Her Majesty

Chapter VI - Armory

It was... beautiful.

That was the first word that came to mind, the only word that came to mind, for both of them.

They had slowly walked up, seeing the light before them become brighter and brighter, until their feet finally touched the surface and yawned before them, freezing them in place.

The sky was a mix of red and yellow, the sun slowly burying itself into the horizon and painting everything beneath it with those very same colours, including the expanse of green before them. They could see, in the distance, what looked like a city, one not too far away at all, and they instinctively knew that that was where they had to go.

But neither of them moved, their eyes instead on the sky, still holding hands tight, almost unable to breathe from the sight.

Undyne felt her eye well up with tears, not just from how bright it was, but simply from the sight of it. She felt her heart racing, and she threaded her fingers with Alices's so that she could hold on tighter.

Alices didn't hesitate; she couldn't move, anyway, her other hand over her chest and over her own speeding heart, for a moment able to forget everything that had happened before now.

It was so easy to forget the circumstances that had brought them here when faced with this, and they both just allowed it to happen, feeling the sun touch their skin and warm them, but in a gentle way, one that felt more like a caress than anything else.

And they both felt so lucky to be with the other at that exact moment.

Undyne, deep within her soul, felt something stir at the sight of the sun. It was as if the other souls within her were reacting to it, feeling it, too, after so long without it - save one - and were just as glad as she to be seeing it, again. She inhaled deeply, closing her eye for a moment, feeling the fresh air touch her lungs and fill them, and it felt almost electric within her.

This is what it means to be alive, she thought as she exhaled slowly. It was with a bit of sadness, but it made it no less true. This feeling, this air, this... this sunset. All of it. They've kept it from us for so long. After all that's happened, we deserve this.

At the very least, we deserve this.

Her eye opened slowly, moving to her side, where Alices stood transfixed, her eyes huge and full of tears, a smile on her face. Undyne wondered if she even knew she was doing either, but she said nothing, just staring at her for a moment. The orange and red fell upon her yellow skin in such a complimenting way that it was if she were meant to always be in the sun.

Undyne swallowed, feeling a lump form in her throat at that, especially when Alices blinked, then jumped, her hand going up from her chest to her cheek in surprise.

"Oh!" she then said, pulling her other hand away and turning away a little, blushing. "I-I'm... I'm... I'm s-sorry..."

Undyne moved closer, placing her hand on her shoulder, instead, and Alices looked up shyly.

"I get it," Undyne admitted honestly, and Alices relaxed, smiling again, the small gesture hitting her hard, her grip tightening on her shoulder a little.

"It's s-so..." Alices said softly, her wet eyes back on the sky. "It-it's n-nothing like anything we ever w-watched."

"Not even close," Undyne agreed, her eye, however, still on Alices.

"Undyne," Alices whispered after a moment. "I-I'm so..." Her smile faded. "I'm s-so sorry..."

Undyne nodded, rubbing her shoulder slowly. "Me, too," she agreed.

Papyrus would have loved the sunset, but she also knew he would have been all business, too, probably insisting on being the first one to talk to the humans. And of course she would have to be the one to either drag him back or coach him on what to say...

"I'm sorry, too," she added, saying the words to the fresh air, now, her own tears welling up.

Alices looked up at her again, then reached up and covered the hand on her shoulder with her own. Undyne looked down at her and smiled faintly, and she returned it, before they both resumed their watch, deciding to do so in silence.

When the sun vanished and the sky began to darken, they seemed to come back to reality.

"Undyne," Alices said gently, looking up at her again. "Where do we go, now?"

Undyne's eye moved from her to the skyline, where the city lay glittering in the distance.

"There," she said. "We start there."

"Er, well," Alices answered, sounding a little shy. "Undyne, it's been at least decades since humans have ever seen a monster. If we just... show up in the middle of a city, it's bound to cause some panic."

"Well," Undyne said, shifting a bit from foot-to-foot. "That's what the human did to us, and we handled it well until it started killing us." There was an edge to her voice.

"And do you plan to act like it did, too?" Alices answered dryly.

Undyne opened her mouth to snap back, then suddenly realised what had just happened, and instead felt incredibly grateful. If it had been anyone else, anyone at all, they would have gone along with her and what she said, without any second thoughts.

But Alices, who had known her for a while now and was a close friend, knew her for the impulsive monster she was, and she also knew that she needed a reality check, sometimes. This, clearly, was one of those times.

"f**k," Undyne sighed, scratching at her hair a little in her embarrassment. "No, of course not."

"Well," Alices added with a gentle smile, now. "Then you agree that we need a plan?"

"Yep," Undyne agreed. "That was it. That was my plan: walk into the city and just go from there." She smiled at Alices.

Alices stared at her in disbelief for a moment, suddenly finding herself glad that she was here, as well. She adored Undyne, but even she knew how short her temper was and how... lacking her diplomacy could be. It wasn't her fault; she never needed it being Captain of the Guard.

But she would need it, now, and need to learn it in a short time, too.

Alices wondered, suddenly, if Undyne truly knew just how much she was getting herself into. But then, perhaps that was why she was who she was; she didn't need to.

"Well," Alices then said. "We should use the night to our advantage, for sure. The darker it is, the harder it'll be for anyone to see us, which is good. From there, if we manage to get into the city without anyone seeing us, we should find out where the nearest government building is. From there, well, then we can 'go from there.'" She smiled again.

"Now that sounds like a plan," Undyne replied. "And a good one, too."

Alices hesitated. "But I worry about it," she admitted. "I worry that we won't be able to escape being seen by passersby. And..." She winced. "I'll just be honest: I'm afraid of them."

Undyne didn't blame her. Alices was already socially awkward, but that was incredibly different than being afraid. No, this fear was purely from that thing playing human. Undyne wasn't afraid to admit to herself that she shared some anxiety as well, but she didn't say it aloud, in case it only increased Alices's.

She wanted to be strong for Alices. She felt that she needed to be - especially the way she was, now.

"Don't be afraid," she said instead, her voice surprising her with how soft it came out. But she still meant it. "You're not alone, and we definitely have the means to protect ourselves."

She grinned as wide as she could after that, and Alices looked up at her and managed to give her a shaky laugh in return.

"You're right," she agreed softly. "You're acting so normally, it's a little easy to forget."

Undyne paused, words failing her from this. Acting normally? What does that even mean? How am I supposed to act? I'm still me.

Well, sorta...?

She still felt like herself, for the most part. She had thought, when she'd had time to think about it on the way to the basement, that absorbing the souls would change her in mind as well as body, but instead, she felt more like herself than ever. She just felt stronger, and oddly... calmer, almost.

"I'm still me, nerd," she managed to get out.

Alices looked up at her again, this time blushing and looking embarrassed; clearly, she knew she'd said something offensive, and regretted it.

"You're right," Alices murmured. "Maybe it's just me."

She looked away, her eyes dark - almost darker than the sky in front of them - and that's when Undyne suddenly had a question.

"Alice...s," she stammered, before she got it out. "You said before that you had something to tell me, something you'd done?"

"Yes," Alices replied, her voice still oddly quiet. "But let's just get to where we need to go, first."

She started walking, startling Undyne, but not enough to miss her muttering, just under her breath, "In case you decide you hate me."

Bemused, she followed, unable to say anything after that for a long time.