Her Majesty

Chapter XIV - The connection

 The sound of Alices's phone chiming scared both of them into jumping, before either recognised it for what it was. They stopped, and Alices grabbed her phone and opened a text message.

"All clear. You?"

Alices sighed with relief, closing her eyes for a moment. "It's Mettaton," she said, and Undyne relaxed. "He's still clear."

"Weird," Undyne replied, her mouth a little full as she started toe at again. "He hasn't seen those two guys you shocked?"

Alices blinked, then typed it in and sent it.

When the reply came, she tilted her head at it, genuinely confused. "No," she admitted. "He hasn't seen anyone. No, wait!"

Alices reached out quickly and grabbed Undyne's hand, stopping her from going back. "Wait. It's very, very unlikely they still went up. If they had, Mettaton would have seen them. That shock wasn't a small one."

Undyne swallowed hard, her eye still trained back on the mountain, which they could still see some of on the horizon. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Alices agreed firmly. "I'm sure. They must have turned back to the city once they woke up."

Undyne shifted, looking nervous. "Alice, what if they... what if they say something to someone?"

"No one will believe them," Alices said, though part of her wondered how accurate that was, and how long it would last.

Indeed, she thought with another jolt, soon everyone will be saying it... and then what can we do? We can't hide. This is our only chance.

Undyne sighed, crumpling up the now-empty bag and - when she found one - tossing it in a dustbin.

"Am I already f*****g things up, Alice?" she wondered, gulping back some of her coffee.

"No," Alices answered without pause, sincere. "You're doing really well." She smiled. "No one's been speared, yet."

"Har," Undyne rolled her eye, but still smiled, anyway. "Well, might as well get this done."

She started walking again, and Alices followed.

Undyne leaned over as they walked and rummaged through the bag, grabbing up a small box. Alices blinked up at her, surprised, as she'd already eaten an entire bag of chisps (though they were spelt wrong on the bag, they were still the same thing as in the Underground).

"Uh," she said, as Undyne opened the box and pulled out several stacks of cookies, individually wrapped (at least they had spelt that right). "You're... hungry," she concluded.

She knew that she should be, too, but anxiety as well as coffee kept her from feeling it.

On that thought, she grabbed a small stack, herself, and started to eat one mechanically. The food, like the coffee, tasted weirdly familiar.

"Yeah," Undyne agreed, her cheeks going pink. "I... uh... just feel really hungry all of a sudden."

Alices eyed her closely for a moment. Undyne looked fine, if a little tired. She walked fine, and Alices couldn't sense anything off about her. But then, maybe the fact that she was hungry was not only to be expected, but a good thing.

How long had it been since either of them had had anything decent to eat?

It felt like forever...

"Well," Alices said slowly. "Let's keep on top of that from here on out, okay?"

Undyne nodded. "Agreed."

By the time they'd almost made it to the general area they needed to be, it was morning in full. Both had finished their coffees and had gradually moved closer to each other the longer they walked - especially when they noticed other people walking on the other sidewalks.

Though they both kept close and tried to remain as casual and confident as possible, they still got confused looks, and they were increasing the more they walked.

When Alices felt her phone vibrate, she didn't stop, this time, instead just grabbing it and checking it quickly. It was Mettaton, reporting another all-clear and asking for and update. She quickly sent back, "Almost there."

Then, she pocketed it quickly and looked back to where she had focused in order to stay calm: the municipal building.

"s**t," Undyne whispered suddenly, and Alices could feel her shaking - just like she was. "s**t, Alice, I'm..." She trailed off, her eye quickly darting around them with bright panic. "Shit..."

"No," Alices whispered calmly, grabbing onto her hand and holding it tightly to her. "Keep walking." It was easy to say, but harder to do. She, too, was starting to balk. "Just keep walking."

"Alice..." Undyne answered, her voice wavering again, and her fingers twitched.

Alices grabbed them again and held them tight, something that had Undyne oddly calming down from - which was the point. Undyne closed her eye for a moment, then focused it ahead, the rest of her mind now on her hands, and how Alices was holding them.

"That's it," she heard Alices say gently, and her touch was the same way. "Stay with me..."

There it is again, Undyne realised. The second time that Alices said that. And also the second time it worked, too, as Undyne found herself nodding. She wondered why Alices said it.

Undyne had no idea that, when she was panicking, her eye lit up and made it obvious.

It was also obvious that, when it began to glow that way, she was also, without even trying, starting to summon up power - and that it was so potent that Alices could feel it.

Alices knew she had to tell Undyne soon, but right now, they had to do this. Otherwise, what was the point of any of it?

