He didn't want to admit it, but it was rather nice. The alternate Dimentio listened to him as he spoke, actually seeming intrigued with what he had to say, occasionally asking questions to show that he was indeed engaged in the conversation. But Mr. L didn't quite let his guard down yet. He still needed to know what this world was and who he was speaking to. When he asked, the alternate Dimentio simply stated that this was a world designed for unhappy people, and deserved a better world. A world where their desires could come true.

But... there were still a few strange things. Like the gems. And the fact that the Alternate Dimentio wouldn't let him go outside because 'it wasn't cleaned up yet.' Or Blumiere, who seemed super off. Like he was some sort of rushed, recycled creation. A blank piece of clay was quickly remolded and repurposed.

Mr. L highly doubted it was the real Blumiere.

But, though there was much wrong, it still felt very nice to be listened to.

Together, they walked the halls of Castle Bleck. But... something felt off as they passed the mirror hall. One mirror in particular. He could swear... he could see a faint glowing come from it. However, the alternate Dimentio quickly drew his attention away from it by saying, "You know... I'm so glad you came. It's been so lonely here without you."

"Huh?" Mr. L asked, turning to him and offering a confused look as the alternate Dimentio pulled him away from the mirror hall.

"Oh, yes. I've been waiting for you. You see, unlike in the real world... I want you here. I want to hear you. I want to listen to you. I want to be with you."

He paused.

"I don't want either of us to be alone. And now that you're here, you don't have to be alone anymore." The alternate Dimentio assured.

And for a brief moment, Mr. L forgot about the real world.

"D-don't have to be alone anymore..." Mr. L whispered... briefly eyeing his old room. "Say, is that my room?" He asked, redirecting the conversation.

"Ah. Yes, but it's not ready yet. Still needs to be cleaned." The alternate Dimentio chimed.

"Will you ever let me see it?" Mr. L questioned, very curious as to why the alternate Dimentio seemed so hesitant to avoid showing him certain things.

"Perhaps. You'll get to see it if you agree." 

"Agree to what?" Mr. L asked.

"Oh, you'll see. Now come this way! I have a surprise for you!" The alternate Dimentio chimed, bringing him down to where the dining room was.

And waiting in there, Blumiere, face still empty and emotionless, with a small, neatly wrapped box in his hands. "A gift...?" Mr. L questioned, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh, it's more than just a gift," The alternate Dimentio chuckled, before turning and grabbing both of Mr. L's hands and offering a warm smile.

"I know it's rushed... but... well, sometimes when you love someone, rushed is okay," He breathed.

"L-love?!" Mr. L asked. "W-what are you talking about?!"

"Oh, come on. No need to pretend. I already know how you feel. I'm obsessed with you. I know everything about you. Your love for stars, how you long not to be alone, your feelings for me..." The alternate Dimentio smiled. "And, though the real Dimentio doesn't feel the same way... I do."

"W-what are you saying?" Mr. L asked, slightly nervous.

"I'm saying... I want you to stay here. With me! Forever and for always. You never have to be lonely again! I'll listen to you, I'll talk to you, I'll love you with all that I am!"

Mr. L was not sure what this... thing's goal was, but he was quite curious. "Alright...."

"There's just... one small, tiny little thing you need to do to stay here." The alternate Dimentio sighed, walking over and taking the box from Blumiere.

He opened it up and pulled out a small needle and thread, along with the two yellow gems.

"Uhhh, what the heck are those?!" Mr. L questioned, voice raising in pitch slightly.

"Why, these are gems. To stay here, I'll need to sew them onto your eyes! But don't worry. It doesn't hurt that bad!" He giggled.

"Um, WHAT?! No, no, no, no, no! I think I'm good," Mr. L nervously laughed.

"L... look at me," The alternate Dimentio sighed. "Do you have much to go back to? You're alone every day, hopelessly searching for someone who isn't there. Hopelessly waiting for someone to love you, when you know he never will. Here I am, offering to love you and be with you. You know that in the real world the real Dimentio will never return your feelings."

Mr. L paused, frowning slightly.

All of what he just said was true...

"And here, I'll gladly listen to everything you have to say. Your voice is like music to my ears. I can't get enough. Was the real Dimentio ever willing to listen to you?"

The man in green paused, then sadly shook his head no.

"So.... what will it be? Will you stay with me?"

Mr. L paused.

"... What happens if I say no?" The man in green questioned, raising an eyebrow when suddenly he heard something scamper behind him, causing him to jump and look. He could almost swear he saw something dark dart across the room, making him feel uncomfortable and on edge.

"....Why don't we see? It's your choice, after all. " The jester said, smile not faltering.

"Alright, no." Mr. L calmly replied, facing him again.

"I don't accept your answer," The alternate Dimentio replied.

"Excuse me? You just told me it was my choice!" Mr. L cried. 

