I had been with Nightmare's gang for one year and four months now, and Error was beginning to warm up to the idea of friends and family; once we discovered his love for chocolate, it wasn't hard. Error was actually a pretty nice skeleton once you got to know him, and we did get to know him rather well. His visits at first were short and infrequent, as he preferred his own home over ours, but he was slowly beginning to visit us more, probably yearning for some company instead of solitude. Apparently, he heard voices in his home, which were less than kind, and practically drove him crazy, so it was easy to understand why he would visit more over time. We enjoyed having him around, and it was fun teaching him about our favorite games and hobbies. He had sadly never heard of backgammon before, and Killer was way too eager to show him how to play while I was having my checkup for this week; Error still didn't understand why I needed a checkup every week while the others had them every month, and mine were longer, but I just didn't feel comfortable with telling anybody about that yet. Nightmare was almost done with my checkup at the moment.

"Can you summon some bones?" Nightmare requested.

"Yeah." I preformed the action, and Nightmare examined the product. After a little studying, he spoke again.

"I don't think your bones are decaying as quickly as your other attacks, but they are still slowly growing worse. Try to summon a blue attack."

"Okay."

I summoned one blue bone, which looked cracked and deformed; it certainly wasn't good, and it just got worse when it broke, and dissipated. When I tried to summon another, it wouldn't work.

"Blue magic?" Nightmare looked at me sadly.

"Gone." I sighed, bowing my skull.

"I'm sorry, Dust."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. This is my own fault."

"It's not your fault that your magic is...it's not your fault. You couldn't have known."

"I should've known."

"But you didn't. You can't blame yourself for something you couldn't predict."

"Maybe. Thanks, Dad."

"We'll always be here for you, Dust. I'll look over the notes for this week and add blue magic to the list."

"Okay."

Nightmare went through his usual motions, and I waited for the bad news which was to come. Paps was offering me kind words of comfort, which I accepted, donning a small smile and thanking him. It was at times like these that I appreciated the fact that I didn't rely on magic as much as I used to, and that I could live without it - I somewhat had to. When I was fighting, I never used magic attacks - only standard weapons, such as knives. Speaking of knives, Christmas was a month ago, and Killer recieved a whole arsenal of knives. I got a few things for my camera and a couple daggers, which I enjoyed. I noticed that Nightmare was taking longer than usual to gather the notes for this week; I was getting a bit worried. Paps insisted that it was something minor, such as losing a pen or something, but that didn't completely calm my worries. After I was sure something was wrong, I spoke up.

"Dad? Is everything okay?" I wondered. 

"I'm afraid not." Nightmare turned. "Your magic depletion level has..doubled."

"D-doubled?! Since when?!"

"Since last week."

"But..but how? That's such a short time!"

"I don't know. What I do know is that you need help, and I can't give it to you."

"..So what do we do?"

"I don't know what we can do, if I'm being honest; there's no cure in the entire multiverse for what you're going through because nothing like this has ever happened before! There's only one thing I can think of, and it would take time."

"What is it?"

"I'm going to try to build a device that will constantly measure your magic levels, and if needed, replenish them. It could take months to do it, but I think I can."

"I'm sorry."

"Dust, we'll get through this."

"I'm sorry."

"It'll be okay."

"I'm so sorry!"

I hugged Nightmare tightly, letting myself cry for the first time in months. He returned the hug, rubbing my spine slowly to try to calm me down. I could feel that he was crying too, except he wasn't as verbal about it as I was. I was spouting apologies and intelligible phrases that even I didn't know the meaning of; I guess it was a good thing that I didn't need magic to cry my eyesockets out. I guess I had just been keeping all those emotions locked inside me until eventually, I just broke from the pressure. It felt good to cry, though: it made me feel like I wasn't trapped in a cage of my own thoughts and emotions, hidden behind a wall of pretend strength. This feeling didn't last too long, though, because the other occupants of the house had heard my cries, and had entered the room. Killer, Horror, and Error were all confused as to the fact that I was crying; they hadn't actually ever seen me cry like this before. Nightmare had certainly been seen crying, since he was the guardian of negative emotions, and was constantly plagued by them.

