A/N: My original author's note for this chapter got deleted while I was making small edits. Whoops. Just know that if you read the original versions of Chapters 15-18, then forget them. They are dead. I made new versions because the old ones didn't feel right to me. If you want more detail, just PM me or whatever and I can tell you more about why I did this. I'm too lazy to explain it again in the author's notes. Thanks!

Special thanks to my new friend Emily for editing this chapter for me!


Chapter 15: The Man in the Mask

Dimentio returned from the empty and colorless ruins of Sammer's kingdom, smiling to himself upon seeing his own bedroom. "Ah...Now, just a moment to myself!" He sat down on his bed and smiled wider, stretching his limbs as he did so.

A moment of silence. Then another. And another. The silence was agonizing.

Dimentio sat back up, frowning. "Hmm…" It was usually loud; minions patrolling the halls, Mimi arguing with someone, or O'Chunks stomping by. Today, it was quiet. Dead quiet. He didn't remember putting up a soundproof spell that day.

Sighing, he summoned Dimension D. Once the walls around him changed into his green realm, he stood and stroked his chin, thinking of what to do. The possibilities were endless, really. He was 256 times more powerful. Yes, more powerful. More power. More power than the Count. More power than the heroes.

Then, suddenly, he remembered his first clash with the heroes.

Dimentio had failed, his illusionist form on the floor. He tried to hold his frustrations in. He planned on going easy on the heroes, but had genuinely tried to beat them for the sake of seeing what would happen. Nevertheless, he still lost his battle with them. "How is this possible? This dimension makes me 256 times more powerful…"

Mario responded with, "Well, we're both in here. So, doesn't that make me more powerful too?"

Dimentio frowned at the memory. It seemed that he was powerless no matter where he went. Then again, he didn't really want power. Dimentio shook his head. No, no. Not those thoughts again.

However, they kept coming. He didn't really want power. Oh, of course, he did in the beginning. Then he started his fake courtship with Mr. L. That was when he started craving something else. Something warmer, kinder, deeper. What he truly wanted was the way he felt when he twirled his man in green around in a peaceful, slow waltz. The way he felt when they both stared at the stars together. The way he felt that sensual night when he smiled so happily, when he told him that he loved him back for the first time.

The jester felt a cold weight inside of him. That man that he fell in love with...was gone. Now in the Underwhere, there was no telling what Luigi would remember and what he would forget. But there was no bringing his Mr. L back. He would never see him again…

That cold weight turned into an agony that kept pressing at Dimentio. It had to go away, but he knew that he couldn't make it go away. The remedy for all of the agony and pain he endured...was gone...

Mr. L was gone. And Dimentio was the one responsible for that.

He ran his hands through his hair, looking around the room, the last semblance of decency and morality searching for anyone who might hear him. Then he remembered that he was in his own dimension, away from the others. It was alright to let it out now…

Dimentio screamed. He felt tears rushing down his face, cascading all at once...like...like a waterfall perhaps? A storm? Did it matter what it was like!? He was gone! The love of his life was dead! He murdered him. The jester held his knees together and sobbed hysterically, screams breaking out and sobs raking his entire body.


Of course, Dimentio couldn't stay in Dimension D all day. No, he had to go and tell Nastasia what happened. He was curious as to what her reaction would be, but there was hardly any reaction at all. Instead, she straightened her glasses and said, "'Kay, I'll let the Count know ASAP. Thanks for telling me, Dimentio." With that, she walked away.

At first, Dimentio was shocked, then grew more angry as the day went on. The servants and patrolling lower class minions were acting the same as usual, as if Mr. L had never disappeared at all. Then, there was the matter of Mimi and O'Chunks. Mimi went to her room and shut herself away, but that wasn't unusual for her. O'Chunks went and continued his workout routines. Was the magician really the only one who even cared about that man in green?

This newfound rage made Dimentio feel alert even without tea or coffee. Of course, though, he still had the task of being a happy jester around the others. But he quickly found that unlike the dull pain and loneliness he had grown accustomed to, this was a pain he could not hide from the others. At least not for long. Not without breaking.