"And it is. So, will you stay with me?" The Alternate Dimentio asked again.

"No!"

"Will you stay with me?" He repeated, stepping forward. The more he asked the more the world seemed to come alive, more slivers of darkness darting around. His voice came from everywhere.

"NO!" Mr. L shouted, backing up until his back was to a wall.

"Will you stay with me?" He asked again. "It's your choice."

"I SAID NO!" Mr. L cried, feeling more and more nervous by the minute.

"Hmmm... I'll give you time to think. When you have the correct answer, I'll be waiting for you," The alternate Dimentio calmly replied, retreating to the inner sanctum.

And blocking the exit.

"...Well, that happened," Mr. L nervously squeaked once he was gone, before looking around. "I gotta find a way out of here,"

So he started sprinting through the halls, looking for a potential exit. However, there was nothing. For the most part, it looked like Castle Bleck, but different. The halls seemed to whisper to him, chanting like the small blobs of darkness did in that dream. 

We see you,
We see you,

"SHUT UP!" He yelled, quickly rushing into where his room used to be and shutting the door behind him. He quickly turned and rested his back to the wall, running his hands through his hair as the voices continued whispering.

We're watching,
We're watching

"Watch all you'd like," Mr. L spat when his eyes softened as he looked around the room.

It looked nothing like his room from his time at Castle Bleck. In fact... it was empty, with nothing but a small desk, a pencil, and some torn-up paper with scribbly writing which closely resembled his own.

"What the..." He murmured, kneeling and picking up the pieces.

He could make out a few words, but it was all out of order. "Hmm..." He thought when he suddenly gathered all the pieces and laid them down on the floor, trying to re-piece together the broken puzzle.

It didn't take him long to organize the pieces in a way for the note to make sense. He wasn't sure what he expected it to be. A clue perhaps? Another way out?

He looked down at the writing and read aloud, 

"Dimentio, wait, Dimentio?!" Mr. L questioned, leaning down and looking at the words more closely. "Dimentio, Listen carefully. This world, this place, none of it's real. Nothing at all. It's all a trap. Made by the Manguer, or as he's calling himself, Bleck. You have to get out of here. Leave, and never come back! Please!" He started.

"Bleck?!" He pondered aloud. "Like Count Bleck?"

He paused for a moment, before continuing, "You may ask why I'm telling you this? To answer, I don't know. I know that the Manguer will surely hurt me if he finds out I told you, but I don't care. You need to leave. Take the key, and get out. Never let anyone return. Never come back-- Wait, who the heck is writing this?!" He cried.

"And about what you said on the roof, I want you to know that there's nothing I want more than to spend every day with you. I want to see the stars with you, I want to laugh and talk with you, I want to listen with you, I want to be real with you-- Oh, well that's sweet I guess...." He muttered, ignoring the small sliver of jealousy forming. 
"But, I'm not.-- Wait, what?" Mr. L whispered, leaning down more and re-reading that line. "Even if I feel things, I'm not real. It kills me that I'm not real, because these feelings I feel, they feel real. But, I'm not. No matter how real I feel, nothing can change that.
Please never come back. As much as it hurts me to know I'll never see you again, you can't return. He'll devour you until nothing is left. I can't let that happen. Not to you. Not to anyone. He'll leave you hollow and alone, and no one deserves to be alone. You've made me feel things I was never meant to feel. I can't let the person who gave me a glimpse of what being real was like become trapped in a false world forever.
I can't give my fate to you. So please, go.
There's so much I want to say to you, but I don't have the time. He's-"

Mr. L paused, then looked around the room for more pieces. "Wait, that's it?! No no no, no way it ends like that!!" He cried. "It doesn't even say who wrote it!!! Are they okay?!" He cried, frantically looking around the room for more pieces.

But, alas, he found nothing. Because nothing more was written. 

"Great," He muttered. "Now I'm even more confused."

He waited a moment, then stood up and approached the door. After all, there was no use staying in here anymore. There was nothing. No escape, no clues, nothing but that letter that gave him no answers.

Next, he walked through the mirror hall. He didn't run this time, as he saw no point. Nothing was chasing him. Although the small dark figures still seemed to follow and whisper to him.

And the closer he got to the mirrors, the louder they seemed to whisper. Only now... their voices sounded different. He paused, and looked at one, seeing his reflection and immediately jumping back!

"HOLY SHOOT!" He yelled, quickly turning and looking away from the mirror. Because in that reflection, he didn't see himself. Or... he did, but he didn't look like himself. He had two yellow gems sown onto his eyes and a horrible, horrifying smile stitched onto his face. After a moment, he found the courage to look again.

Only now he simply just saw his reflection. 

"...I hate it here," He muttered, about to turn and walk off when he noticed the faint glow coming from the mirror.

