Alice in Undertale

By Lolitafreak88

Chapter 12 Learn Lots of Things From the Flowers

With her decision firmly made and nothing left in Snowdin to do, Alice soon could be seen standing in the same area where she had first confronted Papyrus in the mist. It was also the place where she mastered her DETERMINATION to send Chara away from her body. A block of ice, presumably from the wolf Alice had saw yesterday, bobbed up and down in the river. After enduring another blanket of icy mist, Alice soon saw the scenery become crystal clear again and saw the path she needed to take. Nodding to herself with assured responsibility and confidence, Alice left the realm of Snowdin and entered a new realm within the Underground. It was the realm that had been described to her quite some time ago by Napstablook and she was hoping that a reunion was imminent. She was entering Waterfall.

"How enchanting... " Alice remarked in awe as she saw a stream of water falling down in a heavenly way.

Things Alice quickly noticed as she went down this path was the weather becoming slightly warmer, a sense of there being moisture in the air, a subtle change in brightness of the area, and generally the water being more profound than it had been in Snowdin. The increased warmth was the most appreciated by Alice and she debated removing the cloak that Sans had given her but decided it was also useful protection to keep on. She also remembered her ability to call Papyrus and briefly debated calling him. I could use more practice with the phone if it's so common in the future, Alice gave a convincing argument to herself. So in the end, she dialed Papyrus's number to call him. After a few brisk rings she got an answer,

"AH, ALICE! GREETINGS! IT HAS ONLY BEEN ABOUT 15 MINUTES SINCE WE LAST SPOKE BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FIND THIS QUICK REUNION VERY NICE. WHAT'S UP?"

Papyrus's joy shone through in his voice, despite the weird electrical undertone of the phone playing it, and made Alice feel glad she had made this decision.

"Well I've past the area where we… formally became friends and I was hoping you recognize this area that is beyond the path." Alice identified her situation to Papyrus.

"WATERFALL… I BARELY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. BUT I'LL DO MY BEST TO INFORM YOU!" Papyrus replied.

So this really is the place Napstablook lives, Alice thought happily. She did miss the ghost quite a bit ever since he had said he originally lived in Waterfall and simply visited the Ruins. A cordial reunion between them would make Alice very happy. It also meant that she would see the place that had inspired her to truly fight for her right to explore the Underground and that it held a certain sentimental value to her heart. As for Papyrus's answer, Alice understood that Papyrus probably didn't get out of Snowdin much so it made sense to her that he didn't really know anything about it. His willingness to help her nonetheless was very much appreciated.

"Thank you very much Papyrus. I'll call you whenever I need you again." Alice resisted the urge to curtsy as she concluded the conversation.

Hanging up on the phone, Alice had to admit these phone conversations felt very unorthodox but still held the same ground and honor of a normal conversation. She also appreciated the extra practice as she noticed that the river took a sharp turn to the left. The path however kept going straight forward past the river. Alice's delicate steps echoed through the path until she found an unexpectedly crowded area. The first thing she detected was Monster Kid standing absent-mindedly, rocking back and forth on his feet. Then she noticed an orange monster resembling a fish crossed with a lizard wearing a blue top with big black eyes standing next to what looked like the most curious flower Alice had ever seen. It had a tall stem with six fluttery blue petals and didn't have any particular scent behind it. But what was most surprising of all beyond the familiar Monster Kid and unusual flower was SANS, at a completely new sentry station. The snow on top of the roof implied it still was very much a sentry station of Sans but due to the warmer climate it seemed questionable how there was still snow on it.

"... Papyrus?" Alice asked as she quickly dialed him on her phone and got a response.

"SO SOON OF YOU TO CALL AGAIN HUMAN! WHAT IS IT?!"

"Sans has another sentry station? In Waterfall? I never knew that…" Alice admitted in childish surprise.

"YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY! YES, HE MANS TWO STATIONS AT ONCE. AMAZING, ISN'T HE? HE SLACKS OFF TWICE AS MUCH AS NORMAL!" Papyrus bellowed through the phone excitedly.

Alice had a keen idea in mind of how Sans was able to man two stations at once based on an earlier experience with him in the woods. He did seem to possess some sort of teleporting ability after all so manifesting himself in two separate stations was little challenge to him, Though Alice was a bit disappointed she had not realized this earlier so she could ask Sans what Waterfall had in store for her. Perhaps he wanted to leave it as a surprise for later, Alice thought hopefully. She was also puzzled at the reappearance of Monster Kid who she was sure had stayed behind in town and that she hadn't seen head down this path. He was also very young to be out and about in an unfamiliar environment. So deciding it was safest to approach them first, Alice asked Monster Kid,

"Excuse me, Monster Kid? What are you doing here all alone?"

