When Dimentio got home, Blumiere wanted to yell at him for completely ditching him out of the blue and risking getting them both sent back to the Underwhere, but he fell silent the moment he noticed the jester's hunched over shoulders. Dimentio always had fairly good posture, so it was easy to tell when something was wrong.

Dimentio was quiet for quite a while. He didn't move or speak much, he didn't annoy Mario, he didn't actively try to tick off Luigi, and he didn't even insult Blumiere. He was completely and utterly silent, to the point where it was actually quite concerning. 

Blumiere noticed that something was up with him the second the jester stopped actively trying to annoy everyone in the household. At first, the former count was worried that Dimentio had somehow fallen back into his state of defeat and quiet like he had when he was in the Underwhere. 

Blumiere didn't want to admit it, but he preferred an over-the-top annoying Dimentio to the quiet, depressed Dimentio. An annoying Dimentio had an overall bright aura that would fill the room wherever he went, while a depressed Dimentio would make things seem grim and dark.

"Something wrong?" Blumiere quietly questioned once it was just Dimentio and himself in the living room. 

Dimentio sat on a single chair quietly to himself while Blumiere was sitting on a couch about a few meters away, perpendicular to Dimentio. 

The former count hugged one of the couch cushions to himself, not because he was nervous, but because it was squishy and he liked having something to hold. 

The lantern had been set on a small table, next to the book. It had been a good few hours since either had been touched.

Dimentio shook his head no, silently staring at the wall across the room from himself. Blumiere was vividly reminded of when the jester would silently stare at the River of Twygz day in and day out. Back then, Blumiere was worried that Dimentio would never smile or act like himself again. It was the one time when he truly and completely appeared broken, weighed down by the fact that he had been defeated, by the fact that he lost. 

Blumiere squinted at him, trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong. He wanted to know why the lost and defeated expression was suddenly back, as gloomy and dark as ever. His first theory was that Dimentio was starting to realize how impossible the situation they were in seemed, but Blumiere eventually banished that thought because Dimentio in the past was never one to let impossible-seeming situations get him down. All the odds in the world could be stacked against him, and he would still find loopholes and tricks to make things turn out his way. He was good at seeing different angles and figuring out his own ways to get on top, no matter how crazy a situation may seem. 

"Dimentio-"

"I'm not going to get to the Overthere," Dimentio quietly muttered, bowing his head and hugging his knees to his chest. His voice was soft and quiet. He didn't sound like himself. He didn't look like himself either. He was back to being the person who waited in the Underwhere with no purpose as the seconds ticked away. He was back to being the person who was simply existing, not living. 

Blumiere was hit with a brief wave of clarity, then slowly nodded. He could see what was going on now. Dimentio was afraid. The jester didn't get scared often, but whenever he did, he would make himself small. He wouldn't often talk about his fears because he never wanted anyone else to see him that way, so he would usually just hide. However, when he couldn't hide or when he stopped caring to hide, he would simply get like this. Quiet.

"We'll find a way to make it," Blumiere tried assuring him, hoping to sound at least somewhat positive and motivational. If Dimentio was simply losing motivation, then Blumiere had loads to spare. "I know it seems impossible, but-"

"No, YOU'LL find a way to make it," Dimentio corrected, keeping his head low. He only raised his voice for a fraction of a second, then quickly returned to sounding soft and meek. Soft, meek, yet sure of his words. As he spoke, he sounded as if he truly believed each and every sentence. He wasn't being overdramatic. He was being honest with himself for once. "I won't. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve forgiveness, which means I'm not going to get it. I can't change like you. I can't, because I don't have anything to change for. I'm stuck."

Blumiere gave Dimentio an empathetic look. There was a time when he felt the same way. A time when he thought he could never be good because there was no one to be good for-- when he too felt stuck. In some ways, he still felt stuck. He still felt afraid of always being remembered as a villain. 

He still felt like he didn't deserve forgiveness. 

However, he was never stuck. There were always people who he loved. As Count Bleck, he just simply didn't realize it. He didn't realize that even with Timpani gone, he always had people who could inspire him to be better. Even when he thought he was completely on his own, he was never actually alone.

Neither was Dimentio. Sure, to him it may have seemed like he was alone, but he wasn't. Blumiere was there.

"Dimentio, when I say we'll make it, I mean WE'LL make it," Blumiere breathed, trying to keep his tone somewhat gentle, but firm enough for him to sound strong and sure of himself. He knew that Dimentio would never believe him if he sounded meek and unsure. 

Dimentio shook his head no, still refusing to look at the former count. It was as if he was afraid of Blumiere seeing the defeated look in his eyes. He didn't want to be seen as a failure or as someone who had lost the spark inside of him.

"This is pathetic," Dimentio muttered, doing his best to sound spiteful so Blumiere would take the hint and leave him alone. He honestly didn't feel like he could handle having a conversation. He just wanted to go back to feeling defeated and empty. It was easier to just not get hopes up, as opposed to being disappointed. "Completely and utterly pathetic. You're either a liar or an idiot. Knowing you, you're probably both."

