"Dimentio?" I asked.

He hit a sour note on the piano and quickly turned to face me, his two eyes glowing a bright golden color. He was, like before, completely unrecognizable.

He winced, then grasped the Inky cutout and placed it on his face, securing it around his head with an elastic band. Before I knew it, he picked up an old guitar and ran after me, yelling and screaming while trying to hit me.

I quickly backed up, holding my hands up in surrender while trying to dodge. My mind seemed to whirl.

Could this really be Dimentio?!

No, no. I SAW Dimentio die. I was there. 

"YOU! YOU WERE THERE!" He cried, swinging the guitar at me. "YOU LET HIM GET ME! YOU DID THIS! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE, LIVING IN THE DARK?! YOU DID THIS!!!"

Yep, definitely him. I could tell now by the unhinged behavior.

I reached for his mask and took it off, quickly running back a few steps.

"Dimentio, just let me talk-"

"NO!" DON'T LOOK AT ME! DON'T LOOK AT ME!" He cried out, covering his face with his hands. "DON'T LOOK, DON'T LOOK, DON'T LOOK!" 

He looked less scary now and more... sad. It hurt to look at him. It hurt to wonder what he went through. 

"Dimentio..." I trailed off when he snapped and tackled me to the ground. He sounded like he was crying, but no tears were visible. 

"You lied to me... you said I'd be free. Well, I'm going to free YOU now! FREE THE HEAD FROM YOUR SHOULDERS! AHA HA HA! Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep~" He cried, sounding nothing short of hysterical. 

He's lost it. He's completely lost it.

What else was new?

He leaned over me, raising his guitar as if about to attack, when a black cane suddenly appeared over his head, hitting him and making him fall to the side.

I gasped, then looked up to see Brooks. Or- er, Blu. 

Blu stared down at me, then offered one end of his cane. I took it and he hoisted me to his feet. Once I was stable, he turned to Dimentio, raising the cane once again.

"Wait, stop!" I cried, grabbing his arm and preventing him from hurting Dimentio.

Dimentio was lying on the ground. He managed to grab ahold of his cutout of Inky's face and was hugging it tightly, acting as if it was some sort of lifeline.

"Don't make me go back, don't make me go back," He whimpered, whispering to himself like a madman. "Not again. I can't go back into the dark again. Not again. No, no, no, no. No more. When will it just stop?! Please don't make me go back."

"That was close. You're lucky we were in the neighborhood-" Timp said from behind me, making me flinch and quickly whirl around to face her.

"Whoa, when did you get here?!" I asked.

"Where he goes, I go," she shrugged. "We were trying to map out more floors. You were asleep, so we didn't want to wake you. Are you alright?"

I shakily nodded, then brought my gaze back down to Dimentio, who was practically sobbing and still whispering like crazy.

"... I thought he died. How is he here-"

"No one gets to just die down here... When we are killed, we're dragged into the darkness, then reformed," Timp explained. 

I nodded.

So... basically, what she was saying was that everyone was okay? Or, maybe not okay, but alive?

What did that mean for Mario?!

"... How can we help him?" I asked.

Blu shook his head and looked down while Timp bit her lip, looking to the side.

"Well... you can't really help the lost ones once they're gone like this. He has nothing left that tethers him to the life he had before. The ink replaces all the memories we all used to have... there isn't anything we can say or do to help," She described.

I nodded, keeping my eyes on Dimentio while he sobbed.

Then, I shook my head.

I carefully kneeled down by Dimentio, placing a hand on his shoulder. I was making every effort possible not to appear threatening in any way.

He winced, then growled and grasped my arms tightly, to the point where it was starting to hurt. But I didn't cry out. I was afraid that if I reacted, he'd get scared and things would get worse.

"Dimentio-"

"YOU PROMISED IT WOULD END! YOU PROMISED ME-"

"Shh..." I whispered. "You're confused. Just breathe and listen to me-"

"Breathe? BREATHE?! There's no oxygen down here for me to breathe!" He cried out, trembling violently.

"That's not true. Just calm down. Think-."

"AHA HA HA HA, HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THAT YOU TRECHOROUS SNAKE?! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I AM! JUST MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP-"

"Music! You love music, right?!" I blurted out.

He slowly stopped resisting me, then stilled, looking at me with two almost empty eyes.

"Music...." He muttered, his voice much calmer. 

"Yes. Music. How do you feel about music?" I asked.

He paused as if finally taking the time to think instead of just blurting out whatever words his mess of a mind first came up with. He looked incredibly focused as if he was doing some sort of puzzle.

"Music... I remember music. It's my everything. My life, my purpose, my soul. But... I can't-" a sob interrupted his train of thought. He took a moment to catch his breath. "It's all I know. Music... but I can't- I can't make music anymore. The ink- it won't let me play a single instrument I touch. It won't let me write a single song. It's dead. The darkness killed the music. IT'S DEAD, IT'S DEAD, IT'S DEAD!!"

He brushed his fingers over the strings of the guitar, showing that the strings completely phased through the ink, refusing to create the beautiful cord it should have.

"You played the piano-" I tried pointing out, when he cut me off.

"I'm breaking the piano. The ink makes the keys stick. I'm breaking the music. It's broken. The ink killed it!" He sobbed. 