"What the..." He whispered, turning and looking back at it. He slowly walked forward and tried placing his hand on it, only for it to completely phase through.

"Gah!" He shouted, jerking his hand back.

"No...
No...
Don't come in, you'll be trapped," Came a soft, echoing voice. Sounding almost like it used to belong to a young woman. As she spoke, the glowing seemed to move with her voice, as if that was where the sound was coming from.

"W-what the heck," Mr. L squeaked.

"Have you found our eyes yet sir?

Have you freed us?" Came another, more masculine voice. 

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Mr. L asked. 

"Our eyes, sir.

Our eyes... to free us.

Have you already forgotten us..." The girl's voice whispered.

"I don't believe we've ever met," Mr. L shrugged. "I mean, you're the first talking mirror I've ever come across."

"He's forgotten us...
He's forgotten us..." They whined in unison, sounding almost heartbroken.

"No, no, no. I-I'm sorry. I just don't believe I've ever met you. What are you?!" Mr. L questioned.

"Trapped...." They whispered together.

"Okay... cool... so, how can I free you?" Mr. L nervously asked.

"Our eyes!
You have to find them and escape!" The male voice whispered.

"Okay..." Mr. L replied. "I-I'll try..."

"Hurry,
Before it is too late of you too!"

"Yeah... I think it was too late the moment I stepped in here," Mr. L breathed. "But, I'll do my best."

He noticed another small sliver of darkness dart behind him out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned to see that it was a small, beady-eyed rat.

"Wh- hey! Wait up!" The man in green called, chasing it across the castle until he came up to where O'Chunks' room used to be. He watched as it crawled under the crack of the door and quickly pulled it open to see a large.... black room.

"Uhhh, hello?" He called out into the darkness, his voice echoing slightly when he suddenly heard loud, high-pitched squeaking, like rats crying and yelling, grasping his attention to deeper in the room.

"Uhh..." He murmured, when they began to loudly chant, just as they did in the dream from earlier. 

"We have eyes and we have nerveses,
We have tails, we have teeth,
You'll all get what you deserveses,
When we rise from underneath..." They chanted, surrounding him from all sides. It was almost like the whole world was moving. Now that he could see them more clearly, their fur was greasy and icky. Just looking at their sharp teeth made him uncomfortable.

He wanted to run and leave when he saw a small orange ball in one of their mouths. It was almost as if they were protecting it.

"I-is that the..." He muttered as the rats continued circling, coming closer and closer.

The man in green paused, before reaching down and snatching it, only for the rats to screech and freak out, suddenly crawling up him.

"Ew- GET OFF! GET OFF! GET OFF!" Mr. L cried, trying to shake them off, when they began digging their disgusting, yellow teeth into his skin, puncturing it and drawing blood, making him shiver in pain.

And there were too many to fight.

"GAH! G-Get off!" He cried as they knocked him down, crawling up and all over him. "Please, get off!"

"That's enough," Came Dimentio's voice all of a sudden in a calm, almost soothing manner.

Suddenly all the rats backed away, causing Mr. L to open his eyes and sit up, quickly looking over to where the voice came from.

It was the alternate Dimentio, of course. It was foolish of him to even consider that it might have been the real one, here to save him.

"My apologies. They were merely trying to help," The jester stated, walking over and offering a hand.

Mr. L paused, looking at it for a moment, then he refused to take it and got up himself. "W-well.... that was certainly something."

"Have you changed your answer?" The alternate Dimentio calmly questioned.

"No." Mr. L honestly replied.

"Hmmm... then I'll give you more time." The alternate Dimentio shrugged. "I'd put that eye down if you knew what was best for you, though."

"Aha! So this is an eye!" Mr. L chimed, holding it up.

"That it is," The alternate Dimentio admitted. "However it's worthless without the others, and it's worthless in this world. So whatever you are trying to do, I wouldn't recommend it. Since you won't be leaving."

"Right, right, right. So hey, if you already know you're not gonna let me leave, then why do you keep asking me?" Mr. L questioned.

"I need your permission," The alternate Dimentio admitted. "To sew them on, I mean. I can't just do it unless you agree."

"And if I never agree?" Mr. L asked.

"The horrors never stop." 

"And if I do agree?" Mr. L asked.

The alternate Dimentio paused before his smile widened.

"You never have to be lonely again."

"Cool. Cool. So, you do realize this is crazy and that I'm never gonna let you sew the gems onto my eyes, right?" Mr. L pointed out.

"Yes, yes. You are rather smart, so I expected this. But never fear. I have a backup plan for you." The alternate Dimentio chimed.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

The alternate Dimentio paused, then walked forward so he was close, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"You're not my only target. If you don't agree to this, I'll merely keep you here anyway, and I'll find a way to bring him back in here."

"Who?" Mr. L asked.

