Her Majesty

Chapter XVI - safety

When Undyne finally understood that word - peace - she found herself relaxing again, though part of her screamed at her not to. It was what she wanted; it was perhaps all she wanted. It made her feel strangely old, too.

Has it really only been a day...?

Alices glanced at her worriedly, noticing her sudden shift in posture. Was she angry? Or was she sad?

"I want peace," Undyne admitted, her voice soft. "Honestly. I know I don't look it, and my means of getting here aren't exactly the most peaceful, but... it's all I want."

It's all I want, but so much is needed just to get there.

Laurel nodded, her expression sombre. "As do I," she agreed. Again, she looked incredibly sincere. "It's why I'm here in the first place, and why I'm glad you thought to come here. Had anyone else gotten to you first, well..." She winced, for a moment betraying her age and acting far more natural. "Let's just be happy you're here."

"Well," Undyne said, holding up a hand. "How do we get peace, then? It can't be this easy."

"True," Laurel sighed. "It's not going to be easy. Probably not for some time. Since people have seen you, it's likely that word will spread, and people will start to come together when they're willing to admit they saw you. And once that happens, well, we need to be ready."

"Sorry, b-but..." Alices broke in nervously. "Why is th-this 'just in time'?"

Laurel looked over at her, making her fidget a little. "Because," she replied, "things aren't as good as they could be. With you here, it'll encourage change."

"So where do we start?" Undyne asked. "I just want to get started. I want to make sure everyone will be safe, and the sooner, the better."

Laurel looked back at her. "When will more come up?"

"When I tell them to," Undyne answered calmly. "They don't even know the barrier is broken, remember?"

"Yes," Laurel agreed. "Which is why I asked. That's good, I'm glad you came here, first. It gives us both time to prepare each side."

"Us three," Undyne corrected.

Laurel blinked. "What?"

"Not us both," Undyne said. "Us three. You, me, and Alice." She gestured to Alices, who jumped and went scarlet.

"O-oh," she stammered. "N-no, I know I'm n-not--,"

"Yes, you are," Undyne broke in, glancing at her. "I mean, uh, if you want to be. Uh. Where I go, I'd like you to. I mean..."

She coughed. "I kinda... need you," she muttered softly.

Alices smiled at her, feeling warm all over. She reached over and grabbed one of her hands, and immediately Undyne lit up, making her feel even warmer.

"Y-yes," she agreed. "Uh, if-if it's okay with th-the Minister, I-I mean..."

"Are you two married?" Laurel wondered calmly.

Both were scarlet, now.

"Uh," Undyne stammered, and Alices lowered her head, her glasses fogging up.

"M-married?" Undyne concluded.

"N-no," Alices answered shyly.

"Not yet," Undyne added, causing Alices to look over at her with a start.

"What?!" Undyne snarled, still red.

"You... me?" Alices squeaked out.

"Uh..." Undyne stared at her, suddenly realising what she just said.

Laurel quickly jumped in, clearly sensing that now was a bad time for this conversation.

"Well, anyway," she said sharply, before Undyne could elaborate. "I don't mind keeping it to just us three, then. But we do need to come up with a plan, and now, before it all hits the fan."

"What do you suggest?" Undyne asked, looking at Laurel, but taking a moment to squeeze Alices's hand.

"Well," Laurel said, smiling. "I imagine soon, I'll be getting a phone call. Once I do, we can begin in earnest. But until then, let's go over what we can."

She opened up a drawer at her desk, pulled out a fresh notebook, and grabbed a pen. "How exactly do you spell your names?"

For a short while, they went over the basics: who they were, their ages, what they were now, and what they ultimately wanted from this.

Everything was easy until they got to the last one.

"Peace," Undyne repeated, raising her eyebrows.

"I know, but," Laurel waved her pen in the air. "What does peace mean for you?"

"Uh," Undyne hesitated for a moment, before her eye cleared and she answered. "Easy. No more fighting. No more killing." She winced. "On both sides. I can't deny that we've killed some of you."

"Well, clearly," Laurel agreed. "How else could you have broken the barrier, otherwise? Especially since you admitted it. Do you have information on those who died? In case we need to alert their families?"

Alices blushed, though the expression on her face was not shy, but rather, deeply upset. She lowered her head, her hand twitching a little in Undyne's.

"Y-yes," Alices agreed softly. "W-we have all of th-their first names, at th-the very least."