"Yo, Alice! Are you sneaking out to see her, too? Awesome… She's the coolest, right!? I wanna be just like her when I grow up…" Monster Kid replied as he swayed like a lovesick fellow.

"To be perfectly frank, what I am doing would not be considered 'sneaking out'... it'd be more along the lines of simply fending for myself. Furthermore, I presume you are talking about Undyne. While I haven't come out to see her specifically I wouldn't mind seeing and getting to know her." Alice clarified as she fiddled with her hands awkwardly.

"Oh! I know you'll find her to be awesome! She's the head of the Royal Guard, can supplex boulders, has a near limitless amount of spears, and is a brave and noble warrior!" Monster Kid pronounced many facts for Alice.

"... Terrific." Alice however was more nervous about these facts than delighted.

The idea of someone who would definitely be hunting her, could exercise with boulders, and use spears to an endless supply was nerve-wracking to a maximum degree. It would definitely be a long ordeal simply trying to evade Undyne but should she ever face her, Alice felt she would be in a unfavorable position. Deciding to try to cheer herself up, she turned back to her old habits of preferring to be in the right.

"Still, you shouldn't be troubling or worrying your parents like this Monster Kid. What if you were to disappear or be caught by some malevolent being?" Alice scolded Monster Kid, wagging her finger.

Like Flowey or Chara, she thought as distinct examples of malevolent beings.

"S-sorry… it's always been a goal of mine to see her for myself and I decided after seeing your determination and hearing about your adventure that I wanted to do it. So hey, don't tell my parents I'm here. Ha ha." Monster Kid chuckled sheepishly.

"Sigh... I suppose I don't have much of a choice do I? You're in a sense more independent than I am. Very well, I'll keep it secret. Just be sure to hurry on back home when you do see her." Alice conceded with humility and decided to approach the lizard monster standing by the flower.

"This is an Echo Flower. It repeats the last thing it heard, over and over…" They said.

"An Echo Flower? My, the Underground has the most curious flowers…" Alice spoke as she sniffed the flower.

To her surprise as she sniffed it fragrantly, it suddenly start to speak to her. Alice began to realize it was a form of mimicry but it was still interesting to hear it say,

"An Echo Flower? My, the Underground has the most curious flowers…"

"OH!" Alice stepped back as she cried out in surprise.

"Neat, huh?" The monster asked her.

"I can definitely see how it might be neat. Thank you for identifying it for me." Alice said gratefully.

She wondered if Flowey was related to this Echo Flower even though he did maintain that he was a unique species. After all if Echo Flowers had mimicry, Flowey may have some evolved form of that which allowed him to talk and have his own sort of will and mindset. As for the Echo Flower itself, Alice wondered if it would allow her to overhear previous conversations from before she arrived if she used it properly. That could be useful for gathering information, she believed. As the rushing river filled Alice's ears with a sound of DETERMINATION, she decided there was only one last monster to talk to. She approached San's new station a bit hesitantly as she felt as though she had been seeing him an awful lot throughout this exploration of the Underground. As well as the fact he never did tell her what his nightmare was like.

"what? haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before?" Sans asked when he took notice of Alice.

"I would say 'yes' but in this case it is a skeleton with two jobs that occur at precisely the same time so no." Alice replied as she held one arm with the other and tried to avoid making eye contact.

"fortunately, two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks. i'm going to grillby's wanna come?"" Sans asked as he leaned forward in his station.

"G-Grillby's…? Oh… well… may I ask why you would want to go there?" Alice asked, genuinely surprised by the offer.

After all, she had seen Grillby's for herself and discovered what there was to discover there. She was ready to move on… or was she really? If anything it would be a nice outing with Sans and maybe she could actually get something to eat just to keep her stomach full for the long journey. This could also be my chance to find out what he couldn't tell me in front of Papyrus, Alice concluded. Although another curious thought came to Alice's mind. How would I get there from here?

"well it's my favorite place to eat, slack off, chat with people, slack off, eat some more, slack off some more, rinse and repeat. i mean grillby's is bygrill's y'know?" Sans winked as he made yet another joke.

