Once again, the dining room went really quiet, really fast.
Everyone turned to look at Dimentio, who was staring at me with a rather stunned expression. I had never seen him like that—he looked absolutely horrified. His smile was complelty gone, his eyes widened in fear; I had to wonder what I had said that made him so scared, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure it out.
After what seemed like hours (it was really only a minute or two), Dimentio's gaze shifted to the others. He flashed a smile at the Count, laughing nervously, then he glared at me with that dark, scary look in his eyes and hissed, "What are you talking about?"
I shrugged. "That's just what my demon said… I dunno what she meant by it, though…"
"Yeah, one has to, uh, wonder…" Nastasia said, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her folded hands. She smiled slightly at Dimentio, looking at him over her glasses. "…what do you think she could, um, mean by that?"
The murderous look in Dimentio's eyes vanished when he turned to smile at Nastasia. It was a shaky, fake smile, though, like he was trying to cover something. He laughed nervously again, and turned to Count Bleck, saying, "I assure you, my Count, I haven't the faintest idea what they're talking about…"
"He's lying, Count." I said, feeling my heart skip at taking my revenge—if I couldn't lie about anything, then neither could he. "You can see it aaaalllll over his face…" I smiled when I said that, twirling my fork in a circle around his mask.
Much to my surprise, Dimentio looked at me again with his first expression—horror. He looked scared to death, and I could have sworn I heard his heart racing in his chest. My smile widened in delight at his reaction, my eyes narrowing as they gleamed mischievously at him. "Well, if you don't want me to call you out on it, be a better liar…"
Dimentio opened his mouth to argue with me, but he couldn't seem to think of anything to say. He just kept staring at me, getting more and more nervous.
"Ooooh, Dimentio…" Nastasia sneered, smiling wider. "If Mimi saw through you, how are you, uh, going to lie to the rest of us?"
Dimentio looked over at Nastasia again, looking very scared. "B-but… no, I'm no-not lying…" He tried to argue. It didn't sound very convincing—he kept stuttering, and his voice sounded very strained.
"Dimentio?" Count Bleck said gently. "Would you care to explain yourself?"
Dimentio smiled nervously, quickly shaking his head. "I assure you… there's absolutely nothing to explain… I don't have a clue what the girl's talking about…"
"Oy… yeh don' look like yeh ain' got a clue…" O'Chunks put in. "Yer startin' to look migh'y scared…"
"Yeah, Dimentio…" Nastasia said slyly. "Why don't you, uh, go ahead and tell us what it is you're so worried about, 'k?"
"Nothing!" Dimentio said, sounding desperate. "I don't know what you're expecting me to pull out of thin air—I have no idea what Mimi's demon is talking about!"
"Alright, that is enough." Count Bleck said, calmly but loudly. Everyone suddenly stopped, and the dining room fell silent again. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dimentio's hands trembling slightly. Suddenly, I didn't feel so good about getting him in this mess—it wasn't as funny as it was five minutes ago.
Count Bleck looked around at all of us, his gaze resting for quite a while on Dimentio. I watched Dimentio stare into the Count's eyes for a while, then quickly look down at the floor, shuddering slightly. Finally, the Count said, "Now, all of you stop this arguing… we will discuss this matter later."
Everyone silently nodded in agreement, and I heard Dimentio give a heavy sigh of relief, closing his eyes and slumping forwards. However, I'm sure everyone could tell by the tone of the Count's voice that 'we'll discuss this later' actually meant 'no one is to ever speak of this again'.
After that, we finished off our breakfast and drifted out of the dining room one by one. I was the last to go, slowly putting my dishes away, feeling very heavy-hearted that I had gotten Dimentio in trouble. I shouldn't have said anything. Now, everybody thought that Dimentio was lying about something, and it was my fault.
As I left the dining room, I spotted Dimentio a ways ahead, floating very slowly down the corridor. I ran after him as quick as I could. I knew he probably didn't want to see me, so I fought back the urge to call out his name, but I could tell the tap tap tap of my feet on the hard ground was a dead giveaway.
