"I would like to formally take back agreeing to be a respectful guest," Dimentio stated.

"Hey, I'm not happy about the situation either," Mario huffed.

Apparently, Merlon had called over none other than the legendary hero himself, Mario, to watch over Blumiere and Dimentio until the town formally decided what to do with them. Blumiere was incredibly nervous when the man in red first came to pick them up, but he soon realized that he didn't have much to fear. Yes, Mario was angry at both of them, but he was more so mad at Dimentio, who didn't seem to mind. If anything, Dimentio acted like Mario's hatred towards him was amusing.

Mario's house was fairly small. Much smaller than Blumiere and Dimentio both would have thought, considering the fact that he's this famous legendary hero and he's got many friends who were quite literally royalty. If anything, when Mario first came to retrieve them, they expected to be taken to a large, elegant mansion. Still, there was nothing actually wrong with Mario's home. Blumiere kept his mouth shut and didn't complain. 

There were three guest bedrooms, which was quite nice. On top of that, the house was fairly tidy and quaint. It was located in the Mushroom Kingdom, just outside of some place called Toad Town. 

Dimentio made himself right at home practically instantly, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table and putting his hands behind his head. He would tell Mario to "fetch him some refreshments," as if he was on vacation and Mario was a waiter of some kind. The man in red was not having his snarky attitude though, which in turn would lead to snippy arguing and complaining.

"I never would have guessed that the legendary hero himself lives in a shabby, run-down home all by himself." Dimentio pointed out with a twinge of amusement in his tone. "I would think that you would be suitably paid, having saved the frilly princess on several occasions."

"I don't accept payment for stuff like that," Mario stated firmly. His voice lacked expression, which gave him this always-serious appearance. "I'm not helping just to get money. I'm helping to help, just like what I'm doing now. Plus, I don't live alone."

"Ah, forgive me. Let me guess, your coward of a brother lives here-"

"LISTEN HERE!" Mario exclaimed. His ears and cheeks suddenly turned red, as if he had been enraged. The sudden outburst made Blumiere flinch, but Dimentio had been unaffected. If anything, he looked proud of himself for being able to get a rise out of Mario so quickly, and with such little effort. 

"You are NOT to give my brother any grief," Mario harshly stated, pointing at Dimentio. "He'll already have a hard enough time being in the same room as you after what you did to him specifically. BOTH of you. The Star Festival is coming up soon and we want to have a good time, which means you two better not make things difficult for us. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," Blumiere quickly nodded.

"Meh," Dimentio shrugged at the same time. "If you are so concerned about your stupid Star Festival, then why did you agree to watch us?"

"Merlon asked me to," Mario stated. "I never turn down someone who needs help."

"Ah, so you let people walk all over you. Got it." Dimentio chimed, giving a thumbs up and a snarky smile.

Mario's left eye twitched slightly, then he let out an annoyed sigh and turned on his heel, walking towards his room and shutting the door so he wouldn't have to partake in the conversation anymore since he clearly didn't have the mental capacity to deal with Dimentio at the moment.

"I think he likes us," Dimentio chuckled, grinning and leaning back on the couch. "Hey, Bleck, we should make a whiteboard and keep tally of how many times I am able to successfully annoy him out of the room-"

"Dimentio, can we please TRY to be somewhat cooperative?" Blumiere begged, setting the lantern down next to himself and covering his face with his hands. 

"This IS me trying to be somewhat cooperative," Dimentio pointed out. "I'm not teleporting away, am I? I'm not outright blowing his house up. I'm not plotting to destroy the very fabric of time and space. I'm not plotting to betray you. You're welcome, by the way."

Blumiere let out a tired sigh, clearly irritated. Even after years of working closely with Dimentio, he didn't remember him being quite this difficult. Perhaps that was because Dimentio had his own plans and was being secretive, and now that everything was over and out in the open, he no longer had a need to hide. Or perhaps his behavior was a new way for him to mask himself. Either way, Blumiere sincerely hoped that he would cut it out soon. He didn't want Dimentio to go back to being quiet and defeated like he was in the Underwhere, back when he would just sit and stare at the river, however, he didn't want Dimentio to continue acting like this. He wished that the jester could just find a happy medium.

He turned his attention down to the lantern, then slowly picked it up. Right upon contact, it began to glow once again.

He frowned at the strange object. A small part of him hoped that being in the living world would somehow provide him answers as to what the heck made it glow. He checked multiple times, there were no switches or wires. He knew it was magic and that the device was technically categorized as dark magic according to Dimentio, but it still simply didn't make sense. 

He brought his attention down the hall, where Mario had just stormed off.

He found himself letting out a nervous sigh, then walking over to Mario's door, quietly knocking with three even knocks. He always knocked whenever he came to a closed door, firstly because he knew it was rude to barge in without making his presence known. He had always been sure to knock exactly three times as well, because two never felt like enough, yet four felt like an obnoxious amount. 

"Dimentio, I swear to Grambi, if-"

"It's just me," Blumiere breathed.

There was an audible sigh of relief on the other side of the door, then the sound of brief shuffling. A few short seconds later, Mario swung the door open, making Blumiere quickly step back so he wouldn't be hit.

"What is it?" Mario asked, clearly tired.

Blumiere held the lantern with both hands behind his back, gently swinging it side to side as he shifted his weight.

"First, I want to formally say I apologize for Dimentio's behavior-"

"Don't apologize on someone else's behalf," Mario interrupted.

Blumiere flinched slightly, then nodded.

