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tJfaJ: Chapter 25

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Two hours later found me sitting in one of the fifty thousand zillion rooms in the Castle I had no idea even existed before this particular moment in time. Today's room of such sorts happened to be a kind of gym, where I had found O'Chunks lifting massive weights. I had apologized for interrupting him, but he seemed glad enough for the company, and allowed me to sit on one of the benches and swing my legs and chat with him as he continued working out.

"I guess you're getting ready to face the heroes again?" I asked, titling my head to one side.

"Aye—I won't let some puny 'eroes best me again!" O'Chunks cried determinedly. "Tha next time we meet, I'll show 'em who dey're really messin' with! Dat no-good Maria and his friends made a 'uge mistake messin' with me Blecky boy!"

I blinked at him, only continuing to swing my legs back and forth. I could hear Miinyx groaning in agony—she had apparently forgotten what a chore it was to hold conversation with O'Chunks. "I think his name's Mario." I gently corrected.

"'at's what aye said—were ye not listenin', lass?" O'Chunks said, looking over at me like there was something wrong with the way I was speaking.

I decided to let the matter drop—the name sounded funnier the way he said it anyway. "I guess I wasn't—my bad."

"Aye, 'at's a'right, lassie…" He sighed, placing the weight back on the bar over his head and sitting upright.

I watched him stretch for a moment, then asked, "So, when is the Count sending you after the heroes again?"

O'Chunks shook his head. "He ha'not told me yet. We dunno who's 'e's gonna send—so I'm gonna be ready jus' in case he sends meh."

I nodded in understanding. "Oh, yeah. That totally makes sense. I should probably be training too, in case he picks me again."

O'Chunks grinned his stupid, toothy grin at me, patting the weights with a large hand. "Yeh could try bulkin' up, if yeh like. Dose 'eroes won't have no trouble with a lil' stick like yeh."

I blushed at that, jumping up immediately on my feet. "Are you saying I'm scrawny or something?! Because I'm totally not! Besides, I fight with my monster and my rubees anyway, so it's not like I need to be super strong."

O'Chunks shrugged, holding up his hands apologetically. "Sorry, lass… I din' mean to upset yeh… if yeh haven't the strength to build up some mus—"

"Alright, that's it, move over." I barked, waving him aside and hopping up onto the weight-training bench.

"Ah, lass…" O'Chunks said gently, catching my hand to stop me as I reached for the weight. "Per'aps yeh 'ought to start with somethin' a bit lighter…"

I smacked his hand sharply, grabbing onto the bar anyway. "Whatever. I can totally do this—it doesn't look that hard."

I got a good grip on the bar, looking like I was really bracing myself to exert a whole lot of muscle and effort and all that stuff. Really, all I did was think Hey, Miinyx… wanna help me scare him a little?

"Oh, I would be simply delighted…" She hissed with pleasure. Excellent, she seemed to be helping me. Now, one of two things were about to happen. Either I would lift up the bar with as much ease and half the effort of O'Chunks, or Miinyx would allow me to raise the bar over my head, then decide at the last second that she was in a sadistic mood today and allow it to fall and crush me flat.

Holding my breath, admittedly, a little nervous, I gripped the bar and pushed upwards. I felt Miinyx's form leave my mind, and felt a tingling ache in my arms that signified one-too-many-beings occupying a certain area of myself. She raised the bar up completely off the rack, right over my head, held it for exactly five seconds, and promptly flung it clear across the room. O'Chunks stared at us, Miinyx giving a sigh of satisfaction as she settled back into my headache. She had no physical form, so I'm sure it felt good to actually put some force behind something every now and then.

"Harble deh…" O'Chunks finally breathed. "Yeh don't look 'alf 'at strong…"

"Well, appearances can be deceiving, O'Chunks…" I said smugly, sitting up and stretching as if it were no big deal that I had just thrown an object twenty times my weight to the other end of the room. He sat down on the opposite bench, apparently deciding that rather than questioning me and trying to figure me out, he might be best to just let the matter drop and accept things as they were. We sat there in silence for a moment, then I decided to satisfy Miinyx's curiosity. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Ah… I suppose…" O'Chunks said nervously, scratching at the back of his head.

