A/N: Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well. Real life has been pretty busy so I am sorry for the wait. Anywho, this chapter was tricky and honestly I don't think I did the best job at it. However, I hope you enjoy it even a little.
This was such a bad idea. That singular thought pounded through her skull like her heavy footsteps. Her heart was beating out of her chest and her breath was puffing shortly. Searifa tried to keep her feet straight beneath her. If her concentration faltered, she would trip; the monster knew that. The burning pain in her arm wasn't helping. She grit her teeth to keep from screaming with each jolt. She looked up from her feet to glance behind her. Blue light flew beside her head as heat bloomed along her jawline; her feet fumbled slightly. The spear missed by a hair, but the energy stung. A couple points of HP. She had plenty to spare, she told herself. She spun her head back to look ahead. The dark cavern of the wishing room was empty. She leaned to the right to avoid the dissolving spear as more spears flew beside her. Their blue light lit up the cavern before fizzing out. "HUMAN," Undyne shouted her voice echoing through the cavern, a couple of loose rocks fell somewhere far away. She shivered at the determination in the other's voice. The Captain was sure to catch her; the other's footsteps already catching up. Why was she doing this, this was rediculous? She should have just talked things out with Undyne. Searifa tried to find her reasoning. A shout from the fish monster changed her mind.
A burning sliced against her side and her hip sending the reptile tumbling. She landed on her broken arm sending waves of pain as she tried to catch her fall. A scream broke free only to be echoed by the echo flowers. The gravely ground dug into her scales as she rolled. A couple more points, but everything was under control. Searifa grabbed the frayed ends of her illusion pulling the magic tight. She pushed herself so she was on her good hand and knees. She pulled her broken arm to her chest. Her green eyes widened as the ground beneath her lit up in blue. Blue spears sprouted like grass sending Searifa flying. Her arm pin-wheeled as she tried to control her flight and keep her broken arm close. Another blast of magic struck her down against the ground, knocking the air out of her lungs.
"I told you to stop running," Undyne's voice growled close. Searifa looked up at the fish monster. The captain would tower over her normally, but with reptilian monster on her knees, the fish monster was so much taller. Searifa lowered herself as she shook. She met the fish monster's singular yellow eye. Searifa's frills were pressed against her head.
A part of her told her to drop her illusion. It was the simplest solution. Undyne wouldn't harm her once she saw what she really was. Unless, she would be punished for helping Kendall. "Now, human. I will be taking your SOUL and with it we will be one step closer to breaking the Barrier," Undyne announced as she took a step closer another blue spear forming in her hand.
"Please, you don't have to do this," Searifa said crawling backwards on her knees. She put up her good arm to show that she meant no harm. "I just want to go home," the reptile continued a bit of herself berating her for not coming clean.
"How about the lives you took?" Undyne asked the spear in her hand was thrown. Searifa dove to the left letting the spear zip by. "Didn't you think that they had family to go to?"
"I was scared. I just wanted to go home," Searifa continued her voice breaking. The fish monster looked menacingly down at the reptile. The chef released her magic revealing herself. "Undyne, this isn't the way," she clarified keeping eye contact, her voice a little more confident.
"Woah, Searifa," Undyne muttered her magic spear dissipated from her hand as she knelt beside the reptile. Her singular eye taking note of the scrapes and magic burns. The captain cursed under her breath through her clenched teeth. "Why didn't you say anything, punk? Why did you even disguise yourself as a human?" The fish monster put a surprisingly gentle hand on her shoulder. "Did they mind control you? I saw one of Alphys's human documentaries."
Searifa shook her head ignoring the strange 'mind control' comment. "I couldn't let you harm Kendall. She didn't intend to hurt those monsters. She won't repeat her mistakes. She was ignorant and brash, but she doesn't deserve to die," Searifa explained tears building behind her eyes as fear and worry built in her soul.
"Kendall?" Undyne repeated. "I left her with Papyrus. Stay here. I'll get help," The captain's voice was suddenly was filled with panic. The fish monster sprang to her feet a phone in her hand.
"She won't harm him. She cares for him. Don't hurt her," Searifa pleaded looking up at the Royal Guard. She reached one golden hand toward the fish who had already turned away. Her green eyes caught the silvery look of her claws as dust floated down. "Undyne," she called out desperately as pins and needles crawled over her hands.
Her scales were turning gray as pain previously ignored demanded for attention. Every bump and scrape screamed at her. The stabbing pins and needles dulled as her fingers turned to silvery dust. Her breath caught in her throat; it was impossible. Searifa reached for her magic softening it to a green. With her good hand she coated the crumbling appendages of her broken arm.
The sifting dust stopped as her scales regained a dull gold color. Searifa checked her stats as her vision blurred. One HP? The rational part of her mind told her to stop to let Kendall fend for herself. A childish giggle sounded beside her.
The reptilian monster shrunk away from the golden flower. He grinned widely as his petaled head tilted. White pellets formed around the reptilian monster. "You don't have to do this," Searifa stuttered. "There is no benefit from this action."
The flower lifted his leaves in an imitation of a shrug, "Yup, and there doesn't have to be."
UT~UT~UT~
Kendall could hear a pain-filled shout from up ahead. She tightened her grip on Papyrus's scarf. The skeleton glanced her way. "DON'T FRET, HUMAN KENDALL. UNDYNE WILL NEVER HARM A MONSTER." He tried to give her a confident grin.
"Yeah, and Seari is disguised as a human," Kendall muttered into his scarf. "This is all my fault. I killed monsters and now she is paying the price."