"Dusty?" Killer was worried. "What's wrong?"

Nightmare had turned to see the curious audience we had gathered, and sighed.

"We can't keep this from them forever, Dust." Nightmare admitted.

"I guess..you're right." I wiped some tears from my face. 

"Kee' what from us?" Horror questioned. 

"Do you want me to tell them?" Nightmare asked, receiving a sad nod. "All right."

Nightmare let go of me, and I tried to stop the tears from coming out of my eyesockets. He fully turned to face the others, and took a deep breath before beginning.

"Dust is very sick." Nightmare started.

"Whaddya mean? Like a cold?" Killer hoped.

"No. His magic deficiency has returned, and it's worse."

"Aren't those rare?" Error inquired.

"The fact remains that he has one, and it may be permanent; that is what is important here."

"Sorry."

"Over the past months, he has been steadily losing magic; he has already lost the ability to teleport, levitate objects, and use blue magic. I've been trying to delay the rate at which the magic is depleting, but it just keeps rising. I'm running out of options."

"He can't use magic?" Horror was shocked.

"He can use a lot of magic, but if he does, it should only be in dire need. The amount of magic which he can use is lowering, and I can't stop it. I'm going to try to create a device to steady his magic levels, but it will take time; before I have it ready, I need you to make sure he's all right. He can continue fighting with us, as long as he continues to fight without magic, but we need to keep an eye on him. That is all I ask: just watch over him."

"How did he get a magic deficiency in the first place?" Error wondered.

"He won't tell me. I've asked too many times to count, but he won't budge; t was either scarring, disturbing, or both, if he doesn't even tell me about it when it could be useful information. I wouldn't suggest pushing him."

"So..how long will it take to make your device thingy?" Killer questioned.

"A few months, if I can get the materials quickly."

"Mayhaps we can help. Whatddya need for i'?" Horror asked.

"I don't know yet, but as soon as I do, I will tell you."

"So how can we help Dusty?" Killer inquired.  

"Just keep an eye on him whenever you can, especially in battle; even glances will do. If he starts to look lightheaded or even just weak, get him to me quickly. I can give him temporary magic boosts if necessary."

"He's lookin' pretty weak right now."

"What?"

Nightmare turned back to me to see a shaky skeleton that hadn't eaten in a few hours; I didn't want the others to find out about this, but I guess I was kind of glad they did, so it wouldn't come as a surprise later. Nightmare immediately rushed to my side and handed me the soup he had put aside for when the checkup was over. I felt the familiar rush of magic flowing through my body, which was relieving and intimidating at the same time: relieving because there was magic flowing through me again, but intimidating because I knew this meant that there was less magic flowing through me to be restored. When I told Nightmare that my favorite food he made was soup, I didn't expect that to be his go-to whenever I was running low on magic, but I wasn't complaining; it was probably easier for him because he could just make large amounts of soup and store it for whenever he needed to give me some. It was actually pretty convenient for both parties, since soup was also easy to eat.

In the days following this, we made a lot of plans for any situations, even making ten different paths to take if I was captured alone; that would actually probably help if I did happen to be captured in a weaker state, which had a higher chance with every battle. Nightmare had also begun work on his device, which would hopefully make this entire problem disappear from existence. I was honestly feeling weaker by the day, and I was hoping the device would work so I didn't have to worry my family; even Paps was more worried than usual when I began to pass out at random intervals. I didn't go unconscious during battles, thankfully, but it eventually got so bad that I was forced to stay in bed until Nightmare finished his project; if it didn't work, I would probably be saying my final goodbyes to my family.

