About a month had passed, and everything seemed well. The heroes of the prophecy moved slowly, yet surely. They were definitely progressing, as was the growth of the void. 

It was a race between the heroes, the void, and Luigi. Who would come out on top, it was not certain. 

The Void had the Count to back it up, as well as Mimi, Nastasia, and O'Chunks. That's not even mentioning the power of the Dark Prognosticus and the prophecy. So surely that was the one most likely to come out on top, right?

However, the heroes had Tippi on their side, as well as the helpful Pixls. The world seemed to cheer them on as they marched, the Light Prognosticus and Merlon guiding them. And the traditional hero-type good guys always won, right?

And then there was Luigi, with no one to back him besides Death, Dimentio, and his guitar. He seemed least likely to win this, but then again, he did have the advantage of being in the middle, having a foot in both other teams. He was currently living with the Count and his minions, and he knew his brother and the heroes well.

The cards were still being dealt. There was no sure winner yet. Everything was still up in the air.

"Is it finished yet?" Dimentio would ask the man in green nearly every day as more and more time went on and the heroes approached closer and closer. He placed his mask back on and kept it there whenever they were in Castle Bleck, still appearing to wish to hide from his teammates, which saddened Luigi slightly, but he was not about to force Dimentio to take it off. If he still felt the need to hide, Luigi wouldn't push him.

"Not yet," Luigi would always reply, slowly trying to find the correct melody he needed for his song. He was still missing SOMETHING. But what...?

He had someone to write it for. Someone to fight for. But he needed something more. Something to push him to get it right. Something to force him to finish it on time. He needed the words. He needed the context of the song. The purpose.

And a part of Dimentio felt saddened by the fact that he wasn't that something. But he supposed he was being selfish by thinking that way, so he always let it slide and said, "Okay. Well, finish it," trusting that Luigi would in time. Trusting that he wouldn't have to go back to his old plan.

His old plan was quite a dark one, involving betrayal and pain. He really hoped he wouldn't be forced to revert back to that one. He trusted that he wouldn't have to.

But... then time ran slim, and Luigi still had made hardly any progress on his song. He had still yet to finish the tune, and a great storm was coming. Not a storm of wind and rain, but of voids, prophecies, and heroes. A storm they had no umbrella or raingear to protect themselves from.

Dimentio didn't know which way the story would go. What if Luigi didn't finish the song? What if the Count succeeded and destroyed everything? Then there would be no place to bring spring back to. He simply couldn't let that happen!

Time flew forward, and the heroes made it to Sammer's Kingdom... where the void destroyed that entire innocent world, leaving nothing but an empty canvas that would never be repainted. 

And... a broken pure heart, devoid of all its power, with no way of reversing the damage that had been done.

Without that pure heart, the heroes couldn't win. And then that would mean it was Luigi against the Void. What if Luigi couldn't finish the song?!

He couldn't let it be just Luigi and his song against the Chaos Heart. He needed the heroes alive and capable of stopping the count as a backup. As a way to buy time.

He had to fix this. He HAD to fix this. But how? How could a pure heart be fixed?! That would require a power that no man could hold. It would take a god to fix what had been done. 

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. As more time went on more of the reality of the situation began to hit the jester. Dimentio knew that if Luigi continued to stay there in Castle Bleck, the Count would end up using him for destruction. 

He knew Luigi couldn't stay there if he wanted to finish his song. He'd need to find a way out.

Dimentio voiced these concerns to Luigi in the safety of Luigi's room so no other could hear. In there, he didn't wear his mask because he simply didn't need to. He felt safe enough

"...Then it sounds like we need to see the gods," Luigi replied after Dimentio had told him everything about Sammer's Kingdom, the pure heart, and the Count's plans. "If what you say is true, that it. If there really is no other way for my brother and his friends to revive that pure heart, then we need to send them to the Overthere or the Underwhere."

"What?!" Dimentio exclaimed. "No. No way. That is too risky! Like walking on the edge of an unstable cliff in the dark of the night! We cannot risk losing the heroes. What if they do not return?!"

"Hey, calm down," Luigi breathed, setting his guitar down and stepping towards Dimentio, placing a gentle hand on the jester's shoulder. "I'll make sure they return."

"Oh? And how, do tell, do you expect to do that?" Dimentio pointed out. "You cannot exactly track souls from here."