"SEARIFA KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING. SHE'LL TALK UNDYNE DOWN," Papyrus reassured. "AND WE CAN CONTINUE OUR TREK TO THE BARRIER." His optimism was falling flat.
"PAPYRUS, WHERE ARE YOU?" Undyne's voice called out an edge of concern. Both looked up into the darkness trying to spot the fish monster.
"I am going to set you down," Papyrus said softly or at least softer than his normal boisterous tone. "I don't think Undyne will be merciful if she finds you." Kendall loosened her arms as she slid into the tall echo flowers. "I AM OVER HERE, UNDYNE," the skeleton called out leaving the girl huddled in the shadows.
Kendall kept low and crawled toward where she had heard the shout a while ago. She held her breath as she saw Undyne speaking to Papyrus. She lowered herself so she was on her belly not even concerned that she was making her front muddy.
She army crawled while Papyrus explained that he had lost sight of her. Kendall froze as Undyne looked around the cavern with a snarl on her face. "I need to get Gerson. Searifa is injuried and he should be able to heal her," Undyne said urgency in her voice. "Keep an eye on her and if you see the human, you have to capture them."
"YES, CAPTAIN," Papyrus affirmed with a salute. The fish monster glared into the shadows but ran further into the Underground. The skeleton kept his stiff posture until the metallic footsteps were no longer heard. He lowered his hand looking at the echo flowers.
"KENDALL, YOU CAN COME OUT OF HIDING. SHE IS GONE."
"Shh, Papyrus," Kendall complained as she stood up. The skeleton apologized, but the human was already running down the wishing room. She could hear the skeleton's steps behind her. Her blue eyes darted searching for her reptilian friend. "Seari," she called out and the echo flowers mimicked.
A heavy hand on her shoulder stopped her instantly. Papyrus pulled the teen gently backward a couple of steps. "What's the big idea?" Kendall nearly screamed. The skeleton's sockets darted downwards. His jaw opened once or twice as he struggled to say something. The teen suddenly didn't want to look down at her feet; she didn't want to follow the skeleton's gaze. She shook slightly as she lowered her chin.
Papyrus's hand tightened on her shoulder. Sitting in a silver pile of dust was a red chef smock. "Papyrus," she whispered her throat a lump growing in her throat. She didn't know why she said his name; maybe she wanted him to deny what was sitting in front of her. Kendall lowered herself to her knees. She reached with shaking fingers to the red piece of cloth. The teen picked up the smock and examined it. Her fingers tightened around the fabric as fine particles drift to the floor. It seemed so impossible that the smiling reptilian monster was reduced to a small insignificant pile. Waterfall was so quiet that Kendall could hear her own strained breathing.
"I-I think we need to call her father," Papyrus stuttered. "He'll know what she wanted to do with..."
Kendall looked up at the skeleton. He looked so lost, his eye sockets looking past her to the dust. It struck her like a ton of bricks; he had never seen a monster die. "Maybe you should find something to carry..." Kendall trailed off her voice dying into nothing.
"RIGHT, I WILL GET THAT," the skeleton announced; his demeanor lightened, but was no where near what is was. It was as if he was glad to have a tasking. He walked away his previous march now slow, his feet dragging. Kendall sighed looking back to the small pile of dust.
"Look at that, that crazy fish dusted her," Flowey's childish voice mocked. He sprouted next to the pile stretching his stem to look at the dust.
"It was you," Kendall accused her blue eyes filled with tears. She glared at the bouncing plant.
The flower's eyes widened comically, "Why would you accuse your good friend Flowey of something so horrible?" He put his leaves up to his stem in a mimicry of hurt. "I wasn't the one chasing the lizard through Waterfall."
"You," Kendall growled the insult lost as she dove reaching to strangle the plant. Flowey sunk beneath the soil leaving Kendall with fists full of sand and dust. The silvery material held a small static charge like the magic the monster had used. The feeling made the teen gag as tears slipped down her face.
"What's the problem? She was just a monster...like the ones in the Ruins," Flowey mocked appearing on the opposite side of Searifa's dust. He patted the pile letting it float lazily in the air with a look of indifference.
"She was my friend," Kendall shouted not willing to stir up the dust anymore by diving at the flower. She held the chef smock tight in her hands. She wanted to strangle the flower's stem but settled for twisting the cloth in her hands.
The flower just grinned a fanged smile and giggled. Kendall jumped to her feet before carefully stepping over the dust making sure not to touch any of it. Flowey tilted his head up to look at the seething girl. He sunk into the soil as Kendall's hands crashed into the dirt. The teen swung her head back and forth looking for the flower. She listened for the soft rustle of dirt. "HUMAN," Undyne's harsh voice called before a blue light struck her in the chest. The girl flew back as she realized what the flower had plotted.
Kendall rolled across the ground as Undyne stood in front of Searifa's dust as if to protect the deceased monster from any harm. The human looked down seeing all the silvery dust that coated her hands. She moved into a kneeling position and looked into the fish monster's yellow eye. "YOU'RE TIME IS UP HUMAN. YOU WILL NOT TERRORIZE US ANYMORE," Undyne shouted as she swung the spear in her hands.
Kendall felt the tell-tale chill as her SOUL appeared in front of her. The heart was a little brighter than before shining a moss green color. A swirl of green struck the heart sending a shiver down Kendall's spine and turning the heart a bright green. A solid blue spear stabbed itself into the ground in front of the teen. "PICK IT UP," Undyne growled. Kendall let Searifa's smock flutter to the ground to follow the fish's command.