47 - Aftermath



Heyo in case you were wondering, I put exclamation marks (!) before coughing to indicate emotion; coughing up paint is probably excruciating!


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It had been a month since Ink was overthrown, and most of the universes had undergone a reset, meaning mostly everything was back to normal. Well, for my family, a lot was different. We were no longer seen as the 'bad guys' of the multiverse, after hours of explanations, and our job was simpler now: Dream didn't constantly promote eternal happiness, and Nightmare didn't have to promote sadness; it was a lot easier. Error probably got the most work, since he was instated as some sort of 'guardian' for something; he didn't want to do anything, but he didn't really have the choice - his job mostly consisted of dealing with problems in the multiverse, which he was actually good at. The worst thing about this entire new situation? Ink was being kept in the dungeon downstairs; there was nowhere else to keep him, and our house was easy to maneuver through, apparently. Papyrus was occasionally allowed to see me, but my bones were still a shattered mess; healing magic could only do so much. I was still unable to move, but we were hopeful; I would also be coughing up paint for years to come, unfortunately - that was my least favorite part. There was no easy way to remove all of it.


Nightmare and Dream had been hard at work restoring their bond, and they got along pretty well; it would have been a while before we would start saying 'Uncle Dream,' though - a long while. At the moment, they were in my room, keeping me company: being completely immobile could get pretty lonely.


"Why did the chicken cross the road?" Nightmare asked; he knew I liked jokes.


"I dunno, w-why?" I smiled.


"Because he saw Cross coming straight at him!"


I laughed, but unfortunately ended up coughing up some paint; that wasn't comfortable. 


"I can't believe somebody would do something like that.." Dream sighed.


"To satisfy a sadistic sense of humor.." Nightmare muttered. 


"S-so, Dad?" I wanted to change the topic.


"Yes?"


"Are you really gonna make a school?"


"I think it's more of a dream, but maybe someday."


"You remind me of a lot of Toriels." Dream joked.


"What? That's ridiculous.."


"You adopted kids, you're planning on opening a school, and you have bookshelves. Brother, you are a Toriel."


"Okay, so maybe I'm a little bit like a Toriel...maybe."


"I'll take you either way; you're the best dad ever!" I grinned.


"You're the best Dust ever."


"I love y-you!" I coughed up more paint, which was wiped away.


"We love you too, Dust."


"Dad?" Killer stuck his skull into the door.


"Yes, Killer?" 


"Well, we wanted to know if we could cross 'cleanin' the basement' off the chore list.."


"Afraid not."


"Aww..okay, Dad."


"When Error comes to take over, we'll talk about it, okay?"


"Okay, Dad!" Killer left us alone.


"You know, if someone had told me that all this would have happened five years ago, I wouldn't have believed them." Dream mentioned.


"I probably wouldn't have, either." Nightmare chuckled. "But I'm glad about...some of it; other parts..not so much."


"I can understand that.."


"Hey, at least nobody died." I input.


"You all died, though."


"Not f-forever!" I coughed up more paint, which was again wiped away. 


"Speaking of that, I've been studying your machine that you used to bring us back; it's actually quite advanced!" Nightmare complimented. "How exactly did you manage to make it?"


"I just did what worked; I wanted to bring you back, so I did. I guess...I was determined."


"There truly is something special about you, Dust."


"Not really; I just loved you guys too much to let you go."


"Well, we love you too, Dust." A glitchy voice returned.


"Oh, hello Error." Nightmare greeted.


"Nice to see you!" Dream added.


"The same to you." Error replied. "How's it going?"


"Same new, same new." I joked.


"That's one way to put it." Dream admitted.


"Yes, it is." Nightmare agreed. "We'll be off then; there will be a few extra rules about the basement."


Nightmare and Dream left the room, allowing Error to sit beside me.


"So, how are you feeling?" Error wondered. 


"S-sometimes I get a bad spike, but I'm feeling all right n-now!" I coughed up some paint, which was wiped away.


"I bet you're not going to miss that.."


"If I did, I'd question myself. How are you doing?"


"Stressed: do you know how many problems there are in the multiverse at this moment?"


"No?"


"One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, not including repeats of the same."


"Wow. How do you manage that?"


"Honestly? I have no idea. I feel like I'm going to snap under the pressure!"


"Well, I'll offer moral support..about all I can do right now.."


"Ah, don't worry about it, Dust." Error put his hand to my shoulder in a kind way, but it only made me wince in pain, making him quickly retract it. "Sorry.."


"I-it's okay..I'll be okay..eventually."


"I hope so; Ink really did a number on you.." 


"A lot of n-numbers!" I coughed up more paint that was quickly wiped away.


"Agh..I've fought Ink for a long time, but he's never done anything like that to me.."


"Guess I'm unlucky or something.."


"You're not unlucky; you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time..I should've heard you fall."


"If you didn't make it, the rescue would have been for nothing; we'd both be Ink's captives still, and the others would still be dead."


"Still, I could've done something."


"Error, I fell quietly on purpose; you should know that by now - if I wanted you to hear me, you would have."


"I know..it was a brave thing you did back there. I don't think I would've been able to do the same."


"I'm sure you could have."


"You're too good for this world.."


I began another severe coughing fit, accompanied by a lot of paint.


"I'm sorry, Dust.." Error wiped away the paint. "I wish you didn't have to go through this.."


Usually, after these fits, I would generally lose consciousness for an unknown reason, which wasn't pleasant in the middle of conversation, but I had to live with it; I couldn't exactly do much else. When my dusty nightmare hit, I knew I had passed out. I watched as the dust swirled around in my dream, joined by sounds of death and sorrow; it didn't bother me - it never bothered me. I enjoyed my nightmare thoroughly, having been accustomed to them for quite some time. When I awoke, I saw Cross and Chara next to me; they took turns watching over me so I wouldn't get too lonely in my uselessness.


