CL slowly opened her eyes, blinking the blurriness away despite her eyelid's plea to close them forever. A figure stood in front of her, leaning over her slightly. A man, most likely, by the flatness of his chest. He had dark, floppy, messy hair and his eyes were like black pits, with dark circles suggesting a severe lack of sleep. He had a loose white, long sleeved T-shirt on and baggy blue jeans. He was barefoot and he was leaned over, as though carrying a heavy, invisible load on his back. He had a small yet content smile on his face and he was nibbling on his thumbnail, though not in the way of a person with a bad habit with nervousness. It was with no doubt whatsoever, though she'd only met him a few rare times, this man was L. Though something seemed odd. Maybe it was because he was supposed to be dead.
He was looking at her from above, and she realized she was laying curled up in a chair. A nice leather chair. Like the ones back in Wammys… wait, she was at Wammys. In the same room where she had first met him. She also felt… smaller. Not like the way people feel like they're less important, but actually, physically, smaller. CL adjusted herself into a more comfortable, sitting position, and looked down at herself. She had a light, white T-shirt on, a pair of black shorts, and black stockings. Which was what she normally wore at Wammy's. Her hair also felt lighter, and it was shorter. Her hand went to her stomach, and felt nothing there. Feeling lost, she looked up at the raven haired man standing before her.
"Hello CL. So nice to see you awake." He said, his voice slightly muffled by the thumbnail.
"I'm sure you're feeling a bit lost, only natural given your current predicament. But for now, I think it would be best if you didn't question it just yet. I want you to take a look at yourself, think about how you feel right now." He said, and moved away to the side to reveal a mirror. She remained mandatory in her chair, and stared at the image in front of her. It was a revelation, really. She was so smaller, her hair was much neater, and her eyes seemed almost big.
"Yes, look at you." He muttered, looking at the mirror like her. He moved away, behind her now, and put his hands on her shoulders. He leaned down, his head next to hers.
"You're young, you're innocent, you've your entire life ahead of you… take away the I.Q. difference and you're just like any other normal girl. This is what you wanted, right? Actually, you probably want to pursue a much more exciting life." He said, and for a moment, it was went away. Auguste was just another strange name. Her eyes regained their innocent blue hue. Mello was just a brat who studied too much and just so happened to help her sleep. The most important thought was finding a way which simply didn't exist to beat Matt in one of his many games. She should hurry to the cafeteria before breakfast ended. Why was she sitting in this room, in front of a big mirror? She already knew what she looked like. How did she even get here in the first place? Why was L here? Shouldn't he be busy catching Kira? Was she in trouble or something?
"But unfortunately," L said, and moved away from her chair to the side of the mirror. Her eyes traveled back to the mirror in front of her.
"sometimes the thing you yearn for most ends up being the thing you wish to destroy." He finished in a darker tone, and suddenly everything went red. It all came back; Auguste, the explosions, the familiar dull pain in her stomach. She winced at first, but looked back at the mirror, and it almost seemed as though her image was distorted. She stood, and the back of her black trench coat fell down to the back of her knees. She could feel her long, choppy hair against the small of her back again. Her fringe fell against her forehead and her eyes became dull and fearful. She remained transfixed on her own reflection, and L spoke up once more.
"Ah, not so nice anymore, is it? I'm sure not what you expected. It's funny though, isn't it? How people become so familiar with their own selves they forget what they really are from someone else's perspective. That's why so many try to be someone else, right? Though I suppose that would make me a bit of a hypocrite." He walked back in front of her, in front of the mirror, forcing her to focus solely on him.
"But you see, I was gifted, CL. Not only with intelligence. I hated it at first, you know. I thought it made me seem horrible, demonic even. But I suppose things happen for a reason. At first, I'm sure I was the only one who had this gift, but now it seems it also belongs to others as well. But I was born with this gift, you see, so I faced no consequences. And I assure you, they very much did. Whether or not these consequences are worth it, my friend, is up for debate. The bad thing about it, though, is that they're all rooting for the same team. And that team is definitely not yours. Which is why I'm here. I can give that gift to you temporarily, without any consequences. It can be yours… and I can finish in your life what I started in mine. Please, CL, we can do this for you, for me… for Auguste."
He was looking at her with such an intense stare it was though she was hypnotized. She felt almost safe, almost. It wasn't the same safety she felt in his presence at Wammy's.
"What do you mean… don't manipulate me." She said, looking back at him, her voice like a small child's.
"I'm not manipulating you, dear… I like you, actually, and its human nature to help out those you like… that, and you can help me, in a metaphorical sense, defeat my own enemy. It's actually quite a generous deal on my part… though giving my nature I suppose that just shows you how pathetically desperate I am. Also, I think it'd prove much more interesting." He said, and put his hands on the side of her head, bending his knees down a little so their eyes were level.
"What do you say, CL? For A? For your friend?" At this point she was so lost she'd take any direction she could find. She didn't even know what L was talking about.
"Okay, L." she said, and the faintest smile graced his lips.
"I knew I could count on you. Someone who taps into their emotions every once in a while. This should be fun, CL. Oh, and two more things. One is that I have a puzzle for you to solve, A kinda got me into that. Also, you should know, I'm not L."
With that, he smiled, and his eyes seemed to drill into hers for a moment, and he was gone.
Then, she woke up.