O-Oh, oh, oh oh! All of this had gotten out of h-hand. The door had locked and Alphys' frantic claws were fumbling uselessly trying to get it opened. Her frantic mind was making it difficult to think. She couldn't see a thing of what was going on inside! And no matter how much she repeated to herself that it was alright, it was alright, alright, she just couldn't seem to fully believe it. Ever since The Human and her had had their argument, everything seemed to have tumbled out of her already limited control.
She had just wanted to help, somebody... Maybe mostly herself... but not just herself!
Alphys finally managed to open up the lock and the relief rippled through her as she regained the ability to breath properly. She even smiled.
"I... I managed to open the lock!" She called to the others inside as she pushed the door. She could see The Human, their shoulders tense as they kept their back towards her. "Are you two..."
Everything seemed to stop in an instant. Alphys' gut filled with ice.
Mettaton lay in pieces in front of her and the terror pierced through her like a thorn.
"Oh my god."
Alphys raced forward, her heart started up again and racing faster than her feet.
"Mettaton! Mettaton, are you..."
He couldn't be gone, he couldn't, couldn't! C-Couldn't..!
"I could have killed him!" The Human had cried, seeming upset. But... But..! After all the gross things Alphys had done-
"You should have never lied to me about anything. You should have never lied-"
Alphys should have never lied! Never put him in harms' way! Them in harms way- Oh my- Oh my- This was punishment, her punishment for-
As intensely as the panic, the newfound relief flooded her.
"... thank GOD..." She turned halfway towards The Human but daring not to look her in the face. "it's just the batteries." Alphys breathed out and turned her attention back towards her resting friend. "Mettaton, if you were gone, I would have... I would have..." Alphys froze again, her mind picking up another part of the memory.
"What would have happened to you?"
Alphys glanced over towards The Human again.
"If I had killed him, what would have happened to you?"
The Human's face was masked over in darkness, their head down and their bangs hiding their expression. She could just make out their thinly pressed lips, their tense stance.
If Mettaton was gone... Alphys wouldn't have been able to live with herself. Not just because of the secrets, and the sudden lack of support, but... the guilt. If this had turned out badly... It would have been her fault.
Her lies... could have gotten either of her friends killed... or... or she guessed she couldn't call The Human her friend, really. Not after everything. Would Mettaton even want to after all of this? She... She just... Oh...
Alphys looked away, staring at the wall ahead of her though she could see both Mettaton and The Human on the edges of her vision.
"Why don't you go on ahead?" She said weakly. The Human walked forward but hesitated. The Human turned towards her and although Alphys still couldn't see her full darkened expression, their mouth opened but then closed again. "I... I just need a moment." Alphys stated.
The Human left her through the hall that lead to the elevator. Alphys took a deep breath, letting herself gather her composure as best as possible. But then she realized... It wouldn't matter how many minutes she gave herself. She would never be ready. So she best go now.
"S... Sorry about that!" Alphys exclaimed as convincingly as she could. "L-let's k-keep going!"
The Human didn't even look at her when she obeyed. Alphys' heart fluttered, she tried to think of something to say.
"S-so you're about to meet the Asgore, h-huh? You must be... Y-You must be... Pr.. pretty excited about all that, huh?"
The anxiety was twisting her in the inside, the... the lie she knew she was still letting slip by unspoken...
"You'll f-f-finally... You'll finally get to go home!" She could see the shoulders tense even more, almost protectively around The Human's neck. The Human's fingers were balled into tight fists to steady herself. Alphys' stomach dropped again.
The Human already knew the truth...
Alphys stopped following, she let her head drop in shame. The Human kept going for a moment before noticing her. The Human turned around, but Alphys couldn't dare to meet her eyes.
"N... No... No." The silence sat there between them, Alphys knew The Human was waiting for more. "I... I've been lying to y-you. St-Still. N-Not just ab-about Mettaton, b-but... Asgore. The Barrier."
The Human didn't move, Alphys now knew for certain that she had already known that. But Alphys owed it to at least now make it clear. Alphys turned away from The Human. They probably hated her for forever now, if they hadn't already.
"A human Soul isn't strong enough to cross the Barrier by itself. It takes a human Soul... And a monster Soul..." Alphys forced herself to face them and look up. But still their eyes were hidden from her. "If you want to go home... You'll have to take his soul. You'll have to kill Asgore."
They stood together in silence one last time... Alphys sighed and closed her eyes. Then, she turned around and slowly began to walk away, fighting the tears in her eyes.
All of this had gone wrong. So wrong, but how could she have thought it would do anything but that when she had started? For someone who was supposed to be so smart, she made the stupidest mistakes.
She had just been trying to help them... but... no. No she hadn't. She had. She hadn't- She-
"I'm sorry." Alphys whispered. Two smaller arms wrapped around her from behind and Alphys jumped, gasping in shock as her heart began to race again. "Y-You... You...?"
"Shut up..." The Human mumbled. Alphys obeyed, staring ahead with wide eyes.
The silence stretched on, but finally...
"I was... so angry with you for a long time. I'm still angry." The Human admitted. "I'm just so, so angry." Alphys felt The Human's breath shutter, as if she had momentarily edged towards starting to cry but then had regained herself. Their arms tightened around Alphys, as if they were afraid she would still somehow slip away. "But I don't want to leave it like that."
Alphys opened her mouth to speak but then shut it, still uncertain of what to make of this nor if she wasn't allowed to speak still. "..."
"You should have never lied, about any of this, but... I understand." The Human continued. "I know something else is bothering you, but you don't seem to be able to say it. You think you have to handle everything alone. That its impossible to make any of this right."
Alphys' heart lurched, pained at how honest that was. At how impossible that should have been. The Human couldn't have been... She couldn't have been more than ten. She shouldn't have been able to understand any of this.
"I'm angry... but I don't want you to beat yourself up about it too much. There is nothing to be done about it. Half of it isn't your fault... even though you shouldn't have lied." The Human began to release Alphys and took a step back. Alphys slowly turned towards her, still unnerved by how somber the child was but also still listening intently. The Human still had her eyes cast downwards. "I'm angry... and.. I wish I had time to stay and make it so I'm not angry anymore, but..." The Human seemed to have to force herself to lift her face. For the first time since unlocking the door, Alphys could see just how scared The Human actually was. "But promise me, y-you'll take care of yourself, okay?" The Human was smiling, trying her hardest to make her words as honest as possible. "Somebody... really cares about you."
Alphys stood wide-eyed and open mouthed but The Human turned away, anxious to get away before anything more could be said. It seemed to have taken a lot out of her to say all of that. It was too open. Too personal. Like an open wound she had willingly shown Alphys and applied something stinging to it. It was something The Human had not been ready to do, letting Alphys off of the hook as best she could.. But at the same time... She had cared enough to try, knowing it was the only chance she would have to do it.
The elevator door shut, cutting Alphys off from The Human and the tears were building up in the back of her eyes again. Alphys blinked and blinked, and she walked down the hall trying not to simply burst into tears.
She sat down beside Mettaton's powered down husk and fiddled with a piece of scrap between her claws as she took in deep, uneven breaths and tried to keep herself from falling to pieces herself.