While he was walking through the corridors of Castle Bleck, he ran into her. Mimi grinned. "Hi, Dimmy! Isn't it just beautiful out today!?"

Dimentio narrowed his eyes. You foolish girl. You claimed to be his best friend, but it seems as if L didn't matter to you that much after all. "Yes. Hello, Mimi." He walked past her and started down the hall.

"Wait! Dimmy! You're not floating?" She asked.

He sighed and turned back to her. "No, I'm not."

She tilted her head, pigtails swishing. "Why?"

"Because I don't feel like doing so!" He snapped. There was pain in her eyes and Dimentio sighed, pushing down any feelings of regret. "Please excuse me."

She grabbed onto his arm. "Dimmy! Wait. Are you doing okay?"

He pulled his arm away. "I'm fine!" Stop talking to me. Just stop already.

"Really? Because you haven't been talking to us at all…"

Dimentio glared. "So, what if I haven't? Is that such a bad thing…" He almost said her real name, but then decided to do something extra cruel instead. He grinned. "Arachne?"

Mimi stepped back in shock, mouth dropping. Then she glared, placing her hands on her hips. "Don't call me that, stupid-head. Only L gets to call me that!"

"Well, L is gone! Isn't he?"

The spider stood there with a hard look in her eyes before her smile returned. "Hey, Dimentio. Would you mind explaining something to me?"

"What, my dearest friend?"

Her smile grew. "Remember what you said to me around the time L first came here?"

"I said a lot to you around the time L first came here," The jester replied, rolling his eyes.

"Well, lemme refresh your memory!" Mimi jeered.

POOF! That was when a purple cloud of dust appeared before him as Mimi shape-shifted. When the smoke cleared, Dimentio stared back at a clone of himself. It bowed. "Oh, Mimi. I don't know what to say. You seem like an awfully nice girl, but I must decline! You see, I'm not interested in pursuing a romantic relationship. After all, serving the Count is what's most important!"

Mimi changed back, glaring and crossing her arms. "Remember that, Dimmy?"

The magician stared. "I-I…" No. No, he did not remember that at all. His eyes were wide. He felt his cheeks burning under his mask.

"Well!?"

"I-I'm sorry! I don't...feel the same…" He admitted, peering at the ground.

The girl laughed bitterly. "Not interested in dating, huh? Well, go-lly, Dimmy! All that kissing and stuff with L wasn't romantic at all!"

"I-I'm only interested in men—"

Mimi threw her hands in the air. "Great! No one cares! But you coulda just told me that!"

Suddenly, the jester wanted to tell the spider that he didn't know that at the time. He wanted to explain everything to her: he was only using him at first and then things changed somehow. But that would lead to more questions and everything would fall apart so he just stared.

Mimi sighed. "Forget it, okay?" She turned away and started to leave. "Dumb meanie-head…"

As the girl walked off, Dimentio felt the world spinning around him. Just when he thought he had everything figured out, the ground was shifting beneath him again. Why did he feel so bad? He didn't want to hurt Mimi…

No, wait. Yes. Yes, he did. He needed power. Needed control.

The world slowed down as Dimentio smiled. "Oh, Mimi... "

She turned back around, annoyed. "What!?"

"You do realize that you once had a crush on a man who worked in retail and sold you a dress, right?"

Mimi's eyes widened. There was once a time when Mimi was just starting to live here, long before Mr. L came, that she came back to the castle gushing about someone she met at a department store in a nearby dimension. It turned out that the two had barely interacted outside of the man being a cashier. She asked, "So!?"

"You also had an infatuation with Count Bleck himself."

The girl blushed. "Well...Nassy pulled me aside and told me it wasn't gonna happen, so I'm pretty much over that…"

His smile grew. "So, how was I supposed to know that what you felt for Mr. L was serious?"

She blinked, pain in her eyes. "I-I don't know…"

"If you had a problem with us together, then-"

Mimi glared again, hands back on her hips. "I had no problem with you guys together! You both seemed really happy! What I did have a problem with is the fact that you told me that you weren't interested, then you made out with someone you knew I had a crush on!"

