I had been in captivity for a year now, and it was less than exciting. I had just finished my third hour in my universe, which essentially meant that I had died three times now, and Ink was more than ready to break my bones once more. The inhabitants of my universe were now well aware of my situation; I hadn't joined Ink. Every time I died, Papyrus's accomplishments increased; I was so proud of him! I had the best brother ever, and I knew that he would save me and Error! Speaking of Error, Ink had agreed to let me see him once a year; today marked the one year point, which meant that I would be spending some time with him. I was so excited to see him that I barely noticed the pain that came when Ink beat me; I couldn't wait! In Ink's plan, I was on step five; he expected the last two to come at a slower rate than the first five, for obvious reasons. After Ink finished torturing me for the morning, he called an escort to take me to see Error; I was required to be handcuffed, but I didn't mind - I was going to see him! Before I went, Ink wouldn't let me go without a bit of talking, of course; he loved to hear himself talk. I didn't mind it as long as I was going to see Error.

"I feel so sorry to let you go like this, Dusty!" Ink dramatized; I had gotten used to his calling me Dusty, but that didn't mean that I enjoyed it. "Don't worry, though! Pretty soon, you'll be back, and we can play more!"

"..Okay." Ink had practically trained me to answer in certain ways to certain phrases; he regarded me as somewhat of a pet, which I didn't understand - I wasn't a dog. Of course, I didn't accept everything he told me to say.

"That's a good little Dusty!"

"C-can I go now?"

"I suppose you may go. Guards, take him to Error; one hour visit only - set a timer."

"Yes, Sir." Two guards - my escorts - saluted.

"Good."

The guards proceeded to handcuff me and lift me off the ground; Ink had fractured one of my legs, but it was still mostly walkable - I just needed some help. With a bit of a limp and a lot of help, I was on my way to see Error; I could hardly wait! I was lucky that I had died recently, or I might not have been able to walk; I enjoyed walking, since I didn't get to do it often. Usually, I would simply lie on Ink's floor; I had no way to walk, which meant that I enjoyed doing it every chance I got. The guards helped me walk down the halls, and we eventually reached the long staircase; I needed extra help for that, but it was eventually conquered, and I could almost see Error through the window of the door. When the door was unlocked, I slowly limped inside, seeing Error's expression turn to surprise; he wasn't expecting me.

"Dust?" Error rushed to the bars of his cage. "You're alive!"

"Yep!" I slowly sat down on the outside of the cage, wincing a little. 

"Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"Just some..stuff.."

"Dust, you look terrible.."

"I may or may not have been tortured a little..I'm fine, really!"

"So..how long have you been here?"

"Ever since the attempt.."

"I'm surprised that you haven't been hurt worse.."

"Yeah..what about you?"

"Nothing. Literally nothing happens down here..unless there's an attempt to break me out, which isn't often."

"I'm sorry.."

"You have nothing to be sorry for.."

"I failed to rescue you! It's my fault that you aren't breathing fresh air right now!"

"Dust, you can't blame yourself for that."

"Yes, I can.."

"Just because we didn't make it doesn't mean that you have to take all the blame."

"I know, but.."

"Hey, at least you're not dead!" Error tried to cheer me up; it didn't work as well as he'd hoped. "Dust? Dust, don't cry! Oh gosh, what did I say?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be.." I couldn't stop crying. "I shouldn't be crying..I'm sorry!"

"Dust, you don't have to be sorry." Error reached his arms through the bars to hug me. "What happened?"

"I shouldn't.." I didn't want to burden him with that knowledge.

"Whatever it is, I can take it; you need to say something.."

"I can't...I can't take it!"

"What have they done to you?" Error could now clearly see my inner pain, and it angered him.

"Error, I'm scared.." 

"I'm here, Dust. Tell me everything, and I'll help as best I can."

So I did. I told him how Ink constantly tortured me, what happened when I died, what the higher ranks did, and I even told him about Ink's outline for my future; Error could hardly believe it, but he did. By the time I finished, we had a mere thirty minutes left until I would be forcefully taken away for a whole year; Error comforted me more than he could ever know. At that time, Error also made it a point to convince me that it wasn't my fault that he wasn't free; he did a pretty good job, too. By the time we had twenty minutes left, I wouldn't dream of blaming myself. When that was settled, I started talking about Papyrus; he's the best, and Error was impressed with his accomplishments - I knew he would be! I had the best brother ever, and Error was sure he'd save us! When we had only ten minutes left, Error offered me some hope; he assured me that everything would turn out fine in the end and that we would be happy. He told me that my brother was no doubt finding thousands of ways to save us; he just needed some time to find the right one. We had one minute left.

"Paps is the best!" I grinned.

"Yep!" Error was happy as he saw me smiling. "I'm gonna be looking forward to next time."

"Yeah..I'll miss you.."

"We'll see eachother again. Promise."

