Tired eyes filled with excitement as colorful lights flashed into them. The young scientist kept repeating to herself, "just one more episode, and then bed". Each time the ending credits appear she clicked to the next one as she snuggled deeper into the couch, continuing to munch on her popcorn. She was a brilliant scientist, but she couldn't explain why anime was so addicting to her. Her eyes were so focused on the screen, she didn't notice something was wrapping around her neck.
"AHHH!" she cried as popcorn went flying in the air. The bowl hit the floor as she slowly looked up at her captor. "It's only you, Arial….Did I wake you?" she sighs in relief as she lay deeper into the girl's hug, getting a whiff of the smell of smoke. "Oh..i…tttt...it's morning already….A…re…you…a..alright…?"
She slowly pulled away from the young girl as she turned her dino-like body to face the human-skeleton wearing the oversize lab coat over her nightdress. The child didn't have to say a thing; she knows why the girl was wearing the old dirty coat covered in old red stains of ketchup. There was a dark sadness looming in the girl's left purple eye. A yellow claw brushed through semi-wetness of the human-skeleton's raven black hair. "The nightmares must have returned," she thought as she pets the side of Arial's hair damp with sweat. Alphy wished she could make all of it go away for her, but the only thing her magic could do, heal simple physical damage but not psychological trauma. "H..how about…. I make u..us some…n...noodles and e..eggs for breakfast. Then we can…..w..watch M…mew Mew t...together?" She stuttered, forcing a smile on her face. Alphys stood up as crunching echoed in the air while large yellow feet stepped across the popcorn trail, heading toward a flight of stairs, leaving the child alone.
Deep down Arial wanted to grip on to Alphys' lab coat and follow her like a lost puppy dog. But instead, she held her poise and blankly looks at the moving colors on the television screen. She was not a little child anymore. She didn't need to worry the female reptilian with the never-ending nightmare that lurks in her mind. Loving words and hugs were nice but it was only a temporary fix. No matter how hard Arial tried to bury those memories deep down, it always found its way back through her dreams. The sharp pain in the chest was gone, but the pain of remorse was still eating at the soul. She hated to worry her caretaker. During the day she did her best to act as if nothing was wrong by smiling and focusing her attention on other things, like the popcorn mess lying before her.
Arial leans over to pick up the popcorn bowl and started carefully working on the mess. Using a vacuum would have been a quicker way to clean the mess. Sadly, Alphys used it to temporary fix one of Mettaton's arms after he accidentally cut it off and baked in the oven, during one of his cooking shows. That was about week ago; Arial forgave her, seeing that Alphys was always busy in the secret laboratory doing who knows what, to buy a new vacuum. The thought of the secret laboratory brought shivers down the girl's spine as she looked at the burn marks on her fleshy left arm then at the hairline fractures on her right bony white index finger. It had been ten years since she was trapped down in the secret laboratory and wanted to keep far away from it as much as possible. What hurt more was knowing that Alphys was using the secret laboratory or what she renamed the true lab and wouldn't tell her what experiments were going on down there. Part of her wanted to ask, but the other part was scared that her beloved caretaker was following the same path as her creator took. "Stop it…Stop it…." She cried softly to herself, "Alphy is different….She's not going to leave you. Remember she promised." Tears streamed down her cheek as she finished picking up the last bits of popcorn before heading down the steps to find Alphys standing in front of computer desk messing with a microwave.
Alphys' head started to spin as she watched the bowl of noodles go round and round in the microwave. Now that she was away from the television her eyes felt really heavy. She couldn't sleep now, not when her adopted daughter needed her the most. "R…right….eggs." She said to herself as she walked over to the mini fridge. As she opened the cooler she noticed a sticky note on the door. It was a messy handwritten message "Anime Night with Undyne," which was dated for later that day. A light blush appeared on her face as she thought of her secret crush sitting next to her on the comfy couch, eating popcorn. "O, d…d…ear I...I forgot… s…shes com…ing over here…..What am I….going t…to do…about A…arial?" She thought, leaning her head on the fridge door. "S…should I…I let them m…meet?" This question keeps repeating in her mind as she tried to stay stable to finish making breakfast. Alphys hated hiding things from Undye, but as a royal guard, it was her duty to capture humans. What was she going to do? She could ask Arial to stay in her room for the night, but that would be rude to the girl. She was the one who suggested that Alphys needed to open up more and put some faith in Undyne. The dinosaur had agreed to it a week ago, but now that it was finally the day, wild butterflies starting to fill up the stomach.
The reptilian monster hummed a happy melody, try to calm her nerves. It helps a bit, but she felt a saddened aura around her while looking up at a black computer screen. Reflected on glass was a dark blurry tall figure standing a foot behind and wearing a long coat. "D..Dr. G...gaster?" she whispered to herself as the body slowly turned around to find Arial standing behind her. She couldn't help but to slightly chuckle to herself at her careless mistake. "S…sometimes I think I'm n…not feeding y…you enough…Y…you're…just bones…." She tried making a joke, knowing her daughter had a love for puns, even the bad ones. She waited for a comeback, but nothing happened. "Arial?" she called out in worry, carefully taking the bowl of popcorn from the frightened child, before calling out the name again.
The sound of hearing her name shot Arial out her dark thought as she quickly wiped tears from her face. She took a deep breath and slowly releases the air out before putting on a fake smile for the older monster. "I'm alright, mom…Thank you for the food" she said turning her back slightly from Alphas while picking up a steaming hot bowl of noodles and eggs located next to the microwave.
"You're w…welcome," Alphas said returning the smile, knowing perfectly well that girl is being dishonest with her. There was still a sad dark aura all around them as it floated out of Arial's soul.
The two females headed back up to the television area and took a seat on the couch. Arial took a sip of her noodles waiting for "Mew Mew: Kissy Cutie," to appear on the screen, but nothing happens. "Mom?" slipped out of her mouth as she turned her head to face her guardian.
It was as if time stood still as Alphys sat there motionless, staring at the steaming hot bowl in front of her. The young lady waited in silent while she waited for her to respond. After something that felt like ages, Alphys finally told her what was on her mind. Arial smiled as she placed her skeleton hand on older woman's scaly hand.
"It's alright Alphy… I wo…" an uneasy feeling washed over the soul. In the past, Alphys would take her laptop and go over to Undyne's place to hang out. Arial could see in Alphy's hesitation that she hoped Undyne's visit here would take their friendship to the next level. Arial loved Alphy deeply; she was her adopted mother after all. She wanted to make her happy. A day ago, excitement had filled the heart at the chance of finally getting to meet the Underground's strongest warrior, Undyne Fish. For some reason, the thought of meeting her now left a throbbing pain in the human-skeleton's chest. Maybe it was her fear, warning her of the danger she was putting herself in. "I would love to finally meet her" she lied before taking another bite of noodles. She couldn't stay in the dark forever. If Undyne and Alphys were truly best friends, the fish warrior would have to turn a blind eye to the fact that Arial was part human and see she was just a teenage hybrid that was more monster then anything.