28 - Questions of Morality

                                    

                                          
"Oh, shoot," said Kel, staring at the screen.
The coup. They were starting it.
Of course they were starting it.
Why was she so stupid?? Why had she ever left the Resistance? She hadn't even left a note or anything. Of course they'd think she was captured. And of course they'd come to rescue her. What had she thought was going to happen? She hadn't stopped anything. She'd just hastened its happening!
"I really am an idiot, aren't I."
She felt small hands grab her sleeve, and Chara pulled Kel's arm down so they could see the phone. Kel let them. She had no desire to stare at those texts any more than she already had. She wanted to groan, facepalm, bang her head against the wall. Do anything to make the pain less internal, so she could handle it more. 
What was wrong with her?? WHAT HAD SHE BEEN THINKING??
"Is that Alphys? She's coming to rescue us?!" the kid asked, excitement rising in their voice. They were scrolling through the messages, their eyes growing wider the farther they went. "Whoa. She grew some guts."
Alphys had guts, all right. More than Kel had, in any case. Hah. Soul of Bravery, yeah right. More like Soul of Gutlessness. Kel didn't have the courage to even save her own life.
"Well, that's great!!"
Chara had finished scrolling. They let go of Kel's arm, then twisted around to look up at her face.
 "Isn't it? How is that whoops?"
Kel was practically holding Chara at this point. The child had wriggled straight into her arms.
"It's whoops," Kel explained, looking down into those eager young eyes, "because I'm an idiot."
The child blinked at her, brows knit in confusion.
"Who's been telling you that?"
"Myself," said Kel, and she turned off the phone, shoving it back into her pocket. No use replying to Alphys now. Forty minutes ago! They were probably inside the castle already.
Chara didn't budge. "Go on."
Go on? Go on with what?
Where did she even start?
"Well," Kel began, because there was pretty much nothing else to do anyways except mope around and wonder which side of the upcoming revolution was going to find her first, "it all started when I decided to trust a talking flower, who immediately tried to kill me. I was saved by an explosion, but ran away from the person who'd saved me. Then I met a really weird skeleton and got into a fight with his brother, until the brother gave up, and then I was caught by a fish woman who nearly killed me. The weird skeleton saved me from the fish woman and the deadly puzzles, but I decided I couldn't trust him, and ran away with the flower. After that, I road a boat belonging to a creepy hooded figure and ended up almost dying to the fish lady again, before ultimately being saved from her by the weird skeleton's brother. Then we were rescued by an organization devoted to helping us, but I decided I couldn't trust them, either, so I ditched both the organization and the flower and ran into the weird skeleton, who immediately teleported me here and told me if I didn't kill him he was going to leave me for dead. And thus, I have been left for dead."
Chara's eyes had glazed over, their expression blank.
"BUT NOW," Kel continued loudly, startling the child out of their stupor, "THE ORGANIZATION THINKS I'VE BEEN CAPTURED BY THE EVIL OVERLORD AND IS CURRENTLY BREAKING INTO THE EVIL OVERLORD'S PALACE AND RISKING ITS NECK TO SAVE ME."