The Life Game

You

Death was in Edge's marrow, in his bones and magic. It was the very reason he was placed here, the very reason he was even "alive". He was Death and he would bring it down on the world just like he was ordered, and yet... and yet he found himself unable to do one thing.

Bring Death to this being of Life.

His blade moved in slow motion as he brought it down. Time freezing as it came in contact with the other skeleton's skull, dispersing as wispy shadows across the white expanse of their skull.

He couldn't do it. Couldn't kill this honey eyed life, or bring it before Asgore. He couldn't and he he was weak for it.

"Go." He croaked. Turning from the being and pulling his cloak closer to himself as a reminder of the dust him and his brother would taste in the coming days.

"what?" Life asked stupidly and Edge almost lashed out at him then, almost yelled, but his voice seemed broken and cracked.

"Go! Please... just go." He turned away, a horrible idea to show your back to the enemy, but he didn't care. He would be dust soon anyway, just because he couldn't finish one simple job.

He heard Life scramble back, over dusty grass and flowers. Honey robes shining and then the skeleton disappeared much like he would see his brother do. Not in shadow or light, just gone with a static so low it was barely there. Though that wasn't as nice as the sound of that honey'd voice before it left him forever.

"thank you."

-0-

"find anythin'?" Of course his brother would be the one to greet him as soon as he walked through the door.

"No." He bit out trying to decide where to look next for a replacement. His brother didn't deserve to be dust for his own foolishness.

"damn, we might not make it this time." Red rolled a toothpick through his teeth and then squinted at the door. "why those little bastards 'ave ta be so hard ta find i have no idea, but it's a pain in our lifespans."

"Greatly." Edge rolled a map out over the table and started to circle areas to check and recheck. They needed to find something, someone if they planned on living longer. If they planned on appeasing Asgore and being the only ones left standing while everyone else gets dusted and reshaped into new Deaths. He wondered if the same happened to Life. If the same thing would of happened to him if Asgore cut his head off like so many others and turned him to dust. Would it be gold like his eyes? Would he turn to dust, or something else? Would he be as beautiful in death as he had been in life? Morbid thoughts for a morbid creature, a creature that didn't want this Life to die no matter how beautiful it might have been.

"papyrus!" Edge whipped his head towards his brother and stared, his own brother huffing. "been tryin' ta call ya 'ere boss, now what's got ya so distracted?"

"I don't know Sans, maybe the fact we might be dying soon? Maybe because I might have failed, or the fact that I can't seem to do my job right?" Edge hissed, snapping the map closed and glare down at the table.

"when were you ever scared of a little death?" Red stood with a snap of his toothpick between teeth, seeming much bigger to Edge in this moment then he ever had before. "ya know i'd never let 'at old goat touch either of us little brother, so go ahead an' fail a little, see who gets dusted because of it."

Red blipped out of existence and Edge could only feel his turmoil grow. Going against Asgore was a death sentence. They would dust and when they reformed Asgore would just dust them out of sheer spite despite neither of them being able to remember a thing. He would do it again and again until there was no dust to reform from. They would simply cease to exist.

Edge pulled away from the table and went to his room. He would sleep, get up and try again with a clear mind. Maybe then he would actually be able to do his job.

-0-

Edge woke to the odd hum of magic in his room. In his house. The magic was unfamiliar and yet so cloyingly sweet that the air felt thick when ever he breathed. It would have been welcoming if it shouldn't have been in his house in the first place.

He dispersed into smoke and crawled through the corners of his home to the source. All the while passing spatters of blood and muddy footprints. He creeped slowly into the kitchen and reformed with his blade in hand and threw back the chair blocking his view of the intruder.

He looked and golden eyes looked back.

"you." Edge growled and reach forward to pull Life off his floor. They squirmed and wiggled and he seriously thought of handing them over to Asgore if the continuous doubt didn't cloud his mind and the golden marrow wasn't burning through his hand. The skeleton dropped to the floor with a startled yelp that morphed into a groan and only noticed then that the robes he wore were golden in marrow.

"please, help." Life muttered as he fell unconscious.

Edge cursed himself ten times over as he ignored his own pain to lift Life off his floor and carry it to his room where his brother wouldn't be able to see it.

With carful hands he stripped back the top half of Life's robes and assessed the damage, the moulted gold flowing from bones. He would have to dress the wounds then clean up the floor and eradicate any presence of his magic least his brother find him and take him to Asgore. Then he would have to deal with his own burns from Life's blood and make sure he stayed alive. Stars was he going soft.

He got cloths and medication, carefully wrapping the wounds adoring his arms and ribs, the one Edge had left on his neck, without physically touching the bone. He even took the time to whip the smeared marrow off of their bones even if it meant the burn of his own hands.

When he was sure that he had gotten every injury he worked to clean up the mess on the floor while spreading his own magically thickly across the house as if he went into a fit of rage while Red was gone. That would also keep Red from bothering him in his room whenever he returned from his own searching. If only he knew Life was in his own house.

When he entered his room again with a few old robes, he found Life awake on his bed staring at him. Edge kicked the door closed behind him as he went and dumped the robes on the end of the bed. His arms crossing neatly into the folds of his own robes.

"Why are you here?" Edge growled, Life looking back at him with wide sockets.

"i was trying to hide, there were these... reapers? after me, this was the first place i could duck into." If he was leaking such thick and sweet magic as he was when he first arrived, Edge was sure any reaper would investigate such a sweet smell.

"So you thought a reaper's house would be any safer?" Edge felt all he could do was growl and stand as still as possible as he argued with himself on what he should do. What he wanted to do and what he needed to.

"i-i..." Life's eyes shrunk in pain and then closed slowly. "i felt you magic and thought i would be safe." Edge let his arms fall, watching as once again Life fainted, but this time back into his sheets. Honey gold and white stark against the black and red sheets.

"I suppose you weren't wrong."

A/N: I think this might grow legs and I might lose sleep because of it... worth it.