No POV the next day

Goth carries Shino inside with Raven and Horror on either side of him.  Shino glances around curiously.

"Papa here?"She asks

"I don't know. Reaper is looking for him."Horror says

"Would Dad be able to join us here?"Raven asks

"Hm?"Horror says

"Dad! When he's done looking for Papa!"Raven says

"So, that Reaper is your dad?"Horror asks

"Well, he would be Goth's dad and ours as well since we were taken in by him!"Raven says

"Ah, okay. Just wanted to be sure that I understood the timelines."Horror says

He shuts the door and smiles at us, locking the door. I see the decorations everywhere, the balloons, all of it, and a big sign reading Happy 13th BIRTHDAY, GOTH! Then Nightmare walks in, glancing around.  He sees that Error is not with them and frowns, checking the time. He has clear concern on his face.

"Still no luck finding Error?"He asks

"Hasn't seen him since the hospital."Goth says

They each frown but then Killer carries some food in with Palette to get things started.

"Happy birthday, Goth!"Palette says, hugging him gently.

Shino smiles, hugging him back. Killer smiles widely, walking over to Goth as Dust fixes the kitchen before Killer can ruin it. 

"What do you think? Do you like it? I spent days fixing this place up for today!"Killer asks

"It looks awesome, thank you."Goth says, trying to look happy despite his mind being worried about his dad.

He rarely has been apart from him, let alone for this long without knowing where or being able to reach him.

"Great! Your dad asked me to do this for ya so I'm glad you liked it!"He says

"What?"Goth says

"Yeah! Guess he was thinking a lot while stuck in that hospital bed! Now let's make sure to have a good time, okay?"He says

Nightmare frowns, upset that Killer didn't share this sooner, but hides it behind a smile so Goth could enjoy his birthday.

Goth nods despite his concern and surprise, joining the group in the activities Killer planned. Blue joins after a bit as do his uncles Blip and Papyrus. To nobody's surprise, Reaper stays out searching for Error. Well, some were surprised until they learned from Blue and Killer how he acted toward Ink not long before this. Soon enough it is time for Goth to see the tables filled with gifts for him, some made, some bought and others stolen but nobody told him that. Goth stares in shock at the table piled high with 13 gifts in the same wrapping paper and set aside from the rest. Killer grins.

"Yeah, that's the same face that I made too when Reaper came in with these. He wanted to give you a gift for each year, no matter how small it may seem. He wanted it to be special for you."He chuckles

"That's my brother."R!Papyrus says with a roll of his eyes

Goth smiles, knowing what this means. His dad really cares for him, wants to be in his life, and is making an effort to make up for the absence. He's learning that his father really is the sweet parent who would've earned his dad's trust and by extension, his. This family could be special. Could be real.

Then he notices a paper off to the side that says Reserved for "FREEDOM"

"What's that?"He asks

"Whatever your dad's gift is. I asked him but he seemed to be using a codeword for it. Then again, I don't think he would trust me with the answer anyway."Killer says with a shrug

Goth nods and eventually, Reaper arrives, hoping to find Error there but only finds them bringing cake out. He records it all as they sing and Goth blows out his candles, hidden in the shadows. Goth sees him and runs to him, hugging him and thanking him. Reaper smiles, holding him close. Shortly after they finished the cake(leaving a slice for Error of course), they decided to have everyone sleep in the numerous rooms in the castle.

Once Nightmare was sure the kids were asleep, his true intentions and plan were set into motive. He slips into Error's room, recalling their conversation and knowing that his disappearance is nothing good given the timing. He finds one of Error's devices and takes it to his room to examine. He smacks it a few times, trying to get it to work. He presses a button and it starts to blink, turning on.

"Oh, he got you one of those too?"Horror asks, peeking in.

"Found it in his room. What is it?"He asks

"Code record device. He often uses it for communicating with me in secret when he doesn't want his phone to be traced. But it's also in case of emergencies."Horror says, setting the device in Nightmare's hands down

The light flickers a few times before a holographic screen is displayed between the two skeletons.