Dimentio stroked his chin. Mimi had always had a habit of falling for the first man she saw. Once she lost interest or gave up on a potential relationship, she quickly moved on to someone else. Sometime after Mimi gave up on being with the Count, she had set her sights on the man in green. However, despite Mimi hinting at her interest, Mr. L was too oblivious to catch on. And Dimentio was too quick. "Hmm...just a crush?"

With cheeks a deep shade of green, the girl said, "No, you doofus! I loved him! He was so cute and funny and-"

"Do you really think you know Mr. L better than I do!? He's told me things before that he hasn't told anyone else!"

"Like what?"

His smile returned and he spoke in a calm voice. "He thinks you're ugly."

She stepped back in shock. They were nearing the stairs now. "N-No, he doesn't!"

Dimentio stepped forward. Getting closer. "Yes, he does! A disgusting, filthy little spider!"

Mimi began tearing up. "H-He wouldn't say that!"

"What do you know about L!?"

"I…"

"QUIET! L was mine, you hear? He was mine!" Dimentio said, shoving Mimi back.

He didn't know they were so close to the stairs. She came tumbling down the long flight of stairs until she reached the bottom. When Mimi landed on the bottom, there was a brief moment of silence before she burst into tears. The jester stared with wide eyes, covering his mouth.

That was when the other two minions came. Nastasia went to Mimi's side and sat her up. "Mimi, are you alright?" O'Chunks was there too, watching with concern.

"D-Dimmy...H-He…"

Nastasia offered her hand. "Here, let me help you."

Mimi stared at it before taking it. Nastasia sighed and turned to the third minion at the bottom of the stairs. "O'Chunks, I'm gonna have to leave the punishment to you, 'kay? The Count and I are too busy for this."

O'Chunks nodded. "Yeh can count on me, lass."

The secretary started to lead Mimi away. Dimentio sighed. "Mimi, I'm-"

Before he could finish, the spider jerked towards him. "Why do you have to be so mean, Dimmy!? You're always teasing me and reading something of mine meant to be private...and now this!? What did I ever do to you!? I just wanted to be your friend! That's it!" She began to cry again as Nastasia led her away. "I just wanted to be your friend!"

Dimentio stared in shock. That was when O'Chunks peered up at him and frowned. "Ye got a lot o' explaining te do, lad. Come down 'ere….Now."

The jester took a deep breath before walking down the stairs. The moment that he had stepped within O'Chunks' reach, the Scotsman grabbed his arm tightly. With that, he dragged him outside. Dimentio wasn't sure what to do. Put a smile back on? Demand O'Chunks to let him go? At least ask him to soften his grip? He was too shocked to do any of those things.

However, as they were walking together, the same anger that drove him to push Mimi down in the first place returned. Dimentio thought about the situation. Count Bleck had been too busy studying the Dark Prognosticus to pay mind to any of what was happening, but Nastasia and O'Chunks cared so much for Mimi. Why were they all so indifferent towards the love of his life?

When they made it outside, O'Chunks let go of Dimentio and crossed his arms. The jester had a brief moment of relief, but it was gone when the other man started talking. "Alright. Why'd yeh push teh wee lass down!?"

Dimentio stared up in surprise. O'Chunks was there the whole time!? "I-It was an accident-"

"Don't give meh that! I saw ye yellin' at 'er. Whyyda do that!? Mimi's our chum!"

The ground was spinning again. The magician said quietly, "She was being a pest. An annoying little pest."

"'Cause she loved that lad too!? That why?"

His rage grew even more. Dimentio grinned and laughed. "Oh, so you're suddenly supportive, are you!? What about all that talk about not working with queers!?"

O'Chunks stepped back. "I...didn't know that affected yeh much. Well, L, it certainly did, but you-"

"Answer the question!"

He crossed his arms, staring at the ground. "'Tis teh way I was raised. But teh Count and I got te talkin' and-"

Dimentio groaned and turned away. "Always the Count with you all!"

