Davidonell tapped the pen to his head. "What is this? What does it mean?"
"You're working yourself too hard, I think."
He looked up from his work. "Oh, Dimentio. What are you doing back here? I thought you didn't want to come back."
"You can't escape fate, father. It really seems to want me here. But anyway, I came to talk to you. It's about Grape."
He put the pen down. "What's wrong now? Is Izuku having problems with her again?"
Dimentio leaned on the doorway. "Well...yes and no. She did manage to escape the prison they were holding her in, but I'm not worried about Izuku. I'm worried for her."
"What is it? Is it because she escaped?"
"No, it's because of her magic. What if she looses control? What if she snaps? What if I can't do anything to prevent her from becoming like me?" He tapped a hand to the sticker Izuku gave him. "I can't watch that happen to someone else, it'll hurt too much. I finally got my family back, I don't want to lose it again."
He placed a hand on Dimentio's shoulder. "I promise that I won't let anything bad happen to this family. I lost both of my wives and almost lost my son. I won't let that happen to you two."
Dimentio smiled weakly. "Okay...As long as you try to keep that promise, no matter what happens."
"I promise. Now let's go do something. Any ideas?"
Dimentio shrugged.
"Then let's talk a walk through town and see what we can find, huh?"
"Okay."
Fawful and Princess Shroob had been doing a great job combining the worlds. There were now a few places right outside the Rift, including a fast food place, a hotel, a few small homes, and a train station. The train went between Other Realm and the Mushroom Kingdom. It was run by Shroobs and Beanbeans, and the money had all been donated by Olly.
Olly, meanwhile, had been earning money from a fighting competition that he'd been invited to. Dimentio had been invited as well, but he never really went. Fawful promised to go with him, as he had an invitation too, but was too busy to go right now. Dimentio did drop by sometimes to meet people, but never did any battles. Not until Fawful was able to come too.
David froze.
"What is it?" Dimentio asked.
"Isn't that Grape?"
She was outside a building, holding open a portal for her Sour Bunch to use as they ran out of a bank holding bags of cash. She glanced back at them, then froze. The portal closed as she slowly looked back at them.
David smiled. "Grape! Nice to see you again!" He ran to her.
"Father, wait!"
Grape pointed her scepter at him. "Don't get any closer. What are you two doing here? I thought David went to live in the Mushroom Kingdom when the worlds united. And Dimentio didn't want to come back."
"I'm still working on moving my studies to the Mushroom Kingdom. I have to drop off every few boxes at my house from the train. While I'm waiting, I'm continuing my studies on magic. Dimentio just drops by sometimes."
Dimentio got an idea. "Hey...Since we're all here, together, why don't we have a family outing? Just the three of us? Wouldn't that be fun?"
"A family outing? If I wanted one of those, I could just hang out with my Sour Bunch." Grape tossed her hands into the air. "Oh wait, I ALREADY AM."
"Alright, not a family outing, but more like a 'I'm your biological child and I want to hang with you' thing? Since you don't want to be part of this family. I just think you should give us a chance. Please?"
Grape tapped the bottom of her mask. "Alright, fine. You get one chance. If I decide I hate you, then you have to agree to never speak to or even look at me again. Understand?"
Dimentio held out his hand. "It's a deal!"
She stared at his hand, then shook it. "Fine. But just because there's a probability of me killing you both, doesn't mean you can't change my mind. Try your hardest, I want to watch you fail."
David pulled Dimentio aside. "I like your enthusiasm, but are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Trust me, David. I saw the good side to this family, and she will too. You just need to trust me. We do a few things you like, then me, and finally her. We all get to do things we enjoy, and doing things we want to do first will show her more of who we are. Plus, doing hers last will ensure she stays with us the entire time as she waits to show us what she enjoys. Do you like the idea?"
"I do, but I'm a bit worried about your...interests."
"What's wrong with them?" He slid his mask off his face, since David felt uncomfortable talking to Dimentio behind a mask.
"Entropy? Eavesdropping? Your jester persona?"
"You can say Grape and I are like a theater. I'm the comedy mask, the one who loves fun and to make others laugh! She's the tragedy mask, the one who makes others cry and enjoys others suffering." He made a sad face, his mask changing to match. "But here's the thing, we both share something in common besides being two halves of a whole. We both love to be a little mischievous. Of course, I had to drop most of my tricks when I became a hero..."
He tapped the sticker.