"Ehehe… I see why you would choose it. I suppose it would be rude to decline a formal invitation but are we really going to walk all the way back there?" Alice asked.

"well if you insist on prying me away from my work… over here. i know a shortcut. close your eyes though." Sans said as he got up from his station and moved behind Alice.

"Close my eyes…? Is this shortcut supposed to remain se- oh!" Alice gasped as Sans put a bony hand to her left hand, holding it as though a gentleman escorting a fair lady.

Then Sans put his other hand over Alice's eyes, a position that would ensure him being able to lead Alice successfully forward. Alice wasn't at all scared, though maybe slightly startled at the sensation of Sans bony hands as well as that he actively physically grabbed her. It showed a sort of authority Sans possessed that reminded Alice that she was a guest in the Underground. Her other arm was left free and quickly made it's way held in front of her in a curious and hesitant way. Uncertain, Alice asked,

"W-will this shortcut really work…?"

"trust me kid, it's really fast. now one step, two step," Sans sounded strangely more relaxing when one of Alice's five human senses was gone and so she trusted him.

Alice walked forward, guided by Sans towards the destination that was supposedly a shortcut to Grillby's. She suddenly felt a bit embarrassed if the monster by the Echo Flower or Monster Kid saw all this and wondered what the exact shortcut was. This didn't really reflect on her face fortunately enough and so after what felt like 20 steps, Alice suddenly noticed something different on that 21st step. She had just taken a step on a hardwood floor and not the earthy terrain of the Waterfall path. Alice knew what had happened but she couldn't make sense of how it happened beyond Sans teleporting her without even knowing it to Grillbys. Alice flinched nervously and Sans quickly shushed her to calm her down.

"relax ali, you're here safe and sound. told ya it was a fast pass." Sans' soothing tone was added by releasing his grasp on Alice.

Alice soon saw she was indeed inside Grillbys again and none of the customers had seemed to leave from where Alice had last saw them. Everyone was still in their same seats, even doing the same actions. She had to admit there was something unusual about such a coincidence but she had no evidence to really confirm anything. Several of the customers, including Doggo and Dogaressa even waved hello to her again… or maybe it was Sans they were waving to. Alice wasn't sure quite of how to respond so she just wordlessly waved hello with a simple smile. It was commonly good manners that if you are invited over to a public place by a host, you let that host speak first and set things up. Trying to initiate some sort of plans of your own would risk disrupting the plans of the host and are best left to the host to begin with. So Sans, being the host, had the stage.

"hello everybody."

What followed afterward was many of the customer's saying hello back to Sans. The most amusing of these responses to Alice was the drunk rabbits 'Hiya, Sansy~". As she and Sans moved towards the front counter, the fish man quickly spoke up,

"Hey Sans, weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?"

"nah, i haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour. you must be thinking about brunch." Sans said.

"Oh yes! Brunch! Me and my sister would often have a lovely Sunday brunch with some delicious toast and tea and crumpets and some fine offerings of…" Alice, getting a bit caught up in showing her knowledge, spoke unconsciously and her words were swallowed up by bellowing laughter from the customers.

From the sounds of it they had a fondness and a fine taste for Sans rather lowbrow humor. Alice hadn't respected that and so she made herself seem a bit pompous. Wearing a frown on her face caused Sans to notice Alice's disappointment in herself.

"oh hey alice, get comfy." Sans said patting on one of two vacant stools.

"Thank you Sans…" Alice said with a bit of a sigh as she was worrying about this being a good idea or not.

However, upon sitting down on her stool, she quickly heard a 'whoosh' and a deflating noise. Knowing the origin of this sound caused Alice to look surprised and slightly happier at the fact she had triggered a whoopie cushion. Sans next words confirmed this,

"whoops, watch where you sit down. sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats."

"Well I don't think of you as a weirdo. You are a loving and caring brother to Papyrus and a very pleasant to talk to gentlemen." Alice leaned her arms on the counter and folded her hands delicately as she complimented Sans.

"... huh… w-well i don't hear that everyday. at least from a human. anyways, let's order." Sans looked a bit caught off-guard at Alice's flowering praise and blushed.

"Order…? Oh um… what sort of selection do they have…? Fries? Burger…? I am familiar with French Fries but what exactly is a burger?" Alice asked as she hadn't really heard the term 'burger' before.

