The Underwhere was always dark, but somehow the outside world felt like it was shrouded in daylight in comparison to the darkness we were met with underground. As soon as I pulled myself out of that trapdoor and away from that pitch-black black, I was flooded with relief. Familiarity would always be comfortable. 

I reached behind myself and grasped Dimentio's wrist so I could help pull him out. 

I wanted him to walk in front of me so I could make sure he was safe, but he still refused, just like when Bobby and I first found him. Only now, I wanted him walking in front for different reasons. 

"L, you're okay!" Bobby exclaimed between quiet coughs.

My heart fluttered with relief the second I heard his voice. There was no way of telling how long I had been gone, but I was worried it had been too long. Thank Grambi Bobby didn't fade while I was away. 

I turned to face him and allowed my shoulders to sink slightly. He hobbled forward as I kneeled down and picked him up to hug him tightly, but not tight enough to hurt him. My heart still raced, overwhelmed with too many feelings to count. 

"I'm okay," I assured him. "I'm okay."

I set him down after a moment and looked back at Dimentio, who was holding his arm and looking away. His shoulders were tense. It reminded me of the posture of a child who knew they were in trouble. I wanted to tell him to relax, but how could I after what almost happened to him? To me.

I couldn't even begin to imagine how long he had been waiting down there, what was going on in his mind. Did he think I wouldn't come for him? Did he want me to come for him? Did he want me to stay away? Was he lonely? I hated to think about it, but if Mario were with me, I'm almost certain that we would have left him behind. I wouldn't have wanted to, but Mario was the decisive one. He made the decisions and I followed.

I've never been so grateful not to have my brother with me. 

Maybe I should speak up more. I'm okay with being the sidekick, but things don't need to be that way. I can make decisions too. Good decisions, even. Like the decision I made to take the sun and go on this entire quest in the first place. That was a good choice, and Mario had been against it! 

Maybe I was starting to grow into my own adventurer. Maybe now that I was learning to speak up, I'd be able to do more solo missions like this one. There was once a time when solo missions didn't appeal to me at all, I didn't care for traveling alone. All I wanted was to join Mario on his daring journeys.  I still wanted that, but now I yearned for more chances to do what I was doing now. More chances to take the wheel and be in charge, in control. 

But I never wanted to adventure alone. 

I looked back at Dimentio and Bobby, grateful that I had them to accompany me. 

Dimentio was smaller than I remembered. Physically, I mean. The cloaks and the ponchos always made him seem normal-sized, but in reality, he was quite thin. Short too, but I already knew that. Back in the day, he wore an oversized jester's cap to make himself appear taller, but everyone in Castle Bleck knew the truth. Besides Mimi, he was probably the shortest one. 

I stepped closer to him and took his hand. I wanted to say something, but maybe I didn't need to. Perhaps all he needed was for me to show him that it was okay. We were safe now. All of us.

Well, not all of us. There were still hundreds of people trapped underground where we just were, confused and probably scared. I didn't even want to imagine what the roses did to that woman or to the rest of them. Deep down I truly hoped they'd all be okay. 

If I was hoping for unrealistic things, I might as well also hope that those people never hurt anyone else ever again. I couldn't stop them from believing what they did, though. Even if it looked wrong to me, felt wrong to me, even if they were the harshest and cruelest people I have ever seen, I couldn't stop them. All I could do was hope they would stop forcing people into silencing. People should be free to choose. Truly free, not groomed into making a choice.

Dimentio briefly glanced down at our hands, then looked up at me. His eyes became slightly shiny.

"Dimentio?" I asked when he suddenly threw his arms around me. I stumbled back slightly but was able to catch myself before falling and looking like an idiot.

I wrapped my arms around him as well. Again, I wanted to say more. There were so many things I could say, but silence seemed like the best choice at the moment, because it was a choice. 

After a minute or two, he drew back slightly and wiped his eyes. They were still shiny and glassy. He looked away and messed around with his hands, fidgeting slightly. His hands weren't gloved anymore either. His nails had been bitten at. The nailbeds were a mess. 

I smiled slightly and took his hands again. Mario used to lecture me about fidgeting, he said it was one of the easiest ways to show others that we were afraid. I didn't care much, though. Fear wasn't always something that needed to be hidden. I was starting to realize that, now. 

"I'll find a way to get your voice back," I said. 

He looked up at me. His mouth opened just slightly. I wished I could see the expression he was wearing beneath his mask.

"What?" Bobby asked, confused.

"I'm going to get his voice back," I repeated. "All the others got their voices back. Why can't he?"

Dimentio's eyes drifted away from me for a moment as he let whatever thoughts were in his mind run their course.

