34 - Revolution

                                    

                                          
Time seemed to slow as each flake of silver dust floated gently to the ground, immersing in the sand. A somber snow, the autumn of a life. Papyrus's bones vanished instantly, but it was too late, far too late. All that was left was a pile of chalk.
Sans was gone.
Horror unlike anything Kel had ever experienced was flooding her senses, rendering her numb, useless. She could only stare, motionless, but it wasn't like with Asgore, when shock had frozen her solid. No. This wasn't shock, this was beyond anything she'd ever felt, anything she'd ever imagined feeling.  It was pain, it was despair, it was devastation, it was empty and bottomless loss.
And it was grief. Stabbing, heart-wrenching, agonizing grief. Grief like she'd only felt once before, grief like the entire world had torn itself into shreds.
This went beyond the Underground, beyond who was ruling it, beyond her life or Frisk's life or Chara's. Beyond Papyrus, beyond Asriel, beyond anything. Far beyond, so far beyond none of it even mattered any more.
Sans had been her friend. Despite all the craziness, all the doubt, all of her own faults, he'd been her friend. He'd been one of the, if not the, most friendly, funny, compassionate, and heroic people she'd ever met. Around him, she'd felt safe. She'd felt liked.
She'd never done anything for him. She'd never given him her lunch or devoted her life to being his big sister or followed him down a miles-long hole, but he'd been there for her. Throughout the course of her whole journey, he'd always been there for her. He'd never yelled at her, never tried to kill her.
And now he was dead.
She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to fall on her knees and sob. But she couldn't. Not in front of Chara. Not in front of Papyrus. Certainly not in front of Asriel. They would not see her weak. They would not see how much this destroyed her.
So instead, with excruciating difficulty, she tore her eyes away from what was left of what felt like the only real friend she'd ever had.
And good thing she did, too. Because when Sans had evaporated, so had all his magic.
Asriel was back on his feet, looking insufferably smug.
"Good work, Papyrus," he drawled. "You always were my favorite."
Kel wanted to scream at him to leave well alone, but Papyrus didn't even seem to have heard. He was staring at Sans's dust, soundless, motionless, a perfect statue. He didn't look like he'd ever be able to hear again.
"Papyrus," Chara said, their voice cold. Their eyes were fixed on the skeleton's bowed head in icy indifference. "Look what you've done."
"He sees," Kel said quietly.
Papyrus hadn't expected his magic to kill Sans. Kel hadn't expected his magic to kill Sans. If anything, she'd been anticipating a faint, unconsciousness, like what had befallen Undyne, if even that - Sans had defeated Asriel; he was a thousand times more powerful than Undyne, he had to be, and yet, and yet...
A single strike had killed him.
"Yes, Papyrus has done well, hasn't he?" Asriel sneered, casting a contemptuous glance at what remained of his oldest son. "In fact, I believe he deserves a promotion. Captain of the Royal Guard. We have an unexpected vacancy, you see."
He laughed, a sick laugh, as if he'd just made the cleverest joke in the entire world.
At that moment, Kel forgot all about Papyrus, all about Chara. Hatred pulsed through her veins like liquid fire. It surpassed the loss, surpassed the grief - or maybe it was fueled by it, maybe that was why it consumed her being, everything she felt or thought, a bonfire of burning rage. Right then, she hated Asriel more than she hated anything in the entire world. More than she'd ever hated anything. She wanted to see him dead on the floor. She wanted to do it herself.