So there I was, sitting on a couch, wrapped in a blanket and sipping hot chocolate as the one called Dream healed me using some form of..magic? I wasn't sure. I had been carried through some sort of gateway to a different..universe, they might have called it, since I couldn't walk without excruciating pain surging through my body. In any case, Dream had offered to heal my wounds, and I was not going to turn that down. The one known as Ink was currently doing something in a different room..he still made me feel on edge, as if I should have been wary around him; I didn't have any cause to trust him, but I needed someone to trust..Dream just didn't give off the feel of one who could have been trusted..leaving Ink. I still wasn't sure if I was really ten years old, but my short stature somewhat gave off the impression that I was young, despite my mind's random thought processes. I decided that amnesia - as they were calling my condition - might have made one feel older? That was the only explanation I could come up with. I wanted to ask about my past, but whenever I posed a question, Dream just told me to wait until Ink returned..I just wanted something to hold on to.

"What about parents?" I tried once more. "Do I have parents?"

"I'm not going to tell you until everyone's ready." Dream waved my questions off.

"How long?"

"It should be any moment, now."

"You said that ten minutes ago..."

"I know, but Ink is rarely on time..just wait a little longer."

"Okay.."

"I'm back!" Ink declared, returning to the room.

"Oh, welcome back, Ink!" Dream smiled happily. "Why were you gone for so long?"

"I was just..rearranging Dusty's room!"

"Oh, that's nice."

"I have a room?" I hadn't known that.

"Of course you do!" Ink chuckled.

"Ooh. Can I ask questions now?"

"Ink?" Dream looked to Ink.

"Well, sure!" Ink sat next to us. "Ask anything you want, and we'll answer your questions to the best of our ability!"

"Do I have parents?" I started.

"Well, they've been dead for a long time..you didn't remember them before, in any case."

"Why are you taking care of me?"

"Well, the orphanage was filled, and we were..next in line? Um, yeah..we took you in as a toddler."

"Why?"

"Because we didn't want you living on the..streets?"

"Why?"

"Because we wanted to, okay?"

"Okay..am I really ten?"

"Yep!"

"Can you prove it?"

"I'm afraid you'll just have to take our word for it."

"Why am I hurt?"

Ink paused for a moment. "You ran off..you really worried us, you know; we don't know how you got so injured, but please stay inside until you're better."

"..Oh..I'm sorry.."

"It's all right!" Dream comforted. 

"...What's with the talk about a fight?"

"Dream likes to watch boxing." Ink shrugged; I swore I could feel the emotions in the room grow darker..

"All right..who is Nightmare?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"You asked me why I worked for him? Three times?"

"Oh..right. He's one of your imaginary friends!" 

"Then why does Dream think he's his brother?"

"Dream is also an imaginary friend." 

"Ink!" Dream didn't seem amused.

"What am I supposed to tell him?"

"The truth!"

"Oh, fine..Nightmare is a criminal that Dream and I often fight."

"Why did you think I worked for him?" I questioned.

"I honestly have no idea..I must have lost my mind for a second.."

"Why do you fight criminals?"

"We're known as the Protectors; that's our job."

"Do you get paid?"

"...Our reward is seeing everyone happy."

"You don't get paid, do you?"

"Nope.."

"How do you live?"

"Well, I have the power to make literally whatever I want, and that essentially sustains us."

"Oh.."

"Well, that's all the healing I can do." Dream ceased his magic. "You'll still need bedrest for a few days."

"Okay..thanks."

"Of course."

"Would you like to see your room now?" Ink offered.

"Sure." I decided that a bed would have been nicer than a couch.

"All right, you can bring your hot chocolate." Dream helped me stand up and gain my footing.

"Thanks."

At that, our trio began to walk to what I believed was my room, stopping at a door with a colorful sign saying, "Dusty," hanging from it. I looked curiously at it before opening the door, finding a room that looked amazing! The walls were decorated with stars! I didn't know why, but I loved the thought of stars! I giggled when I noticed that the entire room was star-themed; it was awesome! Ink and Dream found my reaction amusing, chuckling when I held a soft star plushie close. It was at that point that I yawned a bit; I was tired..

"It looks like someone's ready for bed." Ink commented. "How about you get some rest; Dream and I have to tell your friends that you've lost your memory, and that might take a while..if we're not here when you wake, feel free to take a look around, or you can play for a bit."

"Okay." I accepted that; I wondered who my friends were. "Good night."

"Good night!" Ink and Dream harmonized.

They soon left me to sleep, and I snuggled into the soft blankets; maybe everything was going to be okay. Perhaps my doubts were a result of the memory loss? 

It still didn't feel right.

~~~~~

Ink.

(Keep in mind that as a result of my account's deletion, I also lost a thirty-chapter draft of a book based around this Ink's past. I'm not writing all of that again; as a result, I'm just going to integrate Ink a bit more into these shorts and show everything important that I can, such as his struggle with Dream, chocolate addiction, and tendency to talk to a certain demon whom he deems his only friend. Thank you!)

~~~~~

With the kid in bed, there were only a few more things to do, such as postponing the balance tip experiment; I could do that whenever I wanted, and an amnesiac was much more interesting than murdering Nightmare. With a few taps in a code box, the Balance of Emotions was restored to its perfect state, and I was able to devote all of my attention to my new experiment. 

