I had been staying with the Outertale brothers for three weeks now, and it was..scary. I hadn't been scared of so many things in the past, but now I was, and it was terrifiying! Ink had tortured me in so many different ways that I was afraid of what seemed like everything! The Outertale brothers tried to avoid my fears, but some, such as rocks - they had a pet rock - were just unavoidable. In simplest terms, I was a burden to them, despite their denials. I just wanted to go home to Paps, Nightmare, Killer, Horror, Cross, Chara, and Error! I needed to go home to them..I had to go home..why couldn't I go home? They had attacked Outertale once since my arrival; I had been locked in Starstruck's room the entire time. That was the only time I had been forced to do something by the Outertale brothers, and it had been horrible! I had heard my family..I just couldn't see them..I tried to escape that room with everything I had, but it still wasn't enough..I wasn't enough. That had happened yesterday; I hadn't spoken since then. The Outertale brothers had invited the swap brothers to come over to possibly help the situation, but I knew they couldn't..only my family could help me.

"So he hasn't said a word since the attack ended?" The swapped Sans was saddened.

"No..he won't eat, either.." Outer frowned. 

"What could Nightmare have that he could want so much?" The swapped Papyrus questioned.

"..We could ask him." The swapped Sans suggested.

"We shouldn't." Outer quickly shook his skull. "We've already betrayed his trust in his eyes; we shouldn't do it more."

"Then how are we supposed to help him?" 

 "If he isn't eating, he isn't going to live very long." The swapped Papyrus sighed. "The only two options I see are asking him straight up or hoping he starts living again on his own, which is hopeful, at the very best."

"..." Outer bowed his skull. "You're right."

"Then we ask him?"

"Yes.." Outer looked at me firmly; I backed away a bit..was he finally going to hurt me?! "Dust, why do you want to go back to Nightmare?" 

I pulled my hood over my face; I didn't want to tell them! Nightmare would have been disappointed if I told them!

"Dust." The firmness of Outer's voice made me shake. "Tell us why."

"H-he.." I didn't want him to hurt me! "H-he's..m-my..h-he.."

Outer paused for a moment before lowering his gaze. "I can't do this to him.."

"How about we take it slower?" The swapped Papyrus suggested. "Dust, we're going to ask you yes or no questions, okay?"

I nodded shakily; their tactics scared me, but I didn't want to risk pain!

"Give us honest answers." The swapped Papyrus ordered; I would. "Do you think Nightmare is a better person than Ink?" 

"Y-yes.." I knew he was!

"Even in the moral sense?"

"Y-y-yes.." I tried to slow my crying, to no avail.

"Does Nightmare treat you well?"

"Y-yes.."

"Did Ink treat you worse than he was supposed to?"

"Y-yes.."

"He..did?"

"Y-y-yes.."

"Oh, my.." The swapped Papyrus sighed. "Did Ink do something worse than he was restricted to during the meeting?"

"Y-y-yes.."

"But the worst thing that he was restricted to was those injections! Did he honestly do something worse than that?"

"Y-yes!" Maybe if I told them what he did, they would let me go back to Nightmare!

"Oh, dear.." Outer wasn't excited for my answers.

"Did he insult your mother?" The swapped Papyrus thought that was worse than the injections; he was right, but that wasn't it.

"N-no.."

"Was what he did worse?"

"Y-yes.."

"Did-" The swapped Papyrus was cut off.

"Wait." Outer interrupted. "Star, Blue, maybe you two would like to go play in Star's room."

"We're not babies!" The swapped Sans complained. "We can handle this!"

"We know, Blue, but if you happen to be shaken up by it, we might not be able to help you immediately, not to mention the fact that you don't like stuff like this, and Star doesn't either..remember the time with Fell?"

"Oh..right.." The swapped Sans shuddered a bit. "Starstruck, let us go to your room!"

"Excellent idea, Blue!" Starstruck led Blue to his room, leaving me alone with the two judges.

"Why did you need them to leave?" The swapped Papyrus didn't understand.

"I'm about to ask a question that would shake even you up.." Outer explained. "They can't take this; I'm sure of it."

"You don't honestly think that Ink would do something like..that.."

"Why not? How much do we really know about our beloved Protector? How do we know he wouldn't scar someone for life when everyone's backs are turned?"

"...Dust?" The swapped Papyrus grabbed my attention. "Did Ink break the monster code when he had you in his care?"

Both skeletons tensed when I nodded, sobbing at the memories. Nothing was said for a solid minute.

"Only one thing there could account for his fear of touch.." Outer gained a look of anger; was he going to hurt me?! "Dust, did Ink touch your soul intentionally when he had you?"

The swapped Papyrus also looked angry when I nodded once more; they were going to hurt me! 

"Did he do it more than once?" Outer inquired.

"Y-y-yes.." I closed my eyesockets; I didn't want to see the hit coming..

"Did he do it more then twice?"

"Y-yes.."

"Did he do it more than once a week?"

"Y-yes.."

"More than once a day?"

"Y-y-yes.."

"..." Outer paused. "He did it twice a day?!"

"Y-yes.." I braced for impact; I hoped they wouldn't hurt me too much..

"How long were the periods?! A minute?"

"N-no.." 

"Longer?"

"Y-yes.."

"Longer than ten minutes?"

"Y-y-yes.."

"Longer than thirty?"

"Y-yes.."

"Was it forty minutes?"

"N-no.."

"Fifty minutes?"