"H-hey, Dust." Cross smiled. "Feel g-good?"


"Yeah." I returned. "I'll be darned if I'll ever be brought to paint anything ever again, though."


"I can s-see that." Cross giggled; Chara laughed as well. "W-wanna play a game or s-something?"


"S-sure!" I coughed up some paint; that had already gotten old.


"Gosh..Ink r-really hurt you, d-didn't he?"


"You all act as if it's something important. I'll be fine, really."


"I mean..I kn-knew what paint tasted l-like, but he br-brought it to a whole n-new level with you.."


"Let's just not talk about it..please?"


"A-all right. Ch-checkers?"


"Okay."


Cross pulled out a checkerboard and began to set up the game; Chara spread out the pieces, having almost mastered object manipulation.


"D-do you want to g-go first?" Cross offered.


"No, you can go." I insisted.


"All r-right." Cross moved a piece. "Which one d-do you want to move?"


"Hm..your far left, towards the side."


"Like this?"


"Yep." 


We continued the game for a while, and I let Cross and Chara win a few games, just because I didn't want to dominate. When it was time to switch, Cross put the game away and left with Chara, hoping to grab some food. Killer entered the room happily, taking his place beside me with a huge grin.


"Heya Dusty!" Killer jumped. "Gonna get better soon?"


"Might take some time, but yeah." I responded.


"When do ya think you'll be walkin'?"


"I'm not sure.."


"Wait! I just realized somethin'!"


"What is that?"


"Well, Dad has a soul that looks like an apple, I got a target, Crossy's got a half 'n half, and you've got the magic restorer, but Horror's got a regular one!"


"Huh..I never noticed that..that's pretty observant." 


"Hmm..what's Error's soul look like?"


"I'm not actually sure..I think it's got g-glitches!" I coughed up more paint, which was wiped away. 


"Ya know, it probably does; I'm gonna go find out!" Killer was out the door before I could say a word, quickly fetching Horror from who knows where to fill in for him.


"..an' a turtle- uh..what jus'-" Horror was confused.


"Killer is quick.." I commented.


"Ya know, I ain't gonna question i.' How ya doin'?"


"All right. You?"


"Be better if I'd know when Killer's got a run in 'im."


"Heh. Now you know how felt."


"Guess so. Dusty, when're ya really gonna be better?"


I sighed. "I don't know..Dad said years, if ever. I'll be lucky if I can ever even move again, let alone walk."


"Wh-what?" Killer was in the doorway. "D-Dusty?"


"Oh no..Killer, I-" I was cut off by Killer leaving sorrowfully.


"Ah shoot..'m sorry, Dusty." Horror looked down.


"It's all right..he'll just be out of it for a w-while!" I coughed up some paint; it was really annoying.


"Yeah, but it'll be a bit harder."


"Mhm.." I felt another fit coming on.


"Well, Imma go cheer 'im up a bit."


"O-okay!" I lost consciousness.


When I awoke this time, I was met with Papyrus and the kid, who had a mutual agreement to watch over me together; the kid was to be watched at all times. When they noticed that I was awake, they seemed overjoyed; even the kid had developed a pity for me, which I wasn't sure how to take. I didn't exactly favor being pitied; it felt like somebody had to do everything for me, and they really did - I couldn't move. Being paralyzed was not fun at all, and while I had gotten my limbs broken in the past, there wasn't anything quite like having a broken spine. I couldn't even move my skull, which was the part that bothered me the most; when I merely broke my limbs, I could look around, and even have some control of my body. Now, I couldn't move a bone; every bone that Ink could access was broken - he made sure of that - and anything he couldn't reach was (at the very least) doused with paint. There was still no way to get the paint out of my bones, which meant they hurt immensely at all times; I didn't think the burn of the paint wore off. A few doctors proposed a plan that involved surgery, but I didn't exactly welcome the idea of my body being taken apart one bone at a time.


"Hello, brother!" Papyrus waved.


"Hi, Sans." The kid retained an uncaring outlook, but we all knew there was a hint of worry.


"Heya." I smiled; Paps could always brighten my day - he's the best.


"Oh, I have another story for you, brother!" Papyrus was excited. "I made it up just now!"


"Oh really? L-let me h-hear it!" I coughed up more paint, which was swiftly wiped away.  


"Okay! Here it goes! In a forest, deep in the candy gumdrop land, there was a skeleton named Papyrus! He liked playing games with his brother Sans, who also liked playing games! They played games all day until they had to go to sleep! The end!"


"Great story, bro. You're the best, Paps."


"That story was boring." The kid criticized.


"You're boring." Paps returned.


"And how is that?"


"You killed people over and over with the same weapons without giving a care as to what others may have thought about it."


"Sans did that too!"


"Well he was insane; you have no excuse."


"Can't argue with that logic." I figuratively shrugged, since I couldn't physically.


"I'm done. Good bye." The kid walked out of the room alone.


"Oh, I do wish the human would stop doing that." Paps sighed. "I shall have to go after it; see you later, brother!"


"Seeya, Paps." I chuckled.


I loved my family; they were the best family ever. I would heal fast with them around, and I'd hopefully regain the ability to walk as well; I really didn't want to be paralyzed for the rest of my life. With all these changes in the multiverse, it was a wonder we still had a growing bond with eachother, and I didn't ever want it to change. I wanted us to stay a family forever, no matter the circumstances, and no matter the danger. We would get through anything and everything that came our way; if we could get past a thriving dictatorship and total paralysis, we could get through anything; It was only a matter of how much time we would need. The future indeed looked bright.


But something was still being forgotten.


~~~chapter end woot~~~


Dust bean family good.


Thanks for reading my talkative writing!


Bye!

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