Blumiere continued to hold the lantern while Dimentio held the book. Even though the book was all they'd technically need in order to cross into the living world, Blumiere kept the lantern with him because he was simply curious about it as well. He had a lot of questions regarding the strange object, the main one being why he could make it glow. He knew very well that his own powers couldn't do such things.

Dimentio's powers were technically made up of a form of neutral magic, even though his abilities had many traits that would classify as dark magic. Neutral magic had far fewer limitations than pure dark or light magic, so it was even more confusing that Dimentio wasn't able to make the light glow.

There was a time many years ago when there were just two forms of magic. Light and dark. Of course, as years passed, different forms began to branch off, leading to hundreds of thousands of different categories of magic, however at the end of the day, all forms of power boil down to either descending from either light or darkness. Blumiere's powers were purely dark magic, as he came from the Tribe of Darkness, so the fact that he made the lantern glow was nothing short of mind-boggling.

Blumiere was quite nervous to go to the living world. He knew that the public might not exactly be excited to see him, considering everything that happened while he was Count Bleck. He was even more worried for Dimentio's sake, considering the fact that everyone knew he was the one to make things get really crazy right up at the end. 

However, Dimentio didn't seem quite so worried. In fact, he didn't seem worried at all. He either didn't care what people would think of him or was too blinded by the idea of getting out of the Underwhere. 

Before leaving, the two of them somewhat discussed a game plan. They both knew very well that they didn't belong in the living world, as there would be no place left for them to really go. Besides, until actually passing over to the Overthere, they would be forced to stay somewhat close to one another. So, neither of them made any plans to try to destroy all worlds and whatnot. They agreed to strictly focus on making it to the Overthere. Blumiere was past the idea of total destruction, but he was still slightly skeptical of Dimentio. He knew that the loss after the whole Super Dimentio incident really hurt the jester's pride, but he still wasn't sure if Dimentio would opt to try again or not. Being locked in the Underwhere can change a person's perception of the world, but he knew that there was a small risk of Dimentio causing chaos once again.

However, Dimentio agreed not to do anything of the sort, noting that the Dark Prognosticus was gone and that he probably wouldn't be able to plan anything with Blumiere there practically breathing down his back. Still, Blumiere made a promise to himself to keep an eye on him. He didn't want to show up with Dimentio back in the living world, only to throw everything into chaos once again. That would make finding forgiveness nearly impossible.

That was the next issue. What did the hags mean by finding forgiveness? Would the book give them a set of instructions on what exactly they needed? Because forgiveness can be a lot of things. Will someone have to verbally say the words 'I forgive you,' or will they need to be genuine? What if someone forgives, then takes it back? Who do they even need forgiveness from? The hags said that it was one specific person, but Blumiere and Dimentio had wronged quite a few people in their lives, so how the heck were they supposed to press forward? Was Blumiere going to have to speak to each and every person in Sammar's Kingdom and apologize for destroying everything? Was he going to have to make formal apologies to everyone across every single dimension for scaring them with the whole void mess?

He sure hoped not, because that could take quite a while...

Dimentio, on the other hand, wasn't quite nearly as worried. He was confident that in time, the book would reveal more and tell them exactly who they needed forgiveness from and exactly what they needed to do. Books always held all the answers, after all. If someone had the power to use something as stupid and pointless as forgiveness to turn a sinning soul pure, then surely that person would be generous enough to write down clear instructions in their little book.

They both paused in front of the dimensional door, ready to take the next steps. Ready to start their grand journey.

A twinge of worry etched its way into Blumiere's mind, this time not for how the people would react or for how unprepared the two were, but for whether or not the book would actually let them pass through. There was the chance that the hags were just rambling about something that wasn't really true. He didn't take them for liars, but they were rather old and did tend to exaggerate quite often...

Dimentio looked around them to make sure no D-men were nearby and watching, then held the book out to Blumiere so they could both hold it as they passed through. Blumiere nervously swallowed, then shakily held his hand out to the book, grasping it.

"The sooner we finish this, the sooner I can live my life without ever seeing your stupid face again!" Dimentio chimed, reaching for the door.

"I'm glad to be going on this life-changing journey with you too," Blumiere sarcastically breathed, letting out an exhausted sigh.

Dimentio rolled his eyes, then pushed the door open. Much to Blumiere's surprise, the door actually opened for them, revealing the brightness of the outside world. They both had to shield their eyes as they stepped forward, as their eyes had been adjusted to the dimly-lit world of the dead.

They stepped out onto the top of Flipside Tower. Thankfully, no one was around to yell and scream as Blumiere and Dimentio stepped into the light. Blumiere was immediately filled with a pang of anxiety, however, as he wondered how people would look at him when they saw his face. Would they be frightened, knowing what he had done?

"Aha!" Dimentio laughed, grinning and snatching the book back. He hugged the small novel to his chest and tilted his chin back, allowing the wind to press against his face. "Fresh air! Ah, how I've missed this."

Blumiere hardly even noticed how the oxygen filled his lungs once again. He hardly noticed the feeling of being alive returning to his body. Instead, he was focused on worry and fear. 