"And were any killed by either of you?" Laurel asked.

Undyne eyed her closely, wondering if there was any ill-intent in those questions. Was she asking in order to get information - or to persecute them later?

"One was," Undyne answered, "killed by me. The rest, as far as I know, were killed by Asgore."

"Y-yes," Alices agreed. "S-same here. I m-mean, that's wh-what I know, too."

"The one you killed yesterday?" Laurel wondered, her eyes on Undyne.

Again, Undyne eyed her closely, but she saw no light of accusation, there. Nor did she see mistrust or even anger. It was as if Laurel not only understood why Undyne had killed that human, but didn't take it personally, either, like she assumed the humans would.

"Yeah," Undyne agreed. "I killed the last human, the one who was killing us."

"Is that also why you're now Queen?"

Undyne nodded. "Kinda, yeah. Asgore lost his wife... ex-wife... in those killings. Once he found out, he just..."

Undyne's face fell, thinking about how miserable Asgore had looked, and found herself worried about him.

"He needed space. I don't know if he'll ever leave the Underground, honestly. Not without her." She shifted a little in her seat. "Honestly, I can't blame him. I lost... I lost a lot of people I loved, too."

Her voice broke, and she looked away for a moment.

Laurel was polite, and pretended to scribble more things down to give Undyne time to collect herself. Against her better judgement, Undyne found herself starting to trust the human - just a little.

Alices broke in, her voice small, "The-the things I saw th-that human do... the way that it-uh-they did things to us... Barely anyone f-fought back. M-most of our generation d-didn't really believe humans could exist, e-even though many of us wanted them to..."

She trailed of, her expression falling. Clearly, she'd been one of those who'd hoped - and felt terribly betrayed.

Laurel looked up, her own expression falling. "I'm so sorry," she said softly, playing with her pen. "You've suffered a lot, in such a small time, haven't you?"

Undyne swallowed hard, trying to reply but finding her throat clogged up. She nodded, and felt Alices suddenly entwine their fingers together, her other hand rubbing the top of Undyne's gently. Undyne bit her lip, closing her eye for a moment, more emotion welling up in her from such a gesture. It not only helped her calm down, but it also cheered her up.

I'm not alone, she realised, her heart speeding up. Alice... she's with me. She's with me, after everything, because she actually wants to be.

She opened her eye, blinking back her tears, glancing at Alices for a moment. Alices smiled at her gently, and Undyne swallowed again, grabbing onto Alices's hand harder.

Laurel then said, very gently, "It's been a long day, hasn't it?"

Alices spluttered out a dry laugh. "To say the very least," she agreed.

"Listen, you'll need a place to stay, and a place that you'll also be protected in, too," Laurel continued. "I'm going to talk to a few people I know I can trust, and I'll arrange it so that you - and I will, too, so you know you can trust the place - will stay in a hotel without any outside exposure. Once I get it arranged, would you like to go there right away?"

"Yes," Alices said immediately, surprising Undyne (though honestly, she agreed). "We really need proper sleep, and a proper meal. As soon as you can, that would be great."

Laurel nodded, then picked up her phone and dialled, turning around in her chair just as she began to talk.

They listened for a moment, before Undyne looked over at Alices and smiled faintly. Alices noticed and blushed, but smiled in return, squeezing her hand.

"Hold on," Laurel said, covering the mouthpiece of the phone and turning back. "Do you two need one room or two? Or more? Do you expect more people to come up?"

"Uh," Undyne blinked, then answered honestly and with little thought. "One is fine, and no, not yet."

Laurel nodded, her expression not even twitching, as she turned back to the phone, speaking into it and repeating Undyne's answer.

"Uh," Undyne whispered, leaning over to Alices, who smiled. "That okay?"

"Y-yes," Alices admitted, her other hand fussing with her coat's buttons again. "Th-that would be v-very nice."

Undyne stared at her, finding herself unable to look away all of a suddenly. "Alice, uh," she added, still whispering. "Do you think we could...?"

Alices found herself in a similar predicament, her own gaze glued to Undyne. Her heart suddenly felt too fast for her chest.

"Wh-what?" she asked, her mind unhelpfully supplying a few scenarios that were unlikely.

"I..." Undyne found her mouth suddenly dry. The look on Alices's face made her stomach flood with such intense excitement that she lost any control over her ability to speak. "I would like... I mean, if you would like... I would like us to... I would--,"

"Okay," Laurel broke in cheerfully, causing them both to jump and look at her, clearly startled. "Uh, you okay, there?" she wondered with a smile.