One year and seven months after I joined Nightmare's gang, the device was completed. I was surrounded by familiar faces as I was walked to the hospital room, and everybody was hopeful. When I lay on the surface of the wooden table, Nightmare showed me the device. It was a small, round disk that he would have to attach directly to my soul, which was somewhat frightening, even if I had promised myself that I wouldn't be scared.

"I'm sorry that you have to be awake for this, Dust." Nightmare exhaled slowly. "I'm going to tell you this because I love you: this is going to hurt like hell."

That's not the worst news I've heard." I tried to joke, but failed.

"Stay strong, brother! You will be better, soon!" Papyrus smiled.

"Thanks, Paps. You're the best.."

"We're rootin' for ya, Dusty." Killer said. 

"Let's get this over with.."

"If you're ready, hold out your soul." Nightmare prepared himself.

I was honestly terrified as I slowly let my soul escape my body, which I didn't know was possible; I guess I could be scared after all. I closed my eyesockets tightly, preparing for whatever was going to happen. I felt the others holding me down in case it hurt too much, ensuring that I wouldn't hurt myself more; even Error was willing to hold contact if it was to keep me alive. At this point, I was so thankful that I had friends like them, because Nightmare woefully understated the amount of pain I was going through. I'm not going to say it hurt worse than I was hurting before Nightmare found me, because it didn't, but it was close, if nothing else. If I had to find the words to describe it, I would say it was like somebody repeatedly stabbing you in the soul, except you couldn't die, and they had infinite endurance levels. That pretty much summed it up. The worst part was that the entire procedure took an hour, which, to a skeleton in pain, felt like days. If I never had to go through that again, I would have been the happiest skeleton in the multiverse, probably surpassing Dream; that would probably be bad for the balance, though. When Nightmare placed my soul back into my body, a wave of relief fell over me, and I passed out; why I didn't pass out during the operation was beyond me.

When I woke up, I was back in my bed, and my family was surrounding me, and they were smiling.

"Nice to see you awake, Dust." Nightmare stated. 

"Nice to see me awake too." I chuckled. "Did it work?"

"Well, if an above average magic checkup is any indication, I'd say so."

"Really?"

"Yes. If it keeps working as well as it has already, you may just regain the abilities you lost. It's actually functioning better than I thought it would."

"Is this going to be one of these things where it works so well that it overloads and I go back to dying?"

"Haha, no, it's not going to be one of those things. There are two things you should be aware of, though."

"And those are?"

"The device is located on the outside of your soul, so if it is shown somehow, it will be noticeable. The second thing is that while it is magical, it has some electrical components. I believe I have protected it well enough to prevent it from overloading, short circuiting, and disabling due to electrical disablers, but if somebody manages to produce a device that could hack into it, they would have full control over your magic, and they would even be able to destroy the device; that is one area I am unfortunately not skilled in. I will also be checking the device during your checkups, which are still going to be weekly, because I'm too lazy to change my schedule, and I want to keep a close eyesocket on you. Any other questions?"

"May I see it?"

"Sure."

I allowed my soul to exit my body again and stared at the round device on the front of it. It was blue, gray, and red - my favorite colors. After looking at it for a minute, I wrapped my arms around my family, and thanked them dozens of times. They had saved my life three times now, and I was forever indebted to them. I loved them so much, and Paps did too. He's the best. I would have given up a long time ago if Paps hadn't helped me through my rough times. I was no longer suffering, and I would hopefully be able to use magic again, which would be fun; I wouldn't rely on it, though. Relying on magic was a dangerous way of life: if you lost it, you lost your way, and you might never have found it again. While magic was a useful skill, tool, and helper, I would never rely on it. If this device broke, I would have gone back to denying myself magic and probably died. I had my family, though, and they were the most important thing in my life; I would give my life, my freedom, and my soul for them, even if they wouldn't for me. 

I loved them with all my soul, and I would treasure them forever.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean has magic back, yayyyyy!

Thanks for reading my restoring writing!

Bye!