We had been in Ink's little reform school for about a week now, and we weren't happy. I was unable to see or hear my brother, which made me sad; I wanted to see Paps. He's the best, and if I couldn't see him, I couldn't shower him in affection like he deserved, and Cross said he was sad about it! Papyrus was sad, and I couldn't help him! Now, the only indication that my brother was there was his floating scarf; I was glad that he had it. I had also learned something from this event, and it was that Ink knew that my brother was a ghost; he had purposely made me lose my ability to see my brother, and he was vocal about it. I didn't even care that he knew; I just wanted to see my brother. I spent a lot of time with my family in an attempt to make myself forget that my brother wasn't visible. We tried not to break rules after the first day, since we didn't like the consequences. At the moment, it was 7:57 P. M., and we were playing games. We played often, and it wasn't questioned, since we were technically children; being little had its perks. Killer was delighted to know that the other side was somewhat civil, actually owning a backgammon board.

"Yes!" Killer had won again. "How many is that?"

"Forty-three." We all replied. 

"You're too good at this!" Error hadn't gotten the hang of the game yet.

"You'll get it!"

"I doubt it."

"Let's play again!"

"No way, try somebody else! I have had it with losses!"

"Dusty?"

"No, thanks..I'm just..not in the mood.." I was thinking about Papyrus again.

"I'll play you." Nightmare stepped in.

"Yay!" Killer set up the game quickly and began to win another game.

"Y-your brother wants to say h-he loves you." Cross stated softly.

"Thanks." I was thankful that Cross would tell me what Paps wanted to say. "I love you too, bro."

Before we could continue, the lock unlatched, and Ink walked in.

"Bedtime!" Ink declared; we sighed. "Come on, clean up and get ready for sleep."

The game of backgammon was quickly put away, and we were soon lined up for Ink to make sure we weren't up to anything; he always made sure. It wasn't like we were going to risk anything after the first day; the consequences were perfectly tailored to prevent that. Ink checked our pockets, nonetheless, and he found nothing. He always made sure to scour every corner of the room for anything convicting, which meant we weren't going to get away with anything we tried; it was simply impossible. After half an hour of our standing in line, Ink had finished his searching, coming up empty handed. He returned to us, faced us, and smiled.

"You're certainly being well-behaved, aren't you?" Ink was pleased on the outside, but we knew what he wanted on the inside. "Time for bed, then. Off you go!"

At this, we each scurried to the bed we were assigned to; Ink was mad if we were slow - he wasn't very nice. When we reached our soft blankets and pillows, we tucked ourselves in and closed our eyesockets; the beds really were soft, and we could fall asleep in comfort almost immediately - that didn't mean we enjoyed it, though. We would have much rathered being home in our own beds. After we were all in our places, Ink said good night and turned out the lights, leaving us in the dark to sleep. Once the lock was latched firmly in place, I closed my eyesockets, ready for sleep; I was tired, and the blankets were soft. After I had received an hour of sleep, I was softly woken up by Cross, who looked afraid; I assumed he had had a nightmare, and, as customary with our family, I was the one to go to - I didn't mind. I sat up to meet Cross, and he wasted no time in getting ready to tell me about his problem, sitting next to me and leaning on my shoulder; this was his comfortable spot, and I allowed him to take it with ease.

"D-Dust?" Cross stuttered.

"Yeah?" I yawned quietly; I didn't want thim to think I didn't care.

"I-I had a n-nightmare.."

"Take your time."

"W-well, i-it was about I-Ink.."

"I understand."

"I-it was h-horrible!" Cross began to cry; I put an arm around him and soothed him.

"Shh, it's okay now. You're safe. You're safe."

"B-but..what about.."

"Don't think about it. Just focus on something else; anything will do."

"O-okay..th-thanks, Dust."

"No problem. You're always welcome to take some time t- agh!" I gripped my left arm.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Cross was worried.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" Ink had set off the bracelet I was forced to wear, and it hurt. He turned it off to allow me to explain.

"He had a nightmare!" I rubbed my arm. "What was I supposed to do? Not help him?!"

"I see. Cross had a nightmare. Why did he come to you?"

"Be-because Dust is good at h-helping with nightmares!" Cross explained.

"Hm. Fine, I'll let this slide. There are going to be a few regulations on nightmares in the future. Go back to bed, now." 

"O-okay.." Cross dejectedly walked to his soft bed and prepared to go back to sleep.

"All right.." I lay back down in my bed and pulled the warm blanket over me.

"Good night." Ink left the room.

I closed my eyesockets once more, and I fell asleep again. I found myself more tired after the pain shot up my arm, and I descended into a dusty nightmare rather quickly. I enjoyed seeing the dust float around, and the screams made me feel safe; I was weird, but I was aware of it, which made it okay. I knew I was tired when I felt it even in my dream; I got more sleep when we were home, and the lack of it now was taking a toll on me. I couldn't control the amount of rest I got, which was unfortunate, but I could make the most of what I did get during the day. During my nightmare, something odd happened; the dust..cleared? I wasn't sure what was happening, but my nightmare simply disappeared, and it was weird! If I was going to guess what happened, I would have said Dream sensed my nightmare and decided to help with it; I hoped it was just that, anyway. When morning eventually came, I was still tired, and I didn't want to get out of bed; I required at least ten hours of sleep at night, but I had only been receiving eight, which was ridiculous. I had to get out of bed, though; Ink would have gotten angry if I hadn't. When Ink entered the room, we were lined up once more, and Ink searched the room and us again. 