O'Chunks glared again. "Dimentio!" He stopped on the ground a couple times. "Stop tryin' te change teh subject! 'Tis ain't 'bout that. 'Tis 'bout you hurtin' teh green lass!"

"She. Was. A. Pest."

The ex general was silent for a moment. He raised his hand, then seemed to remember something as he lowered his hand once more. O'Chunks paced around the field for a short moment before turning back to Dimentio with a hard look in his eyes. "I want 100 laps 'round 'tis 'ere track. Ye ain't leavin' 'til I see it done. And no magic."

Dimentio's eyes grew wide. "N-No magic!?" He laughed. "What if I don't want to!?"

His anger grew. "LISTEN 'ERE, YE SLIMY DOG! YE WILL DO AS I SAY OR I SWEAR TE GRAMBI THAT I'LL TALK TO TEH COUNT AND GET YEH THROWN OUT O' 'ERE!"

The jester stepped back. "The Dark Prognosticus says—"

"Get movin'!"

Dimentio let out a long sigh of defeat. Oh, sure. He could continue to be defiant or try to avoid his punishment, but it wasn't like Nastasia nor Count Bleck would come to his defense. "Fine." He snapped his fingers and changed into his hybrid form, the one that he showed to Mr. L a couple of times. He did not want to show this by any means, but this form had stronger legs than the other one.

O'Chunks' eyes widened, then his face hardened again. Dimentio went to the nearest starting point he could find, then turned back to his coworker with a smile on his face. "Oh, but O'Chunks! I've been thinking...and it turns out that I was wrong."

The Scotsman glared. "'Bout what!?"

"Nastasia." Dimentio's grin grew. "She will never feel the same way about you."

The ex general frowned, hurt in his eyes.

With that, Dimentio began running around the track.


When the jester was done with his long run, the first thing that he did was pant heavily, then vomited all over the start of the track. At that point, O'Chunks no longer seemed angry with him. Instead, he patted his back and suggested that he take a shower. One of the servants would clean the track up. The magician agreed.

After a nice hour to himself, reading books and getting himself cleaned up, Dimentio thought that things would be okay for him.

That was, until Nastasia came up to him in the kitchen. She stormed in with fury radiating from her. The act of the submissive, monotone secretary was gone. At least for now. "Dimentio!"

"Ah! Nastasia! To what to I owe the pleasure-"

"I have a new assignment for you."

"Oh? And what's that?"

She took a deep breath, adjusting her glasses. Next, she tried to keep her voice at a more even level. "I want a 2,000 page essay on treating your fellow minions with love and compassion. Written by you and only you. And I want it on my desk tomorrow morning."

He gasped. Yes, Nastasia had the minions write these essays for whenever they acted up, but the longest essay that she had ever given was to O'Chunks. That was only 1,000 pages, a task he was able to complete by working with the other minions. She had allowed him to do so, not for them to write the essay for him, but to offer quiet support and some suggestions.

This was not meant to be a team effort.

"T-Tomorrow morning!? I can't write 2,000 pages in-"

"Sure you can. You'll find a way."

"But, Nastasia...You don't understand! It was an accident!"

Nastasia frowned. "Oh, sure it was. Just like how you suggesting a sneak attack to Mimi and Mr. L when I left our last group meeting was also an accident?"

The magician froze. Of course. She had been with Mimi all afternoon while Dimentio was going through his punishment. Of course the spider would mention that little detail, especially if it meant getting him in trouble.

"2,000 pages," Nastasia said. "By tomorrow morning. Chop chop," She said, clapping her hands in time with each pronunciation of her last sentence. "'Kay? Thanks." She left the kitchen silently, leaving him to brood with his thoughts. Dimentio stared after her with bewilderment. Then even more of that rage that he had no idea how to deal with. This day just kept getting worse and worse.

