immediately once the ending line faded out. The more you listened, the more positive and energetic you became. You hadn't felt like this since you were little! It was then that you felt something, that you knew had been missing, reinsert itself within you. As though, the last puzzle piece had fallen into place. You felt good.
You felt whole.
The darkness started to fade as you felt yourself wake up from that weird limbo-like state that you were in. Your eyes blinked as they readjusted to the lights of your hospital room again. Sans and Alphys were now standing right next to your bed. Mettaton sat in a chair opposite them. His sultry singing voice rising over the sounds of all the machines in the room. His eyes closed. Lost in the world of the song.
Your eyes trail away from him and back to the other two monsters who were both watching you with rather expectant eyes. You give them a confused smile and gently waved at them in greeting. Something about having those kinds of eyes on you just make you nervous. Were you supposed to do something?
"Hey there, kiddo... You woke up pretty quick." Sans stated while the pin pricks of his eyes seemed to roam over where your SOUL was probably at. Looking for anything bad. His voice pulling Mettaton out of his singing to look at you with relief spreading across his features.
You stretched and winced as the needles in your arms dug in due to the odd angles that you had forced them into. Then you froze. Your eyes widening at what you had just done. Before you passed out, you could barely move your head. Now you were not only moving your arms but stretching like it was fully normal. You looked at Sans and Alphys with renewed vigor. "How long was I out?" Your hands signed the words effortlessly. You fought back tears at the fact that you were able to communicate properly again.
"N-not to long. Just a few hours as we did the procedure. To be honest, we weren't expecting you to wake up so soon after having your SOUL put back." Alphys spoke up from beside Sans. Her eyes doing the same as his as she roamed your body in case there was something amiss. "W-we put your SOUL back about... an hour and a half ago?" She glanced at the clock to check to see if her time was right. "Yeah.. about that much."
"Really?" You were shocked. It had only been an hour and a half since your SOUL came back and you were already feeling well enough to move around? Whatever they did clearly was working. That healthy SOUL/ sick SOUL theory was definitely true if that was the case. Your body was responding to the healthier SOUL that it now housed.
"How are you feeling, darling? Though I can pretty much already tell you are looking significantly better." Mettaton said ending on a playful purr that had you grinning brightly. Not only did you look it but you definitely felt it. Alphys seemed about to burst in excitement as you relayed how you felt prior to the procedure and after. Then you did something that amazed but at the same time scared the hell out of all of them. You sat up. The wires and tubes hung off your body by patches of medical tape that secured them in their positions.
"Kid... Don't do to much now. We don't want to push a good thing to far." Sans was chuckling but his warning was clear.
You silently chuckled before giving Sans a mischievous look. Might as well get Mettaton going too. "Sorry... but I think it's been proven that I'm good in bed." You made sure to give Mettaton a flirtatious look that had him blushing brightly. "After all, I can sleep for days." Technically, this was true. You had.
"Dammit, Songbird." You heard Mettaton state after he snorted at you pun. Sans started laughing and Alphys even let out a few small chuckles. "You had me going there for a second. Yes. Perseverance definitely suits you."
"W-Well... Since you are up now. Why don't we run those diagnostic tests to see how everything is going? We won't know of anything bad happening right away. So you won't be able to leave yet but..." Alphys looked to the floor then back at you. "Everyone is out in the waiting room and they are bound to be happy to see you are okay. So after we run the tests, we can bring them in if you are feeling up for it...?"
"YES!" You would have shouted it out loud if you could. Instead you opted to repeat the word over and over to Alphys with your hands until she was laughing as she made her way back over to the computer terminal.
Mettaton stood up with an exaggerated stretch. His hands running through his hair in an attempt to tame it a bit. "Why don't I go give everyone the good news then? I trust you'll keep me posted Alphys, darling?"
"Y-you know, I will Mettaton." She said it without even bothering to look up from her screen.
The ghost robot leaned over and placed a soft kiss on your forehead. Earning him a bright blush that brought an endearing smile to his face. "I'm glad that I don't have to worry about never seeing you flustered again." He whispered it into your ear and you playfully pushed him away. Now was not the time for flirting. He gave you a wink as he walked out. Making sure to close the door softly behind him.