The Art of Forgiveness

Chapter 12

April 5th
Tonight is the night I die.
I awoke in my good friend's home, clutching his pillow tightly to my chest. It was warm, like him. I didn't notice that he left until I woke up many hours later. The sun was in the east corner of the sky, so I knew that the day was still there, but fading fast.
In many ways, I am afraid. Not just of the prospect of dying by the next sunset, but because I will be dying like this. Dying angry at the world and at the woman I love. I won't be able to go with peace in my mind and soul. How I wish I could let go of that resentment and anger before going. It doesn't seem fair to die still feeling that way.
Still, I can't force myself to forgive. I'm trying so hard, but I can't. I don't know if that makes me a bad person or not. How I wish to be normal. This is all my own fault. Perhaps if I was normal, I would have been enough for her. If I was normal, I wouldn't be dying tonight feeling as if I haven't even lived yet.
I don't pray often, but please Grambi, don't let me die while I'm like this. Please, help me. Help me, so I may learn how to find peace of mind. Help me so I may have the chance to learn.

That was what the book revealed to them after they had received Peach's forgiveness. 

"...I suppose that's it then," Dimentio tiredly breathed, closing the book and putting it down. He let out an exhausted huff, then twirled the new metal anxiety ring that was situated on his index finger. A cheap and useless gift, but still something. "The rest of the pages must be blank."

This had to be the end of the novel. After all, how could someone continue writing a story after dying? There wasn't a reason to write in the Underwhere, since no one would be allowed to read anyway.

Disappointed was all Dimentio could feel. He really did hope deep down that there would be something, ANYTHING meaningful hidden in the pages, but there wasn't. Just random journal entries from a man who was apparently about to die. The author wasn't even kind enough to state why he was dying. Why were all his entries so vague? They each revealed nothing and made no sense without the required context. 

Why would the hags react so strongly to a small book filled with nothing but meaningless journal entries about a man who clearly has a pessimistic view of the concept of life? Was this all some sort of stupid metaphor for how disappointing life could be? If so, it did a really good joy of conveying that feeling of dissatisfaction. 

Dimentio couldn't even begin to imagine what Blumiere was feeling. In the jester's case, he was disappointed and defeated, but he didn't have any reason to really get his hopes up, since there was no one waiting for him in the Overthere. For Blumiere... he had everything on the line. The former count must have felt completely and utterly crushed. 

Mario and Luigi returned to Flipside alongside Blumiere and Dimentio when it was time for them to be sent back where they belonged, which was honestly a surprise. Neither of the villains thought that Luigi would accompany them since Mario was the only one to pick them up in the first place. They both had silently assumed that Luigi was avoiding the city between dimensions because of the trauma associated. He never really spoke of it or of the time he spent as Mr. L, so both Blumiere and Dimentio assumed he was trying to ignore that aspect of his life and move on.

Still, there were several instances in the past few days that proved that theory wrong, the most recent being when Luigi gifted Dimentio the anxiety ring. It was apparently something he made for himself as Mr. L. Seeing that he kept it all this time, it was clear that he wasn't completely pushing away that aspect of his identity.

The return pipe brought them all to the top of Flipside Tower, where Merlon was patiently waiting. A wave of confusion briefly washed over the ancient's golden eyes when he initially spotted Dimentio with them. The jester was quick to clear the confusion and explain that he would be returning to the Underwhere alongside Blumiere.