When they were on the final sidewalk that would lead them directly to the pathway into the building, it was obvious that they'd been spotted for what they were. Thankfully, the humans around them didn't get close, and the moment it seemed that they were too close, they backed up or to the side, but they still froze in place and stared, often leaning over to each other to whisper.

Alices had lowered her head as far as she could, but it didn't help - especially when Undyne held onto her and tried to do the same, despite their height difference.

Once their feet touched the final stretch, Undyne suddenly grabbed Alices and ran the rest of the way, causing quite a few startled responses and much stumbling.

Everything went past them both in blurs, and Undyne only managed to stop once she realised that they were finally in the building.

She stopped, and she felt Alices touch her cheek, something that startled her but instantly won Alices her full attention. Alices stared up at her, clearly still afraid, herself, but somehow managing to stay calm enough for this. Undyne still held her in her arms tight, refusing to let go just yet.

When Alices started to talk, she listened, allowing Alices's voice to cut through her fear and spread a soothing balm over it.

"Breathe," she was saying gently, trailing her fingertips over her cheek.

Undyne closed her eye and inhaled slowly, realising she hadn't had a decent breath in a while. When she exhaled - and with it, finally lowered her arms and gently placed Alices onto the floor in front of her - Alices stayed close, and Undyne kept her hands on her shoulders.

"Thank you," Alices whispered.

Undyne opened her eye slowly, and found Alices smiling at her, almost proudly. For some reason - or rather, the most obvious reason that she couldn't see just yet - she felt better, and she smiled back.

Alices's eyes wavered, to her surprise, and she couldn't help it - Undyne darted forward and kissed her. Alices squeaked, then blushed and returned it, her hands staying where they were.

For a moment, despite everything, they were able to forget. The feel of this was too intense to focus on anything else. With it, both found themselves calming down easier, and when they broke apart, Undyne felt much, much better.

Alices looked to the side and noticed they were definitely being stared at, still, and worse; they were also clearly making the humans around them afraid.

"Alice," Undyne whispered, moving closer again but in order to shield Alices from sight.

Alices sighed, then moved out from behind her and replied, "No."

Undyne glared at her for a moment, but then Alices grabbed her hand, and again she relaxed, just a little more.

"C-can we...?" Alices tried to ask the closest human, but they immediately backed up - and Undyne pulled Alices back when she tried to follow. "Undyne..."

Undyne didn't look at her, but was looking past her. She turned back and saw that a human was walking towards them, closely surrounded by other humans who looked rather... intimidating. Alices backed up, and Undyne's hands twitched as she had to clamp down on the instinct to use her magic.

"You two," the human said, the moment she - it was clearly female - stopped in front of them. "Follow me," she concluded, barely raising an eyebrow when her eyes fell on them.

Undyne hesitated, just as Alices did, both looking at each other quickly. To Undyne's surprise, she saw Alices's eyes flash, then focus, and she smiled up at her. It twitched a little, but it was real. Undyne managed one in return, grabbing onto her hand tighter - before she nodded, rolling back her shoulders.

Together, they quickly chased after the human and her crew, both sharing fear - but also hopeful anticipation.

In silence, all of them managed to file into the elevator (one that only went up and down, Alices noticed, raising an eyebrow). When the doors closed, it was to staring, confused faces.

The human then sighed, before turning to the two of them. Again, she showed no signs of fear - just mild apprehension.

"So," she said, "What are your names?"

"Uh," Undyne answered, taken aback. She found herself speechless, unable to keep herself from just staring at the human in her confusion.

"I-I'm Doctor Al-Alices," Alices squeaked out, her face going red. "Th-this is C-Captain Undyne."

Undyne stood up straighter and blinked, a faint blush upon her cheeks, now, too.

"Nice to meet you," said the human, seeming to actually mean it. She smiled. "I'm the Minister for the Underground for Ebott. You can call me Minister, or by my name, Laurel."

"Uh," Undyne added helpfully, still trying to think of what to say. The casual reception they were getting was only confusing her, further.

Alices, however, found this distracting enough to focus on completely. "Min-Minister for the Underground?" she echoed. "Th-then you... kn-know, already?"

"Mmhm," the Minister replied, though she raised an eyebrow and used her eyes to point at the other humans with them. "Let's go into detail in my office, shall we?"

"Yes," Undyne said finally, startling all three of them.

Undyne nodded, relieved that she could finally say something else, and a word, with that. Alices looked at her with a smile, squeezing her hand, and she sighed quietly, squeezing back.

This, I can do, Undyne found herself thinking. This is gonna work.