Royal Blue

A Bitter Aftertaste (Chapter Nineteen)

Dusk settled around them, the land alit with the hot red of lava and dark metal machinery.

There's a static sort of stillness to the scorched air. Stiff, and ashen, it seemed to cling to the inside of their throats, and press heavily on skin and fur, dry and sour.

Toriel and Frisk did their best to expect the unexpected on their long journey... but even they had not been prepared for what met them at the lab.

The familiar metal door opened with a slowly slide, and almost rusted creak. Casting light into the otherwise dark abode.

The lights flickered on, buzzing and dim, as if they were nearly burnt out.

This place felt... abandoned. The floor tiles coated in a thin layer of cracks. As if decades of disuse had grown in only weeks.

"...Alphys?" Frisk asked into the darkness. Their voice small and weak.

Toriel grabbed her child's hand as both carefully made their way into the darkness. Toriel lifting her free hand in a fist and opening it, revealing a familiar ball of fire to light their way.

Sharply, a flash of magic; energy. A blue-green light-

Undyne stood in the darkness, a spear tight in her grip, fit in her usual tank top and pants, her good eye flaring within the shadow.

Frisk blinked, eyes doing their best to focus through the limited exposure.

Undyne blinked.
"K-Kid?"

"Undyne!!" Frisk exclaimed, tugging their hand from Toriel's loose grip and running at their friend.

Undyne's spear dissipated as they bent down, fluidly scooping Frisk up and twirling them around in her arms.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay? What are you doing here?" Undyne whispered, pulling the child close.

Frisk smiled into the vice-like embrace, before finally being set down. Undyne still grasping their shoulders tight, scanning them for any injuries or signs of sickness.

At finding none, she looked up to Toriel.

"Have they had any sort of relapse?" Undyne asked, her face twisted with concern.

Toriel let out a motherly sigh.
"No," she hummed, "although we still do not know what happened... they insist they are fine."

Frisk squirmed in Undyne's grip, pulling themselves free quickly.

"Because I am fine," Frisk stressed toward their mother, who simply crossed her arms.

"And," Frisk turned back towards Undyne, "we're not here for me."

"You're not?" Undyne asked. If they had just wanted to hang out, they would have called first. So what were they-

"We need to talk to Alphys. O-Or Sans...? I haven't heard from him, o-or Papyrus in a while, and-"

Undyne held up a hand, looking guiltily off to the side, then squeezing her eyes tightly shut. She took a deep breath.

"I'm... not sure how possible that is, kid," Undyne muttered.

"Whyever not?" Toriel asked softly.

Frisk looked up at Undyne as the tall monster stood back to her full hight.

There was a pause, and the overhead lights buzzed softly, flickering and fading.

"Well... Alphys is passed out in the other room... and," Undyne swallowed, "Papyrus is downstairs."