He left the room and stormed down the hall, entering a room at random. He slammed the door behind him, locking it with a click. Luckily, no one seemed to be in here with him. He trembled. "Damn her…"

BANG! Dimentio jumped. He saw a sight that would make most people afraid: a copy of himself pressed against the other side of the mirror on the wall. The original magician relaxed. Oh. The mirror room. He entered the mirror room by mere coincidence.

The clone backed away slightly. "Hi, Dimentio!" He said with a happy grin. However, his grin faded. "Oh, it's been so long! Why haven't you come and visited us!?"

Dimentio smiled. He had an idea for how to finish that essay now. "Just wait one moment, Dimentio." He flipped dimensions and stepped inside the mirror room, joining his clone. He flipped back and his smile grew.

In the mirror room, there were nearly one thousand copies of Dimentio waiting for him. The moment they all saw the magician, they began to swarm him and cry out for him. Their voices piled, one on top of one another: "Dimentio!" "Dimentio, it's you!" "Hi, Dimentio!"

Dimentio laughed. "Ahaha! Hello, my wonderful clones!" He gave a bow. "It is I, the original master of dimensions and pleasure of crowds! And I have a new assignment for you all!"

The clones were now confused. "Oh?" "And what is that, Dimentio?" "What's that?"

"It seems that the dreadfully dull bat has assigned us a 2,000 page essay...For an accident!"

The others began protesting. "But that's unfair!" "Unfair!" "It was an accident!"

A clone wearing a long face raised his hand. Dimentio pointed. "Yes, Dimentio?~"

A moment of silence. The clone lowered his hand and asked, "Did she ask to hear your side of the story?"

Dimentio glared at nothing in particular. "No. She didn't."

They went back to protesting. Suddenly, one copy of Dimentio began trembling, clenching his fists. He spoke above the rest and the others grew quiet again. "That evil woman...why does the Count even keep her around!?"

"I'll tell you why," Another clone spoke up. "That shriveling bat only cares for the Count. Nobody else. She's pathetic. She's weak. And the Count knows this, so he exploits her weakness!"

The other clones shouted their agreements. "Yeah!" "Weak!" "She's weak!"

"It's all the Count's fault," A third clone said. Then he smiled. "Well, you know what I say!? I say death to the Count."

All of the clones agreed to that. Then, they began to pick up on the chant. Slowly and quietly at first. Then, their dull roar turned into a loud, united cry. All at once. Ceaseless."DEATH TO THE COUNT! DEATH TO THE COUNT!"

Dimentio stepped back. Again, the world around him began to spin. He couldn't handle it. Couldn't handle this. "STOP!"

Silence. He laughed. "My clones! Please! Settle down! We're getting ahead of ourselves! Now, 2,000 pages. There's approximately one thousand of you, I believe. 2 pages for each of you. That sounds reasonable, right?" They all nodded in agreement. "Then get to work!"

One, monotonous voice. "Yes, Dimentio!" And they all began talking to each other, working out an arrangement. Seeing as how that was done, Dimentio flipped dimensions. He floated outside of the mirror room before returning to the normal 2-D plane of existence. He sighed and sat down against the mirrors, his back feeling the smooth glass.

Dimentio stared straight ahead, the laughter and chatting of his clones distant, but there all the same. He thought of the promises he made to himself when he was only a child, just to stay alive: don't get too close to anyone. Don't let anyone in. Look out for yourself and only yourself. And then he thought of his childhood friend, Diana.

Diana's parents and his own parents were close friends, so she was one of the few people who talked to Dimentio in his former tribe. When the two were eleven years old, they would sneak off into each other's rooms and chat about anything and everything. They would practice their spells together and talk about kids at school they didn't like. And they would read books together.

Dimentio's favorite story at the time was a fable about a kind jester. The jester was altruistic and caring, always putting others' needs before his own. Though everyone laughed at him, he was still happy to entertain and believed in those around him. The moral was something vague about altruism; Dimentio couldn't remember. Even so, it made Diana sad.

"Why do you think it's sad?" He asked.

"I don't know...the jester just seems lonely. That's all."

