Her Majesty

Chapter XV - Enemy

The moment they were alone in Laurel's office (she left her crew in the elevator), the Minister turned to them and said, with a smile, "I've a bet with my predecessor, so do tell me: is Asgore still king?"

Both Alices and Undyne gaped at her; that was the last thing either had expected to hear. In fact, it wasn't even on the list.

"Uh," Undyne managed to get out, once the words finally connected. "Yeah. Kinda. Uh." She looked at Alices for help.

"Asgore was the king up until... recent circumstances... changed that," she added, her hands now held in front of her. "It's been... a long day?"

She blinked, surprised by that. She turned to Undyne. "It... it-it's really only been a day?"

Undyne bit her lip and touched her shoulder, nodding a little. "Yeah," she agreed. "Weird, huh?"

"So he's gone? Did someone take over?" Laurel asked, blinking at them in curiosity.

Alices peered at her, finding her not that much taller than herself. There seemed to be no malice there, nor anger.

Alices wondered just how much this human actually knew - and how badly it would go once she did.

"He..." Undyne's voice wavered, so Alices quickly jumped in.

"He's stepped down," she said, "for now. Undyne has taken his place."

Undyne jolted, blushing suddenly.

It was true, wasn't it? She had taken his place; it was Asgore who was supposed to break the barrier, and Asgore who was supposed to be here.

But instead, Undyne was the one here.

"So, then," Laurel said, her low, clear voice breaking her from her reverie. "You're the new Queen?"

Undyne stared at her, feeling her face burn. "I..." she squeaked out, her hand on Alices's shoulder holding tighter. "I..."

She paused, thinking about it.

She'd never asked for it, nor had she even wanted it. But by stepping in - and up to - Asgore's place, she had also assumed his duties. She just didn't fully understand it until she heard that word: Queen.

"Yes," she said, standing up straight again, her voice firm. "That's true."

Alices smiled up at her for a moment, her eyes glinting, and Undyne realised, with that, that Alices had already accepted her as Queen; it was Undyne who was clearly the last to know.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Cap--no, sorry--Queen Undyne," Laurel replied, holding out her hand.

Undyne jumped, then gingerly took it, finding her hand firmly grasped and shaken.

"I'm glad to be the one who greets you here, at last. I'm glad you came to me, first, so that not so many people saw you. Did Asgore tell you to?" the human wondered.

Now Alices blushed. "Er," she admitted. "N-no... the truth is... we have been seen. This wasn't our first st-stop."

Laurel blinked, clearly shocked. "Well," she said slowly, scratching her cheek. "That's... going to be a problem. But, it's okay." She smiled. "We can still work around it. It'll even out in the end."

"Sorry, but..." Undyne began, before blurting out, "What the hell is going on?!"

Alices winced, and Laurel blinked again.

"How do you know about us? Or Asgore, even? Did you...?" Undyne narrowed her eye, her hands twitching. "Did you send that... that thing after us?!"

Alices grabbed Undyne's hand from her shoulder and held it tight, but otherwise kept her glance fixed on Laurel.

Truly, now that Undyne mentioned it, it did look rather suspicious.

"What are you talking about?" Laurel answered, holding her hands up; they were plain, save the bracelet and the pair of rings she wore on her left wrist and hand.

Alices found herself staring at those rings for a moment, surprised to see them on anyone but a monster. She wondered if it meant the same thing as it did for them. She wondered if it even mattered.

Why would that ever matter? Focus!

She did, but she filed it away for later, anyway.

"We..." Alices said, her voice cracking a little.

"Wait," Laurel answered. She gestured towards her desk, where three chairs were seated in front of it. "Please sit. I'll get some water." She leaned over what looked like a phone and spoke softly into it, then gestured again. "Sit!"

They did, and Laurel sat down in the chair on the other side. The simple act of being able to sit was powerful for Undyne; it had felt like days since she'd been able to just sit. She sighed without control, leaning back and closing her eye for a moment.

Alices didn't, instead leaning forward and fussing with her hands. She was tired, too, but her anxiety kept her wired.

They waited until the water arrived - Laurel insisted - and they'd had a chance to drink as much as they needed. Both drank without hesitation, parched by then, and found that the water tasted exactly the same as they water Underground. When they both realised, they exchanged a glance, clearly thinking the same thing.

Laurel noticed. "What?" she asked, smiling again. "What's the look about?"

They jumped, both unfortunately blushing at the same time. "Er," Alices squeaked out. "The-the water."

"Is it the same?" Laurel grinned. "That makes sense! We're all technically on the same system, after all."

Alices blinked, her eyes going huge behind her glasses. "Oh, my god," she stammered. "It is? Then... then the abyss really does go to the surface... to here!" She laughed. "I was right!"

She turned to Undyne, who was staring at her, her teeth buried into her bottom lip. "I was right!" she repeated cheerfully, laughing again.

