The Art of Forgiveness

Chapter 9

"Huh?" Mario asked, stepping aside while Merlon invited himself inside. His golden eyes immediately locked onto the dimly lit lantern, which was sitting on the small table close to Blumiere.

Upon instinct, Blumiere grasped both the lantern and the book, holding them close. 

Merlon stopped in front of him, then held his hand out as if silently asking Blumiere to hand it over. His eyes were slightly firmer than normal, showing that he was serious.

"Blumiere, please give it to me-"

"Why?" Dimentio asked from the other end of the room, standing himself up and brushing himself off. The grim, depressed attitude towards life seemed to completely vanish, however, he still wasn't his usual self. He didn't smile, but he didn't quite look empty either. "If you didn't notice, we're still kinda using it-"

"Please?" Merlon asked, his expression softening ever so slightly.

Blumiere looked down at the ancient's outstretched hand. "Your hand is shaking," he noted, stalling for time so he could figure out an excuse for why he shouldn't hand the lantern over to Merlon.

"That happens with age," Merlon stated almost too quickly. "The lantern. Please."

Blumiere paused as if considering for a moment, then shook his head no. It wasn't that he didn't trust Merlon, but he needed a solid reason. He didn't know if the lantern was related to the book in any way, but he had a small feeling it was. He wasn't sure why, but the fact that it glowed when he touched it and the fact that he found it the same day the book was found couldn't have been just a coincidence. He couldn't give it up and risk losing something that could potentially be important. Not when this book was his only way back to Timpani.

"I'm not going to take it away from you if you really don't want me to," Merlon assured him as if reading his mind. "I just... I've been thinking about this a lot. I just want to see it."

Blumiere frowned, looking down at the book and the lantern. One was in each of his hands. The lantern glowed brightly, as it always did when it was in his grasp.

Blumiere let out a deep breath, then held the lantern out to Merlon. 

Merlon carefully took the lantern, then held it close to himself. There was a noticeable flash of disappointment in the ancient's eyes when the lantern stopped glowing the second Blumiere let go. 

"Um... Merlon, you good?" Mario questioned, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms, observing.

Merlon nodded, keeping his gaze on the object as if trying to memorize each and every aspect of it. He stayed silent. Blumiere was almost worried that the lantern somehow put the ancient in some sort of magical trance.

"Well, while you're here, would care to explain some things to us," Dimentio asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Merlon paused, then shook his head no, keeping his eyes on the object.

Blumiere and Dimentio both couldn't help but let out a dissapointed, slightly annoyed sigh. 

"Come on, we just want to know why you recognized the lantern and book," Blumiere breathed. "Do you know the author? Can you tell us where they are?"

Merlon paused, then held the dim lantern back out to Blumiere. The former count frowned, then took it, making the magical object glow brightly once again.

"I knew the author," Merlon admitted.

"REALLY?!" Dimentio asked, suddenly teleporting right in front of the ancient. It was as if he had just downed an energy drink. Suddenly, the serious attitude was gone and was replaced with excitement. "Where are they?!"