Chapter 10 – The day
"The day approaches quicker then we thought…"
"How much time do they have?"
"Two days…"
"Two days!?"
"Holand will attack in two days."
"They'll never make it…"
"Matt, what do we do…?"
"You're asking me?"
"You know these two better then we do!"
"That doesn't mean I know what to do!"
"Something has to be done!"
"…Oh god, we're fucked."
"Believe in them, Matt. They can do it."
"You always were too much of an optimist, Linda."
"Not optimistic, Matt. Just hopeful."
--
When Mello awoke it was night and he was no longer in the church he had remembered passing out in. He was instead in a plush bed in a room that looked like it was built for a king.
There were also quite a number of striped objects.
He was reminded of Matt.
"You're awake!" A much too cheery and somewhat familiar voice rang out as Mello sat up. He turned to see a young man with long black hair and silver eyes floating above a chair.
"Good morning," Quarrel greeted with a smile. "It has been some time, Mihael Keehl."
"Mello," he replied before giving the room another once over. "Where's Near?"
"Working with his night ability to give us a status on Holand's army," Quarrel informed, crossing his fingers and resting his chin on top of them. "We were hoping you could do the same, but it appears that your new abilities were too much for you to handle. You've been out for some time, now."
"I've been hearing that a lot lately," Mello mused.
"I have some bad news and some good news," Quarrel went on as Mello pulled himself off of the bed and grabbed his daggers off of the night stand.
"Tell me the good news first," Mello requested.
"I lied," the king informed. "There is no good news. The bad news is that you only have two more days until Holand's army attacks."
"What!?" The blonde gaped, turning to look at the king in shock.
Quarrel nodded. "Near overheard her saying so," he confirmed.
"Two days!?" Mello went on, obviously a bit panicked. "We can't beat her in two days! We still have more mirror kings to go to-"
"There is only one more," Quarrel cut him off. "Near has already taken my power. Kamariya is the only king left and she is already here."
Mello stared at him for a few seconds. "We're done…?"
"You're far from done," Quarrel informed. "You've got to get to Holand and beat her, now."
"Lovely," Mello groaned, flopping back onto the bed. "Is this ever going to end?"
"It can end one of two ways," Quarrel said, standing up (or rather, floating into a standing position). "Either Holand beats you and existence ends, or you beat Holand and it doesn't."
"You know," the blonde breathed. "The idea of existence ending isn't sounding all that bad now…"
"You may think that now… but imagine; if existence ends, so do you."
"Still not sounding all that bad."
"So does the world you came from."
"You're not making a good word for yourself here, Q."
"Near ends too."
Mello turned to glare at him. "Why would I care about that!? I hate him, remember?"
The king smirked. "If you hate him as much as you say then why so defensive?"
Before Mello could say anything more, Near burst into the room. He was gasping lightly, looking like he had been running. His hair was a bit messy and his robes were different from the ones he had been wearing when Mello had last seen him.
"Holand is on her way," he said.
"What!?" Quarrel gaped, standing up.
"She's only a few moments away," Near gasped. "She should be attacking any time no-"
Before he could finish his sentence the room shook with tremendous force.
"Why didn't you see this coming!?" Quarrel questioned.
"The sun is still going down," Near explained. "My vision was clouded because of it."
The room shook again and Quarrel grabbed hold of Mello's arm so he wouldn't fall over.
"Mello, come with me," he demanded, heading toward the door, still holding the blonde's arm in his hand. "Near, I want you to stay here. Do you understand me?"
Near didn't argue, instead moving to sit down on the bed that Mello had just awoken from.
Quarrel dragged Mello from the room and down the hallway, careful not to lose his footing when the room shook once more. He walked (floated) quickly, not seeming to care that Mello was practically jogging to keep up with him.
"This was unexpected," he explained, speaking quickly as well. "Two days we could have prepared for, but this…"
"Why did you tell Near to stay?" Mello asked, unable to come up with the reason on his own. Wouldn't Near be more useful out in the front lines, battling Holand's army…?
"Without you he wont be able to fight them off," Quarrel explained. "If he leaves that room we might lose him somewhere in the palace and then when it comes time to fight we wont have the both of you together. It's best if he stays there."
Although Mello hummed in agreement, he didn't believe what Quarrel was saying.
"Kamariya is in here," Quarrel said as he stopped in front of a door and pulled it open. "Be quick, please."
Mello nodded and slipped inside.
It was a room much like the one in Glace's castle where the dimensional mirror had been. Kamariya was kneeling in front of it as she beckoned him over in one fluid motion.
"My ability is strength," she informed as he knelt down in front of her. (The room shook a bit but both of them managed to stay up right.) "It will be a great help for you, I'm sure."
"Lets just get this over with," Mello muttered. "So I can kill the bitch and go back home."