"What are you doing?" Dream was always curious about my code bars.

"Just calling everyone for an emergency meeting." Well, I was doing that when he asked.

"I've never understood how that works."

"And you never will."

"That's rather rude, Ink."

"Eh, can't help it."

"I suppose so..being soulless must be so hard for you, never having the true capacity to care.."

"Yeah." I wasn't going to murder him..not yet..not yet..oh, but how I wanted to! "Dream, how about you set up the meeting, and I'll make sure everyone's coming?" 

"All right, Ink!" 

Dream left to fulfill his worthless task, and I was left to dwell on the fact that I hated him even more since he said that..he acted like I wasn't even sentient! I'd show him that I was sentient! Everybody saw him as the good old Dream, who would care for absolutely anyone, not even noticing that he treated his so-called best friend like absolute garbage! If there was one thing Nightmare was ever right about, it was that Dream wasn't trustworthy; he had probably forgotten that he had ever said that, but it was true. "Victim" my soul. With a groan, I pulled put a chocolate bar and contemplated what to do next; I could have done what I said I was going to do, but that would have been boring..hmm..

"Broomie?" I addressed.

"Yes, Creator?" Broomie responded; he was always good for that.

"What should I do?"

"You could create a being."

"Nah, already did that."

"You could expose Dream."

"Now that is a good idea, but not during an experiment; put that on the to-do list."

"Yes, Creator."

"You always have the best ideas, Broomie."

"Thank you, Creator."

"I swear, that idiot's more evil than I am, sometimes!"

"You could taunt Nightmare." 

"Hm..good idea, but I should wait until after th-" I heard something from behind me.

"Ink?" That was Swapyrus's voice.. "Who are you talking to?"

"Me?" I turned around quickly. "Oh, just my paintbrush!"

"I will never understand why you do that.."

"Force of habit!"

"Anyway, Dream says you're calling an emergency meeting?"

"Yep!"

"What for?"

"Well, you know Operation Wear Down?"

"Yes?"

"It's finally yielding some results! We pushed another one of them too far, and he's out of the game, as well!"

"What do you mean?" Swapyrus's expression darkened.

"Oh, well, you know how Horror hasn't been showing up? He's been pushed out. Now, Dust is out, too!"

"How do you know?"

"Well...let's just say that Blue's going to have someone else to play with.."

"You mean.."

"Not like that, but Dust somehow lost all memory of everything! As such, we're not able to charge him with any crimes, since he's undergone somewhat of a personality change, not to mention the fact that he doesn't recall performing any of those crimes."

"What's the plan, then?"

"Well, Dream and I are going to take custody of him, and he is to be treated like the ten-year-old we've told him he is."

"You honestly think he'll believe that he's ten years old?"

"He is shorter than Blue."

"Eh, I suppose you're right. What if he regains his memories?"

"Then we can charge him."

"All right. What do we do?"

"Well, I think you two would be good for pretending to be old friends?"

"I suppose that would give more validity for him; okay, I'll let Blue know. Anything else?"

"Main details will be given at the meeting in ten minutes."

"Very well. I hope you know what you're doing, Ink."

"Relax, I've got everything under control!"

"That's what you said about the Christmas incident."

"How was I supposed to know?!"

"In any case, I'm keeping my eye on him."

"So will everyone, I assure you."

"Where is he now?"

"Sleeping in his room."

"May I see him?"

"Sure."

I led Swapyrus to the room I had set aside for the clueless experiment, and I opened the door, revealing..a crying skeleton..

"Huh.." I hadn't expected that.

"Do you think he's having a nightmare?" Swapyrus wondered. 

"I dunno, but it'll establish a bit of trust, at least."

I made my way over to the sleeping one, sitting by his bedside and trying to softly wake him from his supposed bad dream. I usually didn't do things like that, but I needed him to trust me, and what better way than to offer him comfort when he needed it? When the crying child woke, he did something that I honestly didn't expect: he..hugged me? I..didn't know what to do..so I did nothing, just allowing him to hug me for as long as he wanted. That was all I needed to do, apparently, and within five minutes, he had lain back down in his bed and hugged a toy instead. After that odd encounter, I decided to simply accompany Swapyrus to the meeting, but I couldn't get it out of my head..why did that hug feel good? Nobody had sincerely leaned on me for help or comfort in..decades..I had no idea what to think of it, and I didn't know how I would have reacted if he had done it again. Maybe I should have just forgotten about it..yeah, it was probably just a show of fear due to his nightmare, and I shouldn't have been so worked up about it. It wasn't like he actually fully trusted me just like that; winning trust took time..even if it felt so real. I had to forget about it.

The meeting that day went rather quickly, due to the fact that it was only a few-hour question and answer event about an amnesiac. I was writing all of the details down, though, since I needed those to add validity to his backstory; it was a pretty straightforward story, really, and before I knew it, I had every aspect of his supposed life, ranging from why his magic deficiency existed to his list of friends. In the end, we had a plan to convince Dust that his life really was what we said it was, but we had to keep Nightmare's gang out of any and all conversations with him to prevent any random memory gain. We could do that.

This next experiment seemed very, very interesting...

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean in trouble ._.

Thanks for reading my troubling writing!

Bye!