As sunlight gently drifted into the room, Dimentio slowly opened his tired eyes. He blinked a couple of times, trying to remember where he was. As his vision cleared, he saw that Mimi was lying right beside him, sleeping like the dead. Dimentio sat up a bit, his long bangs falling in his face.

So...it wasn't a dream.

It wasn't a cruel trick that his mind had played on him. He had really spent the whole night with Mimi, she had really been there. It was almost like...when Timpani had been by his side all those many years ago. Dimentio smiled a bit.

Ah, love was a bitch.

Just like two years ago, Mimi was again messing with his motives. Tearing him in two, one half of him wanting to continue his plan, to create his perfect world. And the other half saying to just give it up; just take the chance and try to create a normal relationship with Mimi. A normal relationship...would he be able to do such a thing? After all he has been through? And what if something went wrong, what if Mimi decided she didn't love him anymore? He couldn't afford that, not again.

But once my perfect world is created, I would no longer have to worry about that. Everything would be just as it should be...

Dimentio touched his face, feeling the rough, burnt skin and bone. Making sure he didn't disturbed Mimi, Dimentio got out of bed and walked toward Mimi's bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror, his heart cringing at the sight of his melted face. Closing his eyes, he chanted a spell and his face transformed into his once handsome face. He reopened his eyes, staring at the shadow of who he once was. He didn't know who he hated more, the broken, naïve, pathetic boy who was betrayed by everything he had ever known. Or the disfigured, paranoid, crazy with ambition jester who could be distracted with just the sight of a pretty girl. Either one of them was imperfect and weak. Though only one of them could become perfect and strong.

Casting one last spell to hide his yellow eye, Dimentio left the bathroom and stood over Mimi for a long moment. This moment reminded him of when they had their first date, where he took her to bed after getting drunk. He had seen her like this, and it was the first time that he admitted his feelings for her. And this moment was no different, for now he admitted her as not only a weakness of love...but perhaps a motivation. That's what his father had thought of his love for Timpani, motivation to get stronger. Maybe this wasn't so different.

But what was she motivating him to do?

Leaning in close to her, Dimentio put Mimi's hair behind her ear and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Mimi muttered a bit in her sleep, but didn't seem to be fully aware. Dimentio couldn't help but smile. Quietly, he snapped his fingers and teleported back to his own room, where he changed into some fresh clothes to start the new day. For his plan would soon be into action, the Star Rod would soon be his. That was, of course, once he got that one last detail.

Not feeling in too much of a rush, and his night with Mimi still fresh in his mind, Dimentio decided to go out and took a walk to Shooting Star Summit. Though he had done a complete search of the place, it wouldn't hurt to take one last look to see if he couldn't find any more information on the Star Rod or Star Spirits. Since it was still early in the morning, the place was completely deserted and quiet. Dimentio smiled when he arrived, walking towards the edge of the plateau and looking out into the distance. And for once, allowed his mind to wonder. One moment of relaxation before the dawn of his new world.

"Is that you, Count Lucifer?"

Dimentio blinked as he turned around to see O'Chunks coming up. Dimentio gave a forced smile.

"Hello, O'Chunks. What brings you up here?"

"Just taking a short walk," O'Chunks replied making his way towards Dimentio. "I saw you on my way back to the castle and I wanted to talk to you."

Dimentio raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what do you wish to talk about, my friend?"

O'Chunks stood next to him, his eyes drifting off to the distance. He then made eye contact with Dimentio, and the dark look in his eyes made Dimentio flinch a bit.

"I wanted to know if it was true," O'Chunks finally said. "What Luigi said last night. Did you really try to harm Mimi?"

The seriousness in his voice was very cold and demanding, a tone of voice that Dimentio didn't think O'Chunks possessed. And yet, Dimentio couldn't keep from smiling.

"Like I said last night, what Luigi saw was just a misunderstanding," he answered. "He really needs to learn to keep to himself if does not yet know the whole story."

O'Chunks gave a puzzled look. "So did something happened between you and the lass?"

Dimentio gave a small chuckle. "It isn't anything like that. And really, it isn't your business."