Undyne blushed brighter, unable to look away from Alices; whenever Alices allowed that kind of passion - and the thrill of it - show, Undyne was immediately smitten and tongue-tied. It was one of the first things she'd fallen in love with.

Alices then lowered her head, hiding her eyes back behind her glasses. "Er, sorry," she murmured. "I'm... I was a scientist Underground."

Laurel nodded. "Yes, about that," she said, obviously choosing her words carefully. "What brings you here?"

It was a simple question, but it was obviously one that Laurel wasn't comfortable asking. Undyne eyed her for a moment; did she know what it took to break the barrier, what it had cost them? Did she know that children who disappeared up the mountain were now dead, their souls now taken?

How much do you know, human? Undyne asked her silently. And how much will it cost us?

"We... broke the barrier yesterday," Alices said, once she realised Undyne wasn't going to answer. "May I ask, do you know how that's done?"

Laurel had gone still, her hands folded on the desktop, her back straight. Her expression was oddly neutral, now. She met Alices's gaze right on, and said, "Yes."

"f**k," Undyne whispered, then covered her mouth and winced, shutting her eye.

Alices gave her a strained look, and Laurel's eyes went wide.

"Now, don't do that," the Minister said, her voice going back to its previous, melodic tone. "Yes, I know how it's done, but obviously things can change over the years. Right?"

Undyne looked over at Alices, who had gone pale. "We-we tr-tried," she said softly. "I sp-spent years trying... B-but, we never found an al-alternate method..."

Laurel's eyebrows went up, and she leaned back slowly. "Oh. So you're saying you did it... the old-fashioned way? Seven human souls and one monster soul?"

Both Undyne and Alices nodded. Undyne's eye glinted a little, and her hands were now holding onto the armrests so hard that her fingers shook. Alices swallowed, feeling a little faint.

"Okay," Laurel said calmly. "Why don't we start from where we left off. What happened once you were sealed Underground?"

"We adapted," Undyne said flatly. "We made the best of our situation, and made it as livable as we could."

"Are there many of you left?"

"Well," Alices broke in, "To be honest, even now, there are, yes. Certainly equal to the number that was sealed, if not greater."

"And what happened now?" Laurel wondered.

"We... we were attacked," Undyne answered, her voice low. "A human fell and... and it started killing us."

Laurel's mouth opened in shock. "I'm so sorry," she said, and she sounded it, too. "I had no idea... How many did you lose?"

Alices lowered her eyes. "We won't know until things c-calm down," she admitted. "But... at least a third of us."

Laurel winced. "Where is this human, now?"

Undyne was silent, though her eye narrowed and her eyebrows went up.

Alices said, her voice barely more than a whisper, "Gone. It-uh-th-they... w-were killed."

Laurel looked at her with wide eyes, then at Undyne, looking confused once she saw her look. "Right," she said, her own voice soft. "I'm sorry. Of course." She nodded. "You had that right. Did they leave anything behind, any ID?"

"We..." Alices swallowed. "We haven't... w-we haven't ch-checked y-yet. It all h-happened so fast, M-Minister. W-we haven't even told the r-rest of the Underground th-that the barrier's br-broken."

Laurel stared at them. "You're completely unprepared, aren't you? You never expected to be free. Did you?"

"N-no," Alices agreed weakly. "We... honestly, we were l-lucky."

"Look," Undyne said suddenly, her voice short. She'd lost her patience, now, and was annoyed by it. "We want to work with you, but here's the thing: you knew about us. Yet clearly you're the only one, judging by our trip, here. How? I'm not comfortable sharing anything else with you until you tell us."

Alices nodded, surprising her. She'd honestly expected Alices to either chastise or try to calm her, but instead, she was clearly feeling the same way.

Laurel nodded as well. "Honestly, that's fair. I'm sure you're - at the very least - confused. I'm sorry." She smiled. "Ever since the barrier separated us, there has always been someone here to be the person who would deal with it - or you, rather - when the time came. As time went on, however, people started to forget - except for us. I honestly don't even think this city knows I exist, let alone this province."

She smiled again, but it was a little crooked this time. "That won't last, now!"

"You're going to tell other humans?" Alices asked.

"I have to. The fact that you're here at all means it's time."

"Time for what?" Undyne asked.

"Time for something old to become new again," Laurel replied, her eyes glinting with obvious determination - something that had both Alices and Undyne shifting a little from. "My predecessors were waiting for this day to come, and now it finally has!"

"What has?" Undyne finally snapped out, looking as irritated as she clearly felt, now.

Laurel grinned, clearly unfazed by Undyne's tone (which admittedly annoyed her quite a bit).

"The real first day of peace," she replied easily. "And not a moment too soon."

It would be weeks until they fully understood what that actually meant.