"You still want to go home?" The king asked, frowning a bit. "After all this…?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Mello asked.
"Near," she responded.
"I already told you," Mello breathed. "I hate Near."
He didn't sound like he believed the words coming out of his mouth. He could tell by the look Kamariya gave him. But before he could say anything more she passed on the powers to him as the room shook again, both causing him to fall over.
Mello forced himself to stand, his knees shaking beneath him. "What are you doing?" Kamariya asked, trying to stand as well.
"Going back to Near," Mello breathed, stumbling toward the doorway.
"Quarrel can go get him and you can meet downstairs," she breathed.
Mello shook his head. "Something's wrong… I can feel it. I need to get to him."
A crash could be heard off to the side as Mello burst through the door, almost running into Quarrel.
"That was Near's direction…" Quarrel breathed. The words were barely out before Mello was breaking into a run (using his speed ability, of course) toward the room they had left Near in.
He kicked down the door with more force then he could remember having (Kamariya was right when she'd said her power was strength), knocking it off the hinges and making it fly back into a wall, where it burst into several shards of wood.
The whole back wall was gone and there were creatures of all sizes crawling in like cockroaches. In the middle of them was Holand, standing tall with a smirk across her face. Near was struggling in the hold of a rather large troll-looking thing.
"Too slow," Holand teased.
"That's what you think!" Mello screeched, before rushing head on into the group of monsters. He barely got two feet before the smallest ones began to leap on him and push him back, the bigger ones following.
"Too slow" Holand chimed again.
"Near!" Mello yelled, trying to reach out to the albino although he knew it was hopeless. Creatures were still advancing on him and the troll holding Near was turning to leave.
'Mello!' The younger man called out through their bond, trying to reach out to him magically. Mello tried to reach back but hit a barrier that was quickly forming around the other boy.
She was putting him to sleep… she was going to trap him in a dream!
'Mello!'
'Near!'
As the walls of unconsciousness closed around the Albino, Mello could hear one last thing whispered between them.
'I love you, Mello…'
Then he was gone.
--
"We have to get him back."
Quarrel sighed, dropping his head into his hands while Kamariya watched Mello pace the room.
"We can't just rush in," Kamariya said. "Holand has am army-"
"Fuck that!" Mello screamed. "I can't die so let them come!"
"Be rational!" She yelled back. "Your emotions are going to guide you to disaster! Calm down and think about the situation! For one thing, we don't know where they are- for another, who knows what they could do to Near if they got a hold of you too-!"
Groaning, the blonde threw himself into a chair and dropped his head into his hands, mirror Quarrel's position. "This is all my fault," he breathed.
"It isn't your fault," Quarrel counseled. "None of us could have known that she was going to attac-"
"No," Mello interrupted. "It's my fault for letting him die."
"Near's not dead," Kamariya told him.
"Not this Near," Mello explained. "The Near from my world… I let him die. I watched him die. If I hadn't done that then none of this would have happened…"
"You don't know that," Quarrel told him. "You don't know how the threats of time work. No one does. If he hadn't died then maybe Kira would have won, who knows? Maybe you would have died and then where would we be? No one can understand how the flow of time works, how decisions change realities- that's why there are an infinite number of them. You can't count to infinity, right? You can't understand infinity, so how do you expect to understand infinite realities? None of this is your fault, Mello. Things happen the way they do and we're just along for one of a billion rides."
Shaking his head, Mello leaned back in the chair. "We have to get him back," he breathed.
"We know that," Kamariya responded. "But we need a plan."
"We have to wait until morning," Quarrel informed. "So you can find out where Holand is-"
"He could be dead by morning!" Mello snapped.
"He can't die!" Kamariya retorted.
Mello took a deep breath. He was letting his worry for Near get out of control. Kamariya was right… Near couldn't die, and from what he understood Holand was trying to trap him in a dream like she had done to him. Near was resourceful and he would be fine until morning… (although he wasn't sure he himself would be.) He needed to calm down and they needed to think through a plan so that they wouldn't end up getting Near more hurt then he already was.
He forced himself to calm down. He needed to think… from what he understood Near was on his own in whatever dream world Holand created and Mello would be unable to reach him. But Near was smart and he would probably realize it was a dream quickly. They just needed to get there before Near awoke, so Holand couldn't do anything to him…
When Mello had been in the dream world it had only been a half an hour, but when he had awoken Near said he was asleep for days. That meant that Near would be fine… or at least that's what Mello (hopped) assumed.
--
Mello was right… Near knew it was a dream right away. Then again, considering he had fallen unconscious being torn from Mello by Holand and had awoken next to the blonde, it wasn't a hard deduction to make.
Now he just had to figure out how to wake back up.