Blumiere knew this trick well. Now Dimentio was hiding behind a mask of insults, hoping to hurt Blumiere so his own pain wouldn't look so obvious. It was a desperate tactic, however, it was one that Dimentio tended to use quite often, making it easy to spot and recognize.

"I'm not lying," Blumiere assured him. "Really. We'll find a way-"

"Luigi won't forgive me," Dimentio interrupted, clutching the edges of his purple and yellow cloak. "I need his forgiveness, but he's never going to forgive me. I'm not saying it's his fault, but... I'm just stuck."

Ah, Dimentio must have just been shaken up because he realized how much his actions had actually affected people. Perhaps seeing Luigi, someone who was once his friend as Mr. L, acting so differently around the jester must have made Dimentio realize that his actions do have consequences. 

Blumiere softly smiled, glad to see a more sensitive side of Dimentio. He always knew that there was some empathy buried deep down there, even if Dimentio rarely showed it. Sometimes, it hurts to allow oneself to be empathetic and to feel, but it was still necessary. "He might not be the one you need forgiveness from-"

"No! You don't understand!" Dimentio exclaimed, finally looking up. His eyes were slightly glassy, but he wasn't crying. He looked defeated and scared, but there were no tears. Dimentio never cried, even when he felt defeated and upset. He never let actual tears fall. Not even when no one could see. "I need his forgiveness. Even... even if he's not the person I technically need forgiveness from. I just... I need to earn his forgiveness so I have a reason to care. I can't be a good person if I don't have what you have. I can't get forgiveness if I don't care, and I can't care if I don't have anything left to care about!"

Blumiere paused.

What was this really about? He didn't take Dimentio to be the type who cared about having a reason to get to the Overthere. He didn't care about the means, just the ends. Or at least, that's what Blumiere always thought.

"I just... I've done too much wrong, and now I can't come back from it..." Dimentio trailed off, looking down again. He quietly chuckled, though Blumiere could tell that the laughter wasn't sincere. 

Then, the jester muttered something that Blumiere couldn't quite hear.

The former count paused, then looked down at his hands. 

He and Dimentio were not friends by any means. However, Blumiere realized that Dimentio just shared something that was weighing down on him. Something that was most definitely very difficult to say. 

It was only right that he do the same.

"Dimentio... I don't deserve forgiveness either," Blumiere admitted. "I-"

"Stop talking. You're the one who's acting all good and noble now," Dimentio huffed, his voice slightly muffled. "You deserve it more than me. We essentially did the same thing."

"Yes, but I've always been... I've always had guilt weighing me down, I suppose," Blumiere calmly admitted, bringing his hands together and keeping his eyes on them, refusing to look up at anything else.

"Why? Because you destroyed your tribe? Because your stupid girlfriend died because of you?" Dimentio snapped.

Blumiere winced slightly, already feeling like this was a bad idea. The fact that Timpani would never have been cursed to wander the dimensions aimlessly if it weren't for him did heavily weigh him down constantly, as did the fact that he brought upon the end of the Tribe of Darkness, but he tried not to think about any of that. He blamed himself as much as he blamed his father, but still, it hurt to hear Dimentio say that. 

"Well, yes, but that's not what I'm talking about," Blumiere admitted, his voice slightly smaller than before. "This... happened a long time before that."

"What? What could you possibly have to be guilty about?" Dimentio asked. 

"I killed my mother."

Dimentio shifted slightly, looking up at Blumiere once again. Now Blumiere was the one looking down and feeling small.

The jester didn't make a sound. He didn't say anything. He didn't make a witty remark. There was simply silence.

"The day I was brought into the world... was the day she left," Blumiere breathed, trying to keep his voice and tone steady. However, he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. He couldn't stop himself from feeling a little emotional. 

He shook his head, taking a deep breath and finding the will to stay strong.

"When I was born, there were some complications, and she didn't make it. After that, my father had to raise me on his own," he explained. "He never let me forget that her death was my fault. He never let me forget that I was the reason she was gone. He wouldn't even tell me her name or what she was like. He said that I didn't deserve to know her."

Dimentio shifted slightly. "Well," he started, when Blumiere shook his head, holding his hand up to signal that he wasn't finished.

"I never even knew her, so it's not too sad, but... I wish I could apologize to her. I wish I could get her forgiveness," he breathed. "But I can't. No matter how much I want to, no matter how hard I try... sometimes we just can't get forgiveness."

Dimentio drew back again, then sat back down, looking back at the wall.

"Looks like we're both stuck, then..." Dimentio muttered.

Blumiere nodded.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, then three perfectly even knocks on the door. Blumiere noticed that they were perfectly timed, which was actually rather satisfying. 

"I've got it!" Mario chimed from the other room, running through the house and sliding to a stop at the door. One of the things Mario was strict about was not letting Dimentio or Blumiere answer the door, simply because he was afraid of Peach coming over and having a heart attack if either of them happened to answer. Mario quickly opened it, offering a smile.

It wasn't Peach, however.

Instead, they were treated with the blue-cloaked ancient. His golden eyes were narrowed slightly, showcasing seriousness. He brought the shaking hand he used to knock back into his cloak. His stance was rigid.

"I came for the lantern," Merlon stated.