It sounded a bit foreign, perhaps as though it was in a different country of origin than England. It probably was delicious but Alice didn't feel confident in being adventurous in her cuisine when she was trapped Underground. Furthermore it was lucky enough of her to even find this society that had so much access to food when one normally would describe the Underground as quite barren.

"it's a cooked meat patty placed between two buns with some toppings placed inside like cheese or pickles or my personal favorite ketchup." Sans explained cheerfully.

"Hmm… sounds like a perfect dish for lunch then I suppose. Hmm… well I have to say though that French Fries is something I don't really get to try very often for being so greasy and I'm familiar with them so I shall take those please." Alice selected her meal.

"hey, that sounds pretty good. grillby, we'll have a double order of fries." Sans held a finger up as he recounted the order to Grillby.

Grillby quickly moved to the back room, presumably where the kitchen was, with a gentlemanly stride that impressed Alice. Sans then scratched his head as though insecure about the whole thing or trying to come up with something. Alice was a patient lass and quite frankly more nervous about all this than Sans so she waited. Eventually her patience was rewarded.

"so, what do you think… of my brother?" He asked her.

"Oh, Papyrus? Well I am delighted to know such a charming and caring character. He really is polite and so supportive. I can understand why you told me about how much you care for him and why you love him so much. I wish I had someone like him in my life." Alice answered proudly.

Even if he can be a bit nutty and misguided at times, Alice giggled to herself. She appreciated what interacting with Papyrus brought of her. It allowed her to share her knowledge without being overbearing, have lots of laughs, and also partake in riddles and games. It was a personality she didn't really know of in uptight and distinguished England. Naturally she wasn't bored in England and there was a lot of politeness and honor in that society, it was just her curious mind gravitated towards more whimsical personalities and interests. Her answer seemed to impress Sans who chuckled happily.

"of course he's charming. you'd be charming too if you were that outfit every day. he'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to."

"Personally… I don't think it would suit my taste… but it definitely works for him." Alice admitted.

"well there can only be one great papyrus and 'great alice' doesn't have the same ring to it. hehe… at least he washes it. and by that i mean he wears it in the shower." Sans teased.

"Really? Hmm… I do hear of modest people who take showers in their undergarments to stay clean… err... " Alice suddenly felt a bit ridiculous talking about such an asinine topic.

Fortunately, Grillby showed up with their order. In a small paper container was a great deal of perfectly cooked fries. There were two containers, one for her and Sans. They smelled delicious and appeared to be freshly made. Alice recovered from her self-conscious state to smile and feel more at ease.

"Thank you sir. These look quite appetizing." Alice declared her gratitude towards Grillby along with a head nod.

"want some ketchup?" Sans asked Alice.

"Hmm? Oh yes please, some ketchup sounds nice." Alice accepted.

"bone appetit." Sans handed Alice the ketchup bottle and winked at her.

Alice could've taken the time to examine what sort of brand or company created the ketchup but she had no real interest to. Although after what transpired, she wished she had. As soon as she had tipped the ketchup bottle at an angle to pour onto her fries, the cap fell off and all the ketchup in the bottle splattered onto her fries and a bit on the counter too. It was not the fault of Alice being clumsy or something trivial like that, but rather it seemed whoever used it last did not tighten the cap properly. Alice felt slightly ashamed though at creating a mess in a place she had learned something valuable in. I should be more careful next time, she warned herself.

"whoops. eh, forgeddaboudit. you can have mine. i'm not hungry anyway." Sans offered.

"Are you sure Sans…? I mean you do have to pay…" Alice frowned.

"hey, you're a guest, the bill's on me. you don't have to be so responsible all the time. sometimes you just got to go with the blood flow and let your friends handle things." Sans made a far-fetched pun but he did make a good point.

After all, if Alice got too ahead of herself and began doing things thinking she knew best, it could backfire spectacularly on her. Plus it would be proper manners to let her friends help her out when she really need them to help her. Like Toriel with learning about the Ruins or Napstablook with the puzzles and so on. So Alice straightened out her skirt and took a fry from Sans' container and dipped it into the ketchup-covered mess that was her own container and took a bite. It was one of the best things she had eaten so far down in the Underground with a nice crisp texture and a perfectly rich ketchup. It definitely made up for the lacking, though special, spaghetti she had eaten and made Alice respect Grillby as a cook. So feeling cheerful and beginning to eat a bit, Alice said to Sans,

"You are right. I shouldn't push away my friends by being too self-reliant."