Dimentio was like that jester, only in reverse. He only looked out for himself. He laughed at others' pain and even his own. And he never let anyone in, never to get too close. Then, of course, Mr. L had to come along and change all that.

The jester sighed and decided it was okay here. No one could see. He let his illusion fall and his body began to grow and change, shifting to something resembling a human, but not quite. Then, slowly, he reached for his mask and took it off. He turned it over and rubbed it with his gloved hands. He hadn't taken it off in a long while; not even when he and Mr. L made love that night. What would he even think if he saw him like-

"Dimentio!" One of his clones shouted.

The original jester flinched. "Ah! Dimentio! You scared me!"

The clone glared. "Put your mask back on now! What if someone walks in here and sees you!?" He said, gesturing to one of the mirrors on the wall.

Dimentio looked at his reflection and gasped. The white half of his hair was turning gray. Quickly, it grew darker and darker until all of his hair was the same jet black. He eyed the rest of his reflection. A frail body. Sickly gray skin. And that hideous face of his…

He reached for his mask and slipped it back on. Even so, he managed a weary smile. "Th-The door is locked, Dimentio. And even if it wasn't, what does it matter? They all despise me anyway…" He swallowed a lump in his throat. "...And I despise them."

The clone's expression softened. He floated to his side. "What is wrong, Dimentio? You seem melancholic…you remind me of when we were an adolescent, still under Mother and Father's control…"

Dimentio sighed. "It's Mr. L. I miss him, Dimentio…"

"Why? What happened to him?"

"Oh, that's right. It's been awhile since we've last talked, hasn't it?" The jester gave a quick explanation of the deal he made to get Mr. L on his side, their blooming romance that somehow turned real, and how he still disposed of him in that blank world. He thought his copy would understand.

Instead, he burst out laughing at the end of the story. "What are you saying, Dimentio? You fell in love? Don't you remember the promise we made to ourselves when we were 19? I thought we were done with love. Done with letting other people into our heart. Done with the pain and heartache that it inevitably brings!"

He shook his head. "You don't understand. Mr. L was kind to me…"

"So was Diana. And yet we left her."

"That's different!" Dimentio said, raising his voice. Why didn't his clone understand this? They both knew that he felt no romantic connection with her, yet he had to say it aloud anyway.

The clone sighed. "Alright, alright. You love him."

Dimentio frowned and turned back to his knees. "Anyway...there's nothing I can do to get him back…"

"Wrong!~" The clone said. He laughed. "Ahaha! I can't pretend to understand why you feel this way, Dimentio, but if you really want Mr. L, then you cannot let him go. You went to the Land of Cragnons and got the floro sprout with O'Chunks like we said we would, right?"

The jester gasped. "Oh, that's right! I forgot all about that!"

The clone frowned. "Forgot? About our plan?" He sighed. "You've gone soft, Dimentio. Like children's putty."

Dimentio narrowed his eyes. His own clone knew everything about him, so talking to him somehow made him feel worse than with any of the others. Nothing was too sensitive to mention with this copy, apparently. "I'm just tired of doing things all on my own, Dimentio…"

"You won't be doing anything on your own! You have me! Us!" He grinned. "And you'll have Mr. L too...if you hear me out!"

He gasped. "W-We will?"

"Yes! If we use the floro sprout as planned, we will have Luigi under our control. And if we have Luigi under our control…" He purposely trailed off.

Dimentio stood. "We can bring him back!" He turned to the mirror to look at his copy directly instead of just hearing the sound of his voice. "Oh, thank you, Dimentio!" However, his joy was short-lived. His smile faded as he came to a realization."B-But wait...he won't be happy when he finds out what I'm doing. He certainly wasn't happy the first time…"

The clone laughed. "Dimentio, we did not survive this long by caring about what others think. We survived by pursuing our own self interests. Besides, for every person out there like Diana, there's a thousand like our parents. We cannot possibly create a perfect world in this one. It's too evil, too corrupt. We must start from scratch. And if Mr. L can't see that, then we will convince him. Make him see things from our point of view."

The jester nodded. "Thank you, Dimentio. I feel much better now."

