Good morning, everyone! I am back to bring you relief from the last cliffhanger! How will Alice fare this time? Thank you all again for the support thus far, and please continue to enjoy!
Alice reared her hobby horse back, preparing to strike when the creature emerged from the reeds, and Alice had to stop mid swing upon doing a double take. She raised a brow, releasing the breath she had been holding as she lowered her weapon. "Oh, for goodness sakes!" She said when she saw that not only was this creature clearly not a threat, it had fallen flat on its face.
"Hi, lady!" The small, armless monster chirped, flashing her a toothy smile. "You didn't evacuate either, huh? Yeah, why evacuate when we have Undyne to protect us? Nobody can beat her!"
"Undyne?" Alice tilted her head. "And who might that be?" She asked, kneeling down a bit. "It's a good thing I paid attention, otherwise I would have very well used your head as a croquet ball."
"She's the captain of the royal guard, the best warrior of them all!" The monster kid answered enthusiastically.
"Royal guard...?" Alice thought aloud, remembering what Papyrus had said about wanting to become a member. "Perhaps it is she who Sans warned me about? Perhaps it is she who attacked me as well." She turned back to the monster kid. "I wouldn't stay out here by yourself, you've barely got your sea legs about you, let alone the ability to properly defend yourself. You'd best follow me to somewhere safer than here."
"Okay!" Monster kid nodded, following Alice out of the reeds.
They made their way towards a series of natural springs and waterfalls, Alice wading through the shallow waters as monster kid jumped through the puddles, giggling and engaging the Echo Flowers as they glowed. Alice could not help but become absorbed in the atmosphere, glancing around as she noticed the glowing flora and mushrooms. "Hm... somehow I feel like I'm right at home."
Alice craned her head, seeing a bridge up ahead. Wondering if this was a sign that the next town was not far off, she sighed with relief, motioning for monster kid to follow her. Just when she was a few yards away, Alice heard a sound, stopping and holding a hand behind her to stop monster kid, listening closer. Just when she thought all was clear and was about to proceed, She gasped as she saw someone descend from above a high cliff, crying out as she barely had time to whip out her hobby horse and protect herself from being impaled, the point of a spear inches from her face. Alice clenched her jaw, seeing the wielder of the weapon was completely concealed in armor, but their battle cry rang loudly as Alice managed to shove them back. The armored warrior skidded to a stop, using the spear to stop their momentum before yanking it out of the ground.
"You're DEAD, human!" The warrior spat. "I will not allow another murderer to pass through here!"
"Murderer? I beg your pardon, but that is not something I feel I deserve to be termed as." Alice replied, crossing her arms.
"Well, guess what?! I don't freaking care what you think!" The warrior shouted. "It's just you and me; one of us lives, one of us dies! So just shut up and fight me already!"
"How rude!" Alice exclaimed, the warrior grabbing one of their spears to hurl it at Alice. She reared her hobby horse back, using it to hammer it into the spears coming at her, sending them every which way. When she dodged one and it was about to hit monster kid, she quickly grabbed him, yanking him out of the way before it impaled him.
"Wow, this is AWESOME!" The kid beamed.
"Glad you seem to be enjoying this spectacular performance, I wish I could say the same!" Alice cried out as the warrior charged at her. Alice burst into butterflies, quickly darting in a zig zag motion as the warrior hunted her down, her metal clad feet clanging on the ground as she did so.
"Get back here and FIGHT me, you coward! You can prey on monsters weaker than you but you won't face me?!" The warrior screamed as Alice darted over the bridge, monster kid barely able to keep up with her. When he was halfway across, he tripped over himself, the impact of his fall causing part of the bridge to collapse. When his surprised yelp was heard, Alice stopped, reforming for a moment to see his descent.
"Oh, blast it all!" Alice exclaimed, bursting into butterflies once again to dive down towards the small reptilian creature. She reformed in midair, grabbing one of his feet to ascend to the top of the ledge on the other side of the bridge.
As Alice regained her footing, she turned to see the warrior on the other side of the bridge, chuckling lowly.
"Just what kind of game do you think you're playing, murderer? Or should I say, Alice?" The warrior spoke.
"How in bloody hell do you know my name?" Alice asked.
The warrior scoffed, withdrawing something out of her small satchel. Alice's eyes widened when the warrior held out her own blade, her name etched into the handle, of course. "Not a very smart murderer, are you? Thinking you can just fake innocence by passing your weapon onto your accomplice!"
"Accomplice? Are you mad? I have no accomplice!" Alice exclaimed.