"you know, you really can take care of yourself alice and you try hard. that's pretty admirable. it reminds me of the lengths papyrus goes when he puts his bonehead to it. like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard. one day, he went to the house of the head of the royal guard… and begged her to to let him be in it." Sans chronicled an interesting tale to Alice.

"... You mean he visited Undyne in person before he even knew her? Does that mean she lives around here somewhere?" Alice asked, taking a momentary break from devouring the fries.

If she lives around here, Alice reasoned, I need to be careful not to trespass or be caught.

"oh yeah, she lives right around waterfall. you can't miss it. of course, she shut the door on him because it was midnight and there was no ball going on. but the next day, she woke up and saw him still waiting there." Sans added significant details to his story.

"He camped outside her home? Well… I must say that does sound a bit like him." Alice looked to her fries as she considered how familiar that sounded.

Papyrus had waited in the exact same spot for her even after she was captured the first time. Considering all that had been going on, she had no time to stop and think about how long Papyrus may have been waiting for her to try again. As well as all the puzzles he had set up with such careful precision, placing key components where they needed to be, and vice versa. Papyrus was the kind of person who didn't mind how long it would take to accomplish something, he would just dedicate himself to it and never quit or slack off. So that was probably why he was still going at being a Royal Guard even if it seemed he was struggling a bit with what they did. It was an enviable trait, a DETERMINATION that it seemed Papyrus alone possessed. It reminded Alice of the fact that these monsters were so complex and with such different personalities. No matter what first impression she got, there was bound to be more to them than you can possibly gather from a first meeting. By being a Pacifist, she had allowed herself the chance to get to know them better and keep her soul pure. Or at least pure by Underground standards, for human standards she would've likely been scolded for talking to so many strangers and talking about things that people her age wasn't expected to know yet.

"seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training. it's, uh, still a work in progress." Sans shrugged his shoulders as he finished his story.

"True, he mentioned Undyne is teaching him how to cook. She seems like a friendly person." Alice said.

"she's pretty hot-headed but you won't find another monster down here with more guts, bravery, and pride than her. you could say she… firecracks me up." Sans joked again.

Alice simply nodded as she was still trying to get a picture of who Undyne was. A cold and formidable huntress? Or a more compassionate and sensitive warrior like Papyrus and Sans were saying. Either way she was dreading encountering her with all this mystery and concerns on her mind. Suddenly something unusual happened. It seemed as though everyone else in the bar was shrouded in darkness or at least not present. The only thing Alice could definitely focus on was Sans and her meal and the small space around them. Alice wasn't sure what exactly happened to make it like this and was about to ask Sans when he opened up by saying,

"oh yeah, i wanted to ask you something. have you ever heard of a talking flower?"

"...!" Alice couldn't hide her eyes widening and her brief loss of breath at that question.

There were two possible interpretations of who or what Sans was asking her about with that question. One, he was asking about Flowey. He was definitely a talking flower but a deadly one with indescribable power and being quite mysterious. Still, Alice didn't feel comfortable with throwing his name out to the monsters yet. What if he was truly infamous? What if Flowey got enraged with her and attacked her for doing that? Also, she felt there was more she needed to know about him, especially given his goals and connection to Chara. The second was that Sans was asking Alice about the Echo Flowers that she had just learned about. That was by far the safest route to take with answering him.

"Y-yes… I have heard of a talking flower." Alice placed her hands in her lap as she gave an anxious reply.

"so you know all about it. the echo flower. they're all over the marsh. say something to them, they'll repeat it over and over.." Sans seemed to be looking wistful as he spoke.

Alice was very relieved he was indeed talking about the Echo Flower and not Flowey. It would've been very hard for her to explain anything about him and he wasn't sure what Sans' thoughts on him were. Still she also wasn't sure why Sans was asking her about that specifically.

"What about it?" She pined for information.

"well, papyrus told me something interesting the other day. sometimes, when no one else is around… a flower appears and whispers things to him. flattery… advice… encouragement… predictions. weird, huh?" Sans explained.

"... D-does he know the flower's name?" Alice asked looking extremely pale.

"nope, makes me think that someone's using an echo flower to play a trick on him. keep an eye out, ok? thanks."

