"Wow, great going out there Bleck," Dimentio sarcastically huffed from behind bars in the local Flipside jail, which was actually much smaller than he thought it would be. His tone was low and monotone. "You really got the crowd to sympathize with us there. Bravo, bravo."

Blumiere rolled his eyes, sitting on the opposite end of the small prison cell. He honestly wasn't sure what he expected to happen. He knew that hoping the people of Flipside would welcome them back with open arms was a long shot, but still, he didn't expect to be outright arrested within the first ten minutes. That had to have been some sort of record.

Dimentio pointed out various times that they could very easily teleport to escape, but Blumiere refused to let him. He knew that if they broke out, things would only look worse on them. He convinced Dimentio that they would just have to be patient and play the long game. Or, he at least TRIED to convince Dimentio. The only reason Dimentio was actually staying was that he was still technically required to stay near Blumiere, and if he teleported too far away, Jaydes would be alerted and would figure out that they weren't exactly where they were supposed to be, and he didn't want to throw himself and Blumiere under the bus. Mostly himself.

"Just calm down. We can figure this out..." Blumiere breathed.

"Oh, sure we can! I'm sure citizens will be just lining up to visit us and give us their forgiveness!" Dimentio chimed sarcastically with a sing-song tone.

"Well, I don't see you doing much to help!" Blumiere pointed out, holding his arms out. He let out a frustrated huff, then picked it the lantern, which he had set on the floor earlier. As soon as his fingers touched the handle, it began to glow once again, filling the small cell with light. He was missing his usual staff, so it was nice to have an object to hold once again, even if it was just a lantern.

"What exactly am I supposed to do?" Dimentio exclaimed, holding the book up. "We can't really do much until the book decides to quit being difficult and share its contents with us. Honestly, what is it with books being so difficult?"

"If you keep insulting it, it's never going to cooperate," Blumiere breathed.

"Books don't have feelings!" Dimentio cried out. "What are you, five? It's a magic item, not a person, which means we have to do something to trigger the reveal, and I do sincerely doubt that being polite to the book is going to be triggering anything aside from stupidity."

"Well, I doubt insulting it is going to trigger much either," Blumiere exclaimed, holding his free hand out.

Was this really what his life had come to? He used to be Count Bleck. He had the fate of all the Dimensions in the palm of his hand. He was known and feared by all. Of course, he didn't like that he was a villain, but at least he was important. Now, he was sitting in a tiny jail cell in Flipside, holding a lantern and arguing about a book's feelings.

There was the sound of footsteps, then quiet breathing. Blumiere hid the lantern behind himself upon instinct, then looked up to see none other than the Ancient himself, Merlon.

Blumiere had seen him before, but he didn't often get a chance to actually see him up close. The ancient wore his usual blue cloak, which was slightly faded from being worn so often. Merlon wasn't actually that tall, now that Blumiere saw him up close. Yes, he was taller than Mario and Dimentio, but just barely. 

As stated before, Blumiere had known who Merlon was long before he became Count Bleck. Back in the Tribe of Darkness, Merlon was one of the few members of the Tribe of Ancients that his father would openly talk about, and he would never say good things. Of course, knowing his own father, Blumiere wasn't sure if Merlon actually was as horrible as his father had described but still found himself slightly fearful.

Merlon's cloak cast a shadow over his face, so all that was really visible was his long mustache and his glowing golden eyes.

"Oh look, the old guy's here," Dimentio teased, leaning on the prison bars and smirking at Merlon. "Remember me? We had such a fun little get-together at your humble home last time. We'll have to do that again-"

"Dimentio, shush!" Blumiere exclaimed, quickly looking down and nervously fidgeting.

Merlon let out a quiet sigh, looking back and forth between Dimentio and Blumiere. He paused, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly, not enough for him to seem angry, but concerned.