Dimentio must have been really depressed or something, because he didn't even try to teleport away. He just kept floating, allowing me to catch up with him. However, as I caught up and started walking beside him, he didn't even glance in my direction, or acknowledge my presence at all, for that matter.
"Dimentio?" I quietly whispered, not wanting to break the silence of the corridors. Dimentio said absolutely nothing.
"…Dimentio?" I tried again, slightly louder. Still no response. Not so much as looking at me. He wasn't even speeding up to try to get away from me—he was just ignoring me.
I reached out and grabbed the hem of his poncho, giving it a few slight tugs. "Dimentio…" I said again, trying desperately to seize his attention.
At long last, he turned ever-so-slightly to glance at me over his shoulder. His gaze turned back ahead as he quietly sighed and asked, "What is it, Mimi?"
I felt like I wanted to cry. I had seen his mask when he turned to look at me, and I could tell that he wasn't smiling. He wasn't smiling, and it wasn't the Count's fault, or Nastasia's, or even O'Chunks'. This time, it was my fault, and I was a little surprised how that broke my heart. I tried so hard to make everyone else in the castle happy, and now I had made Dimentio so sad.
"I'm sorry, Dimentio…" I quietly mumbled, feeling tears in my eyes.
Dimentio sighed again, closing his eyes and turning his head away. "You don't need to be sorry for anything, Mimi…"
"Yeah, I do… I got everyone mad at you…" I sniffled, wiping my eyes. The tears kept falling anyway, and I had to let go of Dimentio's poncho to wipe them away. "I'm sorry I got you in trouble… and I'm sorry I made everybody think you're a liar… and I'm s-sorry…" I was outright crying now, pausing now and then to choke on my tears. I couldn't see Dimentio anymore for all the tears falling, and I seriously doubted that he was still listening to me.
"I'm ju-just…" I went on anyway. "I'm so-sor-rry… Di-Dimen-t-tio… I'm sorry… you ha-hate m-me… and I'm… so-sorry… I'm the… wo-worst fr… friend… in th-the wo-world…" I dropped down onto my knees, sobbing and crying as my arms wound around my stomach to hold myself together. The overwhelming truth of my own words nearly crushed me to death. I was right, after all. What kind of a horrible friend would treat someone like I had just treated Dimentio?
Sure, Dimentio had done the same thing to me, but I hadn't cared. I liked when Dimentio did that sort of thing. He was just messing around—it was just his way of paying me some sort of attention, and I loved that. However, when I had returned the favor, I got him in trouble. I was just playing along with the others, even if I believed with all my heart that Dimentio would never lie to me. I didn't know he'd get hurt. I didn't know I'd ruin everything.
Good Grambi, why am I such a freaking idiot?
Suddenly, I felt two cold arms wrap around my shoulders, pulling me gently into a comforting hug. I threw my arms around Dimentio, knowing it was him, and sobbed into his chest, for the moment not even caring that I was ruining his beautiful poncho with my stupid tears.
Dimentio didn't say anything; he just wrapped his arms tighter around me, gently stroking my pigtails. After a while, when my sobs had calmed back down to silently flowing tears, Dimentio started to sweetly whisper in my ear, "Better now, dear?"
I slowly nodded my head, tightening my grip on his poncho, signifying that I was not ready to be let go of. Dimentio understood, tightening his grip on me as well. "Now, I told you…" He went on with a sweet, sympathetic tone. "There's absolutely nothing for you to be sorry about…"
I stubbornly shook my head, my chest tightening as I began to think I was going to start sobbing again. "I'm sorry…" I repeated. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble…"
"I know you didn't, Mimi…" Dimentio softly assured me.
"Everybody's mad at you… and it's my fault…" I pitifully whimpered.
"No, it isn't…" Dimentio said quietly. He sounded off… distracted… as though he weren't really talking to me anymore. "Nastasia's never trusted me…"
"Well, now she doesn't trust you even more and it's my stupid fault!" I suddenly shrieked. I was sobbing again, collapsing into his arms and holding on to him so tight my hands felt like they were going to break.