"I suppose that's a fair point," Blumiere breathed. "I'm not sure what Merlon explained to you, but-"

"All he said was that you two were back for some magical reason and I was supposed to prevent you from destroying everything," Mario interrupted yet again.

Blumiere briefly clenched his fists, then released, ever so slightly annoyed with the fact that Mario was continuously interrupting him as he tried explaining the situation. However, he didn't allow this to upset him. Getting angry over something so small would surely make forgiveness significantly more difficult to obtain. He took a deep breath and fought to keep his emotions in check.

"Yes... well, long story short, we're on some sort of quest to get to the Overthere by finding forgiveness," Blumiere calmly explained. "I won't bore you with too many details, but I was... curious. You've been on many adventures, so I was wondering if you would recognize anything of this sort."

Blumiere held out the lantern, which in turn made Mario cross his arms and raise an eyebrow.

"That... looks like a regular lantern. I've seen tons of them," Mario stated, his tone slightly condescending. "They're portable sources of light."

Blumiere let out a slightly annoyed sigh.

"No, I know what a lantern is," Blumiere huffed.

The former count took another deep breath, then handed the lantern to the plumber. Mario frowned upon seeing the lantern turn dim, then searched it over for a switch of some kind. His nose scrunched up slightly and one of his eyebrows raised, showcasing a somewhat confused expression.

"Odd..." Mario trailed off, his voice slightly quieter than before. "There isn't an on switch or anything. Perhaps it's some sort of glow block..."

"It only glows when I touch it," Blumiere stated, carefully taking the lantern back, which in turn made it glow once again. "Which is odd, considering-"

"It's odd considering the fact that you have dark magic, not light magic" Mario finished, holding his hand up. "Yeah. That's what confuses me. Sorry, but I don't know a lot about magic stuff, to be honest. This sounds like something you should have asked Merlon."

Blumiere couldn't help but bow his head in disappointment. Not that he was surprised by the fact that Mario didn't have a real answer. That was pretty much the answer he expected to get from the man in red, considering the fact that at the end of the day, Mario was human. He was strong and brave, yes, but he lacked magic.

"Did Merlon say anything about it when he spoke to you?" Mario questioned.

Blumiere paused, remembering the look in Merlon's eyes when he spotted the lantern. It was clear that the ancient knew what it was, or at least recognized it, however, he didn't actually give Blumiere any solid answers. He was rather quick to change the subject. Even when Dimentio had asked him why he recognized it, Merlon quickly dismissed the questions. Blumiere wasn't sure if the ancient was purposely avoiding the subject or if he just wanted to say what he needed to say, but it was clear that he knew something.

"I'll... have to ask him the next time we speak," Blumiere muttered, unsure if the idea of talking to Merlon again made him uncomfortable or not. Sometimes, he would still feel a little shy about speaking to people. Especially since he wasn't Count Bleck anymore. It was easier to speak up as Count Bleck because he wasn't really himself. He knew he was the bad guy, so it didn't matter what people thought of him. However, he cared a lot more about how people saw him now. Especially since he was trying to find forgiveness.

"Yeah, good call," Mario agreed, slightly awkward. "Can anyone else make it glow? It might just be a magic thing or something. Can Dimentio do anything with it?"

Blumiere shook his head no. "Just me," he admitted.

He honestly wasn't too fond of the fact that the lantern only glowed for him. Some people would feel honored and special if something like that happened to them, but it made Blumiere feel slightly uneasy as if there was something wrong with him. He spent his entire life growing up and being taught how to precisely control his own magic, so the fact that he could trigger the glowing just by holding the lantern was unsettling, to say the least.

According to Mario, Luigi would be home later that night. Mario had told his brother about Merlon asking the two of them to watch over Dimentio and Blumiere before he retrieved the pair from Flipside, which of course made the man in green nervous, especially considering all that happened with him directly. Blumiere was also nervous, hoping Luigi wouldn't be too upset with him. After all, most of that trauma was technically Blumiere's fault. Overall, the entire situation felt awkward and almost unreal, like a dream. Blumiere was still waiting to wake up and find himself back in the Underwhere. It wasn't uncommon to get dreams that dangled the hope of reuniting with Timpani right before his very eyes.

However, it wasn't a dream. In his dreams, he couldn't feel the oxygen fill his lungs. The world felt too real for it to have all been in his head. Besides, in most of his dreams, Dimentio wasn't there. 

"Forgiveness, you said?" Mario asked, interrupting Blumiere's thoughts.

The former count looked up at Mario, then nodded. "Yes. Forgiveness. According to some book- NOT the Dark Prognosticus- we need to get forgiveness from one specific person each. However, we can't really tell who yet... so I'm just trying to get it from everyone I can..."

Mario nodded, bringing a hand to his chin.

"Well... I can't exactly say I forgive either of you yet," Mario admitted. "Even with the way things ended and after learning why you did it..."

Blumiere's heart sunk slightly, but he didn't blame Mario. If anything, he understood. If he were in Mario's position, he wouldn't forgive himself yet either. 

He'd just have to work extra hard to earn that forgiveness. No one said that this would be easy, but the rewards made the difficulties seem worth it. He could be good and earn forgiveness from anyone if it meant he could see Timpani's eyes again. All he had to do was try his best. His best would surely be enough, right?

Besides, he didn't even know if Mario was the one he needed forgiveness from. He had thought about it quite a bit, and Mario did seem a fairly likely candidate considering that he was one of the ones who had to clean up the mess that Blumiere had caused, but he still could very well not be the person Blumiere needed to apologize to in order to get to the Overthere. 

He would just have to be patient and hope that the book would reveal more soon.