I had been held captive by Ink for eight and a half years now, and my hope seemed to be fading faster than before. If there was a way to slow its dripping, I wasn't aware of it; even Error couldn't stop it completely. I knew the routine so well at this point that I could say my lines without Ink having to say a word; I knew I was losing my hope. I estimated that I had died more than fifty times over the years, which was a lot, at least for me. At the moment, I was in my universe; I had just died once more, and the inhabitants of my universe were happy to see me again. They were really beneficial in helping me keep my sanity, and they were even willing to knock some sense into me from time to time; I would have lost it already if it wasn't for them. I had five minutes left when the conversation shifted to my well-being, which wasn't the best at the moment, unfortunately. Although my body may have been in perfect condition, my mind was not. I held my Hope closer as the topic unsettled me more; the others had recognized that action as a sign to stop the current train of thought - I was much more sensitive than I had been in the past. I had two minutes left.

"So, the weather's pretty chilly today." Grillby mentioned. "Almost unlighting me on fire!"

"Really?" I chuckled a bit.

"This is why fur is much better at keeping monsters warm!" The old lady smiled. 

"Probably clogs the sink all the time!" 

"True, but it's warm!"

"You might want to think about final thoughts, Sans." Grillby reminded. "Almost up."

"I guess so.." I sighed, holding my Hope closer. "Are you guys doing okay?"

"Yep, just fine!"

"That's good to hear.."

"You can make it through, Sans!" The old lady encouraged.

"Thanks."

"Goodbye, Sans." Grillby  waved.

"Bye.."

"Time's up!" Ink had arrived to take me back to his room, where I would endure more torture. "I hope you had a great time!"

I sighed.

"Did you have a great time?" Ink questioned. 

"Y-yeah!" I was back to my scared self.

"That's great to hear! Time to go home, now!"

"Okay.." I waved one last time to my friends as Ink pulled me through a portal.

When we arrived in Ink's room, I prepared myself for my first pain since death; Ink started strong with his paint. I was lucky that my Hope wasn't able to be stained by Ink's paint; Error had his strings to protect it from that, and they were able to be summoned - although not as weapons - without magic at hand, which was good for me, since I liked to see my Hope without stains. It was the one pure thing I could have, and I treasured it. No matter how many tears were shed or bones were broken, my Hope would always be pure. About a week passed with our routine, and one of my arms had been immobilized; I could still walk, though, thankfully. Today started just like any other day, with Ink torturing me, as per tradition. I had gotten used to the taste of the paint, but the pain was still agonizing; I couldn't exactly get used to that. I held my Hope tightly in my good arm, hoping the pain would leave me soon; it actually didn't last as long as usual today - I wondered why. When I regained my senses, I found Ink angry at a guard who hadn't knocked before entering; he demanded that everybody should knock before entering his room unless it was important.

"What is it?" Ink snapped, unsettling the guard.

"H-Horrortale, Sir." The guard stuttered; I was shaken by that start.

"What about it?"

"It.." The guard gained an air of confidence. "Horrortale has fallen, Sir."

"Fallen?" Ink seemed happier than I had seen him in a long time. "You mean..it's finally under my control?" 

"Yes, Sir."

"Guard, forget what I said earlier. Did you get any prisoners? That pesky Papyrus, perhaps?"

"The Papyrus in question escaped before we could catch him, but..we captured a different leader of the resistance." 

"Oh, really? Who?"

"Dream, Sir."

"That's wonderful!" Ink chuckled as he looked at me. "Aw, I don't want to leave you here alone, Dusty..oh! I know what to do!"

Ink rose to his feet and left me lying on the ground, hugging my Hope tightly; I was sorry for Dream, but I was happy that my brother escaped.

"Guard, have the prisoner brought..here for interrogation. Restraints and magic suppressors, of course." Ink compromised. 

"Yes, Sir." The guard saluted. "Sh-should I have Dust's s-sitter on standby?"

"Hmm, yes, do that."

"Okay, Sir."

The guard went on his way to carry out his orders, while I silently mourned the loss of Horrortale; I was glad that my brother made it out, though. I hoped Dream would be okay, but I highly doubted it. When Ink sent the guard off, he quickly returned to the ground next to me and pulled me onto his lap once more, grinning evilly.

"We'll have some time to play more before he gets here.." Ink pulled out his paint, and I began to cry again, holding my Hope tightly.

Whenever Ink made a prisoner go to his room, he regarded them as special; I was in that category, unfortunately. There had only been one special prisoner since I arrived, and he died the moment he stepped into Ink's room; I didn't even know who he was - other than a member of the resistance. I hoped Dream wouldn't suffer the same fate. There was a twenty-minute period of silence between the guard's leaving and the door's next opening, which meant that I would be screaming for a bit; Ink didn't have enough time earlier to make me scream as much, but twenty minutes wouldn't make me scream for more than a couple minutes after it stopped. I was actually getting used to the pain a bit; it didn't affect me as much as it used to, but it still hurt more than I could handle. When the door opened, Dream was struggling against two guards, to no avail; Ink made them wait for my screaming to stop before continuing with his calm greeting. As soon as it was simply sobbing, Ink bid the guards to bring Dream closer, but not to let go of him. Dream looked sad when he saw my pain; I hoped he wouldn't have to experience it. When Ink was ready, he lifted me up off my back and made me sit next to him as he spoke.