"I have to ask... what are you two doing here?" He questioned. His voice was brittle, yet kind. It wasn't quite what Blumiere expected it to be, especially after hearing stories about Merlon throughout his entire childhood. He was expecting Merlon's voice to be old, grumpy, and rash. 

"To kill everyone," Dimentio shrugged.

"NO! No," Blumiere corrected, standing up and holding the lantern to his side. "Sir, let me explain. You see, we're not here to hurt anyone. We're simply looking for forgiveness. That's all!"

Merlon stilled, bringing his eyes down to the lantern, which was glowing by Blumiere's side. His eyes widened and his back straightened ever so slightly, fixing his usual slightly slouched-over posture.

He reached his hands forward slightly, revealing that they were shaking. Merlon usually kept his hands hidden in his cloak, so no one ever noticed that they were always trembling. Blumiere immediately noticed, however. The former count assumed that they were either shaking from Merlon's old age, or from the fact that he was terrified in the presence of the two people who almost brought upon the end of all worlds.

"That lantern..." Merlon breathed, his voice much softer. 

There was almost a lost quality to his tone, which was rather unusual for the ancient. There was an unreadable expression in his glowing eyes. 

Blumiere flinched, then stepped back, holding the lantern behind him as if afraid that it would be taken away from him. Not that he had grown attached to it, but he didn't want Merlon taking it yet. Not when he still hardly knew what it was and why it glowed whenever he held it.

"It's mine," Blumiere said. "Can... can you let us out now-"

"It's not yours," Merlon firmly corrected, bringing his eyes up to Blumiere. His voice was still hushed, but much more commanding than it was just a second ago.

"Oh? So you've seen it before?" Dimentio asked, raising an eyebrow at Merlon, suddenly interested.

Merlon fell silent, then took a step away from the cell, hiding his shaking hands back under his cloak.

"That's a yes. Have you seen this before, then?" Dimentio questioned, holding up the book and shaking it slightly.

Merlon brought his eyes to the book, then back to the lantern, refusing to say a word, which honestly made Blumiere uncomfortable. Merlon was looking at the two items with what looked like fear. The items weren't dangerous or something, were they? 

Then again, it was hard to tell what expression was being expressed on Merlon's face because of the cloak he wore and the shadows his hood cast over his face. Maybe he was just being curious.

"I..." Merlon started, his voice trailing off. He then shook his head and cleared his throat. "I came here to explain your current situation and what the people have agreed to do with you for the time being."

"Oh joy, will they be throwing us a parade to celebrate our grand return?" Dimentio asked sarcastically.

Blumiere let out a tired sigh while Merlon shook his head no, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"You will remain under close watch until the people come together and vote on a permanent solution for what to do with the two of you," Merlon explained. "You may very well be returned to your rightful places in the Underwhere, so I suggest that you behave and do not cause any trouble that will anger the people further. They are already quite fearful after seeing what the two of you have the potential to do-"

"They've seen the Chaos Heart's potential," Dimentio corrected. "They haven't even seen a fraction of MY potential."

"Dimentio, not helping," Blumiere muttered under his breath. 

Dimentio shot him a glare, then turned back to Merlon, who was still wearing an unreadable expression. The hood of Merlon's cloak very much reminded Dimentio of his own mask. It hid the ancient's expressions fairly well. Dimentio was slightly jealous.

"I can not talk much," Merlon continued. "We are getting ready for the Star Festival, in case you haven't heard. It is quite the big deal, so-"

"Yes, yes, we get it. Apparently, the lives of Bleck and I come second, right after your city's cute little party. I see how it is." Dimentio chuckled.

"It's Blumiere now, actually," Blumiere muttered. He had corrected Dimentio about a thousand times by then. He knew very well that Dimentio was still calling him Bleck to spite him, but he didn't want Merlon or anyone else to think that he still went by Count Bleck. 

"I know," Merlon admitted with a soft warmness to his tone. "Your old assistant, Nastasia, speaks of you quite often. I am not worried about you handling this situation, seeing how things ended the last time. I-"

"Oh, so we're just worried about me then. Got it," Dimentio interrupted.

