The sun has risen, lighting up the sky with a bright blue hue, signaling a glorious morning in the land of Lux. But beyond the castle of their monarch, laid their beloved princess in a deep, but disordered slumber. Tears could still be seen, staining her once glowing face. All night, she has been crying softly, processing out what could've happened.

"Wow. If they get to lock us in here, they should've at least installed an air conditioning unit!" a voice complained, groaning.

"Ch-chara?" the princess, now awake, called out, hope glistening from her bright closed golden eyes, as she gazed from her saffron blanket to the specter looking out of the window.

"Hey, Freya."

"I thought you left me." She started to sob, but the spirit stopped her, gently moving her thumb to the girl's cheeks, wiping away any excess tears, "I'd never." She whispered, "And I couldn't! You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah." Freya sighed, pausing for a moment, "How did you find 'help' anyways?"

"I'm sorry, Freya, but there's no one else I could turn to. He's the only guy other than you who knows I exist, and so... To him I went."

"But how?"

"I saw him cleaning your unsurprisingly messy room, so turning to the red paint on the table, I caused it to drop, signaling him. He looked so alarmed, knowing what the action means, and as soon as red paint was all over the place, he frantically ran, reporting to Mother."

A long eerie silence followed, and the princess was about to tear up again, "Chara," she wailed, "I-I think I messed up!"

"No way..."

"Yes I did! I didn't mean to let my anger go all over him. I was just so furious at what Mum proclaimed, that I accidentally yelled so hard at him. I couldn't even think straight all night. I kept crying, and crying, blaming myself for everything. And now, he's not coming, and it's all my fault! I'm the worst friend ever."

"Don't say that! I'm sure spaghetti freak won't take that to heart. You know how soft that bonehead is." Exclaimed Chara in reassurance.

"I do hope so."

"Come on. Why don't you take your mind off it by a little painting?"

"I don't want to."

"And why's that? Oh, because you don't have flippin' black paint?"

"No. It reminds me of... Reminds me... Reminds me of what happened last night! All because of some stupid paint."

"Good grief."

Hours have passed, yet the princess did not move a single muscle from her bed. She kept weeping, her soul ached of depression. Again, she was all alone, and Chara must've went to who-knows-where. The silence was paranormal, but she did not care. She just waited, and waited, until she sighed, falling back to sleep. Then the sound of the door creaking followed, jerking her awake.

"Papyrus?" she cried, eyeing the open door, only to find an android dressed as a butler, holding what seemed to be her lunch on the tray he held on his metallic hand.
"Oh, Metatton..." she sighed, laying back.

Metatton wasn't actually a butler or some peasant servant of their palace. The robot who wore all splashed with pink, black, and white, is not only the Royal Family's fashion designer, but also the star entertainer of all Underground, Lux and Stygia all the same.

And he doesn't usually come by Freya's bedroom holding her tray of lunch. Which practically meant, he was either sent by her mother or... Papyrus, since both were close to each other. Ahem, lovers.

"I'm sorry, darling, but it's just me. ~" he chirped, placing the tray on her golden engraved table.

"Where's Papyrus?" Freya asked, slightly disappointed.

"Papy? He's out there, busy doing Royal Guard business. ~" He sighed in reply, turning to leave, "I will have to leave you with your meal, Your Highness. I'm truly sorry to not stay for too long, darling, but fabulous duty calls! ~" and with that, he shut the door close, leaving the girl alone once again.

Standing up, she reached for the door, only to find it locked. She wasn't joking about the lock up thing, huh? Glancing back at her working table, she grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, ignoring the fact that her hot food was still there. She started doodling out of boredom, then gazed out of the window. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the blue dot she had seen the last day.

I have a feeling it's light. She could feel it. No, even worse. She remembered feeling it before. Beyond that horrible woods of obscurity. She actually felt the light coming from... That skeleton? Who is he anyways?

Recalling him, she started sketching his features on clean white paper. Though afraid to remember, she wanted to let all the darkness she felt out on one single piece of paper. Her scribbling went faster, same as the pace of her beating soul. His smooth ivory skull and phalanges. His fake permanent grin, fashioned with his chilling emotionless stare. His... light. His blue blazing light.

Finishing her masterpiece, she sighed once more, glancing back and forth at her sketch to her gloomy painting beside her. As a natural artist, her works are undoubtedly beautiful, with perfect strokes and form. One thing saddened her, though. Neither from the two artworks could be finished, for she'd been lacking one material. And that is...

"I'M GUESSING YOU NEED BLACK PAINT, PRINCESS?" a voice asked, its owner's red gloved hand reaching her out a can of black acrylic paint.

She looked up, tears of joy flowed down her cheeks as she embraced the unsuspecting tall skeleton beside her. "Papyrus!" she cried, clasping him deeper.

"YES, IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" he proudly said, pounding his fist on his silver chest plate, as he smiled down at the human princess he held in his arms.

"I thought you hate me. I-I thought you're mad... I thought you'll never come back!" she sobbed, still holding him tightly.

"I WOULD NEVER, YOUNG PRINCESS! SO DO NOT BE SADDENED, FOR I DO NOT HAVE ANY NEGATIVE FEELINGS TOWARDS YOU."

"No, you should have! You should be! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"NONSENSE!" he erupted, shushing her, "I UNDERSTAND YOUR SITUATION, FREYA, AND I KNOW IT'S HARD. FRIENDS TENDS TO FIGHT WITH EACH OTHER SOMETIMES. AND WE'RE FRIENDS, AREN'T WE?"

"Yes, of course we are."