"Easy. I'll go with them. That'll solve the issue of me being here. That way, the Count cannot use me for his prophecy." Luigi stated in an unsettlingly calm manner.

Now this phrase felt like a punch right to the gut for Dimentio. The very idea of Luigi leaving?! Of Luigi going away from him, not just back home, but to the AFTER GAME?! What if they got separated permanently?! What if something went wrong?!

"What?! NO!" Dimentio exclaimed. "Absolutely not-"

"It's okay," Luigi promised, softly smiling. "It's not forever. I'll come back to you. I know Death. He's a friend of mine. And my brother is a hero of the prophecy. I'm sure Jaydes wouldn't want to put all worlds at stake for a simple rule. I could convince her to let this slide just once."

Dimentio just stood there, choosing to completely ignore everything Luigi just said and reject the very idea of him leaving. "No. Y-You can not go! Wouldn't the Count get suspicious if you just... disappeared? And how will the heroes even get down there? How would we get the heroes down to the Underwhere without me blowing my cover?"

"Easy," Luigi shrugged. "You just have to tell the Count that I decided to go out and fight the heroes, resulting in my death. That way he'll dismiss it as my own sacrifice for his cause."

"What? No. Luigi, this is too far," Dimentio exclaimed, trying to steady his breath. "That still doesn't answer how you or the heroes are going to even get to the Underwhere."

"You're going to kill us," Luigi replied.

Dimentio froze, feeling his breathing, his heart, his brain, everything, stop. It was like the world froze in this once again cold, uncomfortable moment. He wanted to go back to the field of flowers. Back into that brief moment in the sun.

"W...What?" Dimentio squeaked. "W-What do you mean?"

"Now, I know it's going to be hard," Luigi started, his voice soft and gentle as if he was trying to soothe the jester. "But Death is only allowed to hand tickets to the Underwhere out to souls who died. So in order to get down there, we have to die. I know it's horrible, but if we want to stop the count, I fear we have no other choice."

"Your song!" Dimentio exclaimed. "You can still finish-"

"I'll still be working on my song while I'm away. I promise," Luigi assured. "But we need to do this. My song won't work if there's no world for it to work on. I promise I will find my way back to you. I won't be gone long."

Dimentio just stood there appalled, shaking his head. "Please don't make me do it..." He begged, his voice shaking.

"Please don't make me do it," He muttered again just a few moments later, in the empty canvas of a world formerly known as Sammer's Kingdom, reaching forward and pressing his hand to the yellow execution box. There was fear in his own mismatched eyes, but not a drop or sign of fear in Luigi's. Dimentio felt his whole body tremble and shake, as he was about to snap his fingers and hurt the one person who had never hurt him. Kill the person who showed him was happiness was. He didn't feel strong enough to do it, but he was also too weak to back out and come up with another plan, and frankly, they were running out of time. The void was ever-growing. Soon, all worlds would look just like this one did, and not a single flower would ever bloom again. 

"Shhh, don't worry," Luigi smiled, pressing his hand to the glass where Dimentio's was, his voice gentle and soothing. "It won't be so bad. I promise."

The first promise he broke.

Dimentio sniffled and nodded, slowly taking his mask out and placing it back onto his face, ready to go back to the role he was originally playing. The role of the psychotic villain. The role of a murderer. A role he didn't wish to play. A role he was forced into. 

Then, he snapped his fingers.

Luigi didn't scream as the flames and fire engulfed him. He didn't cry for help. He just stood there, alive one moment, and gone the next.

He left nothing behind. He took his guitar with him, his smile, his eyes, everything. Everything that Dimentio loved, gone.

Except...

The flower. The flower he created with his song. It was funny. It seemed so long ago now. That seemed lifetimes ago. The flower still lived, even though the summer heat had killed off all the others. The petals were still soft and the colors still vibrant. 

Still alive, Dimentio told himself. Still alive.

Then, he put his acting face on, and left, ready to give the heroes the same treatment. 

Death wasn't surprised to see Luigi and Mario once they went. After all, they died all the time. It was normal. He saw Luigi first since Luigi died first. But this time instead of requesting a second chance as he always did, Luigi said something new.

"Give me a ticket," Luigi stated, holding out his hand. "I need a ticket to Jaydestown."