Given An Unwanted Second Chance

Chapter 20

I put a hand to my chest, still feeling phantom pains from the bond I had with Dust.  "So that's what that pain was..."  I whispered.

Cross nodded stiffly.  "I-I'm sorry, I didn't...he...he portaled you to his AU to get you away from the Stars...Horror, with Killer's help, portaled to you from there and got you back here...the Stars killed Dust and almost killed me, too..."

I got up from the couch carefully, still feeling off-balance.  Nonetheless, I wrapped my arms around Cross, murmuring.  "It's okay...we'll get Dust back soon enough..."

"It'll take a...few days for his...AU to reset to...a proper period...for us to enter.  If we...go too soon, we...risk altering the AU's...timeline into a Dust that...isn't ours.  We've told...you our stories, so...you at least know...how he'll be when...we arrive."

Cross pulled away, wiping away residual tears.  I still sensed guilt from him.  "The Stars will be keeping a very close eye on Dusttale for a while...can we even afford to go as soon as possible?"

Horror looked at Cross, nodding slightly.  "Eclipse's ability...to portal releases a lot of...negativity that can be...sensed by Dream, but remember...your ability to portal...let's you go in...and out quickly...and quietly."

"I know...it's just...none of us have died since Error joined with the Stars...how much more difficult is it going to be to get Dust without too much commotion?"

"Papa might try to put his strings around Dust's AU..."  Gradient said quietly, looking sad.  

I glanced at him, looking worried.  "What does that mean? "

"I've heard Dad and Papa discussing it before.  They're not very good at being quiet...but that aside, if any of your group...died, they'd have Papa loop the AU from the Doodlesphere in string so that any teleportation in or out would be noticed."

Horror growled, though not at Gradient.  "What?!  That's...horrible!  If ANY teleportation...gets noticed, then we...have no clear...shot for Dust without getting...ambushed!"

"And getting Killer all those times is indicative of a not-very-fast visit to the AU...Killer is dangerous, yes, but Dust is also dangerous.  And if he's angry, which he most likely will be, then Eclipse can't just grab him like the boss used to for Killer..."

I closed my eye, sighing.  "You may have to go without me...I don't want to be a liability because I can't breathe around angry people..."

"Well, we have a few days to figure this out..."  Cross said quietly.

Gradient shifted uneasily.  "You may need to do your jobs again in the meantime...it's about 70-30 positive right now..."

"I'd like Killer to be able to go, too...we should probably go check on him, though I doubt it's been long enough for him to calm down..."

The bond I had with Killer was...shaky.  His emotions were potent enough, even all the way across the place, that I could feel his agony.

...it was unpleasant.

I looked at Cross and Horror, a thought crossing my mind that I should've asked earlier.  Though I felt the answer I was going to receive would be obvious...  "I guess this may be a dumb question, but you guys have bonds with each other, too, right?  That's why Killer is in such a state? "

Cross and Horror both nodded.  "Just as you have bonds with us, we all have bonds with each other.  Though to be honest, I've closed the bond with Killer at the moment...his pain is...well, painful to feel.  Not that I'm feeling any better about Dust being killed..."