The Art of Forgiveness

Chapter 7

Toad town was being set up and decorated for the Star Festival. Banners were being hung and music was being played. Typically in the Mushroom Kingdom, celebrations began the moment people started preparing, as everyone would already be smiling and having a good time, even if the actual Star Festival wasn't for quite some time still.

Mario stayed home while Luigi went out to help people set up. Going out and helping was one of the ways for him to really feel connected with the townspeople. Mario hardly ever helped with setting up for festivals and stuff because, well, he was Mario. He was the local hero, everyone knew him. Yes, Luigi was fairly well known too, but on a much smaller scale, so it was easier for him to go out and do simple tasks like helping set up for a festival without being swarmed with fans. 

There was one time when a small toad asked him for his autograph. That felt nice... he would never forget the way the child's eyes lit up when they saw him. He hoped that someday, he could bring that much joy to everyone by simply existing, just like Mario does. It's almost like magic, whenever Mario walks into town. Just by being there, he's somehow able to put smiles on all the people's faces.

"Ditched us to set up banners, I see," Dimentio chuckled from behind Luigi, grinning and holding his arms behind his back.

Luigi ignored him, continuing to unroll a banner when he suddenly froze.

"Dimentio?!" Luigi asked, whirling around. Surely enough, there the jester was, grinning at him with an amused smile. Luigi felt a heavy feeling in his stomach as his muscles went ridged. "What are you doing here?!"

"Did you seriously think you could leave me all alone in the hands of the count and your brother?" Dimentio asked. "No, that would be too cruel for someone as noble and heroic as you."

Luigi rolled his eyes, then went back to unrolling banners, which were dark blue, covered in glitter and images of stars. He didn't want to deal with Dimentio and his desperate attempts to annoy him.

"Isn't this breaking the rules?" Luigi asked. 

"No, you're watching me, are you not?" Dimentio asked.

Although, the jester was slightly worried. He knew that he was too far away from Blumiere, but usually, things were fine as long as he wasn't separated from him for too long. On top of that, he didn't know if Jaydes could even do anything about it, since he was in the living world now. Did she even have power over him anymore?

"I wasn't," Luigi stated, letting out a tired sigh. "You're lucky no one here knows who you are, otherwise we'd be having a lot of problems-"

"Wait, the mushroom people don't know who I am?!" Dimentio interrupted, for once sounding genuinely surprised.

Luigi nodded, shrugging slightly as he did so. "How would they? You've never been here before."

"Yeah, but I'm the one who practically destroyed ALL worlds," Dimentio exclaimed, holding his arms out, seeming to think that doing something so drastic would give him at least some fame amongst the Mushroom Kingdom. "You would think they would know of me after something like that."

"Well, did you teleport over here and introduce yourself while you were destroying everything?" Luigi asked, a small hint of amusement and sarcasm in his voice that reminded Dimentio of the way Mr. L used to talk.

Dimentio opened his mouth to speak, then drew back slightly, unable to come up with a comeback. 

He wasn't sure why hearing the news that people in the Mushroom Kingdom didn't know about him seemed like such a shock. It was technically a good thing because it meant they wouldn't be afraid of the sight of him. However... it was just weird to think about. Dimentio would have thought that Mario, Luigi, or even Peach would have at least mentioned him. Was he really that irrelevant?