"I can type on this, right? I see Error swipe and type on these all the time."He asks

Horror nods and Nightmare carefully swipes until he finds the search function of the screen, typing in Quota and hoping something matches. Sure enough, it did. 

QUOTA: 99.999999992% complete! 0.000000008% to go! Time: 0 days, 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0.0 seconds. 

"Uuuh...What's that quota about? Error mentioned nothing about quotas..."Horror says

"The reason for his disappearance. Killer really should've mentioned Error's gift sooner..."He says

"And why is that?"Reaper says

"Error put a lot of work in to keep Goth safe. Apparently, he wasn't always the destroyer we know him for and some higher beings are responsible for his change. They needed him for a role in the balance it seems. Goth was just a baby at that point that they wanted to get rid of. He would be seen as a liability for Error and it may even be a conflict of interest for him to fulfill the role they wanted him to play.  But Error wouldn't let them touch Goth, making a deal with them. If he managed to reach this quota by the time Goth is 13, then Goth and any others who can be considered a conflict of interests are safe and free to live. But if he doesn't, they all could get taken away."He explains

Reaper stares in shock at the screen, his hands trembling. That phrase is all too familiar to him: conflict of interests. Especially when referring to his family...

"Oooh, yeah...I recall him commenting on that to me once. He feared getting too close to me and our bond being considered as a conflict of interest, so he sent me to join your gang and live here. He thought it'd be safer to live apart and have a more distant relationship. But of course, that didn't change things much. It was just for the sake of appearances. But wait...That explains why he asked Killer to plan the party."Horror says

"What do you mean?"He asks

"He knew that Killer would automatically have it here while the rest of us would probably set it outside or elsewhere. He knew that we'd be safe here in case he failed to reach it in time. Now, Boss...I know you may not be familiar with security beyond locks that may or may not be effective-"Horror says

"HEY!"

"Gotta agree on that point."Reaper says

"Butt out you!"

"Well, Error knew what security was. He reinforced this castle with coded barriers to protect us as well as anyone inside from Fate's meddling. Nobody can intrude if Fate or Fate's helpers decide it to happen, which explains a lot since if Fate had their way, this place would probably be discovered and attacked by those Star Sanses frequently."Horror says

"What does this mean for Error?"Reaper asks

"He is either fighting them or being used in the place of Goth or Horror. I honestly have no clue what could be done to him, I just know this isn't good. I just had to see this screen to confirm my suspicions."

It falls quiet in that room. Horror glances between them, waiting for someone to give directions. Surely Nightmare had some plan other than just staring at this screen flickering the same info. Surely Reaper will leap into action, right? 

But no, they just stand there, staring at the screen with blank expressions. Horror's expression dulls and he realizes that he's in the room with two very powerful idiots. He pretends to cough, catching their attention.

"So? Aren't we going to find him? We have all the resources we need to find him."He says

"We do?"Reaper asks

Horror stares at him, waiting for it to click. He crosses his arms, tapping his foot.  He sighs when it doesn't.

"Don't you have a list with all the names of souls? And the ability to hunt these souls down to their exact location? Surely that's all we need."He says

"Oh! Right! I'll go grab it!"Reaper says

Horror facepalms, shaking his head as he leaves. Then he glances at Nightmare.

"Which list do you want him to grab?"Nightmare asks

"The one with his name on it, duh! The long one!"Horror says

"Oh, right."He says

Horror leaves the room, shaking his head. He heads to his room, shutting the door.

"How can two people with so much power be so dumb? Tch, it must frustrate Error a lot....Fate wouldn't get rid of Error, right? Then they'd need someone else for destruction and balance...They'd just toy with him again...Hopefully, we get to him before they make him suffer too much...Don't want him to be broken like me..."He mutters, feeling the hole in his skull

TBC