Ghastly's POV

I can't move, my wrists and ankles are bound. I look over at cousin Palette and see he has the same situation. He has his eyes shut and I instantly fear that the jerk knocked him out so I sway back and foth, bumping into him.

He opens his eyes and looks at me.

"What's wrong?"He asks

"I thought he knocked you out. I got scared, sorry."I tell him

"Don't be scared. Everything will be fine."He says

"Are you sure?"I ask

He shuts his eyes, thinking.

"Yes. I am sure."He says confidently

"Okay then...When should I use the knife?"I ask quietly

"You have a knife?!"He asks

"Of course. Brother taught me how to make, hide, steal or use them."I say, shifting and slipping a knife from my sleeve

"Oh dear Asgoro, are we sure that your brother wan't in prison and made a shank?"He asks

"Well he did learn from Papa."I say

I look at him. He looks so confused, as if he is questioning everything now.

 I grab the knife and start to rub it against the rope around my wrist. I do it in the motion brother taught me, like rubbing two sticks together the best I can. I free my wrists and then slice the rope around my ankles. I turn to Palette and slice him free. He rubs his wrists and thanks me. Then the van stops. I hide the knife again. The doors open and our souls turn blue. We get dragged out and the first thing I see is this treehouse. He forces us to climb, locks us in and leaves.

"Great, what now?"Palette mutters as we get freed from the blue attack.

I run and try to knock the door down. I fail and hurt my shoulder. That doesn't stop me from trying though. I keep going at it. But then, I stop and think. 

Why use my body when I can use my tentacle?

 I summon and fire it. The door didn't stand a chance. I smile and get Palette by the hand.

"Let's go!"I cheer

"Already trying to escape, eh?"A voice says, sending a chill down my spine

"Cousin!"Palette exclaims, shoving me behind him

He steps in front of me and puts his arms up. This jerk showed my cousin no mercy. He whipped his tentacles at Palette, making each one with more force than the last. It was like he was trying to break a wall down. Palette did not break or fall down. He stayed standing, blocking each hit from me. I start to cry, witnessing this horror.

"Ugh, I'm wasting too much power. I have better things to attend to. But now, both of you better know to not be stupid and try to fucking escape."He says

"Sure. Just don't let the paint hit ya on the way out.....Or on second thought, it should."Palette says, snapping his fingers

Then I watch his paint roller smack this guy out like a bat hitting a baseball.  

Palette smiles and holds his roller to stay standing. But he was so weak now that he drops it. I grab him so he doesn't fall and hurt himself.

"Palette! I got you! I got you! I'll heal you! I-I-It's gonna be okay! I-I-I-I-!"I cry

He holds me gently and wipes my tears.

"Don't cry, cousin. Don't worry. I'm ok."He says

"No you are not! How can I not worry? I just saw you get beaten! You're bleeding! There's no way you're ok!"I tell him

"Well, you're still ok. You're my younger cousin and I must protect you. I would've rathered it be me than you getting to be that jerk's punching bag. Help is coming, remember? So there's nothing to fear. Trust me."He says

"I-I-I do, I do trust you, it's just-"I begin

"Then stop crying. Please. We have to stay optimistic."He says

I nod.

"It's gonna be okay."He tells me

I notice he is shaking.

"Sit down."I say

"Nah, I t-think I'm good."He says

"That was not a question, Palette. I can see you shaking. You're gonna be on the floor one way or another. You can hardly stand. Sit down."I tell him

He shakes his head. 

I summon my tentacle and make a hand out of it. I gently grab him and sit him down.

"Rest, Palette. You need to rest."I say

"No, I need to protect you."He says

"I think you're forgetting who here has a knife and has been trained in self defense by my brother and Papa for weeks."I say

"Good point....."He says

I hug him and with that he dozes off.

A few hours pass. I can tell,(I have learned from the Time Tracking Master that is Suave), it's been at least 3 hours. I hear footsteps coming and take out my knife.