"...But I do know a few harmless things. And there's also one thing we put before ourselves. Family. And if I can play into that feeling of hers, she's sure to change her mind!"
David looked back at Grape, who was talking to one of her Sour Bunch. "Alright, but only because she gave us a chance. But don't, I mean this, don't manipulate her in any way, even if it's to convince her we're not crazy. So no 'playing into that feeling of wanting a loving family.' Got it?"
"Sure, sure. Plus, I can't anyways, remember?" He tapped the sticker again. "But I can still find a way to present it to her." He slid the mask back on and they walked back over to Grape. "Alright, here's the idea. We do three things each depending on the length of the activity. If it's something like a play, then that'll probably be all."
"If it's small, like a picnic," David said, pressing his fingers together, "then we could probably squish a fourth one in there."
Dimentio nodded. "Yep. And since neither of us know Davidonell well, he and I decided to go through his activities first! Then we can do mine, so you can meet me a bit better."
"You're only doing mine last to keep me with you, aren't you?" Grape glanced at his sticker.
"Mm-hm." Dimentio folded his arms. "But you agree, right? Either way, you're outvoted so it's not like an opposing vote would matter much."
"I agree. You seem so certain about this, and it'll give me time to think up something that'll entertain the masses." She pointed her scepter at his sticker. "What's with the décor? I don't remember that being on there when I saw you with Izuku. And it doesn't look sewn on..."
Dimentio looked at it, then pulled a sticker out of his pocket. It was Olly's insignia. "Olly gave me this, and I don't need it, so you can have it." He put it in her hand. "It's a sticker! You can put them on basically anything."
She tilted her hand so it fell to the floor. "I didn't ask for one, I just asked what it was."
Dimentio picked it up. "Oh, no! Here, let me show you how it works." He peeled the sticker off the paper and held it up for her to see. "This side of it is sticky, see? It has some sort of strange glue on it. Then, you take the sticky part and...boop!"
He stuck it to the skirt of her dress. She backed from him and tried to peel it off.
"No, that'll rip it and make it a mess to clean. You just need to wait for it to not be sticky anymore, and then you can smack it off."
She gasped, offended. "How dare you! Do you know how much it costs to replace this dress? Much more than I'm getting, that's for certain. And you just put some sticky item on it like it's nothing! You will rue this moment, Dimentio. I just replaced my gloves and hat, and now I need to replace my dress too..." She picked at the sticker. "Why would you do that? I deliberately showed you I didn't want it, and then you put it on my dress without permission." She flicked a small piece of the sticker off her glove. "And now it's not coming off. Why'd you put it so close to the top? The least you could have done was put it on a spot that wasn't decorative."
Dimentio laughed. "You silly fragile witch! It'll come off soon! Just give it time! In just mere moments of fun, you'll forget all about it because you will be enjoying our day so much; like a child who had too many sweets and runs around a carnival on a sugary frenzy!"
David leaned closer to Grape and brought his voice to a whisper. "You'll have to get used to the oddly specific similes. Apparently he does it a lot, but has been hiding it from people recently, mainly in serious situations. That's the first I've ever heard him use one, but I know from Mario and Luigi that that's a general way he speaks. Don't make fun of it."
"I wasn't planning on poking fun at it. I'm not one for 'humor.'"
David gave her a confused look but said nothing.
"And now, David," Dimentio motioned a hand at him, "off to our first activity! Oh, and Grape? You're completely free to take your Sour Bunch with you! But if you try to escape, I'll just pull you back. You can't teleport away from the Master of Dimensions, you know. I can sense you anywhere..."
"And I think I know where to go first." David fixed his glasses. "And we'll need to go back to the house for that. Let's go."
Author Note: GRANDFEST IS HERE! (That's not what this is for, I'm just excited lol)
Anyway, this is a continuation from The Sorceress, and the third book in Grape's side-story series. I'll start uploading Dimentio and the Seven Realms for a bit so I have a bit more time to finish working on this story. This story is also kind of based off the song Harpy Hare by Yaelokre. (KIND OF.)
This story is supposed to be short, about seven or so chapters, so don't expect it to be long. It's also going to be a bit different than the other stories, and even though it's rated K+, this is also where the big plot point happens and Grape completely 360s her behavior. (Part of the reason it's rated K+ besides thievery, obviously. It would be rated K otherwise.)
Anyway, enjoy the story.
Team Present for the win! (I know I might have mentioned I was on future before, but I decided to go for team present after all.)