Olly lit the candle, resulting in it smelling even worse. Everyone choked on the stench, so he opened the window despite how cold it was outside. Dimentio flopped onto Olive's inflatable mattress he had been using so he wouldn't ruin Iida's floor.
"Okay," Olly choked as he swept the candle's smoke out the window, "are you really willing to do this?"
"Yes...Now do it already before I get uncomfortable on this mattress. It is a bit...deflated..."
Olive looked a little annoyed.
Olly sat down, cross-legged. "Okay. So you need to close your eyes now."
Dimentio straightened his lying position and closed his eyes.
Olly read the spell from the book. Dimentio grabbed his head and sat up.
"Olly, I do not think it worked..."
His arm gave out on him and he fell back down. He took his hand off his head and saw he was instead standing on the ground. Olly and Olive were gone.
"Olly?"
"Your friend is named Olly?"
A tall woman appeared in front of him, her dark black hair falling to her hips. Her yellow eyes' piercing stare sent a shiver down Dimentio's back. She was wearing a stylized Kimono-like dress that covered her feet. A single earring, a black feather, hung from her left pointed ear.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" He kept a smile on his face.
"My name is Sandrahara Midnite. My husband could not make it. He is Davidonell Midnite."
"That does not answer my question..."
"Are you Dimitri Midnite?"
"Is that my last name...?"
"Yes. You are my son."
Dimentio got a little excited, so he eternally calmed himself down. "So...What wisdom do you hope to pass to me, mother?"
"How are you still alive?"
"What?"
She moved closer to him. "You were born deformed. How are you still alive? You were not supposed to make it past one year."
Dimentio took a step back. "Wh-what?"
She grabbed his hand and forced his arm out. She then rolled up his sleeve and forced his glove off. "How are you still alive? You should have died."
"What are you talking about?" He snatched his glove back. "Died? I never even knew you!"
"Me and Davidonell abandoned you when you were born. In an alleyway. You were not supposed to live for long, and we did not want to be there when you died, so we were cowards and left you behind."
"You...abandoned me...?" Tears filled his eyes.
"I thought you were dead. It is so nice to see you again after all this time-"
"No! It is not nice to see you! You left me behind! Do you want to know what that has done to me?!"
"Dimitri-"
"My name is Dimentio! And because of you, I have been insane since I was twelve! I had tried to kill multiple worlds, all because of imperfection! I tourtured a child, lied to my friends, and manipulated and used thousands of people! None of this would have happened if you had decided to keep me! All because I woke up in that alleyway, somebody died! And because of that, I snapped. And because of that, I became a terrible person. Why do you think I would ever be happy to see you again, when the only thing you have ever done for me was give up on me? At least I did not give up; on anything!"
"Why Dimentio? Why not use the name I gave you?"
"Because, up to just yesterday, I did not even know I had a real name! I have been going by Dimentio nearly my entire life! I became a mercenary! I actually had a life to live, and you and Davidonell just wanted to throw me away! I thought I was awful, but you are much worse. You made me into this. I hope you are happy with what your...'son' has turned into."
"But-"
"No. Nothing more. You only cared for me? Well, it took thirty six years for me to find real friendship. It took me sixteen years for me to believe in myself again. It took twenty four years for me to finally forget about how I killed Jumpman. Twenty four! And now it is the only thing I can think about! If you are my mother, truly, then I wish to be nothing like you. I hated my reflection for years, just because of my eyes! I hid myself behind a mask ever since I was twelve, just because I was scared that I was some sort of f-freak!"
She looked at the ground. "Dimitri, I feel awful about this now, but I thought it was the right thing to do then. And do not yell at your-"
"You are not...my mother!"
He jolted, staring at the ceiling. Olly seemed startled, and Olive had started to doze off. Dimentio sat up.
"Dimentio?" Olive asked. "Are you okay?"
The candle had been blown out, and the mattress was now so deflated that Dimentio was practically sitting on the ground. He sniffled.
"Dimentio?" Olly sat up a little straighter. "Dimentio, are you-"
He hugged his knees, sobbing violently. Olly and Olive shot each other a quick, worried glance before coming to comfort him.
"Dimentio, what happened?"
"Sh-she did nnt wand me!"
"Who is she? What do you mean by she 'didn't want' you?"
He pushed Olly and Olive away. "I mean dad she did nnt wand mee! She abanoneb me!"
"Who did you talk to?"
"M-my mubber...!"
Olly's eyes widened. "Your mother didn't want you? I don't believe that one bit! She's a real jerk then, if she didn't like you! You are very likeable! Your charisma makes sure of that!"
Dimentio slid off the rest of his mask and dropped it on the ground, crying into his hands.
"I'm sorry that you went through that," Olive said. "Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. You were right, Olly. I'm sorry."
"I hade her..."
Olly hugged him, and he didn't even fight it. Olive hesitated at first, but hugged him as well. They both let go when Dimentio slowed his crying.
"Do you feel a bit better now?" Olly asked.
Dimentio stayed silent.
"Well, I won't stand for this!" Olive said.
"Huh?" Olly tilted his head. "Olive, what are you-"
"I'm going to help you get happy again! I know you're super creepy that way, but it's worse seeing you down in the dumps! So get off that flat mattress and forget about her!"
"Olive..." Dimentio wiped the tears from his face. "You do not need to do this...Just leave me be..."
Olive held out his hand. "I don't like seeing you cry. That's not the Dimentio I know."
"Well, you do not know me then..."
"If Olly can help you, I think I should be allowed to as well. Come on, I want to help you."
Dimentio finally accepted his hand and Olive pulled him up. Olive, without warning, grabbed him into a tight embrace.
"So what if she didn't want you? I do. All of Class 1-A does. You're our friend, and friends do what they can to help one another. It's okay if you want to cry about this for a while, because I probably would too. But I care about you a lot, and not just because I'm part of you. It's because I'm a good person. You are too, and if she was too blind to see that, so what? Your friends can be your family now. But...that's only if you want. It's up to-"
Dimentio hugged him back, tears streaming down his face as he buried it into Olive's shoulder. "You need to learn...when to shut your mouth...B-but, thank you..."
Olive pat him consolingly on the back.
Olly moved a few steps back when a light covered them. It cleared, and there stood Shi. The real version of them. They were leaning over a bit, and straightened their stance whilst wiping off a stray tear. They made eye contact with Olly, who waved.
Shi waved back, bewildered. "Hello..."
Olly was stunned for a moment, then remembered the Shi everybody knew had come from Dimentio's puppet and not Dimentio himself. Shi was likely to have little to no memories of anything that had happened. He decided to introduce himself.
"I'm Olly. It's a pleasure to meet you, Shi." He bowed.
"Shi? Is that us? We like it!"
That was the first time Olly had seen their face. Their skin was the same pale as Olly's, the right eye yellow and left blue, Dimentio's star pupil in the matching eye, and the blue eye having a rectangular pupil for Olive's rectangular eyes. Their tounge was lime green and forked, with black dots at the tips of their smile. A deep purple scar covered most of the right side of their face, it matching the deep purple on the tips of their fingers.
They crouched down to Olly's level. "So, where are we?"
"In your temporary home. I do have to leave now, though. I'll see you tomorrow."
"See you later!" They waved him off.