We are the most real when we're angry. It brings out the side of us we would otherwise keep hidden. It speaks the cold hard truth that would otherwise be left unsaid. It diminishes all traces of fear within us. It turns us into the savage animals we really are.
Mimi had only been around in Castle Bleck for about a week on the job of "faithful minion", and already she had learned a thing or two. First, Bleck's assistant girl, Nastastia, needed a week off a bit more frequently to loosen up a bit. K? Second, the big muscly guy, O'Chunks, had a brain the size of a sesame seed. Third, the Count was not someone to be taken lightly when he was angry. And lastly, the jester, Dimentio, was probably NOT to be trusted as far as she was concerned; he was too shady to keep in confidence. So in other words, Mimi was completely alone in the massive castle.
Mimi would love to get to know her "co-workers" better, but there was one teeny tiny little thing stopping the small girl from doing so. A secret. A secret that, if it were blown out of the water, could ruin any chance she'd have of fitting in with these people. She'd only shown Count Bleck her carefully guarded secret so he would give her to job, but she wanted to keep it to herself if possible. This was the one thing she would only use if she really needed to.
Mimi used to be just a regular girl, except for the hair of course. Mimi would always keep her green hair in high pigtails swirling down to her shoulders. But one fateful day, her green hair seemed dull in comparison to her new abnormality. She had been angry, no, angry wasn't strong enough. It had been a fit of blind rage at her mother, and something had just snapped. Mimi's neck to be precise. The small girl's neck jerked violently to the side and began spinning indefinitely as spider legs sprung out of the small girl's back. All she remembered was the pain, and her mother's screams. When it was over her head was upside down, detached from her body that was limply swinging back and forth between her 8 new spidery legs.
She had fled her home after that incident. Everyone in town either thought she was horribly cursed, or some kind of demon. Since that day, Mimi had refused to let the beast lurking inside her come out for the world to see, keeping it walled up inside her. That was, until she had to show Count Bleck to prove she was worth the job. The Count had seemed impressed, not appalled as Mimi had expected him to respond. It had been a week since then, a week since she had taken up residence in Castle Bleck.
One particular day though, those carefully built walls came crashing down. It was pretty late at night and was unusually dark out, even for the gloomy dimension Castle Bleck was rooted in. Mimi was taking a long walk on the drab black and white grounds of the castle. It was a peaceful and quiet night, that is, until Mimi rounded the corner to the garden, where she ran into a certain masked jester. "Ciao Mimi. Strange seeing you out here at this time of night." Dimentio greeted, keeping his back to her. "I could say the same to you. Besides, I'm not some little girl with a bedtime anymore Dimentio, you doofus." She teased as she walked up next to him. As she approached she could see Dimentio was crouched down to inspect something red shining brightly from the ground, illuminating the dimness outside. He quickly dislodged the item from the ground and stood up to show it to Mimi. "A rubee" Dimentio explained as he held it up for Mimi to see. The small girl's mouth turned into an O shape as she was bathed in the ruby glow of the small gem.
"It's so pretty" Mimi commented as she pulled her eyes away and looked up at Dimentio "can I keep it?" "I'll let you keep it…" Dimentio trailed off as he pulled the rubee away from Mimi's waiting grasp "if you tell me a secret." Mimi, the skilled actress she was brushed the question off nonchalantly "What secret? If I was keeping anything from you Dimentio, I'm sure you'd know about it." "Yes, I generally am very knowledgeable in that respect, but you have managed to elude me this past week." Despite the eternal smile plastered on the jester's mask, Mimi could tell he was determined to find her out. "It's not important Dimentio; I don't know why you're being so nosy." Mimi said as she turned her back to Dimentio.
"I just want to help Mimi, if you tell me what's bothering you, maybe I can" the jester said quietly, taking a step towards the petite girl. "Help?" Mimi shouted as she whipped around to face Dimentio. "There's nothing you could possibly do to help me Dimentio! Unless there's some magic trick you have up your sleeve to bring people back from the dead! I killed her! I didn't mean to but I killed her!" Furious tears ran down Mimi's face as she felt it start to happen. No. Stop. Not here. Not in front of him. Mimi's thoughts were overpowered by pure wrath as she felt her neck snap to the side.
She watched Dimentio's face form into a mixture of disbelief and horror as the world spun in circles. Mimi let out a strangled cry as the spindly legs sprouted out of her back. "Are you happy now? Here's my secret Dimentio, I'm a monster". Dimentio stood his ground, staring at the spidery mass that was Mimi only moments before. It only took about a minute for her to change back to her human form. The hairy black legs retracted back into her body, her head snapping back onto her neck. Tears were still streaming down the small girl's face, but for a different reason. Mimi collapsed to her knees, violent sobs wracking her body as she covered her face with her hands.
Dimentio finally felt that he understood Mimi a little better now. This small girl with the unnatural green hair was paralyzed with fear about showing this side of herself to others. She was afraid they would think of her as a monster and that she would forever be alone. The jester took a step towards Mimi, placing a gentle hand on her back. When the small girl still didn't look up, he crouched down to look her in the eyes, gently pulling a hand away from her tear streaked face.
"You didn't leave yet?" Mimi asked weakly as she met Dimentio's gaze. A soft smile spread across the jester's face as he caressed Mimi's face with a gloved hand. "Mimi my sweet, why would I have left? We all have our secrets; some are just a little dirtier than others." And with that Dimentio reached up with his other hand and removed his mask. There was nothing particularly wrong with his face, except how divided it was. His skin was a pale shade, most likely from lack of sunlight if nothing else. The right side of his head had shaggy white hair, his eye a deep black color; the left side shaggy black hair with a piercing amber eye; just like his mask. His cute boyish face turned up into a wry smile, "I won't tell if you won't."
Mimi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she let a small grin cross her face. The girl gave a small nod, her disheveled lime pigtails bouncing in agreement. Then suddenly, Mimi flung herself at Dimentio, wrapping her arms around his neck as she hugged him. The boy was knocked backwards a bit by the sudden gesture, but happily returned it.
"Thank you Dimentio."
Twiz: Well there's a little Super Paper Mario for you all. I decided to write it in an AUish setting where all the characters are human in case that wasn't clear enough in the story. Despite MimixDimentio not being blatantly obvious in the game I still like them so I decided to write this! I also think Mimi is a very interesting character so it was fun to delve into her backstory a bit there! There will likely be more SPM to come, just not sure when! I hope you guys enjoyed the read!