"Yes!" Undyne squeaked. "Of course!"

Alices nodded quickly.

Laurel raised an eyebrow, her smile going a little sly. "Well, anyway," she said. "It's all set up for you. Just use my name and this card..."

Laurel grabbed one of her business cards and scribbled on it, before handing it over to them. "And they'll do whatever you ask - well, within reason, of course. I can send a team of security officers with you to make sure you're safe, and when I get that call, I'll join you there."

"That sounds good," Undyne said slowly. "But how do we get to the hotel without anyone seeing us for what we are?"

"That's inevitable," Laurel agreed. "But it's okay. This will all come out eventually, anyway." She smiled, again with a sly edge to it. "Let's just amuse ourselves with baffling people on the way, shall we?"

Undyne eyed her closely. "You seem to be really happy about this," she observed. "Even though it means life as you know it ends."

"Life as I know it is spending my days waiting for it to end!" Laurel agreed.

Undyne smirked; she was actually starting to warm up to this human. "I see."

In a way, they had that in common; Undyne had also been waiting for life to change, too. And truly, much of that was not change she welcomed.

But then again, there was some silver in this patch of grey, wasn't there?

Alices smiled at her, and she grinned.

More like gold than silver, she thought - before inwardly wincing at something so cheesy.

"How long do you think you'll need to be rested?" Laurel wondered.

"Uh." Dammit, is that the only thing I know how to say?! Undyne blushed, scratching at her other cheek. "How long can we have?"

"Well," Laurel replied - though one eyebrow went up. "I don't know how long it'll take for someone to contact me, but even if it's sooner than later, I can always make excuses for you until you're ready."

Alices suddenly lit up. "You-you can do that?" she wondered softly. "You d-don't mind? We need... we-we need at least three hours, but six would be best."

Undyne nodded in agreement; three was a good number, and six was even better.

"Done," Laurel agreed. "Want to go, now? If you don't mind leaving your numbers... uh... you have cellphones, right?" She blushed, realising she just assumed something that she shouldn't have.

Alices nodded, and she relaxed. "We'll leave both of our numbers, and you can contact us a half-hour before we're needed."

Undyne grinned, suddenly, though it took her a moment to even notice. When she did, Undyne blushed and looked away, though Alices didn't understand why. (She would, though - and later end up in a giggle-fit on the floor; Undyne had thought Alices was questioning her stamina.)

Laurel took their numbers, then called someone. Undyne peered over at Alices during that call, finding Alices already looking at her.

For a moment, they shared a smile, squeezing the other's hand at the same time.

Laurel hung up and sat back. "Alright. My team will be up in a second, the same one that brought us here. I have to stay here until I get yelled - called. The one in charge is named Michael."

She stood up, prompting them to quickly do the same. "Don"t worry," she added, stopping them in front of the elevator. "You have my number; use it!" She grinned. "This is going to be awesome," she concluded, letting the political veneer drop from her for a moment. "This is such a good thing. I can't wait."

"Me, too," Undyne agreed honestly. Despite it all, she still nursed the hope that things would be better, that now that the barrier was broken, they would finally be able to live. And live without fear, too.

The doors opened, revealing the calm-expressioned security guards from before. Laurel pointed to the leader, a male human. "This is Michael."

He nodded and stepped forward, offering a small smile.

"You can trust him with anything you would trust with me, but no one else," Laurel added, her eyes meeting Michael's, finding his already going to hers.

Then, they both smiled, and with a surprised blink, Undyne recognised that kind of look - and with it, just how much Laurel was trusting them with.

"Th-thank you so much," Alices said, her eyes going back and forth between the two humans. "We-this-it m-means a lot."

Laurel nodded. "Yes, it does, for us, too," she agreed. "Now rest up. I'll contact you soon."

She shook Undyne's hand, then Alices's, before she touched Michael's arm briefly and smiled. Nodding, Michael moved to the side, gesturing for the two monsters to come into the elevator.

Alices grabbed Undyne's hand, just as she was reaching for hers. Once they were holding hands, they walked in. Both could feel the other shaking a little, so they stood closer, Alices slipping her arm into Undyne's and holding on.

"See you soon," Laurel said, waving a little, as Michael stood in front of them.

They nodded, and the doors closed.