20 - Friend



It had been a year and one month since I had joined Nightmare's gang. Everything was running smoothly, and although Killer and Horror had been captured in the past month, Nightmare, Paps, and I managed to rescue them; the thing that most interested Nightmare was that they were barely injured at all, even if they were there for a few days, while the one time I was captured, I was less than lucky. It only revived lost suspicions of the past, but he wouldn't question me about it further. I knew what Ink did, and Ink knew, and I wouldn't wish that knowledge to be spread to anyone. In other news, Nightmare thought that Error was seriously considering joining our group, which was the best news in a long time. Error had agreed to meet with Killer, Horror, and I one-on-one so we could talk, I guess; I wasn't sure what this was supposed to accomplish, but it sounded exciting. At the moment, though, Nightmare was giving me one of my weekly checkups.


"Summon a blaster." Nightmare ordered, resulting in my doing the action, and Nightmare examining it. "It looks healthy. You can take it away now."


"Hey, Dad?" I solicited.


"Yes? Summon a few bones, please."


"What's Error like?"


"Nervous? Let me have a look at this one."


"Maybe a little. Is he lonely?"


"Well, as far as I know, he doesn't have anyone to talk to regularly. Summon a few more bones."


"What's his favorite food?"


"I don't know. These few bones are discouraging; you're okay with the others."


"Is he nice?"


"I don't think I've ever seen him in a good mood, if that's what you mean. Try a blue attack."


"Do you think he'll accept?"


"I hope so. Your blue magic seems to be getting weaker still."


"Is that bad?"


"If you happen to use it often, like most skeletons, it would be a rather hefty problem."


"I don't. Does Error have a universe?"


"I don't believe so - just his Anti-Void. Would you try to power up your eyelight?"


"Sure. What exactly is the Anti-Void?"


"Nobody knows much about it, except that it's white, time moves at a different rate there, and prolonged exposure can turn you into an Error. How long has your eyelight shone purple?"


"Ever since it went multicolored, I think: red and blue makes purple."


"That makes sense. I wasn't entirely sure, since only few skeletons in the multiverse actually have multicolored eyelights. Error's one of them, you know."


"Really?"


"Yes. You can cut the magic, now. Let me take a look at your results."


"Okay, Dad."


Nightmare collected his notes for this week, and turned off any devices that were monitoring my magic during the checkup, then walked to a nearby counter to look them over; I simply sat up on the table, kicking my legs back and forth like a bored child. We had done a lot of these checkups, and I knew Nightmare would take a little while to organize all the information to tell me what was wrong with me this week. I was thankful for his help with my condition, but this next part was never really exciting. My magic deficiency seemed to be slowly getting worse; I wondered why it wasn't noticed for almost a year, though, then suddenly popped up. Maybe some wrong twist of fate? Who knew? All I knew is that I wasn't getting any better, and it wasn't going to change. Papyrus really helped me, though, since we had been through something similar before. He always gave kind words and made me feel better; he's the best. After a while, Nightmare had this week's bad news report, which was no doubt worse than last week's. He walked up to the wooden table I was stationed at, and prepared himself to give the bad news.


"Well, some of your bones are coming out slightly chipped or deformed, which is new; we should probably keep an eye on that. If you use any blue magic regularly, I would highly recommend that you stop; you might not have it anymore, otherwise. Mostly everything else is slowly decaying as well, but I think you already knew that, and your depletion level is rising. I would suggest eating more at meals. That's it for this week." Nightmare sighed.


"Okay, Dad. So blue's on the list too?" I frowned.


"Yes..do you want the entire list so you can remember?"


"Sure.."


"At this point, the types of magic you can't use are levitation magic and teleportation magic, and I wouldn't use blue magic. I wish there was more we could do.."


"Yeah..me too. So when are we meeting Error again?"


"Less than an hour, in Outertale. He apparently likes it there."


"The stars are pretty; I can see why he would like it."


"Indeed. Killer's probably waiting for you: go play."


"Okay, Dad."


I let myself down from the table, landing on the floor carefully, and walking out the door. Killer was most likely in the living room, either talking to Horror or staring at the fireplace. Killer liked the way the fire twisted and turned as it rose; it was almost trance-inducing for him. I could see why, since fire tended to have that effect. Only dust could really put me in a trance, though, and that was because of the magical properties of it. Killer was also easily entertained with knives and any type of game; he liked acting like a child. When I reached the living room, Killer and Horror were on a couch, and Killer was showing off by juggling his knives; Horror looked impressed, though. They took notice of me when I walked in, though, and Killer skillfully caught all the knives without hurting himself.