"It may take a while," I shrugged. "I'll have to do it after I put the sun back, but who says I have to leave the Underwhere right away once the mission is done? I can stay here and keep looking for answers. Or, maybe I can go home and look for solutions there, then come back once I figure out! Heck, I might do a mix of both."

His shoulders tensed slightly and his pupils became smaller. I had gotten really good at noticing the small shifts in his eyes. I was far better at reading him now than I ever was when alive, which was funny because he could talk back then. I had a lot less to work with now that he was silent. On top of that, I always thought that the Mr. L version of myself was better at reading people because he didn't look at the world through rose-colored glasses. He saw people for who they were, I saw them for what I thought they could be. 

Still, I was seeing Dimentio more clearly now than I ever did as Mr. L. 

He looked away, then nodded toward the direction of the clock tower.

"Oh, don't worry, I went on my own," I said as I dug the old key out and held it up. "Um, sorry... I know I said we'd go together, but I... well, I didn't know if I'd ever see you again."

His pupils shrank a little more. He glanced back and forth between me and the key. I couldn't tell what was on his mind, which was a little disheartening. I guess I still had a long way to go before I could call myself a "Dimentio expert." 

It was a strange sensation. I knew him better now but still knew so little. I could paint a picture of his past in my mind, I knew more than I ever did before, but there was still so much mystery. And not just about him, now. About everyone. How well did I really know Daisy? Or Mario? Or even myself? Was I really an expert on anyone? On anything? I used to hyper-fixate on the stars and the sky, but in the grand scheme of things, I knew nothing about that either. I wasn't an expert on anything at all.

Maybe I should try to be. I should at least have been a Luigi expert. That was something I could work on once I got home. 

I could take time to remember what I loved. Re-memorize all the stars in the sky, figure out what my favorite food actually is, and determine my favorite color--everyone had always told me it was green, but was it? Green was my color, but what if my favorite was blue? Or purple, or black like outer space? Did I prefer beaches or mountains, was spring really my favorite season? Why? 

I could rediscover myself as soon as I got home.

Home, to the sunlight and the lovely little town I've grown to love so much. Home to my brother and hopefully a box of fresh Oreos. 

Home was here too, though. That's the strange thing about home, it wasn't just the place I lived. I was home whenever I was traveling alongside Mario. Home was the hotel room I had been staying in. Home was with Bobby and Dimentio. It was everywhere. 

What a time to be alive. There's so much to love, so many places I can go. So much to still solve and do. A story like this couldn't just end, it was the kind that could keep going forever. My life's not filled with dozens of separate adventures, they're all part of one big adventure that doesn't end. 

In a way, I was one of the luckiest men in all the worlds because my home was so large and vast, so limitless. My home was the entire sky. All the skies, even. It was everywhere. 

Dimentio nodded, though his gaze was lower. I couldn't tell if he felt guilty, or betrayed that I went into the clock tower without him. I hoped it was neither as he pushed his way forward and started walking toward the tower in the center. 

"What, slow down!" I exclaimed as I picked up Bobby and quickly ran to catch up. "You're walking in front now?!"

It was strange to see him walk at a faster pace. Usually, I was the fastest one since I was the tallest, but he seemed to be in a real hurry. All the caution he seemed to hold so closely went out the window as he marched onward.

"Dimentio, what's going on?" I chuckled awkwardly as I fought to keep up. "You're safe now. We don't have to rush."

He shook his head as he kept walking. I had to catch my breath once we finally made it to the tower. 

He turned and pointed at the door. 

"Alright, alright, I got it," I breathed. 

I quietly laughed at how silly he was acting. His little pout was cute, honestly. It reminded me of how he looked at the bar when I started hanging out with Llyr.

Llyr was a nice guy. I hoped he was okay. He seemed perfectly healthy, but so did Bobby at first. I wondered how many people had started to fade since I arrived in the Underwhere.

He narrowed his eyes at me slightly, as if repulsed by my laughter. This made me laugh harder.

He gestured to the door again and crossed his arms. I rolled my eyes and pulled out the key, then stepped forward. I set Bobby down so I could have my hands semi-free. The lantern was back where it belonged, attached to my hip. I didn't feel the need to hold it so tightly anymore. Not with Bobby and Dimentio beside me.

Both Bobby and Dimentio stood close behind me, watching as I held the key up to the lock.

Then, I stilled.

My stomach churned slightly and my pulse quickened. I felt electricity in the air, in my fingertips. 

Something was wrong. 

"L?" Bobby asked.

 I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath. The world went completely silent. I couldn't even hear the sound of air moving. 