"I can't wait!"

"You'll make it. Okay, Dust?"

"Okay. You will, too, right?"

"Of course I will! If I only get to see you once a year, I'll simply have to!"

"I don't wanna say goodbye.."

"Me neither..how about we say 'Until we see again'?"

"That's better."

"All right! Until we see again, Dust."

"Until we see again, Error." I smiled wider.

"That's so sweet!" A different voice commented. my face lost all signs of happiness, falling to a dead, scared stare; I was terrified of that voice. "Your hour's up!"

"Haven't you caused enough harm?" Error glared at Ink.

"I don't think so; I mean, I doubt it."

"You should pay for what you've done to him!"

"Who, Dusty? Oh, he loves it." Ink knew I didn't.

"You've scared him out of his wits!" 

"That's kinda the point!" Ink walked closer; my fear grew. 

"You're sick, Ink!"

"Oh, Error! You're so naive! How could I ever hope to complete my goal.." Ink grabbed my shoulder and clutched it hard enough to crack something. "If he didn't fear me?"

"You're hurting him!" Error couldn't help me.

"Oh, I suppose I am." Ink didn't let go, opting to grip harder. "Your hour's up, and I'll be taking him back, now. Goodbye, Error."

"Ink! Don't you-" Error was cut off by teleportation; I was back in Ink's room, and I started to cry.

"It's so much better here, isn't it, Dusty?" Ink unsheathed his brush.

"Please.." I didn't want to be hurt.

"Please torture you? I'll oblige!"

And he did. There were only a few hours left until nighttime, but that didn't make the time between now and then any better. Ink really was a cruel captor, but I couldn't argue; the one time I tried that, he beat me to death with his bare hands. That was the second time I died. The swapped Sans and I had formed somewhat of a pact that if I didn't die within four months of the previous death, he would kill me to ease my pain; we would have to break it if Ink ever found out, though. He had killed me the third time, and it was honestly a blessing; I was more beat up than ever, and the pain spikes were too much to handle. When night had finally arrived, Ink hadn't broken a single bone; instead, he had poisoned my insides with his paint. He had an obsession with it, and I hated it. I would have preferred being severely beaten for two hours than being forced to drink paint for only one; Ink knew that, and he made a schedule accordingly: for every one hour of beating, I'd drink paint for three. He said that I would get used to the taste eventually, but I doubted it. When Ink ran out of paint, our time was up; he had a strict bedtime, which sometimes saved me from further pain. As he got himself ready for bed, I was left coughing up paint.

"Dusty, you really should stop that nasty habit of yours." Ink was referring to my coughing up his poison. "I just don't know how I'll get you off of it.."

I continued coughing.

"Perhaps if I simply don't bring you your meal, you'll stop; what do you think about that?"

At this, I immediately ceased my coughing; I only got one meal every three days, and I couldn't risk it. He had denied giving it to me once before as a punishment, and I was in agony until the next came.

"That's better! In fact, that's permanent now; if you continue your habit, you don't eat. Understand, Dusty?"

"Y-yeah.." I sighed. 

"Good! Now, it's time to go to sleep, Dusty! What do we say at bedtime?"

"Good night.."

"Very good!" Ink walked over and patted my skull; that was demeaning in every way possible. "Good night, Dusty!"

After that exchange, I lay on the hard floor in an attempt to sleep; I never slept well after paint had been forcefully poured into my mouth, and it left an awful burning sensation. Ink simply stretched for a few minutes before turning out the lights and going to sleep; he had no trouble. My dusty nightmare was laced with internal pain; I couldn't even escape in my dreams! I did enjoy seeing Error again, and I no longer blamed myself for his predicament; Error had made it clearly obvious that it was Ink's fault for locking him up in the first place, and I could accept that. In an attempt to get my mind off the pain, I thought about Papyrus; he was probably sorting through countless plans for rescue missions at that very moment, trying to find the right one. When he found it, Error and I would be rescued, and everybody would be happy! I wanted everybody to be happy. I wanted the captured universes to be free again, and I wanted everybody to be able to live their lives! If nobody was free, it was useless to guess that they were happy. Nobody liked to be held in captivity; I was a prime example of that. I wished everybody could be happy.

As I slept, my mind drifted to the rest of my family; they were still dead, to my knowledge. I wished they didn't have to be dead! I wished they were alive! I could almost see them gathered in the living room, having fun. Nightmare would be reading a book while talking to us, as always. Killer would be running around the room or challenging everyone to backgammon - or even getting ready to grab my wrist and run as fast as he could! Horror would be telling him to calm down as he got worked up over the little things he loved. Cross would probably be laughing at the display, wondering how he had even become part of an argument over chocolate flavors. I missed them so much..they were the best family in the world..but..

They were gone..

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean converse with Error bean.

Thanks for reading my yearning writing! 

Bye!