"BUT I AM TRULY SORRY FOR INFORMING THE QUEEN ABOUT..."

"No it's ok. I'm sorry, I should've just thought that you're doing this for my safety, and I appreciate that. Thank you." She beamed in understanding.

"YOUR HIGHNESS," he frowned, "YOU HAVE BEEN CRYING SINCE LAST NIGHT? LOOK AT YOU, STAINED WITH SAD DUSK. I'LL NEVER FORGIVE MYSELF FOR HAVING YOU FEEL THAT WAY..."

"Don't be like that. Besides, you'll also be the reason that could light up my emotion, see?" she cheered happily, changing from the dark sorrowful girl last night, back to being the brightest of all light.

"I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT." He smiled in amusement.

"And I'm glad you're fifty percent fine." A voice shrugged in sarcasm.

"Oh, Chara." The princess chirped, "Fifty percent?"

"Yes! Out of one hundred, fifty percent for happiness, twenty percent for being locked up, another twenty percent for fear from what the heck happened last night that I'm pretty sure you weren't recovered from, and ten percent for..." the spirit breathed in suspense.

"For?"

"For heartbreak."

"W-what?" she stammered as red roses bloomed instantly on both of her cheeks.

"YOUR GHOST SISTER IS PRESENT? I'D LIKE TO THANK HER FOR ALERTING ME LAST NIGHT." Papyrus suddenly piped up, not noticing his master's flustered state.

"Don't sweat it, skull-face. Gratitude accepted. Anyways, back to the previous topic. Do you really think I don't know the reason why you were late from the party last night?" Chara smirked evilly, causing the princess to flush even more.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Stop pretending! You're with some bonehead last night whom you didn't even bother to tell me! You like him don't you?"

"N-no!" she gasped dismissively, which surprised the skeleton beside her, "WHAT IS THE MATTER, PRINCESS? IS THAT GHOST FRIEND OF YOURS THREATENING YOU?"

She turned her head no in reply, sighing, "I mean, at first..."

"So you do like him!"

"At first! But then I came to know he's much like the other boys out there." The girl huffed in annoyance.

"You'll never learn, would you?" Chara sighed, "You keep flicking everyone away. Can't you at least listen to what they'd have to say?"

"Wait, I never told you he talked to me last night."

"That's because I was watching all this time! I'm stuck to you, for goodness sake. And I saw how you two did not get along because of your excusable reasons!" the spirit admitted, sighing, "You two could make a good couple."

"Yeech! Over my dead body. If he'll ever show up begging at the door, I'll... I'll..."

"You'll what?"

"Just forget it."

"YOU'VE BEEN SKETCHING?" a loud voice interrupted, its owner gazing at her drawing. "Yeah, I've been bored all day long, so thought of drawing the nightmare that haunted my dreams."

"Your prince charming in a blue mask?" Chara smirked, which caused the girl to flinch.

"The one who chased us dead last night, back in the woods." Said Freya, rolling her eyes on the specter.

"A SKELETON?"

"Yes, it's weird right? I came to meet two new skeletons in just one day. One is that, and the other is..."

"Your boyfriend."

"Stop it, Chara!" she shrieked in irritation, which only caused her 'sister' to giggle.

"The other is from the party."

"STRANGE. HE... LOOKED FAMILIAR. TOO FAMILIAR."

"How familiar?"

"LIKE..."

"Like brother-familiar?"

"EXACTLY!"

"For once, I thought he was gonna say brother-in-law."

"Chara!?"

"I DO NOT ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT'S MORE ANNOYING. THE FACT THAT YOUR SISTER MUST BE VERY ANNOYING, OR THAT YOUR SCREAMS OF IRRITATION TOWARDS HER IS ANNOYING." The skeleton sighed, clearly frustrated.

"Sorry, Pap. It's just that my 'sister' here couldn't stop teasing my head off." She pointed out, irritated.

"HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE MY BROTHER," he started, shaking off the previous subject, "EXCEPT, HE NEVER WORE BLACK BEFORE."

"People tend to change their clothes, Papyrus." She rolled her eyes, "On second thought, you said your brother's so lazy. Too lazy, he wouldn't even bother changing his clothes?" she asked in clarification, earning a nod from the Royal Guard, "Unless..."

"UNLESS WHAT, PRINCESS?"

"Unless he was... consumed by the darkness?"

"NO. N-NO WAY." He trembled.

"I mean think about it. He tried to capture me last night, didn't he? And worse..." she whimpered, brushing her fingers on her bandaged wounded hand, which Papyrus did not notice earlier until now. He was very surprised to see it too, "THAT SKELETON DID THAT TO YOU?" he frowned, taking a closer look on her palm.

"Don't worry too much, Papy. It was just a scratch that's all."

"A SCRATCH?! FROM WHAT I SEE, IT'S A BLOODY GASH!"

"It's fine, and no, it's not bleeding at all anymore, see?"

"UM-HMM? AND WHAT'S THIS SUPPOSED TO BE? KETCHUP?" he paused, before sighing, "I'LL HAVE THAT TREATED RIGHT AWAY, YOUR HIGHNESS."

"No! I don't want to."

"IT WON'T HURT A BIT, JUST A LITTLE STING HERE AND THERE, BUT IT WON'T BE THAT PAINFUL. UNLESS YOU LET IT BE FOR TOO LONG, AND IT WILL SURELY GET WORSE THAN JUST A STING. YOU'LL BE SCREAMING IN AGONY!"

"Promise?"

"YES, I PROMISE." He smiled reassuringly, before taking out a bottle of alcohol and a roll of bandages.