"Morning," the fake Mello said with a yawn as he sat up in bed, rubbing at his eyes. It was then that Near noticed the burn that stretched across half of his face.
"Mello is a dream," Near breathed in response, before turning to glance around the room.
It was the small apartment he had been living in, back before… he had bought it when he found out about the brain tumor, knowing he could die at any time and therefore stopping as work as L. (A young girl had been chosen to replace him as he had decided to live out the rest of his days in L.A.)
"So I am," Mello agreed, pulling the blankets back to reveal a very naked (and very detailed… so Holand could take notes from his memories) body. "You are quick… but I would expect no less from someone of your capabilities."
Near stood and approached the dresser, trying to ignore the naked man behind him. Instead, he focused on every object in his room… how everything was just where he left it. Holand was either good, or they were living in his own memory, not something of her creation.
"Tell me," Mello went on, grabbing his clothes off a chair and pulling them on- the one thing that did not ft into Near's memories. "The way you speak…is that normal in your time? To say someone's name in the place of 'you'? Or do you just have something against the word?"
"A speech impairment," Near informed.
"So you aren't perfect."
"But Holand already knew that."
Mello laughed, before approaching and laying his hands on Near's shoulders. The albino flinched. "Oh?" Mello questioned. "You didn't flinch the last few times we touched, Near."
"Mello was not fake, those times," Near reminded.
"I'm not fake," Mello assured. "I was constructed from your memories. Every part of me is what you remember."
"But Mello is not Mello. He may look, feel, sound, smell, even taste like Mello… but on the inside Mello is nothing but a memory controlled by Holand."
"Maybe you're right," Mello confirmed, letting him go. He walked over to the bed and sat down. "But in this dream world, I can be anything you want me to be… I can love you the way the real Mello never will. I can stay with you willingly, the way the real one would never do."
"That may be true," Mello breathed, lifting his eyes to the mirror in front of him. He didn't have a reflection… in this mirror world he had no other half so there should be no one looking back from him. So this wasn't only from his memories, but also from Holand. "But," he continued, turning back to Mello. "I would rather be unloved by the real Mello then pretend to love one I know to be fake."
"A wise choice," Mello said. "One I expected of you, Nate River. However, it wont be that easy. I'm not going to just let you go… You see, there's something I want and you stand in the way of getting it. So as long as you sleep, I remain in control." He smiled, standing. "I gave you the choice of a happy dream, but you chose the nightmare. Now you have to live with your choice."
Then Mello was gone.
--
They'd made a plan.
It wasn't a great one, but Mello hadn't really expected the last battle to have a great plan to go along with it. He'd just wanted to get in, get Holand, and go home- he'd never planned her going after Near…
He should have seen it coming. After all, hadn't he ridiculed Near for the same mistake- not seeing the enemy's attack before it came? Wasn't he the one who kept saying that he should have looked from every angle? Wasn't it him who had watched the albino die with a solemn face (and a video camera) because at the time he had only blamed the boy himself?
But Near wasn't dead… this Near wasn't. And this Near was no boy, not anymore. That boy he had once known was disappearing more and more from his memories everyday, being replaced by this odd version he would have never expected to see, even if Near had lived.
Just goes to show you that anyone can change when put in the right situation.
Dying… a brain tumor. Some might have said it was ironic. How long had this been coming? Mello had to wonder. And what about his Near… would he eventually die from the same thing?
Do all worlds suffer the same fate, in the end?
Holand was upsetting the natural balance of thing. Revolting against the way things were done- but Mello couldn't believe this was the first time. Had two others been dragged into such a mess as this before…? He supposed it was pointless to ask if they had succeeded, since he still existed, but one had to wonder- did they hate each other, too? ('Not hate,' he told himself. 'Not anymore.') Were they forced to work in this situation against their wills, like them?
(Were there some alternative versions of themselves doing the same thing this very moment?)
But Near wasn't dead- he had to keep telling himself that. Near couldn't die, this fact had been proven in Mello's case and the albino could be no different. That fall in the river would have killed someone else but he had gotten away remotely unscarred.
Near wasn't dead. Near was alive, somewhere- fast asleep, probably, but alive.
Their plan wasn't great, but it was the best they had on such short notice. Especially since they didn't actually know where Holand was hiding out- the few Mirror kings with magic left and a few other people would distract the main forces while Mello snuck in, got Near, and then focused only on defeating Holand.
He knew the probabilities of it working were extremely low, but then again he had never really been one to follow the probabilities. That was more L's thing- '7.5 percent chance that Mello and Near will work together.' 'Slowly decreasing to 5 percent.' 'Decreased to 2 percent.'
(Mello could remember telling the man, 'It's zero percent. It always has been, always will be,' He couldn't help but wonder what their old teacher would say now, if he could see them.)
Near wasn't dead. Alive. Near was alive.