"Anytime, Dimentio. Ciao!" He vanished, back into the sea of other clones.

Dimentio changed back into his jester form and poked his head in the mirror room. The thousands of clones were working on the essay, all typing away with their own mini typewriters. He didn't know how they could type with such tiny keys, but they found a way. It looked like the clone that Dimentio had just finished speaking with was now leading the assignment, talking with clones and giving them suggestions.

He laughed. For the first time all day, something was going right. "Let me know when you're all done!"

"Yes, Dimentio!"

With that, the magician smiled and left.


He spent the rest of the day avoiding others. As a more extroverted person, it was aggravating to do this, but Dimentio did it anyway. He spent the whole day in his room, reading books and playing with game consoles that Mimi had played with for a short period of time before getting bored of them and abandoning them altogether.

When he requested to have dinner in his room, he told Count Bleck that he was working on an essay for Nastasia. The Count agreed to this arrangement. He didn't bother asking about the essay length or what he had done to earn such a punishment in the first place. In fact, he didn't seem to be aware of the day's events at all; the Count treated him as he always did.

Still, Dimentio supposed that would all change when the minions ate together and Nastasia would explain the situation. He did not want to be around for that conversation. Plus, all he could imagine was everyone glaring at him the whole time, so he didn't bother entertaining the idea of sitting with the others for long. Not to mention, there would be an empty spot next to him where Mr. L normally sat, holding his hand under the table when their courtship began and eventually telling flirtatious jokes. He did not want to deal with that either.

The problem was going to sleep. Dimentio snapped his fingers multiple times, but his sleeping spells would not go off. He sighed. This had happened before. All he had to do was entertain himself for a short period of time, wait for about an half an hour, then try again. They didn't work then either. This chain of events continued until the jester just accepted that he would not be sleeping tonight. As a result, Dimentio spent the whole night awake without even trying to.

Around 7:30 the next morning, Dimentio got a knock on his door. He flinched and turned to the door. He already dropped a copy of the essay off at Nastasia's study. What did she want now? "Come in!" That was when Count Bleck walked in. Dimentio's eyes widened, but he recovered. "Ahh, Count Bleck!"

The Count stepped further inside and shut the door behind him. He didn't say a word. Just stared with narrowed eyes. He knew. Dimentio gestured to the thousands of sheets of paper on his desk. Stacks on stacks of paper. "I gave Nastasia that essay this morning. Written by me and only me!" He repeated, grinning even wider at the loophole he found. "However, I made a copy just for you! Would you like one?"

Count Bleck took a few pages from the pile, then skimmed through them. He froze. He put down the sheets of paper and stared with shock. Dimentio wasn't sure what he was thinking. How did he write this many pages? Or maybe this question: How did he write so well?

Ah well. It didn't matter anyways.

"It has been quite awhile since we've talked one-on-one! How are you, my Count?"

The hard look in his eyes returned. The blue-skinned man set the papers back down on the desk. "Dimentio, none of that small talk. Let us get straight to the point. Why are you harassing Count Bleck's minions?"

The jester stepped back with a fake surprise. "Harassing them!? No, you misunderstand! I pushed Mimi down the stairs by accident, but you won't hear that from Nastasia! As for O'Chunks, I simply told him the truth! That's all!"

Count Bleck sighed. "Well, unlike Nastasia, Count Bleck understands that punishment will not work with you. As a result, he asks that you stay out of his way. He understands that you are mourning Mr. L, but so are the rest of his minions."

Dimentio glared. "You call that mourning!? They're acting the same as they always do!"

"No, they are not. If you had actually made an effort to speak with them instead of acting out of line, you would see differently." He peered at the floor, tipping his hat over his eyes. "Besides, the Count warned you about this. He told you to protect the man in green with your very life, yet you failed to do so. Now, you shall never see him again. You might as well accept that."

The jester began trembling. This was worse than Mimi, O'Chunks, Nastasia, and his clone combined. The clone may not have understood what he felt for Mr. L at first, but at least he accepted it quickly. Count Bleck was taking Dimentio's new feelings of genuine love and crushing them to dust.