"You can lie to me all you want, human." The warrior spat. "But since we're being all chummy, I may as well let you see the face of your soon to be killer!" The warrior drew back their helmet, revealing a water nymph type creature with long, fire red hair in a tight ponytail. "I am Undyne, captain of the guard and protector of monsters! If you humans think you can just go around and kill anything that moves, well I'm gonna give you a taste of your own medicine!"
"I just saved this little one right before your very eyes and you continue to wrongly accuse me! I think you're framing me to be this murderer you are claiming against me! It was you who took my weapon and knocked me out bloody cold!" Alice exclaimed. "If you think for one moment I am a fool, I-"
"Enough of your made up sob story, I know you're up to some trick so just shut up!" Undyne shouted, hurling another spear at Alice. The young woman gasped, whipping out her umbrella to deflect spear after spear until Undyne had to duck quickly, one just barely missing her head as it rebounded.
"Run!" Alice shouted to monster kid, the two fleeing towards the next town while Undyne regained her balance from the quick dodge. Her bulky armor made it a bit harder to move, giving Alice an opportunity to escape. As they ran, Alice noticed a sudden, drastic change in the environment as they passed the borderline. She could feel the temperature rising quickly, glancing back to see that Undyne had leapt over the broken bridge, remaining hot on their tail. However, it seemed that she began to become TOO hot, and Undyne started to slow down when she felt like she was roasting inside her armor. She wheezed, unable to keep running as she fell forward, her gills fluttering as she rapidly dehydrated. Alice glanced over her shoulder, seeing this even as the monster kid continued onward. Biting her lip, Alice realized she was faced with a difficult choice. She could leave Undyne to perish and live another day... but deep down, Alice knew that Undyne's intentions were for the welfare of her people. She couldn't discredit her for that despite her stubborness. Conveniently enough, there was a water cooler just a few feet from where Alice was standing. She withdrew a cup, filling it up and began to walk it over to her. After all, there was another issue Alice needed to figure out, one that only Undyne would be able to assist her with- if she would cooperate, that is. What was that odd accusation that she claimed against her? Was she really the one who attacked her in Snowdin? She lifted up Undyne's head, dribbling some water on her lips to help her drink. "She had bloody well be grateful for this." Alice said.
Eventually, Undyne came to, groaning as she sat up and rubbed her head. She glanced over at Alice, scowling with resentment as she went to make her way back to Snowdin.
"I can't believe I was so stupid..." She growled to herself.
"Now hang on, there's something I'd like to ask you!" Alice called out.
"Don't think I'm going to even think about having a conversation with the likes of YOU, human." Undyne spat. "The only good thing about my horrible failure to destroy you is that a good friend of mine has already evacuated the rest of the population where you will never find them!"
"Just answer me one thing!" Alice exclaimed. "Was it you who attacked me in the forest?"
"That would have been a nice idea... I saw you talking with my friend Papyrus and decided to stalk you for a bit. I was going to get you, but I saw your friend running with your knife. While she was putting on some victim act, I snatched it from her. I can't believe I even considered being friends with that little brat, it was all a trick!" Undyne jabbed a finger at Alice.
"Wait a moment... who was it who had my blade? Which, by the way-" Alice snatched it out of Undyne's satchel in one quick motion, making her shout and try to grab it back. "-is mine."
"That little human kid that's been suddenly killing everything in her path, that's who! Papyrus and I had given her our phone numbers, and she seemed pretty cool for a while... but then she started acting all weird, and was saying all this bizarre stuff and started being a big jerk!" Undyne said. "So I'm not falling for anything you have to say!"
"Then don't, I could care less if we get out of thie acquaintences or not, but if we can at least get out of this alive and in one piece, it will be worth the wear. You must tell me everything you know about this child, I must find her. Whether or not you choose to believe me, I was called to this world to help save it from annihalation." Alice said.
"I can tell you everything you need to know!"
A nasally voice suddenly sounded, Alice's head popping up as she looked for its source.
"No, she can't be trusted!" Undyne shouted to whomever had spoken.
"Undyne, just leave it to me, okay? I've got this! Oh, and by the way Alice, I'm speaking over the loudspeaker, the building just right ahead- there you go! Hi there, um... this may seem a bit weird, sorry..."
"Trust me, I've experienced much wierder than this... have you ever shrunk to a mere three inches high?" Alice said to the building as she approached it, smacking Undyne's hand away when she went to grab her arm without missing a step.
"Wait... what?" The voice asked.
Alice shook her head. "Never mind... though I would greatly appreciate a face to face conversation, this just isn't very proper."
"I'm telling you, do not open those doors!" Undyne shouted, clenching her jaw. "If she does anything to you I'll-"
"Don't worry Undyne, I'll be okay. Just... I know you don't trust her, for good reason... but you have to trust ME on this, okay?"
