It... didn't exist anymore.

It simply didn't exist anymore.

Dio slowly blinked a few times, feeling as if a heavy, crushing weight had been placed upon him. He literally felt about one hundred times heavier than before. He almost wanted this imaginary weight to crush his bones to dust so he wouldn't have to feel the burning sensation in his lungs as the realization had sunk in.

All these years... his home and family had been gone for all these years, and he didn't even know.

He didn't even know!

He had been running on nothing more than false hope for all these years! He only told himself to keep pushing forward because he had thought that someday he'd make it home and all his pain would be worth it.

But it wasn't. All these years, all the heartache, all the loneliness, it all led to nothing.

IT ALL LED TO NOTHING!

He wished he could take a cool, steel knife and cut away the pain. Cut away the burning loneliness. He didn't feel strong anymore. He wished he could feel the relief of the blade cutting across his skin, bringing that beautifully sweet yet cold stinging sensation. He wished these feelings could just end.

The feeling he felt now, the grief of the moment hit him like a sneaker wave. The riptide had dragged him out to sea, pulling out down further and further away from land.

How could he have been so hopeful? How could he have been so stupid?! All these years he had been looking for something that wasn't even there!

He began to breathe heavily, but with each breath, he felt as if he was suffocating. He felt as if something had wrapped around him tightly and squeezed the air out. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to get the supply of oxygen he needed.

He had said before that it didn't matter what happened to him, so long as he could get home. He didn't care how much of his own blood he'd spill. He just wanted to be home. Before this, he didn't even care if he would have had to give every drop in his body. He just wanted to go home.

But now... he could see that it had all been a waste. All the pain, all the loneliness, all the effort. It had been for nothing. He squeezed his eyes shut, bowing his head in defeat.

"It's gone..." He whispered, sounding broken.

Lost, and broken. That's all he was.

Everything hurt. This had hurt far more than anything had ever hurt before. Far more than the cuts he had given himself. It felt worse than being stabbed by a cold knife. It felt worse than someone taking his spine and ripping it from his body.

He didn't have a family. He didn't have a home. He didn't have a brother. He didn't even have a friend. He didn't have his own Mr. L.

He. Had. Nothing.

Not the kind of nothing Dimentio had, but truly nothing.

And the worst part... he wasn't even there when it was all taken away. He didn't even know it happened. He wasn't there to vanish alongside his brother. He wished more than anything that he could have been. He wished more than anything that he could have just died with his family.

Surviving felt like a curse.

"I-I really am an idiot..." He whispered. He didn't know what to do now. What COULD he do now? He had nowhere to go. There was nothing left. All his hard work, all his plans, they were all in vain.

This couldn't be it.

"No..." He whispered, slowly standing up and wiping his tears, which didn't stop them from falling faster and faster still.

"I'm going home."

He then waved his hand and teleported away.

______

Luigi was simply sitting in his bedroom, having a normal texting conversation with Daisy on his phone, (Unlike the ones Dio would often have,) when he heard the sound of the familiar chime come from a few rooms over.

Polterpup immediately started barking from the other room as if something was wrong, which was offputting. Yes, the ghost dog barked often, but it never seemed quite as distressed.

Luigi quickly sat up, not expecting to really have ever heard that chime again. Was it Dio? He thought Dio went home. He thought he'd never see him again.

Was it Dimentio? If so, then what would he be doing there?

"Dio?" Luigi asked, standing up and carefully swinging his door open. Some time had passed, so it was getting pretty late and it was dark outside. He wasn't sure why... but something felt eery. Perhaps it was polterpup's distressed barking.

Before he could see anything he heard another chime as if the person who was here had just vanished. But that didn't stop the man in green from checking. He briefly flicked the light on, then walked through his house.

Polterpup was barking from the kitchen, almost sounding as if it was... afraid? It sounded as if it was really trying to grab Luigi's attention.

Nothing looked different until he got to the kitchen. He almost didn't notice it. He almost left and went back to sleep, when his eye finally caught sight of the one thing that was different than before.

Luigi furrowed his eyebrows, then walked over to the counter where he placed the knife. Dio's knife.

Only, instead of it being there, it was gone, replaced with a small piece of paper.

The letters on the note were in fine cursive. The writing was rushed, but not sloppy like Luigi's own handwriting. It was rather pleasing. Perfect spelling, perfect spacing, and perfectly legible.

Polterpup began to whimper at Luigi's feet, lying down and resting its head on Luigi's foot.

The note simply read, "I'm sorry."

It didn't say who it was from, but Luigi knew.

"Dio," He whispered in horror.

He then turned and immediately rushed into Mario's room, shaking the ghost dog off of his foot. He didn't care how loud his footsteps were. He didn't care if he woke Mario. All he cared about was getting that return pipe and finding a way to get to Dio as soon as possible.

"Wh-" Mario grumbled, sleepily rubbing his eyes as Luigi burst in and started desperately searching his drawers. "Luigi? What are you-"

"Sorry. Be back in a minute," Luigi replied all too quickly, finally grabbing ahold of the return pipe and holding it up. Not a moment later, he had it activated and jumped inside.