This evil bastard.

Dimentio frowned, a cold edge in his voice. "You had a soulmate of your own...You know how much it hurts to lose them. Why are you telling me to accept this!?"

"First of all, Count Bleck thought we agreed when you first came not to speak of the other's past. Second, you are not even supposed to know about her, so the Count does not want to hear about her in his presence."

Dimentio grinned. What a hypocrite. He wasn't allowed to talk about her, yet Count Bleck could so casually mention Mr. L? "I see…" His grin widened and he decided to rub sulfur in his wounds. "Timpani, Timpani, Timpani, Timpani, Tim-"

"DIMENTIO!" The jester flinched. The Count rarely raised his voice like that. Count Bleck took a deep breath and spoke quietly, one wrong word away from another explosion. "You are walking on very thin ice. In fact, were it not for the Dark Prognosticus, I would send you on your way right here and now."

The magician stared before realizing something. Count Bleck was making a mistake. The same one he made when he summoned both Dimentio and Mr. L to his study that night, but was too sad and sullen to even notice. "Oh, Count! You're using first-person pronouns!"

His eyes widened. Count Bleck turned away, cheeks burning purple. Dimentio smirked. "Slip of the tongue?" He asked. A phrase he heard Nastasia say sometimes.

He looked back towards Dimentio with rage in those red eyes.

Dimentio laughed, no longer caring if he got yelled at. "You're such an enigma, Count!" He straightened up and grinned. "Or maybe not. You're just like the rest of the Tribe of Darkness. No, better yet...a Nightshade. Through and through!"

Count Bleck froze. Dimentio's smile grew. When the jester still lived with his parents, his father sometimes told him about the Tribe of Darkness. (He had been a tribesman himself before leaving them for his human mother.)

The Nightshade family was like royalty, making most of the decisions and hoarding resources for themselves. And if the Count was who Dimentio thought he was, then he was that family's oldest son: devoted to the Tribe and a fervent supporter of its isolationist beliefs. Then, of course, he met a certain human girl and everything changed.

Count Bleck cleared his throat and tipped his hat again. He spoke in a calm tone, the one he used for group meetings. "Well, Dimentio, no matter how hard you try to enrage Count Bleck, it matters not. The Void is growing larger by the day. Sooner or later, this world will end. As for the Nightshade family, Count Bleck is no longer a part of them. He has no family. Count Bleck is the Champion of Destruction, the annihilator of worlds. The Dark Prognosticus' humble servant. Nothing more and nothing less."

"I see...well, then it looks like we're done here."

"Count Bleck could not agree more." He turned back to the stacks of paper. "As for your essay, at least from the few pages I've looked over…" He snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the whole entire stack was on fire. Blue flame scorching everything. Finally, it all vanished. There wasn't even any damage to the desk or anything else on it. It was as if the papers were never there to begin with. "It's impeccable. You're a gifted writer, Dimentio."

The jester blinked. He was glad he already gave Nastasia a copy. "Thank you so much, my-"

Count Bleck turned and left the room without another word, even lifting his cape in a dramatic fashion before it fell behind him as he walked out. He shut the door quietly.

Dimentio smiled and laughed.

Once he was certain that Count Bleck left the castle for one of his daily walks with Nastasia, Dimentio teleported into the Count's bedroom. He went to his nightstand and opened a drawer. There, in all of its glory, was the Dark Prognosticus. Its aura was dark, overwhelming...and very powerful.

Dimentio took the book and flipped to page 256. He skimmed the text for the part he was looking for and smiled when he saw it.

The book read: But do not forget the Man in the Mask. He is essential. The jester shall summon the power of the Chaos Heart.

Dimentio let out a sigh of relief. He shut the book and held it close to his chest. If it weren't for those words, those beautiful words, then Count Bleck never would have let him stay in the first place. Who knows what would have happened to him then? "Thank you, my Dark Prognosticus. I am your humble servant. Now and forever…"