I titled my head to one side, trying to appear as nothing more than an innocent little girl with a sudden case of curiosity. "What do you know about Nastasia and Dimentio?"

O'Chunks shrugged, not entirely to my surprise. ""Ere's not much to know about 'em, lass… Why do yeh ask?"

I shrugged, swinging my legs playfully. "I dunno…" I mumbled, twirling a finger around one of my pigtails. "Doesn't it just seem like there's something going on between them? I mean, I know they don't really like each other… but do you have any idea why? Did Nastasia tell you anything happened?"

O'Chunks shook his head at me. "No, aye 'aven't 'eard a thing… Yeh migh' be better off askin' Dimentio yerself… aren't yeh and the jester close?"

I blinked, freezing suddenly. "…um… well, I… I dunno… I guess we are…"

O'Chunks grinned again. "Yeh guess? Are yeh or no?"

I shook my head furiously, shaking my pigtails all over the place. "Not like that!" I said immediately. "We're just friends, O'Chunks. Honest!"

He laughed at me. "If yeh say so, lassie… but, lissen… do meh a favor and be careful, alrigh'? There's somethin' abou' that jester tha' just don' sit righ' with meh…"

I nodded. "Gotcha. I'm totally careful, like, all the time." I declared, hopping down from the bench and brushing off my skirt. I then smiled brightly and waved good-bye as I skipped out of the room. "I'll see ya later, O'Chunks!" He bid me farewell, then I shut the door behind me and paused for a moment, waiting in the silence of the gloomy halls.

"…Plan B?" I heard Miinyx whisper, a hint of hope at the edge of her voice.

I sighed heavily, shoving off the door and sprinting off again while simultaneously cursing this stupid curiosity trail she'd gotten me on now. "Plan B." I agreed.

------------------------------------

"Count Bleck!" I cried dramatically, tackling into him and throwing my arms around his body. "Golly, Count, I haven't seen you in forever!"

The Count gave a short laugh, patting me on top of my head. "Indeed… you surprised Count Bleck, Mimi… do try to remain a tad calmer whilst wandering such silent halls."

"Okay, Count." I chirped, stepping back and giving him a little half-bow like I often saw Dimentio do. "So, what are you up to today?"

"Only plotting our next course of action against these pesky heroes…" He said—half to himself, half to me—as he continued on his way down the corridor.

I bounced happily after him, having to take rather long strides to keep up with him. It was the same with Dimentio, but he usually slowed down and let me catch up. "Aw, don't worry about it, Count!" I said cheerfully. "I just know you'll get 'em! Those stupid heroes can't stop you!"

Count Bleck turned and smiled softly at me. "Clearly, you are bursting with the need to tell me something… whatever could have you so riled up, Mimi?"

I giggled stupidly. "Well, since you asked… Do you know what's up with Dimentio and Nastasia?"

The Count sighed tiredly, as if he had just been reminded of a very difficult task that still needed completing.  "Numerous things…" He stated bluntly. "Both in each individual, and in their relationship together… to which aspect in particular were you referring?"

I smiled brightly, and heard Miinyx give a shout of victory somewhere in the back of my mind. "Their relationship." I clarified. "I know they really don't like each other, but why? I'm friends with both of them, and they're both really sweet and nice."

There was a pause, and then the Count turned to me with a knowing smile. "…and why suddenly so curious, Mimi? Have you been prowling around in matters that are no concern of yours?"

I shook my head immediately. "No, of course not, Count! It's kinda hard to miss, if you haven't noticed… They fight all the time, and when we're at breakfast… they just… glare at each other…"

Count Bleck nodded his head, giving a light chuckle at the thought. "They both can take petty arguments to the extreme with one another…"

"Yeah!" I agreed. "So, you know what I mean! Why are they like that? Do they really hate each other?"

The Count sighed. "In a way, Count Bleck supposes that would be an accurate statement…"

I titled my head to one side, relieved that he was slowing down a bit. "Why is that? Did something happen between them?"

"…not any major event in particular… more a series of insignificant events they both apparently latched onto." Count Bleck droned in a bored sort of way. "It began, if memory serves, shortly after Nastasia first joined Count Bleck in his quest… After some time, we happened upon Dimentio."