______

As fast as he could he ran to find Nastasia. The time zone was different, but it was still night. It had just been closer to morning there, but that didn't matter. He knew Nastasia wasn't the type to sleep in. Although finding her was somewhat hard, especially since he didn't actually know where she lived.

But luckily enough, she was out on a walk, so he ran into her fairly quickly. "NASTASIA!" Luigi exclaimed, sprinting up to her and frantically grabbing her shoulders. "NASTASIA, HAVE YOU SEEN DIO?! IT'S URGENT!"

She blinked a few times, slightly thrown off by his frantic manner.

"Um, yeah," She stated calmly. "He checked in a few hours ago. I think he was going home. Why?"

Luigi shook his head in fear, then fumbled through his pockets and pulled out the note, quickly shoving it into Nastasia's hands. Tears were on the verge of spilling from his eyes. He had been afraid many times. But for some reason, he was more scared now than he had ever been. Perhaps it was because he always knew that he could fix things. But this time, he wasn't sure.

"He took the knife. H-He took it," Luigi squeaked, doing his best not to break down right then and right there. "I-I don't think he got home."

Nastasia frowned slightly, looking at the handwriting. It did in fact, perfectly match Dimentio's. But she knew it had come from Dio because she was almost 90% sure that the word sorry wasn't within the jester's vocabulary.

"... We'll find him," She said, handing the note back to Luigi and leading him through town, first finding and waking both Mimi and O'Chunks up, then rushing to the door to Castle Bleck, where Luigi said that Dio would most likely be. Though Luigi wasn't sure, something in his gut told him that if he was anywhere, it was in there. The closest place to a home he could get.

______

Dimentio and Mr. L waited for a while in the darkness after Dio had gone, just in pure silence. They didn't speak. Dimentio didn't seem to want to, and that was okay. A few hours ago Dimentio had wanted to sit in the woods, rather than the ruined town. So, he led Mr. L to the area where he and his brother would play. To the tree that he never climbed.

He could see the small toy giraffe that Dio had left there. Dimentio hadn't been there with Dio when he left it, but he could assume what Dio was doing. He was gifting it to Dimentio's Oitnemid. It was one of those unnecessarily kind acts from Dio that Dimentio already missed.

They just waited for the sun to rise again, and for a new day to start.

But little did they know what nearby, someone had teleported back into the ruined town, knife in hand.

______

He looked around the deserted land. Burned away... destroyed... but still there. At least there were ruins to show that something had once been here.

Dio felt his breath hitch as he walked towards the ruins of a particular house. The one that in another world used to be his. There was no walls nor ceiling anymore, but he could tell based on the location. He had memorized it, after all.

He walked through the ruined doorframe, then slowly sat down with his back to a broken stone.

His hands trembled.

He was afraid. Afraid in a way he had never been afraid before. Afraid, and weak.

For a moment, he hugged himself, bringing his knees to his chest and sobbing, still holding the blade in his hand. He sobbed for it all he didn't have, in hope that the tears would wash the pain away.

But they never did.

Three months of being strong.

He slowly stopped crying and looked up at the dark blade, seeing his eyes in the reflection. They looked different than before. They were no longer filled with hope. Devastation and fear were all they held now.

Three months thinking that he was past this.

He grasped the blade tighter as if it was the solution. As if it was the answer to curing his pain.

Three months, living in ignorance.

He then placed it on his right wrist... and sliced, making a thick, deep cut.

The hot, red blood quickly spattered against the blade, pouring from the new wound. This one was deeper than the ones he made before.

But this time, he didn't feel relief.

He furrowed his eyebrows. Had it not been enough?! Why did he still hurt?

He choked on another sob as he placed the blade on his arm again, creating another cut, just above the last, going equally as deep.

But it wasn't enough.

It was never enough.

He continued cutting. First, his right arm. Then his left. But it was never enough. He grew dizzy from the blood loss, but it was never enough. Through this all, he didn't feel any relief. No matter how much he cut himself, he could never do what he truly wanted.

He could never be with his family again. They were gone.

He let out a small squeak in pain as he realized that relief would never come to him, no matter how much he hurt himself. That's when he slowly looked up to the dark sky, his eyes glassy, but still big. They almost looked like the eyes of a baby deer.

He blinked a few times, looking at the stars, remembering the promise he made. "I'm going home," He kept telling himself. "I'm going home."

Then... his sadness was slowly replaced with something else. Something... darker. Something more determined.

"I'm going home."

Less afraid than before, he help the knife up, looking at his red-tinted reflection. He looked like such a mess. He hated it. He absolutely hated it. He hated the person he was looking at. He just wanted him dead.

He then grit his teeth and brought the bloody knife up to his throat.

What are you doing?! One voice in his mind screamed at him. Aren't you afraid it'll hurt?!

But the truth was that he wasn't afraid of any pain. After all, nothing could hurt more than this already had. He had spent long enough searching.

It was time he finally found home.

Gently closing his eyes, he pressed the tip of the blade to his skin, making contact. The steel was warm now.

I can't wait to see my brother, he told himself, blinded by grief. I can't wait to see him and give him the biggest hug.

He was ready to end this journey. It was time to be done. Time to go home.

With one last inhale, one last breath, he gathered all the courage from within himself.

And-

"DIO!"