"Ya know, Palette, I don't know why I brought you along. I am just after your cousin, you are no use to me. So why don't I finish you off?"The guy's voice says

Then, a tentacle shoots in and I block it from Palette, getting a good cut on the side of my head before I used my knife to slice the tentacle. This guy yelled in pain and comes in.

"You are not touching my cousin!"I snap

"Oh, and what are you gonna do? Stab me? You can't even touch me!"He chuckles

"Nah, just stall you."I say

"Stall me?"He asks

"Ya, have a nice flight."I say, then swing my tentacle, knocking him out of the treehouse

 I drop to my knees, that taking a lot of energy from me. I need to learn how to conserve my energy still. I sigh and look at Palette. He is safe. I smile happily at this. But now we can leave. Perhaps. I walk to the door and hear a voice.

"Hey, kid. Ghastly. Over here."It says

It is familiar. I look and see, sitting on a tree branch, is Killer. I approach him after checking for threats.

"Were you the one who bat him out of there?"He asks

I nod.

"I'm so proud of ya! He deserved it!"He says

"How'd you know to come here? How'd you find this place?"I ask, hopping up past the fence and bars of the treehouse platform

"Heh, guess it's time to tell ya. I found this place and found some suspicious things near it weeks ago. I've been coming back here to investigate or watch it, see if anything happens. I kept it secret since I didn't want anyone going to find it and get into trouble. Plus, I didn't have enough evidence to prove it was more than just a random treehouse besides my bad feeling. When your dad said you went missing, this place came to mind first."He explains

"So that's why you kept disappearing! But what about the ketchup stains on your shirt?"I ask

"Heh, kept knocking over carts of tomatoes while running home."He says

"I see...."I say

"Now, let's get you home. Your dad and everyone are worried sick about you and Palette. And I can see you're hurt."He says

"I'm the least of your worries right now when it comes to injuries."I say

"What? Why? Wait....Goth! You have the med kits right?"He says, calling down the tree

I look down and see Goth at the bottom of the tree.

"Ya! Why? How bad is it?"Goth says

"One sec, I'll get him."I say

"Wait."He says

He grabs me and pulls me in a hug.

"I'm glad you're ok, kid."He says

I look at him and smile.

"Thanks, Killer. I'm glad you came. You rock."I tell him

"Hey! Are you ok? Is Palette ok?"Goth calls from below

I do not answer him.

Then, I go inside to get Palette.

I go in and nudge Palette gently awake.

"What's wrong?"He asks

"Nothing, we're getting out of here."I say

"Really?"He asks

"Yes, help came. You were right, Palette."I say

"Hey, Palette!"Killer calls from outside

"Oh...Ok."He says

"Goth has the med kits ready for you."I tell him

His eyes light up when I mention Goth. I'm not surprised. This is his Gothy, his boyfriend being mentioned.

"Let me help you up."I say as he weakly struggles to stand up

He takes my hand and I lift him up. Even though he's taller than me, I use my arms and tentacle to support him and help him walk.

"Oh dear....Goth! How many bandages do we have in those kits?"Killer asks

"Why? What's wrong?"Goth asks

"Palette protected me."I say

"No regrets!"Palette tells me

I wrap my tentacle around him as Killer picks me up. I lower him to Goth as Killer carries me down.

"Palette!"Goth exclaims

"Hey Gothy...."Palette says

Killer puts me down and bandages my head. I smile happily. I release Palette and he droped to the floor, too weak to stand with his wounds. This only makes Goth panic more. He sits down and rests Palette's head in his lap. I watch as Goth bandages my cousin's head, whispering things too low for me to hear. I come over and help bandage his arms and other wounds. Goth smiles at me and I smile back. Then I see Goth get rewarded with a gift from Palette. 

Yep.

I saw him get a kiss on the cheek.

Oh, his face burns up very quick and very bright.