"Shhhhh… Don't worry, Mimi…" Dimentio gently lifted my chin up so I could look at him. He was smiling sweetly again, with that warm, soft glow in his eyes. As miserable as I was, I had to admit that it made my heart flutter to see him like that again. Dimentio continued to stroke my hair, softly whispering, "Just give them time, and I promise they'll all forget about it… Everything's going to be just fine, you'll see…"
I sniffled again, slowly wiping the tears out of my eyes. "…p-promise?" I asked quietly.
Dimentio smiled a bit wider, pulling me back into a comforting hug. "I promise." He gently assured me.
I allowed myself to smile, snuggling into his arms. If Dimentio promised, and he truly believed it, that was enough for me.
"…well?" I quietly asked.
Nastasia hardly glanced at me over her glasses. "Well what?" she asked.
"Do you think you can, ya know… fix it?" I mumbled, growing more anxious that the answer would be 'no'.
Nastasia smiled at me for a short moment. "Sure… it'll take a while to, uh, stick them together, but you've already got them in the right order… it'll be fine."
I smiled, wrapping my arms around her waist in an adoring hug. Nastasia was sitting at a desk in her room, the pieces to my shredded paper lying in perfect order in front of her. I had worked so meticulously hard to sort them out for her, but I was afraid to mess them up if I stuck them together myself. Nastasia was always so neat and so organized.
I looked around Nastasia's room as she set to work. Her whole room was just like her—everything in perfect order. It was mostly gray, black, and a little white, not much color except for the occasional splash of purple.
It wasn't that I disliked coming into Nastasia's room; it was more that I was afraid to. I was always so scared I would break something or mess something up and she would yell at me (though, honestly, I can't recall I time when I ever saw Nastasia yell at anyone).
"So, uh, Mimi…" Nastasia asked, grabbing my attention. I noticed her carefully sticking a few pieces onto a larger piece as she spoke. "How did you, um, do this?"
"I've been practicing." I said proudly, beaming at my beautiful handwriting.
Nastasia almost laughed for a moment. "No, I mean… how did you tear it up like this?"
I felt my pigtails droop as I glared at the floor. "Oh… Dimentio did that…"
Nastasia sighed somewhat, casting a look over in my direction. "I see… Dimentio did this… what was he doing with it?"
"Teasing me." I stated bluntly. "Because of the drawing." I pointed lightly to the end of the shredded pieces that made up the doodle of the two of us.
"Mm-hm…" Nastasia said, nodding her head as she picked up more pieces. "He's still teasing you a lot, is he?"
I nodded miserably. "Yeah, he is."
"I see… how about I speak to Count Bleck about that?" Nastasia gently asked, smiling at me.
For a minute, I almost said yes. Then, after carefully considering it a moment, I shook my head and said, "No… Dimentio was pretty upset after breakfast… I don't want to get him in trouble again…"
"Believe me, Mimi, he gets himself into plenty of trouble without your help…" Nastasia said. She cast a bit of a glare towards me, saying, "And, look… your demon, tricky as she is, just might be on to something… Dimentio's not the kindest or the most honest man I've ever met…"
I glared at her. "Yeah, well he's my friend." I was a little surprised at how firm and angry my voice sounded. "I don't care what she says. I trust him, and I'm going to hang out with him anyway."
Nastasia sighed very heavily, putting down the paper a moment. After a while, she looked over at me with a sad kind of look in her eyes and said, "Alright, Mimi…" She picked the paper back up, working on it again. "Just… please be careful… 'kay?"
I nodded. "Okay. I'll be careful." I reassured her, though I wasn't at all sure what I was supposed to be careful of.
There was somewhat of a silence between us as Nastasia worked and I looked around the room again. Finally, I turned somewhat sheepishly to her, and quietly asked, "Nastasia? Can I… ask you something?"
"Sure, Mimi." She said, not looking up.
