I tried finding Inky, but the little guy somehow completely vanished. I very heavily considered the possibility that I just imagined him, because I KNOW that there was only one Inky, and that was the Ink Demon. 

Still... he looked so real. He looked scared. 

I snuck out, expecting to see a group of lost ones still searching for me. Only, they were all gone. 

Funny, I could have sworn that they were just there. I vividly remember passing them and feeling afraid due to how many of them there were. Did they perhaps grow tired of searching and give up?

Giving up was not uncommon for them down here, so I wouldn't have been surprised. However, I had a feeling that something else triggered their disappearance-

Suddenly, all the dim lights flickered and turned off, though not all at once. Each light flickered and went out one at a time, starting with the lights closer to me and ending with the ones furthest away, as if I was the one who triggered it. 

"The darkness awakens..." A raspy voice whispered—a voice I both did and did not recognize.

There was a soft rumbling, then silence. 

I grew tense for a moment, but I couldn't hear any other movement. Usually, when something bad was near, I could hear it. While not able to speak, I've grown VERY good at listening. 

"A voice... a soul... the walls whisper your secrets..." the voice continued. "I know who you are, Blumiere..." 

I clenched my fists slightly but managed to keep moving forward. I couldn't let the tricks of the world sway me. No one knew who I was down here. To everyone, I was just Brooks. practically no one even knew that name anymore. 

A few boxes stacked in the corner leaning against the wall fell over as if someone pushed them. Candles placed on the ground flickered, despite the air being deathly still.

Candles! I knew what candles meant! Something I did learn down here is that when there were candles, then it meant Dimentio wasn't far.

This wasn't his voice, however. I couldn't really tell whose voice it was. It didn't belong to my father. His voice wasn't quite this raspy. The voice was distinctively male, though.

Well... if Dimentio was near, then I had to find him. He worshipped the Ink Demon (sometimes. Other times he would remember what the Ink Demon did to him and feel a mixture of rage and betrayal for it. However, I have to remember that the world was reset once again, so it's likely that he doesn't even remember the betrayal,) so he likely wouldn't want to turn me in to the man who claimed he killed his savior. 

I looked around, hoping to see more signs of Dimentio. There was nothing aside from the occasional candle. I was going to give up hope and search elsewhere when they suddenly all blew out, despite the air being still deathly still.

I flinched and turned around to see the large black mass standing at the end of the room, staring me down. Ink pooled beneath it and darkness seemed to surround it like a storm. 

I should have known it wasn't dead. My father really WAS just a liar. He was giving false hope to all those lost ones JUST so he could manipulate them into bringing me to him. I should have known he'd do this. Why did I actually expect him not to lie? Of course, he'd stoop this low. At the end of the day, he'd do anything to get his way.

The Ink Demon slowly began to move forward. I did the only thing I could think of and turned to run and hide. Luckily, I had become pretty good at escaping quickly. Brooks was fairly fast. Faster than Angel, I learned, which is why Mimi always had such a hard time catching any of us.

I continued running through the halls, which were filled with twists and turns. There was random junk everywhere that I had to avoid, including broken boards hanging from the ceilings and boxes filled with items from the real world scattered around the floor and stacked against the walls.

"I am the Ink Demon..." the voice continued. "Accept the darkness... you all were reborn from it. You belong to it..."

Since when could the Ink Demon speak?! And why did I almost-but-not-quite-recognize its voice?! I knew that the demon could growl and stuff, but I didn't think it was capable of actual speech. 

Then again, according to the theory that practically everyone down here agreed on, the Ink Demon was just Count Bleck's fears and anger, so speaking wasn't too far-fetched. Still, if it could speak all this time, then why wait until now? Was it because my father was claiming he killed it?

If Count Bleck felt afraid and angry towards anyone in particular, it would have DEFINITELY been my father.

I ran far enough so that I couldn't see it anymore, but I could hear breathing. I think having it out of sight but knowing it was near was scarier than when the demon was in my sight. I never actually died down here, and I didn't want this to be the first time I did. I knew very well that the Ink Demon basically killed everything it came across. Killing helped it gain a stronger grasp on this reality.

I was not about to let it get me. I never have been afraid of dying in the past. I WANTED to die in the past. But dying wasn't the same anymore. Dying only made the suffering worse down here. There was no peace, there was no rest, there was just more darkness and more pain.

I kneeled down by a table that had previously been tipped over and took a moment to catch my breath and slow my heart rate. I just needed to stay out of sight and avoid any confrontation.

"You cannot hide forever..." the raspy voice breathed. "I will find you..." 

I couldn't help but hug myself and look down, hoping that if I made myself appear smaller it would increase my chances of staying hidden. 

