I blinked a few times. Did I really slip up and say that?! 

No, I was smarter than that. I had been holding secrets in for YEARS and never even remotely said anything that could connect me to who I used to be. I had been staying safely under the radar for as long as I could remember. I knew how to keep secrets.

So why did I accidentally say something so idiotic in front of you, one of the two key people I was trying to keep this secret from?! Was it simply because you were distracting me? No, I was used to tuning out potential distractions like Mimi's girly singing or O'Chunks' loud and abrasive personality.  

"Dimentio? How'd you know I saw him die?" You asked once again, this time your voice slightly harsher than before.

I didn't know what to say, so I remained silent while trying to piece together a solution in my mind—a way to cover the error I had made. 

But you, of course, weren't willing to give me the time I needed to come up with something. You instead decided that you were going to start thinking aloud. 

"If you knew I saw him die, then you had to have been there somehow. But the entire ship went down. Me and Mario were the only ones able to get on a lifeboat, which means you had to have somehow survived and escaped without a lifeboat. But only someone powerful enough to teleport or something could have done that, which means you had to have been powerful, which you clearly are. Say, Dimentio, can I see your wrist?" You asked, suddenly walking up to me and taking my wrist before I could even answer.

I tried ripping my hand away, but your grip tightened. I could feel the electricity coursing beneath your palm and fingertips. Even though you weren't exactly using your thunderhand on me, I could tell that it was a talent you still possessed. 

"L, let go of me," I hissed, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "I won't ask you again."

"I'll let go. Once I see what I want to see," You retorted, using your other hand to try to peel my black glove back. 

I shook my head at your stubbornness. It was probably the feature I hated most about you. That, and your blind stupidity. I grew fed up and teleported back a few feet so you couldn't rip the glove off.

But you didn't actually need to see the number. You already decided in your mind that you knew who I was. You didn't even need to see it. The fact that I was fighting to hide my wrist was proof enough for you.

"One?" You asked, slowly smiling a victorious smile that made me very angry. How dare you think this battle was won?! I wasn't giving up that easily.

"One is dead," I breathed in a calm manner. 

"No, he's not!" You beamed, pointing at me. "You're not!"

"What are you trying to imply here, L?" I asked, crossing my arms. "You seem confused-"

"Nope! Don't even try manipulating me. I'm not as dumb as I look," you grinned. "Just give it up. I won. You lost. I've learned your dirty little secret. The jig is up."

I narrowed my eyes slightly, torn between being annoyed, upset, or impressed. I had managed to keep that secret for years and no one had even come remotely close to figuring it out. Then you show up out of the blue and almost immediately expose me? How in the worlds was that fair?!

"I hate you," I breathed, bowing my head and rubbing my temples.

"SO YOU ADMIT IT?!" You gasp, your face lighting up exactly like it used to when you were young. "HA! I KNEW IT! You're a LIAR, One! So what are you doing here? Still trying to get the sun back? I hate to break it to you, but this doesn't seem like the best way to do that, considering the fact that the count is trying to- WAIT! ARE YOU TRYING TO SABOTAGE HIM?!" 

I groaned. We're you just going to keep magically figuring out my secrets? 

"L, could you please be quiet?" I breathed.

"So that's a yes then?!" You chuckled. "You're admitting it?!"

"No, no I am not. As I said, the person you are referring to is dead," I explained. I was beginning to feel like a broken record, repeating the same statement over and over again. 

Still, you chose not to believe me. Instead of taking the hint and leaving me be, you made the rash decision to follow me around for the rest of the day, pummeling me with question after question.

"Does anyone else know? Have you told anyone? Does the moon still follow you? Why does it do that? Hey, why's your skin grey? You never told me that story." 

I did my best to ignore your questions. The only time you ever shut up was when someone else passed by. I was internally grateful that you at least somewhat knew how to keep a secret. I was honestly expecting you to just continue rambling and end up exposing me to the count.

"What's with all the mirrors?" You asked me after another one of our meetings in the inner sanctum while I passed through the mirror hall. "There's an absurd amount."

I rolled my eyes, refusing to make eye contact with you, even though you were staring at me the way a puppy stared at its owner. It was rather unnerving. 

I briefly paused for a moment, turning my head and looking at my reflection in one of the mirrors. 

It was me. The kid who wore a paper bag and a warm brown coat. The kid who wanted to change the world.

When I took a step forward and looked in another mirror, I saw the version of me you knew. The one Ben gave that yellow rain poncho to. The one who failed to keep even one innocent child safe.

Another step, and I saw who I was now. Nothing more than the count's master of dimensions and pleaser of crowds. I saw someone who lost everything that made him himself. Someone trapped in a nightmare. Someone trapped in a nightmare that could never end unless he did something about it.

"They help me see myself," I breathed.

"Well, typically that's what mirrors do," you chuckled. "Another question, is that the same mask that you used to keep attached to your belt?"

I looked away from the mirror and brought a hand to my mask, tracing my fingers over the smooth porcelain.

"Yes."

"Cool, cool! Gimme a second, I'm gonna analyze you!" You beamed, squinting at me. The way you stated that so casually made you almost sound like a machine. The younger version of me would have smiled and laughed at how you were acting.

The current me wasn't so amused, however.

"You wear that mask to hide yourself from a world stacked against you," you started. "But that's not the only reason. You also want to carry the people you've hurt with you. The white half came from that captain, right? The scary lady who-"

"What are you doing?!" I interrupted, narrowing my eyes at you. "What will 'analyzing me' accomplish? Don't you have things to do? This is a waste of time for the both of us."

"Oh, but I disagree," You smiled. "Time spent with you is NEVER time wasted!"

I huffed. Again, the younger version of me would have blushed and thought that was the kindest thing ever said to me, but I had a Sun to bring back. I couldn't waste time with friendships that wouldn't last.

Friendships never lasted. I learned that the hard way. In the end, everyone is selfish. There's always going to be someone more important. For Blumiere, that was his dad. For you, it was Mario. Why else would you have gone after him after he fell? You could have stayed with me. If you did, Ben might not have been lost. If you just chose me, everything might have been different.

Even so, I couldn't blame you for choosing Mario. I would have chosen Blumiere back then if I could, even after what he had done. I hadn't really learned what hate was yet, back then. 

I didn't learn true hate until I discovered what the dear count had become and what he was planning. 

I had to hate him now. I had to hate you now. I had to fight to hate everything I was going to destroy. It would be much easier to erase everything if I hated it all. It would leave me with less guilt. 

I couldn't listen to the small voice in my head that told me that I loved you. I couldn't listen to that younger version of myself who only wanted to change the world to protect the good people in it. 

I had to be Dimentio. I couldn't be One.

One was dead. You saw him die. 

I died.