Somehow Dimentio found this far worse than when Dio just left. At least then he thought that perhaps things would get better when Dio had just gone away, but now? How could things get better? How could they, knowing that this had happened? It was almost as if he had reopened wounds that closed long ago. Tore off bandages that were not yet ready to be torn.

Dimentio could feel the very moment Dio stopped breathing, the very moment his heart slowed to nothing. His death wasn't instant like Oitnemid's. It was longer. He probably felt more pain because he wasn't lucky enough to die quickly. But nevertheless, it happened.

"No..." Dimentio squeaked as soon as he heard the gently slowing rhythm of Dio's beating heart stop. He didn't let go though. Letting go would make it feel more real, and he was not ready for that yet. "No, no, no. Please wake up."

Everyone else just stared in silence while Dimentio sobbed. Luigi was heartbroken, Mr. L was devastated. Nastasia and the rest of Team Bleck were torn between shocked and horrified.

"Dimmy's crying..." Mimi softly whispered, as if it wasn't obvious.

"Hush Lass. Be respectful," O'Chunks quietly told her.

Dimentio ignored them all. Yes, he heard them and he knew they were looking, but he didn't let that affect him. He didn't let the fact that they were there send him away into more hiding.

There was no need to hide anymore.

"Uhh... Dim?" Mr. L asked after the night finally began to fade and the sun began to rise, signifying that the new day had been upon them all. The man in green carefully walked over and kneeled down, gently touching Dimentio's shoulder, which was trembling.

"No," Dimentio immediately whispered, hugging Dio even tighter.

"Dimentio... it's ti-"

"No!" Dimentio repeated, louder this time. "D-don't say that."

"Dim..." Mr. L gently breathed rubbing Dimentio's shoulder. Dimentio paused, then slowly released Dio, turning and looking up into Mr. L's eyes to see that they too were filled with sorrow. They too were red with tears.

Even though they had hardly known him, it felt like they were all losing a part of themselves by losing him. Luigi could recall the way Dio saw the world, which was a similar way to how he used to see it, so it hurt to see the world treat someone like that so cruelly. Nastasia and the rest of team Bleck too felt a deep sadness, even though they hardly knew him at all. A part of it was them feeling for Dimentio, but they also just felt bad, since Dio seemed to be nothing more than an innocent caught in the crossfire. L felt slightly worse than all of them since he had actually gotten to spend the most time with Dio and found himself considering the guy a friend. Dio was the one to teach him to start to trust once again, and now he was gone. It hurt.

However, Dimentio was the one who felt the most pain by far. For reasons that he could only explain through sobs.

"He's crying"

Mr. L sat down on his knees, then held his arms out. Without any hesitation, Dimentio tightly hugged him, sobbing into his shoulder.

"...He's crying," Dio repeated once again, his voice small. "But he's asleep. Does... this happen often?"

Mr. L sniffled as he remembered that night. It felt so long ago now. Back then he didn't reply. He didn't want to say 'yes,' but that was the truth. He remembered the first time he had heard Dimentio crying in his sleep, back at Castle Bleck. It was a normal thing that everyone had gotten used to and just dismissed. He remembered hearing it one night when he was walking the halls to work on one of his machines. He wanted to go in and see what was wrong back then but decided against it because he didn't wish to be a bother.

He should have comforted him back then. He should have comforted him that night when Dio had told him to. But he was too afraid.

"... I used to cry in my sleep," Dio had breathed after giving up on the hope of Mr. L answering him. "When I was little... I would cry every night because I missed my dad. But... then my brother would help me. Did you ever help him?"

No. He never did. How selfish was that?! Assuming another didn't want help.

"... Are you going to help him now?" Dio asked.

Mr. L stayed silent, but he wasn't afraid anymore. He wasn't afraid of being pushed away now. And he knew better than to let his fear keep him from helping the ones he loved.

"I just want you to know that help would mean much more coming from you than me," Dio had said.

Mr. L continued to wait in total silence. He doubted that now since Dio had seemed to somehow create such an impact. But he'd try anyhow. It was hard to believe how jealous and filled with hate Dimentio once was towards Dio.