"Thanks Gothy! I love you!"Palette says,hugging him

"No problem. L-Love you too."Goth says

"Let's head back."Killer says

I nod. We smile and make our way back. Soon as the house comes into sight, I sprint quickly to it excitedly. I smile happily, seeing the door open.

"Ghastly!"Brother and Father cheer, running out

"Father! Big bro!"I shout, running to them

They hug me happily and I hug them right back. Uncle Dream gives me a quick hug before running and hugging Palette.

"Call the mission off! They're back!"Father says

I see a mass crowd come out. All our friends. They drop or unsummon their weapons, then hug us. I smile.

"Aww, so no murdering assholes?"X!Chara asks

"No murdering assholes."Father says

"Dang it."He says

I chuckle. I dig into my pocket and toss a bar of chocolate to X!Chara, who caught it.

"Yay! Now this kid knows the good stuff!"He cheers, then nibbles away at it

Father looks at me and smiles.

"How did you get away?"Father asks

"Goth and Killer came to help us! They got us out!"I say

"Couldn't have done it without Killer, he figured out where to find them."Goth says as everyone thanked him or hugged him as well

Father looks at Killer in surprise.

"You helped find them? Save them?"He asks Killer

"Yep. I don't want that jerk to be hurting others. Children of all people!"Killer says

"Oh, wow! Heh, guess I judged you too quickly and wrong. Maybe you should get a chance. I owe you I guess. Would ya like to go to the diner some time?"He says, smiling

Killer processes this offer, then his face lights up a bright red. It seemed like he shut down in shock. I get it. He still has the feels for him, knowing that he's Nightmare. But Father doesn't know this and is confused.

"Huh? Did I say something wrong? I made sure to speak nicely. I made sure to have a friendly tone too..."He says

He looks down at me.

"Is he not a diner person?"He asks

"Oh, he is. He just gets so excited that he can freeze up."I say, giving an exuse for him

"Ah, ok."He says

Cross gets this sly smirk on his face. He comes over and nudges Father to get his attention.

"Usually hugs get him out of this state."He says

"Ah! Okay."He says

He releases us and smiles. I happily smile and watch him approach Killer. Father doesn't realize it, but I can see some connection going on between him and Killer. It is like seeing a spark go off again or like witnessing those prank birthday candles relight themselves after being blown out.  Cross nudges me and I look at him.

"Just look and watch, they'll be back together in no time. You gotta see the spark too."He says

I nod as well.

"Sure do."I say

"See what?"Brother asks

"Love's spark."He says

"Mmm....Oh, ya, definitely."He says

Father hugs Killer calmly. He even nuzzles his head against Killer's.

"Thank you for saving them. Thank you for saving my son and nephew, Killer."He says

Killer jumps and his face brightens even more.

He takes Killer by the hand, then takes our hands and takes us inside. I smile. Everyone goes to their homes. I go off, playing with them all. I eat some snacks and we stay together.

It feels normal. It feels nice.

But, things got better.

Over time, Father spent more time with Killer. They went to the diner or trained together. Had friendly conversations, played in the snow, laughed, joked, became friends, grew closer again. It was like how I saw Killer with Father as Nightmare, except their bond is just regrowing again and he is unaware of it all. Father really opened up to him though. But, it was nice to stop and watch them, wether training with my brother or looking out the window. 

If their bond had to be shown by a candle, it would be a bright burning flame big enough to light a dozen that refused to go out.

 I would also notice Father doing something interesting after each hang out with Killer. He would chuckle, seeming exhilarated. Then he would hold his head as if it was hurting. He takes out a book each time, writing something down, then turning a page and making a motion like he was checking something off. 

I found this quite interesting, no matter how many times I saw it. So I took mental note of this for another time. 

Overall, everything seemed good. Even in our situation, it was clear sunny skies with those two. And their joy was very contagious.

But then, one day, this all changed.

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TBC

Ghastly:Caught them doing this once, Papa keeping his hand arm steady. Killer was copletely caught off guard, Papa being obliviously happy. I'm happy for them.