I briefly looked behind me, back at Timp and Blu. Timp looked nothing short of concerned while Blu, like always, looked somewhat guilty. I really wished he could speak. I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask him, most regarding that single audio recording from Blumiere. 

However, now was not the time for solving mysteries. Now wasn't the time to run scared.

Mario was gone. So it was up to me to be the hero. It was up to me to give everyone hope.

I looked back at Dimentio, doing my very best to sound genuine.

"Well... don't worry. I'm going to get you out of here. I'm going to help you escape so you can make music again," I promised.

Did I believe my own words?

I honestly don't even know.

But it was enough to make him somewhat calm down.

What I had learned about Dimentio in THIS world from my experiences and from the audio recordings was that he was DESPERATE for something or someone to believe in. He wanted to believe that something else was going to save him from this nightmare and end all his suffering. That belief was practically the only thing holding him together. So, to calm him down, I just needed to give him what he needed. Someone to believe in.

"...Promise?" He asked, his voice small and broken. I have to admit, it was very odd to see him unmasked like this, and I don't mean literally. Dimentio never showed fear or terror. I suppose that's just what the walls of this castle do to people. The infinite twists and turns and the lack of natural lighting can break almost anyone. 

"Promise," I said.

Again, I wasn't sure if I was lying or not. To be honest, I couldn't promise that I would get him out. What I COULD do, however, was promise to do my best. I could give him hope and keep him from falling apart more than he already had. I could keep him together until I found a way to fix this.

If  I ever find a way to fix this.

"Well... what next then?" Timp asked, humming the same tune she was humming before.

"Memory..." Dimentio muttered, seeming to be talking to himself, rather than the rest of us. 

"Hmm?" Timp questioned.

"Memory. The song. Its name is Memory." Dimentio explained. "Everyone seems to know the song, but no one remembers the name. But I do. It's called Memory."

Blu's ears drooped down slightly while Timp cocked her head to the side.

"Huh... what else do you remember?" She questioned. Her eyes squinted slightly as if intrigued by the new information.

Dimentio paused, taking a long look at each of us.

"... Mr. L, Green Thunder, and... Brobot Battle," he said, looking at me. 

He then pointed to himself. "Showtime, The Ultimate Show."

He then looked at Blu, staying silent for longer than comfortable. Blu silently looked away, awkwardly rocking back and forth, grasping his cane.

"Champion of Destruction- No... wait. That song belonged to someone else," he muttered.

Going to be completely honest, I had no idea what he was talking about. But, he seemed calm for once, so I wasn't about to stop him. 

A wave of guilt washed over Blu's face. Which made me wonder... 

It seemed like almost everyone in this world had lost nearly all their memories. Everyone except for Mario, Blu, and me. Perhaps that was why Brooks was incapable of speaking. Everyone who was recreated as the shy wolf would have their memories, but be unable to share their knowledge. It seemed like everyone could only keep a fraction of who they used to be. Mimi kept her desire to be beautiful and loved, O'Chunks kept his desperation to have worth and create a legacy, Nastasia kept her will to maintain order, and Dimentio kept his knowledge of music. 

I wondered what I would become if I stayed much longer.

"Well," I awkwardly started in hopes of moving forward. I pulled out my flashlight and switched on the Dark Light Device. "Let's find that exit, alright?"

I brushed myself off, then shone the light at the wall. There was nothing, according to Timp, that hadn't already been explored, so it was clear that I was going to have to look in less obvious spots.

"Dimentio... what made you start believing in the Ink Demon?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't coming off as rude. I didn't want to trigger him in any way and set him off. 

He paused. I could see that he was tense, but he didn't lose his mind over the question, so I deemed myself save for the moment

"He spoke to me when I first arrived. Want to listen?" He asked.

I nodded, then he grabbed ahold of my wrist, bringing him back to where he was playing the piano before I found him.

I ignored the slightly squishy feeling of his hand. The sensation wasn't the part that bothered me anymore. It felt more like a reminder now. A reminder that everything was different for reasons I still didn't quite understand. It was a reminder that the Dimentio I used to know had drastically changed. EVERYONE I ever knew had been drastically changed. 

He sat down by the piano, then pressed his finger to one of the keys. They were all sticky and stained black but still managed to create a beautiful, almost eerie sound. 

"See?" He asked me, nodding at the key.

I frowned, then looked at the black ink dripping from his hands. It was hard to notice when the ink was dry, but the fresh ink showed small indents in the keys that looked oddly like letters.

"Wait a minute..." I muttered, flicking the dark light device on and shining it on the piano keys.

Sure enough, the words, THE INK DEMON IS THE ANSWER. FIND HIM, were written on the keys, glowing in the dark light.

"Whoa..." I muttered, my eyes widening slightly. "You managed to see that without the dark light!?"

"Shhh... he's speaking," Dimentio hushed, closing his glowing yellow eyes. "Listen..."

He pressed his fingers to a few of the keys that had letters secretly written on them, creating a dark, yet mysterious chord. 

He then continued playing, note after note, forming a beautiful melody.

"The song is called Promise," he breathed, only playing using that specific set of keys. "I used to see it as... the Ink Demon speaking to me... promising an escape. A promise of freedom."

The song sounded happy but had melancholic undertones. Still, I couldn't help but smile as Dimentio played. I never would have thought he would be the type of person to just sit down and play a song like that purely from memory. 

Even if he didn't remember me or anything else, he remembered the music from his life. That has to count for something, right?