"Heya, Dusty! How'd it go?" Killer wondered.


"It went all right." I replied; we still hadn't told them about the fact that I was essentially dying.


"Nice ta hear." Horror grinned. "D'ya know who's gonna meet 'im first?"


"I think Killer, then you, then me."


"Cool! Do ya think he'll like my juggling?" Killer began again.


"I guess we'll have to wait and see."


"I've been practicin' a ton recently!"


"I' shows." Horror commented.


We talked for a while, played a couple games, and speculated for a little less than an hour, until Nightmare walked into the living room, catching our attention.


"All right. It's time to go." Nightmare opened a portal. "I want you on your best behavior, and remember what I told you about him. No touching, no threatening, and certainly no fighting, understand?"


"Yes, Dad!" We saluted.


"Good, now come on."


We entered the portal after Nightmare and stepped into a world full of stars: it was breathtaking. Error had told us about his little spot he frequented where nobody else would come, making it safe. We walked for a bit before spotting him; when we did, we stood behind Nightmare, almost like nervous children, but it was just to show him that there was no need to fear us. I didn't know why he would fear us, since he could kill us easily, but there was always a possibility. Nightmare greeted him formally, and they exchanged a few words, taking no notice of us, probably to adjust Error to our presence. He seemed on edge, and his voice sounded rather...glitchy? I didn't know any other word to describe it; it was possible to understand him if you listened carefully, though. I could certainly see why Nightmare would want to protect him: the feel he gave off was one of loneliness, and even without magical emotion sensing powers, it was obvious that he was sad. After a few minutes, Nightmare allowed Killer to speak with Error in a calm manner to introduce himself.


Killer's conversation seemed interesting, but we couldn't hear it, being in the distance. Paps could tell me what they were talking about, but I didn't want to intrude; this was supposed to be a private conversation, after all. Killer took his leave without a hitch within ten minutes, and he came back smiling.


"I think he's nice!" Killer jumped. 


"That's good; Horror, feel free to approach slowly." Nightmare allowed.


"A'ight." Horror walked over to the cliff where Error was, and began a conversation.


"So what did you talk about?"


"Oh, everythin'! Did you know he's really old?" Killer was ecstatic. 


"Yes, I knew he was old. He might even be older than me."


"Really? But you're so old!"


"Watch it."


"Sorry!"


Horror's conversation with Error lasted about twenty minutes, and looked rather laid back. When Horror returned, he looked relaxed.


"Nice guy." Horror stated.


"And what did you talk about?" Nightmare questioned. 


"Normal stuff: fightin', past. Not much." 


"Okay. Dust?"


"On my way." I stood up and began walking to the cliff.


As I approached, I noticed that Error turned; he didn't turn for the others. I sat beside him, and looked into his eyesockets: they were indeed multicolored.


"Hello." Error started.


"Hi." I returned.


"So you're from Dusttale; I hear it's pretty desolate."


"That's one word for it."


"There's something off about you, but I don't know what. Would you allow me to check you?"


"I don't even remember the last time anybody did that...go ahead."


Error opened a box showing my stats and other facts about me, which was the function of check. That function also came with the magic that created dust, so I wasn't sure if it would be fully functional; I wouldn't decline his request, though. He looked rather surprised when it opened, which either meant he had never seen a person whose favorite thing was dust before, or the check box was broken; I was hoping it was the first option.


"Your check box is broken." Error revealed. 


"I was afraid of that..sorry." I watched him close the box.


"How did it break?"


"Personal reasons.."


"I'm actually not too familiar with the concept of Dusttale, would you object to telling me about it?"


"I don't mind. Basically I just kill everybody then the kid until they reset."


"Let me guess. You got tired of that then joined Nightmare, like your friend Killer?"


"No." 


"Is that personal too?"


"Sort of. Part of it I haven't even told Nightmare about, so forgive me if I'm not willing to share."


"I can understand that. You're more reserved than your friends, aren't you?"


"Heh, yeah. The others probably flooded you with reasons about why you should join Nightmare, right?"


"More or less. I'm still not convinced, if you were going to do that."


"I figured as much. In that case, I'll try to convince you in a different way."