"I believe that it is." O'Chunks narrowed his eyes. "Mimi is my friend, and it is my job to protect her if I feel like she is danger."

"So are you accusing me like Luigi?" Dimentio questioned, slightly angered. "Are you going to accuse me of being a predator without any solid proof? That I am a sociopath?"

"I never said that. The only reason why I am this concern is the fact that you are too much like her last love!"

Dimentio blinked as O'Chunks turned away from him. O'Chunks let out a heavy sigh.

"Look, I don't mean to offend you count, but you really have no idea what that girl has been through," he said. "Back when me, her, and Nastasia worked together, we had another coworker who was very similar to you. Mysterious, calm, a person who could really see through you. Mimi chased him throughout our time together, and back when I first met him I didn't really like the lad. I thought he was dangerous, like Luigi thinks of you, and yet she still went after him."

He paused for a moment.

"And then...I actually believed that he had come to care for her. He wouldn't admit it, but he would be very protective of her and would be by her side any chance he got. The look in his eyes...you could really see love in them for her, and for her alone. Everyone in the castle knew it, and it made me happy to see the mostly crazy jester actually love someone. Same with Mimi, since she cared so much for him."

A sad look appeared in O'Chunks's gaze.

"But then things went wrong for them. Jealousy and insanity took over until finally he betrayed us all. It is a long story, but in the end, he did die for his actions and it crushed Mimi. Even now, two years later, she still hasn't recovered and probably never will. And the fact that they were so close makes it even worse! It makes me sad, to think what could have been."

O'Chunks looked into Dimentio's eyes.

"I have nothing personal against you, count, but I'm just afraid what will happen if Mimi...gets attached to you. You are so much like him, that it might bring up old wounds. And so, I ask you this..."

He paused for a very long moment.

"Do you in return have feelings for Mimi?"

Dimentio stayed silent.

He avoided eye contact with O'Chunks. He turned his back toward him and moved away a bit, for he did not want O'Chunks to see the expression on his face.

"...I will admit that Mimi is a very charming girl," Dimentio said softly. "I'm not the type of person to show affection to anyone so easily. For affection, love, shows weakness, complicates everything you know or do."

He paused.

"...And yet, it still happens, even if you try to stop it. Mimi is a very...special person. To tell you how I feel about her...ha! You have no idea what...affection I hold for her. And I can safely assure you that I do not intend to harm her in any way. Especially not like that, as Luigi says."

He then turned to face O'Chunks, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Now it is my turn to ask the questions," Dimentio said. "You tell me that this person who betrayed Mimi was a horrible person. And yet you sound sympathetic to him, like a cop showing mercy to a murderer. So let me ask you this. Do you, O'Chunks, hate this man?"

O'Chunks gave a puzzled look, as if the way Dimentio was responding was the strangest thing he had ever seen. He stared at Dimentio for a long moment, and then looked down at the ground, at his feet.

"...I don't know," O'Chunks finally said. "I know Mimi still loves him, despite all he has done, and Nastasia despises him with a passion. But myself...I can't say. If there is one thing I can say that I defiantly feel for him, it is pity. Because the lad could have been someone great, someone admirable and successful. I didn't know him personally, but I could tell that he had some problems, and it makes me sad that he couldn't face them. If he had just stayed loyal to Mimi, gave her the love she deserved, he might have ended up happy. But he couldn't figure that out, and that...is just tragic."

He looked back up at Dimentio.

"Maybe...now that he is in the afterlife, or where ever we go when we die, he has figured it out. That's all I can hope for."

O'Chunks then started to make his way back down the plateau. But before he left, he gave Dimentio one last look and said, "Well, I'll see you later, count. Nastasia and I are going to pay one of our old friends a visit. Hope everything works out for you."

And with that, he left. Dimentio watched him go, so many thoughts going through his mind.

If there was one thing he didn't expect, it was that kind of response from O'Chunks.

Pity...he pitied him after almost getting him killed! No hate, no loathing, no desire to kill him or make him suffer... He doubted that the others felt any thing other than hate towards him, which was what they were supposed to feel!

All except Mimi...and now O'Chunks...

Dimentio stared off into the distance again.

Why...why did everything have to be so complicated?