I nervously twirled my pigtails. "Why don't you… um… trust Dimentio?"
Nastasia didn't say anything.
"…Is there a reason?" I wondered, trying to get an answer out of her. "…Did he… I dunno… do something bad?"
I didn't like the silence that suddenly filled the room. It was much too quiet, and it was driving me crazy.
"Hey, Mimi…" Nastasia said to grab my attention, as if I hadn't been speaking at all. "Why don't you go play in your room or something?"
I felt my heart sink. "What? But, I—"
"I'll, um, call you when it's ready, 'kay?" Nastasia asked sweetly, flashing me a broken, tired smile.
I was about to protest, then I saw that smile, so I hung my head and slowly left the room. "Kay… see ya later, Nassy…"
A few hours after that conversation (and I still hadn't heard from Nastasia about my drawing) O'Chunks and I were in my room, trying to get my diary out from behind the vanity.
"Be careful!" I snapped. "Don't drop any of my stuff!"
"Oi, sorry, Lass…" O'Chunks said, setting the vanity carefully back down.
"Okay, picking it up isn't working…" I said to myself, pacing the floors. "You might break something, and that won't be good."
"A'right then…" O'Chunks said, leaning against the vanity. "Per'aps I can jus' push it aside for yeh…"
I tapped my chin, eyeing the vanity, and the space around it. "No, it would hit something. I don't think there's much room to get it out of the way."
"Well, yeh don't need much room, do yeh?" He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Yer an awfully scrawny lil lass… we jus' need ta move it so yeh can crawl back there and get it…"
I thought a moment, then glared at him. "Oh, duh… I totally knew that."
O'Chunks rolled his eyes at me. "Righ' then…"
I ignored the comment, flicking my wrist at him. "Go on, then, get to moving!"
"And what do we have here?" I spun around at the sound of the melodic voice drifting into my bedroom. Dimentio floated in the window, smiling at me. As glad as I was to see him happy again, I didn't want him to get his hands of my diary after what he had done to my paper.
I scrunched up my face, scurrying over to him. "What do you think you're doing here? Get out of my room!"
Dimentio pretended to be hurt. "But, Mimi, dear… you're letting O'Chunks in your room…" He drifted inside my room as he spoke, so he floated between me and O'Chunks, gesturing from me to him. "Why in all the dimensions would you prefer this monstrosity's presence over mine?"
"'Ey!" O'Chunks said. "I 'eard that!"
Dimentio turned slightly to smile at O'Chunks over his shoulder. "Oh look. It understands us. How charming. And, furthermore, I was not speaking to you. Mind your own business."
"But, yer talkin' about me!" O'Chunks said, stomping his foot on my floor.
Dimentio sighed. "Why must I repeat myself?" He mumbled. Then, louder, "Yes, but I was not talking to you. I am speaking to little Mimi here."
"What do you want, Dimentio?" I demanded again, snatching the jester's attention back to myself.
"Only to see what my dear little Mimi has gotten herself into…" He cheerily replied.
I glared at him. "O'Chunks is helping me with something, okay?"
Dimentio pouted. "I'm afraid that isn't in the slightest bit 'okay'…" He informed me matter-of-factly. "I like to keep a close eye on you, and I don't like you hanging out with O'Chunks instead of me."
My eyes narrowed as a cruel smile curled across my lips. "What… you're not jealous are you?"
I was unaware before this point in my life that Dimentio was capable of blushing through his mask. I was very surprised to find that he could, because he was at just that moment.
The cheeks of his mask turned light pink as his eyes widened a fraction, his pout dropping to a surprised frown. I liked that expression. He looked nervous. I made him nervous.
I liked that. I decided he was going to be doing that expression again. Soon.
"Well?" I prompted, smiling wider. I noticed O'Chunks smiling as well at the jester's unexpected reaction. "You're not jealous, are you?"
Dimentio remained stunned only a moment more, then he smiled confidently again, much to my disappointment. "What is there to be jealous of? I have utmost confidence that a young girl of such beauty, grace, sophistication, and high-class-taste, such as yourself, would quickly grow tired of this great brute and come crawling back to a truly charming man."
