The Art of Forgiveness

Chapter 1

(AN: WARNING - SLIGHTLY MATURE SUBJECTS MENTIONED LATER IN THIS STORY)

The Art of Forgiveness...

Blumiere clutched the small book, confused as to where it came from. There were hardly any books down in the Underwhere. Jaydes outlawed most of them, knowing the power words could have over individuals. There was true magic in words, indescribable magic. Blumiere knew the effects well, especially after being under the Dark Prognosticus' control for so long. People can get lost in words and power. 

Still, he didn't turn the book in. He probably should have. Anyone who wanted to get on Queen Jaydes' good side would. However, he couldn't bring himself to let it go.

He had been trapped in the Underwhere for a few months by then, and every day felt like torture. It was as if nothing changed from the life he was living before. He was still separated from Timpani, trapped and surrounded by darkness. 

Even after turning around and re-summoning the pure hearts to clean up the mess he had made, he had done too much wrong to be forgiven by Jaydes. He had done too much wrong to be forgiven by anyone. Blumiere's heroic sacrifice at the end of his story had not been enough to make up for all the wrong Count Bleck had done.

Blumiere quickly found that the book would only open to the first page. He could tell that it had been some sort of journal because of the date marked at the top of the page. It had been messily handwritten, though there were shockingly few grammatical errors. He couldn't see a name or a year labeled, however. The date at the top of the page was only labeled by the month and the day.

There wasn't much meaning behind the words written on the page. It was almost disappointing, actually. Blumiere had spent so much time with nothing, that he desperately hoped for something. He had begged and prayed for a way to reunite with Timpani, even if it could only be just once, but the world had been cruel to him. Life had been cruel to him.

He was dealt a bad hand. His actions during his time alive only made things worse. No matter how much he wished for a happy ending, he knew it could never be. Sometimes, people just didn't get their happy endings.

Blumiere let out a sigh, then sat down by the river, where Dimentio always was waiting, staring emptily at the murky purple water. His mask had been broken beyond the point of repair, so there was no way for him to hide his tired, defeated expression.

Part of their punishment for their crimes was having to stay close to the one person they had wronged the most, which luck would have it, happened to be each other. Blumiere was a little frustrated by the punishment but was honestly relieved that it wasn't something worse. When he first died, he was afraid he would be punished by being chained to someone like his father for all eternity. There was no way he would have been able to put up with something like that. Dimentio, he could handle.

"Hey Dimentio," Blumiere tiredly breathed, pulling out the book and holding it up. He briefly waved it like a box of chocolates. "I found something new today..."

Dimentio didn't respond. He almost never did right away. Instead, he continued to emptily stare at the water, as if it may have the answers to every question ever asked. He never touched the river, he would only stare.

"I hate you," Dimentio murmured like he always did.

That was always the first thing he would say to Blumiere whenever the former count would try to start a conversation with him. 

"I know," Blumiere breathed, looking down at the small book he found. He never felt hurt whenever Dimentio said this. At least not anymore. It was too repetitive for it to be hurtful anymore. "The book's called The Art of Forgiveness. I think it's a journal. I can't really tell. It won't let me open it... I think there must be some sort of locking spell on it."