Ink was very thorough in his searches, making sure to check under mattresses, pillows, and even holes in the carpet; the carpet was actually almost as soft as the blankets and pillows, which made me want to sleep more. I was yawning as Ink performed his search, and he didn't seem very happy about it, glaring at me; I couldn't help the fact that I was tired! He should have allowed us to get more sleep! When he finished his search of the room, he came up to us and began to search our pockets and hiding places; he was probably more thorough than he needed to be. When he reached me, I was half asleep; I had not gotten enough rest during the night, and it was showing. In return for my obvious lack of sleep, Ink responded with the 'compassionate' act of striking me with his brush; that hurt. I didn't really care too much, though; I was now on the floor, and that was soft. Instead of doing the smart thing and getting up, I decided to remain lying on the floor; that didn't go over well. Ink turned off the magic restorer, making me cry out in pain; I was awake now, and Ink allowed me to stand up, joining the others in line. After he turned the restorer back on, he spoke.

"It looks like it's going to be another beautiful day outside!" Ink grinned. "Are you ready for your lessons?"

"Yes.." We replied; we were too tired to complain.

"Great! In that case, we'll be beginning in an hour! Right now, we have a couple little rules to follow. Last night, it came to my attention that some of you get nightmares. Nightmares can be very unhelpful when trying to reform someone, so we have to handle this delicately! If you happen to have a nightmare, please, don't hesitate to ask for help! We're always willing to help out reforming criminals!"

"S-so you're saying w-we can't go t-to Dust anymore?" Cross looked sad.

"Essentially!"

"But Dusty's the best at helpin' after nightmares!" Killer exclaimed.

"And what are you supposed to do when 'Dusty' has a nightmare?"

"Dusty doesn't have nightmares!"

"Oh, really?" 

"Really!"

"Well, then. I guess you're all in for a big surprise tonight. Anyway, I'll be going!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nightmare looked mad.

"Why would I tell you?"

"Some reform school this is." Error wasn't impressed.

Ink laughed; it sent shivers down our spines.

"O-oh boy!" Ink couldn't stop laughing. "Reform school is just so I can legalize keeping you here! I could care less if you were reformed!"

Ink continued his laughter all the way out the door; it was unsettling. We spent the next few minutes realizing what Ink meant. He was using the reforming as an excuse to essentially torture us, and it was actually obvious! We wondered if the entire multiverse was actually too blind to see this, he was mind-controlling them, or he was just really subtle about it. We decided to just forget about that aspect; the truth would reveal itself eventually, and at that point, we would know. We decided to play some games until something new happened, since we were children. We played some backgammon to get our minds off important matters, and we were ready to face the challenges of the day, whatever they might have been. After a few games, the door was unlocked, and the familiar enemies walked in; Ink never acted even remotely cruel when they were around, which meant we were probably safe. We were quickly seated on the floor and given a reforming lesson, which we didn't really care about; Ink didn't care about it, which meant we didn't have to, either. When the good enemies left, Ink stayed behind to 'talk,' which probably meant he was either going to inflict pain on us or something else equally as bad.

"Wasn't that a great lesson?" Ink smiled.

"No." We responded together; it really wasn't.

"Fair enough. I have a surprise for you!" 

This didn't sit well with us. Ink pulled some bracelets that looked exactly like the one he made me wear out of his pocket, and he forced the others to wear them.

"There! Now you're all matching!" Ink seemed proud. 

"What, do you think these are going to keep us in line?" Error scoffed.

"Of course not." Ink chuckled. "They're just because I want to."

"Want to what?"

Ink simply pressed a button, and we were all in agony; he was cruel. When he left - a few hours later - we weren't doing so well; we wished we could charge him with child abuse or assault. He had committed both. When we healed from the experience, we talked for a while about possible ways to escape, but we found nothing; we needed a way out. After a few more games of backgammon, the time had again reached the dreaded "bedtime hour" that we despised so much. We were lined up once again as Ink began his search of the room; we were also incredibly tired, which led to more than one of us being slammed to the ground. When Ink finally allowed us to go to bed, we quickly rushed to our beds and crawled under the blankets; that was a safe place. As soon as Ink left the room, I shut my eyesockets and fell into a dusty nightmare. I was exhausted, and I couldn't wait to get to sleep. I felt content with my dream, and I was happy; that didn't mean that I didn't feel Ink trying to use the bracelet to force me to be scared, though. He was a real pain sometimes, but I didn't let him affect me; I simply enjoyed the soft bed and floating dust.

I didn't like being there, but at least I had my family.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean family ow.

Thanks for reading my ridiculous writing!

Bye!