"And that is?"


"Telling you what Nightmare's done for me and the others; you might find something that applies to you, and you might not."


"Interesting. Go ahead."


"Well, when I joined Nightmare, I wasn't in a good spot. Killer would probably tell you this later, so I will now. I was more than half dead, and Nightmare saved my life; I wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for him. Killer joined Nightmare before me, and while he was essentially emotionless, he's not anymore. Horror's universe was about to die out, due to starvation, months ago, but Nightmare saved it. All of us owe him something, even if he insists that we don't, and he treats us like family. If you were to take him up on his offer, we would do our best to treat you the same. Whatever decision you make, I hope it's the right one. If there's nothing else, I'll leave you now..and..good luck."


"One more thing."


"Yes?"


"Thanks for helping me make my decision." 


"No problem."


I then stood up and walked back to Nightmare, Killer, and Horror, who were rather surprised at how fast I was. They assumed I didn't have much to say, resulting in a quicker time. We sat with Nightmare for a while, listening to a story about his past, when Error walked up behind us.


"Yes." He simply said.


"Really?" Nightmare was dumbfounded.


"I can't believe it, but I'm accepting your offer, finally."


"This is amazing!"


"Sure. Amazing. I'm not living in your house, nor will I be joining you often, but I won't object to your presence anymore, if that counts for anything; consider us allies."


"Allies, then. Will you still visit? The boys would love to have a new friend."


"I guess."


"Do you want the location of our house?"


"I suppose; lead the way."


Nightmare then opened a portal home, while Killer and Horror each opened their own. I was under a strict 'no magic unless necessary' agreement, so I followed Nightmare and Error through his portal; Error probably thought this was weird, but he would just have to think that for now. Error was talked into picking a room to sleep in if he ever decided to stay for the night or something, which satisfied Nightmare more than Error would ever know. Error was also talked into staying for a meal, which Nightmare was preparing for this exact occasion. He had to wait a bit, though, so he decided to get to know us better. We were all seated in the living room, watching Killer show off a bit. Error seemed to be impressed with Killer's skill in juggling; maybe he had never seen somebody juggle before? I was taking videos and pictures of everything and everybody, which Error also seemed to be fascinated with; I felt like we were going to have to teach him some things about life. When the food was ready, we escorted Error to the dining room, having a conversation along the way.


"Why are there bells on the walls?" Error was confused. 


"Emergency system. If ya need help or immediate meetin's, just pull the string closest to ya, and somebody'll come." Killer enlightened.


"Interesting. Not even magical."


"If you can't use magic for some reason, it's a great system." I added.


"I can see that. Do you use it often?"


"When we get out." Horror answered.


"Fascinating. You must not rely too heavily on magic, then."


"That's more of Dust's department. He doesn't like to use too much magic, since he's got a de-" I cut Killer off.


"That's enough about me." I sighed.


"Fine. I don't know why ya don't like to talk about it; it's not even that bad."


I stayed silent, and the others did as well, until we reached the dining room. Nightmare had laid out a nice looking meal, with a large cut of meat, some potatoes, and healthy vegetables. There was also a side of high magic-intake soup, which was most likely going to be on my plate whether I wanted it or not. Error took a seat between Nightmare and me, and looked at his food. When we began eating, he looked rather confused; maybe he didn't require food to live? The kid didn't need food to live through all their genocide runs, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was somebody else who didn't need it. Killer, Horror, and Nightmare didn't look as calm as I did, unfortunately, and were trying to get him to eat something. I simply sipped my soup, and allowed Error to do what he wanted with his food; there would be no leftovers, anyway, with the way the four of us ate. When Error was eventually coerced to eat, I was glad I wasn't looking, because it was for some reason disturbing the others greatly; I didn't know what happened, but I treated it like Nightmare's room: never going to look, never going to be scared.


When the meal was over, there was no food left, and Error was leaving; He said he had fun, which was a great sign for the future. When he was gone, I was tired, so, being the skeleton I am, I went to my room. After I placed my camera on my dresser, I let myself collapse on my bed, and covered myself with a blanket. When I was ready to descend into a dusty nightmare, I let myself relax as Papyrus told me a soothing story to send me off to sleep.


We had a new friend.


~~~chapter end woot~~~


Dust bean meet Error bean.


Thanks for reading my unacquainted writing! 


Bye!

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