"N-n-no.."

"..One hour?"

"Y-yes.."

"He did it for two hours every day?!"

"Y-y-yes.." I felt like he was going to hit me..

"Swap, send your brother home and tell Star to stay in his room." Outer ordered; I heard footsteps going upstairs before a portal was made; the footsteps returned a minute later. "Dust, did Nightmare ever hurt you?"

"N-no.." 

"That explains why he wants to go back." Outer whispered to the swapped Papyrus for a minute; I couldn't hear their conversation. "Well, Dust, would you still like to go back to Nightmare?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, opening my eyesockets; were they really going to let me go back?!

"It seems that our little Protector has ruined our chances of ever truly helping you; as a result, I'm more compelled to let you go back to Nightmare."

"Th-th-thank you!" I was so happy! I was going to be with my family again..unless this was a cruel joke..I decided not to think about that possibility.

"That's the first time he's smiled since coming here..come on, I know how to get Nightmare here." 

Outer and the swapped Papyrus stood, gesturing for me to follow them outside. After a bit of deliberation about whether this was a trick meant to lead me to a better place to hurt me without witnesses or not, I decided that it was worth a try, getting up from my seat. I held my jacket's hood tightly as I followed the two to what was hopefully a path to Nightmare and not a trap. Soon enough, Outer had led us to my family's favorite stargazing spot..did he know about that? He took a large rock from the sidelines and moved it into the center; that completely ruined the view! Before I could get up the courage to ask him why he did that, a portal opened - a goopy portal. A familiar father figure walked out of the portal, moving the rock back to its destined position before turning to us. His expression turned to surprise when he saw me, and I ran up to him immediately.

"Dad!" I hugged him tightly, never wanting to leave his grip.

"Dust.." He hugged me back, just as tightly; I felt safe. "You're crying..what happened?"

"I think we should answer that." Outer spoke up, diverting Nightmare's attention away from me; he stood, holding me in his arms.

"Go on.." Nightmare urged.

"Take a seat." Outer sat down, leading to the swapped Papyrus and Nightmare following suit. "Dust was captured a while back. This, you know."

"Yes?"

"Ink let the judges of the multiverse decide what to do with him instead of giving him a fair trial. Despite the desires of myself, your brother, and others for fair judgment to be brought upon him, the darker judges in the meeting overruled our votes, leading to..their decision." 

"What exactly was that decision?" Nightmare seemed tense; I hugged him tighter.

"..." Outer took a deep breath. "Promise not to kill us?"

"Did the two of you have anything to do with this decision?"

"No, we were part of the small faction totally against it."

"Then I won't kill you."

"Right..the decision made was..to torture him.."

"I.." Nightmare held me tighter. "See.."

"He was placed in Ink's custody to have his sentence carried out; he was to be tortured until he was broken, at which point, he would be placed under the care of someone to reintroduce him to society..my brother and I volunteered for that job."

"Tell me what the artist did.."

"It didn't start with him..before Dust was handed over, the dark judges made rules and restrictions..more so rules on how to torture the poor kid.."

"What did that entail?"

"Well..it started with a collar..then his clothes were changed out..then.." Outer trailed off. 

"Yes?"

"The dark judges had him alone for a moment..look at his left arm.."

Outer bowed his skull as Nightmare pulled the sleeve of my jacket to look at the area in question; his shock was evident when he noticed the star that had plagued my left humerus for over a month.

"Is.." Nightmare's voice was shakier than usual. "Is that all?"

"For the dark judges, yes, that's all they did. As for the Protector.."

"Was it only torture?"

"No..we wouldn't have decided to give him back if it only was.."

"What did he do to my son?" Nightmare was angry - very angry.

"..." Outer didn't want to say it. "He did..the one thing..nobody does.."

"No..." Nightmare didn't want to believe it. "He-he wouldn't.."

"He did.." The swapped Papyrus sighed. "He did, and I don't think anyone is going to follow him anymore when word gets out; I'm not."

"That goes for me, too." Outer shook his skull at the thought of the artist.

"Is that all?" Nightmare hoped. "The rest was only torture?" 

"Yeah, but..Dust said he did it more than once.."

"How..much..?" Nightmare was crying.

"He said..twice a day.."

"H-how long?" 

"An hour..twice a day.."

"My son.." Nightmare held me close, comforting me greatly.

Nightmare continued to comfort me for quite a while, until I eventually fell asleep; I didn't have a bad dream, since I felt safe! I must have slept for a few hours, but when I woke up, Nightmare was still holding me, and we were in the living room; the rest of my family were there, too! Paps smiled at me when he noticed that I was awake; he's the best! I also noticed that the swapped Papyrus and Outer were there; had they betrayed Ink? 

"Dusty!" Killer jumped when he saw that I had woken up; I smiled at his enthusiasm. Actually, everyone seemed happy except for Outer, the swapped Papyrus, and Nightmare; they must not have told the others.

"Are you feeling all right, Dust?" Nightmare looked down at me, receiving a nod; I felt so much better just from being with my family. "Boys, the artist has gone too far this time.."

"What do you mean?" Error wondered. 

"Dust has been..he.." Nightmare sighed, looking down at me sadly. "Code Cruciatus."

"No!" Killer exclaimed in fear. 

"He needs all the support we can give him..can we do that?"

"We can!" The others harmonized.

I knew they would be able to help me.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean almost happi. 

Thanks for reading my almost happy writing!

Bye!