From Murder to Dust

J - 8 - Poetry

Warning for the Dust portion.

Fun fact to go with your warning: phalanges can refer to both fingers and toes, and the singular form of phalanges is phalanx, according to what I've seen. I think phalange is also acceptable, but phalanx is more fun, since it can also refer to police officers or army troops. Enjoy your free knowledge. :3

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Nightmare. 

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It had been three months since that monster stole my son. The multiversal sweep was a failure; neither the artist nor Dust were to be found in any of the AUs that had been searched, and I honestly regarded it was a waste of time..I needed to find my son. Today, I would get my chance speak to the artist. I had only one setback: I wasn't allowed to hurt him. I was allowed to touch him, threaten him, and bribe him, but I wasn't permitted to hurt him; I hated that part. Nevertheless, I accepted the terms; Dream would have spoken to him otherwise, and although he was my brother, he was terrible at getting information out of people..my boys had attested to that more than once after being interrogated. I was given the coordinates for Ink's home, and I went there to speak to the no-good artist. When I entered the house, I found him..not there. I growled, beginning to walk around the house, finding no trace of him in any of the rooms. I was about to leave when I noticed a note on the coffee table in his living room; curiously, I picked it up and began to read it, progressively growing angrier at the words written on it.

'Heya, Nighty! So, you've probably figured out by now that I'm a kidnapper - I'm a lot of other things, too - and I took your precious little Dust. I'm not denying it! Anyways, you're not going to find me in my house, and you're not going to find me anywhere else, either! Although, this seems unfair to you; I mean, you've already gone through the hassle of searching the entire multiverse! So, I'm giving you a chance - the smallest, most imperceivable amount of chance you'll ever lay your eyes on. As you read this, there's a 95% chance that I'm currently torturing Dust in the worst ways imaginable, and I can assure you that his screams are ☆wonderful! ☆ As for your chance, all you must do is follow the clues I've left behind to find your missing Dust. Of course, there's a time limit. I've adapted my torture methods in a way that will likely convince him that I'm the only person he should pay attention to in this world; I mean to say, of course, that if you don't find him in time, he will be mine. However, if you do manage to find him in time, I'll turn myself in, and you won't have to worry about me anymore. I've left a series of clues in the multiverse. This is your first, and I'll make it easy: "A certain Undertale you see, a Sans in the forest piles up sticks; this is a clue to you from me, find it in Undertale eighty.." Fill in the blank, Nighty! Love, Ink.'

"What in the world..?" I couldn't understand it.

I sighed, bringing the note with me through the portal; what was that supposed to mean?! When I returned, my brother immediately approached me with my sons and Error; we had formed a temporary truce to get Dust back, even if Dream was only using it to get to know me better..I wished he would focus on the more important things.

"What did he say?" Dream wondered.

"Say where Dusty is?" Horror hoped.

"He wasn't there." I answered; the group was saddened. "It seems that we're going to have to work hard to find Dust..or things won't be very good."

"What do you mean?" Error questioned.

"Well.." I responded by reading the letter; my boys and Error were slightly scared, while Dream put his mind to the riddle.