"And she just immediately didn't like him?" I interrupted. I received a warning look from the Count, and took that as my cue to remain silent.

"Actually…" He said, his voice taking a suddenly sharper tone as if he had only just now thought of something. "Count Bleck very well may have been at fault in beginning this rivalry…"

My eyes widened a bit at hearing that, and I thought I even heard Miinyx give a small noise of peaked interest. "You made them like that? Golly, how'd you do that, Count?"

"Not on purpose, Count Bleck assures you…" He said, waving his cane at me. "Before Nastasia… joined this mission, Dimentio had already approached Count Bleck on the matter… He insisted that he had heard tale of the Dark Prognosticus—which, had he dwelt in the area for any amount of time, he would have—and he tried to warn of the evil powers it held."

I blinked at him. "Really?" I asked stupidly. "So, then he joined you too, right?"

"Well, he attempted to. Count Bleck denied him the opportunity at first." He informed me, gazing off into the distance. Something about the way he said that last sentence made me regret asking him in the first place. "When he came along the second time, Nastasia was there to witness Count Bleck deny him again, reminding him that he was not trusted."

I slowly nodded, understanding slowly washing over me. "Oooh, I get it… So, Nastasia decided she didn't trust Dimentio, because she knew you didn't… "

Count Bleck nodded his head in return, smiling grimly at the mere thought of events past. "And she's never trusted him since the third time he approached Count Bleck and was accepted as last…"

I smiled, at last feeling like I knew what was really going on around here. Of course, there were still far more mysteries around Castle Bleck waiting to be solved, but at least this was a step in the right direction. I turned to thank the Count for his help in the matter, and it was then that I noticed something over in the shadows at the end of the hall. Noticing my distraction, the Count turned as well and saw the very same thing. "…Dimentio."

Indeed, the jester was standing there at the end of the hall, nearly masked by the shadows. He scared me at first, standing there, staring—nearly glaring at the Count and me. Slowly, a devious smile curled across his face, and he floated towards us. "Oh no, please, don't let me interrupt… the two of you must have been having such a riveting conversation, I'm sure…"

The Count narrowed his eyes at Dimentio. "That's quite alright, I believe we were finished speaking anyway… Did you need something, Dimentio?"

The jester stopped floating before us, resting a gloved hand on my shoulder. "If you are quite finished with her, I only needed to borrow my little Mimi for a while…"

For some reason I couldn't place, the Count let a short laugh slip before he quickly recovered. "Could you be implying that Mimi belongs to you, Dimentio?"

His smile twitched a little when he heard that. "…of course not, my dear Count… simply a pet title for the child—only a petty nickname, I assure you…"

I took the opportunity—apparently—to use up my stupid moment of the day and looked directly up at Dimentio and said—stupidly and bluntly, "Actually, Dimentio… I'm Count Bleck's minion, aren't I? So, if I'm anybody's, aren't I his?"

I immediately had three different signs that this was entirely the wrong thing to say, because all at the same time, Dimentio's smile fell to a frown, Count Bleck smiled just a tiny bit wider, and Miinyx erupted in a black of hysterical, uncontrollable laughter. She often did that when I messed things up that didn't directly harm her plans.

Dimentio tightened his grip on my shoulder. "…might I have your permission to borrow Mimi then, my dearest Count?" he seethed, a tad sarcastically.

The Count smiled gently, nodding his head. I could've sworn he was fighting the urge to laugh. "But, of course. Take good care of her, now!" He called after us—Dimentio was pulling me away as quickly as he could before the sentence was even out of his mouth.
To Jest for a Jester: Chapter 25

Building up some filler chapters until the next event based on your responses on the tJfaJ poll. Go to my profile and vote for what you want to see more of if you haven't yet.

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:below: Previous Chapter [link]
:bulletgreen: Prolouge [link]
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Maggie-X-Awesomeness's avatar
That part at the end with the Count asking if Dimentio implied that he owned Mimi, then what Mimi said afterwards about her belonging to the Count, and Bleck's adorable little reactions to these things are really great XD I love how he tries all he can to stay formal and stuff