"YOU are the one who betrayed not only the heroes, but your closest friends and family as well," Merlon pointed out. "However... I have confidence that the people can be persuaded to forgive IF you two are truly here with good intentions. If you intend to harm us once again, we have the necessary forces to stop you."

"Ooooh, I'm scared now," Dimentio teased, clearly unaffected.

Blumiere however, was slightly nervous at the thought. He didn't like the idea of being hunted down by heroes once again. He wanted to turn over a new leaf. He wanted to be the best version of himself he could so he could get the forgiveness he needed so he could be with Timpani once again. 

"You should be," Merlon breathed, his eyes briefly flickering to the lantern once again, then back up to Dimentio. "Your watchers will be here soon. You'll be placed under the supervision of some of our most trusted officials."

"Let me guess, your personal chef and your butler," Dimentio snorted. "What do you mean, 'trusted officials.' Your town lacks any REAL leadership aside from you, and let's face it, you're just a cranky old man who tells random men with mustaches what to do so you can sit back and relax while others do all the real work."

"I spend hours studying and learning so I may guide the heroes on their quests to fulfill their prophecies and keep the balance of the worlds in check," Merlon calmly corrected. This time, Merlon's voice was much softer and muddier than when Merlon had corrected Blumiere.

"Ah, reading and speaking! How very helpful," Dimentio laughed. "How very talented you must be-"

"Dimentio, stop talking," Blumiere harshly whispered. "You're making things worse."

"Maybe, but that's all I do anyway, right my count?" Dimentio questioned with a playful bow, before turning back to Merlon and grasping the cell bars, which were rusting slightly. A prisoner strong enough could probably easily break them. "Tell these 'officials,' who are supposedly supposed to be supervising us that they best prepare, because I will be SURE to make them regret even considering doing a favor for someone like you. I HATE people like you. People who sit back and command that others do things all while watching the world fall apart. People who wait and wait and wait, yet never take action. Let me tell you something-"

"And that's enough!" Blumiere exclaimed, covering Dimentio's mouth and pulling him away from the cell door. He then shot Merlon a sympathetic expression. "Thank you for being so patient, sir. We'll be sure not to give our supervisors too much trouble."

Dimentio squirmed against Blumiere's grip, clearly frustrated with being so rudely interrupted then held back. 

Merlon nodded at Blumiere, briefly smiling through his eyes, then turned away, leaving the two all alone. He didn't seem offended in the slightest by what Dimentio had said about him, which was disappointing, really. Dimentio had hoped to get a rise out of him.

Dimentio let out a groan, then pushed Blumiere away from him, gagging and spitting as if disgusted by having Blumiere's hand over his mouth. Blumiere was honestly just relieved that Dimentio didn't bite him or anything.

"Don't touch me again," Dimentio hissed.

"Then maybe don't insult the person who literally has the power to decide our fate!" Blumiere exclaimed. "Merlon could send us both right back to the Underwhere right now if he wanted!"

"Oh, relax, if he does then we'll just teleport away," Dimentio stated.

"Yeah, and ruin any risks of EVER getting forgiveness again!" Blumiere pointed out.

"Oh, enough already," Dimentio hissed. "Do you REALLY think we can actually get forgiveness after what we've done? Do you honestly think anyone is going to change the way they feel? If a dictator slaughters millions of people, then formally apologizes, will those people's families forgive them? No."

Blumiere let out an annoyed huff and bowed his head, dropping the lantern and bringing his fingers to his temples.

"I know things seem really bad right now, but we have to try, Dimentio," Blumiere begged. "I have to try. I have to see her again. I don't care how long it takes. I need to do this, and I need you to cooperate, okay? When our watchers get here, we're not going to start insulting them or implying that we're going to kill them in their sleep. We're going to be good, respectful guests. Are we clear?"