He then pulled back, lightly kissing the jester's forehead.

"Shh... shh," Mr. L gently hushed, blinking tears away and looking at the rising sun as he hugged Dimentio once again. "You... are not alone. You are never alone."

"Shh..." Dio whispered, closing his eyes and hugging Dimentio. "You are not alone... you are never alone."

Dimentio nodded, hugging L tightly, still sobbing into his chest. It was almost as if he could hear all the voices at once, echoing and harmonizing with each other. It was almost as if he could feel all of their arms around him, comforting and assuring him that it was going to be okay, even though he knew very well that it wasn't.

"M...Miss him," Dimentio whispered, tears still flowing from his closed eyes.

"I know..." Dio whispered. "Believe me... I know. But... you are not alone."

"I know," Mr. L breathed, sniffling. "I miss him too. But... I'm not going to leave you. You're not alone, and you don't ever have to be alone again."

It was almost soothing, hearing all their voices at once. They blended together quite well, almost like a choir. He wished he could have seen all three of them together at least once in his lifetime. Wouldn't that be something?

"I just wish I could... I wish..." Dimentio trailed off, wishing there was something he could do. Wishing he had the power to reverse time or to-

His sniffling slowed.

He opened his eyes, and slowly pulled back, the gears in his head slowly beginning to turn once again.

"Empathy," Dio had said.

"...Empathy," Dimentio whispered, shifting his gaze from Mr. L and back to Dio.

"... What?" Mr. L asked, slightly confused now.

What, were they just throwing out random words now?

"...Empathy," Dimetio repeated.

"Not anger... but Empathy. In order to take someone's injuries... you need to want to. You need to just... think about soaking up their hurt and holding it yourself instead. You have to REALLY want it." Dio had explained.

"... What if the wound is fatal?" Dimentio had asked back then. "Could you still transfer the injury?"

"Yep!" Dio replied with a big, bright smile. "You can transfer different percentages of the injury. I usually take 100%, but if the wound was fatal I would do about 95% instead, because...well... I don't wanna die. If you transfer all of a fatal wound, you would basically drop like a fly."

"I don't wanna die."

Dio had said that he didn't want to die, and he meant it. It had been true. His mind may have told him otherwise, but he really didn't want to die. He just wanted a good life. Sometimes, he just felt trapped, and death seemed the only escape. But deep down, he really did mean that.

He didn't want to die.

Dimentio found himself questioning how Dio found this power. Was it purely out of the kindness of his heart, or was he just looking for an excuse to hurt himself? Dimentio couldn't even tell anymore. But what he knew for sure was that Dio had said he didn't want to die. While hearts can change, there were times when he valued his own life, and those times were what made living worth it.

Dimentio then crawled back, away from L and back over to Dio. He picked the boy up and hugged him closely from behind, making contact where the fatal stab wound was. There, he squeezed his eyes shut, wanting the wound for himself. Wanting to take the pain Dio was feeling and place it upon himself, even though Dio wasn't technically feeling anything anymore.

He really wanted it this time. He didn't feel sympathy for Dio anymore. He didn't feel pity. He didn't see him as less perfect. He just saw him as a person. A person he needed to save. A person he wanted to soak up the injuries from.

Then, there it was. A sharp pain in his mid-back. Like an ice pick slowly puncturing the skin. It wasn't deep enough to kill, but he could most certainly feel the pain. He had to bite his lip and squeeze Dio tighter to prevent himself from crying out and stopping.

"Um, what are you doing?" Nastasia asked when Luigi quickly shushed her, his eyes wide. He remembered seeing Dio do this. Back then he had wondered if Dimentio could. It seemed now he was getting his answer.

Mr. L wore a now equally sad and worried expression for fear that Dimentio would take too much for himself. What if he took the entire wound and killed himself? Or what if he took most of it and Dio still didn't wake. After all, he wasn't even sure if this could fully bring someone back after they had already been gone. "Dim-"

"Shh," Dimentio interrupted, his voice sounding slightly strained.