"Why, Dimentio, of course. If you won't agree, well he surely will. Has he any positive feelings for your world? No! Why, he'd agree to stay here in a heartbeat."

Now, Mr. L wasn't aware that Dimentio had already rejected the idea of having gems sown onto his eyes. All his mind took from this was, If I don't agree to this, I'll be putting Dimentio in danger.

"What?! No, you can't-"

"So, LET ME ASK YOU, will you stay here with me-"

"NO! Y-you can't do that. He's-"

"Will you stay here with me?"

"HE'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS WORLD, LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!" Mr. L cried.

"WILL YOU STAY HERE WITH ME?"

"FINE!!!!!" Mr. L cried, shocking himself.

The alternate Dimentio smiled.

"....Fine," Mr. L repeated, looking down. "If... you promise to never cause him any harm... I'll... I'll stay here with you."

"Good boy..." The alternate Dimentio cooed, gently reaching forward and caressing his cheek with his hand. "Now... I'll go ready the supplies. The inner sanctum is locked, so don't you dare try to escape. And... you've already agreed, so there's no need to hide anything anymore. After all, this is your home now. So feel free to go wherever you'd like," He laughed, turning and walking away, leaving Mr. L standing alone, trembling.

"Oh Grambi..." He murmured.

______

He had no idea how much time he had, but he was guessing it wasn't long. So what did our heroic man in green do?

He ran. He burst outside and tried running as far and as fast as he could, ignoring the strange-looking harder which he didn't recognize. Ignoring the bright stars which didn't match any of the charts he had read. Ignoring the creeping darkness. The feeling of the stars watching him. He just ran, until he couldn't ignore what was in front of him.

"What the, I just ran away from this!" Mr. L shouted in frustration once he had run all the way around the small world, back to the fake Castle Bleck. He pouted and briefly looked behind him, then looked forward again.

There really was no escape.

"Gah, what do I do, what do I do?!" He frantically asked himself, looking around. He couldn't even focus on finding the other eyes or anything. All he could think about was how much of an idiot he was.

He actually agreed?! How stupid was that! All because the Alternate Dimentio mentioned the real Dimentio and briefly threatened his safety.

Well, no. That wasn't the only reason, and Mr. L knew it.

He agreed, yes, to protect Dimentio. But also because... he had no one. He was unbearably lonely. And who would miss him when he was gone. Minus well wast his death protecting someone else instead of spending it lonely for an eternity.

But he was still afraid. And he definitely didn't want to go back inside that Castle until he spotted the next thing he spotted. From far away he couldn't quite tell what it was. A large windchime? Perhaps clothes were being hung to dry from the roof of the castle.

No...

No...

"What the-" Mr. L murmured, slowly stepping closer and squinting his eyes to look at whatever was hanging from the roof. 

Then, his eyes finally focused enough to see it.

And all the color drained from his face. He felt sick. He immediately turned around and squeezed his eyes shut. But something inside him made him look again to see if his eyes had been tricking him as they did in the mirror earlier.

They were not.

"I-is that...." Mr. L stammered, feeling light-headed. He nervously gulped and looked up at it.

"Is that me?"

He began to tremble, as he looked up at what appeared to be himself, quietly hanging from the roof of the Castle, gently swaying with the non-existent breeze.

"Oh, my Grambi... Oh, MY GRAMBI!" Mr. L cried, covering his mouth and running inside, slamming the door shut behind him before holding his fist to his mouth and letting out a repressed scream.

What kind of sick game was this?!

"Ah, I see you're back," The alternate Dimentio chimed, holding the box which contained the two yellow gems, a smile on his face.

"W-what..." Mr. L squeaked, trembling. "What was that?! Outside!" 

"Ah, I see you've found my failed experiment. Well, not to worry. It's can't feel anything anymore."

"ANYMORE?! W-WHAT WAS IT?! I-It looked like ME! It-... wait...." Mr. L paused, remembering the note.

The note that was in his room, with his handwriting.

"Did... did..." Mr. L stammered.

Did he write the note? He wanted to ask.

"It's nothing to worry about. Just a failed experiment," The alternate Dimentio assured, pulling out a sharp, shiny needle, pulling some thread through it. "Now, shall we get on with it?"

Mr. L eyed the needle, as a glint of artificial moonlight bounced off the tip.

"N-No, what if I'm not ready yet?!" Mr. L cried, backing up as the Alternate Dimentio pushed forward.

"Should have thought of that before you agreed," The alternate Dimentio shrugged.

"YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME A CHOICE!" He yelled, trembling when his back hit a wall.

"Hmm, well don't worry." The jester cooed.

Mr. L squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, afraid. "N-no, please don't. I-it's gonna hurt."

The Alternate Dimentio smiled and clicked his tongue. 

"It won't be so bad... I promise." 

He lied.