As the light returned to the room, Alice looked very disturbed and kept blinking rapidly as her mind processed what she heard. Literally, the only conclusion she could come upon was that Papyrus had met Flowey before and it seemed Flowey was on strangely friendly terms with him. But there's no reasonable way that could be possible, Alice thought as she recalled the hostility the flower displayed with her and his lack of care for the monsters. Papyrus certainly was lovable and endearing but would it really change the mind of a malevolent flower that significantly for them to talk together? It was that moment Sans got up from his seat and turned to look back at Alice.

"welp, that was a long break. i can't believe i let ya pull me away from work for that long. oh, by the way… i'm flat broke. can you foot the bill?" He asked.

That question was enough to help Alice recover some of her composure though she couldn't mask how startled that last tale had made her.

"How much do you need?" She asked as she began scrambling through her pockets.

"10000G."

"I don't nearly have that much…" Alice said with a frown.

"aww don't worry about it. i was just pulling your leg-bone. grillby, put it on my tab." Sans waved his hand dismissively at Alice to reassure her that she didn't need to pay for anything.

"That was quite sly of you to ask me that when you had enough." Alice teased as Sans made his way to the entrance before stopping.

"by the way… i was going to say something, but i forgot…" Sans said a silly statement and then left Grillby's and Alice.

Alice sighed and spent several more minutes eating as much fries as she felt would keep her full for her journey. She realized she missed her chance to ask about the nightmare as well, probably due to being so stunned by the stories she heard. She accepted that she would have to try asking again if she saw Sans again. Then once she was done, she migrated over back to where she initially started in Waterfall. The quality one on one time with Sans though wasn't something she regretted despite having to make this long walk again. It also seemed important that there was some evidence towards Flowey and Papyrus knowing each other though she wasn't sure what. It did disturb her a little that the flower was revealing themselves to certain people in the Underground. He had declared a desire to rule it so was he trying to recruit moles or spies? She knew Papyrus wouldn't sell her out though and she trusted him as much as he did Alice. So it was debatable on what to do about it. So passing by the sentry station, she noticed her first true glimpse of Waterfall's environment. A puddle of water above the same sort of path she was going down due to a magnificent waterfall that was flowing down. Strange rocks would fall from the waterfall from time to time and down the puddle. which also seemed to lead into another waterfall. She also noticed a box strikingly similar to the one in Snowdin's Forest with a similar sign. 'You can put an item in or take it out. Why would you, though? You can't use items when they're in the box! Sincerely, a box hater'

"Huh… it seems not everyone is a supporter of boxes down here." Alice exclaimed with some amusement.

She then noticed there was a stairway to her left that led down the cliffside and so she headed downward. As she went downward and found herself on a straight path again, she saw the waterfall up close and was spellbound by it's beauty. It was also particularly calm even with the rushing water. The rocks continued to fall down the waterfall though but Alice knew it was her only way to get across. So dashing carefully but quickly down the path, she managed to avoid all the falling rocks and reach the other side safely. She saw a Echo Flower and decided to see what it had to say. 'I swore I saw something… Behind that rushing water.' Alice was a tad bit curious to see what was behind the waterfall and decided it was worth exploring so she decided to go for it. Going back up the stairway, she glimpsed through the waterfall as she carefully avoided more falling rocks and saw there was a secret entrance within. Enduring the rush of water, although she was a bit chilled from the impact, she found a hidden room with two luminous blue and white mushrooms and what looked like a tutu lying on the ground.

"Hmm.. this looks like a human's tutu… poor thing. I wonder what happened to them." Alice thought a bit gloomily when she realized what it meant.

She decided to leave it be for she didn't really need to put it on and quickly left the room through the waterfall and made it to the other side. Taking her time to dry herself the best she could, she then continued on her way. She came across what looked like a strange sort of path with a rocky wall that could be climbed over if you carried a stepladder, starry lights along the wall, and a thicket of grass in front of Alice. Some brief reservations about potentially running into some sort of bugs or creatures in the grass did make Alice very nervous but she had to keep going. So getting onto her hands and knees, as she felt that would be the safest way to get through the grass and keep herself hidden she crawled into the thicket of grass. Suddenly, she felt as though a great shadow was looming over her and she heard the footsteps of someone approaching nearby. However these footsteps appeared to be coming from higher ground, like the wall of earth that was to Alice's right. Alice suddenly had a dreadful thought, what if there was someone on that wall looking out for her? Her suspicions were unexpectedly confirmed by a voice she didn't imagine hearing so soon,

"H… HI, UNDYNE! I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT.. UHHH… REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER…"

Alice's mind was drawing so many blanks at the moment and she could only clasp her hands over her mouth terrified. She wasn't so much afraid of Papyrus, but it was clear he was right there talking to Undyne. She had a perfect view of the path from up there and if Alice was spotted, Undyne would no doubt go straight after her and there would be little chance of survival. Alice looked up as much as she could through the blades of grass but didn't see anyone hanging over the wall, let alone Papyrus. So with little to go on, Alice continued to listen carefully to their conversation and tried to remain as silent as possible.