"Well, let's go-" Dimentio started, when Blumiere heard the elevator door chime. He immediately grasped Dimentio's arm, then pulled him behind a pillar so the two could hide. He wasn't afraid of most common people, but he knew that a lot of important people lived in Flipside. One person he wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing was the Ancient named Merlon. He was one of the Ancients who was tasked with reading over the Light Prognosticus and he was one of the primary people responsible for both Blumiere and Dimentio's downfall, as without him, the heroes would have no guidance. Back when Blumiere was just a kid in the Tribe of Darkness, he had actually heard quite a bit about Merlon through his father. His dad would always talk ill of the Tribe of Ancients, but especially of Merlon. He would say that Merlon was sneaky and untrustworthy, as were all the rest of the ancients. Of course, Blumiere didn't really trust his father's word, but still, he wasn't all that comfortable being near Merlon.

Luckily for them, the people who popped out of the elevator were no one of importance. Merely simply citizens, looking to get a good view of their hometown. Blumiere couldn't help but let out a breath of relief as Dimentio leaned forward slightly, trying to pick up on what they were saying.

There wasn't much that the jester could pick up on, but he did hear the words star and festival.

Star Festival... he could recall hearing about that once. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but that it was essentially a universal thing. He didn't know what it involved but was aware that it was somewhat of a rare occurrence. Not that any of this mattered. He couldn't care less about the stupid stars and their stupid festivals.

He did pick up on the Flipside residents saying something about a big celebration being thrown. Not that the fact was all that shocking. People nowadays celebrated practically everything, to the point where it was almost annoying.

Blumiere took a few shaky breaths, trying to stay calm and slow his heart rate when one of the Flipside residents turned in their direction.

"I can hear you," the resident, a small girl, stated. Her voice was so young, that she almost sounded eerie. Her voice would perfectly fit a horror movie involving creepy little ghost girls.

Blumiere and Dimentio both simultaneously flinched, then looked at one another. None of them had said a word, so she couldn't have been talking about them, right?

"You are breathing quite loudly," she stated as her parents hushed her and told her to stop talking to pillars before people would stop thinking she had gone crazy.

"Great going, Bleck," Dimentio hissed in Blumiere's ear. "Your breathing gave us away-"

"If anything gave us away, it's you whispering!" Blumiere hissed back.

"Bleck?!" The little girl's parents asked, their eyes widening. The girl crossed her arms and smirked, giving her parents a look that said 'I told you so.'

Blumiere flinched, his heart beginning to race.

Now they REALLY were in trouble.

"Oops... okay, here's the game plan," Dimentio breathed quickly. "You jump off the roof as a distraction, and I-"

Before he could even finish that thought, a scream cut through the air, making Blumiere and Dimentio both flinch and cover their ears. They both slowly looked to their side, where a simple citizen was pointing at them, looking as if they had seen a ghost, which honestly wasn't far off from what they were seeing considering that Blumiere and Dimentio had just come from the land of game-overs.

"Ow- ow, okay, you caught us!" Dimentio hissed, covering his ears. "No need to blow our eardrums out, sir."

"What in Grambi's name are the two of you doing here?!" Another citizen exclaimed as Dimentio and Blumiere both rubbed their ears.

"We're trying to destroy the world again, obviously," Dimentio sarcastically shrugged, looking up and grinning his usual sinister grin while lowering his hands from the sides of his head.

The citizens all gasped and stepped back, clearly terrified. 

Blumiere shot Dimentio a glare as if silently saying, 'Seriously? Now is NOT the time for jokes like that!'

Dimentio scoffed back as if saying, 'How do you know it's a joke?'

"Listen, we aren't here for trouble," Blumiere breathed, ignoring Dimentio's snippy expression and looking back at the citizens. He tried to keep his voice somewhat soft and he held his hands out, attempting to show that he was there in good faith. "If you could let us explain-"

Before Blumiere could even finish his thought, the citizens all started running around the tower in a panicked state. Most ran straight for the elevator, then out to the streets, spreading the word faster than the plague. 

Blumiere felt his heart stop in fear as a roar of terror roared from the streets.

Dimentio smiled and waved over the edge of the tower eerily as if the whole thing was a joke. Blumiere desperately wanted to just turn Dimentio invisible so he wouldn't keep making things worse by acting like that. It was like he was TRYING to be difficult. Honestly, Blumiere shouldn't have expected any less out of him in the first place.

In about twenty minutes' time, all of Flipside AND Flopside knew of Dimentio and Blumiere's surprise arrival. The public began shouting and screaming, clearly terrified of what this could mean for their personal safety and the safety of their loved ones. 

"Welp, this could have gone better," Dimentio shrugged. "I think I'm gonna teleport someplace better now-"

"No!" Blumiere hissed, grasping Dimentio's arm and stopping him from snapping his fingers. He knew very well that if they just left, this mess would get a whole lot messier. Besides, they were never going to get the forgiveness they needed if they just ran away. In order to get forgiveness, they were going to need to stay and work through this. Even if the thought of facing all those angry, afraid, emotional people made Blumiere feel sick to the stomach. They were going to have to cooperate as much as possible.

Or, more accurately, Blumiere was going to have to cooperate WHILE simultaneously making sure Dimentio doesn't make things worse.

"Dimentio, just stay quiet and let me take the lead," Blumiere breathed.

"Right, because that worked so well last time, my count," Dimentio sarcastically smirked, rolling his eyes.

Blumiere huffed, trying to ignore him. He was very well aware that he wasn't the most honest or truthful leader, but he was really making an effort to turn things around. 

All he needed to do was explain everything to the public. Then they would surely be understanding, right?