Everyone was now waiting at the hospital. Luigi, Daisy, Blumiere, Timpani, Mimi, Nastasia, O'Chunks, all of them except Mario were there. Mr.L was carted into a hospital room, in critical condition. None of them were allowed in as they waited for the call.
Luigi bit at his nails and tapped his foot anxiously as he sat, others merely just waited in silence. After several minutes of waiting, Dimentio came walking inside, holding Dave and Luna by the hands.
Everyone sat in shock as soon as they saw him, his mask no longer on his face. Mimi almost passed out but O'Chunks caught her. Dimentio silently told Dave and Luna to find a seat as he went to the front desk to ask about Mr.L. Dave and Luna walked over and sat across from Daisy and Luigi.
"Oh my Grambi! A-are you two alright?!" Luigi asked.
"You two are okay, right?!" Daisy questioned.
Luna and Dave nodded to Daisy and Luigi, their expressions still a little sad.
"Will father be alright?" Dave asked.
Daisy and Luigi paused, not sure how to reply.
"Well... Uh... He took a bullet to the side, I don't really..." Daisy trailed off.
"Not that father... Our other father. Will he be alright..?" Luna re-asked.
Mimi leaned over to look at them.
"I'm sorry, did you say OTHER father?" Mimi questioned.
As if on cue, Dimentio came walking back over to them. They all remained silent as Dimentio walked over to Dave and Luna.
"I just spoke with the doctors... He passed the moment they placed him in the ambulance." Dimentio murmured, "I'm sorry."
Dave and Luna sniffled and then wrapped their arms around Dimentio, more tears streaming down their faces. Dimentio hugged them back, holding back his own tears for their sake.
"Oh my Grambi... Dimentio, I am so sorry..." Blumiere said in a hushed voice.
Dimentio sighed.
"Don't be. It wasn't your fault." Dimentio replied.
Everyone remained silent as Dave and Luna vigorously tried to wipe their tears away.
"So... Who's going to take the children?" Daisy asked, "Mr.L died, we don't even know who-"
"I am," Dimentio stated, "I will be taking my children."
Everyone stared at him gawking.
"Your children?! Y-you and Mr.L had kids?!" Mimi questioned.
Dimentio nodded.
"Yes." Dimentio simply replied.
Blumiere remained frozen for a moment before chuckling a little under his breath.
"I should have guessed it, they look and act just like you." Blumiere chuckled.
"All of my good parts, anyway," Dimentio replied, bringing up a hand to his unmasked face.
Dave took his hand and lowered it, hugging his arm.
"You're beautiful the way you are..." Dave whispered.
Dimentio bit his lip as he fought back tears.
"Heh, you sound so much like your father," Dimentio said, choking on a sob.
Blumiere walked up to Dimentio, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Do you need a place to stay?" Blumiere asked.
"Huh?" Dimentio questioned.
Timpani stepped forward.
"We still have your old room... And the mirror hall... They're both unused, would you like to stay there for now?" Timpani wondered out loud.
Dimentio paused and looked down at Dave and Luna.
"What do you two think?" Dimentio asked.
Both of them thought it over.
"As long as you're there with us, it shouldn't matter," Luna replied.
Dimentio smiled before turning to Blumiere and Timpani.
"That sounds lovely, thank you," Dimentio told them.
Timpani smiled as she walked over giggling, wrapping Dimentio in a hug.
"I can't wait to catch up on everything!" Timpani exclaimed.
"Don't make me regret this," Dimentio replied with a laugh.
Timpani gave him one last hug before letting go.
"Well, Rudy and Aquafine will just have to deal with three more houseguests." Blumiere chuckled.
Dimentio hummed in response, taking Dave and Luna by the hands.
"Well, we better get going then," Dimentio replied.
"WAAAAIIIIIIIT!!!"
Dimentio turned to see Marx and Jevil run up to him.
"You can't leave without us saying goodbye yet!" Marx stated.
"Yeah, yeah! What's going to happen to us, us?!" Jevil exclaimed.
"Well... I'm done with Rogueport, heh." Dimentio chuckled, "But if Blumiere doesn't mind, the mirror hall always has a lot of room-"
"HE SAID WE COULD GO!" Marx yelled.
"NO BACKSIES, BACKSIES!" Jevil exclaimed.
Dimentio shook his head and sighed.
"Don't worry, Blumiere. I can get them to stay in Dimension D if you need me to." Dimentio replied with a chuckle.
"Well... Just don't destroy anything is all I say." Blumiere chuckled.
Jevil and Marx cheered as they all started for the doors. Dimentio looked down at Dave and Luna as they stepped outside.
"Are you two certain that you wish to stay with me..?" Dimentio asked.
They both nodded.
"Yup, we're certain," Luna replied.
"You already proved that you're fun." Dave laughed.
Dimentio chuckled to himself as they walked towards the harbor. With one swift motion, Dimentio took his mask half that was hanging on his belt and tossed it to the side. They all went to the harbor and hopped on a boat, taking a trip back to the Mushroom Kingdom.
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------------------------PRESENT-DAY------------------------
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The boy gasped as he held onto the mask.
"Wait one moment... You just retold us your story!" The boy exclaimed.
Their father, Dimentio, chuckled.
"You asked for the whole story, and I told it. You never did ask for names." Dimentio laughed.
Dave scoffed and crossed his arms. Luna laughed a little.
"Some of that story did start to become familiar," Luna said.
"Then why didn't you stop me~?" Dimentio questioned.
Luna shrugged.
"It is a nice story... But I do wish it ended differently..." Luna trailed off.
Dimentio sighed.
"Me too..." Dimentio replied, "Well, we're almost there."
They all traveled in silence for a while. Snow began to fall as they went down a dirt road. All three of them walked until they reached a cemetery. They walked through the old gates and down the rows of tombstones, stopping in front of one.
"Well... I did make this for him... He should keep it..." Dimentio murmured.
Dimentio reached into his cloak and slowly pulled out the small silver music box. Dave and Luna watched as he walked forward. Dimentio kneeled down and placed the box on the tombstone, a green rose on top. Tears fell down Dimentio's face as Dave and Luna walked next to him.
"I-I'm sorry... I always get emotional when it comes to L..." Dimentio choked out.
Luna kneeled down and put a hand on her father's shoulder.
"You don't need to be sorry... We miss father too." Luna replied, "Must be harder than either me or my brother could imagine... And on the day he died, five years ago, afterall."
Dimentio remained silent as he stared at the tombstone, snow beginning to pile up. Dave sighed and shook his head as he knelt down by Dimentio.
"Hey, you didn't tell the rest of the story," Dave said with a small laugh.
"That doesn't affect the outcome, Dave... All it did was distract us for a while..." Dimentio stated.
"Well, maybe you just needed not a distraction, but a wake up call." Dave replied, "Come on. I know my father, and he would never just accept that he lost."
Dimentio smiled.
"Thank you, Dave..." Dimentio replied, "But I don't know how I could win..."
Luna chuckled and helped Dimentio up.
"Well, you won't know until you try." Luna stated.
Dave laughed a little as well as they both started leading Dimentio along.
"You two are acting a tad suspicious." Dimentio said, "Where are we going? I wanted to at least spend some more time beside your father..."
"You can come back later, if you really wish to." Luna replied.
"But we had a better idea for today, no offense to father." Dave stated, "So we're going to travel some more, if you don't mind."
Dimentio sighed with a small smile.
"Alright... I'll follow you two." Dimentio replied, "I should spend the day with the people I love, regardless."
Dimentio cast one last look back at the tombstone as Dave and Luna led him along, into the snowy night.
~~~TO BE CONTINUED~~~