"...HUH? DID I FIGHT THEM? Y-YES! OF COURSE I DID! I FOUGHT THEM VALIANTLY!" Papyrus recounted with his usual passion.

Alice couldn't hear Undyne, or at least another voice, at all despite Papyrus finishing his statement. It was scarier not being able to identify who Undyne was even when she was hovering over Alice somewhere.

"...WHAT? DID I CAPTURE THEM…?" W-W-WELL… NO. I TRIED VERY HARD, UNDYNE, BUT IN THE END… I FAILED." Papyrus confessed a bit glumly.

A pause.

"...W-WHAT? YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THE HUMAN'S SOUL YOURSELF… B-BUT UNDYNE, YOU DON'T H-HAVE TO DESTROY THEM! YOU SEE… YOU SEE…"

Another pause, longer than the first.

"... I UNDERSTAND. I'LL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY I CAN." Papyrus's last words before he walked away.

He knows what would happen if I get captured, Alice who was now sweating bullets told herself, so doesn't really intend to help her. He can't possibly throw me to the wolves… Alice then tried moving through the grass but the rustling turned out to be noisier than she expected and she instantly stopped once she heard footsteps approaching. Alice, on the verge of tears, looked up to the wall and finally saw her first glimpse of Undyne. She was wearing a magnificent but intimidating suit of armor, soulless white eyes peering through the helmet's visor and a profound red ponytail emerging behind her. Her true identity and species of monster was hidden by the imposing armor but there was no mistake that she was clearly powerful and a huntress. Even more startling was that Undyne was clearly looking for her, and summoned what appeared to be a blue spear of magic into her left hand. She grasped it with a perfect stance for throwing the spear at a target of her choice. Alice kept perfectly still, desperately controlling herself from panicking. Thankfully, after several tense moments of Undyne scanning the grass, she seemed to walk back and presumably leave.

"Ngh… uuu…" Alice wailed to herself as she crawled desperately out of the grass and to her feet.

What she didn't expect was Monster Kid popping out of the grass behind her, moving about excitedly.

"Yo… did you see the way she was staring at you…?" He asked.

"With an intent to kill…" Alice replied grimly and shivered.

"That… was AWESOME! I'm SOOOO jealous! What'd you do to get her attention?" Monster Kid replied jubilantly.

"... Exist… were you in the grass before I was?" Alice asked confused after making a half-hearted joke.

"Oh yeah! I'm going to finally meet Undyne! There's no use denying it, this is my time to finally make one of my dreams come true! Ha ha. C'mon! Let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!" Monster Kid explained and declared his own determination.

Monster Kid then sprinted forward but then clumsily tripped and fell onto his face, skidding somewhat along the ground. Alice was about to make a move to help the poor monster up but he managed to actually pull himself off from the ground and stand again. He then kept sprinting forward, further into Waterfall. Alice had to note that his unbridled optimism, at this moment, was just as enviable as Papyrus's effort. There was a strong feeling of dread hanging over Alice and for a moment she considered just heading back the way she came. Undyne had made her first appearance known and it was among the scariest things Alice had experienced since coming down here in the Underground. She would be coming after her for her SOUL and even Papyrus seemed to not be able to stop her. Yet…

"I said I would see him again… I have to reunite with him at least… here in Waterfall. So I must keep going." Alice spoke aloud.

Napstablook, the friendly ghost from the Ruins lived here in Waterfall. Regardless of it being the domain of Undyne and currently a hunting ground for her, Alice did still want to explore the Underground and see him again. Besides, Alice knew she had DETERMINATION within her that had proven to pacify Toriel and Papyrus as well as expel Chara from her body. She possessed power that she never imagined having and she could use it to save herself and potentially the monsters from being trapped down here. These thoughts… these memories… all renewed Alice's willpower and she knew she had to keep moving. With no more doubts in her mind, and no place to turn to that wasn't new and exciting, Alice entered the depths of Waterfall.

To Be Continued...