I squeezed my eyes shut and just waited for something bad to happen. I missed Timpani. I missed being able to just follow behind her and let me make all of the decisions. I had been doing that for so long that I completely forgot how to even be on my own. If I was going to figure this out, I couldn't freeze up like this every time something scary happened.

Suddenly, there was a hand on my shoulder. I flinched and shoved whoever grabbed me backward.

He stumbled into the wall and fell onto his back. 

"Ow..." he muttered.

I looked over at him and blinked. His voice was too smooth to belong to the Ink Demon.

I knew who this was.

It took all my willpower not to run over to him and give him the biggest hug.

He looked up at me, then lifted the cardboard cutout of Inky he wore over his face so it was resting on the top of his head. I flinched as soon as I saw the changes.

Before, Dimentio's face had always looked like the rest of the lost ones. He had been completely made of ink and had two glowing yellow eyes.

Now? He looked... more human. His skin was dark grey, only one of his eyes glowed, and he had black hair that brushed over his eyes. Yes, there were a few black scars covering his face and black liquid dripping from each of them like blood, but he looked real. 

Well, mostly real. His arms and hands no longer looked like they were made of ink, but still had been stained black. He wore nothing that resembled his outfit from his time at Castle Bleck. I only knew it was him because of his voice and the fact that he had that cardboard cutout of Inky's face that he always carried with him down here.

"Oh my Grambi... you're the perfect Brooks!" He exclaimed, pointing at me when I silently shushed him, then covered his mouth.

He squirmed slightly, but I didn't let go until he ACTUALLY bit my hand. I immediately winced and drew back, making a disgusted expression on my face so I could show him how much I disliked that.

He glared at me, then pulled down his cardboard mask over his face. "Ah... let me guess. You're hiding from the lost ones."

I shook my head no. I mean, technically I was hiding from them too. Just not at the moment. I placed my finger on the back of the tipped-over table I was hiding behind and wrote the words INK DEMON  with the ink covering my own hands. Even though I didn't look quite as drippy as everyone else, I was still made of Ink. I was just less distorted because... I don't even know why some people are more distorted than others. Perhaps it's because they don't match their characters well enough.

Dimentio stilled for a moment, then shook his head.

"The Ink Demon's dead," he said. He sounded a mixture of relieved and devastated. 

I couldn't help but let out a sigh. Dimentio of all people was the one person I would have expected NOT to fall for my father's lies. Plus, did he not HEAR the Ink Demon speaking to me just a few minutes ago?

I shook my head no, then pointed over the table. Curious, Dimentio looked over.

"Nothing is out there. You don't have to hide. The Ink Demon has been defeated," he breathed. "That's why I'm like this now. It's why I'm partially freed..."

I frowned at him.

He looked down, then sat against the wall. He almost looked pitiful.

"It sacrificed itself in battle, and used its power to partially give me, its most loyal follower, the freedom from that inky body that I wanted so much..." He trailed off.

Okay, I have no idea what happened in Dimentio's warped mind, but I was 99% sure that was NOT what went down. My father must have somehow been behind this. 

But if he wanted to believe that the Ink Demon wholesomely loved him and sacrificed itself for his benefit, then there was nothing I could really do to change his mind. It's not like I could speak and tell him how ridiculous he sounded. Besides, it was technically my own fault that he was like this. At least he was somewhat calm and not trying to conduct some sort of ritual at the moment. 

I could work with this Dimentio. For the time being.

I was about to reach out to him when I suddenly heard voices. We both visibly flinched, then simultaneously peeked over the table.

Sure enough, there were lost ones casually walking around, acting as if they never left. 

Perhaps they had never left. Maybe I was just imagining the whole experience with the Demon...

"... Don't worry, Brooks," Dimentio breathed, clenching his fists slightly. "I won't let you fall into the Ink Demon's murderer's hands. Even after its death, I shall remain loyal."

He sounded afraid but determined. Something inside of me wondered if he had always been this loyal. I mean, I knew he was one of my minions, but he completely left me and everyone else before we could finish what we started. Loyalty always seemed like a struggle for him. Perhaps that was why he was like this in this world.

I nodded at him, then wrote another quick message behind the table.

If we were going to stick together for the time being, I was going to need him not to call me Brooks. Not that there was anything wrong with the character, but it was kinda like how Timpani hated when people called her Angel. It just didn't feel right. I wasn't Brooks, even if I technically was now. Deep down, I was still me. I was still Blumiere.

Please call me Blu, I wrote.

He looked at the message, then shrugged.

"We're not friends, Brooks. I'm not helping you because I want to," he breathed. "I'm just doing my part to make sure you don't fall into the wrong hands. I'm being loyal to my savior."

I looked down, then nodded.

Fair enough. I honestly shouldn't have expected more. At least he wasn't being hysterical. Yet. Knowing Dimentio, just about anything down here could set him off. I was just grateful that he was offering to help at all.