L wasn't alive. He needed to think of Near, now- Near, laying in a dream world somewhere… Near, who he hated ('You don't hate him', his mind screamed again. 'Not anymore.'), who loved him (And he'd sworn to Linda so many times that Near couldn't feel such an emotion, too…), who needed him and who would die if they returned to their world.
'No. Still alive. He's still alive.'
(His mind went to Matt for a split second as he remembered the theme song to Portal and how it ended in those two words. Then he remembered something about cake. The cake was a lie? That was it. What a weird game. He didn't know why Matt was always talking about it…)
Two hours until the sun came up. Two more hours of this thought process.
Groaning, Mello fell back onto the bed. Quarrel had told him to try and get some sleep but it was impossible.
To bad they didn't have sleeping pills here. Then again, he felt like if he swallowed anything he would just throw it right back up, so he supposed it was a good thing.
He tried to think of something else, but it was impossible. Near was dominating his mind, just like he had when they were children- but the difference was that now the thoughts weren't unwelcome and to be honest that bothered him more then anything else. If he had been told just a few weeks ago that he'd be falling for Near he would have laughed his ass off then threw something at Matt when the redhead said 'I knew it.'
Damn stupid, lame, smart-ass Matt. In the end even he was smarter then Mello.
After all, he'd brought up the prospect before.
That was the first time Mello had ever really wanted to kill him.
And Matt had just said, 'There you go, losing your control over him again. I'm telling you, man- that's love.'
Fucking Matt.
But Matt was all he had, back home. A constant presence I his life- despite the fact that they weren't entirely 'best buddies', he supposed he could say that the redhead was his friend… and the only one he had. But he had known the life of L was a lonely one and he had chosen it anyway.
Even if it hadn't chosen him.
One hour left.
What would Matt say when he got home?
Was he gone all this time, or would he wake up and have it be the next morning? Would Matt wake him up by playing some loud, annoying video game way too early in the morning because he was a fucking nocturnal gamer nerd who seemed to only sleep when their case needed him to go out and do something? Would all this be wisped away like a dream and with it any memories of loving Near (he almost choked when his mind didn't snap to defend itself at the thought)? Could he just forget about all this?
He stepped out into the hallway, ready to go prepare for the upcoming sun and with it the ability to see where they could go. Beside his room stood a young man with long hair and a knowing look on his face.
"I told you so," Kenny said.
You don't love him now.
"Oh, shut up," Mello breathed.
He turned and walked in the direction of their meeting place.
"It's the other way," Kenny told him.
He turned around and walked in the correct direction of their meeting place.
--
Glace and Fuoco really looked more like each other then he'd first thought. Kayen was indeed the youngest of the mirror kings and probably the shortest. Kamariya was the only woman (now that he knew Seishi was a boy), but she was by far the scariest of them all. LiSen still had that polite air about him. Quarrel was really tall, compared to most of them- really skinny, too. And obviously in some sort of relationship with Red, by the way they kept looking at each other. Seishi asked him how his flying was going, then promptly shut his mouth with an embarrassed look. Arret looked like he hadn't slept, but Mello couldn't blame him.
The sun came up.
Hopefully no one blocked it out, or something cliché like that.
--
"Linda."
"Matt?"
"If existence ends, I just want you to know…"
"Yes?"
"That I slept with Near when we were younger."
"…You what-"
"Hahaha! I'm joking! God, that was great. You should have heard your voice!"
"Can you ever be serious?"
"Probably not."
--
Holand's base wasn't somewhere up in the snow or something, so at least their percentage of winning didn't drop. It didn't exactly go up, either, but only one small favor at a time, Mello supposed.
He didn't remember the walk there. Couldn't remember how long it was or what anyone did. He just knew the next moment he was standing outside a large base in the middle of nowhere with ten other people to an army of thousands.
He couldn't die, but they could.
Tools. They were just tools. Tools to get to the end result- just like Matt had been, just like Near had been. That was the way he had to see it. Tools were useful but dispensable for the end result.
(Mello had to wonder… if in Near's world he had let himself be killed, was that all the other him saw? Was just another tool to get to Kira?)
(Was that all Near had seen?)
(That didn't matter… that wasn't what Near saw now.)
"You two take over there," Kamariya told the brothers and they nodded, floating off.
"Red and I will take over here," Quarrel informed before he and the red haired man left.
"LiSen, you and Seishi take over there," Kamariya continued to direct and the two left. "Arret, you and I will take over there. Kenny, you take over there." She then turned to Kayen and laid a hand on his head. "Sorry, kid- but I don't want you in on this one. You've got your whole life ahead of you."
"But-" The youngest protested.
"Stay here," Kamariya said. Then she was gone.
Kayen pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.
He really did look like a mix of Near and Mello.