51% of the wound was transferred to Dimentio. The other 49% would stay with Dio. Dimentio would have taken more, but he wasn't sure if he could handle more. Either way, he wanted to make sure he had the bigger half. After he had finished, he let go and curled up, biting his fist to repress a scream in pain. He had died before when Super Dimentio had blown up, but it didn't feel as bad as this. That killed him too quickly for him to feel anything. This wound wasn't killing him, which meant the pain wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. But it was worth it for the possibility.

"Is... he... okay?" Dimentio asked, gritting his teeth, his voice strained.

Mr. L rushed to Dimentio, kneeling down next to him just to make sure he was alright. He then silently motioned for someone to check Dio. Mimi nodded, then quickly ran over, leaning down over the cloaked boy.

She waited a minute for any kind of reaction. He was still not breathing, but the wound on his back was notably smaller and seemed less severe.

"I dunno... he's not-" Mimi started, when Dio suddenly broke into a fit of coughing. She immediately squealed and jumped back, not having expected him to move all of the sudden.

"HE'S OKAY!" Luigi exclaimed, his face lighting up as tears decorated his cheeks. He let out a visible sigh of relief, feeling as though a heavyweight had been lifted off his shoulders. Everyone felt that same weight be lifted.

"Okay is a stretch," Dio breathed in between coughs, curling up and leaning on his side as he proceeded to be sick all over the ground, coughing and throwing up blood. "My throat burns l-like a raging forest fire."

"OMG he really is a Dimmy," Mimi excitedly exclaimed, pointing at him as if no one could see. "Nassy! Did you hear? He used a-"

"Yeah, Mimi," Nastasia told her, trying to hide the bright smile that was naturally spreading across her face. "Yeah, I heard."

Dimentio quickly turned to look at Dio, still curled up and in pain, but wishing to see for himself. "Dio...?" He asked, his voice small, hope filling his mismatched eyes. Nastasia, O'Chunks, and Mimi all took the sight in. Never had they ever truly seen hope in Dimentio's eyes until this moment. It was truly a sight to see.

"Other me?" Dio replied in between coughs and wheezes. He then rolled to his other side so he could look at Dimentio. "What ha-"

He paused his speech when he saw the small pile of blood behind Dimentio, his face turning paler than it had already been. His eyes drooped and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh no..." He whispered.

"I'm okay," Dimentio promised. "We're both okay."

"You took my injuries from me?!" Dio squeaked, utterly repulsed by the realization.

"Yes. But don't be upset. I'm happy. That's what you want, right? To make people happy?" Dimentio assured.

He had known that if he did this Dio would for sure be mortified. He knew Dio hated the idea of causing real pain to others, so he would be horrified by the idea of someone else taking his pain from him. But Dimentio was sure that he could convince him that it was alright if he said that it made him happy.

He didn't even have to lie. It did make him happy. It made him happy to hear Dio's voice, which yes, was similar to his own, but not the same. Dio's was slightly higher pitched and it sounded younger. It sounded less tired. He had a more lively voice. Dimentio supposed that the way people use their words really could affect the sound.

"... You're happy?" Dio asked.

"I'm happy," Dimenito promised, softly smiling. "I'm very happy."

Dio paused, then carefully sat up, wincing as he did. His arms still stung badly. Dimentio couldn't bear taking those arm wounds as well, but something inside him knew that Dio would never forgive him if he did. Those were the wounds Dio gave himself, and if Dimentio were to take those Dio would see it as just as bad as him directly cutting Dimentio.

Mr. L placed an arm on Dimentio's upper back, just above the wound so he could help him sit up as well. But before he could even fully sit up, Dio had already crawled over and rushed into the jester's arms, softly crying as well.

"Thank you," Dio whispered. "Thank you for saving me. Multiple times."

Dimentio didn't even hesitate this time. He immediately hugged back, so happy. So very happy.

"Thank you," Dimentio corrected. "For saving me."

Dio smiled as more tears fell from his closed eyes, and the sun rose over everyone, eating the darkness away and bringing the warmth of the morning.

"So... now what?" Dio asked.