Undyne shut her eyes tightly, growling lowly. "Fine... I'm going to patrol the border. If anything, I mean ANYTHING, happens, you call me." She then glared at Alice. "And if anything DOES happen, I'll slice your head clean off your shoulders, you understand?!"
"Trust me, this is not the first time I've had that threat thrown at me." Alice replied simply, making Undyne angrier at how unfazed she was. The sound of metal doors unlocking followed by the hiss of released air pressure was heard, the doors opening to allow Alice into the building.
As she made her way inside, she had an uneasy feeling; the white tiles and walls sparked the unfriendly reminder of the atmosphere in Rutledge Asylum; the neat, impeccable white walls were merely a rouse, a mask to conceal the true horrors what occured within their enclosed space. Trying to chase these thoughts from her mind, Alice proceeded forth, doing a double take when she furrowed her brows at somwthing. She approached a large TV screen, not familiar with any of the equipment she had seen, and was a bit unsettled when she found herself staring at the back of her own head. She glanced behind her, not seeing anyone there, before looking at the screen again in utter confusion. Before she could inspect further, she heard someone approaching, glancing to the side to see what appeared to be an orange dinosaur creature making their way towards her. She wore glasses and a white lab coat, Alice blinking in surprise.
"Oh, I see you were admiring my state-of-the-art surveillance system! I have cameras set up all over the underground to track any human visitors. M- My name is Dr. Alphys, I'm the royal scientist of the underground."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintence, finally someone who I can have a rational conversation with." Alice said, extending her hand and Alphys shook it timidly. "Perhaps you can shed some light on what seems to be going on here."
"Y- Yes... but first, um... if you don't mind, I need to just finish up a couple tests here, don't mind if I just-"
"Ouch!" Alice cried when Alphys pricked her skin, gathering a small blood sample and placing it inside a petri dish. "What the bloody hell was that for?"
"I- I'm sorry, please! There isn't much time, and I really need to see what could have gone wrong, this is all speculatory, you see... but I need to figure out what could have caused such a drastic change in behavior..." Alphys muttered to herself.
"Would you kindly explain what it is you're doing, especially if it involves injury on my part?" Alice asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"I am performing a series of tests on a few different souls... they seem to attribute to different qualities, but there is more to these souls than I thought." Alphys said. "I need to find the answer before it's too late."
"Souls?" Alice furrowed a brow.
"Yes... see, you have the greatest amount of determination, it is associated with your soul type. I am going to advise the king to absorb the six he has collected... but I wanted to do some tests on them first. You see... in order to break the barrier separating this world from the surface, it takes the power of seven human souls." Alphys said. When Alice looked at her uneasily, Alphys held her hands up. "D- Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you or anything!"
"Famous last words, I've had several individuals attempt this already since my arrival here." Alice said, crossing her arms. "So... what are you testing, exactly? How my soul will fare in earning your freedom?"
"N- No, see..." Alphys sighed. "There is another human who came through here not long ago... a child. A- Acording to my surveillance, she started out very kind and friendly to all the monsters here... but then I noticed she was... struggling with something. As if she was fighting something on the inside. Her behavior began to change drastically, she began killing monsters, acting totally unlike what we had all come to know... Sans told me that something is wrong with her soul... that she wasn't in control of it anymore. This is when I began to do further testing."
"That must be the child who attacked me..." Alice thought aloud.
"I discovered that human souls, if powerful enough, can split and live in more than one human host. Two seperate people, but sharing the same soul. Almost like a joint control, the original soul holder can influence the other hosts housing their soul, unless the host is powerful enough to resist its influence. Also, I discovered that the alignment of the influence on a soul can change the outcome of the host's nature." Alphys said. "I would have never done this if Sans hadn't told me to look into it... but in the case of our little human friend, I just... don't know how anyone can help her at this point."
"So this... 'barrier...' why can you not just use monster souls to break it?" Alice asked.
"Our souls aren't powerful enough- see, our power comes from magic. It's not a strong physical component, however, so it dissipates when it leaves its host, whereas human souls persist even after death. Monsters can absorb a human soul for this reason, but humans can't absorb another human soul." Alphys said.
"This is all quite overwhelming, but I think I understand. So, this human child you claim is-" Alice stopped when she heard something, craning her head to look past Alphys. She jumped when she heard a loud thud, and Alphys winced, slowly looking behind her.
"Oh boy..." Alphys whined.
"What am I bracing myself for now?" Alice groaned.
"... he's awake." Was all Alphys replied.
Oh boy, from one cliffhanger to another! Who could Alphys be referring to? I hope you all like some of the incorporated theories I have on the aspects of souls, and how they may affect events in the game. Please leave your own thoughts in a review, and stay tuned for upcoming chapters! Thanks again for reading!