"Hello, Dream!" Ink smiled. "It's been years, hasn't it?"

"Ink, why are you doing this?!" Dream was saddened. "You used to be nice! You used to be my friend!"

"Oh, Dream! You're so naive! Did you actually think that a person like me would ever have friends?"

"Ink, you can go back! It isn't too late!"

"Too late for what? I'd been planning this takeover way before I met you."

"Wh-" Dream was shocked.

"Dream, there are some things about people that you're simply incapable of understanding! Take Dusty, for example. He knew I was bad the entire time, but he never took the steps to stop me! Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"He had a flaw. It's the same one you have. Your flaw is commonly referred to as care. You care too much about every single detail! You cared so much about me that you didn't even realize that I was using you!"

"But.."

"Look around you, Dream. Do you see any care? No, you don't! And no matter how hard you try, you never will! The world is cruel, Dream; it won't care."

"That doesn't mean you have to join it!"

"That's your opinion. I'm looking forward to forcing you into my army."

"Ink, I'm not joining you."

"Funny..that's what Blue said..and Fell, and the two holding you, and just about everyone in my army! Even Dusty said that! Of course, I had other uses for him." Ink chuckled as he patted my skull.

"What did you do to him?!"

"Not much..just torture."

"Why would you do that?!"

"I wanted to see what would happen! Isn't it great?"

"No!"

"Again, your opinion. Anyway, you're going to be staying right here until I gain some leverage."

"Leverage?" 

"Of course!  How else am I going to force you to obey me?" 

"Ink, that's..mean.." Dream was solemn.

"So it is." Ink was pleased by his old friend's sadness. "You know, your aura is so much weaker than I remember it..or maybe that's just you."

"I can't believe I thought you were my friend." Dream lowered his skull.

"Ah, well, times change. Don't look so gloomy, Dream! I'll get that leverage soon, and then you'll be under my power, just like everybody else!"

Dream had nothing else to say; I felt bad for him. Pretty soon, Ink dismissed the guards after having them tie Dream to a nearby wall; Ink didn't want him to interfere with what he was about to do. He turned to me and pulled me over his lap, as always, before pouring more paint. Dream was stunned.

"Ink, what are you doing?!" Dream struggled against his restraints avidly.

"Routine." Ink giggled as I screamed in pain.

"He's in pain!"

"Well, duh. That's kinda what torture's for?"

"Oh my goodness.." Dream couldn't handle it; he fainted.

Dream was forced to stay in Ink's room with me for two weeks before Ink finally gained leverage over him and forced him to become a guard; he was scarred for life. The leverage Ink used was definitely compelling: Dream joined him, or he attacked Dreamtale. Needless to say, Dream gave in to his demands, and there was a new high rank in the army; the swapped Sans helped him to get adjusted to everything. He visited me a lot, mostly because he felt sorry for me; I stopped keeping track of how many times he had fainted from witnessing Ink's torture. He also bore witness to a multitude of the high ranks; they disgusted him. There were times when it was just him, Fell, and me in the room, and it was nice for a while; he liked my little Hope. Dream felt bad that he hadn't noticed Ink's true nature until now; looking back on it, he said that it was actually pretty obvious. I assured him that it wasn't his fault, but he wasn't going to be convinced of that for a while. He tried to visit once a week to comfort me and offer me some hope, which I really appreciated; he told me that Papyrus was hard at work trying to rescue me, and that really helped. He was currently in my room, offering me some encouragement.

"You'll be okay, Dust!" Dream comforted. "Your brother is going to save you!"

"Sure.." I sighed. "He will.."

"Don't let Ink get to you! All Papyrus ever talks about is how he's going to save you!"

"..Really?"

"Of course! He could talk for hours about all his plans!"

"Heh, I guess he will come!"

"Yeah!"

"I just hope I remember that.."

"Don't worry! We'll help you through this!"

"Thanks."

"No problem! No matter how much Ink tries, we'll always come out on top! Right?"

"Yeah!"

"You're a good skeleton, Dust; don't forget that."

"I'll try.."

"Oh, time moves so fast.." Dream sighed, looking at the clock on the wall. "I guess I'll see you soon."

"Yeah..bye."

"Goodbye, Dust."

Dream left me soon after that, since Ink would have probably gone harder on me if he hadn't. Dream was a good friend, and he gave me a lot of hope; it couldn't stop the inevitable, though - only slow it. I hoped Papyrus would come for me soon; I really needed him. If he didn't come soon, it wouldn't be good for any party.

I didn't want that to happen.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean meet Dream bean.

Thanks for reading my dreadful writing! 

Bye!