Out of Place

What Is The Tea

Dio happily skipped ahead of the group, walking past the castle and through the forest. He said it was a long trek to his hometown, but "If we skip, we can get there faster"

Yeah... Mr. L and Luigi didn't skip. Luigi simply because he didn't have the energy to, and Mr. L because, though annoying Luigi was fun, he wasn't five and he didn't want to look like an idiot. Dio seemed not to care about looking foolish, which was ironic because he wasn't the Dimentio who wore the jester attire. 

As far as appearances go, he actually looked fairly normal. In fact, he was somewhat attractive. Yes, he was small and a little too thin, but his facial features were sharp and fairly symmetrical. He knew how to wear his expressions and his big eyes gave him an almost innocent look. He was almost like a baby deer. So oblivious, yet his manner was almost adorable. He didn't quite complain often, and his energy seemed endless. He only seemed hurt when he unintentionally hurt others. He didn't even seem to care about his own well-being.

"It's been so long since I've been in this forest!" Dio beamed, lightly giggling. "Even if it wasn't technically THIS forest! I wonder if this universe has the same traps!"

"I'm sorry, did you say traps?" Mr. L asked, raising an eyebrow as Dio skipped ahead.

"Yeah! Back home my village would set traps way out in the woods beyond our town to try to keep tribesmen away. D-Don't worry though! They're not deadly. And I don't know if they'd still even be here," Dio assured, making both Luigi and Mr. L let out their own sighs of relief.

So, Dio continued skipping ahead, occasionally stopping so Luigi and Mr. L could catch up. The pattern continued for miles. It was weird how Dio was so much faster, even though his legs were so much shorter than both Luigi and Mr. L's.

"We should be getting close," Dio promised after a few hours, his energy still as high as ever. Unfortunately, neither Mr. L nor Luigi could match HALF of his energy. They were exhausted, their feet hurt, and they were feeling pretty dehydrated. But they didn't ask to take any breaks because they didn't want to seem weak. They both were odd like that. They usually preferred to suck up the pain rather than asking for breaks and slowing the group down.

That was when it happened. Dio skipped forward, going on about how they were almost there. Only about a mile and a half left, in his words. Although he said that five miles ago, so who knew. Luigi and Mr. L both exhaustedly followed when they both suddenly felt something latch around their ankles. Before they knew it, they were yanked upwards by the feet, turning them upside down. 

Dio quickly turned around and gasped, seeing as an old trap got them. It was nothing dangerous. Just a simple rope which was tied around a tree, hanging them upside down from the foot. Luigi looked around in fear, terrified for his life while Mr. L crossed his arms, wearing a more annoyed expression.

"Are you guys alright?" Dio called up to them, bringing his hands to his mouth as if he was trying to amplify his voice. He was trying not to laugh, but it was difficult. They looked pretty silly just hanging up there, upside down. Gravity caused their hats to fall off their heads and onto the ground. It was interesting how similar they actually looked. They had the same hairstyle too, only Mr. L's hair appeared ever so slightly darker. But it may have just been the lighting.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. Just get us down," Mr. L calmly breathed as Luigi frantically tried reaching for the rope tied around his foot. The knot was really tight, so he couldn't undo it, but that didn't stop him from trying.

"On it!" Dio beamed, quickly stumbling over to the bottom of the tree, when the edge of the rope was secured. "Umm.... problem. How do I do that?"

"Just take a knife and cut it!" Mr. L exclaimed, holding his arms out.