Well, golly, what girl in their right mind wouldn't come crawling to him after that?
Dimentio's smiled widened. He leaned forward, caught my chin between his fingers, and gently pushed my jaw up, saying, "Close your mouth, darling. It's rather unattractive."
I hadn't even been aware my mouth was open. As I shrugged him off, Dimentio pulled back from me and floated over towards O'Chunks to investigate what the problem was.
"Hey!" I said. "What are you doing?"
"Offering my assistance." Dimentio said, smiling at me. "Is that a problem?"
"Well… who says I even want your stupid help?" I demanded.
Dimentio shrugged. "It matters not, because you're getting it anyway." Ignoring me as I shrieked in rage, Dimentio turned to O'Chunks and said, "Now, what seems to be the dear little girl's trouble?"
O'Chunks shrugged and gestured to my vanity. "The lass dropped 'er diary… says it's back 'ere somewhere…"
"Hmmm…" Dimentio mused, floating up off the ground to peer behind the vanity mirror as much as possible. "I don't see a thing…"
"You can't see it, dummy…" I snapped bitterly, crossing my arms with a huff. "It's stuck way back there. I can't even reach it when I turn into my monster."
"Spider." Dimentio said.
I blinked. "…what?"
"Spider." Dimentio repeated, turning to smile at me. "Your other form is a spider, not a monster. I've been thinking on it, and I've recently decided it's much too adorable-looking to be referred to as a monster."
"What?" I gasped, somewhat angry. "It is too a monster! You saw yourself—I totally destroyed my home planet!"
…where did that come from? Was I seriously just… bragging about that?
"Mmmm, yes, you did…" Dimentio said. "You misunderstand me, child. I never once said it was any less powerful. It only looks…" He turned slightly, looked me up and down, smiled, and said, "Cute."
I blushed with fury. "It is NOT!" Seriously, what was with me today?
Dimentio shrugged. "If you say so. But, still, spider it is. Anyway—" he interrupted me before I could argue, "—would you like me to fetch your diary for you?"
"No! Me and O'Chunks can handle it ourselves!" I yelled angrily.
"Are you sure?" Dimentio asked, looking surprised. He snapped his fingers, suddenly holding my diary, and waving it at me. "It's just that simple."
I blushed even harder. "I said I don't want your stupid help!"
Dimentio smiled, holding the diary over the mirror. "Would you like me to put it back then? Or—oh, I know! I could go hide it in the castle, and you and O'Chunks can go find it! I won't even tell you where it's at! What do you say?"
I glared at him. Of course, he didn't mean any of it. He was just making fun of me. Finally, I held out a hand to him, staring down at the floor. "Just give me the stupid book…" I quietly mumbled.
Dimentio shoved the book into my hand, ruffled my pigtails around, and hissed in my ear, "That's a good girl…" Straightening up, he looked around a bit, a finger on his chin, then said, "Speaking of stupid books… that reminds me, I must be off… Ciao!"
With a snap of fingers and distortion of air, the charming magician was gone.
I stared at the floor he had been hovering over, then narrowed my eyes at it. "Why's he gotta be such a meanie?"
O'Chunks gently patted the top of my head. "It's a'right, lass… I don' think he means anythin' by it…" He dropped his voice to a whisper, leaning in close to me. "If ya ask me, he don't seem to be a' right in da head…"
I giggled, watching O'Chunks twirl a finger around the side of his head. "Tell me about it…" I said. I brightened up a bit, realizing something. "Maybe that's it! Maybe Nastasia just doesn't like him because he's crazy!"
O'Chunks gave a loud, hearty laugh, and I immediately decided that I loved it. "Seems abou' right ta me, lass…"
I decided that we much have been right. Nastasia didn't seem like the type that would like crazy people very much—and maybe that's why she thought he was a liar. I know I thought his craziness made him kind of creepy sometimes…
If only it didn't make him look so darn cute…