Then, there was a faint crackling. 

I turned around and caught their wrist.

The green-cloaked figure was standing over me, holding the silver scissors. Sunlight from my lantern reflected off the two shiny blades.

"Dimentio, take Bobby and go!" I cried as I shoved the figure back. 

They stumbled a little, but quickly regained their balance. I put the keychain over my neck and tucked the gold key into my shirt, then dove to the side to dodge. 

They charged at me again before I could get up. I was shoved down by the heel of a boot to the center of my back. I fell forward onto my face and the wind was knocked out of me. 

I gasped for air and pushed myself up to my elbows when my entire body suddenly tensed involuntarily. There was a sharp burning sensation that started at the back of my neck and spread through my body like bolts of lightning. 

Volts of energy. 

I cried out in pain and quickly rolled over onto my back so I could see them. The green-cloaked figure stood over me. Blue sparks hovered over their hand and circled the blades, uncontrolled and dangerous. 

I could see the bolts of electricity reflect off their just barely visible blue eyes. 

My mouth dropped slightly as my entire body continued to tremble. I couldn't catch my breath, I couldn't stop shaking. Everything burned. My muscles all felt tense. I couldn't move anymore, I couldn't get up and fight. I could only lay there and twitch.

They trembled as well. I could only occasionally see their eyes when the bolts of lightning in their hands struck close enough to their face to show me. Deep blue, similar to mine, but the blue color of the sparks might have contributed to that. 

I thought they'd be filled with rage because of the way I was being attacked, but they weren't. This looked different. Almost like pity, maybe? Sympathy?

They clenched their hand into a fist and held it up. More electricity surrounded their first, moving and circling at lightning speed. I was helpless, I couldn't move or run. I couldn't defend myself.

I stayed frozen in place, my body tense as I waited for thousands of volts of electricity to surge through me. All I could do was wait and wonder what it was going to feel like. 

It felt like time stood still, each second stretching into eternity. 

The crackling energy coursed through my veins from the last time I was hit, threatening to overwhelm me. It burned. Really, really burned. I wanted the pain to stop, but couldn't do anything to relieve it.

I remained still and waited. 

Then, there was a sudden flurry of footsteps. 

Suddenly Dimentio appeared before me and placed himself between the two of us, his arms outstretched, shielding me. 

The figure before us hesitated and drew back slightly. Their gaze softened, though just for a moment. 

Dimentio held his ground. He wasn't shaking anymore. 

He slowly extended his hands. His fingers gracefully formed small, intricate symbols.

I recognized them. He was talking.

He was talking?

He was talking!

Not with spoken words, but he was talking!

She is gone. We are free, he said.

They remained still as he reached up and placed his hand over the cracked half of his mask. He grasped it tightly, then took it off and dropped it.

I couldn't see his face. Only the green-cloaked figure's blue eyes as they stepped back. 

They didn't speak. 

They never spoke, like him. 

They clutched their hands tightly to the sides of their cloaked head. Their body trembled uncontrollably now. With each labored breath, their panic grew, causing them to stumble and lose their balance. Their eyes darted around frantically. As their trembling hands lowered, their gaze fell upon the glinting silver scissors. 

They forcefully threw them aside before collapsing to their knees and burying their face in their arms. 

Dimentio remained still as they silently stayed there. Their entire body shook with silent sobs, but they made not a sound. 

Bobby rushed up to me and glanced up at Dimentio. "We have to get him out of here. He can't move," Bobby said. 

I was grateful he spoke up for me. Just breathing felt difficult now. Was this what it felt like to be hit by my thunderhand? Why did this other person have electricity powers too? I know that hundreds of people have all kinds of magic, but I thought I was unique. I thought I was the only one. 

Dimentio nodded, then turned to face me. 

Time suddenly slowed.

His eyebrows were dark. His face was thin and his features were sharp. His nose turned upward slightly and I could see his cheekbones. His skin was gray and pale. It looked like he hadn't seen the sun in lifetimes, but he didn't look bad. There were a few cuts and bruises over half of his face where the mask had cracked. His hair, like before, was messy, only now it swept over his forehead and covered the tops of his eyes. It was a blend of white and black, a balance of light and darkness.

He looked different than I expected him to. But his eyes, his eyes were the same. Pools of darkness with small little flakes of golden sunlight in them. 

He helped me up and guided my arm over his shoulder. My entire body still felt spazzy. I could barely control anything.

I gave him a grateful glance, then shakily reached my free hand forward.

Thank you, I signed.

His eyes widened slightly. He briefly glanced back at me, then gave me the faintest of smiles. 

Let's go home, he replied.