Author's Note: This is a random chapter. Feel free to read it. It is not exactly necessary... for this fanfic. It WILL be necessary for another, though. By the way, Timpani's location shall be revealed in the next chapter...
Count Blumiere was standing, alone, in the meeting room. His hat was drawn over his face, and he was thinking hard.
Very hard.
Why did he call himself Blumiere? It was a question that had been niggling at the back of his mind for almost a week. The answer came to the surface almost at once. Because that's who I am.
But was that really who he was? Did he simply call himself Blumiere because he was trying to hide the pain of his past? Trying to hide everything the Chaos Heart and the Dark Prognosticus had done... what he had done?
And was he simply trying to make himself more acceptable in the face of his loved one? Was he trying to mask what cannot be masked, to undo what cannot be undone? Was he hiding foolishly from himself? Was he?
Maybe, maybe not. But at least there was one person he could confide in. Not Timpani, who would only say what he wished. But someone else... someone that he had known as a child.
Child... It was an almost unbearable thought.
Blumiere tried to shrug off the feeling of foreboding he felt at the prospect of approaching this person. What would happen? Would they feel threatened, aggravated, or simply a little shocked? Again, he didn't know. But there was one thing he was certain of. Whatever choice he made, he would end up going to this person.
And he needed to make sure his minions knew what he would know very soon.
Blumiere raised his hat, and teleported away.
As he moved swiftly through dimensional fabric, he wondered how best to phrase his problem. The person he knew wasn't exactly used to 'touchy-feely stuff', as they put it, but Blumiere knew that whatever they said would help.
Even if that person would reject him coldly.
Blumiere emerged in a darkened, dim, damp cave. He looked around and, as his eyes became accustomed to the gloom, he realised the faint outline of a door cut in the surface of the rock. He approached the door, and knocked thrice.
The sound echoed around the cramped cave. The Count waited for the sound to die away, then slowly opened the door.
What he saw dazzled him. After the blackness of the entrance cave, the shining of the glowing ball of light hovering in the middle of the room almost blinded him. However, shielding his precious eyes with one hand, Count Blumiere slowly approached the ball of light.
"Hello," he said.